Chapter 351: The Epoch House

Yun Tiandao has come out.

Yun Tiandao has approached.

Zhao Xing has been struck.

Yun Tiandao's chest heaved as he maintained a single posture. A storm gathered in his eyes; he had just delivered one hundred uppercuts to Zhao Xing. Because the speed was so fast, it looked as if he had only thrown one punch.

Why did he beat Zhao Xing? Because Yun Tiandao was very angry.

He knew that even if he asked Zhao Xing after coming out, he wouldn't get an answer immediately; Zhao Xing would certainly only speak after ascending.

He would definitely not tell him now, as that would distract his energy and continue to interfere with his Dao heart.

Since he wouldn't speak, he would just knock off Zhao Xing's jaw and simply make him shut up!

Zhao Xing did not dodge, nor did he resist; one had to let people vent a little.

And so, he just looked at the other party with an "I am very sorry" expression.

When Yun Tiandao finished hitting and withdrew his hand, Zhao Xing rubbed his chin and set his dislocated jaw back into place.

"Brother Yun, this set of fist techniques is called the 'Small Four Seasons Marquis-Changing Fist'," Zhao Xing said somewhat helplessly. "Even if you wanted to test whether what I said was true, you didn't have to throw so many punches. I could have named this fist technique after just one punch. This was when you were the Great Minister of Agriculture of the Upper Xia Dynasty, and that female..."

"Enough! Don't bring up old history!" Yun Tiandao's face turned dark. How did this guy know everything!

Zhao Xing naturally knew; in his past life, Yun Tiandao had told him personally.

Restraining his anger and recovering his composure, Yun Tiandao finally calmed down. He stared at Zhao Xing: "If what you said is a lie, then you have truly succeeded in tricking me out. Now, I have no other path to walk."

Zhao Xing said with a serious expression: "Brother Yun, I did not lie to you. At most a hundred years, at least fifty, and you will know everything."

Completing the grand feat of ascension, in Zhao Xing's estimation, would take about fifty to one hundred years.

After Ji Che established the Dao, the timing was basically ripe; conquering the Southern Barbarians would not take that long.

Yun Tiandao stopped talking nonsense. Since he had made his choice, he would follow this choice to the end, until death.

"The Epoch House must have someone enter to become the new master before I can completely leave the Land of Returning Ruins."

"I have now left the core of the Epoch House; you have about four hours to consider who to have come in."

Hearing this, Zhao Xing nodded: "It won't take that long; I will go find them now."

Yun Tiandao did not follow.

When Zhao Xing went to find Ji Che and the others, Yun Tiandao straightened the non-existent wrinkles on his clothes in front of the door and looked back at the courtyard that had trapped him for long ages.

His expression went from reluctance, to worry, to bewilderment.

Soon, it turned into excitement and anticipation.

"Zhao Xing."

He smiled.

Finally, he returned to calm.

When Zhao Xing arrived at the place where everyone was resting.

Yun Ze was pacing back and forth in the hall, Lu Xia once again picked up a teacup with swirling tea leaves. Kan Qing and Xiao Yun were chatting idly with Fairy Lingdie, and Chen Yu was examining the Cloud and Rain painting on the wall.

Ling Tianchen and Wang Tianzhi were sitting beside Ji Che, their expressions relaxed, while Ji Che was closing his eyes to rest.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Xing slowed his pace.

"As expected, only Old Wang and Dean Ling are suitable candidates."

Asking Ji Che to take people away was actually a process of observation.

Ji Che would give the seven people a strong signal at the place where Fairy Lingdie was resting, which was: Zhao Xing would definitely be able to persuade Yun Tiandao.

Since he could definitely persuade him, the next problem would be: who would go to replace Yun Tiandao?

Zhao Xing and Ji Che believed that these seven people were each willing.

But, being willing is one thing, and being able to endure it is another.

Becoming the master of the Epoch House meant being a lonely watcher.

This watching time is not one or two years, not one hundred or two hundred years, but a million years!

Not everyone is suitable for this.

"I'm back."

Zhao Xing stepped into the hall.

Ji Che opened his eyes and exchanged a look with Zhao Xing; both nodded slightly.

The seven Ministers of Agriculture immediately quieted down and looked at Zhao Xing.

"Your Majesty, Senior Yun has already agreed to come out."

Hearing Zhao Xing's words, the seven couldn't help but cheer.

"That's great!"

"Hahaha, the Great Minister of Agriculture is worthy of being the Great Minister of Agriculture."

"Ancestor Yun is indeed a good ancestor."

"But he happens to have a descendant like you, tsk."

"Dean Kan, what are you talking about? Dean Lu, look at her!"

"Crazy."

"......"

If there was anyone most surprised here, it would be Fairy Lingdie.

She was the grand-disciple Yun Tiandao had taken in the last thousand years. After her teacher died, she became Yun Tiandao's eyes in the Profound Yellow World.

She knew this grand-teacher very well; logically, he would absolutely not come out halfway.

How strong was the grand-teacher's will? That was a million years of persistence!

But the grand-teacher was actually moved by Zhao Xing?

"Lord Zhao, has the grand-teacher really come out?"

"Yes, Fairy can go take a look."

"Alright, please excuse me."

Fairy Lingdie apologized and then hurriedly left the room.

Thus, only the nine people from the Great Zhou remained in the room.

Ji Che scanned everyone and spoke slowly: "Since Yun Tiandao is coming out, to leave completely, one person must be sent into the Epoch House to replace him."

"Your Majesty, this subject is willing to go." The seven Ministers of Agriculture came to the middle of the hall and spoke in unison.

Ji Che waved his hand: "I know you are all capable of taking on the heavy responsibility, but this is a death choice that may last for a million years, or even result in never coming out again."

"If anyone is willing to withdraw, take a step back now. I swear by my ancestors that I will never force you. Furthermore, I will erase everyone's memory of this segment so that no one will know."

