Chapter 28: The Reason

"Another universe, quite similar to our Endless Territories," Ji Ning also realized. "Logically, it's rare for even one among a thousand World-level cultivators to surpass the World-level peak! Yet among these hundred-plus World-level cultivators, there are so many at the peak, and three or four surpassing it. Where did they all come from?"

Ji Ning and his four companions swept through them directly. Those World-level cultivators died without putting up much resistance, and Ji Ning's group could only infer their approximate strength from their feeble attempts to fight back.

"Let me take a look." Tianhuo Mangya immediately soared into the sky, flying high, then gazed across the entire Chaotic Star. Flames blazed in his eyes.

"Let's check the other side of this Chaotic Star."

The Chaotic Star was spherical.

On the other side, Ji Ning and his group indeed found a large cluster of cave dwellings.

"They must have been holed up here before," Feng Yi said, looking down. "And they set up formations and restrictions around, so divine sense couldn't detect them."

"We killed a hundred and twenty-six World-level cultivators, but there are nearly a hundred and fifty cave dwellings here," Ji Ning frowned. "Could there be other World-level cultivators?"

"Even if there were, they've escaped," said Prince Qing Huan.

…

Indeed, some had escaped.

In a stretch of chaotic void, nineteen World-level cultivators wore grim expressions. They exchanged glances, their eyes filled with terror and relief.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness we stayed behind at the base."

"How terrifying."

"So many life tablets shattered in the blink of an eye, not one left."

Thinking back to the sight of countless life tablets breaking, they felt a lingering fear and dread.

This group of World-level cultivators had left some life tablets to track life and death. While they were staying at the base, they were shocked to find a hundred and twenty-six life tablets shattering one after another. Even those they had once revered, existences surpassing the World-level peak, had their life tablets shatter soon after.

It was a massacre!

Though they hadn't witnessed the battle, the mass destruction of life tablets told them what had happened. Terrified, they abandoned their base and fled through spatial teleportation.

"Some of them had powerful divine body protection techniques. Logically, even if they encountered a Dao Lord, they could only be captured, put into some treasure, and slowly ground down. But just now, so many life tablets shattered in an extremely short time."

"What did they run into?"

"Could those five World-level cultivators have a hidden great power lurking in the shadows?"

The survivors speculated among themselves, but that was all. They dared not return.

Thus, this once-renowned force dissolved.

…

Ji Ning and his group felt that the World-level cultivators they had killed were relatively strong. They had only encountered the five of them, who were prodigies among prodigies. Otherwise, normal World-level cultivators would have been hard to deal with.

Fearing complications, Ji Ning and his group temporarily took refuge in a void. Prince Qing Huan secretly scouted: "With my abilities, even a Dao Lord would find it hard to detect me, unless they surpass me in the Dao of Space-Time." In terms of the Dao of Space-Time alone, Prince Qing Huan's achievements surpassed those of many two-step Dao Lords who specialized in it.

As for those who didn't specialize in the Dao of Space-Time, even a four-step Dao Lord would struggle to detect him.

Such was the terror of the Dao of Space-Time.

"No movement."

"No activity at all."

"It seems this was just a routine ambush."

Ambushes were common. In Mangya Kingdom, there were ambushes, and even in the Endless Territories, some World-level cultivators enjoyed ambushing others. After all, ambushing was a quick way to gain treasures, much faster than exploring Dao Lord ruins. A well-prepared ambush was far safer than taking risks.

…

Time passed.

Ji Ning and his group continued forward, growing more cautious as they traveled through territory after territory.

Yet they encountered another ambush.

Despite extreme caution, they were ambushed twice in a row. Of course, the outcome was predictable—ambushing Ji Ning's group was suicide.

"Boom~~~"

Three World Gods, swept up by endless waves, slammed heavily onto the ground.

The earth trembled and cracked. The three World Gods scrambled to their feet, staring in terror at the five World-level cultivators slowly descending from midair.

"Too strong, too terrifying."

"They... they are too strong."

"Can World-level cultivators be this powerful?"

The three World Gods' eyes were filled with fear. They couldn't forget what had just happened—the terrifying finger technique, each finger causing a World-level cultivator to fall; the dreadful waves that shook most of them to death; even those trying to flee were struck down by lightning. Only the three of them survived because their captors wanted to take them alive.

This battle made them realize that World-level cultivators could be this formidable.

"You may live," Prince Qing Huan said coldly. "But you must do as I say."

"Yes, yes, yes." The three World Gods nodded frantically.

"Swear a life-bound oath: never reveal what happened today, and answer whatever I ask." Prince Qing Huan commanded icily.

"Yes."

