No one answered Gavin Strider anymore. After learning of the existence of the Fourth Step, no one could resist thinking about it.
Anyone who stands in this vast chaos is a peerless genius, someone who has fought their way through countless cultivators. Before, it was impossible to break through to the Fourth Step, but now that the chance is here, who would stay behind?
In an instant, nearly all the cultivators rushed toward the radiant Stellar Stairway. Even the many powerhouses Joe Di invited back from the Lost Dao Domain hurriedly greeted Destiny Sovereign before charging up the Stellar Stairway with the crowd.
At this moment, there were no enemies or allies—ascending the stairway was all that mattered.
"Let’s go up too. Dao Lord Ye, Dao Lord Ning, and Dao Lord Zephyr are already up there, and Joe Di must be there as well. We should go help." Zach couldn’t help but say.
After Joe Di left, his wife Nora Xiu and their two sons remained here, so he couldn’t leave ahead of time.
"Dao Lord Ye and Dao Lord Ning—are they Emperor Ye and Nick Ning?" Susan asked, her voice trembling. She hadn’t seen Emperor Ye since he entered the Gate of Creation.
Jane Yan quickly replied, "Yes, Susan. Brother Ye and Nick have already gone up there. Brother Ye was searching for you for a long time, but you were trapped in the vast chaos. Lydia Fei..."
As she finished, Jane Yan’s voice trembled as she called out for Lydia Fei. She knew how important Lydia was to Nick Ning—her safety was the greatest blessing.
"Let’s hurry up! Good things won’t wait for anyone..." Shadowhorn’s eyes lit up instantly. He could already imagine how many treasures awaited those who entered a new domain through the Stellar Stairway.
"Emily, let's go up and see your father first..." Susan comforted Emily Ye, her heart filled with excitement and longing, but also deep guilt.
......
"This is the true Saint Seat Plaza..." At the edge of the plaza, Kenhaven Sovereign spoke in a trembling voice, staring at the giant, golden-lit square ahead.
At this moment, several cultivators who had arrived early in Ninefold Heaven, including Sean Chen and Cyrus Hainor, were all staring in shock at the Saint Seat Plaza.
"Maybe it's right here..." Sean Chen murmured to himself. He sensed the Fourth Step and was certain that it could be attained at this Saint Seat Plaza.
"There are many Saint Seats inside." Kenhaven Sovereign gazed at those seats, suddenly wondering if they could just seize any they wanted—would it become theirs if they grabbed it?
Almost simultaneously, Sean Chen and the others had the same thought: to rush in and seize a Saint Seat.
......
"We can't enter the Saint Seat Plaza?" Nick Ning said in surprise. Just now, when he tried to rush into the plaza, he was blocked out.
Zach had become the Cycle of Rebirth Dao, but before leaving, he had warned them to be wary of the so-called Saints within the Saint Seat Plaza.
Under no circumstances should these so-called Saints be allowed to revive. If they do, they will stop at nothing to prevent the three of them from building a new cosmos.
Even without Zach's warning, Joe Di and his companions understood that any Saint who still possessed a Saint Seat here could not be benevolent.
No truly kind soul would still have a Saint Seat here. People like Zach only ever sought to give the beings of the vast cosmos the right to live in peace. But all the Saint Lords here are scheming how to once again control the cosmos, dominate all life, and reign supreme.
Now that the Saint Seat Plaza is shining with light and the three of them cannot enter, it is clear something is wrong.
"There's something strange about this Saint Seat Plaza. Also, do you hear that hissing sound?" Joe Di stared at the Saint Seats, his tone grave.
Emperor Ye and Nick Ning both nodded. Emperor Ye said, "It must be our cosmic laws beginning to assimilate the Saint Seat Plaza's world laws. If Zach was right, once those inside realize we're assimilating the cosmos, they won't let us proceed so easily."
It’s one thing to assimilate other places, but Ninefold Heaven and the Saint Seat Plaza are absolutely forbidden to be assimilated by outsiders.