Not a single person stepped back, but Zhao Xing keenly felt that five of the seven people had extremely subtle soul fluctuations, while only two remained the same as always.

Ji Che closed his eyes. After a brief silence, he waved his hand: "Wang Tianzhi and Ling Tianchen stay, the others go out."

The other five looked at each other, then looked at Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing said:

"His Majesty not choosing you five is not looking down on you, nor does he think you are cowardly; he is just choosing who is more suitable for the duty of a guardian."

"Everyone go out and wait."

Hearing Zhao Xing say this, Lu Xia, Xiao Yun, Kan Qing, Chen Yu, and Yun Ze had no choice but to bow and withdraw.

The hall was suddenly left with only Wang Tianzhi, Ling Tianchen, Ji Che's avatar, and Zhao Xing.

At this step, Ji Che was a bit indecisive.

From entering the Land of Returning Ruins until now, both of their performances were suitable for taking over this duty.

But, as Zhao Xing said before, this was the last chance for the Profound Yellow World.

So, choosing someone was almost like sending them to their death, and the kind that would only die after enduring an epoch.

Such a choice was too cruel, not to mention these were all his original team members he had known since childhood. Ji Che was an emperor, it was true, but he was not the cold and heartless Emperor Jing; he could not make a choice so quickly.

"Your Majesty, I am more suitable to be the guardian." Ling Tianchen did not let the silence become long and cruel; after the five went out, he spoke.

"The Marquis-Changing Academy has always had such a tradition; I, Ling Tianchen, will not shirk."

Then Ling Tianchen turned to Zhao Xing: "Great Minister of Agriculture, the position of Dean of the Marquis-Changing Academy can be taken over by Hu Yang or Zhang Tianxing. From a personal emotional standpoint, I prefer Zhang Tianxing."

"Hu Yang is still not steady enough; he easily offends those mechanism masters. Zhang Tianxing is just joking; he really would tease those mechanism masters..."

"Wait a minute, Dean Ling!" Wang Tianzhi was unhappy and immediately interrupted. "How come you've started arranging your funeral affairs? I haven't even agreed yet."

"Your Majesty, Great Minister of Agriculture!" Wang Tianzhi said loudly: "When it comes to the duty of a guardian, it should be me, Wang Tianzhi!"

"Ling Tianchen is good at the Marquis-Changing Law, but he is not as good as me in the four laws of wind, rain, thunder, and clouds."

"Staying in the Land of Returning Ruins to collect spiritual energy, he is definitely not as skilled as me."

"Besides, what do you mean by your Marquis-Changing faction's tradition? It makes it seem like only your Marquis-Changing Academy is great in the Profound Heaven Academy."

"Tianzhi, you..."

"Enough, don't argue with me this time." Wang Tianzhi interrupted: "I'm sick of always being second. Can you let me grab first place for once?"

"No."

"You bastard."

"Shut up, just be your ten-thousand-year second place!"

"......"

Taking advantage of their argument, Ji Che looked at Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing thought for a moment, his gaze like a rolling die, and finally landed on Wang Tianzhi.

Ji Che immediately said: "Dean Ling, you go out, Wang Tianzhi stays."

Ling Tianchen's body shook, his expression dejected.

He opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

Wang Tianzhi happily waved at Ling Tianchen: "Dean Ling, take care. Go back and tell my teacher that I, Wang Tianzhi, am going to live forever, hahaha. Who else in the Profound Heaven Academy can do this?"

Ling Tianchen couldn't help but be speechless. Looking at Wang Tianzhi's silly happy appearance, he couldn't tell for a moment if Wang Tianzhi really thought so, or if he was saying it on purpose.

After Ling Tianchen left, only three people remained in the hall.

"Dean Wang, do you have anything else you want to say?"

Wang Tianzhi thought for a moment:

"Your Majesty, Great Minister of Agriculture, this subject actually has nothing left to say, just some regrets about not being able to witness the Great Zhou's grand feat of ascension."

"Of course, if you're talking about a last wish. This subject does have one small request, but it might be a bit excessive."

Wang Tianzhi secretly glanced at Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Dean Wang wouldn't want to experience the addiction of being the Great Minister of Agriculture before leaving, would he?"

"Hahaha, the Great Minister of Agriculture is wise."

"......"

Ji Che also laughed. He took out an imperial decree from his Qiankun bag (small) and wrote one on the spot: "Wang Tianzhi, listen to the order."

"Your Majesty, I was joking." Wang Tianzhi was stunned.

Ji Che read directly: "After I ascend, Zhao Xing will choose an opportunity to step down as the ninth Great Minister of Agriculture, and you will become the tenth Great Minister of Agriculture of the Great Zhou."

"The tenth Great Minister of Agriculture will remain vacant until we bring you back."

Seeing Wang Tianzhi stunned, Zhao Xing smiled: "Dean Wang, why don't you accept the decree?"

Wang Tianzhi then reacted: "This subject, this subject accepts the decree."

Afterwards, Wang Tianzhi held the imperial decree and asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, Great Minister of Agriculture. Can I still see you alive?"

Zhao Xing nodded: "Of course."

Wang Tianzhi was silent.

"You don't believe it?"

"I believe it."

"Stop pretending, Dean Wang, you just don't believe it."

"Alright, I still don't quite believe it." Wang Tianzhi spread his hands: "Didn't the Great Minister of Agriculture say before that this is the last chance for the Profound Yellow World to ascend? Since spiritual energy recovery will no longer happen, how can I see you again?"

Zhao Xing said: "I did say this is the last chance for the Profound Yellow World to ascend, but I never said you couldn't ascend, nor did I say we couldn't come back and fish you out."

"You should know that above the Ascension Realm is the Origin Realm."

"The Origin Realm has three stages. Reaching the third stage, combined with a World Weapon, I can fish you out."

