All the major factions in the world of immortals kept divine spirits as pet guardians. They were either born of nature, from primitive villages on the fringes of the world, or out of the rituals in the mortal lands the factions ruled over.

Mo Xun was the guardian spirit of the Mo Clan. He was a powerful immortal who’d plucked an origin dao fruit and ascended to the realm, but just like the other origin dao immortals, he’d suffered critical injuries in the process of doing so; thus, his cultivation was incomplete.

It now seemed to Lu Yun that the guardian spirits of the major factions had become latent threats. A simple showing from the Sword of Chaos would easily sway them into betraying their factions.

……

“Qitian should be with Elder Mo Xun right now...” The Mo elder blanched as soon as he finished his sentence.

“How can this be? How is this possible? Elder Mo Xun is a ritual divine spirit born from one of our mortal nations. How could he ever betray us?”

All of the mortal lands under the Mo Clan’s rule were populated by their descendents. Not everyone had the potential to cultivate, especially in a world where a great war between immortals had destroyed many bloodlines and crippled many spirit roots.

Not even the major factions were any exception.

Therefore, the factions had gathered their members who were incapable of cultivating and created one or more powerful mortal nations to rule over the mortal segment of the world. These nations existed to create divine spirits!

Mo Xun wasn’t a wild spirit the Mo Clan had caught in the world of immortals, but a spirit of their own making, effectively a member of the clan. It didn’t make sense for him to betray them!

“You don’t have any evidence verifying your outlandish claims. Why should we believe you?!” An aether dao immortal emerged from the other side of the great hall at this time. Having plucked nine aether dao fruit, his cultivation exceeded that of Mo Qu’s.

“Elder Mo Xun is one of our forefathers, he would never betray us! But you, Lu Yun, are up to no good! Are you trying to destroy us by working with the North Sea monster spirits?” The speaker was several thousand years younger than Mo Qu and had been one of the greatest geniuses in the clan in his youth.

The Mo elder staggered and almost fainted when he saw the younger man’s appearance. His face became white as a sheet. “How, why... has this happened?”

“Grandfather, it’s me!” the younger man exclaimed. “Have you been fooled by an outsider?”

Bam!

Instead of responding, the arcane dao immortal knocked the younger man down with a palm strike.

“So it seems I can’t fool you, old man...” The peak aether dao immortal’s lips twisted into a vicious smile and his body glowed an unnatural gold.

“No, he’s detonating himself!” Mo Qu exclaimed in apprehension.

Lu Yun stepped forward and attached a deep blue talisman to the aether dao immortal’s forehead, quieting his agitated inner energy and stopping him from detonating his dao fruit.

“Soul planting has one major flaw.” Lu Yun pointed at his own head. “A soul is the most vulnerable part of a living being, so refining it into a soul seed is guaranteed to damage it. Once the soul matures, it’s most likely going to be a bit of a fool.”

Neither the one planted in Mo Chenfeng nor that in the aether dao immortal had known how to judge the situation and act accordingly. They’d both shown themselves before Lu Yun had even begun looking for them.

Of course, there were different levels of soul seeds. The flawless ones were mostly planted in those who played critical roles—Mo Qitian being a good example.

“I’m taking him with me to see if there’s a way to remove the soul seed,” Lu Yun looked at his quarry in a calculating fashion.

“Take him!” the Mo elder agreed without hesitation. “Is there really still hope for him?”

His gaze was hopeful. The aether dao immortal was not only a great genius of the Mo Clan, but also his grandson.

“I can try.” Inhaling deeply, Lu Yun grabbed the Mo genius and threw him into the Resurrection Layout in hell, where Xingzi and Su Xiaoxiao awaited.

“Tsk, tsk. Why would that idiot attempt to manipulate immortals with soul planting? What a fool, is he trying to create an army of idiots like him?” Xingzi scanned the aether dao immortal with a sardonic smile on her youthful face. “Hehehe, we’re going to have some fun over the next few days.”

Su Xiaoxiao looked equally excited.

The two had found kindred spirits in each other and now immersed themselves in experiments all day long. Everyday, desires flared anew for them to catch some strange and exotic specimen for poking and prodding.

Su Xiaoxiao’s medicine dao had been inspired by what she found in one of the ruins left by the shamanic race. Their studies thus came from the same root, but each specialized in different fields.

In addition to Su Xiaoxiao and Xingzi, the other Envoys of Samsara each contributed their own expertise and combined their efforts. By now, not even Lu Yun knew what strange creations they would come up from their experimentation.

……

Over the next short period of time, the manor where the Mo Clan resided saw a silent purge. Those who’d been planted with a foreign soul were identified by Lu Yun, and the soul seeds extracted.

