TL: Etude
Countless True Monarchs gathered outside the Realm of Origin, each one staring at it intently.
From the outside, the Realm of Origin looked no different from an ordinary world, just somewhat larger. However, upon closer inspection, one could sense the aura of countless innate origin items within the Realm.
This alone confirmed that this world was indeed the Realm of Origin.
The True Monarchs present this time did not represent all the True Monarchs from the quasi-Dao Realm—only about thirty percent had come. After all, most True Monarchs were cautious and valued their lives.
With nearly limitless lifespans, they naturally wouldn’t risk entering the Realm of Origin. At the beginning of the venture, battles were bound to be fierce, and weaker True Monarchs entering would be… nothing but dead.
In the quasi-Dao Realm, the majority of True Monarchs were indeed those who were somewhat weaker.
These True Monarchs had a clear understanding of their own strength and wouldn’t recklessly seek death.
As for True Monarchs like Ye Tian, who had just stepped into the early stage of the True Spirit Realm, few would dare enter the Realm of Origin so soon.
Ye Tian swept his gaze over the area. Most of the True Monarchs here were in the late stages of the True Spirit Realm, with over seventy percent at the peak of this realm.His early-stage cultivation in the True Spirit Realm stood out, attracting many gazes, including some hostile ones.
As a personal disciple of a Dao Ancestor from the Void Sky Lineage with immense potential, other major forces would naturally want to kill him if given the chance.
“I wonder if the Realm of Origin can serve as a world for inter-world teleportation,” Ye Tian speculated inwardly.
If it were possible, he could easily leave and enter the Realm of Origin at will.
However, he thought the chances were slim.
The Realm of Origin was not an ordinary world, and his Great World Shift technique could only be used within regular worlds. This was one of its limitations; otherwise, it would be far too powerful.
Several more months passed.
On this day, the Realm of Origin finally finished forming, and its world barriers were completely solidified.
“You can enter now!”
One by one, True Monarchs passed through the world barriers of the Realm of Origin, each entering at different points, meaning they appeared in vastly different locations inside.
Even entering just a few millimeters apart could lead to differences of trillions of miles within the Realm of Origin.
Ye Tian also passed through one of the barriers and found himself in a mountain range somewhere within the Realm.
As soon as he entered, Ye Tian tried to use his Great World Shift to leave but quickly realized it wasn’t working.
Clearly, the Great World Shift had failed.
Ye Tian no longer concerned himself with teleportation and instead focused on searching for innate origin items.
“So many innate origin items!”
Ye Tian scanned the area with his spiritual sense and was immediately stunned.
The mountain range seemed small, but atop each peak, there was at least one innate origin item, and all of them were top-tier!
“Collect!”
“Collect!”
“Collect!”
Ye Tian quickly gathered ten innate origin items. However, just as he was about to continue, he suddenly felt a terrifying sense of danger.
“Leave!”
Without hesitation, Ye Tian used his time-space teleportation to flee.
At that moment, a figure appeared within the mountain range—a man dressed in a long green robe, his eyes seemingly void of all things.
Anyone familiar with him would immediately recognize him.
It was the True Monarch Wuhen—Ye Wuhen!
True Monarch Wuhen was incredibly powerful, close to making it onto the True Monarch Ranking. The last person on that ranking wasn’t much stronger than him, and with just a little more progress, Wuhen would undoubtedly enter the True Monarch Ranking.
Of course, at this level, every bit of progress was incredibly difficult to achieve.
When True Monarch Wuhen descended upon the area, he sensed Ye Tian’s presence. Without a word, he pointed from a distance, launching a killing strike.
Even though Ye Tian had used his time-space teleportation technique to escape, instantly moving billions of miles away, a sliver of True Monarch Wuhen’s finger force still struck him.
In a distant place.
Ye Tian emerged from the void, coughing up blood, with a large hole in his chest where True Monarch Wuhen’s finger had pierced through him.
Without hesitation, he continued to flee.