Seeming to see the doubt in Wang Tianzhi's heart, Zhao Xing said leisurely:

"Just because other dynasties can't do it doesn't mean the Great Zhou can't."

"Just because other dynasties haven't come back doesn't mean we can't."

"The Profound Yellow World is dying, but the human race is getting stronger generation by generation."

"How many ultimate laws of the Heavenly Time were there before? Only seven, but now, there are over a hundred!"

A light suddenly lit up in Wang Tianzhi's eyes.

Zhao Xing indeed did not lie to Wang Tianzhi.

In his past life, he was among the first batch of players to ascend, so naturally there were second, third, and even more batches.

But since the Profound Yellow World had no chance for spiritual energy recovery and was heading toward extinction, how would the later players ascend?

The answer is: the first batch of players come back to fish people out.

The batch of players who ascended first would trigger a large-scale quest, "Save the Profound Yellow World," after ascending.

And this quest was consistent with the interests of the large guilds; after all, the first batch of people to ascend were too few. They were weak in the universe, and only the same players were the best to use.

Die and live, live and die; players were willing to do any dirty or tiring work. Immortal cattle and horses... where else could one find them?

Completing the "Save the Profound Yellow World" quest required completing a series of chain quests like 【Hide and Break Illusions】, 【Confirm Coordinates】, 【Break the Origin】, etc.

In his past life, major national guilds gradually managed to fish people out to ascend. Zhao Xing was also clear about these things; it just depended on whether he wanted to or not.

"You are much better than Yun Tiandao; we definitely won't let you wait for an epoch."

"About how long?" The one asking was Ji Che.

"Hard to say, at least three thousand years." Zhao Xing pondered. He didn't speak fully, otherwise, if Wang Tianzhi didn't see anyone when the time came, wouldn't he be disappointed?

If nothing unexpected happened, Zhao Xing would be more than two thousand years ahead of the ascension node in his past life.

Being ahead for so long, it wasn't a familiar plot, so it was really hard to say how things would develop.

"Only three thousand years?" Wang Tianzhi was suddenly happy. Compared to a million years, these three thousand years were just the time for a nap.

"Hahaha, grabbing this first place was indeed the right choice!"

On the way to see Yun Tiandao, Wang Tianzhi was very excited, laughing happily, as if he had taken some great advantage.

Seeing his appearance, Ling Tianchen and the others had complicated feelings.

Yun Tiandao also didn't understand at all.

"What did you promise him? Why is he so happy?"

It was really strange; for something like sending oneself to death, it would be good enough for Wang Tianzhi to be without sorrow or joy, but he was actually happy like a fool.

He could understand if it was faked, but Yun Tiandao could see that Wang Tianzhi wasn't faking it; he was truly happy from the bottom of his heart.

This was very hard to understand.

"He might have remembered something happy."

"What happy thing?"

"He, forget it..."

Yun Tiandao took a deep breath.

He found it hard to believe that he would actually be friends with such a person; always saying half a sentence, it was really hard to resist not hitting him.

The road back to the Epoch House seemed incomparably long.

But the road had to be finished eventually.

Soon, Yun Tiandao and the others returned to the front of the door together.

"To become the master of the Epoch House, one must reach the Rule Realm, and second, one needs to use the Epoch Key as a medium to make a Life Soul Oath."

"After making the Life Soul Oath, you will refine it in an instant. After that, as long as you walk in, you can completely become the master of this house."

"No matter how long you have lived, your lifespan will be frozen."

"You can cultivate and sleep inside... you can do anything, but you must follow certain rules, such as waking up at fixed times and collecting spiritual energy."

Yun Tiandao handed a crystal-clear bead to Wang Tianzhi: "This object is called the Spiritual Energy Bead, an advanced version of the Cloud and Rain Bead."

"When it can complete the seven-color changes of red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, and then turn transparent again, you will meet the conditions for replacing someone. Before that, even if you find someone, you won't be able to swap yourself out."

"In the Epoch House, you can cultivate up to the realm of Establishing the Dao and Ascending."

"Reaching this realm, you will no longer be able to advance, but you can pass the time by doing other things, such as studying spells."

"Theoretically speaking, there is no limit to spells; it just depends on how high your talent is."

"After collecting enough spiritual energy, you can influence the outside world through your three souls, such as taking a disciple and bringing them to the Land of Returning Ruins, but there is only one quota. Any more, and it will automatically erase their memory, and they will forget you after going out."

"You can also observe the universe in the Epoch House, but it is hard to see anything now. Most of the time, you won't get any insights."

"Inside the Epoch House, there are also some notes left by several guardians..."

Yun explained in great detail.

During the time before Wang Tianzhi entered the door, he explained everything that needed to be explained.

Listening to Yun Tiandao's narration, Wang Tianzhi became more and more excited.

If one set aside the restriction on freedom, the Epoch House was simply an excellent place for enlightenment and cultivation!

Plus, he firmly believed that Zhao Xing would come back to fish him out, so looking at it this way, he had simply taken a huge advantage!

"Big Brother, why do I feel that this Dao Weapon wasn't born for guarding, but rather like some kind of cultivation place." Ji Che transmitted his voice, expressing his doubts.

"Hmm, actually, when it was built, it was similar to a kind of 'cultivation black room'. Its purpose is forced seclusion; you can't come out without meeting certain conditions."

"The widespread use of the Epoch House in the universe is actually this point; the Profound Yellow World is just a customized version that ended up like this."

"The direct descendants of large families and major forces usually inherit their parents' powerful cultivation talent, but they don't really need to cultivate much, so it's hard for them to be diligent. This kind of thing is to regulate those lazy people with good talent," Zhao Xing explained.

"The universe is vast, and there is nothing strange in it," Ji Che yearned.

Wang Tianzhi happily entered the Land of Returning Ruins, even his farewell seemed perfunctory; he just waved his hand and excitedly ran over to study the mysteries of the Epoch House.

