Inside Xianyun Temple, Grandmaster Hengshan wore the mask of the Boar, hiding his facial features from view.
He stood in silence, surrounded by several cloaked men.
"This rain is truly getting on my nerves," said a monkey-thin man with hidden sleeve darts.
He was a master of hidden weapons, armed with a lethal array concealed beneath his garments.
"Because of the Water Lord, it will likely keep raining around Yeshan Lake for the foreseeable future. That Shen Lingxuan... has been staying close to the Heavenly Sect's grandmasters, making her rather difficult to capture," Grandmaster Hengshan said, his voice raspy.
"Then let's snatch her useless husband first," the sleeve-dart specialist suggested.
Shen Lingxuan was hard to seize, but the matrilocal husband Qi Yuan had no cultivation at all. In their eyes, he was an insect they could trample at whim.
"That would only startle the snake, which is hardly ideal," Grandmaster Hengshan replied. A trace of doubt flickered in his eyes. Why had Feng Tie not arrived yet?
Had something held him up?
For some inexplicable reason, the patter of the falling rain stirred a peculiar restlessness in his chest.
Right at that moment, a card tucked inside his robes suddenly flared with brilliant light.
Grandmaster Hengshan's expression warped violently.
"Not good!"
He had acquired this mysterious card while exploring an ancient ruin.
The artifact possessed enigmatic functions; even his illusion arts had been gleaned from it.
Beyond that, the card served an early warning function.
It was solely thanks to this card that he, the foremost defiler of the State of Moshan—who had even violated the princess of Moshan—could still walk away unscathed after being hunted by a Heaven-rank weapon wielder.
Yet now, the light blazing from the card was far more intense than when the Heaven-rank weapon wielder had pursued him.
How could Grandmaster Hengshan not panic?
Without an instant's hesitation, he launched himself into the sky like an artillery shell, desperate to flee Xianyun Pavilion.
The surrounding men were completely bewildered, utterly clueless as to what had transpired.
Suddenly, a bone-chilling sword intent descended upon them.
The three men's eyes widened in sheer horror. The curtain of rain seemed to freeze as a crystal-clear sword of rainwater tore through the drizzle, lunging toward them.
It was an exceedingly swift strike, fierce and rapid as lightning, giving them no time to react.
Sword qi crisscrossed, and in the next heartbeat, their necks were sliced apart.
Without pausing for a fraction of a second, the water sword's blade surged forward to reap Grandmaster Hengshan.
Grandmaster Hengshan fled with shocking speed, yet how could he hope to outrun that water blade?
Even with the card's advance warning, evasion was utterly impossible.
The water sword impaled his throat. Blood erupted in a crimson spray, his face frozen in disbelief.
"How... could this be?"
His body crashed to the ground, his eyes filled with profound confusion and regret.
Having inherited the legacy of that card, he had possessed a brilliant future—one that should have stretched far beyond the borders of the State of Moshan. Yet now, he was dying for reasons he could not fathom.
Even in his final breath, he had no idea whom he had offended, or whose hand had taken his life.
Nearby, Shen Lingxuan's pupils contracted slightly.
"That sword..."
In terms of sheer raw power, such a strike naturally paled beside her peak in her past life.
After all, in her previous incarnation, she had repelled an entire army with a single sword, founded the Heavenly Sect, and stood as its first Sect Dao Head.
Yet in subtle mastery and exquisite precision, it surpassed her by far.
Looking toward Qi Yuan, waves of astonishment rippled through her heart. *Slaying four Earth-rank weapon wielders with a single strike... Just who are you?*
Curiosity consumed her regarding Qi Yuan's identity, coupled with a faint wariness.
After all, although that sword strike was remarkably exquisite, its overt might showed that he had clearly not yet reached the harmony of heaven and humanity.
If he lusted after her Mysterious Yin Physique, she would find it hard to counter him.
Qi Yuan smiled faintly. "If you're willing to be my mount, I—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the smile froze on his face.
Shen Lingxuan's figure had already dissipated into nothingness.
She had... run away!
Indeed, she had bolted without hesitation.
