Chapter 22: The Gathering of the Eight Clans

Beyond the Divine Realm’s seas lay the eastern hemisphere of the Divine Realm, divided into three zones: the outer zone, the central zone, and the core zone. In the central zone, sea beasts of dominator-level strength could easily suppress cultivators at the Divine General stage of the Divine Realm.

After fighting in the outer zone, Qu Yi realized it held little value for Qing Wu Gui and Wu Yuan in terms of cultivation. They needed to rely on the sea beasts in the central zone to further improve their strength. As for the core zone, Qu Yi wasn’t yet so desperate—after all, the sea beasts there could withstand a strike from a Divine King without dying. Attacking there now would only be a waste of time. Strength had to be built step by step.

Qu Yi knew clearly that Qing Wu Gui and Wu Yuan should first go to the central zone and fight against numerous sea beasts. Once their strength improved, he would naturally be interested in challenging the sea beasts in the core zone as well.

The cruiser was now pulled along by the Nine-Headed Imperial Snake, racing forward at high speed.

At present, the Thunder-Eye Ice Crocodile, the Four-Armed Water Ape, the Nine-Headed Imperial Snake, and the Earth-Shaking Crab had all consumed celestial treasures and evolved into divine beasts. Their speed was much faster than before.

At the bow of the ship, Qu Yi, Qing Wu Gui, and Wu Yuan stood tall.

“Qu Yi, why don’t you chase after Yan Tiankuo?” Wu Yuan asked, puzzled, as he gazed at the turbulent sea.

With Qu Yi’s speed, if he really went after Yan Tiankuo, he could easily catch up, break through Yan Tiankuo’s defenses, and kill him outright. In that case, he could obtain a Divine King-level divine artifact as well as the top-grade innate spiritual treasure, the Tianyu Soul Platform.

Qing Wu Gui was also puzzled and stared at Qu Yi.

Qu Yi smiled faintly and said slowly, “Qing Wu Gui, Wu Yuan, you both know that among the six sets of Divine King-level divine artifacts we obtained, there is the will of a Divine King within. The two Divine Kings of the Yan clan are reluctant to confront us directly, but they use this will of the Divine King to warn us not to go too far. If we truly cross the line set by the Divine Kings, we will indeed attract their attention. The Tianyu Soul Platform in Yan Tiankuo’s hands is a precious treasure for the Yan clan. If I kill Yan Tiankuo, it means I’d be stealing that platform, which would violate the limits set by those two Divine Kings.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuan showed an unconvinced expression and immediately shouted, “Qu Yi, although the Divine Kings can defeat you, it’s impossible for them to capture you. At worst, we just kill Yan Tiankuo and keep fleeing in the Divine Realm.”

Qing Wu Gui was instantly filled with murderous intent.

Qu Yi chuckled, patted Wu Yuan on the shoulder, and said with a smile, “Wu Yuan, I might be able to escape from the Divine King, but what about your cultivation and that of Qing Wu? As long as you show up, the Divine King will arrive immediately, and then you’ll have to keep hiding in the Xingluo Ding. Also, those who have reached the pinnacle of cultivation in the Immortal Realm, Demon Realm, Monster Realm, and Spirit Realm—I’ve kept them in the lower realms, preventing them from ascending. I must seize Li Fei City first so that I can allow them to ascend to the Divine Realm without interference from the Divine King. So, I can’t kill Yan Tiankuo for now; I need to wait a while.”

Hearing this, Wu Yuan and Qing Wu immediately realized the burden Qu Yi was carrying alone—their own cultivation, the people of Tianfeng Fort, the hatred of the Weapon Gods, and the fate of those who believed in him in the lower realms—all of these were on Qu Yi’s shoulders.

Undoubtedly, to achieve all this, Qu Yi couldn’t avoid it and could only navigate the situation among the eight royal families in the Divine Realm. And the most crucial point was not to provoke the Divine King into taking action. Faced with the pursuit of the Divine King, it would be very difficult for Qu Yi to carry out his plans smoothly.

Wu Yuan and Qing Wu fell silent, no longer speaking. They silently vowed to work hard on their cultivation, aiming to reach the level of a Divine King so that they could confront the Divine Kings of the eight divine realms.

Seeing their expressions, Qu Yi said with a faint smile, “You don’t need to worry. I don’t want to provoke the Divine King right now, but if the eight royal families push too hard, I’m not afraid of killing all their Divine General-level disciples.”

With the power of the universe and the Cunjie Ball that was transforming the universe, what was there for Qu Yi to fear?

Wu Yuan and Qing Wu nodded firmly.

Suddenly, Wu Yuan asked again, “Qu Yi, you said you want to seize Li Fei City. How do you plan to do that?”

Qu Yi chuckled and replied directly, “Wu Yuan, there are great battles among cultivators at the Divine Weapon level and group battles among those at the Divine General level. But have you ever thought about what kind of competitions exist among Divine General-level disciples? How do the city lords of the eight divine realms in the Divine Realm come about?”

Wu Yuan and Qing Wu were stunned. They only focused on cultivation and paid no attention to the mundane knowledge of the Divine Realm.

Seeing their expressions, Qu Yi stopped pressing them further and said with a smile, “Divine General-level cultivators will have individual battles, with a cycle of one hundred trillion years. The next round of these individual battles won’t be long away—less than five million years. That’s when it will be time for us to compete. As long as we perform well in these battles, we can obtain the position of city lord.”

