Volume 1, Chapter 426 – Prelude

“From this day forth, there will be no more vicious beast attacks on the cities.”

At one side, the dragonfish lightly stirred its wings, and a faint glimmer appeared in its lifeless eyes.

When the words fell, the figures of the two Beast Emperors gradually receded into the distance.

“No matter what, go back and make your preparations.”

The headmaster of Tianhuo Academy let out a sigh and hurriedly ended this high-level meeting of the Qiongluo Realm.

In the blink of an eye, only the headmasters of the five great academies remained in the hall.

“Perhaps… we can ask for aid.”

A gray-bearded elder stood up, swept his gaze around the hall, and then spoke:

“The Divine Son of Huanyu Divine Hall, a holy land of the Jiyi Great World, is currently in secluded study at my Guiyi Academy, cultivating the Dao of runes. Perhaps through him, we can request aid from Huanyu Divine Hall. If we can obtain the assistance of even one Supreme…”

“You’re trying to drive away the wolf by inviting in the tiger! The Jiyi Great World also seeks expansion. When that time comes, we will still be fish on the chopping block, and the Qiongluo Realm will still be unable to escape the fate of being annexed.”

“The best possible outcome would only be for the Qiongluo Realm to be handed over as tribute.”

The five headmasters exchanged glances, then all let out heavy sighs, a deep sense of helplessness rising in their hearts.

They had long foreseen a situation like this. Heaven and earth had changed, and no more Supremes could be born.

Their Dao had long since taken shape, and other worlds would be even less likely to permit them to condense a Dao fruit.

Their road had already reached its end. Other than Qiongluo, they had no other choice.

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…

After the various high-level powers of the Qiongluo Realm left the divine hall, they immediately hurried back to their respective factions to prepare.

Some sharpened their weapons and drilled their troops, activating countless heavy rune weapons and preparing for a desperate struggle.

Others summoned certain special disciples and held secret talks.

The Qiongluo Realm had long since become riddled with holes. There were too many outsiders from beyond the realm to count, and every major power had such people in their ranks. Naturally, it was not only people from Reincarnation Hall who were mixed in among them. It was a chaotic tangle of fish and dragons.

The fact that a Supreme was personally coming to war had already caused some to lose all courage to resist. They thought only of preserving a spark for their own race.

Even if it meant abandoning the Qiongluo Realm and wandering the starry void from then on, they were willing.

Some of the most powerful runemasters had even already begun preparing to head beyond the realm in search of a path to survival.

The entire Qiongluo Realm descended into chaos. Like a thunderclap, the curtain veiling the Qiongluo Realm was torn away, exposing it to the eyes of the predators lurking throughout the universe.

…

In a barren mountain range, Shi Lan sat cross-legged atop the corpse of a giant mastiff, directing runes into the Extreme Dao Rune Seal within her Nascent Soul.

Shi Lan knew nothing of the turmoil rising outside, but ever since killing those people from Reincarnation Hall, she had carried a faint unease in her heart.

Shi Lan would not ignore this sort of instinctive foreboding. At her level of strength, such premonitions often had a source.

The Extreme Dao Rune Seal in her Nascent Soul flickered faintly. It had already been on the verge of maturity, and after Shi Lan’s careful feeding, it was now only a single step away from fully maturing.

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Once it was complete, and Shi Lan fully refined it into the golden body of her Nascent Soul, she would obtain an unimaginable fortune. It would allow her to touch the power of the Supreme domain ahead of time, and would also serve as a rare form of validation for the road she would walk in the future.

Shi Lan slowly opened her eyes and glanced at the giant mastiff beneath her, a trace of doubt stirring in her mind.

The vicious beasts over the past two days seemed much more subdued. In particular, the high-tier beasts had all vanished without a trace. Only scattered low-level beasts appeared from time to time. That was clearly extremely abnormal.

“Samsara, have you dealt with people from Reincarnation Hall before?”

“A few times. Many systems from the headquarters have fallen into Reincarnation Hall’s hands. Since both sides plunder source power, conflict is only natural.”

Shi Lan thought of Liang Yunnan and the others, then asked, “Is Reincarnation Hall similar to Cube Space?”

“More or less. Reincarnation Hall is controlled by the Main God. I don’t know much about it either, but it definitely contains Supremes, and even stronger beings.”

For the most part, forces like this were extremely mysterious. It was difficult to see their foundations clearly, just as it had never managed to see what the core of headquarters truly was all these years.

“Are there other forces as well?”

“Of course. For example, the Heavenly Dao Alliance, which claims to be acting on behalf of heaven, or those few great worlds. When they see a system like me, or people from Reincarnation Hall, they kill without mercy. But in the end, what they fight over is still source power. The only difference is that their appetite is bigger. Usually, what they swallow is an entire world.”

Samsara had never spoken to Shi Lan about such things before, simply because it had felt her cultivation was too weak, and it was too early. But now, it had said everything in one breath.

“The Heavenly Dao Alliance?”

“They wield authority in heaven’s name, replacing heaven with themselves. They boast of upholding the justice of the Heavenly Dao and self-righteously maintain the cosmic order they believe to be correct. They’re just a bunch of sanctimonious hypocrites.”

“And what is a great world? A great thousand world?”

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“A world that surpasses the level of a great thousand world, evolved from a great thousand world after it annexes other worlds.”

“Annexes?”

A flicker passed through Shi Lan’s eyes, and she suddenly thought of the Illusory Star Domain.

“Worlds can devour one another as well?”

“You should still remember the Ancient God King.”

After pondering for a few seconds, Samsara said,

“The Ancient God King was undying and indestructible within the Lingyang Realm. Some people can also reach that sort of state, truly sharing the lifespan of heaven and earth by relying on their Dao fruit…”

Shi Lan understood immediately and came to a sudden realization.

As time passed, the power of the Heavenly Dao would inevitably continue to weaken, and the energy of a world would also seep away. In order to preserve their own strength and existence, it was only natural to annex other worlds to replenish themselves.

Shi Lan drew in a slow breath and lifted her head to look at the heavens. Too many secrets were hidden within that vast starry sky.

…

The traces of vicious beasts grew fewer and fewer. Shi Lan no longer wandered among mountains and secluded valleys, but instead entered the city and traded some of the vicious beast bones she had accumulated for rune stones.

As soon as she entered the city, she quickly sensed something was wrong. Even though war had not yet begun, that thick air of smoke and battle had already set her nerves on edge.

Everywhere, heavy rune weapons were being pushed onto the city walls, while runemasters skilled in forging worked day and night without rest, forging rune war weapons.

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The entire Qiongluo Realm was preparing for war.

Paper cannot wrap up fire. News that a Supreme was about to arrive had already spread throughout the land, throwing everything into panic.

“Could it be people from Reincarnation Hall?”

Looking at the pedestrians filling the streets, all of them stern and grim, the unease in Shi Lan’s heart deepened somewhat.

“Hard to say.”

Even Samsara could not be certain.

“Does the Qiongluo Realm have any chance of winning?”

To be honest, Shi Lan did not want this place to be stained by war. If that happened, the dead would number in the hundreds of millions.

“…”

Samsara did not answer. The meaning was clear without words.

A world without even a single Supreme would find it very difficult to withstand those wolves and tigers. The only difference was whether, in the end, the one to swallow this grand feast would be a wolf or a tiger.

Shi Lan stepped onto the city wall and looked as far as she could into the distance. Wave after wave of faint spatial ripples rose into the air, rushing straight toward the highest heavens.

This was the prelude to a war… and to flight.