Ten True Gods struck at once.
Their powerful embryonic Divine Domains pressed down together upon the two Step Three Sky Treading evil gods.
The two Step Three evil gods were completely immobilized.
The disparity born of Divine Domain seeds was not something divine apertures could bridge.
Terror consumed the two evil gods, their hearts seized by overwhelming shock.
"You... you are very strong! If you defect to our side, your status in the New God camp will rival that of Great Venerables!" At this point, brute force was useless, so Feng Kui had no choice but to launch a verbal assault.
Tan Zui also chimed in hurriedly, "Your prospects are bright, and you are destined to become Great Venerables in the future. As things stand, the fall of the Mortal Heart Realm is only a matter of time. Why not join us and enter the New God camp?"
The two frantically pleaded and argued, laying out the vast gap between the New Gods and the Ancient Gods.
Hearing this, the hearts of the Ancient Gods present grew heavy.
Much of the joy from previously awakening Divine Domain seeds faded away.
What these two evil gods said held truth.
Although their strength had surged, standing against the overarching tide was still like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
The gap between the Ancient Gods and the New Gods was not something a few Great Venerables could change.
"With eloquence like yours, you'd make a killing in scams and pyramid schemes," Qi Yuan said, waving a hand dismissively. "Too bad I can't stand either of those types. Kill them."
Qi Yuan issued the order without hesitation.
The Ancient Gods who had been wavering cast their doubts aside and struck.
Their Divine Domains clamped down on the two evil gods, and divine spiritual power flooded over them.
In an instant, the very Step Two Sky Treading cultivators they had looked down upon crushed them to death.
Qi Yuan clapped his hands. "Not a bad haul. Barely worthy of being called my white moonlights."
Indeed, for him, the harvest was quite bountiful.
With the evil god spiritual power of two Step Three Sky Treading cultivators, the gods he could visualize would certainly be formidable.
If this trip could resolve the bottleneck keeping him from breaking through to True God, he could visualize powerful gods on a grand scale.
That way, the strength of his subordinates would skyrocket.
Most importantly, he would be able to push past level 89 as a divine creature and break through to level 90.
Between the evil gods he had hunted before and these two Step Three experts, he had accumulated a massive amount of experience.
Once he broke through to True God, his level would soar like crazy.
"Your deaths were not in vain; consider it an unexpected delight. Men, bury my white moonlights with full honors." Qi Yuan was in high spirits.
The Ancient Gods looked at one another in bewilderment.
They stared at the two corpses on the ground. The younger twin sister stepped forward. She had reverted to her original form, though her chest was deliberately reduced by two sizes, as though she had drunk phoenix essence blood. She said, "Lord God, this is the Ancestral Land. We cannot bury them here."
A stray shovel into the dirt might unearth a puppet god.
"Sigh, not even a burial, let alone a funeral feast. My poor white moonlights met such tragic ends." Qi Yuan wore a look of profound grief.
In the past, whenever a white moonlight died, he could always feast heartily at their funeral banquet.
Yet these two had died in this desolate wasteland, where there was neither feast nor burial.
"Since a burial is out of the question..." Qi Yuan's gaze swept around and caught sight of a metal box.
Sensing no danger from it, he looked at the two corpses with eyes full of deep affection. "Then I must trouble you two to rest in this trash can."
He gave a gentle kick, exceedingly tender, sending the corpses of the two evil gods flying straight into the trash can.
"Sigh. Once we're back in Qingshui Village, I'll make it up to you both with a proper feast," Qi Yuan lamented.
"Understood!" Chen Xifan answered hurriedly. As the head chef, cooking for feasts was his specialty.
The remaining Ancient Gods exchanged puzzled glances, unable to fathom Qi Yuan's logic.
At this moment, Zhu Zhuangshi eagerly filled them in on Qi Yuan's heroic exploits. "Back in Qingshui Village, whenever our lord embarked on an expedition, there was always an orchestra, a weeping squad, and a cooking team..."
Zhu Zhuangshi regaled them with great relish.
Hearing all this and looking back at Qi Yuan, the Ancient Gods felt that something so absurd was indeed entirely in character for him.
Thinking about it now, Qi Yuan's behavior in the Ancestral Land suddenly seemed much more normal.
"Alright, let's move, move, move! Dawn is coming soon. Let's pick up the pace!" Qi Yuan led the group deeper into the Ancestral Land.
***
Meanwhile, in Qingshui Village.
Great Venerable Shenlei gazed at the star-studded sky, a sense of boundless melancholy in his heart.
Glancing at the short maid Xiaoxue beside him, he swallowed a cup of wine.
"Everything I own is inside this storage bag. When Qi Yuan returns, hand it to him." Great Venerable Shenlei waved a hand.
The maid Xiaoxue was dazed. "This..."