Joe Di and his companions exchanged glances. In just a few breaths, all three spoke in unison, "Set up a trapping formation."
Their current Dao techniques were no longer restricted by any cosmic laws, but there were only three of them. How many Saint Lords were in the Saint Seat Plaza? Even if only one percent revived, the three of them would be crushed.
Besides, their cultivation hadn't yet reached the absolute peak.
Realizing the danger, the three of them lost all interest in conversation. They began refining array flags, and together started arranging the first trapping formation since the birth of the new cosmos.
After enduring so many trials, they had finally found the right path. Now, they would not allow anyone to destroy the new cosmos—not even a Saint.
Crack! Suddenly, a statue at the edge of the Saint Seat Plaza split open. As the golden light faded, it revealed a mummy that looked like it had been preserved for countless years.
Even more terrifying, the mummy’s eyes opened.
Immediately, the mummy’s hand began to tremble. In its mind, only one thought echoed—someone was assimilating the world laws of Ninefold Heaven...
That thought repeated endlessly in its consciousness. As a being who had ruled the vast cosmos for countless eras, it knew exactly what this meant.
If Ninefold Heaven was assimilated by new world laws, they would be trapped in the Saint Seat Plaza forever, never able to leave...
Even if they did escape, it would be under someone else’s Dao laws. After all, they themselves were masters of Dao laws.
No, even the Saint Seat Plaza was about to be assimilated. The defensive Dao laws outside the plaza were already making a hissing sound...
The mummy’s whole body began to tremble. This was madness—how many eras had Ninefold Heaven and the Saint Seat Plaza existed? From the very dawn of the cosmos, they had been here.
Any Saint Lord who proved their Dao in Ninefold Heaven and then mastered the new vast cosmos followed an unspoken rule: never tamper with the world laws of Ninefold Heaven. They all knew that one day, they too would come to the Saint Seat Plaza, claim a seat, and await the next era.
In fact, even if a Saint Lord wished to change Ninefold Heaven’s laws, it was impossible. If those laws could be altered so easily, Ninefold Heaven would have ceased to exist long ago, and the Saint Seat Plaza would no longer be the safest and most tribulation-proof place in the cosmos.
But today, someone was truly trying to assimilate the laws of Ninefold Heaven. Not only that, the new laws were already assimilating the defensive Dao laws outside the Saint Seat Plaza.
Who would be so reckless? Didn’t they know that once the Saint Seat Plaza’s Dao laws were assimilated, there would be no way back, even if they controlled the vast cosmos? Would cosmic tribulation spare those places assimilated by the new laws?
No, the world laws must not be allowed to continue assimilating the Saint Seat Plaza and Ninefold Heaven.
"Who is it? Who dares to assimilate the world laws of Ninefold Heaven and the Saint Seat Plaza?" an angry roar came from the center of the plaza.
"Is it Saint Lord Kaishang?" The mummy who first noticed the problem called out urgently, "I am Fengxue..."
The voice, coming from the statue’s mummy-like body, sounded like a broken clay pot—harsh and indistinct.
"Yes, it is Kaishang. Who has gone mad enough to dare assimilate Ninefold Heaven’s world laws?" The angry voice even trembled, clearly afraid.
"We must stop this..." Another Saint Lord awakened in the center of the plaza; this crisis threatened every Saint Seat and Saint Lord present.
"But we’re stuck guarding our Saint Seats and can’t do anything..." Kaishang grew more panicked. He had once controlled the lives of billions, and under his rule, those billions were reduced to ashes in the vast cosmos. It never mattered to him; in his eyes, their survival was his gift. When cosmic tribulation arrived, those billions only served as the foundation for his Saint Seat.
Now his own life was in danger, and that was unacceptable. He was a Saint Lord, master of billions of lives, and everything beneath him could be reduced to dust. For a Saint Lord, nothing could go wrong.
[End of today's update. Good night, friends!]