Chapter 458: Celestial Phenomenon

“I’m different from the beings of this world. They’re born here and die here. But I’m just passing through…”

Zuo Meng returned to his cave and opened his palm.

The golden seed reappeared in his hand. After nurturing it, he’d replenished the energy used during his breakthrough and grasped a hint of the secret to reaching the Endless Realm. That secret was intent! Qi, a unique energy of the real world he’d never encountered before. Yet through half an epoch of observing this world’s inhabitants, he’d found a shortcut.

“A traveler doesn’t walk roads made by others.”

Sixty years among mortals. Now came the final step.

The Endless Realm stood unchallenged in these lands. Even the Totem Tribe treated such power cautiously. Reaching it would let him glimpse higher truths.

While Zuo Meng meditated, the elder returned to tribal halls where Core Elders waited with their leader.

“His choice?” someone demanded.

“He delays.” The elder scowled, still smarting from Zuo Meng’s dismissive tone.

“Six months. Then we choose for him!”

“Why share power with an outsider who’s never served us?” Coldness flickered in the tribe leader’s eyes.

A pity they’d noticed too late. Thousand Mountain Realm cultivators couldn’t be bullied like common juniors. This was why they offered choices instead of force – such warriors were tribal assets, the leader’s personal wealth…

Six moons passed. Zuo Meng never came.

“As expected – no surrender here.”

The foreign affairs elder approached the cave with two colleagues, all authority of high positions behind them. No more patience. No more warnings.

“Outsiders never belong.”

“He’ll use us to reach the Totem Tribe.”

The elders grimaced. Dealing with this upstart had wasted time better spent on their own pursuits.

The sealed stone door mocked them.

“Break it.”

Power gathered in the leftmost elder’s palm – then vanished as crushing energy erupted from within. All three staggered back, robes askew. Their irritation died when terrifying might pulsed through the cave walls.

BOOM!

A pillar of light tore through darkening skies. Clouds swirled into vortexes around its brilliance.

“Endless Realm phenomenon?!”

“Impossible! He reached Thousand Mountain Realm half a year ago!”

The elders paled. They’d seen this spectacle decades past when a Totem elder ascended after four centuries’ preparation. The memory still haunted them.

“Six months… to climb from Thousand Mountain to Endless?!”

The would-be door-breaker trembled. He’d come to discipline a junior, not provoke an emerging titan! Silent curses flew toward their petty leader. None recalled their own earlier agreement.

“What now?”

“We wait. If he succeeds, we kowtow. If not…” The foreign affairs elder didn’t finish. Above them, the heavens roared.

Meanwhile, on the mountain’s lower slopes…

Little Girl hugged her knees outside the meditation cave. Becoming a Beast Control disciple through “Grandpa Meng’s” influence had seemed miraculous six months ago. Now seniors fawned over her, hoping to reach her mysterious patron.

She knew better than to believe their flattery. Everything depended on the grandfather she’d met just once. Weekly visits to his sealed cave became routine – part reminder of her status, part genuine curiosity.

“Does Grandpa Meng hate the village?”

Six months of closed doors bred wild theories. The teenager imagined ancient grudges from her father’s stories.

“They supported Grandfather Xiaofeng back then… barely acknowledged him…”

Her chin rested on hands as swirling skies cast shadows on the stone.