Chapter 208: The Monarch’s Excursion

At the entrance to the treasured land, “Heavenly River,” one could behold a phantom river. Yet, should one truly fly within, they would discover that this river was boundless and unending! The depth of the Heavenly River likewise knew no end.

“Hoo hoo hoo~~~”

Deep within the Heavenly River, a flying vessel coursed through the waters. Inside, a figure covered in hair sat in a meditative posture, naturally absorbing the Heavenly River’s waters to nourish the Origin Source bloodline within his body.

“Those Sky-Kun fellows are truly relentless, still surrounding and blocking me off in the vicinity,” Lord Yu-Water muttered with disdain. “But they lack the courage to venture into the deepest reaches of this Heavenly River.”

Sky-Kun Sovereign and his party comprised six formidable figures, exploring for Heavenly River treasures and cultivating within the river while simultaneously sealing off key areas.

Lord Yu-Water possessed considerable patience.

Be it a hundred epochs or even a thousand, Lord Yu-Water had the patience to endure.

“Let’s slowly outlast them. If my strength advances further, allowing me to comprehend an ‘Ultimate Realm Secret Art’ from my Origin Source bloodline! Then I alone could deal with all six of them,” Lord Yu-Water yearned for further advancement.

Yet, they all knew that even after hundreds of millions of years, progress remained elusive. To break through? How difficult!

“Brother Yu-Water, Monarch Lan-Do of the Thunderous Ancient Kingdom has entered the Heavenly River! Flee quickly!!!” Suddenly, news arrived.

Upon receiving the message, Lord Yu-Water felt a tremor in his heart.

“Calamity!”

In an instant, Lord Yu-Water retracted his flying vessel and plunged without hesitation into the depths of the Heavenly River!

“Rumble rumble~~~” The deeper into the Heavenly River, the more treacherous it became, with dangers lurking everywhere. But Lord Yu-Water, at this moment, fearlessly dove into the depths!

Suddenly, he saw a submerged mountain range. Lord Yu-Water immediately wanted to approach it, but as he drew closer, an invisible undulation eroded his body, causing it to rapidly fall apart.

“Go.” Lord Yu-Water flung the Divine King-level secret treasure, the flying vessel, forward. This secret treasure contained all the harvest he had accumulated in the Heavenly River over countless years. Under the mountain range’s undulation, the secret treasure flying vessel withstood the pressure, proving far more resilient than Lord Yu-Water’s body, and ultimately landed within the mountain range.

Whoosh.

Lord Yu-Water immediately turned and fled in another direction.

He frantically escaped, but after only a dozen or so breaths, he sensed a terrifying power locking onto him from afar.

“Monarch Lan-Do.” Lord Yu-Water looked up, his gaze meeting the source of the terrifying power…a majestic figure clad in azure-blue robes.

His entire body was covered in blue and white scales, and he possessed three armored tails. His face was divine, yet his eyes were cold as he gazed remotely at Lord Yu-Water.

Through cause and effect, he could easily lock onto Lord Yu-Water.

Even across an immeasurable distance, but within the confines of the Heavenly River, Monarch Lan-Do merely glanced over, and boundless pressure descended.

“Hua—”

Lord Yu-Water’s body, though resilient and full of vitality, constantly absorbing the Heavenly River’s waters to sustain itself, was already mostly annihilated under the boundless pressure. In less than a breath’s time, Lord Yu-Water’s body was utterly destroyed.

“He concealed his treasures?” Monarch Lan-Do glanced around before continuing to hunt other targets.

The Heavenly River appeared vast, but in reality, the safer regions were limited. Monarch Lan-Do meticulously patrolled the area, intending to scour most of the Heavenly River’s safe zones.

“Monarch.”

“Greetings, Monarch Lan-Do.”

Within the Heavenly River, ancient Divine Kings, upon sensing the Monarch’s power, were all respectful beyond compare.

