Chapter 606: Investigation

In the underground hall, seated cross-legged on an ice-blue carpet, Dongbo Xueying was deep in thought.

The three major challenges in refining and condensing the Solar Star Core Stone were daunting. Among them, gathering the ‘Twelve Rare Materials’ ranked second in difficulty—even harder than collecting Void Black Mud! The reason was that half of these materials were exceedingly rare. Though their uses were extremely niche and their value not particularly high, their sheer rarity made them incredibly difficult to obtain. Currently, he was still missing two of them.

“I’ve already spread the word to many powerful figures. Those who had the materials and were willing to trade have already done so. Those unwilling likely won’t change their minds no matter how much time passes,” Dongbo Xueying frowned. “Now, my only hope is that some of the countless Realm Gods might have stumbled upon these two materials.”

The number of Realm Gods was far greater, scattered across the entire Divine Realm and the Abyss.

Their chances of encountering rare materials through serendipity were actually higher than those of the mighty figures.

Dongbo Xueying had already begun circulating the news that he was seeking these two materials.

“Seven-Leaf Stone Fruit and Greenheart Grass Roots.” Though frustrated, Dongbo Xueying could only set the matter aside for now. “There’s no other way. I’ll take it slow.”

If he couldn’t gather them within a year, then ten years, a hundred years—even ten thousand or a million years!

One day, he would collect them all.

“Time to examine these treasures.” Dongbo Xueying began studying the gifts brought by the guests at his estate-opening banquet one by one. He inspected each item meticulously—those from Realm Gods, ordinary True Gods, and even the offerings from the Bamboo Mountain Manor Lord, Fire Devil Venerable, and Qing Jun!

“The stronger the guest, the more precious the gift,” Dongbo Xueying chuckled. The guests knew their place and understood what level of gift was appropriate. In the Divine Realm and the Abyss, this had long become an unspoken convention. Of course, there were exceptions—like the paltry offering from ‘Golden Firmament Ancestor,’ though even receiving a gift from him was a minor miracle.

“Only the gifts from the three Venerables and Fifth Uncle were truly special,” Dongbo Xueying mused to himself.

“This is from Brother Fire Devil.” With a wave of his hand, a wine flask appeared before him. The flask was sealed, but the moment he pulled the stopper, a rich aroma wafted out. The instant the scent reached his nose—

Boom!

An invisible energy surged into his Primal Godheart, causing Dongbo Xueying’s entire body to tremble involuntarily.

“Fire Dragon Bloodfruit Wine?” Dongbo Xueying immediately recognized the treasure. This wine was specifically designed to aid cultivation. Just a whiff sent his Godheart quaking. A single sip would awaken the latent potential of his Primal Godheart, plunging him into a semi-lucid, semi-intoxicated state of ethereal transcendence. Yet, paradoxically, this very state was ideal for profound meditation and comprehension.

A single cup of Fire Dragon Bloodfruit Wine was already immensely valuable—this entire flask was priceless.

“Brother Fire Devil has truly gone above and beyond.” Dongbo Xueying understood that such aids could be of tremendous help in achieving transcendence.

After storing the flask, he retrieved a circular plate adorned with intricate, mesmerizing patterns. At a glance, Dongbo Xueying recognized it: “A formation disk!”

“The core of a powerful formation,” he murmured. “Judging by its design, this must be the core of an ancient relic’s formation, somehow extracted by the Bamboo Mountain Manor Lord. My estate is newly built and sorely lacks formidable formations.”

The formations he had devised for his estate were sufficient to deter Fourth Heaven experts, but they held no threat against beings of his own caliber.

“With this formation disk as the core, supplemented by auxiliary arrays…” Dongbo Xueying smiled. The Bamboo Mountain Manor Lord’s gift was precisely what he needed.

Finally, Dongbo Xueying flipped his palm—empty to the naked eye, but in truth, a palm-sized carving rested there, invisible yet perceptible to the senses.

“Qingyao is now under Brother Fire Devil’s tutelage. This treasure shall go to Yuer.” Dongbo Xueying nodded slightly. It was a unique treasure usable by the Primal Godheart—something even he and Yu Jingqiu lacked. However, given the strength of their Godhearts, this treasure was of little use to them. Its benefits were far more pronounced for the weaker.

In terms of value, the Fire Dragon Bloodfruit Wine and the carving were comparable, while the formation disk was slightly less precious.

