"Greetings, True God!"
Venerable Fuping, Venerable Hujue, and Zhao Xing bowed immediately.
The Immeasurable True God waved a hand, and a surge of divine power lifted all three to their feet.
When Zhao Xing looked up, he realized he could no longer see Venerable Fuping or Venerable Hujue.
He guessed the Immeasurable True God was assigning different tasks to each of them.
The True God was very straightforward. First, he gave Zhao Xing the reward he had promised last time.
Three balls of golden light appeared in front of Zhao Xing.
"Zhao Xing, these are three portions of divine power containing the origin of time."
"You are a Shennong who also cultivates the Earth Advantage School and the Self School."
"This divine power of time origin will benefit your Extreme Land development, your internal world, and your troop types."
"If used on troop types, it can speed up their growth. Even Emperor-grade plant troops might break through to Legendary grade."
"If used to evolve your internal world, these three portions can accelerate it by about one entire era, saving you the time needed to build up that era manually."
Zhao Xing was stunned, then overjoyed. "Thank you, True God!"
So the Immeasurable True God was a time array master and had even mastered divine power rooted in the origin of time.
And he was seriously generous—just handed out three portions like it was nothing.
This trip had been well worth it. He'd really struck gold.
The benefits came first. Then came the tasks.
"Zhao Xing, I have three missions for you."
"You may choose freely according to your capabilities. Completing any one of them will earn my reward."
But—his tone suddenly turned cold—"If you fail to complete even one within the designated time, it means you're either useless or disloyal to me."
"You will be struck by a karma curse. Even as a half-god, your lifespan will be severely cut."
Zhao Xing's heart trembled. Serving a heretical god wasn't easy.
Especially a True God like this who held himself in extremely high regard. His rewards were generous, but the punishment was brutal too.
"True God, I will give it my all."
The Immeasurable True God drew a strand of thread and shot it into Zhao Xing's Fate Palace.
This was a divine thought containing the task details.
Zhao Xing could only learn the contents of the missions through this thought.
It had a unique trait—it worked like Fan Qianrou's Heart-Sealing Method. You could read and act on it, but you couldn't speak of it.
When Zhao Xing touched the divine thought, he quickly understood the three missions.
The first was a fairly standard sacrificial mission: collecting stars, gathering veins, refining flesh, blood, and soul.
The mission details were similar to what Yun Tiandao had received from Lady of Celestial Thunder.
It made sense—material origin was a constant demand.
But Zhao Xing's status was higher, so the requirements were higher too.
The quantity needed was one hundred times what Yun Tiandao had to gather.
The first mission was tough, but still within Zhao Xing's abilities.
The next two, though, were clearly a stretch.
The second mission: nurture the Ten-Thousand-Era Flower God Seed.
According to the Immeasurable True God, the Ten-Thousand-Era Flower God Seed was a time-space parasitic seed.
The universe's Four Great Seasons manifest differently across different times.
The seed had to pass through ten thousand distinct eras, absorbing the origin of each one before it could bloom and bear fruit.
Zhao Xing had just received one hundred seeds. They looked like wheat grains, each with a faint crack of time-space energy on its surface.
Clearly, they had just survived a single era, so their value wasn't that high yet.
The True God required Zhao Xing to cultivate at least one new crack on the seeds.
The more cracks, the better the reward.
The third mission: raise Bookworm larvae.
The Immeasurable True God gave Zhao Xing three larvae, each about half a finger in length.
These Bookworm larvae could only grow by feeding on historical records.
The highest-grade were the Xuanling Histories.
Even just gnawing off a corner of one would instantly complete the mission.
Next were histories of Ancient Kingdoms and the Demon Nations.
But those required a much higher quantity.
Of the three missions, the first was the easiest. The last two were much more difficult.
"If you can complete either of the last two," the True God said, "I can take you out of the Wasteland Era and help you become a Free God. Your chances of godhood will be at least eighty percent."
His words were deeply tempting.
"If you only complete the first sacrificial mission, you'll still get a treasure reward to help you overcome tribulations."
"Now go."
He waved again, and Zhao Xing's vision blurred—he was suddenly back at the mountain's base.
"These tasks from the Immeasurable True God are seriously tough. Way harder than Lady of Celestial Thunder's."
'If you're weak, no faction is easy to join,' Zhao Xing muttered inwardly.
Even missions from heretical gods were a form of screening, with real thresholds.
You couldn't just sign up and suddenly start crushing today's geniuses.