Qi Yuan stood there rendered speechless. Staring at Shen Lingxuan's slender silhouette vanishing into the rain, he muttered under his breath, "Do I really look like such a villain?"
"Sigh, when mortals behold a deity, they naturally feel dread," Chen Kangbao sighed philosophically.
"I'm technically her husband anyway. What's wrong with wanting to ride her once? How boring."
"She was... Shen Lingxuan?" Chen Kangbao was taken aback.
Evidently, he had failed to recognize her.
"Come on. Let's go perform a good deed and look after their estates."
Trudging through the mud, Qi Yuan entered Xianyun Temple.
The three Earth-rank weapon wielders did not carry many banknotes; Qi Yuan searched them and only recovered a little over a hundred thousand taels in total.
This left him somewhat disappointed, his mood resembling that of Cao Cao looking after a fallen friend's widow, only to discover she was plain-looking—or even rather hideous.
Qi Yuan turned his gaze onto Grandmaster Hengshan's corpse.
"I hope you can give me a pleasant surprise."
He pried open Grandmaster Hengshan's storage implement. Instantly, an overpowering scent of rouge washed over him. Peering inside, he found it packed with women's chemises in every gaudy color imaginable.
"What a truly vile hobby," Qi Yuan muttered blandly.
Within the storage artifact, he dug out six hundred and twenty thousand taels in banknotes.
A glimmer of delight flashed in his eyes.
By this point, he was officially a millionaire.
Just then, a card tucked in Grandmaster Hengshan's sleeve caught his attention.
"This material doesn't fit this game at all."
The card was entirely gray, etched with numerous intricate patterns, and felt remarkably like plastic.
[Illusion Art Card, originating from Void Paradise. Features recording, warning, inheritance functions, and more. Password is... Contains 375 optimization schemes.]
Instantly, an abundance of hidden information appeared before Qi Yuan's eyes.
"Void Paradise? What is that?" Qi Yuan had never heard the name before.
"This old servant does not know either," Chen Kangbao said, shaking his head.
"Since this card possesses recording capabilities, using the password to access it might yield plenty of useful intel."
Qi Yuan picked up the card and activated it according to the disclosed information.
Though Grandmaster Hengshan had possessed this card for years and studied it relentlessly, his grasp of it had remained entirely surface-level, gleaning only a portion of the illusion art inheritance.
Qi Yuan, on the other hand, could directly see the hidden data, allowing him straight into the core of the card.
In a flash, voluminous information materialized before his eyes.
"Zhao Bailong, Voidwalker?"
The card's original owner was named Zhao Bailong. According to his logs, he was a living being from another universe who had been selected by Void Paradise to become a Voidwalker.
This revelation caught Qi Yuan by surprise, as Void Paradise bore a striking resemblance to the Lord God Dimensions he had read about.
That universe was known as the Zhou Universe.
Within the Zhou Universe, countless mighty figures had been born.
Among them, the master of Void Paradise—the Void Realm Lord—was the foremost powerhouse of the entire Zhou Universe.
"The master of Void Paradise is called the Void Realm Lord, an expert of the third tier of the Yang God realm, the Heaven-Opening Realm?"
The recorded data indicated that the third tier of the Yang God realm comprised three stages: the Rule Realm, the Myriad Things Realm, and the Heaven-Opening Realm.
The Rule Realm was reached when an expert at the second tier of the Yang God realm condensed an ultimate principle into a cosmic rule. Manifesting even a single rule marked their breakthrough into the Rule Realm.
The more rules one condensed and the stronger their might, the greater one's power became.
The Myriad Things Realm entailed comprehending all living beings, connecting with myriad creations, and mastering at least nine cosmic rules.
As for the Heaven-Opening Realm, it was the legendary creation of heaven and earth.
A Yang God realm lord at the Heaven-Opening stage possessed the might to tear open primal chaos and craft living beings and entire worlds from nothingness.
*Now this Heaven-Opening Realm... actually looks a bit like what a true god should be. This Void Realm Lord is quite something.*
Qi Yuan's current combat strength rivaled a Great Ultimate Principle, yet asking him to open the heavens and divide the earth was beyond him.
Swallowing a star, on the other hand, was well within his capabilities.