"Hmph, when that brat sees the treasures in my storage bag, his eyes will light up, and he'll beg to take me as his master. Unfortunately, I won't be around to see it."
Great Venerable Shenlei looked bleak and lost.
"Tell Qi Yuan that I'm going to kill Zhang Feng for him—the one he's always wanted dead!" With those words, Great Venerable Shenlei brought his aura to its absolute peak. "I... depart!"
He transformed into a streak of flowing light and vanished.
Only a burst of hearty laughter echoed in the air.
"Dust to dust, earth to earth. This life of mine was well worth it!"
"I am the true reckless man!"
To hunt down Zhang Feng, Great Venerable Shenlei had to set off early.
After all, he couldn't march over openly.
For one thing, other Great Venerables would discover him; for another, Zhang Feng would detect him in advance.
He had to sneak over in secret. Though it would be much slower, that wouldn't get in the way.
Back in the dark of Qingshui Village, the little potato of a maid, Xiaoxue, clutched the storage bag. Seeming to realize what was happening, she stamped her feet in distress. "What should I do? What should I do!"
***
An hour passed.
Qi Yuan and his party emerged from another ancient tower.
This time, their gains were once again tremendous.
The people in the group were beaming, looking immensely pleased with themselves.
A few remained reserved, lost in thought.
Qi Yuan, however, wore a rather disappointed expression.
He still had not found a way to break through to True God.
At this moment, the younger twin sister sent a voice transmission to the elder sister: "Sister, someone just transmitted to me, saying they want to become citizens of Qingshui Village. What do you think?"
The elder twin sister paused, her eyes freezing slightly.
The rewards from following Qi Yuan into the Ancestral Land had exceeded all imagination.
It was fair to say that previously, even with ten thousand years, she never believed she would reach the Great Venerable realm.
Yet now, she could already be considered a pseudo-Great Venerable.
With just a little more time, she could directly step into the Great Venerable realm.
This was something she could never have imagined before.
"The Origin Celestial Venerable has bestowed far too much upon us. A kindness like this could not be repaid in a thousand years," the elder sister sighed.
"Sister, should we also become permanent citizens and offer eternal worship?" the younger sister asked.
"No," the elder sister refused. "Repaying a debt of gratitude is not limited to becoming a citizen. There are other paths to take. The gains are plentiful, but losing my freedom for the rest of my life to become someone's subject is something I cannot do."
The elder sister was speaking the truth, and it reflected the thoughts of most Ancient Gods.
It was like a billionaire on Blue Star who, with someone's help, saw their wealth grow to five billion.
Would that billionaire be willing to sacrifice their freedom and become that person's slave?
Naturally, they would not.
"Mm, I understand," the younger sister sighed.
"Why worry about this now? Our greatest enemy is still the New Gods. If he can drive the New Gods out of the Mortal Heart Realm, what would be wrong with becoming his citizen?" The elder sister spoke her mind.
Becoming a citizen carried too many constraints.
What if the Origin Celestial Venerable defected to the enemy?
Then they would be forced to defect along with him. Clearly, that was something she could never accept.
Right now, the Origin Celestial Venerable's grace toward her was immense, but it was not enough for her to surrender everything.
Not even a Mythological existence was worth giving up everything.
The Children of Destiny felt the same way.
Hearing this, the younger sister relayed her sister's answer to the others.
Upon hearing it, the other Ancient Gods said nothing more, and the earlier suggestion quietly evaporated.
Aside from Ancient God Wangsong, the rest of the Ancient Gods decided that serving for a thousand years was the better path.
Everyone fell silent, following Qi Yuan as they flew through the air.
"Is this the only tower on the seventh tier?"
A hundred breaths later, the crowd halted before the final tower.
On the final seventh tier, there was only a single tower.
"There is an evil god's aura here... Evil gods have been here!" Ancient God Wangsong's gaze turned grim.
"There seems to be the presence of a Great Venerable. Could it be... Great Venerable Aoshi?" The elder sister's expression turned solemn.
At the mention of Great Venerable Aoshi, everyone present looked troubled.
Great Venerable Aoshi was no ordinary Great Venerable.
Even though the Ancient Gods here had all awakened Divine Domain seeds, their combined embryonic Divine Domains were simply outmatched by Great Venerable Aoshi's Divine Domain.
Great Venerable Aoshi's talent even surpassed that of the Holy Mother of Inedia.
"They left? It looks like they left in a hurry, as if they ran into something," one of the Ancient Gods noted in surprise.
What had transpired here seemed very strange.
Qi Yuan did not pay much attention to any of that.
His eyes were fixed on the final tower.
Instantly, a flood of information entered his vision.
His expression grew complicated.
"Sigh, white moonlights, you died such tragic deaths." Qi Yuan wore a look of deep sorrow.