That said, the rise of the heretical god faction had made becoming a god more achievable.
Before, the only viable option was doing contribution missions in the Xuanling Star Domain. Now, there were missions from heretical gods too.
Half-gods now had more choices.
And the bar was slightly lower than the official True God factions in the Wasteland Era.
Take someone like Venerable Hujue—he'd had no shot at competing for god-level resources within the demon race's domain.
Now, through the heretical god faction, he had a chance.
Of course, if he wanted more options, he'd have to take on greater risks.
"Buzz~"
Right as Venerable Fuping and Venerable Hujue reappeared, the space trembled.
Tearing through the Black Heaven Wasteland was no easy task.
Zhao Xing saw that the temple on the mountain shrank rapidly and vanished into a spatial rift.
Strike and relocate—the Immeasurable True God was extremely cautious.
'Since he had to assign tasks and bring items, his descent likely consumed divine power too,' Zhao Xing thought. 'That's probably why he summoned his believers all at once.'
Descending came with a price, and the time he could stay was very limited—similar to the rules of the Transmission Realm Tower.
Just as Zhao Xing was about to fly off, Venerable Hujue suddenly struck.
A shadow spread across the sky and ground, forming a massive black maw aiming to swallow both Venerable Fuping and Zhao Xing whole.
"What are you doing?!" Venerable Fuping roared in fury. He immediately summoned a spinning top-shaped artifact that rotated furiously, grinding through space and slowing down the engulfing shadow.
Zhao Xing was caught in the blast range too, but only took about twenty percent of the hit. Venerable Hujue's real target was clearly Venerable Fuping.
With a casual use of Distance-Free Teleportation, Zhao Xing escaped the ambush and appeared on a nearby mountaintop.
"This tiger demon's gone mad. Oh—right, I reported him." After getting out, Zhao Xing linked with his split soul and instantly recalled the report he'd submitted.
"Is the Immeasurable True God really not going to intervene?" Zhao Xing thought from the god's perspective. He figured that instead of wasting time on trivial matters, the True God would rather reinvest in new half-god prospects.
'If you can't even protect yourself, if you crumble under pressure, why would a god trust you with anything important?'
"Roar!"
When Venerable Hujue saw Zhao Xing escape, he didn't bother chasing him. He stayed locked on Venerable Fuping.
From discovery, to reporting, to confirmation—it all takes time, right?
Zhao Xing had only just arrived, so the timing didn't match up.
Hujue assumed the report must have come in before Zhao Xing showed up.
So he eliminated Zhao Xing as the source and concluded it had to be someone who had already interacted with Venerable Fuping.
Zhao Xing touched the palm wearing the Fortune God Bone. The thing really lived up to its name—always turning danger into luck. 'Saying it brings heaven-high fortune isn't even an exaggeration.'
"Good luck, Venerable Fuping. I'm not blowing my cover to save you."
His true self made seven consecutive jumps and exited the Black Heaven Wasteland. With just three more, he was back in the territory of the Red Star Empire.
Once he returned, Zhao Xing headed straight for the Mindspirit Palace to meet with the Mindspirit General, Qiluo.
Every time he completed a mission, he had to report in to clear any mental contamination from the heretical god task—just in case he'd been unknowingly influenced.
In the foggy void of the Ancient Dao Layer, an enormous floating palace stood. This was Qiluo's Mindspirit Palace.
Whoosh—
Zhao Xing descended onto the first-level plaza. Many high-grade boundary ships and flying boats were docked there.
Clearly, he wasn't the only one completing missions—other half-gods were here too.
"Greetings, Primal Envoy." As he stepped onto the first level, a graceful maid appeared before him. She was a puppet, a high-grade artifact spirit, part of the Grand Divine Mechanism Army. Totally secure, incapable of leaking any information.
"Take me to the Mindspirit Lord," Zhao Xing said.
"Please follow me." The maid led him into a fog-covered corridor.
They walked a long time without ever seeming to reach the end. It felt like walking in place. But Zhao Xing wasn't annoyed.
After a long time in that endless corridor, suddenly—
"Primal Envoy Zhao Xing, your mind is clear."
Zhao Xing flinched in shock, suddenly feeling like he was being pulled rapidly backward.
Buzz— His eyes snapped open.
He was still standing in the same spot.
"What just happened?" Zhao Xing looked toward the mechanical maid.
"Primal Envoy, your soul entered the Mindspirit Path just now. Since there were no problems, you naturally returned," she explained.
