A mysterious place far, far away.

This was a secret realm which was atop a towering tree which was countless kilometers tall. Near this giant tree, there was a lake that was overflowing with spiritual energy, and next to the lake sat a grim-looking man dressed in black imperial robes and who wore a crown on his head. The man was seated in the lotus position. This was Prince Greatjoy, and with every single breath he took he seemed to draw the spiritual energy of the lake into his body.

“Eh?” Prince Greatjoy couldn’t help but reveal a smile when he heard the news his servant brought him. “It seems as though Darknorth has dealt with his problems. How impressive. He was able to hold off Daolord Kongsan long enough to buy time for senior apprentice-brother Soleman to save him.”

“I am now a Daolord of the Second Step. I have gone through many dangerous places and profited from them, but I wouldn’t be able to survive Daolord Kongsan if I fought him head-on. Still.. this treasure of mine should allow me to escape through my control of spacetime.” Prince Greatjoy quite smugly produced a fist-sized seed. This seed was quite strange, and it seemed to throw the surrounding field of spacetime into a state of flux.

“All the suffering and trouble I went through in this place was worth it, now that I’ve found this. The real problem for me.. is how to get out!” Prince Greatjoy was rather irritated by this. “This is such an enormous place, but there are no other living creatures here save for myself.”

....

The darkness of outer space. An enormous beast was roaring furiously within the void, and opposite it stood Waterlord Firesurge. Firesurge was battling the creature in close combat, using vicious, accurate, and cruel strikes. His two hands would occasionally transform into streams of water that were filled with overwhelming amounts of power.

Crunch! The beast was already so heavily wounded that it could no longer fight back. Waterlord Firesurge managed to grip it by the throat using his enormous, watery right hand.

“Do you submit or not? If you do not submit, you will die!” Waterlord Firesurge’s eyes were filled with a sinister, murderous look.

“I’m willing to submit.” The beast hesitated for a moment, then finally lowered its head. Only then did Waterlord Firesurge produce a silver collar which was covered with divine runes. He casually waved his hand, causing the silver collar to fly out and encircle the beast’s neck. Moments later, it vanished entirely. As for the beast, it immediately became far more obedient.

“Eh?” Waterlord Firesurge frowned. “It seems Darknorth has grown much more powerful. He was actually able to buy himself enough time while being hunted by Daolord Kongsan for Daolord Soleman to save him? It seems that the difference between Darknorth myself is still significant. No.. no! I have to be the strongest one. Greatjoy, Solewind, Darknorth.. I will surpass them all.”

Whoosh. Waterlord Firesurge waved his hand, collecting the beast. His body then flickered as he disappeared into the void.

....

Within an ordinary mortal city in an ordinary mortal world. There were a number of roving patrols within this city, as well as a number of small-time merchants and commoners. There were quite a few beggars as well. A bald, thin, red-robed youth was walking through the streets of this city.

“Hey kid!” The youth suddenly walked towards a child beggar, then said in a soft voice, “I can sense the endless rage, hatred, and resentment festering in your heart. I’ll give you a special opportunity. Seize it, and you will have a chance to become the ruler of this kingdom, the most powerful figure here. But of course, it’s also possible that you will descend into the deepest hells, never to recover. Are you willing to give it a try?”

The child beggar was speechless. He glanced sideways at the other beggars and even the passerbys, but no one was looking at him. It was as though no one had even heard the treasonous words the red-robed youth had said to him.

“Me? The ruler of this kingdom?” The child beggar’s voice was clear and crisp, but it was also quavering.

“Right.” The red-robed youth nodded.

“I’m willing.” The child beggar gritted his teeth, then knelt down and kowtowed.

“Then go.” The red-robed youth waved his hand, causing a streak of light to fly into the beggar’s body. Moments later, the red-robed youth disappeared.

“Where’d he go?!” The child beggar frantically scanned his surroundings, but was completely unable to locate that youth. “My body..?” The child beggar could suddenly sense that his body was filled with an overwhelming, shocking amount of strength. He lowered his head and used his finger to poke at the rock beneath his feet.. and his finger pierced straight through it. He couldn’t help but feel wildly overjoyed. Moments later, his head started to hurt slightly as an enormous amount of information began to flood into it. This was a cultivation technique.

Far away, in the skies. The red-robed youth, Daolord Solewind, was staring downwards and watching all this happen. He nodded slightly. “I’ve already left behind thirty thousand seeds within this chaosworld. Now, let’s see how this world develops.”

Some cultivators needed to go out adventuring through dangerous places. However, other cultivators did not have to. Daolord Solewind’s path was that of a Heartforce Cultivator, and his path was a different one entirely.

For another example, Daolord Badlands’s path was the Dao of Numerancy. Even as a Daolord of the Third Step, he was already one of the top three divination experts in all the Endless Territories. Once he took one more step and became a Daolord of the Fourth Step, he’d undergo a fundamental change. Most likely, he would be ranked number one in divination in all the Endless Territories. His close combat abilities might not be overly impressive, but he would be ranked as one of the most difficult foes to deal with in the entire universe.

If you wanted to kill him, he would be able to sense it well in advance and have more than enough time to flee and hide. If he wanted to kill you, he would be able to set the most intricate of plots against you, calculating everything with precision. This was why the Dao of Numerancy was so terrifying. However, Daolord Badlands’ path was clearly an extremely difficult one to travel. Otherwise, how could he have reached such incredible heights in Numerancy despite merely being at the third step? As a result, reaching the fourth step would be extremely difficult as well.