The Void Realm Lord stood as the pinnacle powerhouse of the Zhou Universe. The Void Paradise He established recruited Voidwalkers to continuously temper themselves throughout the cosmos, during which they had discovered the 'embryonic universe' where the Qingshan Realm resided.
According to the card owner's logs, the Void Realm Lord had discovered this embryonic universe over a hundred million years ago.
The Void Realm Lord had repeatedly attempted to annex this embryonic universe into His domain, only to fail due to unforeseen circumstances.
Nonetheless, He continued dispatching Voidwalkers into the embryonic universe on designated tasks to deepen His karmic ties with it.
It seemed that once the karmic ties grew deep enough, He would finally be able to bring the embryonic universe under His sovereign rule.
"Doesn't that mean holding this card gives me a karmic connection to this Void Realm Lord as well?" Qi Yuan mused casually.
The Void Realm Lord was the supreme ruler of a universe; the Voidwalker who had owned this card had never been qualified to gaze upon so transcendent an existence.
*Sure enough, my guess was right. In this world, I am an Earth-rank weapon wielder, which equates to a Divine Infant in the Zhou Universe.*
Although an Earth-rank weapon wielder's destructive power in this world appeared inferior even to Foundation Establishment, that was merely the result of remaining inside this embryonic universe.
If one were to travel to the Zhou Universe, one would likely exert the combat prowess of the fourth realm—the Divine Infant stage.
Conversely, a Divine Infant Voidwalker from the Zhou Universe who ventured here would only manifest the strength of an Earth-rank weapon wielder.
This was entirely natural and easy to grasp. Though he stood under two meters tall right now, he might find upon visiting the Zhou Universe that its stars were smaller than he was. Such bizarre discrepancies were entirely possible.
*According to these notes, there are two reasons the Void Realm Lord hasn't swallowed this embryonic universe yet: first, His karmic ties are too faint, and He hasn't received the mandate of heaven's recognition; second, He's wary of... other terrifying entities?*
This was no closely guarded secret. Almost every Voidwalker knew that the Void Realm Lord intended to swallow this embryonic universe to fulfill His path of Dao attainment.
*This embryonic universe really is a juicy piece of meat. The Void Realm Lord is probably not the only one eyeing it.*
*I'm still too weak.*
*I'm just a helpless, vulnerable kitchen knife. Better to focus on playing the game first. This Void Realm Lord is far too remote for me right now.*
Still, this card not only unveiled some of the game's background lore, but also granted Qi Yuan a clearer understanding of the path ahead in the third tier of the Yang God realm.
Condensing ultimate principles into cosmic rules was the subsequent cultivation path for the third tier of the Yang God realm.
The more rules one condensed, the stronger one became. In the end, mastering endless rules allowed one to open the heavens, carve out the earth, and create all living beings.
Furthermore, by grasping the Dao of space and time, one could even tread the river of time to resurrect beings from one's own universe who had fallen.
Naturally, there were strict limitations to this.
"Old man, let's go. Hurry up and find me a female cook. Today, I'm going to be a diligent, hardworking kitchen knife and rapidly become a god!"
As for riding Shen Lingxuan, that could wait for another time.
"Right away, Young Master!" Chen Kangbao responded promptly.
...
In the marketplace.
Chen Kangbao stood with his back straight, bellowing at the top of his lungs.
"Peerless divine kitchen knife! For merely nine hundred and ninety-nine taels, you can take it home!
"It chops vegetables above and hews firewood below! Come one, come all, have a look! You can't be tricked, you can't be duped!"
"Hey, old man, a kitchen knife for nine hundred and ninety-nine taels, and you dare claim we can't be duped?"
"Exactly! Where on earth would you find a cleaver that expensive? That's the price of spiritual implements used by those weapon wielder lords!"
"What do you lot know? This is a divine blade, capable of cooking culinary wonders beyond this mortal realm!" Confronted with widespread doubt, Chen Kangbao argued fiercely, spit flying in all directions.
"Swindler!"
Yet the crowd only met him with scornful, suspicious glares.
After all, where in the world would an ordinary kitchen knife sell for a thousand taels of silver?
