Dongbo Xueying, accompanied by his wife and children, led his personal guard back swiftly from the Ten Thousand Demons Abyss. Their starfield vessel quickly returned to the Eastern Domain City of Anhai Prefecture. At this time, the White Sand City Lord had yet to depart from his own lair.
Above the Eastern Domain City,
General Mo, along with numerous subordinates from the Eastern Blaze Army, waited in the sky. Upon spotting the starfield vessel emerging from the distant void, they immediately flew forward to greet it.
“Your Highness Dongbo, this battle has truly shaken Anhai Prefecture. Soon, all the World Deities across the Bloodblade Divine Court’s territories will know of your prowess,” General Mo said with utmost enthusiasm. Previously, he had merely sought to avoid offending Dongbo Xueying, but now he naturally lowered his own status. Among cultivators, strength commanded respect.
“Unfortunately, Venomous Ying slaughtered all one million faith-gathering personnel,” Dongbo Xueying shook his head. “This expedition ended in failure.”
“All of them?” General Mo was stunned.
“After thorough investigation, it appears so. Venomous Ying obscured spacetime during the massacre, preventing detection,” Dongbo Xueying said. “Without sufficient evidence, we can’t bring her down with this alone.”
General Mo quickly added, “With Your Highness’s strength, there will be plenty of opportunities to deal with her. She won’t last much longer.”
Dongbo Xueying glanced at General Mo.
This was the first time the general had openly taken his side.
“I have matters to attend to and must return to my estate. If you find the time, General, feel free to visit,” Dongbo Xueying said.
“Certainly, certainly,” General Mo replied eagerly.
With that, Dongbo Xueying and his retinue descended toward the city below.
Watching Dongbo Xueying’s retreating figure, General Mo couldn’t help but smile. The latter’s words had clearly conveyed goodwill. *A second-tier World Deity already this formidable—by the third tier, he might rival a fourth-tier World Deity! Only a fool would provoke such a figure,* he thought. *And I, General Mo, am no fool.*
—
No sooner had Dongbo Xueying returned to his Inspector’s Estate than he quietly slipped away, heading to the city’s *Temporal Temple*.
As the core city of Anhai Prefecture’s eastern domain, the Temporal Temple stood grand and opulent, second only in size to the nearby Bloodblade Tavern.
“The Temporal Temple?” Dongbo Xueying, clad in black, stepped inside, his emotions complex.
His history with the temple was fraught with entanglements.
“Ah, Your Highness Dongbo!” A silver-robed World Deity, the highest-ranking official of the Temporal Temple in the Eastern Sea Region, hurried forward to greet him. A second-tier World Deity himself, he was exceptionally deferential, having heard of Dongbo Xueying’s recent earth-shaking deeds. “I am Yu Yun, in charge of this temple. Please, Your Highness, come this way!”
Other attendants and guards watched from a distance, not daring to approach.
Ordinary visitors to the Temporal Temple were usually attended by mere attendants. But the moment Dongbo Xueying entered, Yu Yun himself rushed out to welcome him.
Inside an elegant chamber, tea was served.
“Your Highness, what brings you to the Temporal Temple?” Yu Yun inquired.
“I wish to commission the temple to investigate the most recent faith-gathering activities across all life-bearing stars in the *Yangbai Starfield*,” Dongbo Xueying stated.
Yu Yun was taken aback. “All life-bearing stars?”
A single starfield contained countless such stars—an immense undertaking, given how many deities they nurtured.
“Your Highness, faith-gathering occurs once every ten thousand years,” Yu Yun explained. “Investigating an entire starfield’s worth would be exorbitantly expensive.”
Dongbo Xueying nodded. “I’m aware.”
Of course it was costly!
Rewinding time was simpler for recent events, yet the deeper one delved into the past, the more energy and mastery over the laws of spacetime it demanded. Xueying Dongbo could assemble numerous deity-level experts versed in temporal arts, but for ancient occurrences, only World Deities bearing spacetime divine hearts could succeed. Even so, probing each celestial body would exact a staggering price—one beyond the means of even the mightiest beings. Thus, he sought the aid of the Temporal Temple.
The Temporal Temple, forged by the Temporal Island Lord, was the supreme spacetime artifact. While even mighty beings couldn’t penetrate material realms for spacetime manipulation, this artifact could. Its prowess rivaled even the Bloodblade Divine Emperor’s in spacetime mastery—and as an artifact, it never tired.
“Three million divine crystals,” Yu Yun stated bluntly.
Dongbo Xueying agreed. “Done.” He had ample resources from Venomous Ying’s coffers; spending some to bring her down was worth it.
In mere moments, the temple delivered the complete investigation—a terrifyingly efficient feat.
“Your Majesty, the comprehensive dossier lies before you—each celestial body’s chronicle woven within the time-reverberating visions,” Yu Yun offered an iridescent memory tablet with both hands.
After examining it, Xueying Dongbo discovered not only the chronicles of each star’s past but also the records of faith accumulation.
“Only thirty percent submitted?” Dongbo Xueying was astounded. “Venomous Ying’s audacity knows no bounds.”
*This time, you won’t escape,* he thought.
He soon departed the temple, with Yu Yun escorting him out.
Watching him leave, Yu Yun sighed inwardly. *They say Your Highness hails from a material world. Our Temporal Island excels in monitoring such realms—how did such a prodigy slip past us and end up with the Bloodblade Divine Court? A true pity.*
Unbeknownst to him, even the lofty Temporal Island Lord had taken notice of Dongbo Xueying.
When Dongbo Xueying was first accepted as a personal disciple, the island lord was astonished—a second-tier World Deity in just five thousand years, handpicked by the Bloodblade Divine Emperor? He demanded details, and the temple’s artifact spirit revealed their three prior interactions.
The first invitation was declined—Dongbo Xueying refused to be bound by the temple’s control.
The second, he nearly accepted but feared unpredictable missions might leave his homeland, the Xia Clan World, vulnerable.
The third, he sought to join solely to save his wife, whose soul was on the verge of collapse.
Yet the temple deemed him unworthy of the soul-reforging treasures and rejected him.
“To have missed such a promising one,” the island lord mused. “Though who’s to say he’ll even become a mighty figure?” With that, he returned to forging his artifacts.
—
Dongbo Xueying dispatched the evidence to the Bloodblade Divine Court via spatial array, arriving the same day.
Court officials, already abuzz over Dongbo Xueying’s solo suppression of Venomous Ying and Dongxiao, quickly received the report.
“Just as we were discussing His Highness Dongbo, he delivers damning evidence.”
“Straight from the Temporal Temple—inspecting an entire starfield’s faith-gathering must’ve cost a fortune.”
“And he confirms the million faith-gatherers were slaughtered.”
“Regardless, the Yangbai Starfield’s recent collection shows only thirty percent submitted—undeniable proof. We must summon Venomous Ying for interrogation, including the massacre’s motive.”
Though the massacre lacked concrete proof, the theft of faith remained indisputable. The flow of time could not be deceived—Venomous Ying possessed only two relics capable of shrouding the fabric of spacetime.
“Agreed. Bring her in.”
A single starfield’s theft over ten millennia was a minor offense. But if prolonged across thirty-two starfields, the crime escalated—precisely why Venomous Ying had resisted arrest.
With ruthless efficiency, the Divine Court dispatched an elite unit straight to Martial Zenith Emperor’s *Qianyun Mountain*. Their intelligence was impeccable.
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