Chapter 806: Profound Domain
Xiao Chen felt helpless. After he greeted Ying Qiong and Yan Shisan, whom he was familiar with, he stood at the side with Shui Lingling and chatted idly.
After a while, a tall cultivator wearing official robes emerged from the ship’s hold. He had an expression that radiated might without ferocity. Based on his aura, he was actually a quasi-Emperor.
Behind this cultivator were the elders of the various sects, all with faint smiles on their faces.
No matter what, as long these sects obtained one spot, they would have another hundred Martial Sages within a hundred years. Furthermore, there would not be any problems with these Martial Sages. The elders from the sects who managed to obtain the spots were all in rather ebullient moods.
The quasi-Emperor said in a deep voice, “I believe the seniors of your various sects and clans already briefed you on where we are going later, so I will not repeat it.
“I will only say this. Treasure this chance well. It was not easy for the Martial God Palace to get these ten spots. Do not forget this favor in the future.”
As the quasi-Emperor spoke, his gaze lingered especially on Yan Shisan and Ying Qiong for a long time. Evidently, the upper echelons did not think well of the Sovereign Noble Clans.
While the Sovereign Noble Clans were clearly part of the human faction, they were never willing to work together with the Martial God Palace. They did not care about the fate of humans, only about their own benefits. However, they were extraordinarily strong.
Yan Shisan did not show any expression on his stern face. Ying Qiong remained calm as well. The two of them did not pay much heedn to the quasi-Emperor’s words.
Kunlun Mountain was the center of the entire Kunlun Realm. It was in the middle of the Profound Domain, having existed there for an extremely long time, even in the Immortal Epoch.
The Kunlun Realm had five great Domains—the Fiend Domain, Ghost Domain, Deity Domain, Tianwu Domain, and the Corpse Domain—each of which was ruled by one of the five major races.
There were still two other domains, the Primal Chaos Domain and the Profound Domain. There was not much to say about the Primal Chaos Domain. It was the land of chaos and evil, situated at the edge of the Kunlun Realm.
The Profound Domain was very different. It was the center of the Kunlun Realm, connected to all five of the great Domains. It had much more resources and Remnants than the five domains combined.
Nearly all the elite forces and peak geniuses of the entire Kunlun Realm gathered there. The human race’s various Sovereign Noble Clans also situated their headquarters there.
Aside from these human Sovereign Noble Clans, there were also ancient clans with several tens of thousands of years of history.
Conflicts between the various races, both hidden and open, were common there. As long as one race showed weakness, the other races would move to occupy that race’s territory.
The Tianwu Domain’s Martial God Palace, the Ghost Domain’s Spirit Palace, the Corpse Race’s Corpse God Palace, the Deity Race’s Thousand Deity Church, and the Fiend Domain’s Heavenly Fiend Palace, these large factions, which were as strong as the Martial God Palace, sent large numbers of elite cultivators to the Profound Domain.
The factions of the entire Profound Domain were extremely complicated and messy. The competition between the younger generations of every race was even more cutthroat here, not something comparable to in the five great domains.
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After half a month, the Martial God Palace’s Emperor Grade warship finally flew out of the vast Tianwu Domain and entered the Profound Domain. However, they were still a long distance from Kunlun Mountain.
The Martial God Palace’s Emperor Grade warship pierced through the clouds, and many ancient cities appeared before everyone’s eyes.
Several cities had vast resources within them. An indistinct dragon image was visible above these cities; that was the Sovereign’s Qi.
This dragon image proved that factions in these cities once had Sovereign Martial Emperors. Even after hundreds or thousands of years, they still watched over their clans.
If the dragon image looked solid, it indicated that the faction of that city had a Sovereign Martial Emperor guarding them.
However, most of these dragon images were indistinct; solid dragon images were very rare. As of now, the number of strong Martial Emperors could be counted with the fingers of two hands—at least ostensibly.
After Xiao Chen got bored of the scene below, he returned to his room and took out the painting of the Azure Emperor’s Drawing the Saber.
Soon, a knocking came from Xiao Chen’s door. He put away the painting and went out.
When Xiao Chen saw who it was, he was not surprised at all. In fact, he felt that this person was rather late, much later than he anticipated.
“Come in.”
After opening the door, Xiao Chen invited Ying Qiong in. Then he poured her a cup of tea.
Ying Qiong was in no rush to sit down. She gave Xiao Chen the once-over as if it was her first time seeing him.
“I really wonder how many more secrets you have.”
After sighing somewhat helplessly, Ying Qiong slowly sat down.
Xiao Chen gave Ying Qiong a deep look and retorted, “I should be the one asking you that. How come, when the other three Sovereign Noble Clans wanted to kill me the moment they saw me, only your Ying Clan did not make a move?”
Ying Qiong picked up her teacup and took a sip. Then she smiled and replied, “The Azure Emperor had friends as well. When he headed the Martial God Palace, our Ying Clan could be considered his ally.
“However, the Azure Emperor has already been dead for a long time, and the Dragon’s Gate no longer exists. It is hard to say how many people in the Ying Clan would acknowledge this alliance.”
Xiao Chen thought for a while before asking, “What is the relationship between your Ying Clan and the Sky Dome Realm’s Great Qin Nation’s Royal Clan?”
Ying Qiong smiled faintly and replied, “They can be considered an important branch of our Ying Clan. They are very mysterious. As for the details, I am not clear on those. That information is limited to the upper echelons due to the direct instruction of our Ying Clan’s ancestor.”
