Fu Jin wanted to admit defeat, so he asked Xin Yue to use the karmic lines to contact Zhao Xing.
But after waiting a whole day, Fu Jin realized Xin Yue just couldn't find Zhao Xing's karmic line at all.
Meanwhile, Zhao Xing heard about this through Ji Si and couldn't help but laugh.
"Admit defeat?"
"This guy still wants to save face. He wants to surrender, but he won't even show up in person."
"I've stirred up such a storm, and he still won't appear. No rush. Don't reach out to him."
"Even if he does come in person, I'll let him wait first."
At this point in the karmic war, Zhao Xing was certain of victory. He understood something important—although Great Zhou wasn't as deep-rooted as the Carlos Family, he himself had a much better shot at breaking through to the godhood realm than any of the Carlos half-gods.
Among gods, only those at the same level are true allies, only they are worth paying attention to.
Whether it was the Carlos Priest or his three remaining sons, none of them had any real hope of becoming gods.
With this in mind, Zhao Xing's declaration of war against the Carlos Family meant all the gods would naturally take his side. There was no need to guess—the answer was obvious.
"This time, the help we've received, both inside and outside the country, is way more than when we were forced to defend ourselves last time."
"Ji Si, pay close attention to this kind of momentum. Karmic wars on this scale don't come often." Zhao Xing looked at Ji Si with high expectations.
He really wanted Ji Si to grow from this. From the start, he was willing to share most of the spoils with his allies.
Short-term benefits didn't matter to Zhao Xing. As long as he won, Ji Si would level up, and that would be the biggest win.
In the future, if he had a Fate Officer god standing by his side, that would be better than anything.
Of course, becoming a Fate Officer god wasn't easy. This karmic war alone wouldn't be enough for Ji Si to reach godhood—unless the entire Xuanling Star Domain was involved, and Ji Si played a crucial role with gods participating.
Still, letting Ji Si experience a major war like this in advance was already a huge benefit.
"Understood." Ji Si nodded. He knew this war would boost his strength a lot.
"But since the Carlos Family wants to admit defeat, it means the war is almost over," Zhao Xing thought. "Draft the best exploitation plan you can, and show it to the elders."
"Grand Shennong, I've already got one prepared." Ji Si quickly pulled out a plan from his sleeve.
"In this war, Great Zhou mobilized people, resources, and money at many times its own scale. You can't go for godhood with too much karmic debt."
"So, take eighty percent of the Carlos Family's assets and give it out, to pay back the karmic favors."
"As for Great Zhou, just keep twenty percent of the Carlos Family's assets—mainly the overseas territory and business shares."
'If you can't plan for the long term, you're not fit for the present. If you can't plan for the whole, you can't plan for even a region.' Zhao Xing nodded. Ji Si's thinking showed real vision.
This also matched the original plan: Great Zhou would build a new dynasty on the old site of Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom, focusing on business instead of fighting over Carlos's territory within the empire. The future outlook and potential were far bigger than short-term gains.
"Zhao Xing." Just then, a fiery karmic avatar came out of the Hall of Mind and rushed to Zhao Xing.
"Captain, what's up?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Fu Jin has arrived at the Wuye Constellation in the Northern River Star System. He brought a lot of starships," Yang Baihe said. "But he was stopped at Northern River Pass."
"He got stopped?" Zhao Xing was surprised. "Who stopped him?"
As Yang Baihe was reporting, a short karmic avatar popped up too. This was Yang Lin, the lord of the Northern River Star System.
Five Venom Emperor couldn't help but laugh, "Yang Lin, so it was you who stopped him?"
Yang Lin quickly bowed with respect. "Greetings to Five Elements Venerable, to Lord Chen'an, to Ji Si—"
"Alright, Yang Lin, skip the formalities. What's the situation?"
"Yes, I stopped Fu Jin. He's now waiting at Northern River Pass."
"Haha, you've got guts," Five Venom Emperor laughed. "You're just a Fourth Tribulation Emperor, but you dared to stop Fu Jin? Weren't you scared he'd kill you? Where'd you get the courage?"
Yang Lin stayed calm. "Of course, the courage comes from all of you. I may not be as strong as Fu Jin, but I can't disgrace your names."
Zhao Xing also smiled. This was what it meant to kick someone when they're down—even Yang Lin dared to stop a half-god like Fu Jin outside the Northern River Star System.
Actually, Yang Lin wasn't the first to block Fu Jin. Back in the Northern Wild Star System, the even bolder Jing Yan had stopped him once.
Jing Yan was also just a Fourth Tribulation Emperor, but he still handled Fu Jin with ease. So why would Yang Lin be afraid?
"Did you check? He brought so many ships—those can't be warships, right?" Five Venom Emperor asked.
He didn't believe Fu Jin would be so foolish to try force after getting warned. No way he'd go for mutual destruction.
"They're not warships. All cargo vessels, loaded with valuables—world stones, top-tier Dao soldier materials, realm stones, Five Emperor Coins, and so on," Yang Lin said.
Northern River Pass was the checkpoint between star systems, built along the void river.
Now, the Carlos Family's huge fleet was parked at the cargo office, waiting for inspection.
All the Carlos Family members hung their heads, not even daring to respond to taunts and trouble from junior officials.
They were just like a defeated nation paying tribute to the victor, facing all sorts of hassles and interrogation along the way.
Even Fu Jin, a half-god, faced all kinds of disrespect from people far weaker than him and had no choice but to endure it.
Because he had to endure it. Jing Yan and Zhao Xing had shared hardship together, and the Northern River lord owed Zhao Xing for past help. Fu Jin was here to beg for mercy and admit defeat.
"This is outrageous! These people were nothing to the Carlos Family in the past. We never even spared them a glance, but now they're acting all high and mighty!" Yi Ping stormed into the ship's main hall, eyes blazing. "We've been inspected a dozen times already, and still they won't let us through!"
Fu Jin kept playing his zither, his face calm, but his aura seemed colder than ever.
"Big brother, how can you still have the mood to play music?" Yi Ping grumbled, plopping down and taking a long swig of wine.
There was a time when the Carlos Family crushed countless enemies and rivals. Nobody dared stand up to them.
Now things had turned upside down. It was a hard pill to swallow.