“There’s something I don’t understand, young friend,” An eight-fruit arcane dao immortal, Mo Lingyu, said with a frown. He, alongside Mo Xun, was in charge of the Mo Clan here.

Lu Yun nodded. “Please go ahead, senior.”

“What’s your relationship with the leader of the North Sea? Why would it help you?” Mo Lingyu was quite hesitant. Lu Yun had just helped the Mo Clan deal with an enormous latent threat, so questioning him at this junction really wasn’t the thing to do. However, Scarlet Ape had set itself up as the enemy of the human race after establishing the monster spirit sacred land, so this line of questioning was imperative.

“There’s no need to worry, senior. Scarlet Ape and I are still enemies. We simply have a deal.”

……

Jadeite Manor.

“That’s right. We simply have a deal.” Scarlet Ape’s voice traveled down from the iron rod, while Silverblaze and Yuan Tong stood before it with great deference.

“I was born in the late years of the human dao and experienced that great war. I witnessed the human revitalization and creation of the immortal dao, seeing humans regain their dominance in the vast cosmos. The immortal dao back then belonged only to the human race. One had to assume the form of a human in order to cultivate the immortal dao, and it was no different from the human dao of the past.

“Humans of that era prided themselves as the creator and distributor of civilization. They established the four palaces for the dragons, phoenixes, qilins, and tortoises, guiding them out of their nests. They invented cultivation methods for beasts and sparked their intelligence, turning mere animals into monster spirits. They established order for the divine spirits and propagated their bloodlines, turning them into the divine race. However...

“Humans of that time also dined on dragon liver and phoenix marrow. They used qilins as mounts and created armor out of tortoise shells. They consumed the flesh and blood and cores of monster spirits as medicine. Even the divine race, basking in all their glory as the favored ones of heaven, were nothing but slaves to the humans. They were just tools for the human race to control the heavenly dao.

“The immortal dao the three human sovereigns created was one humans—it followed the same path as the human dao. But now, it’s... changed.” Surprise colored Scarlet Ape’s tone. “The immortal dao has become the dao of all. Even humans cultivate the methods of the other races, of monster spirits.”

That was what it’d been questioning once it’d taken in more information about the current age, and the reason why it’d made up its mind to strike a deal with Lu Yun. The overweening, haughty humans, who’d once dominated the world, had incorporated the dao of other races into the immortal dao!

The cultivation methods of different factions, especially those for the nascent spirit, drew inspiration from monster spirits, among others. The Great Peng Spirit of the Exalted Immortal Sect, for example, turned one’s nascent spirit into a great peng with golden wings, and their combat arts were mostly from the great pengs as well. That never would’ve happened in the era of human dao, or even the beginning of the immortal dao!

Thus, Scarlet Ape believed the immortal dao today belonged to all living beings, rather than the human race alone. Likewise, this wasn’t solely the era of humans, either, but an era where all races might thrive. It was much more chaotic, but also more full of life than the time after the human dao was destroyed.

Scarlet Ape was still hostile to the human race, but it was willing to make compromises for the right reasons.

“...the two of you may stay with him,” muttered Scarlet Ape.

Silverblaze’s lips twitched, while Yuan Tong’s joy was clear on its face.

……

“Scarlet Ape must’ve realized that the immortal dao has changed from what it was in its time. That’s why it took a step back and made a deal with me, a human.” After giving the elder an explanation, Lu Yun asked again, “Can you still not find Mo Qitian?”

The night had passed, and the first light of the day teased the eastern sky.

“We’ll have to wait for the third round of the Sovereign Meet to commence when the day comes,” Mo Lingyu said with a wry smile.

Lu Yun grew quiet.

“I know where Qitian is!” Mo Chenfeng broke his silence. “If the divine race is responsible, Qitian must be with them! Wu Tulong and Zi Chen, too.”

“The divine race...” Lu Yun had speculated as much, but there was nothing he could do if Mo Qitian and the others were with the divines. There were many powerful elites among the mysterious race.

The Sword of Chaos had preserved the last of the divine race’s hopes and fortunes, defying the curse of the Skandha Range. Thus, it'd been possible for the race to propagate its bloodline. Only the four cardinal tribes had died out due to being directly subjected to the curse. Even so, some of their descendents still existed across the world of immortals.

Eighty thousand years ago, the divine race had ruled over the world of immortals and grasped all of its resources and tombs. There was no way to tell how many heavyweights there were among them. Wherever they were settled, it would be too dangerous to blithely venture in.

Why do I find the owner of the Sword of Chaos familiar? I must’ve seen him before! The thought had been troubling Lu Yun ever since he met the sword owner in the central world.

He’d met this person before!

If he could figure out who the sword owner was, and his background, all of his problems would be easily resolved.