The forest which stretched out around Yang Qi had clearly existed since the most primeval of times. Of course, he didn’t dare to reveal his presence openly. He used the Devil-God Seal to completely conceal his aura. And then he used one of the spell formations in the Grand Emperor's Pagoda to further hide himself.

The spiritual energy that was already pouring into the pagoda left him feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Sage Greatmaster realized what was happening and excitedly said, “I can’t believe we’re in the Quake-Dawn Continent. I've dreamed of this for years. Brother Yang Qi, the spirit energy is incomparably powerful, and can lead to unprecedented cultivation advancement. The essence of the Quake-Dawn Continent surpasses that of the Rich-Lush Continent in every way imaginable. People born here are naturally stronger, and have better meridians that never get clogged up.”

“Oh really?” Yang Qi said. “Well in that case, I’ll open up the pagoda and allow the energy to flow in for you to use in your cultivation. However, don’t do anything to attract outside attention or reveal our presence. Maybe after I have the chance to look around and make sure we’re safe, I’ll release you into the open. And I’ll also start thinking of a way to get home.”

“Of course. We’ll do whatever you say, Brother Yang Qi.”

The Quake-Dawn Spirit Energy that filled this heaven and earth was particularly wonderful. Upon inhaling it, it would cleanse the fleshly body, and extrude impurities. It also contained some of the aura of the primeval Yore-Wilds Continent, which inherently enabled those who absorbed it to become stronger.

‘Oh boy, there are so many spirit plants here.’

There was a beautiful waterfall off in the distance which was surrounded by vibrant greenery, including numerous tufts of dragonwhisker herb, a type of spirit plant that was considered extinct on the Rich-Lush Continent. Even more shocking, the energy flows which emanated off the dragonwhisker herbs would take physical shape, becoming child-like entities with draconic horns on their heads, who would frolic and play in the pool beneath the waterfall.

For spirit plants to naturally create nascent divinities was an amazing thing. Again, it begged the question of how strong people from these lands could be.

After all, dragonwhisker herb could be used to develop dragon power, and transform a person on a fundamental level, including adding to their longevity.

In fact, a Master of Energy who consumed a medicinal pill made from it could almost immediately reach the Lifeseizing level. If something like that appeared in the Rich-Lush Continent, or even the Western Continent, people would fight viciously to get their hands on it.

However, after some thought, Yang Qi decided against trying to harvest it.

After all, the little dragon people who were playing in the water actually looked like living, breathing children. They clearly had thoughts, and were alive, and to harvest them for human consumption seemed wrong. Slaughtering fiend-devils to make the world a safer place was fine, but harming defenseless living beings was simply out of the question.

With that, Yang Qi began to explore the area, hoping to determine whether or not it was safe, and whether or not any powerful groups of humans were in the area. If not, he would set up a spell formation to help in his effort to reach the Space-Void Transformation.

If there were people, then he would wait a bit before deciding what to do next.

He even attempted to send a psychic tempest out to check the space-time in the area, only to find that it was particularly difficult. Apparently, it was because the space-time on the Quake-Dawn Continent was particularly stable.

This continent was more of a complete world than the Rich-Lush Continent, and therefore, it was little surprise that this was the case. Opening spatial rifts here would require a lot more energy, or in some cases, would simply be impossible.

Actually, Space-Void Legendaries from the Rich-Lush Continent would be incapable of opening rifts in space here. They would need to practice their cultivation for many years here, perhaps dozens or even a hundred, before they could become strong enough to do so.

Space in the Rich-Lush Continent was like a piece of paper that could be poked through with relative ease. In contrast, the space in this place was like a steel casing.

WHOOOOOSH….

Even as Yang Qi observed the world around him, a burst of devil energy descended from above, the aura of a bronzeblaze fiend-devil that seemed intent on burning the entire forest to the ground.

Obviously, it was a fiend-devil from the hell monsoon.

However, in hot pursuit of the fiend-devils were two powerful auras. Within moments, the pursuers were fighting the fiend-devils on a nearby mountain peak.

Yang Qi could see that the fiend-devil was in the sixth Legendary transformation, which meant that he could crush it with ease if he needed to. However, to many others of a similar level to him, even energy arts cultivators from the Quake-Dawn Continent, they were like things out of a nightmare.

The Quake-Dawn Continent was considered a higher plane, but whatever hell this thing came from was an even higher plane than that. Besides, bronzeblaze fiend-devils were inherently tougher than the average monster. If Yang Qi’s technique wasn’t specifically designed to deal with things like them, he wouldn’t have such an easy time.

The two energy artists fighting the fiend-devil were a man and a woman, both of them in the sixth Legendary transformation, with their personal domains unleashed to full effect to corner the fiend-devil.

The fiend-devil roared and unleashed a blaze of fire that turned into a spiralled spike that shot toward the man and the woman.

Shockingly, they directly blocked the attack. Back in the Rich-Lush Continent, three or four Personal-Domain Legendaries wouldn’t have been able to do such a thing. In fact, it would likely have taken a Ghost-God Legendary to fight a fiend-devil of this level.

