Translator: CinderTL
Azure Star Minor Realm.
Under the watchful gaze of all, everyone knew Li Chunjun had entered the Multiverse Hegemony War.
However, due to equipment limitations, almost none of the Core Formation cultivators had devices connected to the False God Realm, making it impossible to receive news from there.
Moreover, the signal from the False God Realm to Azure Star was currently blocked.
At this moment, on the Inheritance Peak of the Taixu Sword Sect, Shadowless True Lord was drinking alone in silence.
Beside him, Qi Qian Yu sat calmly, betraying no emotion.
After a long moment, Shadowless True Lord finally set down his gourd with a weary sigh. "I wonder how that boy is doing now?"
"The information from the Azure Star Minor Realm remains blocked. That's the best outcome," Qi Qian Yu replied.
"That boy! Can't he learn to keep a low profile? He's already reached 211th place in the Nascent Soul-level battlefield! How can those Perfected Great Lords of Late Nascent Soul Stage who rank behind him save face?"
Shadowless True Lord grumbled on, "And you said he was doing perfectly well, waiting for the Star Gate to open so he could directly join our Taixu Sword Sect's main sect. With the sect's support, he could have openly challenged the Xuanhuang Star..."
Shadowless True Lord grumbled, "Besides, you said he was doing perfectly fine. He could have waited for the Star Gate to open and gone straight to our Taixu Sword Sect's main sect. With the main sect's support, he could have openly challenged the Profound Yellow Star Brilliance List and basked in glory. Why would he choose to participate in the Multiverse Hegemony War?"
"Didn't you tell him to open his eyes and see the world?" Qi Qian Yu chuckled. "He did just that. He broadened his horizons and realized that with his potential, he deserved a much grander stage than this tiny Blue Star Minor Realm."
Shadowless True Lord fell silent.
Qi Qian Yu looked up, as if gazing at the heavens or beyond the Lesser World, at the vast and boundless myriad worlds above the nine heavens.
"In a confined environment like the Blue Star Minor Realm, for truly peerless geniuses, there are rules, restrictions, surveillance, and control everywhere. While this maintains stability, it leaves little room for freedom. Only on a vast stage like the Multiverse Hegemony War battlefield can he truly unleash his full potential and showcase his talents without restraint."
Qi Qian Yu concluded, "Going to the Multiverse Hegemony War battlefield isn't necessarily a bad thing for him."
"I understand that," Shadowless True Lord sighed. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have tried to persuade him earlier. It's just... I never expected him to leap so far in a single step."
"The real reason your heart isn't at peace is simply that he didn't follow your plan of laying low for a year or two, patiently waiting for the Star Gate to open before heading to the main sect. But..." Qi Qian Yu's expression remained indifferent. "You should know why we came to the Blue Star Minor Realm in the first place."
Shadowless True Lord fell silent.
Huan Ming, You Long, Bai Lian, and Lei Yuan were naturally drawn to the Star Gate in the Blue Star Minor Realm, believing it would become a crucial transit hub in the Azure Sea Domain, allowing them to amass vast wealth and gather resources for their advancement to True Monarch.
But for them... they were failures who couldn't keep up with the changing times.
When the Taixu Sword Sect joined the Immortal Alliance, it gained access to a vast new realm of development. However, it also abandoned its previous methods, strictly enforcing the alliance's rules and regulations.
Some found this to be a positive change. By joining the larger family of the Immortal Alliance, the Taixu Sword Sect had addressed its weaknesses in areas other than combat and killing.
Intermediate cultivators could easily obtain large quantities of mass-produced materials and pills, lowering the cultivation barriers for the Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Primordial Spirit realms.
Advanced cultivators could alleviate the pressure on the Taixu Sword Sect from other sects and foreign races while dominating the Profound Yellow Great World.
Everyone benefited.
However, some Sword Cultivators who adhered to ancient ideals found themselves out of sync in this new environment.
Yet, they were powerless to oppose the decisions of the sect's highest echelons, lest they trigger a schism and internal conflict.
