Far away.
Beyond the northern territories.
Beyond the reach of newly rising dynasties and freshly broken Spirit Levels—
The scenery changed.
The heavens above Region 200 were different.
Not brighter.
Not darker.
Heavier.
The sky itself carried weight, as if ten million years of history were pressing down on every breath taken beneath it. Vast continents floated in layered spatial strata, bound together by ancient formation arrays that had never been fully dismantled since their creation.
At the center of it all stood an empire that had never truly declined.
Eternal Heaven Vast Dynasty
(Spirit-Level Tier 3 Force)
A name that had echoed through countless eras.
Its founding dated back ten million years.
Golden rivers of qi flowed through its capital, each strand thicker than mountain ranges. The city itself was not built—it was grown, refined over eras until stone, metal, and law became indistinguishable.
At the heart of the dynasty:
Eternal Heaven Imperial Capital
Population under direct and indirect rule: Several Trillion
Total controlled territory: ~500 Billion km²
Regions governed: 200 Complete Regions
Subordinate Spirit-Level Forces: Nearly 50 (Tier 1–2)
And above all—
National Power
Power+: 250,000
A number that had not changed in tens of thousands of years.
Stable.
Terrifyingly stable.
Deep beneath the capital, where even Heavenly Lords dared not tread lightly, lay the Ancestral Sleeping Grounds.
Layer upon layer of sealed stone halls.
Each hall contained an existence that had once shaken entire regions.
Dozens of Ancestral Lords slumbered in deep seclusion
Some in Great Ancestral Lord Realm
A few rumored to have touched the edge of Heavenly Ancestral Lord Realm.
Their breathing alone subtly adjusted the dynasty's fate veins.
They were not summoned.
They were not awakened.
They were insurance.
Above ground, the dynasty's active structure moved with cold efficiency.
High-Level Structure Overview
Hundreds of High-Level Elders
(True Lord → Heavenly Lord Realm)
Thousands of Protectors
(Elite combat officials stationed across regions)
Tens of Thousands of Officials
(Administrators, formation masters, law enforcers)
Each region had its own True Lord-Level governor.
Each governor had independent military authority.
Each military authority was backed by formations refined over millions of years.
This was not a dynasty that relied on brilliance.
It relied on accumulation.
Inside the Heaven-Sealing Ancestral Hall, ancient flames flickered.
An old figure slowly opened his eyes.
They were not sharp.
They were not fierce.
They were deep.
"…The Great Wilderness Region has changed," he murmured.
Another voice echoed from deeper within the hall.
"A Spirit-Level Imperial Force… newly ascended."
A third, calmer voice followed.
"But its growth curve is abnormal."
Silence fell.
Then—
A faint ripple passed through the ancestral formation arrays.
Not alarm.
Not panic.
Interest.
"For ten million years," the first voice said slowly,
"no force has shifted the balance fast enough to reach us."
The flames flickered.
"…Perhaps," another replied,
"this one will."
Far away, unseen and unfelt—
The Nine God Dynasty continued to expand.
And in the depths of the Eternal Heaven Vast Dynasty, ancient existences began—ever so slightly—to pay attention.
The board had grown larger.
And for the first time in countless eras—
Even a Tier 3 Spirit-Level dynasty could no longer ignore the movement of fate.
The First Fracture
Far from Region 200's imperial core—
far from the Eternal Heaven Vast Dynasty's ancestral sleeping grounds—
the outer territories began to feel it.
Not an invasion.
Not war.
Extraction.
Border Region – Azure Spiral Domain
(Subordinate Spirit-Level Tier 2 Force)
The Azure Spiral Sect had existed for 2.3 million years.
They governed four regions, oversaw hundreds of billions of mortals, and paid tribute to the Eternal Heaven Vast Dynasty once every ten thousand years.
They had never rebelled.
They had never been punished.
That was why they did not expect this.
The sky folded.
