When Zhao Xing took out the Qing Yuzi divine statue, he used it as a medium to carry the mysterious method of the Void Ancestor shedding bone.
Crack, crack, crack~
The divine statue quickly developed ten cracks. The once lifelike carving immediately lost its form.
Fortunately, after the tenth crack, no further cracks appeared, and Qing Yuzi's divine statue had successfully carried the secret method.
"Old Qing is really useful! Impressive!" Zhao Xing couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.
Once the imprint was completed, he didn't stay any longer.
After all, the divine patterns had been successfully imprinted, and the True Soul Heavenly Poison had been completely eradicated. This trip was already considered a mission accomplished beyond expectations.
No one knew if there were any more hidden dangers on the Void Ancestor shedding bone. Zhao Xing didn't want to create any more problems, so he immediately retracted his soul and returned the way he came.
Back inside his Avatar's internal space, Zhao Xing sent a message to the Five Venom Emperor: "Master, I'm coming out. Are you ready over there?"
His Great Void Avatar still couldn't escape, being crushed by the mountain.
He had no other plans; with a single thought, he withdrew the split soul and intended to leave.
Since he only had one Avatar, he still had to rely on Zuo Qiyu's Avatar as a medium to complete the no-distance teleportation.
"Don't worry, I've checked carefully. Zuo Qiyu's Avatar is practically an empty shell now. You can use it without concern." The Five Venom Emperor looked at the unmoving Great Void Avatar nearby.
"Okay, I'm coming."
Zhao Xing took a deep breath, then activated Dao's Control, locking onto the Great Void Avatar of Zuo Qiyu outside the mountain.
Since Zuo Qiyu's Great Void Avatar was now just an empty shell, Zhao Xing easily took control of it, reshaping it to match his own.
Next, he activated the no-distance teleportation, and Zhao Xing's main body instantly appeared inside Zuo Qiyu's Great Void Avatar.
Whoosh~
It took just a moment, but Zhao Xing immediately flew out of the Great Void Avatar.
He felt that even though Zuo Qiyu didn't have his split soul here, the lingering Dao rhythm was still rejecting him.
It was filled with murderous intent.
"Retract!"
Once Zhao Xing's main body emerged, the Five Venom Emperor immediately retracted the empty shell Avatar to prevent any negative influence on both of them.
Phew~
The Five Venom Emperor let out a long breath.
He had only made a few serious efforts in his life, and balancing the conflict between Zhao Xing and Zuo Qiyu was one of them.
Thankfully, no major problems had occurred.
"How was it?"
"Some gains," Zhao Xing nodded.
"You should go back quickly." The Five Venom Emperor handed the flower chair back to Zhao Xing. "Don't stay here."
"Master, should I just leave like this?" Zhao Xing asked. "Now that my True Soul Heavenly Poison has been completely eradicated, perhaps I can help a bit—"
He couldn't help with the Demon Emperor, but for the Demon Lords, Zhao Xing was confident he could handle them.
"Go, go, go. What help can you offer? Zuo Qiyu has already gone. If you go now, it will just cause chaos."
"After you return, go straight to the Primordial Realm and report to Senior Gu Luohe."
The Five Venom Emperor forcefully pushed Zhao Xing back onto the flower chair, urging him to leave.
"Alright, take care, Master."
Zhao Xing didn't insist, knowing that if Zuo Qiyu was there, there was no need for anyone else to help.
"Flower chair, activate!"
With Qing Yuzi's divine statue in hand, Zhao Xing and the chair began to dematerialize.
Transmission Realm, Eighth Floor.
Behind Bowe, a mirror followed slowly as it flew in a space full of light orbs.
Compared to the Seventh Floor, Bowe had gained greater authority.
Here, there were red light orbs everywhere. He could view the space-time causal disturbances that had truly occurred in history, and he even saw Qing Yuzi!
"Tian You Kingdom Lord~" Bowe stretched out his hand to control the scene. About thirty red-glowing light orbs lined up ahead.
In each of these light orbs, there was a Qing Yuzi. Though their appearances varied, they were all connected.
In the last light orb, the scene showed the Great Assembly of the Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom, with Qing Yuzi becoming a deity.
"So that's how it is, so that's how it is." Bowe suddenly understood. "The Seventh Floor allows me to absorb power, and the Eighth Floor lets me initially observe the Divine Realm. So Qing Yuzi became a god this way."
Bowe could now see Qing Yuzi's movement traces in space-time. With the help of the Transmission Realm, he could observe the past and present of the Divine Realm and understand his origins!