His optimism also eliminated some of the negative emotions of Ling Tianchen and the others.

Yun Tiandao took Fairy Lingdie onto the Cloud Sea Flying Boat and embarked on the journey back to the Profound Yellow Continent.

On the way back, Yun Tiandao, Zhao Xing, and Ji Che began to talk about the recovery plan and the ascension plan.

"My coming out as a guardian wasn't for nothing."

"This is the Spiritual Energy Bead." Yun Tiandao took out a transparent bead the size of a fist, "Inside is the spiritual energy I accumulated over nearly an epoch."

Every year, the spiritual energy of the Profound Yellow World flowed from the four seas into the Land of Returning Ruins, which meant it flowed into this bead.

Even in the era of vitality where spiritual energy was not apparent, there was still spiritual energy, just not much. Accumulating for an epoch, the spiritual energy inside was an astonishing amount.

"It is itself at the level of a top-grade Star Dao Weapon, but it only has one function, which is to collect and release spiritual energy."

"Ji Che, now, I hand it to you." Yun Tiandao handed the bead over.

"Many thanks, Mr. Yun." Ji Che didn't mind Yun Tiandao's form of address; after all, Yun Tiandao was a subject of the Xia Dynasty, not his subject.

Yun Tiandao would only respect the Xia Emperor as Your Majesty, and he and himself were at most a cooperative relationship.

To show respect, one could call him Senior or Mr.; if one didn't want to lower one's status, calling him Fellow Daoist Yun was also fine.

After all, they both had a common goal.

"I have no other treasures on me; if I do, they are just some souvenirs," Yun Tiandao said frankly, "I won't bring them out to make a fool of myself."

"Mr. Yun himself is the greatest treasure," Ji Che smiled. "I wonder what step Mr. Yun has reached in Establishing the Dao and Ascending?"

Yun Tiandao replied: "My Dao has already reached its end in the Profound Yellow World and cannot continue."

"In other words, Sir has already perfected Establishing the Dao."

"Yes."

Zhao Xing and Ji Che were not surprised.

Yun Tiandao was himself the Great Minister of Agriculture of the Xia Dynasty. Such a genius, who had also experienced the long cultivation of the Epoch House, was himself the greatest treasure!

Theoretically speaking, he was even more powerful than Ji Che!

Because Ji Che was only at the early stage of Establishing the Dao, while Yun Tiandao had already perfected it.

But in reality, the strength of the two had to be compared according to the situation.

If he left the territory of the Great Zhou and Ji Che acted alone, he would be weaker than Yun Tiandao.

If it was within the Great Zhou, or if he was on a personal expedition and fully prepared with the emperor's attire, he would be stronger than Yun Tiandao.

Of course, in the Profound Yellow World, such a gap was very small, belonging to the level where neither could do anything to the other, because both of their strengths were already at the ceiling level of the Profound Yellow World.

If one set aside the identity of the Luck Emperor and put the two outside the Profound Yellow World for a great battle, then Yun Tiandao would definitely win.

Because his Law was too strong.

Even if only half of his waking time was spent cultivating, that was still half of four hundred thousand years!

In the universe, he could easily kill the cultivator Ji Che, but he just couldn't kill the Luck Emperor Ji Che.

"All my spells start from ultimate perfection."

"The five laws of Heavenly Time in the Minister of Agriculture's Dao: Wind, Rain, Thunder, Cloud, and Marquis-Changing."

"The four laws of Earthly Advantage: Earth Palace, Earth Treasury, Profound Soil, and Spirit Mountain."

"All have multiple ultimate laws."

"As for the four laws of Self, only the ultimate law of Bending was created, but it also reached perfection."

"All other miscellaneous spells and side-door paths are at least at ultimate perfection."

"In addition, I have four spells that have reached the level of Small Divine Ability."

"Two of them belong to the Dao of Heavenly Time, namely Cloud and Wind."

"One is a physical body spell called 'Star Eyes', which I realized while observing the changes of the universe."

"One is a fate-type spell called 'Mountain and Sea Great Luck', used for finding people."

Even though they were mentally prepared, Zhao Xing and Ji Che were still shocked by Yun Tiandao.

Spells starting from ultimate perfection, and he was almost an all-around talent.

He even created four Small Divine Abilities himself!

Note, Yun Tiandao didn't learn them; he created them himself!

"Old Yun's talent is truly monstrous; even if placed in the ancient kingdoms of the Wilderness, he would be at the genius level," Zhao Xing sighed in his heart.

His talent was even above Qing Yuzi's!

After all, Yun Tiandao hadn't studied systematically; he had realized it himself in the Profound Yellow World and created Small Divine Abilities. Of course, these divine abilities were not as strong as "Three Gods Life Palace" and "Eight Epochs Purple Light", but they were in the ranks of Small Divine Abilities.

"Mr. Yun has great talent; Che admires him from the bottom of his heart." Ji Che focused on the two Small Divine Abilities Yun Tiandao had created.

"Star Eyes" observed the universe; clearly, Yun Tiandao had been conscientiously fulfilling his duty.

"Mountain and Sea Great Luck"; the Mountain and Sea Calendar was created by the Xia Emperor and was also one of the Xia Emperor's reign titles. The Great Luck Coin was also invented in the Xia Dynasty.

Yun Tiandao, a Minister of Agriculture, had actually created a Small Divine Ability of Fate because he missed his relatives and old country, whose lives and deaths were unknown and whose whereabouts were unknown. It was hard not to feel respect for such a subject.

"From Sir's experience, does our dynasty already have the conditions to conquer the Southern Barbarians?" Ji Che asked. Along the way, he and Zhao Xing had introduced the foundation of the Great Zhou to Yun Tiandao.

Since they were partners, the details had to be told to Yun Tiandao; what's more, the Xia Dynasty had successful experience.

