“Ask me to release a Mother Cult Guardian? I won’t agree to ordinary terms.” Dongbo Xueying’s voice still echoed within the sealed world as he began negotiating with Guardian Huozhu.
Of course, this was purely a stalling tactic.
Most of his focus was on his cave treasure, where he had even sent his ‘Taihao Force’ to seal the soul of the green-eyed man, who was lost in slumber within the illusion.
“Master,” Dongbo Xueying also reached out through karma to his master, the Bloodblade Divine Emperor.
“Xueying, what is it?” The Bloodblade Divine Emperor, deep in cultivation before the Cosmic Copper Furnace, responded.
“I’ve captured another Mother Cult Guardian alive. He’s trapped in my illusion now—how should I deal with him?” Dongbo Xueying asked urgently. A live captive was far more valuable than a dead one, but he wasn’t sure how best to exploit this advantage. He knew extracting information directly wouldn’t be easy.
An organization like the Mother Cult surely had countermeasures in place, so he sought his master’s guidance.
Before the Cosmic Copper Furnace, the Bloodblade Divine Emperor, clad in dark crimson robes, was momentarily stunned. “This kid captured a Mother Cult Guardian alive? Since when were they so easy to handle?”
Though he held this disciple in high regard, even placing him alongside his eldest disciple, Qing Jun, in his heart, it was only Xueying’s potential that impressed him.
In the Divine Emperor’s eyes, this young disciple was still too inexperienced—having just forged his own path, he was merely a newly ascended Sovereign, far behind top-tier Sovereigns like the ‘Sorcerer Silkworm Emperor,’ ‘White Monarch,’ and ‘Water Fiend King.’ Compared to Qing Jun, who could rival a Paragon, the gap in strength was even more immense. It wasn’t just power—it was vision, experience, and more.
Take the Bloodblade Divine Emperor himself—during his Sovereign days, he had faced countless dangers and opportunities, even visiting two other universes.
Pang Yi, too, had journeyed beyond their universe and encountered many trials.
Compared to these old veterans…
Dongbo Xueying was far too green. Having cultivated for barely a million years and only just carved his own path, the only remarkable experience he’d had was his trip to the ‘Primordial Land’—and even that was just a trial for a Four-Heaven World God. In the eyes of the Divine Emperor, the Island Lord of Time and Space, and others, Xueying was still a tender bud.
Too young, needing nourishment from the soil, rain, and sunlight before he could bloom in full splendor.
“My disciple has only just forged his path, yet he’s already killed one and captured another alive? The Mother Cult must be speechless.” The Bloodblade Divine Emperor couldn’t help but chuckle. “I bet even the Primordial Master and the Abyssal Progenitor would be stunned if they heard this.”
These old-timers had only managed to eliminate two Mother Cult Guardians over countless eons.
Dongbo Xueying alone had taken down two.
“Xueying,” the Bloodblade Divine Emperor said, though inwardly astonished, “hurry and interrogate him. The Mother Cult will surely locate the true body of this captured Guardian soon and forcibly awaken him.”
“How should I interrogate him?” Xueying pressed.
“Ask him where the cosmic passage from their homeland to our universe is located,” the Divine Emperor instructed. “But you must be careful—don’t be too direct. Last time I captured one, just asking triggered his soul’s collapse. It seems their souls have safeguards, akin to oath punishments.”
“Understood.”
“The location of the cosmic passage is critical. A direct question won’t work—it’s up to your methods now.” The Divine Emperor added, “Disciple, I believe in you.”
—
**Within the cave treasure…**
“Whoosh.”
A Taihao Force incarnation materialized atop a mountain peak, gazing at the slumbering green-eyed man.
Dongbo Xueying sighed. He had hoped his master would provide a surefire interrogation method, but clearly, even the Divine Emperor had no guarantees—last time, a single question had caused the Guardian’s soul to shatter.
“Let’s try this.” Xueying began guiding the illusion, manipulating the obscured soul with ease.
“Cosmic star map.”
He started transmitting fragments of the cosmic star map into the captive’s soul—piece by piece.
To save time, he even accelerated the cave treasure’s temporal flow to a hundredfold. Any faster was impossible—the Mother Cult Guardian’s body and soul were too powerful, and manipulating time here consumed too much energy.
Xueying divided the entire cosmic star map into ten thousand sections, with the Divine Realm occupying ninety-nine percent and the rest split between the Material World and the Abyss.
He transmitted each small fragment one after another.
In mere moments…
He reached the 6,345th fragment.
“Roar—!”
The green-eyed man, previously obscured, suddenly had countless crimson threads erupt within his soul. He regained consciousness, glaring at Xueying.
“I know—this fragment’s location is important, isn’t it?” Xueying said coolly.
The green-eyed man snarled, “Useless… useless.”
The crimson threads then sliced through his soul, dispersing it entirely.
“Dead.” Xueying frowned. “Even with his soul sealed, it still collapsed on its own. The Mother Cult’s internal security is truly airtight.”
He hadn’t dared to ask directly—his master’s attempt had triggered instant soul collapse.
This time, he had opted to transmit star map fragments instead. Ordinary sections wouldn’t trigger the collapse—only critical locations would activate the ‘oath punishment’ embedded in their souls.
—
**Mother Cult Headquarters…**
Within the ancient, towering bronze hall, the Tusked Cult Master sat in oppressive silence.
A silver-robed, tusked youth materialized and whispered, “I rushed to Guardian Zhongsnake’s true body as fast as I could, but before I could awaken him, his incarnation had already collapsed and perished. When he awoke, he told me—Dongbo Xueying now knows the approximate region of a star map fragment.”
“Star map region?” The Tusked Cult Master frowned.
“Yes. Roughly the size of ten star domains,” the silver-robed youth replied. “Our base is hidden within this area. The cultivators will undoubtedly scour this region thoroughly in the coming years. I never expected Dongbo Xueying to transmit star map fragments into Zhongsnake’s soul—the one that triggered the collapse would naturally draw their attention. He divided the entire cosmos into ten thousand parts, clearly pressed for time. Had he been slightly slower, I could’ve awakened Zhongsnake and had him discard his incarnation, making it collapse voluntarily.”
The tusked giant sighed. “Dongbo Xueying—a mere Sovereign—has cost us so much. Two Guardians lost, and now a leak about our base’s location.”
“Only a minor leak. Ten star domains is a vast area—finding us is nearly impossible,” the silver-robed youth said. “Moreover, this base is the finest concealment artifact our universe has obtained across countless epochs. Even if they stand before us, they likely wouldn’t detect it.”
“They *shouldn’t* find us, but accidents happen,” the tusked giant muttered.
The Bloodblade Divine Emperor and others had scoured the cosmos multiple times before, failing to locate the Mother Cult’s hideout.
But now, with the search narrowed to ten star domains, the difficulty had plummeted.
“Who would’ve thought…”
The tusked giant murmured, “We grew complacent. From now on, we must not underestimate even Four-Heaven World Gods.”
This time, they had been bested by one.
“The losses are indeed severe,” the silver-robed youth said, his eyes narrowing. Silver currents swirled within his pupils, as if a colossal cocoon was forming within. He whispered, “Dongbo Xueying… I’ll remember this little one.”
The Mother Cult’s leaders and Guardians now etched Dongbo Xueying’s name into memory. This young, freshly path-forged cultivator had dealt them a heavy blow. From now on, they would take no chances.
A practitioner who could traverse alternate realms and wield illusions so masterfully?
The Mother Cult would never underestimate him again.
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