Within the domain, Earth, Chang'an.
Ye Ling flew out of the spatial rift, looking at the bustling Tang Dynasty ancient capital city below, his mind still somewhat dazed.
"World-Ending Spiritual Fire, I say... are we back now?"
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire swept a glance at the magnificent and prosperous capital city below, murmuring, "It does indeed resemble the Tang Dynasty ancient capital Chang'an, but whether this is our main spacetime remains to be seen."
"By the way, kid, isn't Bai Qing in this era? Should we go look for him?"
"Alright."
Ye Ling replied, directly opening his small world and releasing Bu Zhi Shi, Old Yu, and Bai Xuanxuan together.
Bu Zhi Shi glanced at the unknown time surrounding them, took a breath of fresh air, and smiled, "I thought I was going to die... it's truly a blessing to be able to breathe this fresh air now."
While he was in Ye Ling's small world, he could feel the constantly collapsing spacetime tunnel, always feeling that in the next moment, Ye Ling's small world would collapse, and they would all die in the spatial turbulence.
After experiencing prolonged fear of death, being released now, Bu Zhi Shi felt unparalleled happiness.
It was good to be alive.
Old Yu and Bai Xuanxuan, standing beside him, felt the same as Bu Zhi Shi. In addition to their relief, they were also curious about this new world.
This represented their bright future.
Ye Ling instructed the three, "You three split up and help me search for Bai Qing's whereabouts. Don't leave any corner of this world unchecked!"
"Yes!"
Bu Zhi Shi and the other two replied excitedly, then each chose a direction and fled into the distance.
Bu Zhi Shi and the other two were all powerful beings at the level of Great Dao Immortal Lord or Chaos Master. Finding someone in the domain universe was as easy as it could be. Ye Ling entrusting them with the task of searching for Bai Qing was no different from him searching himself.
After assigning tasks to the three, Ye Ling then landed in Chang'an, reopened his small world, and released A Yu and Ding Dang.
"Little Ye Zi, are you alright?" A Yu immediately asked Ye Ling with a worried expression as soon as she came out.
Although she couldn't observe the outside situation in the small world, she could infer from the violent fluctuations of the small world that Ye Ling had experienced an unimaginable crisis before.
Seeing A Yu's worried look, Ye Ling couldn't help but smile, "I'm fine now. This place is very safe."
Hearing Ye Ling's answer, A Yu breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the surrounding buildings again, noticing that the architectural style here was completely different from Tianren City where she had lived before. Moreover, in the city, there were mostly ordinary people, with only a very small portion possessing spiritual power.
Seeing this new environment, A Yu couldn't help but ask Ye Ling, "Where is this place? Why do I feel it's completely different from Tianren City?"
Although Tianren City was a small border town in the Lingzhou territory, it was ultimately a city inhabited by cultivators. The culture and architectural style of the city's residents were completely different from Chang'an City.
However, it was precisely because Chang'an was so different from Tianren City that A Yu was filled with curiosity about this city and eagerly wanted to explore it.
Ye Ling smiled, "This place is considered the past of my hometown. This city is already quite prosperous in this world."
A Yu nodded, "Indeed... the entire city looks very prosperous, it's just that there are too few cultivators, which I'm still not used to. But if you look closely... this city seems much more peaceful than Tianren City, and there seems to be a lot of delicious food!"
Ye Ling transformed Ding Dang into a white horse and said to A Yu, "A Yu, you can wander around Chang'an. There are basically no one here who can threaten you. You just need to be careful to hide your strength and not reveal it easily. Other than that, there's nothing to worry about."
With that, Ye Ling taught A Yu the Chinese language and then gave her a money bag filled with silver and gold, saying, "Buy whatever you want!"
A Yu took the heavy money bag, her eyes shining, and couldn't hold back, "Got it! Then Ding Dang and I will go for a stroll in the city first, you go do your thing!"
After saying that, A Yu rode on Ding Dang's back and galloped into Chang'an City.
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire watched A Yu leave with Ding Dang and asked Ye Ling, "Kid, now that everyone is gone, what are you planning to do? Do you want to go say hello to Earth's Heavenly Dao?"
"The Heavenly Dao of this era might not necessarily recognize us, so there's no need."
Ye Ling took out the Chaos Key and weighed it in his hand, "The most urgent thing now is to find the inheritance of the Upper Realm Lord. If that Pillar of Shadow leaks the information about the Chaos Key, and the Upper Realm Lord reclaims the inheritance, then we'll have rejoiced in vain."
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire smiled, "You don't need to worry about that. I can guarantee that the Pillar of Shadow would absolutely not dare to reveal the matter of the Chaos Key."
Ye Ling raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why?"
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire said, "Think about it, the Chaos Key was bestowed upon the Pillar of Shadow by the Upper Realm Lord. As a result, the Pillar of Shadow did not keep the Chaos Key safe and it fell into the hands of the Chosen One. If the Upper Realm Lord finds out about this, do you think the Pillar of Shadow can survive?"
