Chapter 3644: Coincidence

Away from the battle, cultivators watched on nervously, just as they did every time someone challenged the ruler of the River Domain.

The old man was certainly weak for his level, and yet he never refused any challenge. He accepted them in order to show the young cultivators the cruelty of the cultivation world.

The middle-aged man had said that the people of the River Domain were unable to witness the true world of cultivators while in the River Domain, but that was wrong. They could see it, and they were even already experiencing it. There was no doubt that they were being shown the right path.

Before long, the old man was defeated.

Blood stained the middle-aged man’s blade. He held it across the old man’s neck, causing gasps from the countless onlookers, but he did not strike the final blow.

"Continue serving as a benchmark." The middle-aged man withdrew his blade, turned around, and left. Victory was enough.

The old man coughed a few times, and his disciples raced over to help him.

He waved off their efforts with a hand. "I’m fine, don’t worry. Remember, the sequence technique that you cultivate will not necessarily determine your combat strength, but it will define your cultivation realm. That man will most likely never become a sequence powerhouse for the rest of his life, but you can still learn his method of combat, ensuring your survival in the cultivation world. Even so, it is important that you choose the correct sequence technique. Being able to cultivate to the level of a sequence powerhouse is clearly better than never being able to reach that level."

"We understand, Master."

"Yes, Master..."

The old man took a step forward and moved into outer space. He had one more thing to say to his challenger.

In the middle of outer space, the middle-aged man who had left the River Domain looked back. The ruler of the River Domain might be weak in combat, but he had a kind and peaceful heart; such people were too rare among cultivators. The middle-aged man could have effortlessly delivered the final blow given the flow of their battle, but he had forced himself to hold back, which had even caused himself internal injuries. He did not regret his actions.

Just as he was about to leave the domain, the old man caught up. "Please sir, wait a moment."

The middle-aged man turned back around. "What is it?"

The old man took out a bottle and tossed it to the middle-aged man. "I specialize in alchemy, and this medicine can help heal your injuries. You won’t be able to find it anywhere else, and it’s highly effective."

The middle-aged man caught the bottle, and he nodded. "Alright."

"One more thing," the old man said as he stared at his former opponent. "If you insist on continuing down the same path and refuse to turn to the correct one, then go to

Boundless

."

The middle-aged man was surprised. “

Boundless

?”

The old man nodded. “While I am not particularly strong and my River Domain is quite remote, I still know a few things concerning the outside world.

“

Boundless

has come from the Tianyuan Megaverse, and unlike our eighty-eight sequence techniques, they do not follow a rigid cultivation system. This has led to the overall strength of their megaverse being relatively low, and the experts aboard

Boundless

could very well be all of the top experts from the Tianyuan Megaverse. However, their cultivation system is able to create unique cultivation methods.

“It is possible that

Boundless

can offer you a path to follow in the future.”

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The middle-aged man considered the advice for a moment and then nodded. “Thank you.”

The old man smiled. “I should be thanking you, for sparing my life. In the future—”

In the middle of his sentence, the old man froze, and his eyes went blank. It was as if time had suddenly frozen for him.

The middle-aged man stared in confusion. “You?”

Then, the middle-aged man’s pupils suddenly shrank, and he looked forward in shock. Light could be seen erupting from within the old man’s body, bursting out and then drifting upward.

The middle-aged man trembled, and his gaze slid past the old man to stare at the River Domain in disbelief. Countless beams of light were shooting upwards, like a vast array of stars that were merging to form a sea.

Each beam of light was coming from a spirit seed.

The middle-aged man turned and fled, feeling as if some great calamity was upon him.

...

Absolute silence reigned in the River Domain.

The High Seraph arrived and sealed the domain off. He then stared into the distance.

Wails rose up from one city after another. Bones piled up across barren lands, forming mountains. All of the bones belonged to cultivators.

Every single cultivator in the entire River Domain had died. They had perished when their spirit seeds left their bodies.

Such a thing had never happened throughout the history of the Spirit Nidus.

