Chapter 426: I Arrive in the Northern Region, Wielding Heaven

In the heart of Taixuan Sect, where the Yu Sect portal resides, Fang Yu, Ye Fan, and Pang Bo had made their preparations.

At this moment, the three stood atop the altar, waiting for the array to activate.

The Taixuan Sect's array originally could only transport cultivators to the central Eastern Wilderness, but after being modified by the Old Madman, the sect's Yu Sect portal could now directly send cultivators to the Northern Eastern Wilderness.

Fang Yu had studied the Old Madman's method of activating the divine array and could open the Yu Sect portal himself, but since the sect's array was available, he couldn't be bothered to expend his own spiritual energy.

The array activated quickly, and a black hole appeared in the void, as if capable of swallowing cultivators.

Fang Yu had seen such black holes in the Eternal Life Realm and was not particularly surprised; he possessed the Five Elements talismans, and when activating them to travel from the Five Elements Land to the Xuan Huang Great World, he had experienced similar phenomena.

As for Ye Fan and Pang Bo, they found it novel—they had last arrived at Beidou via the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin, but this was their first time traveling directly through a black hole.

"Young Master, be cautious. The teleportation is beginning!"

The Taixuan Sect Elder spoke solemnly, and as blocks of Yuan were consumed, the teleportation commenced.

The three entered the black hole and vanished without a trace.

No one knew whether the teleportation had succeeded or failed.

"The Young Master has gone to the Northern Region—no one knows what kind of chaos he'll stir up?"

"Hard to say. Rumors say divine Yuan has surfaced, and humanoid creatures still linger in the Taichu Ancient Mine. The Northern Region has always been a mess, with the Thirteen Great Bandits and various Sacred Sects constantly fighting each other—utter chaos."

"Truly, success comes from Yuan, and failure comes from Yuan—but I believe the Young Master will fare well in the Northern Region."

Several Elders watched Fang Yu depart, discussing among themselves.

Even as they spoke, Fang Yu, Ye Fan, and Pang Bo underwent massive spatial displacement; when they reappeared, the landscape had changed completely.

The land was desolate: crimson soil, reddish-brown rocks, barren and lifeless.

In the distance, the earth stretched empty, with almost no signs of life; only occasional solitary Shishan dotted the horizon.

This place resembled a wasteland, utterly unlike the lush, mountainous, clear-watered Southern Region—it held no vitality, only deathly stillness.

"This is the Northern Region? Different from the legends."

"Everyone says the Northern Region is so prosperous, but now that we're here, it's clear it's not—Southern Region has beautiful mountains and clear waters; here, even a blade of grass won't grow."

Ye Fan and Pang Bo had heard tales of the Northern Region, but the reality differed greatly from what they'd imagined.

"Actually, it's normal—when this land produces abundant Yuan, the life essence on the surface becomes scarce."

Fang Yu was not surprised; he descended onto the earth, and in an instant, Huang Di's Earth Sovereign Dao expanded across five hundred li.

At this moment, all the earth within five hundred li became his eyes and ears.

Or rather, all Xu Yuan Qi within the Five Elements—whether across the vast land, the solitary Shanfeng, the occasional plants, or even the moisture in the void—was entirely governed by the Great Five Elements Art, becoming his eyes.

"This place is truly a lawless land."

Within five hundred li, there were naturally many villages; Fang Yu could see the villagers survived by mining Yuan, but within this radius, there were also many bandits—groups of thirty, gangs of fifty—robbing villages everywhere.

As Fang Yu turned his gaze upon the land, he saw a certain village where dozens of bandits had arrived, forcing the villagers to hand over Yuan—or else the entire village would be wiped out.

"Hmph, Old Chen, you're lucky this time—you actually handed over five jin of Yuan. I'll spare you this time, but in half a month, hand over another five jin—or I'll leave not a single living thing in your village. Understood?"

One bandit, accompanied by over a dozen others, stepped forward.

"What? Another five jin? We just handed ours over—where would we get more? My lord, you know Yuan is hard to find these days."

"Enough nonsense."

The bandit leader's face darkened. He spat out a cold command: "Half a month. Five jin of Yuan. If you don't deliver it—or if it's insufficient—wait for your village to be erased."