For example, in the space-time of the 22nd Era of the Barren Domain, there was also a 'Qing Yuzi.'
Curious, Bowe looked over and saw Qing Yuzi speaking angrily, saying things like "Don't!" and "Bastard!"
"What is he saying?" Bowe could see but still didn't understand much.
However, seeing Qing Yuzi in such distress made Bowe smile, even though he didn't know why.
Because this meant that the Divine Realm wasn't above all else. They could get angry and face things beyond their control.
"It sounds like Zhao Xing did something to upset him." Bowe smiled slightly. "Gotcha!"
Seeing the clues was a good start. In the future, he would definitely be able to uncover more information and reveal the secrets of the Divine Realm!
Whoosh~
Suddenly, the entire Eighth Floor of the Transmission Realm trembled.
"Master, what's happening?" Bowe looked at the nearby Common Realm. At this moment, besides Zhi Xin, there was already a shadow of the Transmission Realm, indicating that his master had also taken the first step.
The first step to becoming the spirit of the Transmission Realm Tower.
"Zhao Xing used your flower chair to return." Zhi Xin quickly replied. "But it seems there's a problem."
"What problem?" Bowe asked.
"The flower chair was created by you, so it has effectively replaced the original function of the Jie Yu. You've stored three strands of power inside the flower chair. Because of your influence, the flower chair is now like a Jie Yu with no upper limit to its capacity."
"It's rapidly consuming the spirit capacity of the Transmission Realm Tower. It has already exceeded 300 million."
"How much?!!" Bowe's smile immediately faded.
He immediately took out an ancient-shaped Jie Yu. This was one of the cores of the Transmission Realm Tower and the source of all Jie Yu.
After refining it, Bowe gained the ability of Substitution.
This allowed him to exchange the material of the current time and space for spirit capacity in the Jie Ling. The higher the spirit capacity of the Mother Jade used to grant cultivators access to the Transmission Realm Tower, the more quotas Bowe could issue. This also helped him control the Transmission Realm Tower.
Including features like Six Pillar Jade, everything depended on it.
In other words, Bowe used the Mother Jade to accumulate Jie Ling value in order to achieve his goal of becoming the master of the Transmission Realm Tower.
When Bowe first discovered the Mother Jade, it had only 100 million in capacity. After the first batch of quotas was opened, Bowe earned around 2.5 billion Jie Ling value.
But now, the capacity in his Mother Jade suddenly decreased by 300 million, and it was still quickly dropping.
In the time it took for him to exchange a few words with Zhi Xin, it had already dropped to an astonishing 500 million!
"My heavens—" Bowe was left stunned.
He had just mocked Qing Yuzi, falling into Zhao Xing's trap.
Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, he himself became the victim.
The Jie Ling value was being consumed like a waterfall, and the number on the mirror was rapidly shrinking.
Bowe instinctively reached out, as if trying to grasp something.
But in the blink of an eye, the transmission was already complete.
Even if he wanted to cut off the flower chair's transmission function and leave Zhao Xing stranded in the space-time history, it was too late.
100 million!
The number finally stopped.
Bowe was stunned.
"What... what happened—"
He originally had 2.5 billion Jie Ling value, but now only 100 million remained!
Zhao Xing's return consumed 2.4 billion of his Jie Ling value!
The hard-earned 2.5 billion Jie Ling value, accumulated with great effort, was now reduced to a mere fraction!
It was like going back to square one in one night!
Bowe was completely numbed.
What difference did this have from robbery?
"Why, why did this happen—"
Bowe muttered, unable to comprehend.
Zhi Xin was also shocked into silence.
After a while, she spoke softly to comfort him, "Bowe, I think you should stop thinking about him in the future."
Even Qing Yuzi, a being in the Divine Realm, could be tricked like this. Zhi Xin suspected that if Bowe kept including Zhao Xing in his plans for deification, it would be extremely dangerous.
Unlike the transmission through Jie Yu, Zhao Xing's return using the flower chair felt incredibly long.
A strange world appeared before his eyes, filled with red light. Countless lines intertwined above a long river, some of these red lines even passing through his body. However, he didn't feel anything unusual, only occasionally seeing flashes of images and figures that gave him a chilling sensation.
It felt as though an entire era had passed before Zhao Xing realized that these strange phenomena dissipated, and both he and the chair appeared in the grand hall of the Sixth Floor of the Transmission Realm Tower.
"Back already?" Zhao Xing looked around, feeling like he had returned, but the process was different than usual. He wasn't sure.
