Chapter 264: Chapter Six: The Rule

Yanfeng Ancestor, Di Qing, and Dongji Region Ancestor Feng Xi were still nearby, but Lei Ting Ancestor had left alone—everyone could tell he was in a foul mood.

“With power restrictions, I barely gained a slight advantage by relying on two ultra-powerful secret treasures?” Luo Feng felt no pride; instead, he became even more acutely aware of the gap between himself and the powerful beings beyond the Origin Continent: “After leaving the Origin Continent, I must be far more cautious.”

These two secret treasures were specifically designed to aid cultivation and could not be taken beyond the Origin Continent. Outside the Origin Continent… you must rely on your own raw strength to survive.

“Young Brother Yinhe,” Di Qing chuckled, “I never expected you to win this wager—it truly took us by surprise.”

Yanfeng Ancestor watched Luo Feng from the side, equally astonished.

He knew clearly that above the Divine King realm, there were four steps.

The gap between the first step, “Divine Emperor Early Stage,” and the fourth step, “Divine Emperor Perfection,” was enormous! Even under power restrictions, the disparity in realm remained vast. Though the ultra-powerful secret treasures were unique, Yanfeng Ancestor and the others had seen their like before.

“This Yinhe might be one of those rare, dazzling beings among countless worlds,” Yanfeng Ancestor thought. He and Lei Ting Ancestor had encountered many dazzling beings beyond the Source World.

Compared to those dazzling beings, the two of them were far too ordinary.

“Yinhe, having won this wager, the Origin Continent now has one new rule: those guilty of grave sins shall die without mercy,” Dongji Region Ancestor added with a smile—she was delighted by this outcome.

She was the most benevolent among the Divine Emperors, with no blood ties to the native life of the Origin Continent, yet she still chose to protect them.

“This victory was somewhat lucky,” Luo Feng remarked. Had he not obtained the Eye of Birth and Death, he could not have defeated Lei Ting Ancestor with just the Star Tower alone.

“If you have time in the future, you should visit the Dongji Region,” Feng Xi, Dongji Region Ancestor, smiled faintly.

“I will.” Luo Feng nodded.

Dongji Region Ancestor immediately took her leave.

“Yinhe,” Yanfeng Ancestor said, “would you care to visit my Yanfeng Ancient Nation?”

“Of course,” Luo Feng replied. He had once relied on his status as a guest advisor of the Yanfeng Ancient Nation to receive some transmissions in his weaker days and gain access to the Infinite Space Vault, with help from his Master Di Chu. In truth, Yanfeng Ancestor had done him a great favor.

…

In the Yanfeng Ancient Nation, atop a towering mountain.

Yanfeng Ancestor, Di Qing, and Luo Feng each took their seats, while puppet lifeforms brought forth fine food and wine.

“This is where I usually reside,” Yanfeng Ancestor said, gazing at the endless surrounding mountains. “Besides me, only puppets dwell here—I love the stillness.”

Yanfeng Ancestor smiled at Luo Feng: “Yinhe, once you leave the Source World, you’ll come to cherish these peaceful days within the Origin Continent.”

“Oh?” Luo Feng was accustomed to the tranquility of the Origin Continent.

To him, no one within the Origin Continent could threaten him.

“Outside the Source World, even while cultivating in your cave, you might be infiltrated by certain extraordinary ‘low-level Hunyuan lifeforms’ who launch surprise attacks,” Yanfeng Ancestor shook his head. “Death could come at any moment.”

“Those of us from the Source World fare better—we can create avatars, leaving at least one behind in the Source World. But the powerful beings who rose from countless worlds have no avatar techniques. Their situation is far worse. To survive, they resort to any means necessary.”

Di Qing nodded: “Outside the Source World, our main enemies are low-level Hunyuan lifeforms, but we must also guard against attacks from other cultivators.”

“They truly lack avatar techniques—no wonder they go mad more easily,” Luo Feng nodded.

“Cultivators within the Cage fall into two categories,” Yanfeng Ancestor said. “One is life born naturally within the Source World—the Source World is a vast, naturally formed world imbued with supreme laws. The other is life created by Elder Yuan and others in the countless worlds—many of these beings are born with Hunyuan bloodlines, making their cultivation far easier than ours.”

“Born with Hunyuan bloodlines?” Luo Feng was startled.

“Like the Hunyuan-bloodline creatures I bred,” Yanfeng Ancestor said. “The creatures I bred had very low intelligence. But Elder Yuan and others managed to fuse these Hunyuan bloodlines into intelligent lifeforms—they possess sufficient wisdom, insight, and the advantage of Hunyuan bloodlines. Thus, cultivators beyond the Source World… are almost entirely dominated by those from the countless worlds!”

“We start low—typically only reaching True God upon birth—and our cultivation is far harder, immeasurably more difficult than theirs who are born with Hunyuan bloodlines. But our potential is greater, and we can cultivate avatar techniques,” Yanfeng Ancestor said.

Luo Feng now understood the two major factions of cultivators.

One: naturally born life. The other: life created by Elder Yuan and others in the countless worlds.

"Beyond the Source World, you will encounter diverse cultivation systems, hunt various low-level Hunyuan lifeforms, exchange with countless-world elites, and advance further into darkness," said Yanfeng Ancestor. "But true treasures are fiercely contested beyond the Source World."

“The best way for us to obtain treasures remains within the Origin Continent,” Di Qing also nodded.

“Special life remnants?” Luo Feng said.

“Yes.”

Yanfeng Ancestor nodded. “You may find a special life remnant in the dark zones of the Dream Realm or the depths of the Celestial Pillar Realm. But each location allows only one remnant to be obtained.”