"Huh? Lord God, what's wrong?" The younger twin sister was puzzled.
"To open this door, we need to burn some more... things," Qi Yuan explained. "And the only things available to burn are my poor, helpless white moonlights."
Without further explanation, Qi Yuan turned around. "Come, let's head back and fish my white moonlights out of the trash can. Let's put waste to good use."
To open this door, more gods had to be burned.
Feng Kui and Tan Zui were both Step Three Sky Treading cultivators, making them perfect fuel.
The other Ancient Gods found this utterly bizarre.
Yet when they recalled Qi Yuan's wild antics in Qingshui Village, they felt it was perfectly normal after all.
Before long, the group returned with the corpses of Feng Kui and Tan Zui retrieved from the trash.
Qi Yuan looked at the ceaselessly burning flames ahead, then cast a glance at his two white moonlights.
"It's not that I'm heartless, refusing to let you rest even in death. It's just that the law forbids earth burials—cremation is required in the modern era! Sigh, you'll have to bear with it. Have a safe journey. Once we're back in Qingshui Village, I'll host a three-day funeral feast for the two of you."
With a resigned look, Qi Yuan gave two fierce kicks, sending Feng Kui and Tan Zui flying straight into the roaring flames.
Seeing this, a trace of dread took root in the hearts of the Ancient Gods.
This man was far too ruthless; he was someone they must never cross.
After a dozen breaths, the massive gates of the tower swung open with a resounding boom.
Qi Yuan peered inside, an expression of shock surfacing on his face. "Did we stumble into a nest of puppet gods?"
Inside the tower, he saw dense clusters of puppet gods.
Moreover, not a single one was below the Great Venerable realm.
"This tower is going to be troublesome," Qi Yuan hesitated.
The Ancient Gods shuddered upon hearing this.
In the past, Qi Yuan had never hesitated like this.
If even Qi Yuan called it troublesome, it was definitely an enormous problem.
"Lord God, shouldn't we just leave?"
"Yes, our harvest is already plenty."
"We've practically emptied the Ancestral Land. Let's leave some for others."
The Ancient Gods chimed in one after another, trying their best to persuade him.
They had gained more than enough; skipping this one tower wouldn't hurt.
"No," Qi Yuan refused flatly. He had not yet stepped into the True God realm.
According to his deduction, the opportunity to reach True God was very likely inside this tower.
Otherwise, why would the burning of corpses here have stopped halfway?
Clearly, Great Venerable Aoshi had been the one burning them, and he must have discovered something.
"This time, my eyebrows might have to twitch for an entire hour. It will probably take one or two hours to reach the top floor," Qi Yuan remarked.
"Two hours? That long?" Ancient God Wangsong blurted out, then promptly shut his mouth.
The other Ancient Gods breathed sighs of relief.
In the past, if they had heard that someone could safely reach the top floor in just two hours, they would have marvelled at such good fortune.
Yet after sweeping through towers with Qi Yuan in a matter of a hundred breaths, two hours suddenly sounded like too much?
"Let's go!" Qi Yuan waved a hand, leading everyone into the final tower.
This tower was distinctly different from the others.
The previous towers had all been well preserved, whereas this one appeared utterly dilapidated.
Debris was scattered everywhere: broken helmets, slender steel needles, and various treasures.
"Don't touch any of the treasures here. It's very dangerous," Qi Yuan warned.
Hearing this, the Ancient Gods dared not make a move.
If Qi Yuan said it was dangerous, it truly was dangerous.
At that moment, Qi Yuan closed his eyes and began twitching his eyebrows furiously.
Previously, ten breaths had been enough, but this time, he kept it up for a full quarter of an hour. Watching this comical display, the Ancient Gods wanted to laugh but dared not.
"Let's go. Follow me," Qi Yuan said, opening his eyes with a look of anticipation.
"Understood!"
Although this floor was perilous, to Qi Yuan, it was no different from any other.
As long as he searched frantically for a path of life, he would always find one.
For anyone else, however, getting through this floor would have been nearly impossible—almost certain death.
An hour and a half passed. With his eyebrows twitching like mad, Qi Yuan finally led the group to the top floor.
The top floor of the tower was completely empty, save for a single glowing iron rod.
Seeing this, the rest of the group felt a pang of disappointment.
After exerting so much effort to get here, there was no treasure to be found.
"We took a loss this time!"
"Loss my foot! Compared to the past, we've made an enormous profit!"
"True. It's just that we gained so much today that we're getting ahead of ourselves."
The crowd chatted among themselves.
Qi Yuan's gaze, meanwhile, fell entirely upon the glowing iron rod.
His eyes caught the hidden information hovering over it.
[Lost Glowstick, special creation. This item may take you back to the past, reminiscing over turbulent bygone years.
Note 1: Using this item cannot alter history; it can only be used to witness history.