"Second brother, treat this as a test of the heart." Fu Jin said quietly. "If you don't want to face it, you didn't have to come. Since you're here, bear it."
"I—" Yi Ping opened his mouth, but couldn't argue. He just muttered to himself, 'Losing the family is supposed to refine the mind? Only big brother could come up with that. So many years of work, all gone…'
Fu Jin's group was kept waiting at the river pass for three months. During those three months, almost the entire empire—and more than half the star domain—paid attention. Everyone knew the Carlos Family was there to beg for forgiveness.
Finally, after the third month, Zhao Xing allowed the Carlos Family to enter the Northern River Star System.
"Lord Chen'an, the three of us brothers have come to admit our crimes." Fu Jin brought his two brothers into a hastily built hall. The hall was so plain and crude that they had to suppress their saintly bodies and shrink down just to enter.
Inside, the three bowed respectfully toward the top of the stairs.
"If you want to confess, you should confess to the Emperor of Great Zhou," Ji Si said coldly, staring at them.
Apart from him and Zhao Xing, Martial Emperor Ji Che was there too. Originally, Martial Emperor hadn't planned to show up—he thought Zhao Xing and Ji Si handling things would be appropriate. But Zhao Xing and Ji Si insisted, "The Carlos Family is like a pack of stray dogs now. Who cares about 'equality' anymore?"
So, Martial Emperor Ji Che sat in the main seat. Zhao Xing and Ji Si stood one to the left and one to the right.
Watching these once arrogant half-gods now bowing their heads, Ji Che couldn't help but feel a surge of satisfaction. After so many years, for the first time he truly felt like a ruler in this universe.
The days of treading on thin ice, full of anxiety, were finally over.
Martial Emperor was only at the Emperor level, and hadn't even survived a single tribulation, all because the Fortune Dynasty's cultivation was stuck at a bottleneck.
To bow before Martial Emperor was humiliating, but the three brothers honestly and humbly bowed again.
"Go on, how do you plan to admit your guilt?" Martial Emperor said calmly.
"Your Majesty, Emperor of Great Zhou," Fu Jin explained, "The Carlos Family was founded many years ago. My father never bothered with mundane affairs. My two younger brothers, Bing and Yu Mu, handled the wilderness expansion and overseas territories. Father already arranged to divide the family long ago."
"They kept everything they did to Great Zhou secret from both me and father."
A look of disdain crossed Martial Emperor's face.
Classic move: when there's profit, everyone's family. When trouble hits, suddenly it's all 'separated.'
"Back when they started the commercial attacks, as soon as we found out, we stopped them. Father punished them harshly and barred them from managing any of the ancient roads."
"Now Bing is dead, Yu Mu is locked up—they deserve it. But all this happened because the Carlos Family failed in its duty. As their elder brother, I failed too. I'm here to apologize."
"I hope this gift will earn the forgiveness of Lord Chen'an and His Majesty the Emperor of Great Zhou."
Then Fu Jin presented a long list—packed with treasures, ships full of loot from the Carlos Family, and deeds for a huge amount of territory.
All that talking was empty; this was what mattered now.
"Ha!" Ji Che's eyes flashed, and he tore the list to shreds.
"Fu Jin, I've listened to you ramble long enough. Now you're finally getting to the point."
"But if you want to make amends, it's not up to you how it's done."
Martial Emperor waved his hand, and a new list appeared before Fu Jin.
"Fu Jin, don't say Great Zhou isn't giving your family a way out."
"Accept this list of territory and reparations, and the war ends here."
"If you refuse, then Great Zhou will take what it wants by force. It'll just take a little longer, that's all. Understand?"
With that, Martial Emperor ignored them and walked off, flicking his sleeves.
Zhao Xing grinned to himself—Martial Emperor had been holding back for years, and now that he finally had the chance to show off, he really put on a proper ruler's act.
But Fu Jin and his brothers were in shock. The list from Great Zhou was a humiliating treaty.
Great Zhou demanded the Carlos Family hand over all their wealth, leaving them less than one-thousandth just to maintain daily needs. As for territory, only a few star systems outside their ancestral home would remain—the rest, every private holding, all had to be surrendered to Great Zhou. All Carlos family members with official positions in the empire, except the three brothers and the Carlos Priest, had to resign in a very short time.
The key point—Great Zhou only gave them two and a half years to do all this.
"This—this—" Yi Ping and Yi Le, the two half-gods, were shaking with rage. Even Fu Jin, for all his strength of will, looked miserable.
These terms would strip the Carlos Family of everything, leaving them only scraps to barely survive.
Aside from the few half-gods, there really was no future for the rest of the Carlos Family.
"Zhao—" Yi Ping and Yi Le wanted to protest, but Fu Jin's glare stopped them. He sighed helplessly, "Lord Chen'an, can we at least keep all the star systems in our ancestral homeland? That's our clan's foundation…"
"Fu Jin, I've already shown you mercy," Zhao Xing replied coldly. "At least you're still alive. The families you crushed with these same tactics disappeared long ago."
"Take the list and get out."
"Don't try any tricks. You know what'll happen if you do."
With that, Zhao Xing and Ji Si went back to the inner hall.
The proud half-gods—no one guided them in, and no one saw them out. They just left behind a mountain of world ships loaded with treasures and left in defeat.
Carlos Family ancestral land—Carlos Star System.
Fu Jin and his brothers returned to the main hall of their ancestral home.
"Big brother, are we really going to accept this ending?" Yi Ping looked at the family elites waiting outside for news, seeing so many hopeful faces. "Do we really have no way to fight back? Father should be able to kill Zhao Xing, right?"
"Yeah, big brother, second brother's right. If we really accept this, who knows how many eras it'll take the Carlos Family to recover—"
"Enough!" Fu Jin snapped coldly. "This is Father's decision!"
"Everyone go calm the clan, split up the assets, then come back and live in the ancestral land."
"As long as Father breaks through to the god realm, our Carlos Family will have another chance to rise."
"If he can't, then what's the use of saving a bit more wealth? It'll all be for nothing in the end!"
Yi Ping and Yi Le fell silent. After their brother's explanation, they understood. But it still left them bitter inside.
"Go on," Fu Jin waved. "Do everything properly. As long as we're alive, there's still a sliver of hope."
"Yes."
In the inner hall, Ji Che, Ji Si, and Zhao Xing gathered.