No matter how weak the River Domain might have been, it had still been one of the thirty-six domains, and it had been filled with countless cultivators. All of them had died in the same instance. This was something that not even the High Seraph could accept. His expression was dark as he looked up at the stars. “Xing Fan, come out.”

Blue light cascaded down from above the sky. It was a beautiful sight that looked like something from a dream. After a moment, a graceful figure appeared. Their features were indistinct, formed from flowing light that drifted away in ribbons.

“High Seraph, you are breaking the rules.”

The High Seraph stared at the figure of blue light. “You are the one who broke the rules. You have taken all of the cultivators’ spirit seeds from the entire River Domain. Do you not fear being punished by the Greater Sancti?”

“I am only doing what I must. When did you see me take anything?”

The High Seraph’s voice dropped low. “Then how do you explain the deaths of all these cultivators?”

“I won’t.” With that, the blue light started to drift upwards again, growing fainter and fainter until it disappeared.

The High Seraph remained where he was. After a moment, someone stepped out from behind him. “It was just a simple coincidence. Why make such a fuss?”

The High Seraph turned around and stared at the newcomer. They were a stranger, and as a sequence powerhouse, they were nothing more than an ant. However, he did not see the stranger before him, but rather someone else.

“Yue Ya.”

The newcomer met the High Seraph’s gaze. “It is best that our names are not casually disclosed to outsiders. Do you intend to break the rules, ‘High Seraph’?”

“Give me an explanation.”

“Very well. My explanation is that this is just a coincidence.”

“What kind of coincidence?”

“I was merely cultivating, and the resulting ripple affected the River Domain. These cultivators didn’t die directly. Rather, they perished when their self-awareness collapsed. Once that sense of self was lost, their spirit seeds were forced from their bodies, which is what caused their true deaths. So really, it was just a coincidence.”

The High Seraph stared at the newcomer intently, ridicule and mockery filling his eyes. It was clear that the High Seraph did not care about this person at all. “You are getting revenge for Ru Mu.”

The newcomer responded with an indifferent smile, “Say what you will, but if I am not satisfied, such coincidences will continue.”

“Are you not afraid of being censured by the Greater Sancti?” the High Seraph retorted.

The newcomer teasingly asked, “What grounds do you have to believe that a traitor who has received favors will be given fairness by the Greater Sancti?”

The High Seraph’s expression fell, and he did not reply.

The newcomer gave a casual smile. “As for Ru Mu, you had best offer me an explanation.”

“You’re using the lives of an entire domain to corner me. Tell me: do you even see the people of the Spirit Nidus as human?” the High Seraph asked calmly.

The newcomer shook their head. “High Seraph, you understand us, but we also know you. There is no need to put a facade on for us. Now, I am giving you two choices: either do not interfere in my affairs, or else such coincidences will continue. How many of the thirty-six domains do you think will remain in the end?”

The High Seraph turned around and left. “Fine, I’ll do as you say. I won’t interfere.”

The newcomer just stared at the High Seraph’s back, seemingly surprised by his decisiveness.

“Too decisive.” Blue light streamed by.

The newcomer’s eyes narrowed. “Forget him. You’ve gotten what you wanted, and I’ll get what I’m after too. There’s only one spot. Let’s see which of us gets there first.”

“Aren’t you worried about the High Seraph? He’s always scheming. No one knows what’s going on in that head of his. They should’ve let the Old Man Under the Stars take that position instead—anyone would’ve been better than him.”

“The Old Man Under the Stars was a fool. He has no one to blame but himself. As for that title, it was never meant for the High Seraph. He’s just a mutt tossed a bone and thinks it makes him one of us.” With that, the figure disappeared, along with the last traces of blue light.

...

Several days later, an announcement was released across the Spirit Nidus that left everyone badly shaken.

Emperor Wu had been stripped of his title as Seraph.

None of the Seven Seraphs were allowed to suffer defeat. Even one loss would cause their title to be revoked. This had happened to Yi Shang, and it was also why Seraph Meng Sang refused to fight against Lu Yin whenever they met, as Meng Sang did not want to lose his title as well.

