Chapter 434: Plan

The Black Domain. The Endless Divine Domain.

The so-called Divine Domain was, in truth, a vast space suspended within the Black Domain Void. It was formed by immense, silvery-white spheres clustered together, resembling a bunch of grapes.

Unlike the Divine Domain outposts scattered across various star systems, this was the birthplace of all members of the Divine Race. It was also a colossal floating city, capable of housing hundreds of millions of inhabitants at once.

Within the city.

A simulated sun hung high in the sky, and below were vast, sprawling, silvery-white buildings.

Each structure looked like an ordinary building magnified a hundred times. Tiny figures of the Divine Race could be seen moving through them from time to time.

However, they moved at such extreme speeds that the impossibly spacious buildings felt as if they were of normal size, allowing them to come and go without hindrance.

The massive structures were built upon a silver-gray ground that resembled metal.

There were no plants, only purely artificial creations. Between the empty buildings, there were only fountain plazas and some colossal, sacred, and majestic statues.

Groups of the Divine Race could occasionally be seen before the statues, praying with their eyes closed for something.

It was only after being escorted into the main Divine Domain that Ding Luo understood she might be in real trouble this time.

Before entering the gates of the Ministry of Law, she had harbored a sliver of hope. Unfortunately, once inside, facing the three high-and-mighty judges, all her arguments proved utterly feeble.

Although there were still procedures to go through, she could already foresee the final outcome.

While awaiting her sentence, she was forbidden from leaving the Divine Domain and could only wait quietly at her home within it.

“How could you be so foolish!?”

At home, her friends Tang Xi and Chen Xiehe were complaining anxiously. They had both been running themselves ragged over Ding Luo’s case, but unfortunately, the evidence was irrefutable and had been verified many times over.

“If it had been a little earlier, I might have been able to find a contact to pull some strings. But now, everything’s more or less set in stone. It’s too late!” Tang Xi said helplessly.

“What do we do now? We can’t just wait around to die, can we?” Chen Xiehe added quickly.

Like Ding Luo before, both were city governors, responsible for the normal operations of an entire city.

Their objective was to maintain a state of relative, fluctuating balance with the Dragon Court and Yanwu.

In essence, the three powers were harvesting the lives and natural resources produced by these human territories through a policy of divide and conquer.

It was a little after one in the afternoon. Life in the Divine Domain simulated that of a normal planet, with days and nights. The key difference was that the Divine Race had no need to eat; they simply absorbed the Endless Divine Power gathered from the territories of the Human Race.

This Divine Power was processed into various forms, like crystals and flowing water. It could be obtained from statues while praying or absorbed from the water at the edge of a fountain.

The only thing they didn’t need was food and drink.

Without food and drink, there was no need for excretion. In essence, the Endless Divine Race was a remarkably pure species.

Ding Luo’s home was located in one of the smaller residential areas situated between the massive building complexes.

There was a clear distinction here. Formal, official buildings were enormous, whereas ordinary residences were of a normal size and densely clustered together, not unlike the common residential areas in the Human Realm.

“We could spend some money to see if we can delay things a bit,” Tang Xi said after a moment of thought.

“You mean the Divine Shepherd? The presiding judge of the Law Department… I remember it’s a Divine Shepherd with the surname Huang, right? Would a big shot like that even look twice at the junk we could scrape together?” Chen Xiehe asked doubtfully.

A Divine Shepherd was a powerful figure within the Divine Race, ranking above Ring Level officers. It was a position, and their strength was roughly equivalent to the Sixth Ring.

Big shots like that would never concern themselves with a minor case like Ding Luo’s. It was likely delegated to their subordinates.

“Of course the Divine Shepherd wouldn’t be interested, but the Ring Level adjudicators under him certainly would be. We just need to find out exactly who is in charge of pushing Ding Luo’s case forward,” Tang Xi said quickly.

“But I… I might not have much money…” Ding Luo said helplessly. She was touched that her friends were trying every possible way to create an opportunity for her.

But… she wasn’t the type to save money. Whenever she had a little, she immediately spent it on her cultivation. Otherwise, she never would have achieved her current level of strength.

After all, the Ring Level itself was divided into six tiers. For her to have climbed from an ordinary soldier to a Second Ring officer and city governor in just one hundred years showed how incredibly hard she had worked.

Her two friends knew this as well and felt a surge of helplessness.

“What about your old man?” Tang Xi couldn’t help but ask.

Yes, Ding Luo had family in the Divine Domain—a single close relative, her father, Ding Yunhao.

“I’m just his illegitimate daughter. He won’t care,” Ding Luo said with a bitter smile. “For someone of his glorious standing, my very existence is a humiliation to him. After all, my mother used disgraceful means to conceive me back then.”

Her friends had heard whispers of this before. Seeing Ding Luo’s reluctance to cast blame, it seemed they couldn’t really fault her father for being so cold-blooded.

The hidden circumstances seemed to run deep, but since it concerned someone else’s privacy, they didn’t press the issue.

“But you’re about to die! No matter how much he looks down on you, he’s still your father. He should at least lend a hand, right?” Tang Xi frowned.

In the Endless Divine Domain, the Divine King reigned supreme. It was divided into the Eight Great Divinity Areas, each garrisoned by one of the eight Divine Armies which maintained peace and the natural cycle of things.

