Chapter 556: God King Tower, Crisis Intelligence, Lord of Cold Food

"I accept." Zhao Xing quickly made his decision. Although it was a little strange that he could inherit Ling Tianchen's legacy, there was no reason for him to refuse something beneficial.

"Please follow me." The black robe invited Zhao Xing into the palace interior.

The Shadow Sanctuary was a neutral faction, with no reason to use this matter to trap him. Even if there were strange aspects, there was nothing to fear, so Zhao Xing calmly walked into the palace.

The palace interior was filled with countless boxes, like a giant seven-star cabinet. Drawers continuously opened and closed, with countless papers flying out from within, drifting toward the unknown, while many more papers jumped in, stored within the drawers.

"The Shadow Sanctuary is a neutral faction. We only provide a platform and never participate in any faction's struggles for power." The black robe explained to Zhao Xing.

"Whether evil gods or righteous gods, the Shadow Sanctuary will not favor either side."

"What is the purpose of the Shadow Sanctuary, and who established it?" Zhao Xing asked curiously, since he himself as—

"—self." The black robe smiled: "Why must there necessarily be a purpose. Fine, if I must say, the original intention behind founding the Shadow Sanctuary was simply for entertainment."

"Entertainment?" The black robe's answer greatly surprised Zhao Xing.

"The several founders of the Shadow Sanctuary neither wished to save the world, nor did they wish to destroy it." The black robe said with a light laugh: "

They only wanted to quietly watch this world."

"In the state of Divine Concealment, a Carefree Divine King can almost share the lifespan of the universe. If there is still a divine tribulation, it would be the destruction of the universe."

"An endless life must have some entertainment, and it must be safe, unable to break the Divine Concealment."

"So they created the Shadow Sanctuary?" Zhao Xing was somewhat stunned.

The Shadow Sanctuary was actually a form of entertainment tool for certain Carefree Divine Kings?

However, Zhao Xing still felt the black robe's words made some sense. Where did the name "Carefree God" come from? Wasn't it because there was a group of gods who did not wish to follow any rules, only wanting to live freely?

Removing the two extremes among this group of Carefree Gods—those who save the world and those who destroy it—what remains in the middle are those who neither wish to save the world nor destroy it, only wanting to watch the spectacle: pure entertainment-seeking gods.

How to watch the spectacle? The Shadow Sanctuary is the method. The missions issued by the Shadow Sanctuary represent grievances and gratitude—that is the myriad states of the world!

The black robe continued to explain: "What you inherited is Ling Tianchen's six-star client status. Besides being able to issue and accept missions at the Shadow Sanctuary, you also have many additional functions."

"For example, he left reserve funds in advance at the Shadow Sanctuary, to be used for resurrection and reincarnation."

"However, the place where Ling Tianchen died was rather special, and the manner was also quite unique. He essentially died in a death trap, so this reserve fund couldn't be used either."

"Is this reserve fund a lot?" Zhao Xing asked curiously.

"A great deal." The black robe nodded. "After you reappeared in the Xuanling Star Domain, the Sanctuary discovered that the spiritual imprint Ling Tianchen left at the Sanctuary had disappeared."

"As a six-star client, if the spiritual imprint disappears, the Shadow Sanctuary will proactively confirm the client's status—whether they have already died, or are trapped somewhere."

"If dead, resurrect the client; if trapped, then rescue them."

"The reserve funds are consumed according to the difficulty of resurrection or rescue."

"That time, we dispatched seven Divine Generals to different timespaces to search for Ling Tianchen."

Seven Divine Generals?! Zhao Xing was shocked. He seemed to have still underestimated Ling Tianchen's foundation—this guy seemed to have truly inherited a national treasury.

"What was the result?"

"The result was that he really did die."

"Couldn't you bring him back while he was still alive in his timespace? Reversing timespace to resurrect or something?" Zhao Xing asked.

"You have some misconceptions about resurrection." The black robe shook his head.

"Please enlighten me." Zhao Xing asked sincerely.

"Considering you are—once you reach the Divine Realm, you will understand it well too."

The black robe waved his hand, and a cyan river appeared before them.

"Look, this is the River of Time. It contains the movement of life and matter within the universe's origin. It is the complex evolution of destiny,

cause and effect, and space."

"This complex, difficult-to-reverse holistic evolution has a clear direction."

The black robe waved his hand again, and within the cyan River of Time, light points appeared one after another: "These light points represent Ling Tianchen's spatial positions at different time periods."

Zhao Xing looked carefully—the River of Time was still.

When the black robe waved his hand again, the River of Time began to move.