Not shattered—
folded, like fabric pressed flat by an unseen palm.
Dragon-patterned clouds descended.
No banners.
No proclamations.
Only pressure.
Dragon Guard Arrival
Twelve Dragon Guard Commanders stepped out first.
Cultivation: ➡ True Lord Realm
Behind them— Elite Divine Soldiers, perfectly ranked, perfectly silent.
Their qi stabilized the heavens instead of disrupting them.
That alone terrified the Azure Spiral Sect Master.
"This isn't conquest…" he realized, heart sinking.
"This is absorption."
A Single Voice
A Core Elder stepped forward.
No name announced.
No title displayed.
His cultivation radiated one major realm above the sect's highest elder.
He did not threaten.
He stated fact.
"From this moment onward, Azure Spiral Sect will sever tributary fate with Eternal Heaven Vast Dynasty."
The air hardened.
The sect's grand formation tried to respond—
—and froze.
Every formation node lost priority control.
Their ancestral contracts went silent.
The Eternal Heaven Vast Dynasty did not respond.
Not because they couldn't.
Because this region was not worth waking an ancestor for.
Choice Given
The Core Elder's gaze swept across the kneeling elders.
"Submit."
"Or be reclassified as a hostile independent force."
No time limit.
No countdown.
The sect master swallowed blood and knelt.
"So long as our legacy remains—"
"It will," the Core Elder said calmly.
"Your fate simply changes hands."
Within one hour:
Azure Spiral Sect was re-designated
➝ Nine God Dynasty – Outer Pillar Force
All tribute routes rerouted
Population fate threads rewritten
Military command integrated under Dragon Guard oversight
The dynasty's Power+ ticked upward.
Not explosively.
Cleanly.
Reaction in Region 200
In the Eternal Heaven Vast Dynasty's Heaven-Sealing Ancestral Hall—
An elder opened one eye.
"…One tributary lost."
Another replied indifferently:
"A Tier 2. Insignificant."
"But," a third voice said slowly,
"they did not resist."
Silence.
That was new.
Second Target
Crimson Frost Domain
(Spirit-Level Tier 1 Military State)
This one resisted.
They activated ancient war formations.
They summoned their Spirit Lord generals.
They burned ancestral reserves.
The result?
A Sequence Elder appeared.
One.
His presence alone caused the war formation to self-collapse.
Not broken.
Invalidated.
Judgment fell without spectacle.
The domain was conquered in three breaths.
Pattern Established
The Nine God Dynasty did not march inward.
It peeled outward.
Tier 1 forces vanished quietly
Tier 2 forces folded without battle
Tributary lines rerouted one by one
Each loss was small.
But together—
The Eternal Heaven Vast Dynasty's outer defensive lattice began to thin.
Ancestral Awareness Increases
Deep underground—
A sealed ancestor frowned.
"This is not territorial greed."
Another voice followed:
"It's logistical dismantling."
"They're cutting us away from our cushions."
From fifty subordinate Spirit-Level forces—
six fell within one month.
Still not enough to justify awakening an Ancestral Lord.
But enough to change calculations.
Far Away
Within the Nine God Dynasty—
Feng Hao did not command each conquest.
He did not even watch most of them.
Reports aligned themselves on his desk automatically.
Power+.
Territory.
Population.
Fate-thread stability.
All rising.
He looked once at Region 200's marker.
Not predatory.
Analytical.
"Good," he said quietly.
"Let them watch."
The Board Tightens
For ten million years, the Eternal Heaven Vast Dynasty had been a center of gravity.
Now—
Gravity was shifting.
Not through war.
Not through rebellion.
But through systematic conquest of everything beneath them.
And for the first time—
A Tier 3 Spirit-Level dynasty realized something uncomfortable:
If this continues…
We won't be attacked.
We'll be left standing alone.
The game had changed.
And Feng Hao was not aiming for the throne—
He was removing everything that made the throne safe.