"So that's how it works." Zhao Xing was amazed by the Mindspirit General's strength. His soul had just left his body and traveled the Mindspirit Path—and he hadn't even noticed. Divine-level mental arts were terrifying.
Especially among soul-type god-realm experts—their methods were practically undetectable.
"Thanks to the Mindspirit Lord."
Zhao Xing bowed toward the massive palace, then left.
After leaving the Mindspirit Palace of the Ancient Dao Layer, his true self returned to his residence in Primal City.
"Three strands of time origin divine power—this is what I got from the Immeasurable True God. I wonder if a god-tier original species can absorb it."
Zhao Xing opened his internal world and delivered the three strands of divine power to the god-tier original species.
Next to the star-sized original species, those three strands looked like nothing.
Zzzp—
All three strands were instantly absorbed.
Buzz—
The original species trembled slightly, like it was very satisfied.
Zhao Xing checked the interface. There was no visible change—it still showed "In Incubation."
Hmm—
He teleported next to the seed planet and saw that about half of the divine power was being expelled and condensed into a new form.
"Absorption rate of fifty percent? That's way better than with Boundary-Breaking Divine Stones or Blue Flower Mana."
Back when he'd fed it leftover energy from a Boundary-Breaking Stone, it had only absorbed one percent. For Blue Flower Mana, it was one ten-thousandth.
But with the True God's time origin divine power? It absorbed half.
"The Immeasurable True God's power… has this kind of effect?"
Zhao Xing collected the expelled portion from the seed.
He examined it carefully. The divine power had been refined—now pure, without any embedded laws or dao. It had become a totally new type of divine power.
"The True God's original divine power carried dao and laws. But now, it's completely filtered out."
"My original species… can act as a filter?"
Zhao Xing had worried there might be risks in using heretical divine power for refinement. But now he could let go of those concerns completely.
"I'll eat it myself."
He consumed the refined divine power.
The pure energy shot straight to his dantian.
Zhao Xing channeled it into his Extreme Land Microcosmic Domain.
Eight hundred forty million particle-sized mountains shook.
The once-gray mountains were now streaked with gold.
The golden peaks reflected light that shone onto the true spirit within his Fate Palace.
Hoo—
Zhao Xing's true spirit split soul began to grow stronger.
As his cultivation progressed, the feedback strengthened his true spirit too.
Once the backflow ended, Zhao Xing opened his eyes.
"Since returning and taking down the Carlos Family, I've gained tons of half-god-level resources. Excluding my study clone and the one cultivating at the Primordial Hill, the level of my split souls has gradually risen to the Nine Tribulations stage."
"Now, with this divine power refinement, my true spirit is ninety-eight times stronger than that of a typical ninth-tier half-god."
"I can choose to break through now—initiate my tenth True Spirit Tribulation."
"I wonder what it'll look like... if it shows up at all."
By all reasoning, after returning from the White Bone Divine Domain, each split soul should've triggered the ninth True Spirit Tribulation.
But now, even though all of Zhao Xing's split souls had reached ninth-tier level, not a single tribulation had appeared.
He consulted the artifact spirit of the Eight Directions Divine Mirror, and it offered a guess:
"The nature of the True Spirit Tribulation is universal punishment for cultivators who defy the cosmic laws. For example, those who reincarnate or extend their lifespan unnaturally."
"You've never reincarnated or rebuilt your cultivation. That's the first reason."
"Second, your fortune has reached an extremely high level thanks to the Fortune God Bone. Fortune, at its core, is the universe's favor toward a being."
"Put those together, and your breakthrough into half-god status simply bypasses the True Spirit Tribulation."
"If you don't believe me, ask Gu Luohe. He probably didn't go through the ninth or tenth tribulation either—his true spirit just kept getting stronger on its own."
Zhao Xing went to Gu Luohe to confirm it, and sure enough, the response was almost identical.
"That's right. When I became a half-god, I didn't experience any True Spirit Tribulation. I skipped seven of them straight up. Just kept growing stronger naturally."
Zhao Xing was speechless. Skipped seven?
Gu Luohe's fortune level was thirty-one, one tier higher than Zhao Xing's even with the Fortune God Bone. And that was Gu Luohe's innate fortune—not something stacked with Five Emperor Coins and god bones like Zhao Xing had done.
'No wonder Gu Luohe has a twenty-two tribulation true spirit. Definitely the chosen one of this era.'
After getting confirmation, Zhao Xing decided to try breaking through.