Note 2: Only 3 uses remaining.
Note 3: Once the activated scene is decided, it cannot be changed.
The decay of this place may be related to it.]
Looking at the Lost Glowstick, Qi Yuan's eyes showed a glimmer of surprise.
"Time?"
To be honest, this was his first time encountering a treasure related to time.
Though he had traversed space-time and even altered history back in the Liufeng Realm, that had been a game reward.
Now, this treasure was an actual in-game item, which caught him off guard.
Of course, the Lost Glowstick still couldn't compare to a game reward, as it could only take someone back to the past without altering history.
Even so, it was terrifying enough.
He stared at the Lost Glowstick, then scanned every corner of the tower's space.
Countless pieces of information flooded into his consciousness.
After about a quarter of an hour, all the information came together, and Qi Yuan came to an epiphany.
"For some unknown reason, this Lost Glowstick has already been used twice."
"It brought back aura from the ancient era, which lingered here. That was how Great Venerable Aoshi came here and broke through to True God."
In ancient times, before the Heavenly Pillar was broken, anyone could break through to True God without needing special supreme treasures.
The Lost Glowstick had been activated for some reason, bringing the ancient aura into the tower, and Great Venerable Aoshi had relied on that very pocket of aura to make his breakthrough.
However, that pocket of aura had been completely exhausted.
Now, to break through to True God, the only way was to activate the Lost Glowstick and travel back to the ancient era.
To break through... in ancient times.
Of course, they would only be passersby, incapable of physically interacting with historical figures—merely tourists and witnesses.
Even so, they could borrow the ancient aura to make their breakthroughs.
"So, is this an exploit?" Qi Yuan picked up the Lost Glowstick, full of curiosity.
Or perhaps, for some people, the Lost Glowstick was a great artifact for sightseeing and archaeological excursions into antiquity.
Yet for Qi Yuan, it was simply a tool to break through to True God.
"Wait, it won't activate?" Qi Yuan held the Lost Glowstick, slightly surprised.
He couldn't activate the Lost Glowstick, nor could he return to antiquity.
"Sure enough, treasures can't be used by just anyone. There are restrictions." Qi Yuan looked at the Lost Glowstick, pondering how to bypass the problem.
How could it be used?
Could it be that only the original masters of the Ancestral Land could use it?
Suddenly, an idea struck Qi Yuan. "Sometimes, luck is very important!"
He pulled out the Scarlet Jade Leaf from his storage bag and wore it on his person.
This Scarlet Jade Leaf was a gift from a little girl, capable of boosting his fortune in the Mortal Heart Realm.
After putting on the Scarlet Jade Leaf, Qi Yuan picked up the Lost Glowstick and examined it again.
Just then, a robotic, electronic voice sounded in Qi Yuan's mind.
"Aura matched. Initiate travel journey immediately?"
"This journey will commence in fifteen minutes at the latest."
"Aura matched?" Qi Yuan blinked.
He looked at the Scarlet Jade Leaf, countless thoughts springing to mind.
Could the little girl who gave him this treasure be a descendant of the original inhabitants of the Ancestral Land?
That would explain why the aura matched.
However, once this treasure was activated, it seemed it could not be shut off.
That meant he had at most fifteen minutes before he could take the others on a journey through space and time to the ancient era.
"Good fortune," Qi Yuan said, a smile appearing in his eyes.
Coming to the Ancestral Land had indeed been the right choice.
He looked at the Dragon Subduing Arhat and Tiger Taming Arhat, and then at the eight ordinary villagers who had accompanied him.
Qi Yuan murmured, "Looks like I can't let this opportunity go to waste!"
Since they could break through in ancient times, he had to use the remaining evil god spiritual power on him to create several powerful God Visualization Arts and bestow them upon these eight people.
When the time came, they would all go to antiquity and break through together.
After all, the gods in his memories were far too powerful to break through using ordinary supreme treasures.
Only by heading to antiquity would it be possible.
He couldn't waste this chance.
"Wait here for a bit. I'm going to visualize a god and will be right out," Qi Yuan said.
Village Chief Yulei's pupils contracted sharply upon hearing this.
Zhu Zhuangshi's eyes widened, his face flushing with wild ecstasy. "Haha, my spring has finally come!"
The villagers present were all incomparably thrilled.
With their Lord God choosing to visualize a god at this very moment, did they even need to guess who the visualized arts were meant for?
As for the Ancient Gods, they were thoroughly bewildered.
"Why is Lord God visualizing a god right now?"
They couldn't understand it.
Visualizing a god in the middle of the perilous Ancestral Land seemed utterly reckless.
Visualizing an ordinary God Visualization Art, or even a rare one... what was the point right now?
They simply couldn't keep up with Qi Yuan's train of thought.
Chapter 205