Ultimately, these Sword Cultivators gradually drifted away from the core of power. Some were assigned to guard resource-rich territories, others participated in battles like the Two Worlds Mountain Battlefield, and still others, like Shadowless True Lord and Qi Qian Yu, came to Lesser Worlds to pioneer new territories.
Shadowless True Lord and Qi Qian Yu were both examples of this.
However, compared to Shadowless True Lord, Qi Qian Yu, the number one expert of the Taixu Sword Sect on Blue Star, seemed to possess a more serene state of mind.
At this moment, Shadowless True Lord seemed to recall something and glanced at Qi Qian Yu. "Your emotional fluctuations have been significant in recent decades. If it weren't for the fact that you haven't yet undergone your Primordial Spirit Tribulation, I'd have thought you were already delving into the mysteries of mental power."
"Mental power..."
Qi Qian Yu murmured to himself, "Qi refined from Essence Qi and Divine Sense refined from spirit are both finite and material. Only the heart, vast and boundless, holds the potential for infinity."
He drifted into reverie, his voice soft. "With an infinite heart to bear the infinite Dao, one can refine spirit to return to emptiness, discard the false to seek the true, and unite emptiness and reality."
Shadowless True Lord, hearing this, couldn't help but look at him with surprise. "This...?"
"The transformation of the Primordial Spirit will bring down a Thunder Tribulation."
Qi Qian Yu continued, "The Ninefold Thunder Tribulation is both a trial for the cultivator and an opportunity to directly confront the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth! The Grand Dao Power will manifest clearly before the cultivator during the Thunder Tribulation..."
Shadowless True Lord understood this well.
Some Primordial Spirit True Monarchs, even with the strength to undergo the tribulation, would restrain themselves, accumulating reserves to gain an advantage during the process.
After all, Void Refining, the next stage beyond the Primordial Spirit...
It was incredibly difficult!
Of course, such Primordial Spirit True Monarchs were rare.
For most True Monarchs, surviving the Thunder Tribulation and enduring this life-or-death trial already exhausted their entire strength.
Qi Qian Yu had also considered this. Further discussion was pointless.
He immediately changed the subject. "Instead of pondering Li Chunjun's current situation, I think you'd be better off keeping an eye on the Wu Ji Sect."
"The Wu Ji Sect?"
"The fact that information from the Blue Star Minor Realm has been blocked and all World Descent activities have been halted suggests that Li Chunjun performed exceptionally well at Two Realms Mountain, as always. The more brilliant his performance, the greater the pressure on the Wu Ji Sect and the Chiyang Sword Sect. It's hard to rule out the possibility that they might resort to desperate measures."
Qi Qian Yu turned his gaze toward the Wu Ji Sect. "After all, when their path to survival is cut off, people are capable of anything."
"You mean..."
Shadowless True Lord's pupils narrowed slightly.
"There are still Divine Race Affiliates on Blue Star."
Qi Qian Yu said, "In the past, for reasons that were too shameful to mention, the Nine Immortal Sects tacitly allowed some Divine Race Affiliates to slip through the net. Now, they must face the consequences of their actions."
Shadowless True Lord couldn't sit still after hearing this.
While most Golden Core cultivators in the Human Race knew nothing about Li Chunjun's situation at Two Realms Mountain, let alone the Divine Race Affiliates hiding in the shadows...
What if someone were to reveal their locations?
The Nine Immortal Sects couldn't send out messages due to the False God Realm being blocked, but that didn't mean the Divine Race Affiliates were completely helpless.
"I'll go right away! Furthermore, I'll have Huan Ming purge all Divine Race Believers and Servitors worldwide," Shadowless True Lord declared.
Qi Qian Yu remained silent.
But he knew it was pointless.
Some Servitors were secretly supported by the Nine Immortal Sects, and their identities and locations were unknown to the other sects. The so-called global purge was nothing more than a joke.
Yet he didn't stop Shadowless True Lord.
Whether it could be done was one thing; whether it would be done was another.
