Dongbo Xueying wasn’t in a hurry to head to the Black Rain Domain. Instead, he descended first, sitting cross-legged on the desolate plains. Yet, his body remained half-illusory, sensing the surrounding Void World. After all, within the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel’s lower three domains, he couldn’t afford to be careless.
“Let’s see what treasures these two Protectors left behind,” Dongbo Xueying mused, having yet to thoroughly examine the relics of the two fallen Protectors.
With a flick of his hand, a deep gray stone staff appeared in his grasp.
“So heavy,” Dongbo Xueying muttered. Despite his strength—enough to annihilate countless stars with a mere flick—he found the staff astonishingly weighty.
“The craftsmanship of this staff is shockingly crude, even inferior to some Realm God weapons.” Dongbo Xueying was dumbfounded. For a weapon wielded by a Mother Goddess Cult Protector, the staff possessed only a basic ability to shrink or enlarge. Beyond that, its immense weight came purely from its material. Protector Qi Yun had wielded this as his weapon.
“Protector Qi Yun had reached the Fourth Heaven Realm God level in Rule Mysteries. How could his weapon be so crudely made?” Dongbo Xueying wondered silently.
What he didn’t know was that before the Mother Goddess Cult entered the cultivators’ universe, their cultivation methods had never involved Rule Mysteries. Their understanding of such principles was far more rudimentary. Only after arriving here and secretly acquiring the cultivators’ system did they begin to grow rapidly. Given their inherently high foundation, most Protectors could easily reach the Fourth Heaven Realm God level.
But advancing further? That was far more difficult.
“What kind of material is this, so heavy and indestructible?” Dongbo Xueying mused. “I’ll ask my master later. Selling it as raw material should fetch a decent price.”
One by one, he examined the items.
Though a few were bizarre and unrecognizable, most were disappointingly shabby.
“Poor, truly poor. They barely carried any decent treasures. The real valuables must have been on Protector Huo Zhu,” Dongbo Xueying thought. When Protector Huo Zhu had produced that withered yellow leaf earlier, even from billions of miles away, the aura within it had been unmistakable—something surpassing even the Ancient Demons.
In contrast, Protector Qi Yun’s possessions were meager, likely comparable only to an ordinary Great Elder of the cultivators’ civilization. Hardly fitting for a Protector’s status.
“Now, the other one.” Dongbo Xueying turned his attention to Protector Zhong She.
With a flick, a blade appeared in his hand—jet-black, slender, and adorned with intricate carvings.
“This is far more refined than the stone staff. Hmm, a True God weapon? And it contains a Dao at the Eternal level?” Dongbo Xueying’s eyes lit up. This True God weapon was vastly more valuable. Since the two Protectors’ true bodies were likely in another universe, their avatars’ deaths would have severed the weapon’s connection, leaving it ownerless and easily claimed.
“The Dao within feels peculiar,” Dongbo Xueying noted, sensing the blade’s inner world—a void where invisible slashes of madness and slaughter repeated endlessly.
“Blade Dao?” he speculated.
Names were assigned by cultivators.
The Dao within this True God weapon was one of frenzied, obsessive slaughter—a path of relentless killing, where nothing was spared. Its murderous intent was overwhelming, bordering on madness, reminiscent of the demons from the Abyss.
“Let’s call it the Demon Blade,” Dongbo Xueying decided casually. Though this True God weapon, embodying the Eternal-level ‘Slaughter Dao,’ was nearly as precious as the Blood Serpent Spear, he remained wary. A mere brush with its aura had already conveyed its maddening influence, threatening to sway his mind.
—
After a brief inspection, Dongbo Xueying was pleasantly surprised. Protector Zhong She’s relics far outnumbered Protector Qi Yun’s. Judging by the items, he might have slain a high-ranking cultivator or stumbled upon a trove within the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel. Among them, the most valuable was undoubtedly the Eternal-level Demon Blade.
With a whoosh, he stored everything away and soared into the sky, heading toward the massive vortex formed by the clouds.
Space twisted within the vortex.
In an instant, he was transported to another domain.
His vision blurred, and suddenly, he found himself suspended mid-air, facing an endless expanse of black rain connecting heaven and earth. The Black Rain Domain’s downpour was eternal, unceasing.
“Black Rain Domain.” Dongbo Xueying flipped his hand, revealing the Three Demons Hall token, which immediately resonated.
“There.”
He sensed the Corrosion Bone Hall of the Three Demons Hall lay ahead to his left.
But there was no rush.
Having arrived in the Black Rain Domain, his first priority was to pay respects to Emperor Wu Qiu, its eternal guardian.
Whoosh!
Traveling through the Void World allowed for near-instantaneous movement. Even without pushing his speed, he crossed trillions of miles in a single breath. Soon, he spotted a figure seated on a protruding boulder in the midst of a black-water lake—a middle-aged man in deep cyan robes, his forehead adorned with two soft antennae, his eyes glowing green.
A hazy green pillar of light, spanning trillions of miles, erupted from him, piercing the heavens.
This was Emperor Wu Qiu—the sole force holding the line against the Mother Goddess Cult, rendering them powerless. Though his combat prowess might pale slightly compared to the Ancient Demons, his mastery of Rule Mysteries was unparalleled. He excelled in two Dao paths, both leaning toward survival, cultivated to their zenith, just one step shy of becoming a Paragon.
For an ordinary Ruler, mastering even one survival-oriented Dao was remarkable.
Yet Emperor Wu Qiu had mastered two, their synergy making him untouchable even by Paragons. His survivability surpassed most of them. Despite the Mother Goddess Cult’s supreme treasures, they were helpless against him. His two Daos—’Undying’ and ‘Life’—were utterly transcendent. Records indicated the Cult once expended immense resources to annihilate him completely, leaving not a trace of his soul.
Yet soon after, Emperor Wu Qiu reappeared in the Black Rain Domain, alive and whole.
If the Water Demon King could be imprisoned by the Primordial Master, Emperor Wu Qiu’s fate under the same treatment remained uncertain. His benevolence, kindness, and gentle nature ensured no Paragon—not even the notoriously ruthless Island Master of Time and Space—had ever moved against him.
Ranked below Qing Jun and Jie Mie, his placement was solely due to his slightly lesser offensive prowess.
“Ah.” Emperor Wu Qiu opened his eyes, smiling warmly at Dongbo Xueying. “Emperor Dongbo.”
His smile radiated boundless vitality, a stark contrast to the despair-laden Black Rain Domain, his presence infusing the surrounding trillions of miles with life.
“Emperor Wu Qiu.” Dongbo Xueying descended, alighting upon the black lake’s surface.
“I heard you slew another Mother Goddess Cult Protector. That makes two now,” Emperor Wu Qiu remarked admiringly.
“Just luck. Freshly ascended, my true strength was unknown to the universe, and they underestimated me. That’s why I succeeded,” Dongbo Xueying replied with a smile. “Killing another Protector won’t be so easy now.”
With the Mother Goddess Cult now wary of him, opportunities would be scarce.
“Yet it’s precisely because you forged your Dao in just a million years—and the Void Dao at that—that they were caught off guard,” Emperor Wu Qiu said. “Not just anyone achieves such heights so swiftly.”
“Now, aside from the Paragons, many top-tier Rulers are aware of your deeds,” Emperor Wu Qiu continued. “The Mother Goddess Cult’s presence is no secret among them. Slaying two Protectors has shocked my old friends. Even the usually cold and aloof Jie Mie inquired about you, hardly believing it. Nowadays, you’re the talk among them.”
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