Chapter 765: The Return Of Kings!

After the meeting, Ming Jun stayed in the grand hall with a scroll in his hand. His expression was solemn. The scroll contained information about Ye Guan.

Ming Jun had never underestimated Ye Guan and the Guanxuan Universe. He had been secretly investigating them all along.

Ming Jun's investigations told him that Ye Guan wasn't just a reckless young swordsman. The two mysterious cultivators behind Ye Guan weren't simple as well.

The blue-robed swordsman and the woman in a plain skirt!

There was very little information on the two, and they rarely appeared in public. However, every time they appeared, a superpower would cease to exist.

Ming Jun felt uneasy, as there was no way to gauge their true power.

When he announced their decision to challenge the Guanxuan Civilization in a civilization challenge, Ye Guan showed no fear at all.

Someone capable of remaining calm in the face of such a challenge definitely had powerful backers to rely on.

Wanting to err on the side of caution, Ming Jun had investigated them once again. It was better to be safe than sorry, after all.

After a long period of silence, he looked at City Governor Zhao standing nearby and asked, "Is this all of it?"

"Yes."

Ming Jun frowned and pondered deeply.

City Governor Zhao chuckled. "Don't worry too much, Ming Jun. They're full divinity experts at most."

Staring at City Governor Zhao, Ming Jun asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"Because they both come from lower-dimensional universes. Such universes cannot produce cultivators beyond a hundred percent divinity. Ye Guan's willingness to accept the challenge is simply due to ignorance. After all, they have never encountered a terrifying civilization like our Forest Civilization.

"I mean, just think about it, a person's peak strength is often decided by the limit of the people around them.

"How can they be afraid of something terrifying when they have no idea that it's terrifying? To put it nicely, it's like a calf facing a tiger. Its ignorance means that its fearlessness."

Ming Jun was silent.

City Governor Zhao cast a disdainful gaze at Ming Jun.

Ming Jun was being too cautious in his eyes.

How can a timid cultivator achieve great things? A true cultivator must be decisive. They're already enemies, so they should just fight to the death. Why worry about unnecessary things? Just do it! A man should be more courageous!

City Governor Zhao thought. He had to admit that Ye Guan was a rather courageous young man. Despite the fact that he had to face the Forest Civilization, he remained unafraid and was even willing to fight them. Unfortunately, his backers were too weak compared to an entire civilization, so he was doomed to die soon.

Just then, Ming Jun stood up. He looked outside the grand hall and chuckled. "You're right. Since only one of us is destined to survive, why bother investigating him?"

With that, he waved his sleeve, and the scroll was reduced to ashes.

***

Ye Guan was seated cross-legged inside the tiny pagoda. His hands were on his knees as spiritual energy surged all around him. For him, reaching a new cultivation realm posed no difficulty. After all, Ye Guan was innately talented and had many Ancestral Veins in store. Furthermore, he had the strongest cultivation method in existence—the Universe Beholdment Skill! Although he wished to explore the Divine Dao Realm and cultivate his humanity by touching upon divinity, Ye Guan ultimately chose to proceed slowly instead of rushing things.

The journey to the summit of cultivation had to be taken slowly and seriously.

Slow but steady progress was the goal!

Ye Guan's target was the Heaven Dao Realm.

Human Dao, Heaven Dao, and Divine Dao.

What was Heaven Dao? The First God's journal contained entries about the Heaven Dao. The Heaven Dao referred to the laws behind both Heaven and Earth. Simply put, it was Heaven's Will, and it governed all changes and movements throughout the vast expanse. It was a constant law throughout the vast expanse, and all living beings had to live according to those laws. Once a cultivator could perceive and master such laws, then they'd become the embodiment of the Heaven Dao.

Ye Guan felt conflicted as he familiarized himself with the Heaven Dao Realm.

The Guanxuan Civilization had established the Guanxuan Law, which was like a brand-new set of rules throughout the vast expanse.

I have to follow the laws of the Heaven Dao? But they were made by my family, so how am I supposed to do that?

In the end, Ye Guan decided to consult Little Pagoda.

"Master Pagoda, the Heaven Dao laws were made by my family. How do you think I should go about cultivating them?"

Little Pagoda remained silent, as he had never encountered something like this as well.

"Never mind, I'm not going to cultivate this realm. I'll just skip it and jump straight into the Divine Dao Realm!"

"How bold!" Little Pagoda was stupefied.

Skipping an entire cultivation realm? Neither his father nor his grandfather had done something like that!

However, Ye Guan was serious, as he had already touched upon the Divine Dao Realm.

What was the Divine Dao Realm? The realm of the Divine Dao meant one's own god. In other words, one couldn't be bound by any rules and laws.

The First God had detailed records of reaching the Divine Dao Realm, and Ye Guan had been cultivating according to the First God's journal.

