Chapter 589: Stories from the Main Plane

The reason Asura wanted to possess the lower planes was not as he claimed—to eliminate the sources of ascension in the main plane—but because of the fate predicted for him many years ago by Xuanji Zi, the leader of the Tianji Sect.
The Tianji Sect was the only strange sect in the Star Realm that practiced only mystic arts and not combat techniques. Back then, Xuanji Zi was one of the three greatest masters of mystic arts in the entire Star Realm.
The other two masters had achieved their skills under the guidance of even more powerful figures, whereas Xuanji Zi had no backing—this was why Asura targeted him.
At first, Asura acted on impulse without any malicious intent. But after being rejected by Xuanji Zi, he became annoyed. He disliked being refused, as only he could reject others, and no one should dare defy him. So, he blocked the entrance to the Tianji Sect, massacred its members, and forced Xuanji Zi to predict his fate.
In his view, forcing others to do what they didn’t want to do was also a form of pleasure.
In the end, Xuanji Zi reluctantly agreed. Although there were some minor setbacks along the way, they were unimportant. What truly enraged him was when Xuanji Zi predicted that he would be killed by a young man from a lower plane, killed in one strike with no chance to resist. This made him suspect that Xuanji Zi was deliberately trying to revenge and scare him.
So, he tortured Xuanji Zi severely, only to discover that everything he said was based on calculations—something he found hard to accept. In a fit of anger, he killed Xuanji Zi and left the Tianji Sect.
A few days later, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He believed that without Xuanji Zi and the Tianji Sect, his fate might not have unfolded as Xuanji Zi had predicted. Thus, the massacre of the Tianji Sect took place.
Of course, under the coercion of Tianjian Gutanan, he didn’t dare kill Xuanji Zi’s last disciple—Zhuge Xiu—arbitrarily. He imprisoned Zhuge Xiu and devised various ways to torture and humiliate him. He also planted a life-devouringGu worm worm inside him—a strange insect that consumed a person’s life force.
Under the control of theGu worm worm, Zhuge Xiu became as obedient as a puppy. Only then did Asura lower his guard and assign him trivial tasks. Yet, he still enjoyed finding faults in Zhuge Xiu’s work to torment him further.

Year after year, Zhuge Xiu’s face grew older, and his work became increasingly meticulous. The one who tormented him gradually lost interest in doing so. Over the years, he assumed that Zhuge Xiu must have completely submitted, as the reverence in Zhuge Xiu’s gaze toward him was even greater than that shown to his other subordinates. Xiu Luo also believed he had trained him well and gradually grew confident in him.

What he didn’t know was that Zhuge Xiu’s mastery of the mystical arts was growing stronger. Although his body endured immense pain every day, Zhuge Xiu also realized that the less vitality he had, the faster he could master the mystical scriptures. Over the years, his skills in these arts had even surpassed those of Xuanji Zi from years ago. Naturally, he had also anticipated Xiu Luo’s death.

After learning this, he used some of his mystical skills to dig out his own eyes and replace them with dog eyes, making himself appear extremely submissive. This way, he gradually earned Xiu Luo’s trust.

He clearly saw Xiu Luo’s excitement after discovering that wormhole. Through his mystical arts, he had long calculated that that lower-tier dimension was the Sacred Realm from which he had ascended. This made him somewhat anxious. He didn’t want to see his hometown destroyed like Tianji Gate had been in the past. But after enduring so many years, he wasn’t willing to give up all his efforts. Besides being unable to escape, another reason he stayed by Xiu Luo’s side was that he wanted to see Xiu Luo die before his eyes.

When the first scouts sent out didn’t return, Zhuge Xiu was secretly pleased yet somewhat worried. When the second and third groups of scouts also failed to return, he became excited. He secretly cast a divination spell and discovered the existence of Ye Feng and the others.

After sending a small boat carrying twenty people into the Sacred Realm, he still felt uneasy. Fortunately, no news came, and he realized that perhaps the powerful being from the lower-tier dimension who could bring down Xiu Luo was Ye Feng, who came from the same place as him.

However, when he heard that Xiu Luo insisted on invading the Sacred Realm, he tried his best to stop him, knowing full well that Ye Feng and the others couldn’t withstand such a shock at that moment. Maybe they could handle one or two Star Sea-level warriors, but thousands of them would be a disaster for them.

However, over the years, he had come to know what the Asura truly feared. He also knew that there was someone behind the Asura. But these were not things he needed to worry about. He didn’t care about who the Asura had backing; he only wanted to see the Asura die before his eyes. He didn’t even care about the consequences that would arise after Ye Feng and the others killed the Asura. For him, everything beyond that was no longer important. As long as his revenge was fulfilled, even if it meant his own death, he wouldn’t flinch. He couldn’t care less about anyone else.

The seven-day deadline arrived soon. Following the Asura’s earlier instructions, he gathered twenty powerful warriors at the peak of the Star Sea realm, each mastering at least three divine powers. The strongest of them even mastered six divine powers and had grasped a domain—though it was only a first-level law domain, it was still considered genius-level in the Star Realm.

He chose such a person because Zhuge Xiu believed that if Ye Feng and the others couldn’t even handle such a challenge, then they probably weren’t the ones he was waiting for. This was the final test for him. If Ye Feng and the others could successfully eliminate everyone on that airship, then they were undoubtedly the ones he was waiting for.

Just as Zhuge Xiu was about to send everyone into the wormhole, the Asura suddenly appeared. “Wait!” No one dared defy the Asura’s order. “Bring those twenty people out. I want to see them one by one.”

The twenty people obediently stepped out of the airship. The Asura examined them one by one with a blank expression. He only nodded at the one who had mastered six divine powers and possessed a domain, saying nothing else.

“Lord, time was too tight, so we could only gather so many people,” Zhuge Xiu said respectfully.

“You’re getting more obedient,” the Asura said, smiling as he patted Zhuge Xiu’s face. “Send them in.”

Zhuge Xiu had the twenty people board the airship and guide them into the wormhole, then waited impassively. The Asura vanished in a flash, and only then did Zhuge Xiu lift his head to look at the wormhole, patiently awaiting the result of this final test…