Whoosh~
It wasn't until Bowe's figure appeared that Zhao Xing sighed in relief.
"Greetings, Elder!"
"Mission accomplished, I've returned alive!"
Zhao Xing, completely unaware that he had consumed Bowe's 2.4 billion Jie Ling value, felt a sense of familiarity just by seeing a dog. More so, Bowe had genuinely treated his illness, making Zhao Xing's attitude toward Bowe much better now.
Bowe, however, wore a blank expression.
"Mission accomplished?"
"Why didn't you just die there?"
Taking a deep breath, Bowe forced out a smile. "Zhao Xing, I'm glad you're alive."
"Elder, my True Soul Heavenly Poison has been completely eradicated, and the time and space of the Transmission Realm Tower have been sealed. I wonder if I can..."
"Next time?" He still wanted a next time?!
"Zhao Xing, go back first. The matter of entering the Transmission Realm Tower can wait." Bowe waved his hand, directly retracting the flower chair and sending a surge of power to throw Zhao Xing out.
"Wait? Elder..."
Zhao Xing was thrown out, spinning several hundred times before finally stopping. During his spinning, he seemed to hear people whispering.
"Hey, who's this guy flying like that?"
"Looks like Shennong Zhao, the one who caused the Earth School changes?"
"Sacred City, such behavior, what a disgrace!"
"Scram, who's the old scholar? Who cares how Shennong Zhao flies?"
"Old senior, leave quickly, the ones surrounding us are the Shennong of the Primordial Hill. If the Holy Son badmouths, he'll be beaten! Hmm? Why does this sound so familiar?"
Zhao Xing stabilized himself and looked up, only to find there was no one around, just some fleeting, illusory figures, as if they were time-space illusions.
"Could it be that Bowe kicked me out? Is this the real closure? But I haven't exchanged yet?"
He felt Bowe's change in attitude, as though he was slightly dismissive of him.
However, he didn't think too much of it, assuming Bowe was just helping him close the loop.
But he still hadn't made the exchange; did this mean he was returning empty-handed again?
Just as Zhao Xing was about to confront Bowe about it, his expression suddenly turned puzzled.
"What's going on, I—"
He opened his origin space to check and was immediately stunned.
At this moment, three things appeared in his origin space.
First, the Black Sky Moon Tree, second, the Soul Devouring Grass, and third, the Qing Yuzi statue.
However, these three items had all changed drastically!
First was the Black Sky Moon Tree. It had originally been only a man's height, but now it towered over ten thousand zhang, and the detection panel showed that it had entered its peak phase.
[Black Sky Moon Tree]
[Quality: Emperor-level]
[Status: Peak Stage]
[Innate Secret Method: Taiyin Moonlight, Dark Domain]
[Description: A mutated moon tree that absorbed Moonlight Shards from the Black Sky Barren Domain, reaching its peak stage, equivalent to a human Reincarnation Emperor-level. It is an auxiliary-type battle unit.]
[Soul Devouring Grass]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Status: Mature]
[Innate Secret Method: Nine Abyss Devouring World]
[Description: A Soul Devouring Grass from the Li Star River Domain, living by devouring Void Six. Upon reaching maturity, it is equivalent to a human Reincarnation Emperor-level battle unit.]
"How is it possible? The Black Sky Moon Tree and Soul Devouring Grass were both in the seedling phase, and now one is at the peak stage and the other is mature?" Zhao Xing was completely confused.
He felt as if he were hallucinating, because logically, his practice in the Hunyuan Realm was only at the second level.
The origin space was not his internal world, and yet, two battle plants on the level of Emperor-class were now present. Logically, the origin space should have collapsed by now.
It wasn't until Zhao Xing saw the third item that he understood what was happening.
"The statue... it's restored!"
The Qing Yuzi statue, which had been full of cracks, was now glowing with golden light, surrounded by a divine pattern. There were no cracks left at all!
It was this divine pattern that suppressed the two powerful battle plants, preventing them from destroying his origin space.
"Is this reasonable? I clearly haven't performed the exchange, yet they—"
Everything in front of him surpassed Zhao Xing's understanding.
He looked at the two battle plants, feeling a deep sense of fear. Without the suppression of Old Qing's statue, his origin space would have surely been destroyed.
"First, as my master said, I need to return to the Primordial Realm and report to Gu Luohe!"
Whoosh~
Zhao Xing transformed into a rainbow light and entered the Dao Xian Layer, leaving the learning city.
In the bizarre Dao Xian Layer, a flying boat resembling a mountain cat was weaving through the Void River.