"Big brother, how did I do?" Ji Che asked, "Pretty good, right?"
"Not bad. Very impressive," Zhao Xing said with a smile.
"Great!" Martial Emperor grinned proudly, then couldn't help pumping his fist. "Big brother, that was amazing. Those three half-gods just let us yell at them, didn't even dare raise their heads, hahaha!"
Ji Si watched, quietly thinking, 'It's only in front of the Grand Shennong that His Majesty acts like a kid—so relaxed and happy. Usually, he's always stern and proper.'
'It's not just because the Grand Shennong was there through his childhood, but because over the years, it's the Grand Shennong who always brought a sense of safety.'
"Ji Si." Zhao Xing's voice pulled Ji Si back. "Keep your eyes open. The Carlos Family still has power left. We pushed them really hard, so be ready in case they go crazy."
"Don't worry, Grand Shennong," Ji Si nodded. "Fu Jin has surrendered. I've won the karmic war. The other side's Fate Officer can't resist anymore. There's nothing the Carlos Family can hide from me now. Every move they make, I'll know."
"They don't even dare try little tricks like hiding their wealth."
"In all my observations, the Carlos Family ends up just quietly accepting this fate."
"Even that Carlos Priest won't do anything."
"Oh? Ji Si, you can see that far into the future now?" Zhao Xing was curious.
Fu Jin of the Carlos Family was a Thirteen-Tribulation half-god, and his father was even stronger—at least Fifteen-Tribulation. Normally, Ji Si shouldn't be able to see the future of the Carlos Priest, but now he said he could. Did he level up?
Zhao Xing glanced at the top of Ji Si's head and saw that Ji Si's stats were rippling like flowing water, and refreshed.
Ji Si was already a Thirteenth-Tier Fate Venerable! Twelfth-Tier Historian!
"Yes," Ji Si smiled. "Grand Shennong, I've improved a lot. With the help of the Eight Directions Divine Realm, for anything below god realm, I can basically see through all cause and effect."
The Carlos Family's surrender attracted the attention of countless major powers.
"They surrendered. The karmic war is over. I never thought the Carlos Family would see this day."
"A half-god family, but in the end, still not gods."
"Winner takes all. The Carlos Family spent years building up, robbing others, and now it's all been swallowed up by a stronger family."
"Hmph, Zhao Shennong was still too merciful. If it were me? I'd have wiped the Carlos Family out completely."
"That Carlos Priest followed the Great Emperor. Killing them won't be easy."
"A super family of the Red Star Empire, just gone like that? A few decades ago, we worshipped them like gods. Our Rams Family thought it was an honor to be taken in by them—the whole country celebrated. But now, they've been eaten up by this so-called Great Zhou."
Little Prince Lam saw the news on the star mirror. He felt like he'd been struck by lightning, stunned.
If this had happened after they joined the Carlos Family, they'd just be spoils of war now, stripped clean.
Small vassal forces like theirs outside the wilds would be turned into slaves.
Lucky for them, Zhao Xing destroyed the Carlos Family before they got taken in.
'The universe is cruel.' Little Prince Lam used to have innocent hopes for the empire, the Xuanling Star Domain, and the universe. Now, he'd lost all those ideas.
'Only the strong can keep their people alive in this universe. Depending on others isn't as good as getting stronger yourself.'
He remembered the scene where the Carlos Family's two half-gods had their world ships torn apart, and the figure like a demon god. A fierce desire rose up in his heart.
'I want to get stronger. I want to be as strong as Lord Zhao!'
Northern River Star System, Great Zhou.
At this time, all of Fengdu Realm Star in Great Zhou was celebrating. The reason was simple: the wealth seized from the Carlos Family was unbelievable, and the resources were overflowing.
The great Zhao Shennong and His Majesty the Emperor had given the people of Great Zhou generous benefits.
To celebrate the Grand Shennong stepping into the half-god realm, Great Zhou was about to hold a "Half-God Banquet" that would last for fifty years.
As long as you were a resident of Great Zhou, for these fifty years, you could enjoy incredible cultivation resources every single day.
All the Dao academies, colleges, and study halls in Great Zhou were free. Every day, students could eat origin-level food.
A ton of cultivation methods would be opened to the public for free. Even divine abilities and top techniques, which would normally cost a fortune to license in the universe, were all free—if you could learn them, they were yours. No one had to pay a single coin.
"This is Great Zhou's golden age," said Yang Baihe's historical avatar, carrying a history book and traveling around to record all the celebrations.
He only visited a few counties, but already found many incredibly talented kids.
In those towns, even the branch campus deans were at the Reincarnation Realm.
"With this kind of support, this generation will be the golden generation of Great Zhou. Who knows how many prodigies will be born?"
Yang Baihe flew over the Luo River and quietly arrived at Shangluo Academy.
He wanted to check up on his own son.
He'd had a lot of sons before, but those kids weren't really his—they were all born to noblewomen.
Later, he married an emperor's partner and had several children himself in Great Zhou.
Among them, a few seemed pretty talented, so he sent them to study at Shangluo Academy.
Yang Baihe also kept it secret that his family was wealthy, since these kids needed to train to be Shennongs.
If you're too rich at home, how can you ever handle hardship in the fields?
Whoosh—
Yang Baihe entered Shangluo Academy. The moment he stepped in, a straw puppet woke up—it was Liu Tianning.
Yang Baihe gave Liu Tianning a polite nod, then pointed at one of his sons. Liu Tianning smiled and closed his eyes to keep cultivating.
Yang Baihe quietly walked behind a teenager who looked about eighty percent like him. The boy was napping under a tree.
Seeing him so lazy, Yang Baihe got angry.
He immediately cast a spell, making the tree branches whip around and lash his fourth son hard.
"Ow—!"
The boy woke up with a start.
No one else was around. Yang Silang looked at the big tree, suspicious. "Senior Qianhuan, did you hit me?"
The spirit inside the tree glanced at Yang Baihe, speechless.
'It was your own dad who hit you, don't blame me.'
"Sorry, Senior," Yang Silang said quickly, "Yesterday I drank too much at Cuixiang House and couldn't find my way back to the dorm, so I just crashed here. Sorry about that."