“But the most valuable of all is this.” Dongbo Xueying stored the other items and retrieved the single black feather bestowed by Uncle Blackbird. Its mere presence left him awestruck.

From this feather alone, he could deduce that Uncle Blackbird’s physical form was incomparably stronger than his own Annihilating Extreme Mystic Body—the gap was absurdly vast. Dongbo Xueying estimated that even a Paragon would find it exceedingly difficult to kill Uncle Blackbird.

“Whoosh.”

Dongbo Xueying lowered his gaze to study it.

As his vision penetrated the feather, it expanded endlessly in his sight, transforming into a vast, boundless continent. This continent was composed of countless minuscule black tubes, their interconnections forming an unfathomably profound structure. It was this very arrangement that rendered the continent—and by extension, the feather—unshakably solid, far surpassing the durability of his Annihilating Extreme Mystic Armor.

“Each tube is a void channel leading to an unknown destination?” Dongbo Xueying mused silently. The intricacies within each tube were no less profound than the structure of the entire black-feather continent. Yet, the inner workings remained indistinct to him, their patterns swirling in obscurity.

“Somehow, these void channels feel… unstoppable.” The thought arose instinctively.

Like a mouse’s innate fear of a cat, this was a primal intuition.

Gazing upon the void channels within the tubes, Dongbo Xueying sensed that no barrier or restriction could suppress them. Through these channels, one could effortlessly traverse to distant realms. Their mystery rivaled even that of the token he had acquired.

“Each tube contains such a terrifying void channel, and billions upon billions of them compose the entire black-feather continent.” Dongbo Xueying was humbled by its construction. If his own body could one day achieve such complexity, he would likely rival a Paragon at the very least.

“Who knows what Uncle Blackbird’s origins are? He’s not even listed on the Cosmic Deva Demonic Ranking.” Shaking off the thought, Dongbo Xueying immersed himself fully in the structure of the black-feather continent.

The void channels were too vague to decipher, but the continent itself was crystal clear. It even bore faint similarities to some of his own insights into ‘World Mysteries,’ albeit on an incomparably deeper level. This hinted at his master’s true intention—to deepen his comprehension of the world, enabling him to encompass all Godhearts swiftly and achieve transcendence in one fell swoop.

…

Time flowed onward.

Dongbo Yu spent over three centuries at the Divine Emperor’s estate under his parents’ guidance before being gifted Qing Jun’s carving and departing alone. Dongbo Xueying could only keep tabs on his son’s movements through the Bloodblade Tavern’s intelligence network.

Dongbo Qingyao, under Fire Devil Venerable’s tutelage, trained with relentless diligence, earning frequent praise from her master whenever he met Dongbo Xueying.

In the blink of an eye, sixteen thousand years had passed since the establishment of Dongbo Divine Emperor’s estate.

“Whoosh.”

Within the spatial teleportation array of the Blackmist Sea Continent, a figure materialized.

A silver-haired woman in a green robe.

Her gaze fixed on the distant, majestic estate of the Divine Emperor, her eyes alight with longing. “The Dongbo Divine Emperor’s estate… I’ve finally arrived.”

Soon, she stood before the main gates.

The characters “Dongbo” emblazoned above the gates exuded an aura that sent shivers down her spine—a vast, ancient might reminiscent of a primordial beast, capable of annihilating heaven and earth with but a fraction of its power. Even mighty figures could be obliterated in an instant.

“As expected of the legendary Dongbo Divine Emperor, who dared venture alone into the Dark Abyss, faced three Abyssal mighty figures single-handedly, and slew one of them.” The silver-haired woman marveled inwardly, unaware that the estate’s defensive formations had been reforged. The formation disk gifted by the Bamboo Mountain Manor Lord now served as its core, augmented by numerous auxiliary arrays, resulting in a formation of unparalleled might.

Even beings of Dongbo Xueying’s caliber would think twice before causing trouble here.

“This is the Divine Emperor’s estate. State your business,” one of the Realm God guards at the gate barked.

“The Divine Emperor seeks rare materials. I have one to offer. Please announce my arrival.” The silver-haired woman bowed respectfully.

“Rare materials?”

The two Realm God guards and the others stationed at the gate exchanged startled glances. They were well aware of their master’s ongoing quest.

“Wait here. I’ll inform him at once.” The guard dared not delay and hurried inside to relay the message.