The Divine Kings of the two great Ancient Kingdoms were spared, and the guest Divine Kings of the Thunderous Ancient Kingdom were likewise left alone! As for the others? Any Divine King found by Monarch Lan-Do was invariably annihilated!

“It’s Monarch Lan-Do of the Thunderous Ancient Kingdom!” Sky-Kun Sovereign, upon hearing the news, and his companions fled madly into the depths of the Heavenly River.

Sky-Kun Sovereign was a guest of the Inferno-Wind Ancient Kingdom! Monarch Lan-Do would not spare him either!

In mere moments.

Monarch Lan-Do patrolled near Sky-Kun Sovereign, and an invisible domain locked onto him.

“It’s over.” Sky-Kun Sovereign knew he was finished the moment he was locked on by that terrifying power. He knew even begging would be futile.

Sky-Kun Sovereign’s body was likewise annihilated.

……

In the Heavenly River, the ancient Divine Kings, primarily the free cultivators and the guest Divine Kings of the Inferno-Wind Ancient Kingdom, saw their true bodies destroyed in over ninety percent of the cases under Monarch Lan-Do’s patrol! Only a handful, with exceptional escape abilities or relying on the Heavenly River’s environment, managed to escape.

During this patrol by Monarch Lan-Do, the true bodies of Lord Yu-Water and Sky-Kun Sovereign were destroyed. Furthermore, four of Sky-Kun Sovereign’s five companions perished, with only one managing to narrowly escape.

******

Hu-Yang City.

“What?” Luo Feng also received the news.

“There’s nothing to be done. Just terrible luck, encountering Monarch Lan-Do of the Thunderous Ancient Kingdom!” Lord Yu-Water transmitted.

Luo Feng had never been to the Heavenly River: “I heard the Heavenly River’s environment greatly assists those aligned with the water attribute but repels the power of other Grand Daos? Of the two great Ancient Kingdoms, only ‘Emperor Profound’ and ‘Monarch Lan-Do’ possess the water attribute Origin Source bloodline, right?”

“Indeed, only those two. They have accumulated profound power and rarely come to the Heavenly River,” Lord Yu-Water sighed. “But when they do come, they always patrol, annihilating all except for the two great Ancient Kingdom royal families and their own guest cultivators.”

Luo Feng nodded: “The Heavenly River’s environment makes it difficult to hide.” Places like the Dream Domain possess a vast number of spaces, each existing independently! Only by being within the same space…is there a chance of being discovered. The level of security is naturally much higher.

In places like the Infinite Space, one must open their own Great Dao. Even Emperors who enter possess the same physical body, and their strength is also weak. Thus, free cultivators are naturally much safer.

Many treasured lands offer some protection to the weak. But the degree of protection varies. The Heavenly River’s weakness is that safe areas are easily discovered, while the dangerous areas in the deepest reaches…are very difficult to enter.

“Misfortune and fortune depend on each other,” Lord Yu-Water transmitted. “The Heavenly River is a treasured land for us, and usually, there is no major danger! The crisis within the Heavenly River…comes from other cultivators. Encountering Emperors or Monarchs is simply bad luck.”

“Is there anything I can help with?” Luo Feng asked.

“No need. Sky-Kun Sovereign also had his true body destroyed this time,” Lord Yu-Water transmitted back with a smile. “He no longer has the audacity to cause trouble. I can sense that of my six enemies, five had their true bodies destroyed this time.”

Since everyone suffered significant losses, Lord Yu-Water felt a sense of balance.

Luo Feng sighed inwardly.

With merely one Monarch’s excursion, all were swept away in his wake!

And the Inferno-Wind Ancient Kingdom possessed thirteen Emperors, while the Thunderous Ancient Kingdom had nine Monarchs!

Free cultivators who had reached the Ultimate Realm included the Myriad Worlds Sovereign and the World Beasts. Those who could leap in power to rival the Emperor level numbered only five, including the Wind Capital Empress and the Mother River Lord. And of these, over half were on good terms with the two great Ancient Kingdoms!