"Ling Tianchen's cultivation in space, the things he did and experienced, interacted with the entire universe space and other lives. Can you see what changes?"

Zhao Xing looked carefully and saw countless light points connected by three threads.

"Three additional—threads?"

The black robe nodded: "You could also say that."

"Among the three threads, the easiest to identify is the Thread of Cause and Effect."

"Next is the Thread of Life, then the Thread of Destiny. There are also some more obscure Dao threads running through it all, but they are very obscure and not used as judgment criteria."

Whoosh~ The black robe pushed forward, and the river rolled up waves.

Suddenly, a section of Ling Tianchen in the river disappeared.

"In the last solar year of the Second Epoch of the Desolate Domain, Ling Tianchen disappeared. This disappearance has three possibilities."

"One, becoming a god. Whether a Carefree God or a True God, one can gather all the threads of cause and effect, destiny, and life across endless timespace."

Zhao Xing understood—this was leaping beyond the Three Realms, outside the Five Elements, essentially stepping ashore from the River of Time.

No longer subject to many cosmic rules' restrictions, so divine power possesses immense might.

"Two, death. After death, the origin disperses and cannot form life, returning to the universe, transforming back into the origin of Dao, no longer a manifested life."

Zhao Xing nodded. The Ancient Dao Layer, Manifestation Layer, Dao Revelation Layer—these also speak of the manifestation of different forms of the Great Dao's origin.

It's like how liquids and solids are easy to see, but air is difficult to perceive.

Dao manifests as phenomena; the abstract is 'Dao,' which is the origin.

"Three, being swept into another node by the River of Time."

The black robe explained: "Based on some clues, we discovered Ling Tianchen had fallen into a certain timespace secret realm,

but we did not act immediately."

"Because although his karmic line was severed, his life line and fate line are in an entangled state, and they could still extend into the Third Epoch of the Desolate Domain."

"If he can come out in the future, that becomes the client's own privacy; we won't take immediate action."

"But in the end, his three lines did not extend into the Third Epoch of the Desolate Domain, so we must go investigate."

Zhao Xing saw that at the node of the Third Epoch of the Desolate Domain, Ling Tianchen disintegrated from human form into lines.

"This kind of metaphorical feature represents that Ling Tianchen will die, and will not exist in the Third Epoch of the Desolate Domain."

"Dispatching divine generals is only to confirm the spacetime territory where it vanished."

"To save him, we must also find the place where his karmic line was severed, and bring it back,"

"causing karma, fate, and life to reunite as one, merging into the Third Epoch of the Desolate Domain."

"This is what we commonly call resurrection."

"Why is it impossible to accomplish?" Zhao Xing asked the very first question once more.

"Because Ling Tianchen is not a god; his past and future are one."

"Isn't that the case for the Divine Realm?"

"Mm, the situation is different for those in the Divine Realm who have completed initial Divine Concealment. If you want to know how to kill or resurrect a god of Divine Concealment, that will cost extra."

"How much?" Zhao Xing thought of Qing Yu Zi's condition and subconsciously asked about the price.

"You are a six-star client; we can give you a discount. Three low-grade Dao Divine Artifacts, or one mid-grade Dao Divine Artifact, will suffice."

"That expensive?"

"The Dongyan Ancient Clan paid an even higher price when they bought the method from us back then."

"Forget it, I don't really want to learn it that badly." Zhao Xing shook his head.

The black robe did not say more, and lightly extended a finger into the river of time, attempting to lift out a point of light.

Then Zhao Xing saw countless Ling Tianchens all being lifted up, as if hauling a fishing net out of water.

"Snap snap snap—" Soon the lines broke one after another, scattering into their origin essence.

"You see, this kind of resurrection won't work, because during the pulling process, they will be snapped by the river of time itself, which is equivalent to killing him by taking him away from that spacetime."

"True resurrection should be done like this." The black robe lightly extended a finger into the river of time. "At the point in time where Ling Tianchen's karmic line was severed, find this line back and successfully repair it."

"That is to say, there must be a god who goes to the spacetime node where Ling Tianchen was drawn into, brings his scattered origin essence back to the end of the Second Epoch of the Desolate Domain, and reconnects his karmic, fate, and life lines."

"Causing these lines to continue along the main avenue of time, reaching the Third Epoch of the Desolate Domain, and condensing once more into Tianchen — that would be resurrection."

"Of course, this is the relatively simple case."

"And this is still simple?" Zhao Xing felt as if he were listening to a book from the heavens.