"Did you hear that, old man? You've only half a month. Go find Yuan—or are you looking to die?"

Another bandit sneered, spat on the ground, and rode off on his horse.

"Heaven, these murderous bastards."

"Half a month? Where are we supposed to get five jin of Yuan? Are they trying to kill our village?"

After the bandits left, the entire village was speechless with grief; everyone clenched their fists.

But they could not resist—the villagers were all cultivators, yet their realms were only the Realm of the Life Spring; the bandit leader had reached the Divine Bridge Realm—if they fought back, they would all die.

"These damned bloodsuckers—why hasn't heaven struck them down with lightning? Heaven, how are we supposed to live?"

Someone in the village began to weep—living in a land rich with Yuan, they lived in misery, unable to cultivate, constantly oppressed.

This was no life for humans—when would heaven finally open its eyes?

"As you wish."

At that moment, thunder coalesced in the void, forming a pair of eyes.

The instant these thunderous eyes appeared, the entire void crackled with thunder—as if Lei Shen had roared in fury, or as if heaven itself had opened its eyes, disgusted by the chaos of the Northern Region.

The moment terrifying thunder manifested in the void, fine threads of purple lightning descended—and the bandits who had just seized five jin of Yuan were instantly struck dead.

No surprise.

Dozens of bandits, the strongest among them only at the Divine Bridge Realm—even hundreds of li away, Fang Yu could obliterate them.

As soon as the bandits died, their corpses did not immediately vanish into ash; instead, the lightning swept them into the void, carried them before the villagers, and then turned them to ash.

"Heaven! Heaven truly opened its eyes—it actually struck down these bloodsuckers!"

"Quick, worship heaven! From now on, we will offer sacrifices to heaven!"

"Heaven, you've finally opened your eyes! You have no idea how much suffering we've endured!"

All the villagers knelt on the ground, bowing in worship to the pair of thunderous eyes in the sky.

"Heaven's wrath, human resentment—Heaven must destroy them. I descend as an Xu Yuan Qi avatar to protect your clan. You must worship me without fail."

The thunderous eyes descended at once, transforming into a thunderous divine form—Fang Yu's magic power, shaped according to the Lei Di talisman's heavenly divine form.

His current cultivation base was the Heavenly Man Realm; he had not yet cultivated a divine form, but using magic power to manifest one, these villagers could not discern the truth.

"We shall remember—we will worship heaven!"

"Heaven, you are so kind—with your Xu Yuan Qi avatar, our lives will finally improve."

"We pay homage to Xu Yuan Tian Lao Ye!"

All the villagers listened to the voice of that Thunder Dharma Aspect and continued to kneel, then bowed in worship.

Fang Yu felt a wisp of the aura of faith being transmitted toward him.

"It can also be considered a casual move."

Several hundred li away, Fang Yu's gaze lingered on the scene over there.

Originally, the Northern Region was full of bandits everywhere; incidents of bandits raiding villages happened every day. If a cultivator were to meddle in such matters, he would probably have no time left to cultivate afterward.

But Fang Yu had merely made a small move, splitting off some Xu Yuan Qi to form a giant thunder eye that carried out Heaven's punishment, and gaining some worship and faith in return — that was no bad thing.

Faith, incense offerings — such things are taboo in some worlds. The saying that incense offerings are poisonous and one should not absorb faith is commonplace in some worlds. But in the Eternal Life Realm, incense offerings and faith are good things. In the cave heavens of every major Xiandao Sect Sect, populations numbering in the tens of millions or even billions are kept, fed and provided for, requiring nothing from them but worship.

Faith can aid a cultivator in opening up their sea of consciousness, and can also help in condensing Dao artifacts.

For instance, the refinement of mid-grade Dao artifacts, high-grade Dao artifacts, as for Top-Grade Dao artifacts — if there is abundant faith, condensing them becomes far easier.

Now, in this chaotic Northern Region of the Shrouding Heaven Realm, Fang Yu had merely made a slight move, slaying some Wheel and Sea Realm bandits, and gained some faith from the villagers — a win-win situation.

The common folk of every village in the Northern Region had long suffered under the bandits. Now that Fang Yu had manifested a heavenly thunder incarnation, he immediately won the worship of all the people.