Chapter 459: Endless Realm
Chapter 459: Endless Realm
The “Grandpa Xiaofeng” mentioned by the Little Girl was Zuo Meng’s talented cousin from the same generation. Zuo Feng had been selected to join the tribe as a child, becoming a celebrated figure in their village. Back then, all village resources were funneled into Zuo Feng’s development, leaving Zuo Meng unable to enter the tribe until he risked trading with Uncle Dayou for the Wolf Fang.
Over the following decades, Zuo Feng never managed to break through to Open Meridians. As he aged, the tribe sent him back to the village, where he inherited his father’s role as shaman and became Wangu Village’s new spiritual leader.
Now nearly eighty, Zuo Feng’s legs had grown unsteady. He often sighed while reflecting on his past, wondering if the village regretted choosing him. But those decisions belonged to the older generation, and Zuo Feng had no say back then. He mostly felt he’d failed to repay the village’s investment.
As Little Girl wandered lost in thought, the sky abruptly darkened.
She looked up to see swirling vortexes tearing through the heavens, crackling with terrifying energy as if the world itself raged.
“Nightfall?”
The Little Girl had never seen anything like this. Her head buzzed as an incomprehensible power radiated from the mountain. The Pressure intensified as the phenomenon spread, forcing weaker cultivators to their knees.
Chaos erupted at the mountain’s base where Beast Control Department apprentices fed guarding monsters. Frightened beasts smashed through fences, their roars drowning out the disciples’ desperate attempts to restrain them.
“What’s happening?!”
Most apprentices were recent village recruits, utterly unprepared for such chaos.
“It’s coming from there!”
Sharper-eyed disciples pointed toward the disturbance’s origin.
“Isn’t that Little Girl’s grandpa’s cave?” Everyone knew Little Girl’s influential background in the Beast Control Department, though many secretly resented her privileges.
“Did her grandpa become a god?”
Gods were legendary beings in the Great Wasteland, with Ancient Deities being the mightiest from mythic times. For these youths, “becoming a god” represented the pinnacle of power.
The tribe leader instantly recognized the phenomenon’s source.
“Endless Realm? Zuo Meng’s attempting to reach the Endless Realm?!”
The leader’s stomach churned as he recalled his earlier attempts to suppress Zuo Meng. In the Great Wasteland, strength ruled supreme. If Zuo Meng succeeded, the tribe might soon have a new leader. As for the Totem Tribe? Higher tribes only cared about receiving tribute on time.
“Reaching the Endless Realm in sixty years from ordinary beginnings? He must possess extraordinary secrets!”
The bald elder from Beast Control Department licked his lips greedily.
“What if he does? Would you dare scheme against an Endless Realm powerhouse?” The tribe leader glared at the bald man, realizing how foolish he’d been to listen to such shortsighted advice.
“Succeed and he’s invincible. Fail and he’s nothing.”
The bald elder crossed his arms, confidence undiminished.
At the mountain peak,
Three foreign affairs elders near Zuo Meng’s cave turned pale. Though Thousand Mountain Realm cultivators themselves, they trembled under the Endless Realm’s Pressure.
When the sky finally cleared, the sealed stone door swung open. A figure emerged radiating power that dwarfed all present.
Endless Realm!
The aura matched what they’d sensed from Totem Tribe’s Elder during their last visit.
“Greetings, Elder!”
The tribe had no Endless Realm cultivators. By Great Wasteland tradition, any reaching this level became Elders – supreme authorities even in the Totem Tribe, though rumors spoke of their legendary King-level ancestor unseen for eight centuries.
In their tribe, the Endless Realm meant absolute dominance.
Rules? Duties? Meaningless before such power.
Elder?
Grandpa Meng actually advanced again!
Little Girl gaped from a distance. This was the same “mediocre talent” her ancestors had dismissed!
“Enough formalities.” Zuo Meng’s gaze swept the kneeling elders.
The Core Elder who’d planned to break down the door prostrated first. “We beg forgiveness for our disrespect!”
Zuo Meng ignored them. Having finally gained true power, he cared nothing for tribal politics. After glancing at the cowering figures, he vanished.
The three Core Elders remained kneeling long after he left.
‘We… we were beneath his notice?’
They rose with bitter smiles, relieved yet humiliated. Survival brought comfort, but being treated as insignificant insects stung their pride.
“We must make amends, even if the Elder shows mercy.”
“Endless Realm dignity can’t be slighted. The leader must adjust his attitude too.”
Brushing dirt from their robes, the elders hurried to repair relations. The Elder’s mercy today didn’t guarantee tomorrow’s – better to appease the dragon than risk its wrath later.