“Only one?” Luo Feng had not known this.

“For example, if you enter the dark zone of the Dream Realm, struggle hard, and obtain one special life remnant, you’ll be immediately expelled and never allowed back,” Yanfeng Ancestor said. “This is likely a rule set by Elder Yuan. Thus, combined, a single lifeform may obtain at most two special life remnants—from the Dream Realm and the Celestial Pillar Realm.”

“For a Divine Emperor, acquiring them is still quite easy,” Yanfeng Ancestor said. “These are the most important treasures for Origin Continent Divine Emperors.”

“As for innate secret treasures? Secret techniques? Those depend on luck.”

Yanfeng Ancestor smiled. “Remember: don’t sell special life remnants lightly. If you truly wish to sell, ask me—I’ll offer you a high enough price.”

“Understood.” Luo Feng nodded. “By the way, what exactly are these special life remnants?”

“The Dream Realm is likely formed from the corpse of an extraordinary world-level Hunyuan lifeform—its body serves as the foundation for countless Dream Realm spaces,” Yanfeng Ancestor said. “The Celestial Pillar Realm is probably also formed from the corpse of a world-level Hunyuan lifeform.”

“World-level Hunyuan lifeform corpses are immensely vast. Even a small fragment of flesh, scale, or hair can yield over a hundred million remnants.”

Yanfeng Ancestor said, “Elder Yuan hid these remnants in the most core locations—only those with sufficient strength can hope to obtain them.”

Luo Feng understood.

Other treasure sites required direct physical travel.

Only the Infinite Space allowed one’s consciousness to remotely descend—upon gaining access.

“Two world-level Hunyuan lifeform corpses were used for a single Origin Continent? It seems Elder Yuan and others slew many world-level Hunyuan lifeforms,” Luo Feng realized at this moment that higher-level battles must have been extremely fierce.

“Actually, our greatest threat is attacks by the innate Hunyuan lifeform clans on the Origin Continent,” Yanfeng Ancestor said. “If one day the innate Hunyuan lifeform clans attack and devour the Origin Continent, we are finished.”

“Does this happen often?” Luo Feng asked.

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“Quite often.”

Yanfeng Ancestor nodded. “Our cultivator faction is at a disadvantage in our struggle against the innate Hunyuan lifeform faction.”

“Recently, a crucial world cluster dedicated to nurturing Divine Emperors—the Beigu World Cluster—has completely lost contact. It was likely overrun,” Di Qing added. “All the Divine Emperors cultivated in the countless worlds are gone! And multiple Source Worlds surrounding the Beigu World Cluster are probably gone too.”

Luo Feng was stunned.

Are the two factions fighting this fiercely?

“Beyond the Source World, opportunities and resources are plentiful—but the environment is extremely hostile… precisely because our entire cultivator faction is in decline, we need more cultivators to break free from the Cage,” Yanfeng Ancestor said. “Only by breaking free can we join the war between the two factions.”

Yanfeng Ancestor and Di Qing revealed many hidden truths to Luo Feng, intending to foster mutual support along their future paths.

“These matters are too distant from us. Our priority is seizing the resources before us,” Di Qing said, sending Luo Feng a piece of intelligence. “Here is information on the dark zones of the Dream Realm and the depths of the Celestial Pillar Realm. The Dream Realm’s dark zones are constantly shifting—my data is only a reference. The Celestial Pillar Realm’s depths remain unchanged—you should study them carefully.”

“First, obtain the special life remnants from these two places,” Di Qing said.

“Thank you,” Luo Feng sensed their goodwill.

The war between the two factions beyond the Cage was too distant to concern him—he needn’t overthink it.

…

Lei Mountain.

“The Ancestor is furious—he went personally to confront that Yinhe Lord,” Lan Duo Sovereign thought in his cave. “Then he headed to the Cosmic Sea region for battle. Too bad I couldn’t witness that fight.”

Lan Duo Sovereign was greatly excited.

If the Ancestor himself intervened, perhaps Yinhe Lord would change his attitude and stop blocking his plundering of lifeforms.

“I wonder how the battle turned out.”

“Under the Origin Continent’s power restriction, Yinhe Lord can surely protect himself—but before the Ancestor, he’ll still suffer losses,” Lan Duo Sovereign had absolute faith in his own Ancestor.

“Hmph!”

Suddenly, a cold sneer echoed within Lan Duo Sovereign’s consciousness.

Then, terrifying thunder exploded within his soul—thunder capable of annihilating the soul. This was the terrifying nature of the Hunyuan bloodline path: even without understanding soul cultivation, one could simply tap into the bloodline's innate talent.

When facing Lei Ting Ancestor, Luo Feng had been attacked simultaneously on physical, soul, and mental levels—but he had easily withstood it.

Yet facing thunder at the Origin Continent’s power limit—thunder capable of annihilating the soul and destroying the body—Lan Duo Sovereign, without Lei Mountain’s protection, could not withstand it.

“Ancestor!!!” In his final moment, Lan Duo Sovereign knew who killed him.

He was unwilling. He refused to believe.

But instantly, his consciousness was extinguished.

“From this day forward, any great sinner on the Origin Continent who devours countless lifeforms shall be executed,” Lei Ting Ancestor’s voice echoed in the consciousness of every Sovereign in the ancient nation.

Bai Mo and Lan Duo had both died, and on the same day, Lei Ting Ancestor and Yanfeng Ancestor issued their decrees.

The entire Origin Continent erupted in uproar.

All factions understood: the Origin Continent’s order had changed. A new rule had been established—no one, not even Emperor, Sovereign, or Ultimate Realm cultivators, could defy it.

(End of Chapter)