That day, his true self purchased a massive stockpile of half-god resources. He used all the dividends earned from the Ancient Path of Extinguished Stars to buy true spirit-enhancing treasures in the empire's vault.
Gulp—
All ninety-eight split souls emerged, each standing inside its own array grid. They began consuming true spirit treasures, rapidly strengthening their aura.
"If I don't have to worry about tribulations, I can go all-in with these resources. I can afford all sorts of true spirit treasures—like 'Heaven-Earth Mother,' True Spirit Fruits, or the Heart of the Origin Realm—"
The biggest fear after becoming a half-god was the tribulation.
Take Venerable Wudu or Venerable Hongshan. After reaching half-god, they went into seclusion specifically to deal with tribulations. Some even went to the Reincarnation Realm to lessen the impact.
But if tribulations weren't a concern, then leveling up became much easier.
"God Bone, let's see how far you can take me."
"I'll eat!"
Zhao Xing began devouring true spirit treasures nonstop, letting his true self and all his split souls grow without restraint.
A month later, his interface showed he was already a tenth-tier true spirit. Still no tribulation.
Two months later—eleventh-tier. Still nothing.
Half a year later—twelfth-tier!
Only at that point did Zhao Xing faintly sense the presence of a True Spirit Tribulation.
He attempted to actively trigger the thirteenth tribulation.
Boom!
A terrifying thundercloud tore through the sky. A bolt of lightning struck directly at one of his split souls.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—the rest of his split souls and his true self scattered, leaving just that one to face the tribulation.
"Go!"
That split soul raised a hand, summoning its own thunder—black in color.
The black lightning looked like heavy water as it clashed with the tribulation bolt.
This technique was called Heavy Water Divine Thunder, cultivated from the remnant scroll of the Nine Source Divine Thunder Technique obtained from Tianji Thunder Mother.
Boom-crack!
The two thunderbolts collided head-on. The black thunder surged upward, trying to overpower the heavenly strike.
"Did it work?"
Zhao Xing's true self watched closely.
This was just a split soul enduring the thirteenth physical lightning tribulation. It didn't directly affect his true body.
Boom!
Just as Zhao Xing thought the divine thunder might hold, a second bolt appeared. It merged with the first, forming a stronger column of light that pushed back the black lightning.
Then came the third, the fourth… As the tribulation thunder fused into a ninth-layered bolt, the black divine thunder was clearly being overpowered.
Boom!
The tenth thunderbolt merged in, unleashing a crushing force that slammed down, obliterating the split soul to dust.
Then the lightning swirled around, gathering the split soul's true spirit fragments and vanishing into the void.
"Failed."
Zhao Xing checked his interface. His bonus multiplier dropped from ninety-eight to ninety-seven.
But he immediately created a new split soul, had it consume more treasures, and quickly brought it back to the twelfth tribulation level.
With the Fortune God Bone and the Primordial Straw Puppet Technique, this kind of resurrection routine was absurdly strong.
"The thirteenth tribulation—the physical lightning form—was roughly on par with the power of the Heavy Water Divine Thunder from the Nine Source scroll. In fact, the divine thunder's origin level might even be slightly higher than the ten-fused tribulation bolts."
"But since the split soul was housed in a Primordial Straw Puppet, it didn't have access to the 'Extreme Land' Heavenly Fortune techniques. Without heavenly force, I had to rely on Blue Flower Mana and Red Lotus Mana, so the divine thunder wasn't at full power," Zhao Xing summarized.
"If my true self had to endure this thirteenth lightning tribulation, I might barely scrape by."
Zhao Xing gave up on further breakthroughs for now. Going further meant facing the thirteenth True Spirit Tribulation.
And forcing it just wasn't worth it. If he pushed too hard, the fourteenth tribulation would become unpredictable. He wouldn't be able to control when or where it struck.
In that case, he'd constantly be holding back in battle, unable to use full strength.
And if things really got to that point—even if his split souls could keep respawning with treasures to take the hit—those never-ending tribulations would keep destroying them. He'd get caught in a death loop of spending resources nonstop.
That's why Carlos the God Priest didn't dare to go all out. Even though he'd passed fifteen tribulations, he dreaded the sixteenth, having no confidence he could survive it.
Even though Zhao Xing failed the thirteenth, he was still stunned by how broken the "Fortune-Based Path to Godhood" really was.
"I went from the ninth all the way to the twelfth True Spirit level with no tribulation at all. No wonder during the era of the Five Emperors, everyone wanted to steal fortune. The Five Emperor Coins stopped being minted, and the whole fortune-based path to godhood got banned by a God Emperor—it really was a shortcut."