Ye Ling nodded in agreement, "That does make some sense. In that case, we don't have to worry about the threat from the Upper Realm Lord."
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire added, "But kid, don't be careless. Although it's highly likely that the Pillar of Shadow won't publicize this matter, it doesn't mean he will give up. Your trip to the inheritance land might very well lead to a confrontation with the Pillar of Shadow."
Ye Ling raised an eyebrow, "He still dares to come to this domain universe?"
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire said, "What is there to fear? As long as you obtain the inheritance, the Upper Realm Lord will definitely discover it. In the end, he will die anyway. Since he's going to die no matter what, why wouldn't he come to fight you desperately? This way, he at least has a glimmer of hope."
"After all, the whereabouts of good and evil are unpredictable. If the Pillar of Shadow invades the domain universe, they might not intervene. It mainly depends on yourself."
Ye Ling: "Don't worry, I never planned to rely on others from the beginning. Only when I have enough strength will I feel at ease. If the Pillar of Shadow dares to come, I'll just bury him here!"
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire: "Well, as long as you know what you're doing, now I'll teach you how to use the Chaos Key to locate the inheritance land."
Ye Ling: "Alright!"
With that, the World-Ending Spiritual Fire transmitted the operation method into Ye Ling's mind. Ye Ling, following the method provided by the World-Ending Spiritual Fire, poured his dark power into the Chaos Key.
Buzz—!
As Ye Ling's dark power flowed into the Chaos Key, the Chaos Key soon emitted a strange sound, and then the entire key lit up with a faint glow, flew out of Ye Ling's hand, and fled into the distance!
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire quickly said, "Kid, hurry up and follow!"
"Alright!"
Ye Ling quickly collected his thoughts and chased after the Chaos Key that was breaking through the void.
Soon, the Chaos Key flew out of Earth, out of the solar system, and stopped at the edge of the Milky Way.
It was pitch black all around, with nothing.
Ye Ling followed the Chaos Key into the silent space, scanned his surroundings, and frowned, "This place is empty, not even a small asteroid. Where is the inheritance land?"
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire explained, "Kid, don't rush. The inheritance of the Upper Realm Lord is different from the previous creation inheritance. It is independent of time. Although we have arrived at the location, the inheritance is not at this point in time."
Ye Ling frowned slightly and asked again, "Then how do we get the inheritance?"
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire smiled, "The Chaos Key will help us bring the inheritance to this place. We just need to wait patiently."
"Then I'll listen to you."
Ye Ling nodded, then began to form rune formations around him, making preparations to obtain the inheritance of the Upper Realm Lord.
Time ticked by, and dense golden runes appeared around Ye Ling, forming a massive rune barrier that separated this place from the entire Milky Way.
Rumble...
The entire space began to vibrate violently, the faint glow of the Chaos Key became even more dazzling, and then a river of time appeared out of thin air. The river water flowed onto the Chaos Key, and the splashing water formed a black gate.
An extremely cold black mist surged out from behind the gate, corroding the surrounding space.
Ye Ling sensed a fatal threat from the black mist emanating from the gate and couldn't help but take two steps back, asking the World-Ending Spiritual Fire, "World-Ending Spiritual Fire, are you sure this is the inheritance of the Upper Realm Lord? Why do I feel something is not quite right?"
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire confidently said, "Kid, you know nothing! Since the Chaos Key is the key to opening the inheritance of the Upper Realm Lord, then what exists within the inheritance land must be the true inheritance of the Upper Realm Lord."
"The aura emanating from the gate now is not even a fraction of the Upper Realm Lord's!"
Ye Ling exclaimed, "Is the Upper Realm Lord really that strong?"
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire: "What else do you think? The dark creatures in the Chaos Battlefield are derived from the aura of the Upper Realm Lord. Even the Pillar of Shadow, who can hunt Creation Gods, has only obtained some of the Upper Realm Lord's origin power, and cannot be compared to the Upper Realm Lord at all."
"If you, kid, truly witness the true form of the Upper Realm Lord, you will understand... what a supreme powerhouse is."
Ye Ling pursed his lips, looked at the gate from which black mist was constantly emanating, and said excitedly, "Hearing you say that, I'm becoming more and more curious about what inheritance the Upper Realm Lord has left here... World-Ending Spiritual Fire, what should I do next?"
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire: "Wait! Wait for this gate to open, and then we can go in!"
Ye Ling: "Alright! We'll wait!"
Ye Ling suppressed his excitement, reinforced the rune barrier around him, and then waited quietly in front of the gate.
Boom!!!
Suddenly, a loud noise came from the river of time above the gate, and then a large amount of black mist gushed out from the river of time, engulfing the gate that had not yet fully opened.
Ye Ling looked at the river of time where the anomaly occurred, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked the World-Ending Spiritual Fire, "World-Ending Spiritual Fire, is this also a normal phenomenon?"
The World-Ending Spiritual Fire trembled and said, "No, no... it's the Pillar of Shadow that has arrived!"