When Yang Baihe heard that, he got even angrier. 'I spent so much money to send you here, and you're out drinking? Cuixiang House—just the name sounds bad, it's probably a brothel too. Great!'
Yang Baihe used the books in Yang Silang's bamboo box as a base and cast a spell, turning them into a book golem.
Without a word, the book golem jumped right at him.
"What the—?"
Yang Silang tried to run, but the books turned into a muscular brute that tackled him to the ground, instantly sobering him up.
He opened his Pure Essence Soil and tried to cast spells to fight back, but still couldn't win. The book golem pinned him and started beating him up.
"Liu Dean, Liu Dean, help!" Yang Silang shouted as he rolled on the ground, kicking up dust.
"Tell me, will you keep drinking flower wine after this?!" The book golem glared at the battered Yang Silang on the ground.
"Who… who are you? Sneaking around, bullying me, why don't you show yourself if you have the guts?" Yang Silang was stubborn.
"You're lazy and still have a sharp tongue!"
"Who says I'm lazy? I just got first place in the campus competition the other day! If I hadn't been drinking, you might not have beaten me. Let me up!"
Yang Baihe stopped.
First place? Maybe he'd misunderstood this kid. But he refused to admit it.
"Kid, so what if you're first? When Zhao Xing was your age, he was already the head of the academy and held the position of Junior Shennong of Great Zhou."
"You're only first place in a small group—what's there to brag about?"
"In a few years, Zhao Xing was already Grand Shennong, created several great theories, and mastered three schools of thought. What's so special about you?"
Yang Silang suddenly stopped struggling and looked back suspiciously. "Why do you sound just like my dad? How could I compare to Grand Shennong?"
"Why don't you try comparing yourself to him?"
Yang Baihe was at a loss for words, so he just started hitting him again. "Talking back now? Not learning, huh?"
The Thousand Illusions Tree swayed and twisted the space, giving the father and son their private moment.
As the leaves rustled, the Thousand Illusions Tree's spirit looked up at the stars.
'Never thought my master would become a Venerable, and I'd benefit too, getting through several tribulations. Fate really is unpredictable.'
A leaf drifted down from the Thousand Illusions Tree and quietly floated toward the capital of Great Zhou.
He wanted to see if Zhao Xing was still at the banquet.
But just as the leaf reached the city border, a sword light smashed it.
"Huh?"
The sword light turned into Long Xiao, who paused for a second and glanced at the broken leaf. "Where'd this Thousand Illusions Tree leaf come from? It's tough."
"Why do you care so much?" A lazy voice answered from nearby. Xia Jing was riding a flying dragon. "Hurry up, Zhao bro is really busy now—he might have to leave before this half-god banquet's even over."
"Why rush? Old Chen isn't even here yet. It'll take him a while to get back from Primordial Hill."
The first half of Zhao Xing's Half-God Banquet was mainly for outsiders—partners like Du Yun, Tuo Sen, and Xu Youling. They were there to split up the big slice of the Carlos Family loot.
As for Five Venom, Hongshan, and the others, they'd already gotten their share before the banquet even started—they'd never really been separate.
The second half was for Great Zhou's friends and family.
First, everyone hadn't gathered in Great Zhou for a long time. Second, the main team of Great Zhou was about to go out and take over parts of the Carlos Family's territory. "Even Long Xiao, Xia Jing, Chen Shijie, Ye Yukong, Luo and the others are all at the Emperor level now."
"Teacher, when will your next tribulation be?" Zhao Xing looked at Liu Tianning beside him.
Now, Liu Tianning was someone who could even enter the Primordial Realm. Zhao Xing also knew Old Liu could hang out with Zuo Qiyu and actually keep up.
"The eighth tribulation is still far away," Liu Tianning replied.
"So what've you been busy with lately?" Zhao Xing smiled. "You can't really be just teaching at Shangluo Academy, right?"
"I'm busy because I want to create a straw puppet method that surpasses the ancients," Liu Tianning said.
"Oh?" Zhao Xing's interest was piqued. "Got any leads?"
"I've got the basics." Liu Tianning nodded. "With you supporting Great Zhou these past few thousand years, I haven't had to work so hard."
"I've got over three hundred million puppet clones wandering around. About a third are All-Methods Avatars, and they went to Tianze Star Domain."
Three hundred million? Zhao Xing couldn't help but stare.
Old Liu really had too many clones. Letting them wander the universe alone, you'd need at least Dao Domain Realm strength to be safe. For Liu Tianning to have three hundred million All-Methods Avatars, each one needed to be at least Dao Domain Realm level. And in some places, like the Tianze Star Domain, even that wasn't enough since there's always fighting there.
Even with all those clones, Liu Tianning himself looked normal. Even when he was crossing tribulations, his clones kept working—it never affected him at all.
Liu Tianning said, "You taught me the Giant Yang Straw Puppet and showed me the Supreme Void Puppet and Primordial Straw Puppet diagrams. I even collected all known straw puppet methods myself."
"I plan to keep learning, master every method in the world before I try creating my own."
Zhao Xing glanced at Old Liu and saw he wasn't just bragging. In the skills column, Liu Tianning's straw puppet techniques filled up ninety percent of the pages.
If not for the fact that Liu Tianning didn't want to bother him, Zhao Xing knew he could have already mastered his Primordial Straw Puppet technique.
Back when he broke through Zuo Qiyu's barrier, it was Old Liu who helped him!
Zhao Xing focused for a moment, sensing Liu Tianning's puppet clones. "Teacher, you're really pushing it. Even during the banquet, there are still three hundred fifty-one thousand two hundred forty-one clones studying and researching back in the homeland."
"How is that pushing it? I love it," Liu Tianning laughed. "If you hate something but keep doing it, that's pushing it. But if you love it, it's just fun."
"Also, it's not three hundred fifty-one thousand two hundred forty-one, it should be three hundred fifty-one thousand two hundred forty-five in the homeland."
Zhao Xing was surprised. "How can that be? There are puppet clones even I can't sense?"
Liu Tianning said, "Try sensing in the direction of Shangluo Academy. Yeah, right where Yang Baihe was smacking his son."
Zhao Xing looked carefully and realized there were four puppet clones in that area, exactly like Liu Tianning, sitting underground, meditating and working on something.
But somehow, he'd missed those four!