"Hmm… I wonder if removing the god bone from Xuerui the Free God would change things. Would the True Spirit Tribulations start coming again?"
Zhao Xing's innate fortune level had now risen to twenty-one. At this point, the Five Emperor Coins no longer boosted it. If he removed the Fortune God Bone, it would immediately drop back to twenty-one.
The moment he considered taking it off, he got a vague premonition.
"No. I can't take it off."
"If I remove it, I'll immediately face the thirteenth True Spirit Tribulation."
"Looks like the Fortune God Bone is too broken to be used on a large scale."
He'd originally planned to lend it to Ji Si or Old Liu. That would've skyrocketed Great Zhou's power. But clearly, this kind of cheat couldn't be abused.
'In the end, I still need to figure out how to raise my permanent fortune level. Using Xuerui the Free God's god bone just makes me a fake Heaven's Chosen,' Zhao Xing warned himself silently.
Still, for now, the Fortune God Bone was incredibly useful.
Forty-fourth from the last Star Year of the Second Era of the Wasteland.
Zhao Xing's avatars moved out in force, heading to places like the Black Heaven Wasteland, Chenluo Wasteland, Siyue Wasteland, and the Panhai Wasteland to track down heretical gods.
Thanks to his thirtieth-tier fortune, by the forty-fourth-from-last Star Year, Zhao Xing had already connected with fifteen different heretical gods, large and small. While doing tasks for the Immeasurable True God, he was also completing chain quests from fifteen other heretical gods.
The early stages of heretical god missions were mostly the same.
They all required collecting Yin-Yang Twin Stars and refining soul essence.
So Zhao Xing started buying large quantities of Yin-Yang Twin Stars.
"I won't bother stealing them. I'll just buy them with money. Pick up some from this star system, grab more from that one—eventually I'll have enough."
Old Master Zhao had inherited a bunch of territory from the Carlos Family. Regular wealth was no longer a concern—he was basically financially free.
He couldn't let his hard-earned reputation drop just to pinch a few coins. So after letting Gu Luohe know, he began using worldly wealth to buy Twin Stars.
But buying star pirates and criminals—that was trickier.
Because of his experience mining the Extinguished Star Ancient Path, and the Six No Laws he'd established, there was already a legitimate need for Yin-Yang Twin Stars.
But if he started buying star pirates and criminals to refine soul essence, it would draw attention. Some might even deliberately brand people from rival factions as criminals or pirates.
"Better to do it myself. Use mental arts to identify pirates and criminals. It's safer when I'm the one handling it."
"I want high-level ones anyway. Basic Origin Realm pirates won't cut it. Hunting down ones at the Dao Domain or even Reincarnation Realm is faster."
"Bra Star—it's called the Star of Sin. Located at the southern edge of the Panhai Wasteland, in a transitional zone of the Xuanling Star Domain. Tons of powerful, reckless rogue cultivators gather there. Maybe backed by some major faction, maybe not. Doesn't matter. That's my first target."
Bra Star was pretty well known in the underground scene. Some gossipers had even ranked it among the top one hundred most dangerous stars.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—Zhao Xing's many avatars descended upon Bra Star.
On the territory of Bra Star's biggest star pirate group, the "Snowfeather Gang," their leader, Lord Fanyu, was drinking fine wine and watching a performance in the great hall.
He had good food in front of him, a beauty in his arms, but Lord Fanyu was in a sour mood.
"Life's getting worse by the day."
"North of the Panhai Wasteland, it's been getting colder these past three thousand years."
"Fewer adventurers, fewer trade caravans."
"And I still have to pay tribute to him. At this rate, the gang can't even cover basic expenses."
"Where does my future lie?"
With the environment worsening, even underground factions were struggling.
Lord Fanyu seriously wanted to go legit. But walking away wasn't up to him.
He'd done too much for the figure behind the scenes. Trying to quit would just get him killed.
"Sigh…"
"Why are you sighing, my lord?" the woman in his arms asked sweetly.
"You—"
Just as Lord Fanyu was about to speak, the entire hall suddenly shook.
Seven layers of defense barriers lit up at once. Several support pillars in the room exploded, and his throne suddenly sank downward.
Whoosh—he was instantly dragged into a tunnel of swirling wind.
The tunnel carried his seat along a winding path toward the planet's core, where a secret teleportation array was already activating.
"Someone's broken into my hideout!"