"Of course he's not a god, so of course it's simple." The black robe said, "If it's the resurrection of one in the Divine Realm, just gathering the scattered origin essence of divine power alone is already very difficult; some have even transformed into another kind of substance and can no longer be changed."

"However, the method of resurrection I just described starts from the individual." The black robe said, "There is another case, which is to distort the river of time itself."

The black robe waved a hand, and the river appeared before Zhao Xing's eyes in an overhead form.

"Splash~"

The black robe waved a hand, and the originally straight river sprouted countless forks, like a bare tree growing branches.

"Changing the river of time itself means a localized, large-scale alteration of a certain patch of heaven and earth, cutting it off independently along with everything in it — like digging a new channel, and then—"

The black robe's finger moved; a certain tributary extended out, made a bend, and at some point in the future merged back with the main course.

"The Moon Divine Palace Lord wields the Mysterious Spirit History Book, and the Reincarnation Hall Lord uses the Derivation God Stele — both can achieve this level of alteration, so the resurrections they preside over are all large-scale resurrections. Especially the Reincarnation Hall Lord; what he possesses is the highest-grade great power of resurrection."

"Suppose even they cannot resurrect him, then he is truly dead beyond dead. However, the price of this is also extremely great. If some major historical event occurs at a certain time in a certain region, distorting it becomes very difficult. For example, the times when the Epoch Worms and History Book Worms appear, as well as the time and place where that Cold God King descended."

The black robe pointed, and at the fork in the river a great mountain appeared, used to represent those historical events that are difficult to alter.

"Of course, in terms of the smallest price, distortion is still the altar-type resurrection." The black robe pointed at the center of the river, enlarging a certain region. "The distortion and backflow is carried out within the main channel of time itself; it is also equivalent to changing a fact, letting the severed line tie a knot right then and there and mend itself."

"So the Reincarnation Hall Lord relying on the Derivation God Stele is actually the strongest great power of resurrection? It seems the Shadow Holy Hall's intelligence is more objective." Zhao Xing pondered.

Previously, chatting with Venerable Fu Ping and the others in Ten Thousand Stars City, and including listening to Lu Ya's account, had led Zhao Xing to believe that the Moon Divine Palace Lord, who held the Mysterious Spirit History Book, possessed the strongest great power of resurrection.

"Then after the inheritance, how much reserve fund do I have left?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Whoosh~" The black robe waved a great hand, and the illusion of the river of time vanished, replaced by two small and one large miniature treasure pagodas.

"These are Divine Power Pagodas; the small ones are called Divine General Pagodas, the large one is called the Divine King Pagoda."

Zhao Xing looked at the black robe, waiting for him to explain the use of the Divine Power Pagodas.

"The reserve fund is mainly used for resurrection and search-and-rescue. How many treasures have been stored in the Shadow Holy Hall determines how much force can be dispatched to complete resurrection and search-and-rescue."

"There are many ways to stack a Divine Pagoda; the fastest way is, of course, to provide precious divine objects, and the slowest way is to pour the origin essence of divine power into it."

"Occasionally there will be some Divine Power Pagoda missions, but this is no longer the regular method."

After hearing this, Zhao Xing was extremely shocked — Ling Tianchen's true bulk of treasures was actually stored in the Shadow Holy Hall!

One Divine King Pagoda, two Divine General Pagodas.

"Old Wei is something else — did he inherit the treasury of the Five Emperors Era or what—"

After hearing the black robe finish explaining the rules for stacking Divine Pagodas, Zhao Xing fell into deep shock.

Old Man Zhao could be considered someone who had seen great wealth, but upon seeing Ling Tianchen's family fortune, he was still somewhat shocked.

Compared with Ling Tianchen, he himself was practically a pauper.

"He has this much money, and still can't be resurrected?" Zhao Xing looked at the two small and one large Divine Pagodas.

Logically speaking, Old Wei already had a Divine King Pagoda, so why couldn't the resurrection succeed?

"He cannot." The black robe shook his head. "Based on the information brought back by the seven Divine Generals dispatched to search, the final conclusion is that even a Divine King cannot descend upon Ling Tianchen's place of death to resurrect him and bring him back."

Zhao Xing nodded. It seemed the specifications of the Fengshan Place in historical spacetime were simply too high; even a Divine King could not touch it.

So originally there had been seven Divine General Pagodas here as well; after one wave of consumption, they vanished.

"Old Wei really did himself in." Zhao Xing sighed with emotion. Of all the places to die, he had to die in the historical Xuanhuang Realm.

"Ling Tianchen is only a half-god; where did his wealth come from?" Zhao Xing asked curiously.