*Sigh, the Young Master waiting like this for someone with affinity simply won't work. As his chief strategist, I must use my wisdom to help him find that fated person,* Chen Kangbao reflected.
When it came to the knife's fated master, Chen Kangbao had a definite idea: it absolutely had to be a female cook; a male cook would never do.
And anyone willing to part with nine hundred and ninety-nine taels of silver needed two qualities: first, they had to be wealthy, and second, they had to be a bit... dim-witted.
*A naive young lady from a wealthy family who snuck out to play would be ideal.*
*Except, what wealthy young lady knows how to cook?*
*I need to repackage the Young Master a bit.*
Chen Kangbao's mind raced, so preoccupied that he didn't even eat his steamed buns.
He scanned the young women in the area, hunting for a viable target.
Drawing upon his years of living in the Madhouse, his eye for judging people was exceptionally keen.
Roughly two hours later, his eyes lit up.
*This girl looks utterly foolish at first glance!*
*Doesn't know how to cook? No problem, I'll teach her how to make buns!*
*In this world, no one understands buns better than me!*
He quickly spat into his palm, smoothed down his disheveled hair until it was neat and glossy, snatched the kitchen knife from the stall, and hurried after her.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yunxi was thoroughly captivated by the various trinkets along the street, her large eyes blinking with delightful innocence.
In one hand, she held a skewer of candied hawthorns, while the other rattled a little pellet drum, acting entirely like a playful child.
Just then, an elderly figure materialized before her.
"Young lady, this old man has roamed the four quarters, slaying guiling across the realm. As I passed by this place, I suddenly beheld purple qi arriving from the east. It seems I have crossed paths with someone of noble destiny."
Jiang Yunxi stared at Chen Kangbao, her pretty eyes brimming with caution. "Old man, what do you want?"
She might be naive and inexperienced, but she was not stupid.
"I hold here a kitchen knife, the rarest blade under the heavens.
"It seeks a fated master, and I perceive that its fate is entwined with yours," Chen Kangbao said.
"A kitchen knife?" Jiang Yunxi looked at the cleaver with a peculiar expression. "Since we are fated, then give it to me."
Seeing her response, Chen Kangbao felt there was hope. "The young lady clearly possesses the heart of a chivalric hero. Wielding this kitchen knife, you will surely craft the world's most exquisite delicacies and slay endless guiling."
He laid on the flattery thick.
"I don't care for cooking, but slaying guiling sounds interesting. Hand over the knife then."
"That will be a mere nine hundred and ninety-nine taels." Chen Kangbao offered the knife forward with one hand while extending the other for the silver.
Jiang Yunxi blinked, her expression instantly souring into anger. "Do you truly take me for a fool?
"Just a moment ago, another old man claimed I was the reincarnation of a world savior and tried to sell me a secret manual for only ten taels. Why are you demanding a thousand?"
Jiang Yunxi had already encountered such schemes multiple times today.
A surge of grievance welled up inside her. Was 'I am easily swindled' written across her face?
Why did all these fraudsters flock to her of all people?
"Stop following me! Follow me any further and I'll drag you straight to the yamen!" Jiang Yunxi snapped, visibly annoyed.
Chen Kangbao's heart sank with disappointment.
*I've truly lost my touch. I can't even trick a fool anymore.*
Just as despondency set in, Qi Yuan's voice suddenly resonated in his ear. Instantly, an aura of supreme confidence returned to Chen Kangbao's weathered face.
"Alas, Jiang Yunxi, if you let this kitchen knife slip away, it will become the greatest regret of your entire life." Chen Kangbao slipped right back into his enigmatic charlatan persona.
Jiang Yunxi's expression shifted. "How do you know my name?"
"Not only do I know your name, but I also know that you were still wetting the bed when you were six years old. That bracelet on your wrist is a Black-rank implement, given to you by your mother on your sixth birthday specifically to keep you from wetting the bed."
*Whoosh!* Jiang Yunxi's face flushed crimson. Shock painted her features as she stammered, "You... how do you know that?"
Such embarrassing childhood secrets were known only to those closest to her. How could an old stranger on the street possibly know?
"Because I am a true immortal!"
Chapter 510