AST 2273 - Two years later, Demon’s Gate invading the Nine Domains (1/2)

The sun was glaring with tens of thousands of strands of golden light falling onto the entire lake and the surrounding greenery. The air smelled like fresh grass. A light breeze blew by. Though it was slightly cold, everything here was as usual.

Myriad things will recover. The recovery of life would be strongest at this time.

Qing Shui sat down on the grass, leisurely looking at the clouds up in the sky. A few deer were making merry a distance away and ants were slowly crawling up next to him. An eagle was soaring high in the sky while Qing Shui, bathed in the glowing rays of the sun, seemed to let off his own glow.

Golden Brilliance Dao!

Qing Shui felt the limitless power of the sun’s rays, bringing forth endless vitality. The beings on this earth had their own circles and relations, seemingly linked and yet unrelated, constantly breeding and growing, constantly passing onto each new generation.

This was a Heavenly Dao rule, the Golden Brilliance Dao.

Qing Shui had stayed here for quite some time, killing beasts, observing the birth of plants, demonic beasts, wild beasts, and flying beasts. He also spectated battles and the peace after the battles, the continuation of life, from withering to thriving, returning to withering...

There would be disappearances. There would also be unbelievably low troughs, which would be followed by brilliant, incandescent peaks. Qing Shui most frequently observed the ants and learned the most from these ants.

Two years had passed in a flash.

Qing Shui had been here for two years and he had reached the Ninth Cave Realm a year and a half ago. He had been constantly observing the Heavenly Dao, comprehending it as he tempered his body and underwent battles. The Tenth Cave never budged, but he didn’t despair either.

The Tenth Cave Realm was a fabled realm. Even pure blooded Desolate beasts undergoing weird phenomena to reach for it would fail miserably. One might even turn into ashes if they were careless.

Hence, the most exceptional humans would only open eight or nine caves and then enter the next realm, while pure blooded Desolate beasts would almost all open nine, with some with weaker talent opening eight, and then charging right into the next realm.

Eight Caves was the sign of a monarch of an area, while a single Nine Caves expert would appear in a million mile radius. Counting premature death and other situations, it would be 1 in a hundred million living beings.

The Caves Realm was preceded by the Divine Connection Realm, hence it was difficult to enter to begin with.

Peng!

Another one of the Caves behind Qing Shui’s back was turning golden. He smiled, seeing that he had finally grasped a strange rule. Qing Shui had nine Caves and five of them were already golden.

The next one was successfully refined into gold.

Qing Shui understood that the Ten Caves Realm was something that could be met but never sought after. It seemed high time for him to return. Qing Shui had also returned a few times before since it didn’t take more than a few days. Anyway, with the Sky-Obstructing Crow present, he could be at ease.

Qing Shui’s Cave turning golden allowed his strength to improve by leaps and bounds, but most crucially, the Caves were part of the Heavenly Dao Realm. Therefore, this was an improvement in his Heavenly Dao Realm.

He used the Nine Continents Steps to leave.

Qing Shui wanted to wait for all nine caves to turn golden before returning.

However, this sort of thing required some level of luck. Fortunately, this wasn’t exceptionally difficult to accomplish. It merely required time. It could even stagnate, with decades passing before a Cave turned golden. With his current attainments, Qing Shui didn’t have anything to complain about.

On the fourth day of his journey, he arrived at the Divine Palace. This place was still the same after half a year.

The Sky-Obstructing Crow took one look at Qing Shui and said: “Not bad.”