"This intelligence will cost the divine power of the first layer of the Divine General Tower. Do you wish to pay?"

"Eh, forget it, I'm not that curious." Zhao Xing thought it over and still snuffed out his own curiosity. Building even one layer of a divine tower is very difficult; the first layer of the Divine General Tower alone requires the expenditure of a low-grade Dao divine artifact.

Ling Tianchen may have had experiences similar to his own. Back when he obtained the Great Dream Academy in the Xuanhuang Realm, it was the rich treasury accumulated by the Li Dynasty.

Next, under the guidance of the black robe, Zhao Xing examined the privileges of his six-star client status.

One look and he got a fright—the Shadow Temple could even travel through time and space to rescue people, and also provides passageways through time and space!

As long as the divine power tower built is tall enough, one can even request the God King to act.

No wonder Ling Tianchen was so reckless, daring to take such a huge risk to capture him twice, and yet still able to remain at large even under a domain-wide bounty.

There was also Pu Yan, who back then also relied on the help of the Shadow Temple to successfully establish himself in the demon race's territory.

Even the resurrection plot schemed by the Dongyan Ancient Clan back then borrowed this tool of the Shadow Temple.

"A Shadow Temple created by a bunch of fun-loving gods is truly powerful." The more Zhao Xing looked, the more he felt the Shadow Temple's foundation was profound.

"By the way, does the Temple have divine methods from the Celestial Timing Faction, or things like the Pole Star Origin?" Zhao Xing asked.

"As a six-star client, you can post cross-time-space bounties." The black robe said: "The Temple can help broadcast this bounty, making your bounty reach countless time-spaces. The Temple itself will not retain these things."

"The central axis of these standing cabinets, to the left, is for past time-spaces; to the right, for future time-spaces; up and down the central axis is the present time-space."

"The drawers on the left and right represent specific time nodes, divided into eras, solar years, and realm-star years."

"You place the bounty contents into the drawer, and then you can wait for news."

Zhao Xing looked with great curiosity at the row of standing cabinets ahead. He had felt before that this row of standing cabinets was very special; now seeing it, it turned out to be the passageway for cross-time-space bounties.

"Why are there so few cabinets representing the future?" Zhao Xing asked.

The past had many eras, stretching on endlessly, with over a hundred million rows—more cabinets than one could count.

The right side, however, had only three large sections.

"Bounties heading to the future can be delayed by at most one era. This is because the future is not yet fixed." The black robe said: "It is easily altered."

Zhao Xing thought of the Xuanling Historical Records' solidification and distortion, and immediately understood.

"Can I use this cabinet to know future matters? Like, writing a letter to my future self or something."

The black robe smiled: "Theoretically, yes, but you might as well climb the Shifang Mountain yourself; its effect will not be stronger than the First Hexagram of Shifang. But the cost may be somewhat greater."

"Perhaps you expend the reserves of an entire God King Tower, and the answer you get only has fifty percent certainty."

Zhao Xing also realized he had asked a foolish question. Wasn't this just like divination? It would be better to seek answers from the Fate Master group.

"Can I know how you confirmed that I inherited the legacy rather than seized it?" Zhao Xing still felt happiness had come too suddenly, and was somewhat paranoid, afraid of being cheated.

"I can pay to buy this intelligence."

The black robe was silent for a while, then shook his head: "No, this intelligence is a non-sale item."

Zhao Xing pondered. There were several possibilities for the Shadow Temple's intelligence being non-sale. One, it involves another high-privilege holder; two, it would shake the foundations of the Shadow Temple.

But seeing the black robe's resolute attitude, Zhao Xing knew he could not find out.

"Alright then, I won't ask."

"Do you have any other needs, such as posting a bounty mission or something?"

"Not for now. If there's intelligence about me, you would proactively notify me, right?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Yes, we will provide some conveniences for six-star clients. If we predict something unfavorable happening, we will proactively contact you and ask whether you wish to purchase this prediction result."

"For instance, back then we predicted Pu Yan's death, with a thirty percent possibility, but he did not purchase this intelligence, and in the end was captured by someone hired by Venerable Bo Meng and delivered to you."

"You possess the God of Fate Masters?"

"That is non-sale confidential intelligence."

"Alright."

Zhao Xing felt the Shadow Temple must have a rather large group of gods in service; otherwise, it would be impossible to extend its reach into multiple time-spaces.

It seemed the standard of a super faction was having influence that could cross time-space barriers.

From the tip of the iceberg that Zhao Xing had glimpsed, the Shadow Temple's divine realm might be more complete than that of the other super factions.

