"Old Cai~ You son of a bitch, even now you’re still trying to push your luck?"

"..."

All sorts of voices echoed through Taiping City.

In the sky.

Gu Zheng stared at the Inverted Mountain Range, watching the Potato Demon Fiends that swooped down from it.

These Potato Demon Fiends could use short-range Instant Teleportation, and there were a great number of them.

Anyone else would have struggled to handle them all, inevitably letting some slip through the cracks.

But Gu Zheng’s control over the Power of Heaven and Earth and his profound understanding of space allowed him to slay every single Potato Demon Fiend with swift precision, leaving none behind.

Ten thousand Demon Points, easily acquired.

It wasn’t long before another twenty thousand Demon Points were in his pocket.

Thirty thousand Demon Points, obtained.

With thirty thousand Potato Demon Fiends killed so quickly, the rest of them stopped swooping down from the mountain range.

Gu Zheng swept his Eyes of Golden Flame across the area. The entire Inverted Mountain Range had fallen silent.

Three consecutive waves of Demon Fiends, both visible and invisible, had been completely annihilated.

The Demon Fiends in the Inverted Mountain Range had all realized just how dangerous Taiping City was.

It didn’t matter that they couldn’t see Gu Zheng; knowing Taiping City was dangerous was enough.

Instantly, the Inverted Mountain Range fell deathly quiet.

In stark contrast, cheers erupted throughout Taiping City, filling it with a joyous uproar.

Gu Zheng retracted his blades and hovered in the air.

He waited for a good while, but no more Demon Fiends came swooping down.

The formation of the Domain, however, had stabilized.

Then, the Domain encompassing Taiping City on the ground and the Inverted Mountain Range in the sky activated!

"Let’s go, the Domain has activated!"

In the city’s northern district, Jiang Hanshan and his group rushed out from their courtyard. They split up and fanned out, roaming the streets in search of Source Fruits, Marvels, and more.

「Imperial Palace」

A smile bloomed across Emperor Zhou’s heavily wrinkled face.

"Haha, hahaha... COUGH COUGH~!"

After a violent coughing fit, Emperor Zhou swayed as he walked toward a railing a dozen steps away.

Right before Emperor Zhou’s eyes, two Source Fruits materialized, floating just above the railing.

Emperor Zhou approached step by step, his face and eyes filled with glee.

Upon reaching the railing, he snatched the two Source Fruits and swallowed them both in a single gulp.

BZZZZ~!

His body suddenly trembled. A ball of energy brimming with immense Vitality exploded inside Emperor Zhou.

The potent energy surged through him. Emperor Zhou’s face immediately flushed red and his body began to shake.

Fortunately, Emperor Zhou had cultivated a True Skill. By forcibly circulating it, he absorbed the burst of energy and reinforced his physique.

At the same time, a sharp pain shot through his eyes. They turned red and felt scorching hot, as if they were on fire.

"Haha, hahahaha~!"

He abruptly threw his head back and let out a booming laugh at the sky.

His laughter was full and powerful, showing no trace of the decrepitude he’d had just moments before.

"You little bastards, waiting for me to die? Well, I refuse to grant you your wish! Hahaha!"

...

’Hm?’

In mid-air, Gu Zheng heard Emperor Zhou’s laughter and turned his head to look at him from a distance.

’What kind of Source Fruit did he eat...?’

Gu Zheng observed Emperor Zhou with great interest.

To Gu Zheng’s senses, the Emperor now possessed vigorous blood and qi and a robust physique, like a man in his prime of forty or fifty.

Such a drastic change could only have come from eating a potent Source Fruit.

Emperor Zhou, who had at most half a year left to live, could now easily live for another three.

Assuming, of course, a natural death.

’Interesting.’

Without going over to greet him, Gu Zheng retracted his gaze and looked back at the Inverted Mountain Range in the sky.

Now that the Domain was active, there was a seven-day grace period.

Within these seven days, he had to find and destroy the Rule Array Hub.

Otherwise, the Domain would transform into a permanent channel, which would lead to far greater trouble.

Gu Zheng couldn’t afford to stand guard here forever.

With that in mind, Gu Zheng descended to the ground. He found a secluded corner, revealed his form, and created a series of doppelgangers.

He sent three doppelgangers to the south, east, north, and west, as well as to the city center.

Each doppelganger held ten Sealing Sword Talismans.

The doppelgangers had no offensive or defensive power of their own, but holding the Sealing Sword Talismans would compensate for this weakness.

By leaving the doppelgangers in the city, he could search for Source Fruits, Marvels, and the Rule Array Hub, while also preventing any Demon Fiends from descending from the Inverted Mountain Range.

Gu Zheng would no longer stand guard below the Inverted Mountain Range.

He had to go into the Inverted Mountain Range himself!

First, to slay Demon Fiends and reap Demon Points.

