“Excellent.” The Lord of Nanyun gazed at Dongbo Xueying with undisguised admiration and nodded. “Our Nanyun Sacred Sect has been locked in an endless struggle with the Heavenly Sword Path, always at a disadvantage. This time, they came to the Firelight Nation with overwhelming force, but Xueying’s mastery of the ‘Five-Phase Sealing Art’ forced them to retreat in defeat, willingly accepting losses. Haha, Xueying’s contribution is immense. This time, it shall be counted as sixty thousand merits.”
Strictly speaking, the benefits the Nanyun Sacred Sect gained far exceeded what sixty thousand merits could represent. However, the earlier gift of the ‘Five-Phase Pearl’ had already secretly compensated Dongbo Xueying—a top-tier treasure at the Cosmic God level.
“Thank you, Master,” Dongbo Xueying said.
“Congratulations, Junior Brother,” the Greedy Roc Emperor said with a smile. “Your first mission under Master’s orders has earned you a full sixty thousand merits. Even I only accumulated that much after becoming a Cosmic God.”
“Eldest Brother, even Brother Gongliang and I haven’t reached sixty thousand merits yet,” the Ghostly Li Empress chimed in, her eyes gleaming as she looked at Dongbo Xueying. Deep down, she was proud. Though she had indulged in pleasures with many consorts, she treated them all as mere playthings, never taking any as a true Dao Companion. But now, she felt that forming a partnership with this junior brother might not be a bad idea!
Gongliang Yi watched Dongbo Xueying with silent awe.
He had always believed himself to be the most outstanding disciple under their master.
As for the Greedy Roc Eldest Brother? The Greedy Roc had originally been a follower of the Lord of Nanyun. It was only because he remained loyal during the lord’s most desperate times that the lord, valuing loyalty, nurtured him extensively. In truth, the Greedy Roc Emperor didn’t even cultivate the Void lineage! Gongliang Yi, on the other hand, practiced the Void lineage and was the most exceptional.
“This junior brother’s rise is truly astonishing,” Gongliang Yi mused inwardly.
“Junior Brother Xueying, we all rejoiced when we heard you used the Five-Phase Sealing Art to capture the Heavenly Sword Path’s Guardian in a single move. Though we knew our Nanyun Sacred Sect possessed such a supreme technique, none of us had ever seen it in action,” Fu Lingxiao said eagerly, his usual arrogance replaced by enthusiasm.
“Junior Brother Xueying, you must give us a demonstration later.”
The others echoed the sentiment.
“Alright, alright,” the Lord of Nanyun chuckled. “You brothers and sisters can chat more once the banquet begins.”
“Yes.”
The Greedy Roc Emperor, Dongbo Xueying, Gongliang Yi, the Ghostly Li Empress, Fu Lingyun, and Fu Lingxiao all responded in unison.
With that, the group dispersed to attend the upcoming banquet. After such a great victory—and the many benefits the Nanyun Sacred Sect had gained even in the Motian Ancient Nation—celebration was in order.
“Xueying, stay,” the Lord of Nanyun commanded.
Dongbo Xueying remained behind, leaving only master and disciple in the hall.
“This is eight billion cosmic crystals from the Heavenly Sword Lord,” the Lord of Nanyun said, tossing a bracelet to Dongbo Xueying.
Dongbo Xueying caught it and inspected the mountainous pile of cosmic crystals inside. “Master, I’d like to exchange my sixty thousand merits for another three billion cosmic crystals.”
For direct disciples, ten thousand merits could be exchanged for one billion cosmic crystals’ worth of treasures—or even the crystals themselves.
“Oh? You need that many cosmic crystals?” The Lord of Nanyun was surprised but immediately produced another storage treasure. Cosmic crystals collected from branches across the Heartland Continent ultimately flowed to him, so his reserves were staggering.
“I plan to purchase an Illusory Realm treasure,” Dongbo Xueying admitted, seeing no need to hide his intentions since he would soon make the purchase.