"The only obstacle for the Great Zhou to conquer the Southern Barbarians is the Great Divine Ability 【Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication】 after passing the Yin-Yin Mountain."

"The other conditions can be said to be better than they were in our time," Yun Tiandao scanned the secret files over and over.

"Is there any way to break 【Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication】?" Ji Che asked.

【In the process of looking one by one】

"No," Yun Tiandao shook his head. "At most, one can only pull both sides to the same condition; doing this is already very difficult, and wanting to break it is absolutely impossible."

Ji Che looked at Zhao Xing again, and the latter also nodded: "Yes, there is no way to break it."

Yun Tiandao continued: "The only thing that can break a Great Divine Ability is a Great Divine Ability. Once Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication is deployed, it will only dissipate when the era of spiritual energy ends."

Ji Che asked strangely: "Doesn't that mean the Witch Moon God is stronger than all of us?"

Yun Tiandao had stayed in the Epoch House for so long, and in the end, he could only deploy Small Divine Abilities.

His talent and strength could be said to be the ceiling of the Profound Yellow World.

Yun Tiandao couldn't do it, but the Witch Moon God could?

It was normal for Ji Che to have such doubts.

Yun Tiandao shook his head: "No, Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication was not deployed by the Witch Moon God. The so-called last disaster of the Ten Disasters of the Heavenly Witch actually has nothing to do with the Heavenly Witch. He just acted as a medium to activate Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication."

"As for how this Great Divine Ability was formed, we didn't figure it out at the time; we only guessed that it might have some connection with the origin of the Profound Yellow World."

Ji Che asked: "How did the Xia Dynasty pass this hurdle?"

Inside Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication, everyone else turned into ordinary people, and even mechanism formations lost their effect.

It was as if it had suddenly changed from a world of high martial arts and high magic to a world without martial arts or magic.

But the Southern Barbarians still had some people who maintained part of their strength.

The enemy could not mobilize vitality or spiritual energy, could not deploy martial arts or spells; such an advantage sounded desperate.

Yun Tiandao recalled: "Actually, it is not as absolute as you think."

"I just said that the Witch Moon God is only a medium; this is not his own power."

"We can think of Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication as a precise mechanism. The Great Zhou does not have the usage rights and will be suppressed by this precise mechanism."

"This mechanism was not made by the Witch Moon God either; he can only use part of the usage rights."

"Therefore, in Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication, the highest combat power that appears will not exceed the sixth rank."

"Sixth-rank Heavenly Gang Realm..." Ji Che muttered to himself. "It really is a fixed number in the dark."

Ninth-rank Gathering Vitality, Eighth-rank Spirit Bridge, Seventh-rank Earth Fiend, Sixth-rank Heavenly Gang. The highest "permission holder" allowed in Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication is just the sixth-rank Heavenly Gang Realm.

Yun Tiandao picked up a memorial on the table: "Now, it is a permission token that can use spells and martial arts."

"Whoosh~"

Yun Tiandao swept away the official documents on the table, cleared a blank space, and then placed the memorial in the south.

"Now the Southern Barbarians have many such tokens. Holding them, one can use strength not exceeding the sixth rank within the range of Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication."

"The vast majority of the Southern Barbarians are still restricted and are ordinary people."

Yun Tiandao drew another circle and circled the memorial.

"When Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication is deployed, it must be the moment when the Southern Barbarians are at a life-or-death moment."

"At this time, the Luck Dynasty of the Central Plains will far exceed the Southern Barbarians in both number and logistics."

"Ji Che, I want to ask a question."

"Sir, please speak."

"Is the sixth rank invincible to ordinary people?"

Ji Che nodded: "Yes, it can absolutely be called invincible. After the body tempering of Earth Fiend and Heavenly Gang, even the most fragile ritual cultivator's body cannot be harmed by ordinary knives and swords."

"Even if surrounded by ten thousand people, or one hundred thousand people, it is impossible to be killed; they can escape."

Ordinary knives and swords refer to mortal weapons that have not entered the ranks; those that have entered the ranks are called divine weapons.

Yun Tiandao nodded: "What about the ninth rank?"

Ji Che's eyes lit up, and he understood in an instant: "So that's how it is."

Ninth-rank Gathering Vitality is not invincible to ordinary people.

An army composed of ordinary people can absolutely surround and kill a ninth-rank.

Think about what spells Zhao Xing knew when he was at the ninth rank? Raising wind, calling thunder, moving clouds, and spreading rain.

He might be able to kill one mortal, ten mortals, but by the time he killed the hundredth mortal, he would definitely be exhausted and die.

If it was a well-trained elite army, even if composed of ordinary people, the ninth-rank Gathering Vitality Realm could not withstand the concentrated shooting of strong bows!

Strong bows, catapults, bed crossbows, poison arrows... these have great lethality against ninth-rank Gathering Vitality.

"The method used by the Xia Dynasty is actually not very clever."

"We used the advantage of population and logistics to nibble away step by step."

"By using the army to kill a Gathering Vitality Realm together, one of us can obtain the permission on their body."

"When there are enough Gathering Vitality Realms, combined with the army, we can kill a Spirit Bridge Realm."

"Layer by layer, in the end, the number of cultivators in the Xia Dynasty actually exceeded that of the Southern Barbarians."

"Thus, we achieved the final victory."

Ji Che frowned upon hearing this: "In this way, the casualties of the Great Zhou in this war will be huge."

Relying on ordinary armies to pile up and kill cultivators, one can imagine how difficult it is.

This is only talking about the combat situation.

The most critical thing is logistics.

Cultivators and mechanism formations are the basis of the army's mobility; once these things fail in Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication.

In the vast and desolate Southern Barbarian land, just supply is a problem.

"Yes," Yun Tiandao sighed: "It is very, very difficult for the soldiers of the Luck Dynasty to suddenly become weak and fragile ordinary people and get used to this point."

