Chapter 1: I Am the Divine King

Bai Shou Village, Sanding Gate Stone Fortress.
Village chief Sun Bufan came to the fortress alone at this time to meet Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui.
Qu Yi and the two others had already obtained official status in the Divine Realm and decided to leave Bai Shou Village that day to explore various places in the Divine Realm. As the village chief, Sun Bufan naturally came to see them off.
“Sun Bufan, from now on, it will be you who takes care of our three people’s Divine Crystal Trees,” Qu Yi said with a smile while sitting on a chair.
The more than 30,000 Divine Crystal Trees owned by Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui were entrusted to Bai Shou Village. In the future, Qu Yi would only receive half of the harvest from the Divine Crystals, with the other half shared between Bai Shou Village and the Huo Li Merchant Alliance.
Since they had become official members of the Divine Realm, the identity cards of Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui now had a scoring function. The harvest from their Divine Crystal Trees would be recorded as points, allowing them to directly allocate funds to purchase items in shops across various towns.
Official members of the Divine Realm could travel throughout the realm precisely because of this scoring function on their identity cards, which enabled them to make direct purchases in towns. Without official status, their identity cards would lack this function, preventing them from buying items and thus unable to travel in the Divine Realm.
Upon hearing Qu Yi’s words, Sun Bufan’s expression darkened, showing signs of regret. “Qu Yi, without you in Bai Shou Village, all our villagers will fall back into dull days again. I don’t know how many years it will be before we see each other again.”
Qu Yi chuckled thoughtfully and said, “Sun Bufan, I think very few of the 10,000 villagers in Bai Shou Village will truly be able to complete the planting task. Even if they do, it will be hundreds of millions of years from now. I’m telling you now—if any villagers don’t want to keep waiting like this, let them join Tian Feng Zhai.”
In the mountainous areas near Bai Shou Village, Divine Crystal Trees had basically disappeared. The reason Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui were able to complete the planting task was because they entered the interior of the Savage Beast Mountains. With the villagers’ current strength, entering the Savage Beast Mountains meant certain death, making it extremely difficult for them to find new Divine Crystal Trees and thus complete the task.
Hearing this, Sun Bufan’s eyes lit up as he had already picked up some clues from Qu Yi’s words.
“Qu Yi, is Tian Feng Zhai your faction?” Sun Bufan was straightforward, never beating around the bush.
Haha…

Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui all laughed, but inwardly they wondered how Sun Bufan had managed to ascend to the divine realm. Someone so naive should have been killed by other cultivators long ago in the mortal world. If it weren’t for Qu Yi’s concern about secrets leaking from Tianfeng Fort, Sun Bufan would already be dead.
“Think whatever you want. Anyway, you’ll be in charge of everything in Beast Village from now on. If you truly want what’s best for these villagers, follow my advice—encourage those who want to avoid the farming tasks to go to Tianfeng Fort. I guarantee their future will be bright,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
Sun Bufan chuckled. He understood that Qu Yi was indirectly confirming his suspicions, so he now had a clear idea.
“Okay, I’ll remember your words. And I’ll definitely keep quiet about Tianfeng Fort’s secrets,” Sun Bufan promised firmly.
Qu Yi just smiled, then looked at Wu Yuan and Qing Wu Gui and said, “Let’s leave Beast Village now.”
Wu Yuan and Qing Wu Gui nodded and immediately followed Qu Yi out of the stone castle, heading toward the outskirts of Beast Village.
With the three of them gone, Beast Village returned to its usual quiet atmosphere. The villagers were all in their homes, concentrating on their cultivation to refine their spiritual bodies.
※※※
After leaving Beast Village, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui entered the Dimension Sphere right away. At that moment, the three sat on Qu Yi’s soft chair, looking at the Instrument God lying on the chair beside him.
“Instrument God, we’ve now become official members of the divine realm. Where should we go next?” Qu Yi asked calmly.
Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui had found their path of cultivation, but further progress required vast resources, which posed a challenge for them. Thus, they hoped to learn more about the divine realm from the Instrument God, an old resident of the divine realm.
Inside Qu Yi’s body, four fused planets orbited around the Chaos Planet. Within them were the Golden Wood Spiritual Body, Golden Water Spiritual Body, Golden Fire Spiritual Body, and Golden Earth Spiritual Body. To increase the number of these four fused spiritual bodies, they needed to absorb the life essence of cultivators who had mastered the laws of wood and metal, water and metal, fire and metal, and earth and metal—only then could they rapidly expand the number of these fused spiritual bodies.

