Chapter 1821: Cohesiveness That Is Lacking

The mask called the “Master of Darkness” was still on Moran Dongning’s face. Lu Yun had no plans to take it. Something even more startling happened instead—the outsiders in the Land of Reincarnation started fighting among themselves!

New Nihil Homeland marshaled its troops to attack Nihil Homeland!

As expected, the Golden Dragon King escorted Ao Quan out of the land. This place was no longer what it’d once been. Supremes could project themselves straight into the Land of Reincarnation through their dao palaces, but sequence experts had to pass through the door at Mount Astronomia.

If Ao Quan wished to leave the Land of Reincarnation, he had to do so through the mountain. But somehow, whether by accident or on purpose, Chu Xingran had set up Nihil Homeland in a spot furthest away from the mountain. In the same vein, New Nihil Homeland was close to Nihil Homeland and also far away from the mountain.

In the past, the outsiders felt that a location farther away from the front door of the Land of Reincarnation would be closer to its heartland. Distance held no meaning for the supremes, so they thought nothing of it when they projected themselves in.

It wasn’t until now that the Golden Dragon King realized the issue. He was easily intercepted halfway through escorting his son out. Unfortunately, nothing he said in protest made a difference.

The method to circumvent the Lifeline Talismans was imprinted in Ao Quan’s mind and surrounded by a restriction. The dragonling could see it, but couldn’t speak it. He could only comprehend and practice it himself without passing it on. It was similar to the restricted methods of the major factions and sects in the chief worlds.

Once he made it back to the dragons, the Golden Dragon King could ask the nine clawed golden dragon to undo the restriction. The method would become golden dragon property then.

First, however, Ao Quan needed to safely return back to the faction.

The other chief world factions realized what was at stake as well. Thus, several supremes set up a blockade along the way.

……

“And where are you off to, Golden Dragon King?” the Cloud Atlas Supreme ground out.

“My son is injured and must go home to recuperate.” Keeping a firm grip on his composure, the Golden Dragon King pushed his son behind him.

“The current Land of Reincarnation allows entrance and no egress. You should return to where you came from.” Only the Cloud Atlas Supreme dared stop the dragon king. His eyes glittered brightly as he stared at Ao Quan. It went without saying why the Golden Dragon King was sending his son out. Lu Yun really had given the method to Ao Quan!

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

They’d originally planned on interrogating Ao Quan after New Nihil Homeland took Nihil Homeland. There was no need for that anymore since the Golden Dragon King was personally taking his son out of the land. The method was real!

Both the Cloud Atlas Supreme and Golden Dragon King knew what Lu Yun’s scheme was, but they had to set foot into his trap all the same. Lifeline Talismans were too critical for the chief worlds at large!

While the supremes were focused on Nihil Homeland at the moment, Lu Yun and anyone else who knew the method would also have to die. Since the entire Land of Reincarnation was ultimately slated for destruction, the outsiders weren’t in a hurry to aim their weapons at Lu Yun. For now, at least, he wasn’t much of a threat.

The golden dragons were different. The Dragon Dominance Rings combined with the method to circumvent Lifeline Talismans would be a nightmare incarnate for the chief worlds.

“You seek to hold me here?” The Golden Dragon King narrowed his eyes and a pure gold dragon shadow rose from his back, manifesting an aureate sea.

“Since you refuse to retreat, I will beat you into withdrawing!” Neither did the Cloud Atlas Supreme back down. His backer was Yun Yi—an apex powerhouse in the chief worlds who was much stronger than the supremes. Even though Yun Yi didn’t possess a world of sequence, he was wholly unafraid of the dragons.

As Yun Yi’s son, Cloud Atlas would never bow his head to them.

Boom!

Energy blazed over Cloud Atlas and clashed with the Golden Dragon King. The two heavyweights were quickly embroiled in their own conflict.

“Capture Ao Quan!” The other supremes leapt into action as well.

Although Ao Quan was a thirtieth level sequence expert, he was helpless when faced with projections from supremes. The Golden Dragon King roared with fury and returned to his true form, shaking off Cloud Atlas and coiling around Ao Quan to return to Nihil Homeland.

“Lu Yun has done this to create conflict between us. He wishes us to fight each other so he can gain more time for the Land of Reincarnation!” Cloud Atlas’ voice echoed through the void. “We are generous and will let bygones be bygones if you hand over the method or destroy it. What say you!”

“Piss off!” came the snarled reply.

Just like the azure dragons, the golden dragons would never stand for loss of face. The Golden Dragon King might’ve given way if the Cloud Atlas Supreme had brought his men first in a private audience.

But since the two sides had clashed against each other and the Golden Dragon King ran off with his son, this small hope of negotiation was no more.

Lu Yun had been afraid that the matter would be easily resolved, so he’d asked the Myriad Spirit and Firstspirit Supreme to add fuel to the flames and deepen their conflict.

“Kill!” Cloud Atlas burned with rage after hearing the response. He brought his men to Nihil Homeland and declared all-out war. The two sides fought with abandon and darkened the skies with their antagonism.

This was a reckoning of old and new grudges—not just the ones that’d formed in the Land of Reincarnation. The golden dragons were used to enslaving others with their Dragon Dominance Rings, even the descendants and friends of supremes. Although their reputation was better than the Corpse Refiners’, it wasn’t by much.

Given the dragons’ temperament, they didn’t care what other races thought of them.

……

“Aren’t they on the same side? Why are they fighting each other?” Jian Bu’er was highly tense at all times, just waiting for the Cloud Atlas Supreme to suddenly appear and take revenge for his son’s death.

But the supreme was leading his men against the dragons instead?

“Who says they’re on the same side?” Lu Yun widened his eyes. “These guys have different languages, civilizations, and even great daos. There’s nothing that binds them into one cohesive whole. How are they possibly on the same side?”

He tugged his lips up in a half grin. “The same goes for the fourth realm. A lack of cohesiveness means we’ll never be one unit. The academies are one thing—they dispense knowledge and guide beings onto the right path, so there’s a bit of unity that can be found there. But the other factions care about only themselves. They fight who they can beat and surrender when they can’t. They protect only their own people.

“How can such a massive realm have any cohesiveness to speak of?”

Although everyone in the fourth realm now practiced immortal dao and thus counted as beings of the same great dao, it’d only been twenty thousand years since the immortal dao traversed the fourth realm. Twenty thousand years was nothing compared to the entire history of the fourth realm.

If someone did manage to conquer the entire realm, they would have to spend an inordinate amount of time eliminating the estrangements between the factions and sects. Whoever unified the fourth realm needed sufficient ability to make everyone submit to them and slowly create a sense of cohesion.

Lu Yun did not possess that kind of ability. He wouldn’t be a qualified conqueror.

“Alright, time for our business now,” he grinned.