Dongbo Xueying knew that the Ancient Sacred Cult had a total of ninety major strongholds within the Seven Stars Sea Sacred Realm. Given that the territory of the Voidsky Palace occupied roughly one-third of the Seven Stars Sea Sacred Realm, he estimated there were about thirty significant outposts within their domain. These outposts were of equal status, none superior or inferior to the others, and all maintained direct communication with the Sacred Realm of the Ancient Sacred Cult.
Members of one outpost knew almost nothing about another.
Thus, even if one stronghold could be destroyed, it was impossible to eliminate them all. However, with only thirty outposts in the entire Voidsky Palace territory, taking down even one would be a tremendous achievement!
Dongbo Xueying glanced at Lei Chen beside him. “I owe him much—he and his wife share a rare soul resonance.”
“Elder Dongbo, I beg you to save my wife. I can sense her soul is still imprisoned. If she were subdued, she wouldn’t be sealed like this,” Lei Chen pleaded.
Dongbo Xueying nodded.
The fleeing black-robed Sacred Emissary likely hadn’t had time to fully control the prisoners.
“We may engage in battle soon. Stay within my pocket realm for now,” Dongbo Xueying said, waving his hand to store Lei Chen away. Lei Chen complied without resistance, placing all his hopes on the elder to rescue his wife. There was nothing more he could do—his strength was far too meager to participate in such a battle.
With Lei Chen secured, Dongbo Xueying turned his gaze to the dark city below.
—
Within the black city, in a dimly lit hall, a man and a woman sat facing each other. Neither was fully human—the man was clad in frost armor, his face covered in white scales, while the woman was a seductive six-armed figure. Their auras naturally filled the entire chamber.
“Emissary Chiyun is almost here,” the frost-armored man remarked, swirling a goblet of amber-hued liquor, its fragrance already permeating the air.
“Emissary Chiyun has had quite the misfortune,” the six-armed woman mused, her eyes crackling with electricity. “All that effort spent spreading the faith, even with the aid of that exotic beast his elder brother gifted him. After accumulating so much merit, he was nearly promoted to High Emissary. But now? His forces are decimated! Losing the beast is one thing—it wasn’t truly his subordinate—but all those trained Sacred Disciples, perfect for proselytizing? Gone. His merits have plummeted. Who knows how long it’ll take him to rise now, even with his brother’s help.”
“Don’t gloat. He is still the brother of Sage Wangming,” the frost-armored man chided.
The six-armed woman merely chuckled.
The Ancient Sacred Cult’s hierarchy was rigid.
To become a High Emissary, one typically needed peak Unity realm strength. However, the Cult offered another path—accumulating sufficient merit.
The black-robed man’s personal strength was lacking, but with his brother’s backing and powerful allies, he had amassed enough merit to nearly ascend. Once promoted, his brother’s influence would grant him greater authority and rewards than most High Emissaries.
Though the frost-armored man and the six-armed woman privately seethed with envy, they dared not interfere. They could only watch as the black-robed man’s merits grew—until now. His sudden failure brought them secret satisfaction.
But outwardly, they remained deferential.
Sage Wangming—what was a Sage? In the Ancient Sacred Cult, only Chaos realm experts bore that title. Even Unity realm cultivators capable of rivaling Chaos realm powerhouses could qualify—those who could pass the sixth level of the Star Tower. The Voidsky Palace, renowned for its elite warriors, had no Unity realm expert who could achieve that.
Thus, for a Unity realm cultivator to match even the weakest Chaos realm opponent was nearly inconceivable.
—
A figure flew into the hall—the black-robed man, his expression grim.
The frost-armored man and the six-armed woman rose to greet him.
“Brother Chiyun,” the frost-armored man said sympathetically, his scaled face contorted in feigned concern. “What rotten luck. You were so close to becoming a High Emissary, only to suffer such a setback.”
The six-armed woman chimed in, “Brother Chiyun, don’t despair. Though your losses are great, we’ll help you rebuild. I’ll support you however I can.”
Though they secretly reveled in his misfortune, they played the part of loyal allies.
“That damned Elder Dongbo,” the black-robed man spat, snatching a wine jug and downing it in one go before slamming it onto the table. “He ruined everything! I’d barely begun my mission when he showed up!”
The frost-armored man sighed. “I’ve looked into it. The Cult’s intelligence confirms this ‘Elder Dongbo’ is Dongbo Xueying—a prodigy from a universe in the Chaos Void. He became a Golden Disciple of the Voidsky Palace while still in his home universe. They say he hails from the same world as the Ancestral Demon and the Swordmaster.”
“The Ancestral Demon and the Swordmaster?” the black-robed man scoffed.
The Ancestral Demon was a Hallmaster of the Voidsky Palace.
The Swordmaster—one of the supreme existences.
“Moreover, within less than a hundred million years of joining the Voidsky Palace, he reached Void God realm and cleared the third level of the Star Tower, becoming an Inner Hall Elder,” the frost-armored man added. “A nascent Void God Inner Hall Elder—the Voidsky Palace treasures him. And this is their territory. We can’t openly oppose him. If push comes to shove, even the supreme existences like Patriarch Tianyu or the Swordmaster might descend in avatar form.”
The black-robed man seethed.
He knew he couldn’t match Dongbo Xueying in strength or backing.
The Ancient Sacred Cult was mighty, but this was the Voidsky Palace’s domain. They could only operate in the shadows.
Fury burned within him, but he could only swallow it.
“One day… one day,” he muttered inwardly, not daring to voice his rage aloud, lest his companions mock him. Even he knew revenge was a distant dream.
“Brother Chiyun, rest for now. The mission can wait,” the frost-armored man said.
The black-robed man nodded.
He needed to contact his brother. With the exotic beast slain and his forces crippled, spreading the faith would be slow without powerful subordinates.
“Drink with me,” Emissary Chiyun demanded.
“Of course.”
“Come, sister has plenty of fine wine,” the six-armed woman said, though both were High Emissaries, they treated the lower-ranked man with exaggerated respect.
But barely had they begun drinking when the six-armed woman stiffened.
“Alert,” she transmitted. “The sentry array has detected a Void God and a True God Dominator outside the city. The Dominator was just stored away—the Void God matches the description of Elder Dongbo.”
“Elder Dongbo? That nascent Void God Inner Hall Elder?” The frost-armored man paled, while the black-robed man’s eyes flashed with murderous intent.
Though Dongbo Xueying was cautious, he had little experience with the Ancient Sacred Cult—the foremost power of the Five Great Sacred Realms, whose Sacred Lord stood against nearly all supreme existences. The moment he arrived, the black city’s sentry array had already marked him.
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