"The seven-layer barrier was broken instantly—definitely a high-level enemy. But who would want me dead? Wuyan from Pengyu Star Continent? No, he doesn't have the strength."
Lord Fanyu was shocked. Since founding the Snowfeather Gang, he'd never faced this kind of crisis.
"Only thirty thousand and forty-six Infinite Moments needed. Once the array finishes, not even an average Emperor could kill me. I should be safe—"
He wasn't exactly panicking. This was his home turf, after all. He wasn't that easy to kill.
He already saw the glowing teleportation array light up. But just then, its base cracked open, and soil churned violently.
The entire array was overwritten by a deeper, mysterious spell.
"Not good—!" Lord Fanyu hadn't even reacted when the next mechanism was replaced by a Starshift Formation from the Earth Passage Technique. In the blink of an eye, he was teleported straight into Zhao Xing's palm.
"Interesting."
Zhao Xing's Primordial avatar eyed Lord Fanyu curiously.
Such a small-time gang actually had this many protective arrays. Between the defenses and escape plans, it was enough to fend off even average Emperors. Against a three or four tribulation Emperor, Lord Fanyu could've slipped away easily.
"Senior…" Lord Fanyu dropped to his knees at once. The moment he appeared in Zhao Xing's palm, he knew he'd run into someone truly terrifying.
This pressure was even stronger than that of the shadowy figure he served.
"Please, senior! Spare my life! I'll offer up all my wealth! I'll serve you loyally!"
"Fine," Zhao Xing said calmly. "Swear allegiance inside my Human Emperor Banner."
"What?! Senior, I—" Lord Fanyu saw his begging wasn't working and immediately pulled out a treasure—a pure white feather.
The space around Zhao Xing's palm trembled, as if about to tear open.
"Hmm?"
Zhao Xing casually pinched the feather—and everything went still.
Lord Fanyu was stunned. That feather was the greatest treasure he'd ever found, dug out of a ruin after five full eras. He'd saved it for the day he finally broke free from his master's control. Unless someone was a half-god, no one should've been able to stop it.
And yet—it failed. Just like that.
Could the one who caught him really be a half-god?
'What did I ever do to deserve this? Why would a half-god come for someone like me?' Lord Fanyu was in total despair.
"A small-time star pirate boss like you actually had a treasure like that? Was it some lucky find, or are you backed by someone?" Zhao Xing looked pleased. "Speak. If what you say is valuable enough, I might spare your life."
He couldn't even be bothered to force the information out—Wei Tianchen's medicine was worth more than this guy's life.
"Yes, senior!" Lord Fanyu clung to that shred of hope.
One day later, the entire Snowfeather Gang vanished without a trace—all of them absorbed into Zhao Xing's Human Emperor Banner. The gang was officially wiped out.
At the same time, in the territory of a titled king within the Sanyang Ancient Kingdom—
Whoosh whoosh—Zhao Xing forcefully tore through the barrier and descended directly into the royal capital.
"Who dares?!"
A young man dressed in ornate robes and wearing a crown stared in shock.
"Snowmoon Emperor, right?"
"Who are you to trespass into the Snowmoon Palace?!" Snowmoon Emperor demanded, clearly on edge. He was the son of a former ruler and the younger brother of the current king—who would dare storm his palace?
"So it's you." Zhao Xing opened his palm. Inside, Lord Fanyu knelt.
"You've been controlling star pirate gangs to satisfy your twisted desires. Over two eras, you've killed over three trillion people—including many of your own citizens."
Zhao Xing recalled Fanyu's report. This so-called Snowmoon Emperor used to abduct people and dump them on a certain boundary star. Then he'd host 'hunting banquets' with his nation's elites—play with his victims and then kill them.
He deliberately avoided killing slaves—he preferred hunting proper citizens, even Dao Domain or Origin Realm prodigies.
Sometimes, when bored, he'd play the role of savior, rescuing talents from other factions just to build a reputation.
The thrill of making the rules and breaking them—that's what Snowmoon Emperor lived for.
"Don't meddle in what doesn't concern you! My brother is the Sanyang King, and my father is Venerable Leiyang! You barge into my palace—"
Whoosh—
Zhao Xing saw he wasn't even trying to deny it. No point wasting words. He recorded everything with the Star Mirror, then reached out.
Boom!
Snowmoon Emperor fought back with everything he had, but Zhao Xing's five fingers felt like a mountain—suppressing all treasures and crushing his resistance.
Snatch—
He tossed Snowmoon Emperor into the Human Emperor Banner. In moments, he was refined to nothing.