"Dying in Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication really means dying; there is not even a chance to turn into a Yin God. One will die like a mortal."

"This will be a primitive and tragic war; we call it the 'War of Mortals'."

"War of Mortals..." Ji Che muttered to himself: "The high and lofty path of ascension is actually decided by a group of mortals; how ironic this is."

"I seem to see the mocking expression on the Witch Moon God's face."

Ji Che raised his head and looked at Yun Tiandao in confusion: "Sir, I am very confused, why does the Witch Moon God lineage have to block the people of the Profound Yellow World from ascending?"

"Doesn't he want to leave the Profound Yellow World, doesn't he want to ascend, and is there no possibility of peace talks? Is there only the path of filling it with human lives?"

"If we can have peace talks and die fewer people, I can promise whatever he wants!"

Yun Tiandao looked at Ji Che and couldn't help but sigh: "You care about the people, and you have the same benevolence as His Majesty."

"But unfortunately, we have also tried, but there is no possibility of peace talks with the Witch Moon God."

"Why?" Ji Che was incomparably confused.

"I don't know," Yun Tiandao shook his head, "This is also the biggest doubt in my heart. We defeated the Southern Barbarians, but we couldn't kill the Witch Moon God. Even if there were records of killing in history, the Southern Barbarians would always give birth to a new generation of Witch Moon Gods."

"I even suspect that the Witch Moon God himself doesn't know."

After a pause, Yun Tiandao suddenly looked at Zhao Xing, who was lost in thought: "I wonder what insights the Great Minister of Agriculture has?"

Ji Che also looked over.

If the Witch Moon God himself didn't know why, then perhaps only the magical big brother in this world had the answer.

He could persuade Yun Tiandao, the guardian; Ji Che's confidence in Zhao Xing was almost blind.

The light in the flying boat shook for a while, and just as Zhao Xing was about to say something, the flying boat had already left the passage and returned to the ground of the Guze Cave Heaven.

Meng Kun and Qiu Yuanshan, who were waiting outside, wanted to come in to pay their respects and ask about the emperor's safety, but Ji Che stopped them from coming in.

"Big Brother, don't worry about them first. You are hesitating to speak, clearly there is a way of saying it."

"If you stop here and don't say it, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight."

"Mr. Yun might scold you, and might even hit you."

Hearing this, Yun Tiandao snorted lightly and flicked his sleeves.

He had indeed had some bad recollections just now, remembering the words Zhao Xing said when he lured him out.

Seeing this, Zhao Xing no longer shirked and sat down again.

"I also had some guesses about this question after the trip to the Dragon Court."

"Your Majesty, Senior Yun."

"Let me tell you a story."

"Good, good, I like listening to Big Brother tell stories the most," Ji Che immediately set his posture, looking like he was listening attentively.

Yun Tiandao was also quite curious about the relationship between Zhao Xing and Ji Che; he and the Xia Emperor did not have such a close relationship as these two.

"A long, long time ago, in the boundless sea, there was an island where two brothers lived."

"The elder brother was named 'Witch', and the younger brother was named 'Emperor'. Both brothers lived on this island."

"Witch was silent and introverted, good at observing weather and stars; Emperor was good at hunting and fighting, enthusiastic and outgoing, full of curiosity."

"Witch had a high status, and under his guidance, every action of Emperor was very successful, always bringing a bumper harvest to the village."

"Under the leadership of the two brothers, the village became more and more prosperous."

"However, as there were more and more people, Emperor found that the food on the island was gradually not enough."

"Witch also calculated that if this continued, the village would one day head toward extinction."

"Because the sea, which was originally calm and gentle and provided a lot of food, also changed. It became moody, began to frequently bring storms, and the food around the island became less and less."

"So, one day, Witch and Emperor made a decision: leave this island, leave the village they relied on for survival, and find a way out for the people in the village."

"'Witch' was not good at fighting, but he cared about his younger brother very much. Because he often observed the weather and the sea, he knew that the danger factor of such wandering was very high."

"So Witch prepared a lot, a lot of supplies for the group led by his younger brother 'Emperor'. Including some strange weapons, ancient stone slabs; in Witch's interpretation, that seemed to be used as a kind of guidance."

"They were well prepared and carried strong expectations."

"But, the sea not only had storms, it also often had fog. Because they had no experience of going to sea, and there were no other islands around, there was no direction guidance."

"So, after the first generation of Emperor went out, he never came back."

"The first generation of Witch was very sad, not only sad for his brother, but also worried about the future of the island tribe."

"Fortunately, later, after the sea experienced a period of time, it returned to its former calm and gentleness, and the food around the island became more again."

"So as the guide of the tribe, the first generation of Witch, at the moment of his death, used this adventure as experience and left a record warning for future generations."

"That is, the sea and long-distance travel are dangerous."

Speaking of this, Yun Tiandao and Ji Che both realized something through this story, but they still had some doubts.

As qualified listeners, Ji Che and Yun Tiandao both had enough patience; they didn't interrupt Zhao Xing, but listened quietly.

"Time passed, soon, the first generation of Witch died, and the first generation of Emperor's whereabouts were unknown."

"The tribe ushered in the alternation of old and new, and the second generation of Witch and Emperor appeared."

"They were still cousins, but their relationship was no longer as good as the first generation of Witch and Emperor, who were biological brothers."

"Soon, the second generation of Witch and Emperor encountered the same predicament as the first generation."

"The second generation of Emperor made the same decision as the first generation of Emperor, which was to take risks."

"The second generation of Witch was a bit hesitant, but as time passed, the tribe got mysterious totems and stone slab guidance, and was also progressing. Although the second generation of Witch read the warning, he felt, perhaps the previous generation just didn't have enough technology or enough martial power?"

"So, the somewhat hesitant second generation of Witch still accepted such an adventure, and the second generation of Emperor set off again carrying a large amount of supplies and manpower."