Wuyuan and Qingwugui finally understood, realizing that Qu Yi wanted to take advantage of this individual battle to seize the position of Lord of Lifei City. In that way, those who ascended from the Immortal Realm, Demon Realm, Monster Realm, and Spirit Realm could be under Qu Yi’s protection.
“So that’s how it is. As long as you take control of Lifei City, the Yan Clan won’t be able to interfere in its affairs, and thus they won’t be able to control those who ascended from the lower realms,” Wuyuan laughed loudly.
“I also want to fight for a position as lord,” Qingwugui said straightforwardly.
Qu Yi laughed heartily, pointing at the sea ahead, and said, “Alright, there’s still some time. Fight hard against those sea beasts in the central area of the outer seas to improve your strength first.”
Wuyuan and Qingwugui nodded.
※※※
Yan Tiankuo fled in panic with three Yan Clan disciples. Now that their fears had subsided, they found themselves above a certain sea area.
“Damn it…” Yan Tiankuo was furious but didn’t know what to say.
The other three Yan Clan disciples were extremely depressed. Six disciples at the Divine General stage of the Yan Clan had died in just one battle, and six divine king-level artifacts had been lost. This defeat had severely damaged the Yan Clan’s prestige.
Even the top-tier innate spiritual treasure, Tianyu Hun Tai, couldn’t defeat Qu Yi—this was what left the remaining four Yan Clan disciples utterly frustrated. After all, Tianyu Hun Tai was a rare top-tier innate spiritual treasure, with only a few existing in the eight regions of the Divine Realm. It was the most powerful artifact, yet it still couldn’t defeat Qu Yi, which was hard to understand.
Could it be that only a Divine King could now subdue Qu Yi?
At that moment, Yan Tiankuo and the other three disciples were extremely frustrated and could only make such guesses, concluding that cultivators at the Divine General stage still couldn’t unleash the full power of top-tier innate spiritual treasures.
“Alright, Yan Tianmo, tell us what our next plan should be,” Yan Tiankuo turned to one of them and asked.
The remaining three Yan Clan disciples were Yan Tianmo, Yan Tianxiang, and Yan Tianyou.
Yan Tianmo, who was usually calm, thought carefully for a moment before saying, “Leader, Qu Yi’s potential is terrifying. We must kill him while he’s still at the Divine General stage. Since our Yan Clan can’t defeat him alone, we should unite with the other seven clans to jointly suppress him. Although it may harm our clan’s reputation, compared to the threat Qu Yi will pose to us in the future, I think it’s worth it.”
The royal families of the MountainGan Divine Realm, EarthEarthKun Divine Realm Divine Realm -> EarthKun Divine Realm Divine Realm Divine Realm, ThunderThunder Divine Realm, WindWind Divine Realm, WaterDivine Realm Divine Realm Divine Realm, SkySky Divine Realm, and WaterWater Divine Realm had already united, only slightly behind the Yan Clan of the FireLi Divine Realm Divine Realm Divine Realm.

Yan Tiankuo heard this, thought for a moment, sighed, and said softly, “Alright. Since our Yan clan has brought a top-grade innate spiritual treasure, I believe the other seven clans must also have brought their own top-grade innate spiritual treasures. Let’s work together to suppress Qu Yi.”
Yan Tianmo, Yan Tianxiang, and Yan Tianyou immediately nodded in joy.
Soon after, the four members of the Yan clan flew off to find the main forces of the other seven clans.
Above a certain sea area…
The four from the Yan clan finally arrived, and in front of them, seven disciples from the imperial clans were already waiting. Each of these seven imperial clans had ten members, totaling seventy people, all of whom possessed powerful auras.
Yan Tiankuo glanced around and immediately flew over, laughing loudly, “Qiu Guanling, Wu Zhuangchen, Bai Feiyun, Sang Yunpeng, Tian Chaolin, Gongye Zhi, Jin Ziping—it’s been a long time since we last saw each other. Now, for a common goal, we’re finally meeting again.”
These seven—Qiu Guanling, Wu Zhuangchen, Bai Feiyun, Sang Yunpeng, Tian Chaolin, Gongye Zhi, and Jin Ziping—were the leaders of the other seven imperial clans. All of them ranked high on the heavenly rankings, each being extremely mysterious and hard to fathom.
Standing at the front, they simply smiled faintly when they saw Yan Tiankuo approaching, their smiles carrying an underlying meaning.
Yan Tiankuo had taken his clan members to confront Qu Yi, hoping to show off his strength in front of the cultivators from the seven clans. But now that only four members of his clan remained, it was clear they had suffered a heavy defeat at Qu Yi’s hands.
Naturally, the seven understood this, but they didn’t want to ruin relations right away. They just smiled faintly without asking directly.
“Welcome, Brother Yan Tiankuo,” the seven replied with smiles.
Yan Tiankuo remained calm. He also noticed the hidden meaning in their smiles. Since they hadn’t brought it up, he wouldn’t bring it up either. At that moment, he arrived in front of the seven.
“Seven of you, shall we find a place to gather and carefully discuss a plan to deal with Qu Yi?” Yan Tiankuo said with a smile.
Qiu Guanling, Wu Zhuangchen, Bai Feiyun, Sang Yunpeng, Tian Chaolin, Gongye Zhi, and Jin Ziping looked at Yan Tiankuo, their eyes flickering, before agreeing.
It wasn’t long before the eight leaders descended to the seabed and used restrictions to block external senses before sitting down to discuss.
Yan Tiankuo took the initiative to explain the situation of his recent battle with Qu Yi.
“What? You used the Tianyu Soul Platform and still couldn’t kill Qu Yi?”
Suddenly, Qiu Guanling, Wu Zhuangchen, Bai Feiyun, Sang Yunpeng, Tian Chaolin, Gongye Zhi, and Jin Ziping all stood up in shock, unable to believe it, their voices echoing loudly.