Chapter 661: Collecting Divine Thrones (Two in One)

Having made his decision, Yan Jing hesitated no longer, and the weird energy swirling around him quietly dissipated.

Since he had decided to condense his own Divine Throne, he naturally wouldn't do it right now.

The four Divine Thrones he had on hand were simply too few.

There was still some time before Advent Day.

He could start his preparations now.

"Zheng Youlan will still need some time, so there's no rush. I can use this window to take a trip to the Inner World."

Yan Jing murmured softly. Closing his eyes, he entered the Inner World.

...

...

"Seriously, what kind of crazy fit is Old Four having now?"

Xue Shi, the second sibling of the Xue Family, stood outside the clan hall and looked at her younger siblings around her.

Xue Rou, Xue Yunhe, Xue Wan, and Xue Xiao all remained silent.

They had no idea why Xue Mo had rushed to the clan hall so frantically early in the morning.

Before Xue Mo entered the hall, they had asked him in passing, but he only said he had something to discuss with the Xue Family's ancestor.

Those words were undoubtedly a bomb dropped into the water.

After all, everyone knew that ever since that ancestor returned from his trip to Old Sin City, he had announced his intention to pass the position of Xue Family patriarch to Xue Mo.

As for the ancestor's decision, Xue Yi—the current Xue Family patriarch and Xue Mo's father—had actually maintained his silence.

Clearly, Xue Yi didn't want to abdicate so soon.

However, the ancestor didn't seem to care much about Xue Yi's thoughts and maintained a very unyielding attitude.

In the end, Xue Mo had to step forward and state that his qualifications were still too shallow and that he had no intention of inheriting the position, which finally made the ancestor drop the matter.

But... the whole situation still appeared rather bizarre.

This also made the current atmosphere in the Xue Family feel fraught with surging undercurrents to most observers.

At a juncture like this, Xue Mo suddenly seeking out the ancestor seemed, in his siblings' eyes, like the absolute precursor to an erupting conflict.

Meanwhile, inside the hall.

Yan Jing looked at the elder, who resembled a crimson fish, with a placid expression.

"Greetings, Ancestor."

Although he offered his greetings, there wasn't much respect in his tone, and his actions were limited to a slight bow.

"Xue kid, you've come."

In contrast, the elder appeared much more excited.

"Have you finally thought it through?"

"No."

Yan Jing's response poured cold water over the elder's enthusiasm.

"Young people shouldn't be so stubborn..." the elder mumbled softly, his pride stinging a little.

"But I did come here this time because I have a favor to ask of you."

Yan Jing spoke.

"Is that so? Tell me."

Hearing this normally expressionless junior actually take the initiative to ask him for something, the elder's interest was piqued, and he sat up straighter.

"It's like this: I wish to acquire a Divine Throne before Advent Day arrives. I was wondering if you could offer some guidance and advice."

Yan Jing spoke in a cool voice.

The moment these words came out, the elder's pupils contracted.

He stood up as if startled, the four limbs growing out of his fish body paddling as he paced back and forth in midair for quite a while.

Finally, he slowly came to a halt and looked at Yan Jing.

"Do you even know what the exact process of Advent Day entails, kid?"

Yan Jing replied softly, "I've heard a little. Advent Day can be divided into Heaven Revelation, Earth Revelation, and Divine Revelation."

"Among them, Divine Revelation refers to the revelation of the myriad Deities."

"Earth Revelation refers to the Domain Revelation."

"Heaven Revelation refers to the Heaven-Transforming Revelation."

Yan Jing only said this much. These were the things Chen Nian had told him back in Old Sin City.

"Then do you know what the myriad Deities' revelation, the Domain Revelation, and the Heaven-Transforming Revelation respectively refer to?"

The elder looked at Yan Jing.

Yan Jing shook his head.

The elder spoke softly, "First is the Domain Revelation."

"The Domain Revelation involves all Lords of the Domain leading their own Domains to slaughter one another. Apart from the Lords of the Domain, all existences at the Ninth Tier and above are forbidden from participating in the battle."

"And even the Lords of the Domain can only engage in single combat with the opposing Lord of the Domain; they cannot launch attacks against ordinary residents."

"In the end, the victorious Domain survives, and the defeated Domain is annexed."

"The old Domains head toward extinction, and the new Domains gain new true names under the auspices of their Lords of the Domain, becoming new First Level Domains for the next ten thousand years."

A new First Level Domain.

Yan Jing knew that someone like the previous Hermit had made a move against the Cat Ship precisely to win during the Domain Revelation.

However, the final outcome hadn't gone as he'd wished.

To leave one's name in a Domain for ten thousand years, and to have a group of people in this vast world living happily while relying on you.

The Domain Revelation did indeed sound appealing.