Since they were in the Xuanling Star Domain, the Void River was very stable, allowing Zhao Xing's Mountain Cat ship to fly quickly, even though it was only a Solar Dao soldier.
"I don't know why, but my two seedlings have grown tremendously."
"The once ordinary Qing Yuzi statue has now become something extraordinary. Could it be the result of imprinting the mysterious method of Void Ancestor? But that doesn't make sense."
After the initial confusion, Zhao Xing quickly accepted the facts.
The Qing Yuzi statue, which had originally been an ordinary wooden sculpture, had now carried the Void Ancestor method and become something extraordinary.
While he couldn't fully understand this, the two battle plants were still something he could observe.
"The Seven Realms True Spirit Bamboo is also Emperor-level, but it's still in the growth stage, without undergoing transformation. Only the Black Sky Moon Tree and Soul Devouring Grass have changed. It seems that something happened in the Transmission Realm Tower that I don't know about," Zhao Xing thought to himself.
"Regardless, these two battle plants are not under my control. I can't even keep them alive, so controlling them is out of the question. But I can still observe them through the panel."
"The Black Sky Moon Tree has two innate abilities: Taiyin Moonlight and Dark Domain, both of which are auxiliary in nature. They should provide convenience in the Black Sky Barren Domain."
If we exclude the Chen Luo Barren Domain, the Black Sky Barren Domain is perhaps the most mysterious and unique forbidden land among all the Barren Domains.
It is infinitely close to the legendary Dead Domain, with almost no spiritual energy and very little vitality.
Moreover, the Black Sky Barren Domain has no 'Void River,' which means that the Void in the Black Sky Barren Domain is only a single layer, corresponding to the true world's Image Layer.
Unlike the Chen Luo Barren Domain, which has chaotic void currents, the Black Sky Barren Domain has no such thing, almost as if a part of the cosmic laws is missing there.
"In history, the Black Sky Barren Domain wasn't as extreme as it is now. People could still see the Taiyin Star and find moon trees, but later on, these things became impossible to find." Zhao Xing felt that this mutated Black Sky Moon Tree could be very helpful.
The Black Sky Barren Domain involves two theories.
First, there is the Minggu Mountain, said to be the universe's largest mountain. It is said to block the existence of the Extreme Star, with its shadow casting over the universe's boundaries, thus forming the Black Sky Barren Domain.
Second, the Extreme Star. If the first theory holds true, finding the Minggu Mountain might lead to the discovery of the Extreme Star.
"Compared to the Black Sky Moon Tree, the Soul Devouring Grass only has one innate ability," Zhao Xing looked at the other plant life.
It had nine leaves, broad and dark green, with mysterious black lines on them. They were spiraling in motion, resembling a bottomless black vortex.
As Zhao Xing looked at it, it seemed as though his gaze would be absorbed into it.
The nine spirals on the nine leaves constantly pulled at the origin space, but Qing Yuzi's statue kept it from being able to move.
Although the Soul Devouring Grass only had one innate ability, Zhao Xing felt it was far more dangerous than the Black Sky Moon Tree by a hundredfold.
"Earlier, I wanted advanced battle units, but having battle units this advanced isn't necessarily a good thing," Zhao Xing thought, feeling both excited and troubled.
Upon careful reflection, Zhao Xing realized that this trip had yielded significant gains.
The True Spirit Heavenly Poison had been eliminated, and he had also learned the Primordial Straw Puppet Technique.
He had obtained two powerful plant battle units and brought back what seemed to be a fragment of a god-level secret method created by Void Ancestor.
"But, if I don't open up an inner world, I won't be able to withstand the two Emperor-class plants. Moreover, if the Soul Devouring Grass reaches its peak, it could rival a Demigod."
"The mysterious secret method on Void Ancestor's Shedding Bone must be handed over. Without the suppression, should I transplant the two plant battle units as well? I wonder how the Empire will arrange things for me."
Zhao Xing felt a bit anxious. His harvest was so great that it might not be able to be kept, and he even felt that the journey back to the Empire might not be safe.
The Void Ancestor Shedding Bone was a secret of the Origin Heaven Palace, and the Demon Clan Emperor had fallen into a karmic trap because of him. Jin Yan also knew that Zhao Xing had mastered the Primordial Straw Puppet Technique, and inside the Transmission Realm Tower, he had obtained two powerful plants. The True Spirit Heavenly Poison was gone—would Wei Tianchen find out?
As Qing Yuzi had said, after experiencing the Karmic War, he was now "entangled with karmic ties." On his way back, would someone try to assassinate him?
