In the wooden courtyard of the Blood Blade Divine Court, two figures sat facing each other, drinking and chatting merrily. One was the Blood Blade Divine Emperor, with a black bird perched on his shoulder, while the other was a burly man with a stubbled face, dressed in loose robes. Even seated, this burly man exuded an eerie aura that seemed to distort the surrounding space, as if his every movement could effortlessly tear the fabric of the world apart.
“Convinced now?” the Blood Blade Divine Emperor chuckled. “Yuanchu ranked me first for a reason—it wasn’t just empty praise.”
“I thought I could defeat you this time, but I was still a step short,” the stubbled man grumbled between gulps of wine, clearly disgruntled. “Blood Blade, you started cultivating much later than me. How do you know so much?”
This seemingly simple and honest man was, in fact, the first supreme being of the Dark Abyss, revered as the ‘Ancestor of the Abyss.’ His strength was unfathomable, and even the proud and confident Yuanchu Master ranked him second on the Cosmic Deities and Demons Ranking, placing himself third. Despite his fearsome title, the Ancestor of the Abyss was far from cruel or tyrannical—he was the most composed among the three rulers of the Dark Abyss.
“Your path of cultivation is different from mine,” the Blood Blade Divine Emperor said, swirling his wine cup with a smile. “You follow the cultivation system discovered by the Demon Ancestor in another universe, and it suits you well. But in our entire universe, you’re alone—no one else walks this path.”
“There’s one more,” the Ancestor of the Abyss countered. “That ascetic kid is the same.”
“But he’s only a Venerable, far beneath your level. He can’t help you,” the Blood Blade Divine Emperor replied. “I, on the other hand, study the mysteries of the laws and evolve my inner world—the orthodox cultivation system of our universe. I can debate with other rulers and learn from the records left by predecessors of past cosmic epochs. Naturally, I progress faster.”
“Excuses,” the Ancestor of the Abyss muttered with a frown. “The Lord of the Spacetime Island, Yuanchu Master, Niro—they all follow the normal path. Why are they still inferior to you? Face it, you’re just a freak.”
“Hahaha!” The Blood Blade Divine Emperor laughed heartily. “Thank you for the compliment. Coming from the second strongest in the universe, it truly delights me.”
“Hmm? Your disciple is quite impressive,” the Ancestor of the Abyss suddenly remarked in surprise.
At the same time, the Blood Blade Divine Emperor received the same report. As the two highest-ranking figures in the universe, they were the first to learn of the events involving Dongbo Xueying and the Bamboo Sage.
“That kid has actually reached this level—comparable to that Bamboo Sage,” the Blood Blade Divine Emperor mused with a slight nod. “Aside from his divine artifact, his own cultivation must be quite profound. Considering he’s trained for over a million years, his transcendence must be near.”
“Given his momentum, becoming a Venerable shouldn’t be an issue,” the Ancestor of the Abyss said. “But to become a Ruler? That depends on fate, trials, insight, and many other factors.”
The Blood Blade Divine Emperor nodded in agreement. Take Qing Jun—his insight was exceptional, mastering three paths to their bottlenecks, yet he still couldn’t break through to become a Ruler.
“Haha, a Ruler? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. One step at a time—transcendence comes first,” the Blood Blade Divine Emperor said with a smile. He was quite satisfied with this disciple.
—
In the underground hall of the Black Mist Sea, Dongbo Xueying was meticulously examining the vast treasures he had seized from the Bamboo Sage. Though the outside world buzzed with rumors and even many supreme beings sent messages, Dongbo Xueying remained clear-headed. He knew external power wasn’t fundamental—his true foundation lay in his cultivation realm. Transcendence was the true priority.
“The Bamboo Sage had quite the collection,” Dongbo Xueying marveled. “This haul is enormous.”
The accumulated wealth of a near-Venerable existence over countless years was indeed staggering.
“His assortment of treasures exceeds my expectations.”
“And so many rare materials.”
Dongbo Xueying was astonished. Gathering such a variety of exotic materials was no easy feat. Previously, just finding the twelve materials needed to refine the Solar Star Core had taken immense effort. Yet the Bamboo Sage possessed even rarer items.
Setting aside the materials, Dongbo Xueying focused on items that could aid his cultivation.
*Clink, clink, clink…* Three black metal plates, each densely inscribed with golden characters, caught his eye. The profound insights recorded there left him awestruck. “These are personal notes on comprehending the laws?”
He couldn’t help but be drawn in. The perspective offered a fresh dissection of the laws’ mysteries.
“I’ll study these in detail later,” he murmured, moving on to other treasures. Next, he picked up a bronze lamp.
The lamp bore strange symbols, its flame flickering with a deep green hue.
“How eerie,” Dongbo Xueying mused. He sensed a hidden secret within the lamp—it couldn’t possibly be ordinary. But limited by his current knowledge and cultivation level, he couldn’t decipher it yet.
He continued examining other treasures, one by one.
“Either seized by the Bamboo Sage or excavated from ruins—all ancient and peculiar artifacts,” Dongbo Xueying nodded. “No rush. I’ll keep them close and study them gradually. For now, the black metal plates take priority.”
With that, he immersed himself in the plates’ contents.
—
In the Divine Realm, the Bamboo Sage sat in a courtyard within his elder brother’s stronghold, feeling relatively secure.
“Hmph.” His mood was foul.
The outside world buzzed with admiration for Dongbo Xueying’s strength, while he, the Bamboo Sage, was reduced to a stepping stone.
“If not for that divine artifact, he wouldn’t have destroyed one of my bodies so easily,” the Bamboo Sage narrowed his eyes. “Let him gloat for now. The Cult Master has promised action. Once he strikes, that brat will lose everything—even his divine artifact. Hmph, he’ll regret it to the point of tears.”
The more frustrated he felt, the more he longed to see Dongbo Xueying suffer.
He waited.
“Hmm?” The Bamboo Sage frowned suddenly, clutching his head. “Something feels… off.”
First came dizziness.
Then an unbearable nausea, followed by a tearing sensation in his divine core.
“Not good.” He knew something was terribly wrong—supreme beings didn’t experience such afflictions.
But before he could react, his distorted divine core shattered completely, dissolving into nothingness.
His eyes widened in shock.
His body collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
The Bamboo Sage was dead.
Just like that—silently, abruptly. With no time to nurture a clone, his true body and avatars perished entirely. Even if he had prepared a clone, the outcome would’ve been the same.
His elder brother, the Bamboo Sage, soon discovered the horrifying scene. There were no traces of an enemy, no signs of battle—just sudden, inexplicable death.
—
The Spacetime Island.
Surrounded by scattered islets—some mere miles across, others spanning hundreds of thousands—the Spacetime Island stood like a monarch amidst its celestial entourage.
Within the island’s most magnificent hall, fragrant incense filled the air.
At the center, atop a silver-white woven mat, sat a black-robed, black-haired man in deep meditation. His sword-like eyebrows and cold demeanor marked him as the master of spacetime in the Divine Realm and Abyss—the Lord of the Spacetime Island. Countless lives were manipulated by him, sent on deadly missions time and again.
“Master,” a deep voice echoed. “Urgent news.”
“What is it?” The Lord of the Spacetime Island opened his eyes. The voice belonged to the artifact spirit of the Spacetime Temple, his most loyal subordinate. The temple monitored the entire cosmos, and only critical matters warranted interruption.
“The Bamboo Sage is dead—true body and avatars annihilated. But his death was… peculiar.”
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