Zhao Xing stayed inside the palace for quite a while, getting a general understanding of the privileges left behind by Ling Tianchen.

"The Shadow Temple, as a neutral faction, may be more convenient when doing certain things." Zhao Xing thought to himself. "For example, I can post treasure-hunting missions to past time-spaces, searching for legendary species already extinct in the present time-space,

Even divine-grade species."

"The variety is even greater than that of the Xuanling Treasure Pavilion."

Many things are taboo items in the present, such as the Ten Thousand Souls Banner; the Desolate Domain faction simply does not allow the existence of such demonic cultivation methods.

If Zhao Xing wanted to cultivate demonic species methods, it would be very difficult to obtain them through the Desolate Domain faction. But here at the Shadow Temple, there is no such thing as taboo items—it only depends on whether you can afford the price.

Moreover, cross-time-space transactions have one advantage: they will not incur karmic backlash. For example, refining soul spirits—if you refine them yourself in the present time-space, even if done very secretly and not caught by the judicial divine generals of the human race's upper echelons, you will still bear the karmic backlash of the present time-space.

If it is a cross-time-space transaction, then the present karmic backlash is borne by the other party, and it will not transmit across time-spaces.

Safe, discreet, with a great variety of items, able to satisfy different needs. Even some professions that have been cut down, such as priests, can find satisfaction here at the Shadow Temple.

"Sigh~ It's time to go out. Can't let Xin Shen Jiang, Lu Ya, Yan Ao and the others worry."

Zhao Xing prepared to leave the Shadow Temple. This mind-space could be exited with just a single thought.

He had already left a mind imprint here, so he could come back anytime he wished in the future, without needing the black robe's guidance. Just as Zhao Xing stepped over the palace threshold, wanting to leave, suddenly a "Swish—"

The black robe appeared before Zhao Xing again.

"Hmm? What is this—"

"I have a 【Crisis Intelligence】 report concerning you." The black robe spoke, "Do you wish to purchase it?"

Crisis intelligence about him? Zhao Xing's heart sank.

"How much?"

"It requires consuming the divine power accumulation of one layer of the God King Tower."

"What?!"

Zhao Xing got a fright.

One layer of the Divine King Tower — that was simply too terrifying. The divine power of ten Divine General Towers couldn't fill a single layer of the Divine King Tower, and the Divine King Tower only had nine layers in total.

Now there was a piece of crisis intelligence, about himself no less, and purchasing it would cost one layer?

"You may choose not to purchase. Crisis intelligence may or may not come true," the black-robed figure said coolly.

"I'll buy it!" Zhao Xing gritted his teeth. Being able to consume one layer of the Divine King Tower proved that this crisis intelligence was very likely about to happen imminently — the extremely urgent kind.

"Boom~"

Zhao Xing felt that within his temple, the largest of the three divine power towers had its first layer erupt with Jin Guang, and then immediately become empty.

Immediately after, the black-robed figure pointed a finger, and a piece of 【Crisis Intelligence】 appeared in Zhao Xing's mind.

It was a picture.

A city surrounded by ten thousand stars collapsed with a rumble.

Then came the second picture. In it, Zhao Xing saw the Heart Divine Palace within the Dao Gu layer, already sealed by a wave of extreme cold frost.

"Heart Divine General Qi Luo, I am your Dao-Breaker~"

A grand, majestic voice echoed through the picture, like a thunderclap exploding.

In less than half a shichen, Heart Divine General Qi Luo fell from the peak of Bai Ta, crashing heavily onto the ground, losing all divine charm.

The entire Bai Ta shattered with a rumble, turning to ash.

Frost froze the ash, and a heavenly ladder descended.

Tap! Tap! Tap! Crisp footsteps sounded, as if someone were walking down the stairs, but Zhao Xing could see no figure.

"Hum~"

The picture vanished at this point.

"Th-this—"

Zhao Xing's eyes went wide. From the 【Crisis Intelligence】 just now, he had actually foreseen the collapse of Ten Thousand Stars City and the death of Heart Divine General Qi Luo.

Who caused the collapse of Ten Thousand Stars City, and who killed Heart Divine General Qi Luo?

"Black-robed Emissary, please interpret this crisis intelligence for me." Zhao Xing immediately made his request.

"As you saw, Ten Thousand Stars City collapsed, and the Heart Divine General had his Dao broken." The black-robed figure's voice was cool and clear: "Moreover, the time node is very close. Your true body should be in the Heart Divine Palace right now — you will be caught in it."

"As for who it was, I think you've already guessed. It's a name I cannot speak."

