Chapter 1698: Not Mysterious at All

The world fell silent.

As the former domain cluster of the Badaxian Sect and the current ruling center of the Ancient God Dao's domains, the Imperial Earth Central Realm had never been this quiet before; the entire mountain was deathly still.

All living beings had fallen into stillness.

The Void Refinement and Dao Merging cultivators were dead.

The remaining cultivators had their thoughts and divine senses frozen solid; on a battlefield like this, they didn't even have the right to think, let alone resist when someone had penetrated deep into the heart of the domain and launched a sudden ambush.

"High-individual-power cultivators really do seem well-suited to sneak attacks…"

Amidst endless radiance, a youth in blue had at some unknown point arrived at the foot of Imperial Earth Mountain, climbing the steps one at a time.

The surrounding heaven and earth were frozen, yet only the living beings were frozen—as if it had become a painting; mountain winds and spiritual energy could still move freely through it, bringing a faint sense of coolness.

This place was like a world frozen in crystal.

If the sword cultivator's will within did not actively dissipate, this state could persist for ten thousand years before it might fade—so long that every living being's soul inside would vanish and crumble, yet their bodies would still appear fresh, as if they had never died.

Jiang Ding climbed step by step to the mountaintop, his sword intent carefully sweeping every formation and restriction, eliminating any potential threats.

He had kept up this good habit for tens of thousands of years and long since grown accustomed to it.

A moment later, Jiang Ding arrived within the Imperial Earth Hall, where he saw heads strewn across the ground, blood splashed in all directions, and Void Refinement and Dao Merging cultivators collapsed one after another; at this moment, there was nothing different.

"Tens of thousands of years, and after most of the heavenly materials and earthly treasures were extracted, you can still produce a Dao Merging cultivator from nothing—not bad."

Jiang Ding nodded slightly.

The Ancient God Dao's talent cultivation system was still quite good; built upon a vast domain foundation, it could stably produce Dao Merging cultivators—truly a hegemon-level force among world clusters.

Jiang Ding reached out his hand.

In the distance, the head of the Yellow Earth Divine Lord flew up and landed in his hand; then flesh, blood, and bone crumbled into a handful of white ash, leaving only a divine soul sealed by several sword qi, fallen into slumber, lying in his palm.

This Divine Lord's divine soul still existed and had not died, because it was still useful.

"Haven't used it in many years—wonder if my skills have grown rusty."

"This person truly cannot be found any reason for forgiveness or clemency—so be it."

Jiang Ding said lightly.

Being born human, whether righteous or demonic, one should always have some bottom line—this is an important reason this race still exists today: at the very least, one must protect the children within the race.

Unfortunately, such a simple truth was something some people never understood.

Since they don't understand, then they have no reason to live on—this is the price of ignorance and incomprehension.

Wisps and strands of sword intent flowed into the Yellow Earth Divine Lord's

divine soul; under a terrifying sword soul akin to realm-level crushing, his soul's resistance was utterly useless, and his sea of consciousness was breached in an instant, where all manner of memories swiftly surfaced, inscribed and recorded by the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

The Yellow Earth Divine Lord was named Li Xiaohuang, born in an ordinary, impoverished village within a Minor Thousand World during the rule of the Badaxian Sect; because the Badaxian Sect would not test the spiritual roots of every mortal in every Minor Thousand World, and because this small village was cut off from information, he would have lived out an unremarkable life, toiling among fields and ridges until death.

At the age of three, an aged and kindly voice appeared in Li Xiaohuang's heart.

This voice told Li Xiaohuang that his ancestor had been one of its twelve direct disciples, and that his aptitude happened to be top-tier in the domains, possessing the Yellow Dragon Dao Body, so he would become one of the strong ones of this domain, bearing the heavy responsibility of supporting the revival of the Ancient God Dao.

This aged and kindly voice continued to guide Li Xiaohuang.

Thereafter, Li Xiaohuang went through many things—tedious cultivation and Dao practice, grueling life-and-death battles, fortuitous encounters that brought tremendous opportunities, being revered and awed by cultivators across the world, his methods endless and varied, and even among Dao Merging cultivators he was no weakling, no easy mark.

All these scenes flashed rapidly through the Six Paths of Reincarnation, each second spanning hundreds or thousands of years.

Finally, the image froze on the scene of the Yellow Earth Divine Lord, after advancing to Dao Merging, gaining the qualification to go to the Ancient God Dao's mountain gate to pay audience to the Ancestral Master; the image began to flow normally.

Passing through layer upon layer of dust-covered towers and halls, the Yellow Earth Divine Lord saw the Ancestral Master.

His body trembled, and a baseless fear rose within him.

Before him was a monster vast as Rushan, possessing countless jet-black tentacles, with foul-smelling slime between them; these tentacles writhed and roared ceaselessly; following them upward, a thick, hard carapace obscured the entire body.

Only at the very top of the carapace was there a kindly old man.

"Greetings, Ancestral Master!"

The Yellow Earth Divine Lord was terrified within, as if what stood before him was a monster that devoured everything, not human at all; he strove to maintain a look of reverence on his face and kowtowed as he spoke.

"Child,"

"Do not be afraid."

The Ancient God Ancestral Master's voice was as kindly as ever, and he said gently: "For us human beings, there is no need to mind the form of the outer body—this is but a stinking skin bag; only the climbing of the immortal Dao matters."

The Yellow Earth Divine Lord received the teaching with solemn respect.

Then, the Ancient God Ancestral Master spoke of certain matters concerning infants, saying that it concerned the great enterprise of the Ancient God Dao's ancestral foundations over hundreds of thousands of years, and that the younger disciples should be diligent.

The Yellow Earth Divine Lord agreed without the slightest hesitation.

The Ancient God Ancestral Master was greatly pleased, gave the Yellow Earth Divine Lord some guidance on cultivation matters, and bestowed upon him many dharma treasures and pills.

What happened after that was the Yellow Earth

Divine Lord ruling his domain, and many matters of cultivation.

Jiang Ding watched calmly.

"Is it good to look at?"

A kindly, gentle voice suddenly rang out.

This voice appeared abruptly within Jiang Ding's sea of consciousness; the sound traveled outward quite far, stirring several ripples.

"Not really good to look at."

"Just some unremarkable, tedious matters."

Jiang Ding said lightly.

He was not startled in the slightest, nor was he frightened at all—everything was within his observation; indeed, this voice had been something he had deliberately let in from the Yellow Earth Divine Lord's sea of consciousness.

Otherwise, this voice would have been extinguished from the very start.

Everything was different now from that battle within the Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong many years ago.

"Indeed,"

"Not a pleasant sight — a tedious matter."

The voice of the Ancient God Patriarch carried a note of confusion: "Why is it that the restriction I set in this junior's divine soul has had absolutely no effect whatsoever? No warning, no self-destruction — it simply let someone examine its memories without resistance."

"Even this old ancestor's divine soul infiltration was completely blocked."

"Long time no see, Dao Friend. Your Six Paths of Reincarnation has actually developed to such a degree — truly astonishing. You really are a young one, unlike this old ancestor here."

"It is a bit different."

Jiang Ding agreed.

Boom!

Within the divine soul memory world of this Loess Divine Lord, a terrifying radiance suddenly bloomed. A dreadful palm broke in from above the divine soul world, tearing through layer upon layer of heaven and earth, layer upon layer of dream-realm reincarnation, then pinched a flower within the Loess Divine Lord's memory, and with its fingers picked up an utterly unremarkable chubby white bug on the flower's leaf, carrying it out into the outside world.