You have to know, the Primordial Straw Puppet technique should let you sense every puppet, control every puppet. Yet Liu Tianning could hide his from Zhao Xing?
"Don't be so shocked," Liu Tianning smiled. "Back when Gu Tianyang created the Void Ancestor clone puppet series, he was just at the Emperor level."
"The magic system keeps evolving. I went deep with these puppet methods, so having a few results is normal."
Zhao Xing nodded. That's right—these days, Liu Tianning might already be stronger than Gu Tianyang was in the past. Otherwise, how could he hang out with Zuo Qiyu as an equal?
"Teacher, have you got a philosophy for creating new techniques?" Zhao Xing was curious.
"I'll tell you when it's done, not before," Liu Tianning laughed. "Who shows off unfinished work?"
"Zuo Qiyu's looking for me to duel, so I have to focus now."
"Alright."
With that, Liu Tianning closed his eyes and seemed to fall asleep.
Zhao Xing glanced around at the guests coming and going. At this flowing banquet, people kept arriving and leaving.
Soon, Zhao Xing spotted another familiar face.
Swoosh—
Zhao Xing carried a jar of wine over to Yun Tiandao, who sat quietly in a corner with a beautiful woman beside him.
"Yun bro, why are you sitting in the corner? You showed up and didn't even say hi."
Great Zhou was rising fast, but Yun Tiandao hadn't taken any benefits.
Yun Tiandao stubbornly believed he was an official of the Xia Dynasty, not Great Zhou, so whether it was the Martial Emperor's Fortune Gold Pellet or other resources, he always refused them.
Even now, Yun Tiandao was at lord-level. He was a bit behind old friends in terms of strength, but Zhao Xing respected him a lot.
"I wasn't going to come," Yun Tiandao raised his cup and clinked it with Zhao Xing's. "But I'm about to go on a long journey, and I don't know if I'll get another chance, so I came to say goodbye."
"A journey? Where to?" Zhao Xing asked, curious.
Yun Tiandao didn't answer—he obviously didn't want to say.
"Anything I can help with?" Zhao Xing offered.
"No need. I can handle it myself."
Zhao Xing nodded and didn't ask further, just chatted with Yun Tiandao about old times.
For the past few thousand years, Yun Tiandao hadn't been on the Yanxing Ancient Path, but was adventuring on another ancient road.
Zhao Xing was really curious about Yun Tiandao's breakthrough. The Heavenly Timing Sect didn't have any top-tier techniques in this era, but Zhao Xing had never heard of Yun Tiandao's cultivation method.
"Yun bro, is your 'Cloud Realm Scripture' a Heavenly Timing technique you created yourself?"
"Yeah," Yun Tiandao nodded. "I looked through a lot of Heavenly Timing Sect techniques, including ones from the Four Seasons Palace and the Ziwu Heavenly Timing Hall. But I just didn't think any of them fit me."
'So Old Yun is going on this trip to chase after the Dao of Heavenly Timing too?' Zhao Xing thought.
When it was time to say goodbye, Zhao Xing felt like Yun Tiandao's partner had a trace of sadness about her—a kind of feeling in her aura. He wondered if they'd had some conflict.
After Yun Tiandao left, Zhao Xing called Ji Si over and asked him to check Yun Tiandao's fate.
Ji Si held up the Eight Directions Divine Mirror, performed his divination, and soon revealed a bit about Yun Tiandao's past and future.
"Two thousand five hundred years ago, around the time we started building the Yanxing Ancient Path, Yun Tiandao healed his partner. But the Xia Emperor didn't make it and died."
Ji Si pointed at the mirror. "Later, Yun Tiandao went to the Tianyou Ancient Kingdom. He tried to ask the Reincarnation Divine Palace to resurrect her, but it obviously didn't work."
"He wanted to bring the Xia Emperor back?" Zhao Xing frowned. Unless there was some kind of race war—like between humans and demons—the Reincarnation Divine Palace basically never unfreezes the right to resurrect anyone. That's because it's about keeping the time-space channels secure. They don't open the backdoor for just anyone.
According to the timeline, to really resurrect the Xia Emperor and keep her sane, you'd have to rewind back to before the Desolate Domain Era. The barrier before and after the Desolate Domain Era was a key boundary. If you only revived the Xia Emperor from after that era, she'd come back mad anyway.
"What about his future?"
Ji Si suddenly looked puzzled. "Huh?"
"What's wrong?" Zhao Xing asked.
They both looked and saw the mirror was just a field of darkness. Nothing at all.
"What's going on?"
Ji Si frowned in thought. "Normally, calculating Yun Tiandao's fate is no trouble for me."
"I set the time at the first Solar Year of the Third Era of the Desolate Domain, but all I see is darkness."
"In this kind of case, either Yun Tiandao is dead, or he's protected by a God-tier artifact and can't be divined. Or, maybe he's alive but in a place even Fate Officers can't touch, like the Black Heaven Barren Land. In forbidden zones like that, fate powers don't reach."
"Or maybe the Third Era of the Desolate Domain gets hit by some big disaster that affects the whole Dao of Cause and Effect."
"I bet it's the same for you, Grand Shennong. Your future would be a patch of chaos too, but you've got one more possibility."
"What's that?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Becoming a god." Ji Si spoke quietly. "A god can lower their own karmic presence to almost nothing—like background noise in the universe, impossible to trace. Some gods are strong enough to step completely outside of karma itself."
That didn't surprise Zhao Xing. Really powerful gods could swim up the river of time, so stepping outside of karma wasn't unusual.
"For Yun Tiandao, though, I just don't see him becoming a god. So something must have happened to him, but he doesn't want us to know."
"That's always how Yun Tiandao is," Ji Si sighed. "He treats us as hometown friends, but not as colleagues. Maybe you count as a real friend, Grand Shennong, but I never really knew him well."
Zhao Xing felt a bit emotional too. Yun Tiandao never felt like he belonged to Great Zhou. He was a Xia Dynasty remnant, and even after coming to the cosmic version, he mostly went his own way.
Thinking about it, he'd never actually done much for Yun Tiandao. Instead, Yun Tiandao had stepped in to help Great Zhou many times—both in Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom and later, after they arrived in the empire.
'Even if Yun Tiandao doesn't want it, I should do something for him,' Zhao Xing thought.