Seeing Yan Jing's thoughtful expression, Red Fish continued, "Next is the Heaven-Transforming Revelation."

"This is the exclusive stage for the truly ruthless."

"Abandoning their physical bodies, focusing entirely on their wills, and relying on true chaos to become a singular existence."

"This revelation is the most mysterious of them all. It's said to hide the secret behind the world's Mutation, so I don't know much about it either."

After pausing for a few seconds, Red Fish said, "Finally, and most importantly, is the revelation of the myriad Deities."

"The revelation of the myriad Deities, as the name suggests, is the opportunity to become a Deity."

"Once this revelation begins, the myriad Deities will all reveal themselves. Some Divine Thrones might be vacant after their original masters fell; some Deities might wish to recruit assistants to serve as their Demigods; others might want to abdicate and find a successor. Regardless of the reason, when that day comes, all the Deities will cast their gazes upon the six beacon towers of this world."

"This is the gaze of the Deities."

"If you want to acquire a Divine Throne, you must first get the Deities to notice you. Before Advent Day arrives, all the Deities are busy preparing for it and accumulating power. They simply don't have the time to cast their gazes down to the plane we reside in."

Pausing for a moment, Red Fish seemed to want to reinforce his argument as he glanced at Yan Jing.

"Have you ever seen any Deity cast their gaze down during normal times?"

"..."

Yan Jing blinked. He recalled the multiple gazes that had appeared in the past, and how some of them had even exhausted every possible method to transmit their voices to him...

Finally, to save Red Fish's face, he could only slowly say, "Indeed, I haven't."

"Exactly!"

Red Fish nodded in profound agreement, wearing an expression that said 'this child is teachable.'

"But it will be different once Advent Day arrives. All the Deities will be forcibly awakened, and at that moment, they will cast their gazes downward."

"When that time comes, as long as you are chosen and defeat the other candidates, you can obtain a Divine Throne."

Yan Jing nodded.

"So your meaning, Ancestor, is that if I want to acquire a Divine Throne before Advent Day, I need to use special methods in advance to contact a Deity, have them cast their gaze down, and see if I can attract their attention."

Red Fish nodded.

"That's true, but what I actually mean is..."

"The means to contact a Deity are incredibly precious. Advent Day is less than a week away. Rather than wasting that effort, you might as well wait until Advent Day begins."

"Furthermore, if you contact a Deity now, they will only be looking at you. Without any comparison, they might not necessarily choose you. In fact, it might even backfire."

"Of course, I don't mean that you lack the capability, kid. It's mainly that the things you've learned are a bit too miscellaneous..."

After Red Fish finished speaking, Yan Jing nodded.

"Understood."

Red Fish nodded.

He felt that he had explained things thoroughly enough.

But a second later, Yan Jing slowly said, "In that case, you definitely still know how to contact the Deity behind us, right, Ancestor?"

"..."

Red Fish looked at Yan Jing somewhat helplessly.

"You absolutely have to try?"

Yan Jing nodded.

"Let's give it a try."

Red Fish sighed helplessly. The weird energy around him surged. After a good while, he squeezed a long stick of incense out of his gills, dropping it by Yan Jing's feet.

"Lighting this Blood Incense can awaken the Deity associated with the Bloodline behind our Xue Family. Once you feel a gaze resting upon you, fully agitate the weird energy around you and unleash your strongest ability."

Yan Jing nodded.

"Alright, thank you, Ancestor."

Picking up the Blood Incense, he bowed slightly to Red Fish and walked out of the hall.

Watching Yan Jing's receding figure, Red Fish sighed again.

In his view, this wasn't the best choice.

The only advantage of stepping into the Demigod Realm before Advent Day was the ability to seize the initiative right when Advent Day began, but the risks were exponentially greater.

If Yan Jing hadn't saved his life in the past, he definitely would have tried to stop him.

"Forget it, forget it. He's just someone who hasn't hit a wall yet..."

He sighed and turned back to his specially made seat, inserting all four of his limbs into the holes in the chair. Closing his eyes, he used the barbels next to his mouth to slowly sip his tea, bit by bit.

He loved drinking tea—loved it very much, in fact. When it came to good tea, his favorite thing was to savor it slowly.

Sometimes, he could spend a whole week drinking just a single cup of tea.

This time was no different.

He started drinking, and it lasted straight through to the next day.

Until...

"Rumble!!!"

A pillar of bloody light soared into the sky in the distance, piercing straight into the clouds.

Red Fish snapped his eyes open. Peering through the walls of the hall, he seemed to catch sight of that pillar of bloody light, and his pupils immediately trembled.

He succeeded?

So fast?!!

...

...

"Hah—hah—hah—"

Bing Yao exhaled hot breaths, continuously rubbing her hands together.

