ATOP A TOWERING palace stood a man with a robe of golden silk brocade. With his hands placed on his back, his gaze, as though reaching every corner of Da Sishen, was piercing through boundaries, with his white beard swaying in the breeze of the strong wind.

Behind him was a woman whose demeanor didn’t lose to his, wearing her faint red hanfu dress. She lifted her chin and looked at the man in front of her. As her twin peaks slightly jiggled with a single move of her body, she said, “Territory Lord, no…” she trailed, shaking her head… “Father, the Annual Death Ceremony. What did you see?”

The man shook his head. Helplessness gleamed from his eyes. “I did not see any vivid images, but I know that a storm is brewing. It feels like something is going to happen out of hand. That’s why we need to prepare.”

As if recalling something, the woman frowned. “Father, there are reports about the Underworld Prison creatures invading Da Sishen again. I don’t know where they came from or where and when they emerged.”

The man just nodded his head slightly. “I know. I also know that the upcoming storm maybe something related to them. Continue with the investigation of their whereabouts. Also, be careful. I feel like there’s really something wrong with the Echinemon Race as well. Their forces had gotten stronger for a short amount of time, and they were able to annihilate the entire Dragon Race. This is a matter of importance.”

The woman bowed. “Yes, father.”_.

“You will have to join the Annual Death Ceremony. Strive to enter the top ten. Nevertheless, I know you could with your strength, but don’t underestimate the vastness of Da Sishen. Geniuses usually emerge unexpectedly. You also don’t have to worry. I also predicted that Da Sishen, this time, would be saved by someone. I don’t know who, but I know Da Sishen will emerge victoriously. I just hope it will happen as I have divined.”

“Father, can’t you even save Da Sishen with your cultivation level? Did you choose not to ascend to a higher realm for this reason? Your Divination Path has aggravated you like this, father.” Her voice was laced with worry.

The man, whom she called her father, just smiled and dismissively waved his hand. “You go now. Elevate your cultivation level to be more cautious.”

“Yes, father,” the woman said, not pursuing the matter.

‘Five territories, but there’s one territory I need to look out for. That man came from there. I know that,’ the man thought as his gaze wandered eastward.

Yang Lujia, who froze everything around the Hundred Deaths Gorge River, moved his gaze in a direction. “Someone’s spying on me again? Hmph!” With a wave of his hand, he shot a tiny ball of light.

Anyone who could see the light would think it was a fairy, flying as fast as the speed of light. When this light arrived at that man’s post, however, he squinted his eyes and formed a large barrier around the humungous city. Soon enough, a boundless aura enveloped the barrier as the destructive and deafening sounds reverberated around the city.

“Huh? Who dared to attack our city? Didn’t they know that the Territory Lord lived here in his palace?” That was the thought of everyone after the explosion happened.

Meanwhile, Yang Lujia didn’t pursue the matter and just sat down to cook for himself. While the others were frozen, he began to cook another set of Phoenix Tail Shrimp. He was longing for it, but the fellows he left with his almost-cooked dish were so presumptuous as to eat all of them without leaving some for him.

Unforgivable Gluttons!

On the other hand, Wang Lao had already ordered his people to prepare for the elimination round in the next few days. He also ordered Wang Zhu to monitor the movements of Cao Nima after he located the latter’s exact location.

When night came, Yang Lujia and his companies went back to the shabby house, while he let Lin Diyu practice for himself to increase his cultivation level. When Feng Huang and Brownie saw the house, they were dumbstruck. This was simply too old school.

However, when both of them saw the Origin Court lettering in front of the house, they were even more shocked. They couldn’t believe that this simple nameplate contained thick wisps of rules. Naturally, with Feng Huang and Brownie’s cultivation and the worlds they came from, they knew the power of rules. When people begin to comprehend these rules, they’ll become more powerful.

For instance, if you want to cultivate the rules of space, you can use space rules to freeze everything around you or hide in space. What was particularly disappointing was that it was unusual for one person to have two rules, let alone three. This unusuality could only be those who were titled geniuses.

However, this wasn’t the case for the nameplate on the house. It contained different kinds of rules. It was like multiple powerful people created this, but based on these wisps alone, they knew that this was done by one person.

And that person was with them tonight.

“What are the two of you doing? Let’s go inside,” Yang Lujia said as he picked up Brownie and let Feng Huang dazedly follow him with Long Guang.

As soon as they entered, Feng Huang was dumbfounded, and so was Brownie.

“An independent space?” they both uttered.

“What’s an independent space?” Yang Lujia asked, curious about what these two fellows meant.

Brownie calmed himself down and looked profoundly at Yang Lujia’s eyes, which were filled with honesty. It only meant he really didn’t know such terminology. Closing his eyes and breathing for the last time, he explained, “An independent space is a space which is similar to a world made by a higher being. Unless you are someone at that level, you wouldn’t be able to construct this independent space. Knowing that you’re surnamed Yang, I somehow felt relief about your monstrous strength.”

“Yang?” Feng Huang was bewildered but did not pursue the matter after Yang Lujia talked to them again.

Yang Lujia was quite surprised by the independent space they were referring to. Nonetheless, he ignored it and told them to find a room for themselves as he had something to do outside.

Yes.

The Competitions Bureau.

He still didn’t forget what they did. Because even the slightest grievances would never make him forget.