Chapter 595: Talisman Tablet

“Dongbo Xueying? Heh heh heh, just got listed on the Cosmic Deity-Demon Ranking by the Primordial Master, and now you come looking for me?” Ancestor Jinxiao sneered through telepathy, his voice icy. “Oh, I almost forgot—your rank is even higher than mine!”

A knot tightened in Dongbo Xueying’s heart.

This Ancestor Jinxiao… his tone didn’t sound right.

The Five Fiends of the Divine Realm—why were they called ‘Five Fiends’ and not ‘Five Saints’ or some other title? It was because these five were notorious for their savagery. Even Pang Yi, their leader, was infamous for his cruelty in the earliest days. After all, they were all born as Divine Realm creatures, inherently brutal. It was only later that Pang Yi gradually changed, his greatest turning point being when Qingjun nearly crippled him with a single punch.

Now, Pang Yi had become exceedingly mild-mannered. Though he hadn’t ascended to become a Ruler, the Primordial Master had ranked him one spot higher than even the ‘Bloody Ruler,’ one of the three great Rulers of the Abyss!

But while Pang Yi had mellowed, the other four remained as vicious as ever.

With Pang Yi no longer stirring trouble, the Five Fiends were effectively reduced to four, led by Ancestor Jinxiao. For billions of years, Jinxiao had toiled for the supreme technique, the *Heart-Sword Diagram*, even obtaining four of its fragments. The final fragment lay in a perilous ruin, which he and his companions had painstakingly navigated—only for Yu Jingqiu to stumble upon it effortlessly, without facing any danger.

Ancestor Jinxiao had been driven mad with rage!

With his escape techniques, had he obtained the complete *Heart-Sword Diagram*, a supreme technique of immense power, he believed he could have rivaled even the likes of the Demon Lord Luo. With a stroke of luck, he might even have gleaned insights to forge his own Dao.

But no matter what.

The technique was missing its final piece, rendering all his efforts futile.

Initially, Jinxiao had assumed Yu Jingqiu had failed in her reincarnation and dismissed the matter. But years later, he received news: Dongbo Xueying had ventured into the Heartlake Island, risking everything to rescue the Snowpeak Monarch! Moreover, both Yu Jingqiu and the Snowpeak Monarch now resided in the Yin Stone Villa of the Bloodblade Divine Court. Most crucially—Yu Jingqiu was a Fourth Heaven Godking!

A woman from the Material World, surpassing even Dongbo Xueying to become a Fourth Heaven? Such speed likely surpassed all historical records of ascension to the Fourth Heaven.

And then he heard.

Yu Jingqiu was skilled in swordsmanship?

Ancestor Jinxiao was no fool. A little deduction told him Yu Jingqiu must have reincarnated. Given her swordsmanship and her ties to the Snowpeak Monarch, she had to be the monarch’s eldest daughter.

“Ancestor Jinxiao,” Dongbo Xueying replied calmly through karmic telepathy. “I bear no ill intent. My master has just appointed me as one of the Five Emperors, and I will henceforth reside in the Blackmist Sea. Thus, I am establishing my estate here and hosting an inauguration banquet in three months. I hope you will grace us with your presence.”

“Oh? Very well. This Ancestor shall attend!” Jinxiao’s voice was sharp before the connection severed.

Dongbo Xueying smiled faintly.

He hoped to resolve the enmity, but his patience had limits. Whether Jinxiao chose to be friend or foe would be up to him.

—

Among the Three Ancestors, the ‘Destroyer Lord’ Pang Yi was contacted through the Bloodblade Tavern’s internal network. Regardless of past tensions, they were technically on the same side—the Bloodblade Divine Court’s. A surface-level invitation was necessary, though Xueying doubted they would attend. After all, Venerables rarely deigned to involve themselves in such affairs.

Even his master, the Bloodblade Divine Emperor, received an invitation.

The Divine Emperor responded directly: “I’ll send your Fifth Martial Uncle. He enjoys such gatherings.”

For an occasion like this, the Divine Emperor naturally wouldn’t appear.

“Fifth Martial Uncle?” Xueying was puzzled. Who was that?

“That black bird of yours,” the Divine Emperor said. “That rascal always calls himself the ‘Fifth Prince.'”

“Black Bird Martial Uncle?” Xueying muttered inwardly. This was the first time he’d heard the Divine Emperor refer to the black bird as his martial uncle! He’d always assumed it was just a peculiar pet. Now it seemed the Divine Emperor and the bird were practically brothers.

—

In the days that followed, the personal guards and the Xia Clan deities from the Inspector’s residence relocated to the new estate. The Divine Court dispatched personnel to install a spacetime teleportation array.

A grand palace complex now formed the luxurious estate, its main gate emblazoned with the characters “Dongbo.” Henceforth, this was the Dongbo Estate.

“We’re here.”

Dressed in white, Dongbo Yu stepped out of the spacetime teleportation array, accompanied by a green-haired woman named Xi Wei.

“Your parents have been waiting anxiously, Young Master Yu,” Xi Wei said. “They expected you back half a month ago. They finally sent me to fetch you.”

“Mm.” Dongbo Yu nodded faintly.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy to see the Dongbo Emperor’s Estate in the Blackmist Sea?” Xi Wei teased.

As they flew, Dongbo Yu gazed at the sprawling estate in the distance. The Dongbo Emperor’s Estate was indeed vast—fitting for someone of Dongbo Xueying and Yu Jingqiu’s stature, who required immense space for testing techniques or researching formations. The estate occupied nearly a tenth of the entire landmass.

The towering main gate and walls were reinforced with multiple material formations, exuding majesty. The grand entrance bore the characters “Dongbo,” personally inscribed by Xueying. The two characters alone seemed to deepen the estate into an unfathomable abyss, as if it were a vast world unto itself.

And that impression wasn’t wrong. Those two characters were the core of an immense formation—a “World Formation” that Xueying had spent a month crafting after completing the estate. The Dongbo Emperor’s Estate was, in truth, a boundless world.

“Father wrote this himself?” Dongbo Yu looked up.

“Of course. Impressive, isn’t it?” Xi Wei marveled, addressing Xueying with reverence. She had witnessed his rise firsthand, now surpassing even the heights once held by the Reddust Saint.

“Yes. Impressive.” A faint smile finally touched Dongbo Yu’s lips.

Xi Wei sighed inwardly.

*At last, a smile!*

When she’d found him, Dongbo Yu had been drowning his sorrows in drink, deliberately refusing to dispel the intoxication with divine power.

*I must inform His Majesty and Her Ladyship,* she thought. *Young Master Yu seems deeply troubled. Is it matters of the heart, or something else?*

“Greetings, Young Master!”

“Greetings, Young Master!”

The guards at the gate bowed respectfully.

They were veterans of the personal guard, familiar with both Dongbo Yu and Xi Wei. Now, they stood prouder than ever—after all, the higher Xueying’s status, the greater their influence as his guards.

—

Deep within an underground hall.

Dongbo Xueying sat cross-legged on an ice-blue rug, its coolness permeating his body. The space around him was shielded from all probing by the laws of the universe.

“Hmm?” In his hand was a dark-red talisman—formed by merging the sharp fragment left by the frozen corpse of a Venerable with another shard discovered within the Three-Headed Divine Mountain. Xueying studied the intricate patterns etched upon it. “These ancient markings seem simple, yet they conceal unfathomable depths.”

When fragmented, their secrets had been obscured.

But now, as a complete design, the more he contemplated them, the more profound and esoteric they revealed themselves to be—far surpassing his current realm of comprehension.