Chapter 922: Chapter 644: Ancient Great Saint
Returning Ruins Great World.
A magnificent and luxurious undersea palace.
The Eight-headed Flood Dragon Emperor, the Ten-thousand-foot Giant, and the Six-armed Sea Demon—the three brothers content to let things rot—drank fine wine as a troupe of exotic dancers twisted and swayed with all their might.
During the banquet, the Six-armed Sea Demon said, "Big brothers, I heard the Eastern Extreme Territory has formed a Mystic Sky Alliance, recruiting experts from the Three Thousand Realms. There’re more than ten Eight Realms already, including the Dragon and Phoenix Clans. I asked around and found out the founder is that group from Tianxia—back in the day, their top Eternal Immortal once approached us. Not long ago, someone from the Mystic Sky Alliance came to invite us again."
"Ignore them. Just a pack of kids who’ve never witnessed a Divine War, fooling around. Toppling the Divine Alliance? Maybe there’s a sliver of hope, since the so-called Divine Race nowadays are just parasites born on the corpses of fallen Divines. But to try and defeat the Forbidden Zone is sheer fantasy. The three of us were commanders of the old Divine Court, with illustrious battle merit, and we’ve drunk the Elixir of Immortality. We want to wipe out the stars more than anyone, but we know it’s impossible."
The Eight-headed Sea Flood Dragon said this with an emotionless face.
The Ten-thousand-foot Giant added coldly, "Maybe Lu Chenzhou slaying Achilles has given these people too much confidence—but the future is uncertain. No matter how monstrous you are now, you might never even set foot in Great Power, let alone become God? If we don’t join the war, we can live here in peace until the destruction of the Great Universe. If I really think about it, dragging the whole world down with us isn’t so bad. After all, if we’re doomed, everyone’s doomed together."
The Eight-headed Flood Dragon nodded, with a hint of Zen:
"Cherish the present!"
And so, for the second time, the three brothers declined Tianxia’s invitation. The Tianxia envoy departed in resignation.
...
At the center of the Four Great Realms, there was a vast and boundless Ruins Sea. Ever swirling here were Void storms fierce enough to rip apart a Seventh Realm protective barrier—only Eight Realms could just barely withstand them.
This was a Forbidden Zone of civilization.
At the center of the Dead Sea lay a colossal head, its diameter rivaling a fixed star—a giant’s skull whose empty eye sockets seemed like black holes, devouring everything nearby.
The giant’s mouth opened and closed unconsciously, exhaling and inhaling ashen mist that shrouded billions of miles around.
Pass through the corpse-mist, saturated with evil spirits and malignant Evil Qi, and you’d enter a gray, foggy world, layered like a thousand pancakes—nine layers in total. Each layer was pocked with holes: they were the Divine Court’s prisons. Every hole was a miniature world, devoid of resources, filled only with Void Things and deathly silence.
Imprisoned here, life was worse than death.
Eighth Layer, one such world. Here, space had no meaning; all around was a boundless whiteness.
An Eternal Immortal sat cross-legged on the ground.
He guarded the Clear Spirit Grass in his arms with great care.
"I wonder if Chenzhou has survived his tribulation. What a pity this Clear Spirit Grass can’t be delivered. I thought the few Third Step fierce spirits sealed in the Ninth Layer were the greatest danger of the Divine Prison Realm, but who’d have thought—the World itself is the real threat."
The Eternal Immortal clung to his heart of Dao, shut his eyes, and strove to resist the endless evil intentions pressing in from all around.
High above the Divine Prison Realm, at some unknown moment, an aged face surfaced—confused yet brutal.
"Luo..."
...
Eastern Extreme Boundary Tower.
Three mighty auras descended.
"The three friends from Returning Ruins refused," the Spirit Phoenix Dominator sighed. "Should I go personally?"
Lu Chenzhou shook his head.
"Forget it. That was their last chance. I hope they don’t regret it later."
The bald giant said, "That Eight-headed Flood Dragon Emperor is a descendant of my Dragon Clan’s True Spirit, a scion of the Nine-headed Dragon. Everyone knows that in ancient times, the Nine-headed Dragon was courageous and battle-hardened. Who’d have thought his progeny would turn out so useless? I’m so disappointed."