Zhao Xing instantly understood — it was the divine power avatar of the Lord of Cold Food!

He had descended upon the Heart Divine Palace in person!

"How long until it happens?" Zhao Xing asked.

"The crisis intelligence's time point is too close to the present. That's why the warning time is short and why it costs one layer of divine power."

"But rest assured, the Shadow Temple we are currently in exists within the mind-space, where the flow of time is different. After you awaken, you should still have time to escape," the black-robed figure said.

"Is that all you have to say? Can I call for rescue?"

"That's all. As for rescue, even if you post a bounty now, it would be too late." The black-robed figure shook his head. "You can only try to escape."

Zhao Xing was frantic with worry. As soon as the black-robed figure finished speaking, he immediately activated the Shadow Heart imprint.

His mind traversed layer upon layer of labyrinth, leaving the Shadow Temple.

In the real world, Dao Gu layer, within the Heart Divine Palace.

Zhao Xing awoke.

The moment he awoke, he immediately tried to activate Distance-less Teleportation to leave this place.

But he had forgotten — this was the Heart Divine Palace, the dwelling of a Divine General. It inherently prohibited unofficial magical teleportation.

So Zhao Xing immediately shouted loudly the names of Yan Ao and Lu Ya.

"Heart Divine Palace Master, Lu Ya, Lu Ya, Senior Yan, leave quickly, this place is about to———

Zhao Xing's words seemed to push forward the progress of some event. He found that the Heart Divine Palace, which had originally been peaceful,

suddenly grew cold.

, Lu Ya and Yan Ao, instantly appeared beside Zhao Xing. At the same time, the Heart Divine General atop Bai Ta also suddenly blazed with brilliant light and stood up from the peak of Bai Ta.

"Too late."

Zhao Xing looked at the sky with some terror. The dome barrier suddenly shattered, and a pale blue radiance instantly spread throughout the entire Heart Divine Palace barrier.

Then streaks of blue ice crystals drifted down like snowflakes, spreading onto Bai Ta.

"Whoosh~"

An ice-crystal Wang Zuo radiating cold air appeared beside Bai Ta.

The arrangement formed at this moment was like a common setup in a Dharma Assembly — Bai Ta became the preaching platform, and the ice-crystal Wang Zuo became the questioner's guest seat.

The cold was not intense, yet Zhao Xing felt his very thoughts stiffening, and his body had lost all sensation, frozen in place.

Yan Ao and Lu Ya were no better off. A faint golden radiance appeared on their bodies, but outside that layer of divine-power radiance, there was an additional layer of light reflected from snowflakes.

"A mere Divine Domain and you think to suppress me? Cold Divine King, you simply don't take us seriously enough!"

Little Yellow Duck let out a shriek. Its body suddenly swelled, its head reared up, and at once bony armor bristled.

Its left eye condensed into a scarlet-gold blazing sun, its right pupil like a deep blue ice abyss,

Its original beak split apart, a new beak extended like a divine sword, with sacrificial-fire divine patterns appearing upon it.

The down on its body burned away, revealing dark-iron feathers of the nether sky — the upper feathers bearing molten-gold cloud patterns, the lower feathers tempered with thunder-marrow bone.

Lu Ya spread its wings and took flight. Heavenly fire fell like a meteor shower, and it actually broke free of the suppression.

"Whoosh—" Zhao Xing's vision blurred, and in an instant he was slapped by a wing and sent flying into Yan Ao's belly.

"So this is the true form of the Qu-Ru Divine Duck?" Zhao Xing entered Yan Ao's belly and instantly regained normal perception.

He saw that the Little Yellow Duck outside had already vanished. Orange webbing shaped like dragon-louse claws, reversed scales standing up on its knees, twin feet anchoring space-time, tail feathers reflecting yin and yang — it was simply an ancient, fearsome god!

"Yan Ao, Lu Ya, you have past ties with me, you may leave on your own." A voice came from atop the Heavenly Stair.

Then a gust of cold wind blew, as if stirring space itself. Zhao Xing found his viewpoint suddenly pulled away, dropping from the upper levels of the Heart Spirit Palace to the first floor.

The Bai Ta already required looking up at, clearly Venerable Han Bing had expelled them from the Divine Domain, yet Lu Ya was actually still able to fly forward.

"Bah! Who has past ties with you! Don't smear me!"

"You think I'll just leave because you tell me to?"

"Hiyah!"

Lu Ya's ferocity exploded. Flapping his wings, he charged at that Venerable Han Bing throne.

Heavenly fire fell, divine light blazed, and he actually flew a little closer.