Zhao Xing paused and pondered: "Obviously, the two explorations had the same ending."

"The second generation of Emperor never came back, disappearing on the vast sea."

"At the same time, in the second generation of Witch's calculations, the weather on the sea would return to calm again, food would become more again, and the island would return to being suitable for survival."

"This had a surprising similarity to the records left by the first generation of Witch!"

"So the second generation of Witch remembered the warning of the first generation of Witch, and he also left his last words before his death: the sea and long-distance travel are dangerous, the island and the sea will always return to normal, just need to wait patiently, and you can wait for the moment of harvest."

Speaking of this, Zhao Xing stopped, giving Yun Tiandao and Ji Che time to digest.

After a while.

"The story continues, soon, there were the third, fourth, and fifth generations of Witch and Emperor on this island."

"At this time, the blood relationship between the later generations of Witch and Emperor became more and more distant."

"It was only because of the tribe's system that Witch and Emperor would often discuss things together, all about the future direction of the island."

"But in fact, the intimate relationship between them had already appeared a huge crack."

"At one time, when Witch and Emperor faced the same choice, a strong disagreement appeared."

"Emperor believed that only by going out could they find a way out. Emperor still got a lot of support, because people always have infinite curiosity and desire to explore, and Emperor was the symbol of martial power, stronger than Witch. So he got the support of many people."

"But Witch was also supported by the people on the island; this part of the people liked stability and feared the unknown and death. And after generation after generation of payment and disappointment, the people on Witch's side had already summarized many laws, and they were becoming more and more abundant."

To deepen the impression, Zhao Xing carved a line of words on the table:

1. The sea is a symbol of danger and death; no one can come back alive.

2. People cannot swim in the sea; if they fall in, they will die. It is also impossible to survive by drinking seawater; one needs to carry a large amount of island supplies to sail.

3. The food shortage and bad sea weather on the island are only temporary; as long as you endure it, you can usher in a prosperous harvest period.

4. Emperor's exploration method will cause great damage to the island. Every voyage must dig away the foundation of the island, such as the soil that can cultivate plants, such as the special trees that are used to build ships and are not eroded by the sea.

Some substances can be regenerated, but some substances cannot be regenerated. Such as mysterious stone slabs and totem weapons.

Continuous exploration and long-distance voyages will make the island smaller and smaller.

Every generation of Witch must stop Emperor's delusion!

After Zhao Xing finished carving, he continued: "Based on the above messages, in that discussion, Witch issued a strong opposition."

"He warned Emperor loudly: Don't explore! Don't explore! Don't explore!"

"You will kill that batch of people, and you will kill all of us!"

Ji Che's breathing became rapid, and Yun Tiandao was also a bit nervous.

They automatically substituted themselves into Emperor's perspective, very clear about what it meant when two leaders of a tribe had such a strong disagreement.

"Yes," Zhao Xing looked at the two and said: "The reason why Emperor is Emperor is because he will not give up, so, the war broke out."

"In the propaganda of Emperor's lineage, every generation of Emperor who took people away did not die. They went to the depths of the sea, discovered islands larger than their hometown, and lived a more prosperous life."

"In the propaganda of Witch's lineage, Emperor's lineage was promoted as a demon that destroyed everything! It was Emperor's constant digging of the island's foundation that destroyed everything, making the time for the island to return to calm more and more long."

"Since then, the two brothers, Witch and Emperor, occupied the two ends of the island, and they completely broke up for their respective survival concepts."

After Ji Che and Yun Tiandao heard it, they immediately fell into thought.

"Big Brother, I have a question." Ji Che habitually raised his hand, just like when he was a child and Zhao Xing told him stories.

"You say."

Ji Che asked in confusion: "What are the mysterious stone slabs and totems in the story? Did Emperor and Witch not summarize any useful laws after so many years of exploration? I mean laws that help harmonious exploration."

Zhao Xing nodded: "Answer your first question first."

"Mysterious stone slabs and totems, including the legacy of the Dragon Clan, the legacy of the Ka God Clan, and the legacy of visitors from outside the sky."

"I once told you the last words of the Dragon Emperor Jie. My story happened at a time point after the Dragon Clan retreated to the Dragon Court Ancient Land and the Ka God Clan had also disappeared from the Profound Yellow World. This is the time when the Dragon Court lost its ruling power and the human race began to flourish slowly."

"As for useful laws, there are also."

Zhao Xing pondered: "Witch and Emperor both absorbed useful knowledge from mysterious stone slabs and totems."

"For example, Emperor's branch believes that the second law summarized by Witch is wrong. Seawater can be drunk; as long as they cultivate to a certain level, they can absorb survival supplies from the dangerous ocean, and can even swim in the sea."

"Witch also cracked a lot of useful information about sailing from mysterious stone slabs and totems. Such as possible routes, such as the possibility of another small island in the route that can be used as a supply."

"But."

"No matter whether the war between Witch and Emperor later wins or loses, the high-end power of Witch's lineage is always getting stronger. The information mastered by Witch is also getting more and more, and he will hide the information deeper after Emperor leaves, not letting the Emperor born later know."

"The gap between the two sides has been deeply rooted after many generations."

"And at this time, a certain generation of Witch made significant progress in power. He deciphered a key stone slab and, based on the entire island, created a blockade area."

"For the first time, Witch blocked Emperor, making them unable to leave. Because there were only four downwind ports on the island, and the largest one was occupied by Witch."

"Later generations of Witch strengthened this power, and when passing it on to the later Witch, they strengthened these four laws, turning this into a kind of great power, deeply imprinted in their minds."

"So the later Witch never thought about going out again, only guarding remained."

Ji Che sighed: "So the stone slab is Absolute Heaven and Earth Communication, and the reason why Witch cannot have peace talks is the restriction of the inheritance rules deep in the soul."

"No wonder every generation of Witch is so strong, able to activate Great Divine Abilities, and so stubborn."