"Let’s explore the Boundary Tower first."
Lu Chenzhou said.
The bald giant said, "I heard opening the Boundary Tower requires great mastery of the Void Dao. The Divine Race captured people from my Void Dragon Clan for the sake of opening the door."
It’s worth mentioning: after Lu Chenzhou slew Fang Xingyu, the Void Dragon Clan’s king was rescued and was unharmed—misfortune within fortune, perhaps.
The Spirit Phoenix Dominator said, "My Phoenix Clan also has a Seventh Realm with [Void True Phoenix] bloodline, who’s comprehended Fifth Rank Void Dao—he can help open the way."
Lu Chenzhou said:
"Let me try first."
His Void Dao was already at Sixth Rank, middle stage. He raised his hand, channeling a vast power of the Void into the great gate. The Boundary Tower buzzed and trembled, the disturbance growing—in an instant, a pillar of light soared to the sky.
Ka-cha— The gate swung open, and a wave of sealed, decaying aura rushed outward. Since the Divine War, the Boundary Tower had lain abandoned; who knew if it was still functional?
"Sixth Rank Void Dao?"
The Dragon and Phoenix Leader’s eyes flickered.
The Void Dao—few have mastered it.
A Sixth Rank practitioner, rare throughout the world.
This was the advantage of a World Dao.
From the rumors, outsiders imagined Lu Chenzhou was just some Seventh Realm prodigy straining his potential, with limited Dao comprehension—but limited? Any one branch of a World Dao was already a Sixth Rank Dao!
Someone like this only grows more terrifying with time.
At first, the Ancient Dragon Lord merely wanted to avoid sticking his neck out, so he let Lu Chenzhou be the spokesperson, yet in his heart he still thought of him as a junior. But after these days together, he realized he’d been wrong—putting aside the Dragon Clan’s legacy treasures, even as an established Second Step powerhouse, in many respects, he wasn’t as good as Lu Chenzhou. This youth was truly worthy to be Alliance Hierarch.
"You two, let’s head inside."
Lu Chenzhou glanced at the Spirit Phoenix Dominator and the Dragon and Phoenix leader.
"Alliance Hierarch, be careful. The Boundary Tower’s been closed too long. Although we Dragon and Phoenix Clans have inherited memories, we can’t be sure the current situation is as we remember,"
reminded the Spirit Phoenix Dominator.
The bald giant grinned:
"It’s fine—even if there’s a Third Step presence inside, with the three of us working together, we can take it head-on."
Three streaks of light entered the Boundary Tower.
The giant doors gently closed.
...
Inside the Boundary Tower, desiccated corpses lay everywhere—Demon Race, Great Wilderness Clan—silent witnesses of the ancient war’s brutality. The three proceeded with utmost caution.
The Spirit Phoenix Dominator said:
"In the Great Wilderness, only Great Power or Demigod Level experts controlled the Boundary Towers. In a sense, this Boundary Tower was their cave; dangerous restrictions may still remain—Eight Realms must be cautious.
The Boundary Tower is divided into three layers,
The Third Layer is the master’s cultivation chamber—the control core of the Eastern Extreme Boundary Tower, almost certainly there. The Second Layer holds the many teleportation hubs.
If I recall, the First Layer was the residence and cultivation area for the Tower Master’s followers. Anyone following a Nine Realms must’ve been Heavenly Realm existences—perhaps there are rare treasures and Spiritual Weapons here. Let’s not miss any."
The Spirit Phoenix Dominator had not finished speaking when he saw Lu Chenzhou pick up a snapped big spear from atop a skeleton, murmuring: "Not bad."
This spear was, in fact, an Eighth Rank low-grade Spiritual Weapon.
The bald giant’s eyes gleamed; the Dragon Clan especially loved to collect treasures, usable or not.
The three spread out their telekinesis, scouring the battlefield for treasures. Only Spiritual Weapons could endure the ravages of ages—the rest had perished.
Lu Chenzhou found eight pieces of Seventh Rank Spiritual Weapons, and one Eighth Rank item; the Dragon and Phoenix Leader also gained much.
Below Seventh Rank, everything had already decayed.
While the three hunted, deep in the First Layer—the battlefield’s core—a mountain-high pile of remains suddenly stirred.