To cultivate the Divine Dao was to break yourself free from all laws and rules and to view all living things as well as oneself from a different perspective. It was about seeing the essence of everything with one's inner heart.

Through his experiences, Ye Guan finally understood why cultivators of divinity gradually became indifferent to everything. They had seen through everything. Only the Great Dao remains eternal.

Cultivating divinity, in other words, meant to destroy one's humanity.

Love, friendship, and family were extremely important to those with only a hundred years of lifespan.

On the other hand, those capable of living for ten thousand years wouldn't think that love, friendship, and family were important.

How about those who could live for a hundred thousand years? Love, friendship, and family would be like the ants on the ground in their eyes.

A single session of closed-door cultivation could easily last for tens of thousands of years.

Feelings? Compared to the eternal Great Dao, feelings were nothing.

Divinity! Ye Guan opened his eyes, feeling slightly conflicted.

Little Pagoda suddenly asked, "You don't wish to touch upon divinity?"

Ye Guan nodded promptly.

"But you will have to experience it eventually," Little Pagoda said in a deep voice.

"Master Pagoda, if I achieve a hundred percent divinity..."

"The path of cultivation is a struggle against oneself. Even if you have achieved a hundred percent divinity, you are still you. With humanity, you are also still you. Your goal is to walk along the path of humanity. But if you do not experience divinity, what is the value of walking on the path of humanity, then? A person who does not cherish what he has will only realize its importance upon losing it. I can't explain it properly, but you should understand what I'm trying to say here."

Ye Guan nodded his head. "I understand."

"Believe in yourself."

"Okay!"

With that, he sat down cross-legged and began to cultivate in the Divine Dao Realm.

Though the battle was in three days, Ye Guan had thirty years in the tiny pagoda. Thirty years was more than enough for him.

Meanwhile, Ao Qianqian was busy cultivating as well, and her goal was the Divine Dao Realm, too.

Erya and Little White were very fond of Ao Qianqian, as she was their grandson's wife, and she was a demonic beast as well. In Erya's eyes, they were of the same race.

Thus, they spared no effort in helping Ao Qianqian, which allowed her to progress rapidly.

Erya even strengthened Ao Qianqian's fleshly body herself.

Ao Qianqian's level of strength had become so terrifying that Ye Guan would have to use the Qingxuan Sword to defeat her.

Just then, a woman slowly walked over—the Daogu Tree! She looked at Ao Qianqian, who was cultivating in the distance, and asked, "Erya, where is Ye Guan's grandfather? Has he arrived?"

The Daogu Tree needed Little White's help to recover, so she eventually became friends with Little White and Erya.

"Not yet," Erya replied.

The Daogu Tree frowned. "We're about to have a civilization duel, and they're still absent? Where are they?"

Erya licked a candied hawthorn and replied, "I don't know."

"What are our chances of winning?" said the Daogu Tree.

The Daogu Tree knew that Erya was strong, but the Forest Civilization couldn't be underestimated.

Erya stared deeply at the Daogu Tree and said, "Give me what's inside of you, and I'll tell you."

The Daogu Tree's expression immediately darkened.

Erya was still eyeing the treasures inside of her.

The Daogu Tree had only survived the catastrophe back then due to the treasure's help, and she had hidden it in the deepest recesses of her body.

She was truly surprised that Erya and Little White had discovered it. And now, they were eyeing it.

"You don't have to give it to us; just let us take a look," Erya remarked.

The Daogu Tree looked at both of them, seemingly innocent and harmless. Then, she shook her head.

It was not that she was stingy. The treasure was just extremely important to her. Without it, she would have died several times over.

Erya explained calmly, "We're not bad people. Don't be so guarded against us. We rarely commit robbery. If you do not believe it, ask Little White. She's a Spirit Progenitor and she would not lie."

Little White nodded quickly, waving her little claws.

The Daogu Tree looked at the two of them without saying a word.

"How do you think our grandson looks like?" Erya suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" Daogu Tree questioned.

"If you show us the treasure, we will introduce our grandson to you."

Little White nodded her head, indicating agreement.

The Daogu Tree remained silent.

"My grandson is handsome, has many people backing him, rich and also loyal. You can consider it."

Loyal?

Little White blinked and turned to look at Erya, her face remaining serious and sincere.

Just then, Erya seemed to sense something, and she frowned. She brought Little White to leave the tiny pagoda.

Daogu Tree then slowly raised her head and said softly, "They're here."

Outside the tiny pagoda.

Under the starry sky, cultivators were slowly arriving. Even the weakest of them were in the Human Dao Realm. Their auras were sweeping through the entire universe's starry sky like tidal waves.

At this moment, the Human Dao Realm was full of people.

The Forest Civilization!

The Return of Kings!

The civilization challenge was about to commence!