Staring at the dark mirror, Zhao Xing hesitated for a moment, then split off a Primordial Avatar. It slipped underground and quietly followed behind Yun Tiandao.
Time passed. Soon, another fifty years went by, leaving just the last ten years before the Third Era of the Desolate Domain.
After the Half-God Banquet, Zhao Xing started focusing on five tasks.
Three were personal, two were official.
The first personal task: starting to cultivate the path to becoming a god. This included also practicing Wei Tianchen's medical Dao—especially the 'Mending the Heavens Method' and refining the Five Great Divine Medicines series, which were the main points he studied.
The 'Mending the Heavens Method' was the core technique Wei Tianchen used to become a god.
His philosophy was to wipe out the 'parasites' (the strong) from heaven and earth, and return justice to the heavens.
It's like saying killing people can build up merit.
But while it sounds simple, it's really tough to do.
Not everyone can get feedback from the source of the universe.
First, there's weight—you have to be at least half-god level to get any feedback at all.
Then, there's the method. For example, when Zhao Xing forced Ice Venerable to die, in theory Ice Venerable's origin returned to the universe because of Zhao Xing, but Zhao Xing didn't get any boost in strength.
The reason was he hadn't yet started cultivating the 'Mending the Heavens Method.' According to Wei Tianchen, cultivating this method is about building a link with the source of the universe. Only after that, when you kill a 'parasite,' do you get any feedback.
Studying the medical Dao also let Zhao Xing understand the 'Heaven-Transforming Divine Needle' better. After all, this Hou Transformation divine artifact was created by combining both the medical path and the Shennong path.
At the same time, Zhao Xing also started studying the "Eternal Realm" and the "Earth Refining Method." He used them to test his own theories, like "Treatise on Earth Epoch Transformations: Layered Boundary Mountains" and "Six Principles of the Perishing Star."
The second personal matter was tracking Yun Tiandao and looking for his own wandering avatars. He discovered that Yun Tiandao was heading toward the Black Heaven Barren Land. Since the Black Heaven Barren Land was rumored to have formed after the Extreme Star was blocked, Yun Tiandao's idea to pursue the Dao of Heavenly Timing there matched up perfectly with what Zhao Xing's avatar was trying to do.
Zhao Xing also remembered that Wu Tian, who taught him the Great Five Finger Mountain and whose background was extremely mysterious, had also gone to the Black Heaven Barren Land.
The third personal matter was to have Ji Si keep going deeper with the Eight Directions Divine Mirror. After the God-level artifact spirit fell into Ji Si's hands, it unlocked a kind of inheritance function never seen before, sometimes sucking Ji Si inside. Each time Ji Si came out, his skill level skyrocketed. In the fifty years during the Half-God Banquet, even though he didn't undergo another True Spirit Tribulation, all his techniques leveled up extremely fast.
Zhao Xing even suspected that this mirror might be connected to the legendary Fate Officer's Ten Directions Mountain.
So his third personal goal was to prepare for the journey to Ten Directions Mountain. 'It's a shame the Bamboo Sword Venerable didn't get on the ship. I still don't know how he got out, or if he even got out yet.' Zhao Xing had promised to take the Bamboo Sword Venerable up the mountain, but when the Yin-Yang Realm Ship came so suddenly, he didn't even have time to call Bamboo Sword along.
Now, the "Fengchan Place" was still gray. Zhao Xing had no idea how to get in again, so he had to let it go for now. He carefully sensed the causal threads related to Bamboo Sword, but there was nothing clear—he still didn't know what had happened to the Bamboo Sword Venerable.
The fourth thing was official business.
This was a task the Red Star Empire assigned Zhao Xing, passed down through Gu Luohe:
"Zhao Xing, now that you're a half-god with impressive fighting power, you're already one of the strong for humanity in the Desolate Domain Era. You need to take on some responsibility."
Zhao Xing had already expected this. God-tier figures wouldn't support him for no reason. The real reason they let him dismantle the Carlos family was because they valued his potential. If he becomes a god in the future, he'll be a main force in fighting the Evil God camp.
"Right now, Evil God altars have appeared in all the major Desolate Domains. The biggest one is in the Black Heaven Barren Land. A black abyss has formed there, and so far, no one has been able to fully explore it. You have a lot of avatars, so you're a good candidate to check it out."
"The highest levels of humanity will award you contribution points based on what you discover. Those contribution points are your shot at becoming a Free God," Gu Luohe said. "The more you contribute, the higher your chance of getting those limited Free God resources."
When it came to walking the path to godhood, there's almost no help anyone can offer, and there's no such thing as getting resources handed to you. In this era, resources for becoming a god meant finding and cultivating your own origin as a Free God.
After Zhao Xing learned about the origins of the Desolate Domain Era, he knew how precious these resources really were. For one, there just weren't many, and two, you had to get the highest authorities' approval.
Qing Yuzi became a god by borrowing another path, but because he did it secretly, it wasn't approved and he got punished by being sent to ancient times to pay it back.
Basically, not just anyone could get tasks from the top levels to earn contribution points. Only the absolute geniuses had that chance.
"These missions are all special. Every time you come back, you have to check in at the Heart Spirit Palace first," Gu Luohe reminded him. "If you notice anything weird, or you start to lose control, you can also go to the Heart Spirit Palace and have the Heart Spirit General check you out."
"Senior Gu, I understand," Zhao Xing nodded and accepted a token—an Origin Token.
This meant that from now on, Zhao Xing was an "Origin Envoy." Having this token meant he'd been chosen by humanity's top echelon and actually had a shot at godhood.
Other tokens with the same status included the Moon God Token from the Origin Heaven Palace, the Reincarnation Token from the Reincarnation Divine Palace, and the Xuanling Token from the Ancient Kingdom Alliance.
"Since Origin Envoys have the hope to become gods, does that mean Senior Zuo Qiyu once had this qualification too?" Zhao Xing asked the question that was bothering him.
"He did," Gu Luohe replied. "But with Jin Yan and you showing up, that hope's getting dimmer and dimmer for him. Zuo Qiyu has been stuck at his ninth True Spirit Tribulation for a long time now, unable to break through. Still, the number of his soul splits keeps growing."
If his True Spirit can't be upgraded, how can he keep increasing his soul splits? Zhao Xing was a bit puzzled, but Gu Luohe said he didn't know why either, so Zhao Xing let it go.