But immediately after, Lu Ya seemed to suffer a heavy blow, his speed sharply reduced, and his body flew back even faster, returning to Yan Ao's side.

At this point, both Yan Ao and Lu Ya were already outside the Heart Spirit Palace, in the chaotic Daogu Layer.

"Heart Spirit General Qi Luo, I am your Dao-Breaker~"

An ice-cold, bone-piercing voice rang through heaven and earth.

Everything unfolded exactly as predicted.

But differing somewhat from the 【Crisis Intelligence】, Zhao Xing did not see Lu Ya being repelled, nor his dialogue with the Lord of Cold Food.

Now he also heard a few more things.

"For Venerable Han Bing to be my Dao-Breaker is my honor. Please instruct me!" The Lord of the Heart Spirit Palace did not strike, and his tone was firm, for he knew that to achieve Heavenly Dao certification, he must undergo countless trials.

The appearance of a Dao-Breaker might also become an aid in perfecting one's own method of Dao certification!

"You used the City of Hearts within the Star Mirror as your method of Dao certification, and from the eighth epoch before the Wilderness Domain, you continuously expanded the City of Hearts."

"You borrowed the Heart Power of all Emperor Di Jun, Venerables, Divine Soldiers, and Divine Generals who entered the City of Hearts, to complete your Heavenly Dao certification."

"All who enter the City of Hearts must expand land within the city, attempting to evolve it into a Heart World."

"Your method of Dao certification is the 'Heart World' — using the Heart World to evade the universe's Great Cataclysm."

Upon hearing this, the Heart Spirit General replied neither haughtily nor humbly: "Taking the Heart Power of all beings, uniting wills into a fortress, forging a Heart World — this is indeed my method of Dao certification."

The Lord of Cold Food said coldly: "The Heart World is eternal, the flesh withers. You never told anyone who entered the City of Hearts that staying within it for long would cause their flesh to slowly wither."

"Moreover, everyone's mind would be assimilated by you, ultimately becoming nourishment for your Heart Power."

"Nonsense!" the Heart Spirit General rebuked loudly. "If the Heart World is formed, the heart interferes with matter, and the flesh is entrusted between the Yin-Yang Twin Stars — where does fleshly wither come from?"

"Mind assimilation is a complete distortion of this god's theory. The mind produces faith, just as worshipping deities and believing in gods produces a sense of identification — this is entirely different from assimilation and loss of self!"

"Is that so? Then look at who this is!" Beside the Venerable Han Bing throne, several figures suddenly appeared atop the Heavenly Stair.

"I don't recognize them."

"They are your seven disciples."

"In the sixth, fourth, and third epochs before the Wilderness Domain, you killed them respectively."

"You explained to the Lord of the Moon Spirit Palace and the Great Emperor of the Red Star that several disciples died from qi deviation, their minds obliterated."

"Afterward, using pain as a reason, you erased this segment of your own memory."

"Of course you don't remember, because their hearts were refined by you into bricks for the City of Hearts, and their flesh was destroyed by you."

"And I have resurrected them."

"Absolutely absurd! Venerable Han Bing, do you think resurrecting a few people from the past at random can break my Dao Heart?"

A Star Mirror appeared on the Venerable Han Bing throne, and immediately seven pillars were drawn out from within the Star Mirror.

Watching from afar, Zhao Xing found that Star Mirror somewhat familiar — it was exactly the scene of a building collapsing in the City of Hearts that he had seen before.

When these seven pillars appeared, they sank into the seven people on the stairway.

Zhao Xing saw the Heart Spirit General atop the Bai Ta sway unsteadily, as if recalling something.

After a while, the Heart Spirit General was drawn away from the peak of the Bai Ta by a streak of Jin Guang — here too it differed from what was shown in the 【Crisis Intelligence】.

Immediately after, the scene rapidly receded. Zhao Xing could no longer see the specific situation of the Heart Spirit Palace, only a blue point of light.

Finally, Yan Ao and Lu Ya appeared in the Manifestation Layer, surrounded by a brilliant starry sky.

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh~" The Qu Ru Divine Duck flapped continuously, appearing in the Origin Heavenly Palace region. It seemed to finally feel safe, and only then stopped, releasing Zhao Xing.

"Two seniors, did you hear what was said just now?" Zhao Xing asked cautiously.

"Heard it." Lu Ya had returned to his little yellow duck form. "Didn't expect Qi Luo's City of Hearts to have such drawbacks. All these years of human support for him were wasted — he's truly qi deviation!"