Two Worlds Mountain Battlefield.
Continent 84.
After Li Chunjun, Zhao Yu Pan, and the others entered this continent, they didn't repeat their previous tactic of luring an Apex Divine Spirit into an ambush.
Instead, they advanced across the entire continent with an almost brazenly open display of force.
Based on the intelligence they currently possessed, Continent 84 seemed to lack any Apex Divine Spirits. Even Greater Divine Spirits and Common Divine Spirits were surprisingly scarce.
This anomaly quickly led True Lord Zhi Yuan to a realization.
"It's Continent 6!"
The Nascent Soul True Lord, who had participated in three Great Wars of the Two Realms, spoke gravely. "The Divine Race elites in the vicinity have all concentrated on Continent 6. This explains why Continent 84, which should have at least one Apex Divine Spirit and dozens of Divine Spirits, now has so few."
He watched Li Chunjun casually obliterate a Servitor with a single sword strike. "Even the Divine Spirits we're killing now are likely reinforcements rushing to Continent 6 from nearby. Continent 84 is merely a transit point for them."
"So, Continent 6 is now a veritable dragon's den?" Li Chunjun glanced in a certain direction.
"Well, it's been over five months since the Great War of the Two Realms began. Based on past experience, the first three months are typically a period of individual Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Spirits acting independently. Meanwhile, Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Spirits serving as team leaders work to quickly gather their members and complete their convergence. By the fourth month, once they've had time to coordinate, they'll begin launching coordinated assaults on Divine Race or Human Race territories."
True Lord Zhi Yuan spoke rapidly: "By then, the battles will mostly involve clashes between dozens of Divine Spirits and Nascent Soul cultivators. Occasionally, even three-digit numbers of Divine Spirits and Nascent Soul cultivators will clash, escalating the intensity of the fighting. Certain particularly fierce and stalemated battlefields will become focal points, drawing in even more Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Spirits."
"Is that what's happening on Continent 6?"
"With the constant influx of Nascent Soul cultivators and Divine Spirits, plus the presence of our Human Race Prodigy Chu Ci, Continent 6 has become a critical battleground for us, a place we must save at all costs. It perfectly fits the criteria for triggering a major war."
True Lord Zhi Yuan sighed: "But in reality, for us, sparking such a large-scale conflict isn't necessarily a good thing."
Li Chunjun understood his meaning.
The Human Race currently held a significant advantage: the "map."
They knew their enemy and themselves intimately.
Under these circumstances, the most effective strategy was to use small groups to ambush smaller Divine Race groups, exploiting the information gap.
If they continued to stall like this, the Human Race's advantage would only grow.
Of course, it was also possible the Divine Race had realized this themselves, which was why they had meticulously used Chu Ci as bait for their "Surround and Reinforce" plan.
The ultimate outcome remained to be seen.
At this moment, a streak of light shot across the horizon.
It was Zhao Yu Pan, returning with a Divine Spirit.
"This is..."
Li Chunjun's eyes lit up as he examined the Divine Spirit, who was bound in restraints.
"Sword Prodigy Li, you mentioned earlier that it would be best to capture a Divine Spirit alive to gather intelligence on the Divine Race's activities on Continent 6. On my way back, I happened to encounter one who thought they were hiding perfectly, so I launched a surprise attack and captured them."
The Perfected Great Lord of the Late Nascent Soul Stage explained with a smile. "However, it's unlikely to be useful. Divine Spirits are notoriously stubborn. Their fanatical devotion to the gods makes it nearly impossible to extract any useful information from them."
"No! This is very significant!"
Li Chunjun took the Divine Spirit. "I will use Divine Sense Secret Arts to interrogate this Divine Spirit. You all patrol the perimeter and ensure no one approaches!"
Though they didn't know what Divine Sense Secret Arts could possibly extract information from a creature whose soul was dedicated to an Evil God, their trust in Li Chunjun compelled them to bow in agreement and disperse to their assigned posts.
(End of the Chapter)
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