"Not bad. Capturing him was worth more than dozens of Dao Domain or Origin Realm cultivators."
Right after Snowmoon Emperor died, the space outside the palace tore open.
The current Sanyang King appeared, riding a mechanized treasure-river.
"Who dares kill my brother?!"
He roared in anger.
Zhao Xing dropped his disguise and revealed his true face, ready to explain—
"Well done."
The fury vanished from the king's voice. He smiled warmly.
The sudden shift caught Zhao Xing off guard.
"Aren't you even going to ask why?"
The king shook his head. "With Zhao Shennong's reputation, if you came here yourself and killed my brother, then he either committed an unforgivable crime, or betrayed humanity. I should be thanking you."
"If you'd like to tell me, I'd be grateful. If not, I understand."
"You really do deserve to be king," Zhao Xing said, genuinely impressed.
Whoosh—
Zhao Xing pulled out a Star Mirror record and handed it over.
"This is what happened. I was passing through Bra Star and stumbled onto it."
The Sanyang King took one look and exploded in fury again. "Good! That Snowmoon trash was a disgrace to the royal family. Zhao Shennong, you've removed a cancer for me."
Zhao Xing wasn't sure if the king was acting or just genuinely upright.
Either way, the man definitely had what it took to be a ruler.
"I'm leaving. Handle the cleanup however you want."
Zhao Xing declined the banquet invitation but still gave the king face.
Not long after, the Sanyang King announced that his brother, the Snowmoon Emperor, had died from a cultivation mishap during training.
Seven years later, in the thirty-seventh from last Star Year of the Wasteland Second Era—
The number of nobility in the Xuanling Star Domain who "died from cultivation mishaps" reached twenty-eight.
Seventeen of the top one hundred star pirate factions had been wiped out.
Fourteen years later, in the thirtieth from last Star Year—
Nobles from ancient kingdoms who "died in accidents" or "lost their lives adventuring" totaled eighty-four.
Star pirate factions destroyed had increased to twenty-nine.
At first, the death of an Emperor-level figure still made headlines. For instance, Snowmoon Emperor's death stirred a bit of public reaction.
But over time, even that wasn't news anymore.
Cultivators hearing about it just sighed. 'Cultivation is tough. Even Emperors can die from going mad or dying on a mission.'
"Strange…" Venerable Fuping was now in the intelligence branch of the Ancient Kingdom Alliance, flipping through star pirate records. "Why are there others killing pirates before me?"
"Could there be more half-god heretical followers out there?"
Zhao Xing worked fast. His Primordial clones were already at the twelfth True Spirit Tribulation stage. Of course he moved faster than Venerable Fuping.
"All the easy ones are gone. The ones left are harder to kill," Fuping muttered.
Some pirate groups were actually cover ops—set up by half-gods to spy on the demon race.
When Zhao Xing encountered one of those, he didn't interfere.
"Forget it. I'll keep searching slowly." Fuping wasn't too bothered.
Places without established rules or order would always give rise to more star pirates eventually. Darkness was part of the world.
There would always be cultivators who rejected order and followed the law of the jungle. That's why places like the Shadow Sanctuary always had business.
"The mission rules say we have fifty years to complete the third task. If there's no progress in human territory, I guess I'll head to the demon lands next," Fuping thought to himself.
Venerable Fuping swiped his fingers over the Star Mirror and projected his mind into a virtual void space—this was a mindscape city surrounded and stabilized by ten thousand stars, known as Wanxing City.
Wanxing City was a place where god-realm candidates could meet and exchange information.
Not all half-gods were undercover agents for heretical gods—those were the minority. So Fuping wasn't too worried about being exposed.
He never put all his eggs in one basket. He'd often visit Wanxing City to make connections, hoping to find contribution tasks that were easier to complete. The upper ranks of the human race encouraged friendly competition among half-gods and also valued their ability to work together. Many half-gods even teamed up to tackle contribution tasks as a group.
Just as his mental projection entered Wanxing City, Fuping appeared inside a private room in a tavern.
There, he overheard his friend Venerable Shengyi chatting with three other half-gods. They seemed to be talking about the Red Star Empire and the Primal Realm.
"Shengyi, what're you guys talking about?" Fuping asked, settling into his usual seat.
"Fuping, perfect timing," Shengyi said. "We were just discussing a rising candidate. This guy's skyrocketed up the rankings over the past decade."
"Who is it?" Fuping hadn't visited Wanxing City much lately, having been too focused on heretical god missions.