After he killed the first three waves of Demon Fiends, the Domain activated, and the Demon Fiends within the Inverted Mountain Range stopped coming out.

If the Demon Fiends wouldn’t come out, Gu Zheng would have to go to them.

Besides, there was at least a fifty-percent chance that the Rule Array Hub was inside the Inverted Mountain Range.

And so, without anyone noticing, Gu Zheng soared upward, heading for the Inverted Mountain Range.

It was a strange phenomenon.

As Gu Zheng flew toward the range, when he was just ten meters from the top of one of its peaks, an invisible force enveloped him, flipping him upside down.

His previously downward-facing head was now upright, and he found himself standing erect, floating just above the mountaintop.

SWOOSH~

He descended.

Gu Zheng landed on the peak, his form concealed. Then, as he moved, he once again created a series of doppelgangers.

This time, the doppelgangers were concealed just like his real body.

Instead of holding Sealing Sword Talismans, they released Death God Mantises.

Unlike the single-use Sealing Sword Talismans, the destructive power of the Death God Mantises was sufficient to deal with most of the Demon Fiends in the mountain range.

The doppelgangers scattered in all directions, searching for the Rule Array Hub.

The Death God Mantises followed behind them, flitting back and forth.

Gu Zheng’s true body floated down the mountain. Along the way, he spotted a Source Fruit suspended in the branches of a treetop. He immediately performed a remote Absorption and tucked it into his Storage Pouch.

The Source Fruit’s ability was named Strong Kidney.

When he reached the foot of the mountain, his gaze was drawn to two leaves under a large tree a dozen steps away.

He used remote Absorption to bring them to his hand.

"It really is a Heaven-Covering Leaf!"

’Two more Heaven-Covering Leaves. Not bad, not bad at all.’

The doppelgangers were also making finds.

They had found three Source Fruits, but no Marvels yet.

Gu Zheng’s true body continued onward, floating along at a low altitude. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

His Eyes of Golden Flame scanned the area. The next moment, he discovered a group of mouse-like Demon Fiends hiding in a burrow nearby.

They were about the size of field mice, but each had a mouth on its left and right sides.

SWISH!

A flash of Sword Gang shot out from a distance.

SCHLICK! SCHLICK! SCHLICK!

The Field Mouse Demon Fiends in the burrow were instantly torn to pieces.

Spirit Capturing!

[Demon Points +5]

[Demon Points +6]

...

After dealing with the Field Mouse Demon Fiends, he resumed his advance.

Along the way, whenever he discovered Demon Fiends, he slew them quickly, giving them no chance to escape.

He obtained two more Source Fruits.

The dim, gloomy environment of the Pitch Black Mountain Range had no effect on Gu Zheng whatsoever.

Until he was crossing a gully...

[Equippable Item Found]

[Dragon Emperor’s Holy Bone]

[Equip Condition: Five Realms Cycle]

[Equipment Effect: Celestial Essence in the Body]

[Celestial Essence in the Body: The might of heaven is immeasurable; the sanctity of earth cannot be defiled.]

[Equip?]

’Hm?’

’A new equippable item!’

’I’ve finally found another one.’

Gu Zheng was thrilled.

’Celestial Essence in the Body?’

’This Equipment Effect is something else...’

’But the equip condition is pretty difficult.’

The Five Realms Cycle.

A cycle formed by five Domains!

Any other King’s Body would be helpless, even with the treasure right in their hands; they couldn’t dream of activating its power.

To create a cycle of five Domains, one first has to possess five Domains, right?

Gu Zheng calmed his mind.

He stopped and scanned his surroundings, searching for the target.

’The Dragon Emperor’s Holy Bone... is it shaped like a piece of bone?’

He activated his Eyes of Golden Flame and scanned the area.

He also activated Shadow to its full extent.

The next moment, Gu Zheng found his target.

At the bottom of the gully lay a piece of jade-like bone the size of a fist, emitting a dim glow.

SWOOSH~!

He used remote Absorption to grab it and place it in his equipment slot.

The display confirmed it was indeed the "Dragon Emperor’s Holy Bone."

With the item in hand, the next step was to complete the Five Realms Cycle.

This step was not difficult for Gu Zheng.

He first found a spacious clearing, recalled the Death God Mantises, and created ten doppelgangers. He had each one hold a Sealing Sword Talisman and a God-Hunting Arrow for protection.

Gu Zheng sat cross-legged in the center of the clearing. He took out the Celestial Profound Crystal and the Human Emperor’s Seal Artifact Embryo, then proceeded to evolve his three remaining Seas of Consciousness into Domains.

Thick Earth, Water Dominating Water, and Celestial Gold.

He then began to fuse these three Domains, supplementing them with his Giant Wood and Liaoyuan Domains.

Based on the principle of mutual generation and restriction of the Five Elements, he began the merger, successfully fusing the five Domains into one to create a cycle.

The condition for the Five Realms Cycle was met.

"Equip!"