The interior of the Xuanling Star Domain was not completely safe either!
Zhao Xing attempted to call Qing Yuzi, but there was no response.
As previously mentioned, Qing Yuzi would no longer respond to him. The Tianyou Kingdom Lord from 22 epochs ago had already set up this method in advance.
At this moment, the Mountain Cat ship's interface suddenly slowed down, and a three-pronged spire structure appeared in the Void River ahead.
Its sudden appearance caused the surrounding Void River to be cut off, and Zhao Xing's Mountain Cat ship was pulled toward the three-pronged tower.
"What?!"
Just as he feared, Zhao Xing took a closer look and saw that these were the Tianque Palace, Wuxiang Palace, and Qingxu Palace from the Origin Heaven Palace.
The Origin Heaven Palace generally dealt with external matters, with Tianque Palace being the most common, and it was rare for all three palaces to act together.
But now, they had appeared together!
And they had blocked his path.
"Right, the Origin Heaven Palace holds Void Ancestor's Shedding Bone. If I've obtained information about another Shedding Bone, the first to react would obviously be the Origin Heaven Palace," Zhao Xing thought, realizing things were about to go south.
Since Gu Luohe didn't manage the affairs of the Primordial Realm, and the task was mainly handled by Five Venom Emperor and Zuo Qiyu, Zhao Xing hadn't been able to contact Gu Luohe right away after leaving the Learning City. It was normal for the Origin Heaven Palace to act first.
Boom!
With a flash of lightning, the Mountain Cat ship's interface opened automatically.
From above the three palaces, misty stairways extended down, reaching Zhao Xing's feet.
Zhao Xing looked up and saw three brilliant golden rays of light, shining down from towering ethereal figures at the top of the stairs. The oppressive force from them made it hard for him to breathe.
Though he knew that the visitors were likely unfriendly, Zhao Xing still respectfully bowed and said, "Zhao Xing from the Primordial Realm, greeting the three Palace Lords!"
"Zhao Xing, hand over the secret method associated with Void Ancestor's Shedding Bone," a voice came from the top of the stairs. The voice was ethereal and indifferent, without any emotion.
So, it was for this!
Zhao Xing knew he couldn't hide it, but he still wanted to delay a little.
He bent over and said with difficulty, "Palace Lords, I don't know what this Void Ancestor Shedding Bone is."
"Even if I had it, I... I wouldn't want to hand it over."
"You're not afraid of death? We can kill you and still take what's on you. We just don't want to force things, out of respect for the Empire."
Zhao Xing didn't answer, merely shaking his head.
Even if he handed it over, would the Empire let him go?
In a faction, the worst thing is to be caught in the middle. If the three Palace Lords killed him, the Empire might still revive him.
After all, now that the True Spirit Heavenly Poison was gone, the cost of revival wasn't as high as before.
The key was that the three Palace Lords shouldn't make things irreversible.
After a long wait, the imagined death didn't come, and Zhao Xing heard a gentle voice.
"Very well, Zhao Xing, you may rise."
Feeling the oppressive force dissipate, Zhao Xing slowly looked up.
There were no palaces or misty stairways above him anymore.
Instead, two figures appeared where the palaces once stood. One was Gu Luohe, dressed in white robes, embroidered with a divine tree.
Beside him was a burly man wearing strange battle armor that seemed to blend seamlessly with the colors of the void, as if embedded with stars and moons. At a glance, it looked as though the entire Xuanling Star Domain map was embedded into the armor.
Gu Luohe and the Red Star Emperor?!
Zhao Xing furrowed his brow. Was what just happened an illusion? Or was this an illusion now?
But it was easy to determine.
The three Palace Lords hadn't appeared in his field of vision earlier, and his detection panel couldn't even display their names.
But now, as he looked up, Gu Luohe and the Red Star Emperor's names appeared on the panel.
So that's what it was. It seemed like this was a test.
When he thought about it, considering the events in the Yuanhai Kingdom and all the abnormal occurrences, it would be strange if there weren't any tests. Previously, there had been no major issues. With Qing Yuzi's backing, it hadn't mattered much, but now things were different.
Having a test meant he wouldn't be abandoned, that the Empire might truly accept him!
Fortunately, he had made the right choice and hadn't sworn allegiance to the Origin Heaven Palace.
Otherwise, it would be over.
In an instant, everything clicked into place. Zhao Xing straightened himself and bowed slowly. "I, Zhao Xing, emissary of Haitong, greet His Majesty!"