In the Savage Beast Mountains, Wu Yuan revived the Soul Green Pearl, so both the Soul Gold Pearl and the Soul Green Pearl existed in his soul space, enabling him to reach the Divine Weapon stage. As a result, the planet within Wu Yuan’s body also needed to absorb the essence of cultivators who had mastered the laws of metal and wood in order to expand both the metal and wood spiritual bodies simultaneously.

Qing Wu Gui finally succeeded in defeating the law of metal in the Savage Beast Mountains, leaving the Soul Round Pearl with only four colors: green, blue, red, and yellow. From now on, any spells cast by cultivators in the Divine Realm that contained the law of metal would weaken their attack power against Qing Wu Gui. For Qing Wu Gui’s further cultivation, it still involved defeating another law; expanding the number of spiritual bodies within him was quite simple—whichever law he wanted to defeat, he only needed to absorb the corresponding beast core.

The Divine Vessel God sat up from the soft chair, looked at Qu Yi and the other two, and said calmly, “Congratulations, you three have become official members of the Divine Realm. Now you can freely explore it. Next, go to Li Quan City in the Fire Departure Divine Domain, and then visit Huo Bao Town beneath it.”

The Fire Departure Divine Domain consisted of 108 cities, all of which started with the character “Li.” Below these 108 cities were 1,080 towns, all of which started with the character “Huo.”

Upon hearing the Divine Vessel God’s words, Qu Yi was somewhat surprised and wondered why he had sent them three to Li Quan City.

“Divine Vessel God, is there anything special about Huo Bao Town?” Qu Yi asked directly.

Wu Yuan and Qing Wu Gui also looked at the Divine Vessel God curiously, waiting for an answer.

“Huo Bao Town is where I was born,” the Divine Vessel God said with a distant gaze, seemingly lost in memories.

Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui quickly stood up, staring at him in astonishment.

Without even glancing at them, the Divine Vessel God sighed and said lightly, “You three have always wanted to know my background. Now I can no longer hide it from you. Once you start moving around in Li Fei City, you’ll hear of my fame. That’s right, I am the former Divine Vessel God of the Divine Realm—Yan Zhen Leng.”

Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui were once again stunned, forgetting even to ask further questions.