"The Primal Envoy of the Red Star Empire—Zhao Xing," Shengyi replied. "His contribution rank has been climbing steadily every year. In the last fourteen years, he's jumped over fourteen thousand places."
"Oh? The Shennong half-god Zhao Xing, who wrote those two cultivation treatises?" Fuping nodded. "I've heard of him. They say he's only cultivated for just over ten thousand years. Didn't think he'd already make it into the god-realm candidate list."
"Got to chase godhood early," said another half-god in black-gold robes, with three golden marks on his cheek. "These young geniuses have a better shot. We old guys just don't have the edge anymore."
"Let's hope Zhao Xing makes it," another half-god said while sipping his drink. "If we had one more Shennong God, life would be much easier for all of us."
"Definitely," Shengyi agreed, nodding along with the others. They were all veteran half-gods who'd fought across space-time domains. They understood how much a single Shennong God could influence the battlefield.
"Last time I was in the Tianshou Ancient Kingdom of the twenty-third era of the Wasteland, I bumped into Qingyu the Free God. I was tracking an enemy half-god into the Li Star River, only to get caught in a star river collapse," Shengyi recalled. "It was terrifying. If Qingyu hadn't happened to be passing through, I'd be dead now."
"I heard Zhao Shennong has some kind of connection with Qingyu the Free God," said the black-gold robed half-god. "Shengyi, could you invite Zhao Xing for a gathering?"
"I've only seen Qingyu once and barely exchanged a few words," Shengyi chuckled. "Fang Ying, if anyone should invite Zhao Xing, it's you. You've got more clout and a bigger name than I do."
"Haha," Venerable Wanying laughed. "Why don't the four of us make a bet? We all try to invite Zhao Xing to Wanxing City. Whoever succeeds wins. One hundred thousand contribution points. Just for fun."
"Gao Yu's a Fate Lord. How's that fair?" Fuping glanced at the fourth man. "Wanying, you're just giving him free money."
"You think I can predict Zhao Xing's karma so easily? It's still a fair bet for me," said Venerable Haoyu with a smile.
"Fine, let's raise the stakes. Two hundred thousand!"
"Deal!"
"I'm in."
Once everyone agreed, Venerable Wanying grinned victoriously. "Hahaha! Get ready to pay up. I know Zhao Xing's teacher."
"You what?!" Fuping exploded.
"Fuping, you just paid for charity this time!"
"Hahaha!"
Meanwhile, Zhao Xing had no idea that during these fourteen years of reporting heretical god followers and completing contribution missions, he'd gained quite a reputation among half-gods.
His rising fame was spreading across increasingly higher tiers and had now reached places like Wanxing City.
Of course, he also didn't know that Shengyi, Fuping, Wanying, and Haoyu were plotting to meet him—and even placed a bet on it.
At that moment, Zhao Xing had just finished the Immeasurable True God's first mission. He arrived at the Black Heaven Wasteland with a massive supply of Yin-Yang Star Cores and soul essence.
"Only fourteen years to complete this mission. I wonder if the Immeasurable True God will be surprised." A tiny boat glowed softly as Zhao Xing sat cross-legged beneath the Black Heaven Moon Tree.
Fourteen years for this type of gathering task was extremely fast. Most heretical followers needed far more time—slowly killing weaker cultivators and accumulating soul essence bit by bit. They traded time for progress.
"Over on the human side, I've earned nine hundred seventy thousand contribution points in these fourteen years," Zhao Xing thought. There weren't many half-gods who had actually turned to heretical gods. The weaker ones didn't dare tempt half-gods either. If they were just Reincarnation Realm or even Dao Domain level, the contribution rewards were small.
"Still, nine hundred seventy thousand isn't bad. The more mission chains I complete, the higher I climb in the heretical god ranks. That's when the mission panel's real benefits will kick in."
So far, the strongest known heretical god was the manifestation of the Cold Food Lord—at the God King level.
Next came Tianji Thunder Mother and the Immeasurable True God. The other dozen-plus heretical gods Zhao Xing had contacted were Free Gods of divine weapon rank. None had offered him major benefits yet.
"Here we are."
Zhao Xing arrived at a certain zone in the Black Heaven Wasteland. He had the Black Heaven Moon Tree release its radiance and discovered that this time, the "worship site" was located on a desolate star continent.
There was no need to climb mountains, and no shrine appeared in advance. Just a simple ritual array base sat on the barren land.
Zhao Xing took out the statue and began summoning the Immeasurable True God.