“Oh? It seems brother Darknorth has managed to survive the dangerous situation he was in. Impressive.” Daolord Solewind nodded slightly. “Big brother Soleman is already at the Verge. Compared to him, I’m still lacking as a Heartforce Cultivator.”

....

The two messages Ning sent out to the Brightshore Kingdom caused quite a few of its Daolords and Emperors to become aware of his troubles. Lord Woodflower and the others let out sighs of relief when they heard the good news. They also realized that word of how Daolord Darknorth of the Sword Palace was able to survive Daolord Kongsan’s assault would surely spread. Soon, he would most assuredly stand at the very peak of power in the Endless Territories. He would become one of the most freakishly strong Daolords in existence.

....

Skywood City. The empty space outside and above the city. Two figures appeared within the empty void. It was Emperoer Skywood and the blue-haired elder.

“What a powerful remnant sword-intent.” Emperor Skywood said softly, “This is definitely a Hegemon’s sword-intent.”

“A Hegemon’s sword-intent? But none of the three Hegemons of the Endless Territories are skilled in the Dao of the Sword.” The blue-haired elder was instantly puzzled. “Could it have come from the Terror Starsea?”

“Yes. It most likely was generated from one of the curios that can be found in the Terror Starsea.” Emperor Skywood nodded. “Let me take a closer look.”

Whoosh. The surrounding field of spacetime quickly began to flow in reverse.. but as it did, some sort of invisible, terrifying power seemed to disrupt the process, causing the technique to dissipate.

“I’m not able to reverse it.” Emperor Skywood frowned when he saw this. “That surge of sword-intent was simply too strong. It completely disrupted the local fabric of spacetime. There’s no way for me to see what happened in the past here.”

“Then take a look at what happened right afterwards,” the blue-haired elder laughed.

“All I can see is what happened after that burst of power.” Emperor Skywood nodded. The Sword Hegemon’s Dao-seal was simply too powerful, disrupting even a temporal inversion spell to scry what had happened here. Everything that had ever happened here since the Sword Hegemon’s Dao-seal was used had been rendered completely un-scryable. Only someone incredibly talented in the Dao of Spacetime, such as the Brightshore Hegemon, might be able to reverse spacetime here.

Instantly, scenes from earlier began to replay, revealing a shattered formation and a white-robed youth waving his hand, taking away Daolord Kongsan’s treasures.

“Those are Kongsan’s treasures. He was the only one who left anything behind?” Emperor Skywood murmured softly, “It seems Kongsan was the only one to die to that strike.”

The scene of the white-robed youth chatting with Daolord Soleman and Daolord Skyaxe played next.

“It seems that Hegemon’s Dao-seal was used by that kid.” Emperor Skywood pointed at Ning’s form.

“Yes. Judging from what they are saying, the kid should be a member of the Brightshore Kingdom.” The blue-haired elder nodded.

Emperor Skywood shook his head and laughed. “The Hegemon of the Brightshore Kingdom often abducts World-level cultivators from other areas, and he has a good eye for talent; he really can pick out quite a few exceptionally talented fellows! This young fellow named Darknorth is a member of our Dao Alliance, but he still ended up being abducted by the Hegemon.”

“The Brightshore Hegemon knows his boundaries. He doesn’t really abduct all that many, and he only goes after World-level cultivators,” the blue-haired elder said.

“Come over here.” Emperor Skywood suddenly turned his head to stare off into the distance. Whoosh! Space and time twisted, followed by a gray-robed elder appearing. The elder said respectfully, “Greetings, Sectlord.”

“You are responsible for overseeing this everworld. Do you know what happened earlier?” Emperor Skywood asked. This was the territory of the Skywood Sect, and so everything here was under their supervision.

“Sectlord, the white-robed youth was Daolord Darknorth of Vastheaven Palace,” the gray-robed elder said respectfully. “He purchased seven of the nine mighty novessence arts of Daolord Allgod, then went to Plumesoar Hall and purchased many treasures that those nine novessence arts need. Finally, he used two treasures, ‘deluxe hellgold’ and ‘skyjewel bloodfruit’, to trade for a flying vessel that can move a hundred times the speed of light.”

“It seems this young fellow has quite a few treasures.” Emperor Skywood chuckled as he praised Ning.

“He actually found skyjewel bloodfruit? Haha..” The blue-haired elder nodded as well.

The gray-robed elder continued, “Outside Plumesoar Hall, he was ambushed by the disciple of Daolord Kongsan. He was able to slay that disciple, a Daolord of the Third Step, with a wave of his hand. As a result, he ended up being chased and assaulted by Daolord Kongsan, who failed in his pursuit and so asked Daolord Shaka for assistance. A short while later, Daolord Soleman and Daolord Skyaxe arrived as well, but they weren’t able to breach the grand sealing formation. As for what happened afterwards inside the formation, there was no way for me to tell. I imagine Daolord Darknorth must’ve used some sort of special killer technique that slew both Daolord Shaka and Daolord Kongsan.”

“Kongsan died, but Shaka probably did not,” Emperor Skywood said. They only saw the scene picking up Daolord Kongsan’s treasures, not Daolord Shaka’s.

“The kid is quite impressive, and he seems to have had some incredible luck.” Emperor Skywood instructed, “Make the arrangements for Daolord Darknorth to be given a Palace of Immortals medallion. He’s qualified to enter it.”

“Understood,” the gray-robed elder said respectfully.