Xiao Chen thought, It looks like I really have to return to the Sky Dome Realm to take a look if I have time. Perhaps Ying Yue knows more than I imagined.
However, the most important thing now was something else. Xiao Chen asked calmly, “How is the collection of the three main ingredients of the Breaking Sage Pill going?”
Ying Qiong had been ready for this question. She immediately replied, “Rather successful. We already found two of them. We will definitely be able to find the last one within two months.”
Two months were not that long. That time was much faster than the original estimate. Xiao Chen said, “Remember to inform me the moment everything is complete. I can hand the other half of the core painting piece to you at any time.”
Xiao Chen was now in even more of a rush to advance to Martial Sage. Without advancing to Martial Sage, he would not feel any sense of security.
Ying Qiong nodded gently and raised up another topic. “How much do you know about the Heavenly Dew Divine Spring. Have you thought about why the cultivators who soaked in the Heavenly Dew Divine Spring would definitely become a Martial Emperor within one hundred years?”
Naturally, Xiao Chen had thought about this before. He told Ying Qiong his guesses. “The people who can gain the qualifications to soak in the Heavenly Dew Divine Spring are the elites of the elites of every race in the first place. With their talent, calling them demonic geniuses is still an understatement. Even without the Heavenly Dew Divine Spring, they still stand a large chance of advancing to Martial Emperor.
“The Heavenly Dew Divine Spring washes the marrow and blood, raising their already ridiculously high talent. It is not strange that they would be able to advance to Martial Emperor even earlier.”
Ying Qiong smiled cheekily and said, “That is a pretty good guess. However, that is not the crucial point. Do you know what is suppressed under the Kunlun Realm?”
Xiao Chen asked curiously, “What?”
“The Rock of Origin!”
The Rock of Origin was very mysterious. It was said to be the heart of the entire Kunlun Realm. Whether it was the Martial Epoch or the Immortal Epoch, they started from this Rock of Origin.
Ying Qiong continued, “If the Rock of Origin is destroyed, the entire Kunlun Realm will shatter. In other words, whoever holds the Rock of Origin is the true sovereign of the Kunlun Realm. This is also the reason for the Deep Abyss Demonic World’s multiple invasions over several tens of thousands of years; they want to destroy Kunlun Mountain and grasp the Rock of Origin.
“However, now the Rock of Origin is sealed under Kunlun Mountain. None of the races control it. Furthermore, none of them dare to break the seal rashly. Nobody knows much about the exact uses of the Rock of Origin.”
When Xiao Chen heard this secret, his expression did not change much. This was something far beyond him. He said, “What does the Rock of Origin have to do with the Heavenly Dew Divine Spring?”
“The source of the Heavenly Dew Divine Spring is the liquified Qi produced by the Rock of Origin. Now, do you understand why the cultivators who soaked in the Heavenly Dew Divine Spring would advance to Martial Emperor within a hundred years?” Ying Qiong said happily.
If that was the case, then becoming a Martial Emperor within a hundred years was easy to understand. After all, the Rock of Origin was such a heaven-defying item that its enabling such a miracle would not be strange.
After the two chatted for a while longer, they parted.
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Five days later, Xiao Chen heard astonished cries coming from outside, so he stopped practicing the Azure Emperor’s Drawing the Saber and went to the deck.
At the limits of his vision, Xiao Chen saw a vast mountain range. That mountain range looked endless as if it split the entire Profound Domain in half.
In fact, that was the case. The Kunlun Mountain Range spanned millions of kilometers. There were countless mountain peaks. Even to this day, no one had managed to explore the entire mountain range completely.
It had many Immortal Remnants and formations. Even Sovereign Martial Emperors did not dare to rashly explore the place alone. During the Ancient Era, people had even seen extremely mysterious mystical Immortal Beasts in there.
The main mountain peak of the Kunlun Mountain Range sat in the center, rising up into the clouds, piercing through the sky. Spiritual fog surrounded it, blocking the view of the crowd and preventing one from seeing exactly how high it was.
The mountain peak looked majestic, much more so than any other mountain Xiao Chen had seen before. Furthermore, it clearly had a mysterious spirituality to it.
Xiao Chen carefully observed the various peaks around. He felt that many differences about the central mountain peak made it stand out from the group.
Unfortunately, he did not know the art of geomancy and could not figure out what the most significant differences were.
The quasi-Emperor in official robes from the Martial God Palace, who had not shown himself for a long time, came out at this time as well. When he saw the majestic Kunlun Mountain, he revealed an expression of respect.
The Emperor Grade warship moved very fast. The still quite distant main peak of the Kunlun Mountain Range that had been at the limits of the line of sight was now clearly visible.
Its grand and majestic atmosphere was now directly perceptible. No matter who looked at this peak, they would feel exceedingly insignificant.
Just at this moment, auras that would make one tremble from the very depths of one’s heart came from every corner of the mountain.
All the demonic geniuses of the Tianwu Domain, including Xiao Chen, fell onto one knee. Sweat flowed copiously down their foreheads, and their expressions seemed oppressed.
The grandmaster-level Martial Sages did not feel very good, either. They unleashed their auras to do their best to resist.
However, the overbearing auras left as quickly as they came, immediately withdrawing when they recognized the Martial God Palace’s warship.