It seemed that True Monarch Wuhen did not pursue him, allowing Ye Tian to escape with relative ease.
Finding a small valley without any innate origin items, Ye Tian felt it was relatively safe and unlikely to attract attention, so he decided to rest there.
“So that’s True Monarch Wuhen, the one who’s nearly on the True Monarch Ranking. His strength is indeed formidable. I thought I wasn’t far from being ranked, but it seems I overestimated myself.” Ye Tian muttered to himself.
Of course, though True Monarch Wuhen had injured him with a single finger, under the power of his Blood River True Body divine ability, Ye Tian’s injuries quickly healed.
“True Monarch Wuhen probably didn’t go all out. However, even if he had, killing me wouldn’t have been easy! But for such an ancient True Monarch, who knows how many hidden methods he has that could pose a threat to me!” Ye Tian thought to himself.
There were only about 300 True Monarchs on the True Monarch Ranking, and not all of them had likely come this time. True Monarchs like Wuhen, or those at a similar level, were estimated to number only five to six thousand in total.
With billions of True Monarchs entering the Realm of Origin, the odds of running into a powerful True Monarch were low. His encounter with one earlier had purely been bad luck.
In the days that followed, Ye Tian was exceedingly cautious.
The Realm of Origin was a world of immense power, with great suppression from the heavens and earth. The entire world was suffused with a powerful origin force, so even the spiritual senses of True Monarchs were restricted, making it difficult to explore large areas. Otherwise, the slaughter within the Realm would have been even more terrifying!
Day after day passed, and each day saw a large number of True Monarchs fall, while many others had bountiful harvests.
Yet, very few True Monarchs chose to leave the Realm of Origin; hardly any were seen departing.
After all, it was easy to find several innate origin items, as if picking up free money! In such a scenario, which True Monarch would be willing to leave?
One day.
Ye Tian arrived at a massive lake, and to his delight, he saw lotus flowers blooming on its surface. These flowers were a brilliant golden-red, radiating a rich aura of innate origin qi. They were clearly innate origin items, each one of them top-tier!
“Ten top-tier innate origin items! What a huge haul!” Ye Tian was ecstatic.
In fact, not all of the innate origin items in the Realm of Origin were top-tier. Most were high-grade items. Since the Realm had only recently been born, many of these items hadn’t yet had enough time to fully mature into top-tier treasures.
A single top-tier innate origin item was worth at least thirty high-grade ones, so the value of these ten top-tier treasures was immeasurable.
Ye Tian immediately prepared to step forward and collect them.
But just then, three auras approached.
“Hahaha! Ten top-tier innate origin items—looks like us Three-Rat True Monarchs are in for a big payday!”
Amidst wild laughter, three sinister-looking men appeared within Ye Tian’s spiritual sense.
“Three-Rat True Monarchs?”
Ye Tian had never heard of that title.
Moreover, the trio’s auras weren’t particularly strong, so he let out a sigh of relief.
If a True Monarch from the ranking had come, or someone as powerful as True Monarch Wuhen, he would’ve turned and left without a second thought.
But for True Monarchs like these Three-Rat True Monarchs, he had nothing to fear.
“A mere rookie in the early stages of the True Spirit Realm dares to enter the Realm of Origin? He’s asking to die. Kill him!” One of the Three-Rat True Monarchs, True Monarch Blood Rat, said coldly.
He didn’t recognize Ye Tian, which wasn’t surprising. In a realm with billions of True Monarchs, few knew of Ye Tian unless they deliberately paid attention. Even if they had heard of him, recognizing him was a different matter.
Whoosh!
The three True Monarchs charged at Ye Tian, though it seemed they were wary of the 108 innate origin items, as they avoided using large-scale attacks for fear of damaging them.
Seeing their intent to kill him, Ye Tian had no reason to hold back.
“God Annihilator!”
Ye Tian unleashed his soul-based innate divine ability with full force, targeting all three True Monarchs at once.