She was a member of the Ice Clan.

Her entire body was made of solid ice.

Yet, upon arriving in this Domain, she felt chilled to the bone. In just the short time she had been here, she had already sneezed several times in a row.

She looked at Wen Xu, who was acting completely nonchalant beside her, and inwardly marveled once again at how monstrous this man was.

"Lord Wen, this is the altar used to communicate and connect with the Deity behind our Ice Clan."

Bing Yao said.

At this moment, the two of them were situated beneath ten thousand fathoms of ice. There had been no tangible path to reach this place; they could only carve through the ice, going straight down until they found this small, hollowed-out space.

The ground of this space was very flat. In front of them lay a small, frigid pool. The surface of the water displayed a hue somewhere between pale blue and deep azure, completely placid and rippleless, resembling a flawless piece of jade.

"According to the clan's records, one simply needs to throw the prepared Supreme Ice into the frigid pool. After waiting for a moment, if the Supreme Ice earns approval, the Deity will grant a corresponding response."

Bing Yao breathed out another breath of hot air, puffing out a cloud of white mist.

"But... that's just what's recorded. In truth, it has been a very long time since any Supreme Ice thrown down by someone in the clan has gained approval."

Hearing this, Yan Jing furrowed his brow.

"Are you certain the Deity at the end of this path hasn't already fallen?"

Yan Jing's words were clearly offensive to the Ice Clan, but Bing Yao didn't say anything and merely shook her head.

"That won't happen, My Lord. Although the altar hasn't given any responses, it still throws all of our Supreme Ice back out."

As she spoke, a hint of embarrassment appeared on her face.

"It's probably because they don't want our level of ice to pollute the altar."

Yan Jing nodded.

"Can I give it a try?"

"Of course you can."

Bing Yao nodded.

Even though she didn't think Yan Jing would succeed, since he had already asked, she had no reason to stop him.

"Good."

Yan Jing extended a finger, and weird energy surged at its tip.

Arcs of light poured out, transforming into a small, droplet-shaped piece of ice.

The block of ice looked incredibly pure and transparent, even clearer than glass. The moment it appeared, it caused the surrounding ice and snow to riot, as the ice shards suspended in the air all rushed toward it with reckless abandon.

This phenomenon even affected everything all the way up to the surface.

The massive blizzard seemed to trigger a chain reaction, transforming into a violent gale that poured down into the icy path Yan Jing and Bing Yao had just carved out.

"Rumble—"

The howling wind plunged ten thousand fathoms underground, churning frantically and causing the entire ice layer to shake violently, resembling a terrifying earthquake.

Bing Yao looked at everything before her in shock. Watching the cracks spread outward from beside the two of them, she instantly broke out in an anxious sweat.

"Throw it quickly! My Lord! Throw it quickly!!!"

If he didn't throw it soon, she was genuinely worried that this land where the Ice Clan had lived for ten thousand years would be completely destroyed.

Plop!

Fortunately, Yan Jing finally threw the block of ice into the frigid pool.

Without the ice block's attraction, the blizzard seemed to instantly lose its momentum, falling away and completely filling up the icy path.

Bing Yao hurriedly used her weird energy to block the falling snow and ice, which prevented the two of them from being buried alive.

She didn't know what was inside that frigid pool, but the ice block Yan Jing threw in was indeed sinking bit by bit, rather than floating on the surface as it normally would.

And then...

There was a long silence.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes...

Ten minutes passed.

Yan Jing gazed at the frigid pool, which hadn't shown any activity whatsoever. He turned his head and looked at Bing Yao.

"Do you usually have to wait this long for the ice block to be thrown back?"

"No..."

Bing Yao's eyes were also filled with confusion.

"It should be very fast."

Yan Jing nodded.

"Then the Deity here has probably already fallen."

He stated this bold conclusion directly, as he had absolute confidence in the ice he had condensed.

Bing Yao didn't know what to say. She could neither refute it nor easily agree.

She couldn't exactly say something like, 'Maybe your skills just aren't up to par.'

She wouldn't dare.

But just as the two of them were preparing to head back, a deep sigh suddenly echoed in their ears.

"My Lord, are you sighing?"

Bing Yao looked at Yan Jing beside her.

Yan Jing remained expressionless.

"It wasn't me."

"Sigh—"

Another deep sigh resounded.

Judging from the sound, it seemed to be a woman's voice.

The two of them looked toward the frigid pool.

Now it was clear: it was coming from inside the pool.

Bing Yao's eyes went wide.

She had never heard of the frigid pool making sounds before; even the clan's history held no such records.

Yan Jing nodded.

"I apologize to your Ice Clan."

"The Deity behind you truly isn't dead."