A corpse with a human skull, yet the body of a giant bird over three hundred li long, began to move.
"Countless years have gone, and life finally enters the Boundary Tower again. Has the Divine War ended, I wonder? These three don’t look like the Demon Race—a Dragon Clan descendant, a Phoenix Clan descendant, and a human. Can it be the stars have been defeated? No, impossible..."
A voice from ancient times whispered faintly.
This was a great general of the Demon Race who had followed the Demigod [Death Claw·Nira] in assault upon the Eastern Extreme Boundary Tower during the Ancient Times. At peak, he stood at Third Step Peak, nearly a Demigod himself. That war was so fierce—Nela and the Tower Master battled for ten years. In the fevered struggle of the stars and the Divine Court, even the Boundary Tower was all but forgotten.
In the end, both Nela and the Tower Master were gravely wounded. The Tower Master, before dying, sealed the Eastern Extreme Boundary Tower, trapping the remaining demon army within, draining the tower’s Primordial Qi to create a perfect vacuum where no life could be born. All the Tower Master’s followers and demons perished.
This demon general survived by devouring demon corpses for energy, struggling to survive. As an Undying lifeform of Eighth Rank Death Dao, with a vast lifespan unto himself, he lived on through the ages.
He had been sleeping ever since.
Not until the gate reopened and a wisp of outside Primordial Qi leaked in, did he finally awaken.
"This corpse, after endless years, has lost all vitality—unsuitable for use as a body. That Dragon Clan Second Step also cultivates Death Dao and aligns with me; by rights, the best body for me to seize. But as I am now, my cultivation has regressed—at full strength I could only manage Second Step, barely and only for a time. Facing the Dragon Clan would be risky in the extreme.
The Phoenix Clan’s Second Step follows the Cold Ice Dao, not a match for me, and troublesome to fight as well. Pity—I’ll have to settle for the human. He must be some young master from a great power? Judging by their positions, he stands in the center, the Dragon and Phoenix Seconds must be his guards.
Human flesh is weak, and he’s only at Seventh Rank Peak. In my prime, I’d never have bothered, but now—I’ll have to make do and settle for what I can get.
First, I’ll use his identity to investigate the outside world, then seek a chance to seize the Dragon Clan. Sigh, to think I, the mighty [Great Saint Dead Crow], have fallen to this..."
On and on, choosing and weighing.
The demon general picked the weakest one.
A green ghost fire flickered out from the great bird’s corpse, slipped into the void, and vanished without a trace.
...
The First Layer was unimaginably vast—no smaller than a High Class World. The Spirit Phoenix Dominator said:
"This Eastern Extreme Boundary Tower could be considered a Supreme Treasure in its own right. If we can control it, one, we’ll open up the Eastern Extreme Territory’s traffic network; two, it can serve as our Mystic Sky Alliance headquarters—far sturdier than the Aurora Palace."
"It’s difficult. Just opening the gate required Sixth Rank Void Dao—controlling the tower would surely take even more."
The bald giant shook his head.
"With the Hierarch’s talent, it’s only a matter of time."
The Spirit Phoenix Dominator smiled.
"Let’s keep going deeper—don’t overlook a single Spiritual Weapon, these are our alliance’s foundation."
Lu Chenzhou was in high spirits.
These Spiritual Weapons could not only arm their own Seventh Realms, but also serve as rewards to recruit Three Thousand Realms experts.
Before the great war with the Divine Alliance begins, every bit of foundation increases their odds for victory.
Soon after,
The three reached the deepest part of the battlefield—there, a massive bird skeleton still radiated lingering might.
"The remains of a Demon Great Saint."
The Spirit Phoenix Dominator murmured. As with other races, the Demon Race called Third Steps "Great Saints."
"Even after all these years, its presence still lingers—in life, it must have been Top Level Great Saint. This skeleton should make fine refining material." Lu Chenzhou examined it carefully, then, seeing nothing amiss, stowed it away.
The other two continued treasure hunting as well.
As the three busied themselves, a green radiance emerged from the void like a ghost, streaking unerringly toward Lu Chenzhou.
"Finally, I can escape this damned place! I, the Great Saint Dead Crow, spared from utter doom, surely am destined for good fortune ahead!"