Yun Tiandao suddenly shook his head: "Wrong!"

Zhao Xing raised his head: "What's wrong?"

Yun Tiandao stared at Zhao Xing: "In your story, no generation of Emperor has ever come back. Why is this? On the time scale of the universe, no matter how small the probability is, it should have happened!"

"Did Emperor's lineage really die out?!"

Zhao Xing knew what Yun Tiandao meant by this question.

He was actually asking, did the Xia Dynasty really perish? Were the words he said in the Land of Returning Ruins lies?

Yun Tiandao waited for an epoch and didn't wait for anyone from the Xia Dynasty to come back to pick him up.

One could imagine the impact he received after hearing this story.

Zhao Xing pondered for a moment and said: "Actually, it's not that no one could come back. In the era before Witch and Emperor, the Ka God Clan and the Dragon Clan both had strong people return and left ways to guide ascension. At that time, there was no need to ascend together, let alone tools."

"Because the sea was gentle, even drinking seawater didn't matter. Any life that could walk out of the island and go to sea could wander in the sea. As long as they swam in one direction, they would reach the other shore one day."

"However, Witch's judgment was wrong; the number of times the sea recovered was limited."

"Let's go back to the universe. When a place no longer has spring, summer, autumn, and winter, it will become a wilderness."

"A place without spring, summer, autumn, and winter will naturally change."

"So here we need to derive two more laws:"

Zhao Xing carved two lines of words on the table again:

1. Universe wilderness phenomenon.

2. Hide and break illusions.

Then Zhao Xing began to explain the first one: "When the spiritual energy in a certain area of the universe drops, stars and void will change. I explained the difference between 'spirit' and 'spirit' in "Qi Theory" before, it should be easy to understand."

Yun Tiandao and Ji Che both nodded.

The spiritual energy value drops significantly, even cultivators staying in the Profound Yellow World will be affected, cultivation base will have a bottleneck limit, the first rank is the strongest, the earth and celestial phenomena will have various natural disasters, so outside the Profound Yellow World, such changes should be more intense.

Zhao Xing used the fact that seawater becomes salty and cannot be drunk to metaphorize such changes.

Thinking along this line, Yun Tiandao and Ji Che naturally thought of more changes.

Life islands (boundary stars, small worlds) became desert islands (dead stars, dead worlds). People sailing could not get supplies.

The wind and waves on the sea were also getting bigger and bigger, and the possibility of ships being overturned was getting bigger and bigger.

So the high mortality rate of generation after generation of Emperor had some explanation.

But, it still couldn't fully explain why no generation of 'Emperor' returned.

So the two looked at the second one: Hide and break illusions.

Zhao Xing said: "I use the sea to metaphorize the universe territory because the ocean has two characteristics."

"One is fluidity; the position of the Profound Yellow World in the universe territory is not immutable. You can understand it as the Profound Yellow World is always running."

"The second is mirage; in the universe territory, phenomena similar to mirages will appear, which will also mislead the 'Emperor' who returns, making it very difficult for them to find a specific place."

"Universe territory desertification is more complex than the ocean; just these two characteristics of the ocean are not enough to fully describe it."

"It can only be summarized in the characteristic of 'hide'."

"The second word, 'break'." Zhao Xing pointed on it, "This means destruction."

"Every generation of Emperor will see the scene of the 'destruction' of the Profound Yellow World after leaving the 'return distance' of the island."

Zhao Xing closed his five fingers, and then suddenly opened them: "Boom! The Profound Yellow World suddenly exploded and erupted with a gorgeous light."

"So the 'Emperor' who saw the illusion, from this moment on, had no concept of hometown in his heart, and naturally would not come back."

"Based on the rules of hide and break illusions, some of the Emperors who finally survived, because of the 'illusion of break', would not come to look for the Profound Yellow World."

"Even those who don't give up and take action to search will be confused by the illusion of 'hide'."

"This is why no Emperor has ever returned."

"No one returned, no matter how much generation after generation of Emperor said, Witch would not believe it, and naturally concluded these four rules."

"What?" Yun Tiandao and Ji Che were both stunned, "Concealment and destruction, what is the reason for this?"

"I don't know how it was formed either," Zhao Xing shrugged, "Not all small worlds (referring to Profound Yellow) will have such a situation. It only appears in the process of wilderness evolution."

"Actually, these two laws are wilderness phenomena."

"It's just that in order to distinguish between the wilderness that has already occurred and the wilderness phenomenon that is occurring, the second one is called 'hide and break illusion', and it is also listed separately."

"As for what the reason is?" Zhao Xing said smoothly, so he answered subconsciously:

"Of course it is..."

Zhao Xing suddenly stopped.

Because his Three Gods Life Palace felt a burst of excitement, as if continuing to speak would lead to some terrifying things, he immediately activated the long-lost memory palace to seal the memory.

The words on his lips also turned into another way of saying it:

"Scholars who specialize in wilderness have some hypotheses to explain it... but there is no definitive conclusion."

"Alright, let's stop the story here for now," Zhao Xing pondered: "In short, the Witch Moon God cannot have peace talks, and we actually have a way to return."

"Che, Senior Yun, the only thing we need to consider now is when to start the Great War of Pacifying the Barbarians?"

ps: It starts in the next chapter.

Up to this point, the plot of the Profound Yellow World only has the final "War of Mortals" left. It is expected that the plot of the Universe Chapter can start this month.

In addition, the growth activity is on today, everyone can participate in the exchange.

Thanks to the three new alliance leaders 'Bu Yizhe', '—ouo', and 'Xiaoyun'. We are only 16 alliance leaders away from the 100-alliance breakthrough of L4. I didn't ask for monthly tickets, but everyone rushed to the eighth place. Thank you for your love.

In the second half of this month, the Captain will try his best to ensure quality and quantity, and pay back the update debt as much as possible.

(End of this chapter)