Here, the class system was extremely rigid and unyielding. It was nearly impossible for the children of commoners to cross class boundaries and attain a higher station, unless they underwent a sudden mutation, experienced a leap in strength, and earned a high enough position through military merit to be promoted.

Otherwise, a commoner of the Divine Race could never hope to reach the heights of the Third Ring or above.

This was because the Second Ring represented the absolute natural limit of a Divine Race member’s body and spirit. At that point, their potential was completely exhausted. Only by undergoing a modification by a Divine Shepherd could one possibly advance further and step into a higher Realm.

And access to these modifications had always been controlled by a higher class known as the Upper-Rank Divine Bloods.

Ding Luo’s own father was a member of the Upper-Rank Divine Bloods.

“No matter what, it’s worth a try. Let’s try to contact him. My family has connections that can reach the Upper-Rank Divine Bloods. I’ll make the call,” Chen Xiehe offered.

Ding Luo knew how difficult those of the Upper-Rank Divine Bloods could be. They viewed ordinary members of the Divine Race as mere servants. To proactively try and speak with them was, without a doubt, a deeply humiliating act.

But her friend Chen Xiehe was willing to endure such humiliation for her…

“It’s okay. We’ll definitely find a way to save you. Just rest up, don’t give up on your cultivation, and stay in your best condition,” Chen Xiehe comforted her.

“Okay,” Ding Luo nodded. But even though she could barely save herself, her thoughts couldn’t help but drift to her two younger brothers still in the Human Realm.

‘I wonder how they’re doing now, without me to look after them?’

‘Their parents over there are unreliable, too. And they’re so far away… if something happened, I couldn’t even lend a hand…’

As she mulled over these things, her mind began to drift.

*

*

*

「Extreme Cold Heaven.」

Lin Hui waited quietly, sword in hand.

Vast amounts of Wind Disaster Energy swirled rapidly behind him, sweeping up and disintegrating the surrounding mist of extreme cold.

About ten minutes had passed.

He could already feel numerous powerful gazes fixed in his direction.

But they all seemed to be watching from a distance.

He wasn’t in a hurry. The signal had been sent. Now, all he had to do was wait for a sufficiently powerful heavyweight to approach and discuss cooperation.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Gradually, another half an hour went by.

WHOOSH…

Suddenly, a turbulent cold current swept in from the distance, forcing the dividing line between Lin Hui’s Wind Calamity and the extreme cold to rapidly retreat toward him.

‘Here it comes!’ Far from being alarmed, Lin Hui was pleased. He roughly estimated his opponent’s strength. To be able to push back the torrent of Wind Disaster Energy he had casually released meant that, while he couldn’t tell who was stronger, they were definitely on the same level.

He had been very clear about his objective from the start.

A Calamity zone, even a subordinate one, would surely be home to a vast number of powerful beings. It was impossible for there not to be others on his level.

After all, he was still far from reaching the heights of his master, Qimei.

And now, it was obvious his guess had been correct.

Soon, the cold current in front of him rapidly converged, taking a Condensation Form. It solidified into a colossal, hundred-meter-tall monster with a human torso and a snake’s tail.

The monster’s upper body was that of a blue-haired beauty covered in pale blue scales, its eyes burning with black-blue flames. Its lower body was the thick, powerful tail of a black python.

The moment it formed, waves of immense pressure from its Heart and Spirit radiated out from it in all directions.

This terrifying Mental Power immediately collided with the vast Mental Power that Lin Hui naturally emanated.

PFFT PFFT PFFT PFFT!

In an instant, a significant portion of the surrounding Wind Calamity and cold current was squeezed and annihilated by the collision of their intangible Mental Powers.

A transparent, circular wall of Mental Power appeared between the two.

Countless, densely packed ripples constantly spread across the wall’s surface. This was their continuous, probing contest.

This was a test to gauge whether the other was qualified to hold a proper conversation. If their opponent couldn’t even meet the most basic threshold, they were merely food, not worth wasting time on.

Fortunately, after a few moments, the colossal human-torsoed, snake-tailed monster retracted the pressure from its Heart and Spirit.

“Interesting. You deliberately trespassed into Extreme Cold Heaven and used Wind Disaster Energy to agitate the surroundings to draw me out. Outsider, what is your purpose?”

The monster communicated directly via its Heart and Spirit, bypassing any potential language barriers.

“We are both Calamity Fusionists. I have discovered a High Energy Level world rich with resources. Unfortunately, its Energy Level is too high for me to conquer alone, so I need to find some help. Your strength is impressive; we could cooperate,” Lin Hui stated his purpose directly.

“How would we cooperate? Who goes first?” the monster asked with a frown. “And how can I be sure you’re not just using me as a pawn to probe the enemy’s true strength?”

“True, I can offer no guarantees. But… we’re talking about a High Energy Level world. The consciousness of a single being from such a place is worth at least a hundred from an ordinary world. An opportunity like this, with the added benefit of sharing the risk with another Calamity Fusionist… if you’re willing to pass it up, I can always find someone else,” Lin Hui replied with a faint smile.

The human-torsoed, snake-tailed monster fell silent.

Indeed, for beings like them who were immortal and indestructible, such a temptation was great.

Very great indeed.