"Senior Gu, then where is Jin Yan hiding? Is there any chance to kill him?" Zhao Xing asked. He could vaguely sense Pu Yan's location, and he could sense Zuo Qiyu's even more clearly—mostly because of distance.
"Jin Yan is hiding in the demon clan's territory," Gu Luohe shook his head. "There's really no chance."
"The demon clan is also fighting against the Evil Gods, but their philosophy is a bit different from ours, and we don't have direct control over them, so there's no good solution right now."
When he heard this, Zhao Xing suddenly thought of something. "Senior Gu, what's the background of the Shadow Sanctuary?"
The Shadow Sanctuary was a really mysterious organization. Back when the Dongyan Ancient Clan held their sacrifices, someone used it to hire assassins to kill Zhao Xing, and later Wei Tianchen even put out a bounty in the Shadow Sanctuary. It seemed to be everywhere.
"All I know is that Shadow Sanctuary has been around since the Five Emperors Era," Gu Luohe shook his head. "They exist in every era, but nobody knows their true origins."
"They're even more purely business than the Reincarnation Divine Palace. As long as the price is right, they'll take any job. The emperors guessed a God King probably set it up, but it doesn't belong to any side."
"Since nobody can trace Shadow Sanctuary, and they give some face to the top superpowers by following certain rules—they won't take on jobs that cross the line—so in both the past and present, their existence is just quietly accepted. Sometimes people even use them to get things done."
Zhao Xing wondered, 'Was the Shadow Sanctuary really created by some idle God King?' If that was the case, then unless you could kill that God King, there was no way to wipe out the Shadow Sanctuary completely.
So, in a way, Shadow Sanctuary was just a neutral tool for hire.
Zhao Xing remembered seeing descriptions of Shadow Sanctuary in Wei Tianchen's legacy, and he even had Wei Tianchen's personal identity token for the organization. The rank was pretty high, but Zhao Xing wasn't sure if he could inherit that status.
The fifth official task came from Primordial Hill.
Because Venerable Hong Shan had once guided Zhao Xing when he was just an Emperor Lord and had even taught him techniques, Zhao Xing was considered a member of Primordial Hill. The empire and Primordial Hill had always been close allies, so Zhao Xing was welcome in both circles.
Previously, to give face to the Origin Realm—and since Zhao Xing himself served as a Bright Envoy on the ancient paths—Primordial Hill hadn't asked Zhao Xing to handle any official business, except to help publicize the Layered Boundary Mountain theory and participate in their events.
But now, Zhao Xing received a Dao order from Primordial Hill, asking him to get ready for the Mountain Chief Assembly of the third era of the Desolate Domain.
"At first, we just wanted you to watch the Mountain Chief competition," said Venerable Lushan. "But ever since you took out one Carlos family half-god and gravely injured another, people now believe you're strong enough to contend for the position. So now, eight out of twelve Shennongs from the Three Realms' Twelve Mountains think you should compete, so they put you on the candidate list."
"Do I really have to go?" Zhao Xing asked.
"You have to," was the reply.
Zhao Xing was just too well-known—he had no choice but to show up. After all, his two famous theories, especially Layered Boundary Mountain, had a massive impact on Primordial Hill. If Zhao Xing weren't a half-god, that'd be one thing, but since he had the strength, not letting him participate would just stir up a lot of criticism.
Honestly, if someone else won and Zhao Xing didn't compete, people would say the win was meaningless—'How can this assembly be legit if Zhao Xing wasn't even there?'
Venerable Hong Shan said, "But when you go, you're not allowed to use the Hou Transformation Method, or Primordial Hill would lose face. Your Hou Transformation Method will be forbidden, and so will your Heavenly Timing Law and Self Method."
Zhao Xing felt a bit troubled. "I don't mind going, but I'm not sure if the timing will clash. When does it start?"
Venerable Hong Shan replied, "The exact date isn't set, so there's no rush. You can even go later if you need to."
Zhao Xing was surprised, "I can show up late? Surely the whole assembly wouldn't be delayed just for me?"
Venerable Hong Shan laughed, "You're overthinking it. It's just that the timing is flexible—it'll be either the third or the fourth Solar Year, and no later than the fifth Solar Year."
One Solar Year equals one thousand Realm Star Years, so Zhao Xing did the math and realized he had at most five thousand years to prepare. That was a relief.
"So, do you have a lot of missions?" Hong Shan asked.
"I do," Zhao Xing answered honestly. "I have to go investigate the Desolate Domain Evil God Altar."
Leaving the White Bone Divine Domain, Zhao Xing knew crossing the tribulation wouldn't be easy. With so many soul splits to cultivate, resources were always tight.
Even half-god level resources were precious to him now, so he knew he had to take the contribution point mission seriously, do more, and do it well.
"You handle it as you see fit," said Venerable Hong Shan. "As long as you participate, that's enough. Nobody says you have to become Mountain Chief."
Both Venerable Hong Shan and Venerable Lushan just wanted Zhao Xing to show up and perform well. They didn't really expect him to defeat all the competitors and become chief of the twelve mountains.
He'd be up against not just the new half-gods like Hong Shan and Lushan, but also some of the veteran half-gods. Some were already at the fourteenth tier or higher.
If it was just a contest of Earth Law, Zhao Xing would have to improve a lot in just three or four thousand years—honestly, that was a tough challenge.
"I'll do my best," Zhao Xing said seriously. He thought they saw potential in him and were hoping for great things, so he accepted with a focused attitude.
While Zhao Xing was talking over official duties with Venerable Hong Shan and Gu Luohe, in the western territory of the Xuanling Star Domain—where it borders the Heavenly Demon Nation, Ten Thousand Demon Nation, Canglei Ancient Kingdom, Holy Wing Ancient Kingdom, and Purple Profound Ancient Kingdom, deep in the Black Heaven Barren Land—
"Yuu—"
Yun Tiandao crossed a pitch-black river and arrived beside an ancient, broken-down ship drifting in the black starry void. At that moment, Zhao Xing's avatar following him realized Yun Tiandao had reached an unknown area inside the Black Heaven Barren Land.
'This isn't the outer region anymore. It's not even on the map,' Zhao Xing thought. 'What's Old Yun doing here? An ancient ship?'