Emperor Wu had been defeated by Lu Yin during the battle at the source of the Fu River. Logically, he deserved to lose his position of Seraph.

However, Emperor Wu’s strength had been clearly revealed to everyone, which was why no one had brought up the matter of the Primal Beastland’s ruler being removed from the Seven Seraphs.

This announcement from the Ascendant Hall revoked Emperor Wu’s title, and it also created enormous waves throughout the Spirit Nidus.

If not even Emperor Wu was able to retain his title as a Seraph, then how were the other Seraphs supposed to maintain their positions? Did this not mean that Seraph Lu was truly destined to become peerless? Whoever he disliked could be challenged, and if he won, they would lose their title. How was anyone in the Spirit Nidus supposed to restrain the man?

No one could understand why the High Seraph had made such an impulsive decision.

Were the rules themselves more important, or was maintaining order?

When the High Seraph made his decision, Lan and Zi Tianshu were also sent to the Primal Beastland. When the announcement was released, the two revealed their intention to collect the Heaven's Seal sequence base.

The Primal Beastland’s cultivators, including Jiu Weihu, attempted to stop the two from the Ascendant Hall. From beneath the Primal Beastland, terrifying auras shot into the sky. Various ancient powerhouses, who had long been considered dead until they had revealed themselves in support of Emperor Wu so that he could utterly dominate Man Kui, rose once again to protect the Heaven's Seal sequence base.

“Heaven's Seal is the sequence base that belongs to all beast-form Spirit Rebirths! It has always remained in the Primal Beastland and has never left. Even if the woodpecker is stripped of his title as Seraph, the sequence base cannot leave the Primal Beastland!” one of the old monsters roared loudly as his aura shot towards Lan and Zi Tianshu.

Several other old monsters stood at his side, glaring at the two from the Ascendant Hall, clearly demonstrating their willingness to fight to the death.

The ancient powerhouses’ strengths varied greatly, and most of them were incapable of unleashing their full power due to how close to death they were. Even so, they could put up a desperate fight.

The two humans exchanged glances. They had already known that their task would be difficult to accomplish, but this far exceeded their expectations.

Emperor Wu had been defeated. Regardless of his strength, a single loss was sufficient reason for his title to be revoked. No one would interfere in that matter. However, Heaven's Seal could not be taken away under any circumstances, as that sequence base was the very foundation of the Primal Beastland.

Of the ten official sequence bases, one protected the Gate of Laws, and another protected the Primal Beastland. Neither of these could be tampered with.

This was why, even if they were to die while fighting against the High Seraph himself, the Primal Beastland would not back down on this matter.

The countless beast-form Spirit Rebirths of the Primal Beastland might be afraid, but they would never retreat.

Faced with the unwavering determination of the countless cultivators in the Primal Beastland who were prepared to fight to the death, the Ascendant Hall ultimately agreed to a compromise. They agreed to leave Heaven's Seal in the Primal Beastland, but Zi Tianshu would also stay in the domain, to ensure that Emperor Wu would never use the sequence base.

This demand was excessive. Heaven's Seal belonged to the beast-form Spirit Rebirths, and it was not necessarily something that only the ruler of the domain could use.

The last ruler of the domain had given Heaven's Seal to Emperor Wu for him to use in the Consciousness Megaverse before sacrificing himself in a battle at the source of the Fu River. No one had ever objected at that time, which made the Ascendant Hall’s demands seem much too extreme.

However, it was already good that the Primal Beastland was being allowed to keep Heaven's Seal. If they pushed the High Seraph to intervene, then who in the Primal Beastland would be able to protect Heaven's Seal?

The Primal Beastland, Emperor Wu’s home, had been placed under lockdown.

Emperor Wu was still in seclusion, recovering from the battle at the source of the Fu River. His injuries were too severe for time alone to heal them; it was necessary for him to continuously cultivate as well.