“Oh?” The Lord of Nanyun’s eyes lit up. “You specialize in the Illusory Realm? Was that how you dealt with Changsu Wang?”
“Yes,” Dongbo Xueying nodded.
“Have you reached the pinnacle?” the Lord of Nanyun pressed.
“Yes,” Dongbo Xueying confirmed.
The Lord of Nanyun’s eyes widened, his heartbeat quickening before settling. He realized he had underestimated his disciple.
The Five-Phase Sealing Art was difficult, but the soul arts were notoriously challenging as well. Purely elevating the Illusory Realm to the ninth level was no easier than mastering the Five-Phase Sealing Art. Soul-based techniques were intangible and elusive. The ‘Illusory World’ Dongbo Xueying had created was essentially another, albeit illusory, world—complete with countless sentient beings, each convinced of their own reality, each with unique personalities and life journeys.
Such power was terrifying. Dongbo Xueying was the most prodigious Illusory Realm genius the Chaos Void had ever seen.
It had taken him eons of cultivation, even after creating the ‘Nine-Leaf Destruction Flower,’ and another trillion years of accumulation to finally develop the ninth-level ‘Illusory World.’ Given his talent, the sheer difficulty was evident.
“To possess such aptitude in the Illusory Realm…” the Lord of Nanyun marveled.
Fortunately, the Heartland Continent had seen many reincarnated talents from other source worlds, some even more monstrous than Dongbo Xueying. With its deeper foundations and the guidance of invincible beings, reaching the ninth level in the Illusory Realm was far easier here than in the Chaos Void.
In the Chaos Void, there had been no manuals—Dongbo Xueying had forged his own path. Here, he had already acquired eighteen Illusory Realm texts from the Nanyun Sacred Sect alone, many reaching the Chaos Realm’s ninth level, with two even touching the Cosmic God level. Had he possessed such resources in the Chaos Void, he estimated he could have created the Illusory World ten times faster.
Forging one’s own path was incomparable to walking a road already paved.
Yet, the hardships he endured had solidified his foundation in the Illusory Realm beyond measure.
“When do you plan to purchase the Illusory Realm treasure?” the Lord of Nanyun asked with a smile.
“After the banquet. I can hardly wait,” Dongbo Xueying replied.
The Lord of Nanyun nodded, now understanding that his disciple had likely reached the pinnacle of the Illusory Realm when he slew Changsu Wang. Yet, he had never asked for cosmic crystals, endearing him further to his master. The lord also realized that excelling in both the Void and Illusory Realm lineages made Dongbo Xueying nearly unrivaled among Chaos Realm cultivators in the Heartland Continent.
“Don’t grow complacent,” the Lord of Nanyun cautioned. “The truly monstrous talents ascend to Cosmic God early. Take the ‘Motian Ancient Nation’s’ Venerable Jialuo—the only other to master the Five-Phase Sealing Art at the Chaos Realm before you. Now, he reigns as a Motian Venerable.”
“I understand,” Dongbo Xueying nodded.
His gaze had always been fixed on Cosmic Gods—even the ‘Sacred Master.’
—
After the celebratory banquet, Dongbo Xueying concealed his aura and left the Nanyun Ancient Nation to inspect Illusory Realm treasures across the land.
In the entire Heartland Continent, only eight Chaos Realm tenth-level Illusory Realm treasures were publicly available, priced between twelve and twenty billion cosmic crystals. Dongbo Xueying needed to examine them personally to determine the best fit.
For him, this treasure wasn’t just about amplifying his power—it would allow him to wield tenth-level techniques prematurely, granting him a taste of Cosmic God-level prowess and aiding his breakthrough. Whether through the Void or the Illusory Realm, he was determined to reach Cosmic Godhood.
One by one, he inspected them.
Soon, he arrived at the ‘Tuhua Nation,’ an island kingdom within the Black Prison Dark Sea, composed of hundreds of thousands of isles. Here, he sought the third Illusory Realm treasure.
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