The Divine's efficiency was impressive.
Less than half a quarter of an hour after leaving, he returned with the resources of the Eight Great Clans of the Purple Dragon Domain.
"Thirty breaths left. I will soon return to the God Realm. Anything else you need me to do?"
He tossed dozens of Masterwork Storage Rings to Ian Song, looking cool as he spoke.
Each of these rings was packed with immortal stones, Immortal Medicines, and various Immortal Artifacts. Ian couldn’t even estimate their total value, but just the immortal stones alone numbered in the trillions.
Just then—
A familiar, icy System prompt rang out in his ear: "Ding! Mission Four: Create an Immortal Kingdom. Within five hundred years, unify the entire Langya Immortal World. Success grants qualification to participate in the Immortal Kingdom War; failure will strip away the System and erase all host memories and cultivation!"
Hearing the punishment for failure, Ian shuddered all over, his face turning pale with shock. This time the penalty was brutal—not just losing the System, but also having his memories and cultivation wiped out, basically turning him back into an ordinary mortal.
For the first time, he felt a deep taboo toward the System. Clenching his fists, he swore to himself: "One day, I’ll break free from the System’s control and take my destiny into my own hands!"
"Kid, I hope you really can reach that step!" Meow-Meow suddenly spoke up.
"You’re eavesdropping on my thoughts again!"
Ian demanded angrily.
Meow-Meow was completely unconcerned: "You think I want to eavesdrop? It was an accident! But don’t worry—the System’s creator has no malice. As long as your strength reaches a certain level, you can fully refine the System and make it obey you!"
"What level do I need to reach?"
Ian asked, though he still harbored some doubt toward Meow-Meow’s words.
Meow-Meow didn’t hesitate to shoot him down: "Heh, asking won’t help—you’re still far from that level!"
"God Emperor?"
Ian probed.
"Compared to the creator of the System, a God Emperor isn’t worth crap!" Meow-Meow scoffed.
"A God Emperor isn’t worth crap?"
Ian’s shock only deepened. God Emperors were supposed to be the strongest in the God Realm—if even they were beneath the System’s creator, just how powerful was that being?
Taking a deep breath, Ian asked, "So what’s this Immortal Kingdom War all about?"
"It’s the second direct showdown between you System Hosts. The winner takes everything; the loser loses it all!" Meow-Meow replied.
"The second showdown, huh!"
Ian’s face darkened, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit of anticipation.
With a flicker, Ian returned to the City Lord’s Mansion and found his two masters and his martial uncle all staring at him with strange expressions.
After a long pause, Ancestor Cyrus said in a complicated tone, "Kid, you really exceeded my expectations. You actually summoned a Divine!"
"Heh heh!"
Ian grinned, then his heart stirred. "Master, Grandmaster, Martial Uncle, I’m planning to found an Immortal Kingdom and bring all of Langya Immortal World under its rule. Would you three be willing to help me?"
"Hiss—"
Hearing Ian’s ambition, Ancestor Cyrus and the other two all sucked in a sharp breath. That goal was massive—and terrifying. Ever since the Great Qin Immortal Kingdom fell two million years ago, no one had ever unified Langya or founded another Immortal Kingdom.
"Disciple, you’d better think this through!"
Ancestor Martin spoke gravely: "It’s been over two million years since the last Immortal Kingdom in Langya was destroyed. The current power structure is set. Trying to overturn it means making enemies of the entire Immortal World. And this world has plenty of ancient monsters in deep sleep. If they wake up, even summoning another Divine won’t save you!"
"Wait, are there still Divines in this world?"
Ian was startled. Ancestor Martin had lived for hundreds of thousands of years and even he called those beings ancient monsters. What kind of existence were they?
Ancestor Cyrus explained, "No Divines, but there are some who surpass them! When an Immortal cultivates to the fifteenth-layer peak Ancestral Immortal, they can face the God Tribulation and ascend to the God Realm.
But there’s always a group who refuse to leave and insist on staying in the Immortal World. These people break past the fifteenth layer—some even reach the eighteenth layer!
However, once you reach the seventeenth layer, the Heavenly Dao of the Immortal World starts rejecting you. So they have to go into deep sleep. In the Eight Immortal Domains, Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens, and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands, plenty of these ancient monsters are slumbering!"
"Grandmaster, you don’t seem to like those old monsters much?" Ian asked curiously.
Ancestor Cyrus replied, "Of course not. It’s not just me—almost every Immortal above tenth-layer Ancestral dislikes them!"
"Why?" Ian asked.
Ancestor Cyrus sneered, "Because those ancient monsters hog a ridiculous amount of Heavenly Dao energy. Every Immortal World has limited capacity, and once you hit tenth-layer Ancestral, the energy demand skyrockets. A sixteenth-layer Ancestor needs as much Heavenly Dao energy as a thousand tenth-layer Ancestors; seventeenth-layer needs even more, and eighteenth-layer is terrifying—they siphon off a full tenth of the world’s Heavenly Dao flow. The more they take, the slower our cultivation. Who could possibly like them?"
"So that’s why!"
Ian suddenly understood.
Ancestor Cyrus continued, "Do you know how the Eight Immortal Domains, Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens, and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands were formed?"
"No idea!" Ian shook his head without hesitation.
Ancestor Cyrus explained, "Those places were all created when those ancient monsters forcefully merged spirit veins from other parts of the Immortal World. The original Langya Immortal World was at least ten times bigger than now, but thanks to their reckless actions, they stole all those spirit veins, and the regions that lost them collapsed. In a way, they’re the true sinners of the Immortal World!"
"Yeah!"
Ancestor Martin sighed, "Back when the Great Qin Immortal Kingdom still stood, Langya ranked in the top hundred among the Three Thousand Immortal Worlds. Now, our ranking has dropped below two thousand five hundred!"
At this, Ancestor Martin looked deeply at Ian. "If you want to found an Immortal Kingdom, you’ll have to mobilize spirit veins to condense an Imperial Capital. But now, all the major spirit veins have been divided up by those ancient monsters. To mobilize them means snatching food from a tiger’s mouth. That’s why, ever since Great Qin fell, no one has managed to build another Immortal Kingdom—anyone who tries must face those ancient monsters first!"
Hearing all this, Ian’s mood grew especially heavy. But this was a System mission—he had no choice. If he failed, the System would strip away his memories and cultivation. Losing the System was one thing, but losing his memories and cultivation was terrifying.
So no matter what, he had to complete the mission. Even if it meant making enemies of a bunch of ancient monsters, he wouldn’t back down.