The three World Gods had no thought of resistance. They obediently swore the life-bound oath. They all wore gray armor, which was usually a nightmare for other cultivators, but now they cowered, retracting their armor, afraid to anger the beings before them.

"Why did you ambush us?" Prince Qing Huan asked. Ji Ning and the others watched from the side.

"There were only five of you World-level cultivators, a small number, easy to deal with," one of them, a gaunt man with a long beard, replied hastily.

"No other reason? Just because we seemed easy to deal with?" Prince Qing Huan was puzzled, glancing at the other two.

"Yes."

"That's it."

They both nodded.

Ji Ning and his four companions exchanged glances. This was the third ambush in the past month. They had to travel from the cosmic passage to the Ancient Domain, which would take over a thousand years. An ambush every few decades would be normal, but three in one month was highly abnormal. Yet it seemed these were just ordinary ambushes.

"We've been ambushed three times this month," Prince Qing Huan frowned. "Do you know why?"

"You don't know?" the gaunt, long-bearded World God asked.

"Speak." Prince Qing Huan's eyes lit up, and so did Ji Ning's and the others'.

"It's because of the Nine Gods Star," he said quickly. "The Nine Gods Star has publicly announced the rules for recruiting disciples."

Ji Ning and his group exchanged looks. The Nine Gods Star was a very large sect.

"They only recruit World-level cultivators as disciples."

"And only those who have personally killed a thousand World-level cultivators are qualified to become entry-level disciples," the long-bearded man continued. "As soon as the news spread, not only the eighteen territories directly under the Nine Gods Star but also hundreds of surrounding territories were thrown into chaos. Many extremely powerful World-level cultivators began madly hunting down other World-level cultivators. There was slaughter everywhere. We weaker World-level cultivators had nowhere to hide, so we gathered in large numbers to protect ourselves."

"What? Kill a thousand World-level cultivators just to become an entry-level disciple?" Tianhuo Mangya was shocked.

"That's insane," Feng Yi Xinjun frowned.

"Such recruitment rules," Ji Ning shook his head.

Killing a thousand World-level cultivators was extremely difficult.

After all, even those World-level slaves sold in markets became slaves because they saw hope of survival. If a master insisted on killing them, they would resist desperately—death either way. Just like when Dao Lord Su Feng was dying, his slaves cursed him because they no longer feared death.

Even if one was extremely strong, killing too many would inevitably lead to trouble. One might painstakingly kill three or five hundred, only to die in a ditch.

Actually killing a thousand... was very, very hard.

"The Nine Gods Star is the number one sect in the surrounding hundreds of territories," the burly, scaled World God beside the long-bearded man said quickly. "The Nine Gods Star has nine major branches, each led by a great power on the verge of merging with the Dao. And the strongest of the Nine Gods Star holds the position of Divine General in the Destruction Divine Court."

Ji Ning and his group were aware of this intelligence.

The Destruction Divine Court unified the entire alternate universe and was immensely powerful. The position of 'Divine General' in the Destruction Divine Court was extremely revered.

"The Nine Gods Star plans to recruit eighteen disciples this time," the scaled World God continued. "They'll stop when they've filled the quota. I heard that the top three among these eighteen entry-level disciples will receive Ancient Domain Tokens and be sent to the legendary Ancient Domain."

"Ancient Domain Token?" Ji Ning and the others felt a stir.

Ancient Domain Tokens were very precious. The Great Dominator had extended his will through the cosmic passage, covering a vast territory, and had even used some schemes, yet over endless years had only gathered a few.

"So the surrounding hundreds of territories have gone completely mad. For the chance to become an entry-level disciple, and even more for the legendary Ancient Domain Token, some World-level cultivators surpassing the peak from other territories have come one after another. We weaker World Gods can't escape either," the long-bearded man shook his head. "So there are ambushes everywhere. It probably won't stop until the Nine Gods Star has filled its eighteen disciples."

Ji Ning and his group understood why the proportion of strong cultivators was so high.

Because...

the weak had all been killed!

Those remaining were relatively strong, including some who had come from other territories.

"If they knew that the five of us each have an Ancient Domain Token, who knows how many World-level cultivators would come to besiege us. Maybe even Dao Lords would come after us," Tianhuo Mangya teased via telepathy.

"Haha, so we can't let it out."

Ji Ning and his group now understood the reason. Though they felt pressure, they were also relieved.

"It seems that for the next hundred-plus years, we'll frequently encounter ambushes," Prince Qing Huan transmitted. "Everyone, don't be careless. Behind this is the powerful 'Nine Gods Star' sect. If we provoke some great power from the Nine Gods Star, we're done for."

"Mm." Ji Ning and the others nodded.