Suddenly, the pair unleashed a consummate sword move. 

“One Sword to Execute Ghost-Gods, Two Swords to Harmonize with Heaven and Earth….”

Each of them summoned an enormous, divine sword, the two of which merged together into a devastating attack.

The combined sword move slashed into the bronzeblaze fiend-devil’s personal domain, and then sliced the thing in two, instantly ending its life.

The gigantic beast fell out of the sky and landed into a river below, which began to steam violently as a result.

Even in death, a bronzeblaze fiend-devil was powerful enough to pollute the world around it with darkness and gloom.

However, the man and the woman were aware of this, and quickly sent down some true energy in the form of a huge net. Scooping up the corpse, they deposited it into a dimensional sack.

Afterward, they settled down onto the mountain peak to catch their breath.

As for Yang Qi, he crept forward stealthily, hoping to overhear some of their conversation, and maybe get some news in the process.

“Elder Brother Luo,” the young woman said, “these swords that master gave us really do eat up true energy. That combined move we just used drained me by about fifty percent. It’s powerful, but hard to control.” She sighed.

“Don’t worry about it for now,” Elder Brother Luo replied. “Once we break through to the seventh Legendary transformation, we’ll be able to control the swords more easily. At that point, we’ll be strong enough to travel anywhere in these lands. The body of this bronzeblaze fiend-devil is worth a lot. We can use its demon core, and even its body, as materials to create a powerful spell formation. And then we can sell it for a handsome profit.”

“Why do you think that hell monsoon targeted the Quake-Dawn Continent? The Quake-Dawn Cathedral knows of the matter, and called upon all of the three thousand daoist sects and hundred thousand smaller factions to defend against the invading fiend-devils.”

“I think it has something to do with one of the minor planes. Junior Sister, have you heard of the Rich-Lush Continent?”

“Rich-Lush Continent?” the young woman replied, her brow furrowing. “I think I've heard of it. It’s a really small plane right, or rather, half a plane? Like a tiny province here in the Quake-Dawn Continent. In fact, even a single one of the hundred thousand smaller factions probably has more territory than that entire plane. What could a teeny place like that have to do with these fiend-devils?”

“Seems there’s a few things you don’t know about, Junior Sister. Although the Rich-Lush Continent is indeed a half-plane, it’s actually a very important place. It’s like a springboard into space-time. In the ancient era, a group of Great Sages created a mysterious sealing mark there, and according to the stories I've heard, there’s even a fragment of the Yore-Wilds’ Heart there. Get that fragment, and you can learn secrets of the path to immortality, in other words, the Demi-Immortal level.” This Elder Brother Luo seemed to be very interested in showing off what he knew. “Furthermore, I also heard rumors of something that happened years ago, something few people know about. Did you know that the Holy Daughter of our most revered Quake-Dawn Cathedral actually traveled to the Rich-Lush Continent? The official word was that she went to look for the Yore-Wilds’ Heart fragment. However, according to what I heard, the real reason is that she was hit by a falling star from a higher plane. Later, she gave birth to a son, which was how a god from heaven descended into the mortal world.”

“What?” the young woman blurted. “Elder Brother Luo, how did you possibly learn about secrets like that? If people from the Quake-Dawn Cathedral found out, we’d most likely be killed.”

“Ah, it's not a big deal. You know the old saying,

paper can’t be used to conceal a fire

. The truth is going to come out eventually. The higher-ups are already whispering about it, so there’s no way the Quake-Dawn Cathedral can suppress the rumors now. In fact, one of the leaders of our Yayoi Association told me that the Holy Daughter is already back. Apparently, the overseers in the Quake-Dawn Cathedral didn’t believe her story of being magically impregnated, and even accused her of having an affair. They also sent three Great Sages to the Rich-Lush Continent to investigate the matter, and arrest the perpetrator. However, that was when the strangest thing happened.”

[1]

“Something strange happened? What exactly?”

“Those three Great Sages were killed by some mysterious individual! Even their souls were destroyed. It was a big shock to the Quake-Dawn Cathedral, and even some of their supreme chief elders came out of meditation because of it. However, in the end, no one could figure out what happened. And that's why the Quake-Dawn Cathedral is planning to send more people to the Rich-Lush Continent. In fact, our Yayoi Association is trying to decide whether or not to open a wormhole to the vicinity of the Rich-Lush Continent, to send some of our disciples there. The main reason is to find that fragment of the Yore-Wilds’ Heart, but the secondary reason is to see what this supposed son of the Holy Daughter is like, and to find out whether he’s really a god from heaven descended into the mortal world.”

1. Please note that it’s Yayoi and NOT Yaoi, lol. The “Yayoi Association” is named after the Yayoi people of Japan,

who you can read about here

. I don’t think the historical aspect is relevant at all to its usage here. The author is just borrowing a cool-sounding name, similar to how the “paladins” that have become a common part of fantasy culture have little to do with historical paladins. The literal translation of the Chinese characters would be “brimming with life”, and I considered translating the name of this organization instead of using Yayoi. But in the end, I thought it would be cool to have the Japanese version.

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