Zhao Xing looked closely but could only see part of the ship. It seemed to be hidden in a black mist, with just a tiny bit visible. The black of the Black Heaven Barren Land was black on a fundamental level, full of darkness origin. Normal light—even Sun Star Lanterns or top-grade Reincarnation Dao Weapons—could barely shine any distance here.
He couldn't see the whole ship, and there were no words or patterns on it, just some broken, crisscrossed lines.
"Kakakaka—"
Suddenly, Yun Tiandao's hand gave off a bright light, and the ship's hull opened up along a round formation. Layers of spatial runes appeared and swallowed Yun Tiandao whole.
"Whoosh—"
As Yun Tiandao entered, Zhao Xing's avatar appeared at the spot where he'd been.
But Zhao Xing couldn't see any entrance at all. The ship's entry wasn't mechanical, but a spatial formation. That meant if you didn't have the method or the key, there was no way to get in.
'Old Yun traveled countless millions of li, coming straight here, hiding his actions from everyone—could he have been bewitched by the Evil God?'
Zhao Xing never would've connected the dots before taking on the contribution point mission. He would've just thought Yun Tiandao was seeking the Dao of Heavenly Timing. After all, the Path of Sacrifice was already cut off by the Moon God Palace Lord. But now, Zhao Xing immediately realized the problem.
'Damn evil god, did they really bewitch Old Yun? Is he actually trying to use the evil god to revive the Xia Emperor?' The thought made Zhao Xing's heart heavy. As soon as he realized it, he went to find Yun Tiandao's wife.
Yun Tiandao hadn't brought his wife to the Black Heaven Barren Land. Instead, he'd settled her safely with a nearby realm-level power outside the Desolate Domain.
"Whoosh~" Another of Zhao Xing's avatars instantly descended on the star continent called Chaofeng Continent. In the middle of countless cities, he locked onto the position of Yun Tiandao's wife, Fairy Nifeng.
"Swish—"
The protective formation of a mere realm-level power was nothing to Zhao Xing. He appeared directly outside Fairy Nifeng's courtyard.
"Sister-in-law, I'm Zhao Xing. Please come out and see me."
Inside, a middle-aged woman opened the gate and looked at Zhao Xing in surprise. "Brother Zhao, why are you here?"
"Sister-in-law, I'll explain everything later. First, tell me—has Yun Tiandao gotten involved in something dangerous?"
Fairy Nifeng shook her head. "Brother Zhao, I don't know what you mean."
But Zhao Xing picked up on her inner turmoil right away. He pressed, "Fairy Nifeng! Is Yun Tiandao here in the Black Heaven Barren Land trying to revive the Xia Emperor through some kind of evil god sacrifice? Yes or no?"
"Do you know how dangerous that is? If you don't tell me quickly, he'll be trapped with no way out. You two have finally reunited after so many years—do you want to be separated again?"
"Hurry and tell me. Maybe I can still save him!"
Zhao Xing's push shattered Fairy Nifeng's resolve. She had been struggling already, but when she heard Zhao Xing say Yun Tiandao's life was in danger, she gave in.
"I…we really did get a statue from a god, and through him, learned a lot of secrets about the Desolate Domain Era."
"After the Reincarnation Divine Palace refused him, Tiandao thought about asking this god for help instead."
Zhao Xing's heart sank. Yun Tiandao really had been tempted by an evil god!
"Do you know this god's name? Did you learn his techniques or take any medicine he gave you?"
Fairy Nifeng shook her head. "It's just a very ordinary wooden statue, only used for communication. It can't send items. This is our first time here, too."
"Both Tiandao and I had tokens, but he told me to wait here. If he never comes back, I should throw the token away and never look for him…"
It seemed Yun Tiandao hadn't completely lost his mind, at least leaving his wife behind.
Zhao Xing watched as Fairy Nifeng started to panic. "Don't worry, Sister-in-law. Give me the token. There's still time—" "Okay, it's this—" Fairy Nifeng handed Zhao Xing a dark red wooden carving. But just as she was passing it over, she suddenly jerked her hand back.
Suddenly, the carving in her hand burst into brilliant red light, exploding like a blazing sun.
The red light surged toward Fairy Nifeng, and Zhao Xing acted instantly—he cut off her hand, then burned it with his heart fire, and put Fairy Nifeng into his world ring.
"Boom!"
Light and shadow twisted into a statue of a god, reciting a true mantra:
"Now you see the Immeasurable True God. Why do you not bow?"
The words pressed down on Zhao Xing's soul like the laws of the universe. Even his other avatars felt the pressure.
"Ah—"
Zhao Xing's eyes went blood red, and he almost knelt on the spot. He instantly activated four layers of seven-colored power, boosting his true spirit and will with Mystic Soul and Azure Abyss power, while Red Lotus power shattered everything, holding off the urge to kneel.
But he still let himself kneel—on purpose. He needed to stay clear-headed, to probe for information, not just resist or destroy the statue.
"To turn back from a lost path, it's not too late," the Immeasurable True God nodded kindly.
"Please, divine one, show me the way," Zhao Xing said reverently.
"You are trapped in this backward era, deceived and controlled by the evil gods here, doomed to inevitable death," the Immeasurable True God's voice was cold.
Zhao Xing pretended to be surprised. "How could that be? Am I really controlled by a god from the Xuanling Star Domain?"
"Of course. All the gods who stayed in the Desolate Era are cowards, running from death. They'd rather watch the universe decay than allow the True God to save it. They disrupt the river of time and sabotage the grand plan of salvation."
"They block the Great Dao, seal and twist history, and forbid anyone from becoming a god. Isn't that the real evil?"
Zhao Xing froze—not faking it this time, but genuinely finding it all a bit absurd.
So the so-called "evil gods" who fled the past now claim the ones staying to protect the Desolate Era are evil instead? The real villain is "escape-ism"?
It seemed these "evil gods" weren't just the world-destroying types. They also called themselves saviors.
Zhao Xing didn't care much for the Immeasurable True God's opinion of the current gods, but just then, Yun Tiandao reappeared—his life aura was stable, even much stronger than before.
Zhao Xing's avatar calmed down, then bowed again: "That's right, so right. I often feel this bondage, never free… Please, True God, guide me out of the maze."