Though the number of free cultivators was vast, their top-tier combat power was far too inferior.

And that was with the two Kingdoms’ Ancestors and the Eastern Territory Ancestor rarely taking action.

“No wonder the free cultivators hide in the shadows, with many even joining the forces established by the three alien races,” Luo Feng sighed inwardly. Under the guidance of those three alien races, the free cultivators could compete with the two great Ancient Kingdoms for resources.

There was also one cause for celebration.

The Emperors and Monarchs were primarily rivals among themselves! Allowing the free cultivators a chance to breathe.

……

Treasured land “Infinite Space.”

On a small island amidst a boundless lake, one of Luo Feng’s incarnations cultivated.

Ever since Mo Luo Sa had reached the second level of Divine King, able to manifest the complete Origin Source Great Dao of Destruction! Luo Feng’s cultivation on the “Origin Source Great Dao of Destruction” had also entered a period of explosive growth.

Past accumulations were all undergoing transformation.

“Hua.” A dim, chaotic vortex appeared in the center of Luo Feng’s palm. This vortex was full of life and resilience, and its density was unbelievably high. At this moment, the forces inside the vortex rotated, and countless condensed, dim blade lights flowed within, constantly converging and fusing.

“Five Veins United.”

“Chaotic Vortex Eternal Light.”

Luo Feng watched as a strand of blade light, almost materialized, was conceived within the dim vortex.

The power of this strand of blade light was terrifying beyond compare, even more terrifying than the strongest move Luo Feng had used when sparring with Mo Luo Sa, using one-third of the world’s life force to execute the Blood Shadow Blade.

“The Chaotic Vortex Eternal Light is completely perfected,” Luo Feng looked at the blade light conceived within the vortex in his palm, hardly daring to believe it. “The first second level Divine King Secret Art I’ve comprehended is actually a Secret Art of the Life-Death Great Dao.”

Indeed.

The Chaotic Vortex Eternal Light was a move Luo Feng had conceived long ago in its rudimentary form. It was based on the “Sky-Splitting Vein, Dark-Sky Vein, and Chaos-Sky Vein” of the Great Dao of Destruction, further incorporating the “Source of Life and Spirit of Life” from the Great Dao of Life, a fusion of five major branches. With the accumulation of Luo Feng’s cultivation, the fusion of the five major branches had been steadily advancing and improving.

Just now, unknowingly, Luo Feng had completely integrated the five major branches into this move, “Chaotic Vortex Eternal Light.”

Techniques like the “Twenty-Four Phase Form” and “Unification Secret Art” that Luo Feng was comprehending were theoretically the limit of what could be created at the first level of Divine King Realm.

But the current “Chaotic Vortex Eternal Light” was a Secret Art of the fusion of five major branches, though these five branches originated from two Great Daos!

“Life, Destruction, Life-Death…of the three Great Daos, the second level Divine King Secret Art was first created for the Life-Death Great Dao,” Luo Feng also felt moved.

Of course, creating a Secret Art did not mean reaching the second level of Divine King Realm.

One had to fundamentally grasp the “Dao” in essence to break through.

Just like Emperor Gui-Xu and Divine King Wu-Xin, who had, by chance, created Ultimate Realm Secret Arts! But they were still far from completely understanding the “Complete Great Dao.”

Of course, as a move that fully integrated five major branches, it was already extremely impressive at the second level of the Divine King Realm…after all, the Origin Source Great Dao of Life and the Origin Source Great Dao of Destruction each only had six major branches.

Even the moves currently mastered by Mo Luo Sa could not match the profundity of Luo Feng’s “Chaotic Vortex Eternal Light!”

“Life-Death…” Luo Feng sat cross-legged on the grass, muttering to himself, his mind flashing with inspiration.

Comprehending a second level Divine King Life-Death Secret Art for the first time caused a transformation in Luo Feng’s understanding of the Life-Death Great Dao.

At this moment.

Strands of “Life-Death Great Dao branches” gradually took shape in Luo Feng’s mind.

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