And the Artifact God continued conscientiously, “I am a Divine King, one of the three Divine Kings of the Fire-Light Divine Realm in the past. Li Quan City was once my residence. However, after a great battle, the entire space of Li Quan City collapsed and fell to the lower realms, forming the Meteor Realm Divine World. But when you ascended to Li Fei City, I had already secretly heard that Li Quan City had recovered on its own and is still one of the 108 cities in the Fire-Light Divine Realm. Huo Bao Town has always been a place for crafting. I now want to go and see how it is now, given what happened to me.”
A Divine King? The Artifact God was actually a Divine King.
Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui fell into a state of coldness once again, their minds filled with various thoughts, not knowing how to respond to the Artifact God’s words.
A Divine King’s cultivation level had remained almost unchanged for countless years in the Divine World, and the Artifact God was one of them. What was even more unbelievable was that this Divine King had been defeated and sent to the lower realms—this completely overturned the common knowledge among the cultivators of the Divine World.
After a long silence, Qu Yi finally calmed down, sat down on a soft chair, and looked at the Artifact God calmly.
“Artifact God, how could you be attacked by others? Those people must also be Divine Kings, right? I’m curious. As one of the three Divine Kings of the Fire-Light Divine Realm, when you were attacked, why didn’t the other two Divine Kings step in to help you?” Qu Yi blurted out all his questions at once.
“Ugh, Artifact God, you’re a Divine King, so why do you still look like a baby?” Wu Yuan stared at the Artifact God with wide eyes.
“Can even Divine Kings be trapped?” Qing Wu Gui asked calmly.
The three of them, full of doubts, asked out of curiosity, eager to hear the Artifact God’s answer.
The Artifact God smiled faintly, looking serene, and said, “It’s enough for you three to know that I am a Divine King. As for the rest, with your current strength, what can you do even if you knew? Wait until your strength improves, and then I’ll tell you slowly.”
Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wu Gui felt disappointed, but they had no way to force the Artifact God to answer.
“Alright, since Huo Bao Town is the birthplace of you, the Artifact God, then I’ll head there right away,” Qu Yi said, deciding to act immediately since the Artifact God didn’t want to answer further questions.
Wu Yuan and Qing Wu Gui also nodded firmly.

Just as Qu Yi wanted to leave the Tiny Realm directly, the Artifact God suddenly said, “Qu Yi, send Xu Ming alone to Beiyang Island in the Inner Sea of the Divine Realm. That Beiyang Island is a public trading place in the Divine Realm; you three can gather the resources you need for cultivation there in the future.” Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wugui, whose emotions had just settled down, became curious again and stared at the Artifact God intently. “Artifact God, can you tell us about the terrain of the Divine Realm now?” Qu Yi asked immediately, showing no tolerance for further delay. So far, Qu Yi only knew about the Fire Separation Divine Domain; he knew very little about the core Divine Realm of the entire universe. Naturally, if they were to explore the Divine Realm, they at least needed to know its terrain. The Artifact God chuckled and then said, “I knew you would ask. Alright, I’ll tell you now. The Divine Realm is actually a sphere, though it’s extremely large and boundless—no one has ever explored it in its entirety. In the western hemisphere of the Divine Realm is an ocean called the Outer Sea. The eastern hemisphere is a continent divided into eight Divine Domains: the Thunder Shock Divine Domain in the east, the Wind Xun Divine Domain in the southeast, the Fire Separation Divine Domain in the south, the Earth Kun Divine Domain in the southwest, the Water Dui Divine Domain in the west, the Sky Qian Divine Domain in the northwest, the Water Kan Divine Domain in the north, and the Mountain Gen Divine Domain in the northeast. In the center of the eastern continent lies a circular sea called the Inner Sea. Within the Inner Sea, there are two well-known islands: Beiyang Island to the north and Nanyin Island to the south.” In just a moment, the Artifact God briefly explained the terrain of the Divine Realm to Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wugui. Naturally, the three immediately envisioned the terrain of the Divine Realm in their minds and had a clear idea. “Artifact God, so all eight Divine Domains have the same fan-shaped terrain. The Divine Realm is truly amazing—its terrain is like this,” Qu Yi said in surprise. “Ugh, since the Fire Separation Divine Domain is in the south of the Divine Realm continent, Xu Ming has to cross the Inner Sea to reach Beiyang Island,” Wu Yuan said, eyes lighting up in surprise. “The Divine Realm is vast; we will eventually visit every place,” Qing Wugui said calmly. The Artifact God smiled and then said, “Alright, your strength is still weak now. Take it step by step. First, go to Huobao Town. I’ll think about whether I can help you expand the spiritual bodies within you.” Hearing this, Qu Yi, Wu Yuan, and Qing Wugui immediately showed great joy. With such a Divine King by their side, cultivation indeed progressed smoothly.

Immediately afterward, Qu Yi released Xu Ming with a short-range ball, sending him alone to Beiyang Island. Qu Yi himself would head to Huobao Town.