"Qi Luo's path went astray without him realizing." Yan Ao also sighed. As a fellow Divine General of the Empire, he had clearly foreseen Qi Luo's fate.

"Then is what that Lord Han said true?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Mm. The Palace Lord appeared just now and took Qi Luo away." Yan Ao nodded heavily. "Those who seek Heavenly Dao certification are most prone to qi deviation — they even come to believe that sacrificing others is tolerable, not realizing this is the beginning of failure."

"Exactly, exactly! I now suppress my nature and barely eat people anymore." Lu Ya said. "Yet he killed so many people, and even wanted to assimilate everyone's minds? He deserves to be eaten by me!"

The two did not say much more to Zhao Xing afterward, clearly not considering it worth discussing.

Zhao Xing was also somewhat感慨. This was so similar to He Qixiangsi — if what Venerable Han Bing said was true, then the Heart Spirit General was simply even more mad than Bo Wei.

"Yoo~"

Suddenly, a streak of light flashed past.

Zhao Xing received a major chronicle announcement from the Mysterious Spirit History Book.

【Third Epoch of the Wilderness Domain, fifth Solar Year: the Lord of Cold Food broke the Dao, the Heart Spirit General fell, the City of Ten Thousand Stars ceased to exist, the Heart World method of Dao certification is a false method!】

"Just like with Bo Wei, the Mysterious Spirit History Book also issued an announcement this time — I just don't know how far this level reaches." Zhao Xing thought.

If the Heart Spirit General's actions became widely known, it would inevitably cause panic — who knew how many people had entered the City of Hearts.

And as the one who broke this crisis, the Lord of Cold Food's reputation would surely surge greatly, and those who believed in him would increase.

Once enough believers accumulated, after some Cold Food Dharma Assembly, that Venerable Han Bing would likely lead his believers back to his past temporal domain. The Wilderness Domain faction losing a batch of Divine Realm experts meant losing a large batch of resources.

"This kind of open scheme is unbreakable." Zhao Xing thought. The Heart Spirit General having his Dao broken was a good thing for those at the Half-God or even Divine Soldier level!

After all, no one was willing to be used as an experimental subject by a madman and sacrificed without realizing it. As the Cold Food Dharma Assembly continued, the Cold Food Lord's preaching would exert an ever-deeper influence on this era.

"It seems this is the main purpose of his descent." Zhao Xing sank his mind into his inner world and informed Bovee of what had just happened.

"Elder Bovee, when you were released back then, did you have any understanding of him?"

"I didn't see clearly." Bovee shook his head. "Rather than saying I pushed open that door, it would be more accurate to say I heard his voice. I merely gave it a gentle push, and that gave him an opportunity to slip in."

"The Cold Food Lord's origins are mysterious. He was able to influence the sect-protecting divine artifact of Taigu Zhi Qiu, 'Yuanji Mountain,' and could vanish under the pursuit of the Moon Divine Palace Lord, yet information about him is extremely scarce."

"When I was browsing through the historical timelines, I never even heard of his title. His hiding place is probably very ancient,

Zhao Xing thought of his own "Treatise on the Three-Era Boundary." If the Cold Food Lord had truly attained the Dao during the Cold-Warm Era, then it really was quite a long time ago.

At the end of the fifth Sun Year of the Third Era of the Wilds, the Heart-Mind General incident caused an enormous stir in the circles of demigods and Emperor Di Jun, especially in Ten Thousand Stars City, where not a single person dared to enter.

The Red Star Empire was pushed into the limelight, and some even began to criticize certain high-level divine-realm figures for their inaction.

In contrast, the wild shrines and hidden temples of the Cold Food Lord rose up in force, beginning to spread throughout every corner of the empire.

It was not until the sixth Sun Year of the Third Era of the Wilds that this storm slowly subsided, overshadowed by another major event—the war in the Tianze Star Domain had completely ended. It was entirely incorporated as part of the Xuanling Star Domain.

Thanks to the abundant resources provided by the Tianze Star Domain, and the emergence of numerous Origin Realms and treasures, the empire had sufficient capital to cope with the shocks of the Era Worm incident and the Heart-Mind General incident.

For Zhao Xing, the sixth Sun Year of the Third Era of the Wilds was also an important Sun Year.

First, the Divine Selection Office was about to open an interdimensional passage to transport a batch of divine-realm candidates to the past timelines.

Second, Seeing Ji Si had reaped enormous gains from leading the war in the Tianze Star Domain, leaping in one stroke to the rank of sixteenth-tier Fate Master.

Most importantly, after another Sun Year of gestation, the god-grade primal species within Zhao Xing's body had finally sprouted.