... Amidst the external thunder, Lei Dong sat suspended in the void, his expression placid as if receiving some grand, mysterious inheritance.

Tai Ming and the Barbarian masters accompanying the Butterfly Emperor, while assisting Lei Dong with his protection, all wore complex expressions. They recalled the Great Ancestor God mentioning that once the inheritance was complete, Lei Dong would become their new leader.

This realization filled them with apprehension and unease. They had grown so accustomed to the presence of the Ancestor God that his demise, his departure from their side, seemed an utterly terrifying prospect.

Yet, they could not disobey the Ancestor God’s decree. In their hearts, they harbored a certain expectation—perhaps this new leader could bring them a fresh hope.

Most bewildered were the Queen of Pain and Fairy Cang Lan. The cascade of dramatic events left them exchanging bewildered glances. However, from their prior conversations, they could deduce that this entire affair was profoundly advantageous for Lei Dong.

Whether due to dark arts or personal affection, both women now found themselves instinctively considering matters from Lei Dong’s perspective. Thus, they patiently cultivated their power while awaiting Lei Dong’s awakening.

Lei Dong had gained immensely from their foray into the Crystal Ancient Clan’s sacred grounds. He had distributed ample amounts of Chaos Crystals to them, allowing them to accelerate their cultivation. Consequently, the Chaos Crystals were consumed one after another—like children eating candy—to refine and temper their very beings.

The sight of this made the Giant of the Underworld and the Butterfly Clan members intensely covetous. Due to the suppression by the Allied Forces of the Three Realms, the Barbarian territory had been drastically shrunk, leading to a gradual scarcity of various resources.

Chaos Crystals were inherently a rare and scarce resource in nature. Even for these powerful Giants of the Underworld, such resources were few and far between now.

If not for the fact that these two Immortal-Demon women were the future mistress’s servants, Tai Ming, possessing the quasi-Saint realm, might well have been tempted to make a move.

Fortunately, the chaotic spiritual energy within this small celestial realm seemed quite abundant. The less fortunate ones could only greedily inhale deep drafts of chaotic spiritual energy to sustain their slow cultivation.

Time passed swiftly, several months rushing by. Lei Dong finally stirred from his meditative state, slowly returning to awareness. Though his cultivation level had not advanced during these months of secluded practice, his eyes were filled with a tranquil softness and a restrained brilliance.

Lei Dong’s harvest from the consciousness of the Nether God was vast. Beyond esoteric secrets and knowledge concerning the universe, the greatest gain was his profound insight and experience regarding several fundamental Laws.

The three Laws the Nether God specialized in were, respectively, the Law of the Netherworld, the Law of Annihilation, and the Law of Indestructibility. His comprehension of the Law of the Netherworld had reached near perfection; at least in the boundless cosmos, no one could surpass him in this domain, not even the Supreme Beings of the Three Realms.

The Laws of Annihilation and Indestructibility were originally gained by the Nether God during his inheritance from the Crystal Ancient Clan, which he subsequently passed on to the King of the Underworld. The King of the Underworld further developed them and passed them to the Demon Emperor, who in turn bequeathed them to Lei Dong.

The Demon Emperor was a genius of astonishing talent, possessing deep understanding of these two Laws. However, due to certain limitations in the method of transmission, they could not simply transfer every piece of his comprehension to Lei Dong. They could only pass on a minuscule fraction of insight and limited understanding.

As a result, although Lei Dong had barely managed to achieve entry-level grasp of these two Laws, the true mastery of them lay down an exceptionally long path. Not just ten thousand years, but perhaps millions or tens of millions of years, might not be enough for Lei Dong to fully grasp these two exceedingly difficult Supreme Laws.

However, relying on the insights gleaned from the Nether God’s consciousness, Lei Dong held the hope of mastering those two complex Laws in a relatively short period.

Of course, even absorbing someone else’s experience and insight could not be accomplished instantaneously. Lei Dong had merely organized and categorized these elements, storing them within his own divine soul, ready to be pondered and comprehended whenever he had leisure.

It took him only a relatively short time to sample the Law of the Netherworld. Despite the brevity, Lei Dong’s gains were excellent; his understanding of the Law of the Netherworld deepened another level. He suspected he could now barely begin undertaking repairs on the Nether King Banner.

The reason he paused after this initial sorting and classification was that within the Nether God’s memories, he discovered something else that intensely piqued his interest: the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands.

Over the years, every time he used the Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land, Lei Dong felt a profound sense of wonder. Who exactly could have created such an astonishing artifact?

The Law of Time was one of the most magnificent of all Laws.

Lei Dong had initially presumed that powerful figures in the Combination Stage could begin mastering the Law of Time and establish formations that manipulated temporal flow. But as his own cultivation level ascended and his perspective broadened dramatically, he realized mastering the Law of Time was far from simple.

Typically, only spells like divination techniques could barely compel the Law of Time for temporary personal use. Currently, even including the Supreme Beings of the Three Realms, the Immortal Venerables, the Demon Venerables, and the Mother of All Spirits—known as the Demon Venerable—their grasp of the Law of Time remained confined to very rudimentary applications.

The Mother of All Spirits was the most proficient among them, capable of setting up a temporal Law formation that could indefinitely freeze time within a localized area. She could also unleash the powerful technique known as Temporal Sealing.

But regrettably, the Temporal Sealing technique consumed enormous energy and could only maintain the frozen time for a brief duration. Unless aided by a formation, who among Supreme-level combatants would be foolish enough to walk into such a trap? At worst, they would simply flee, change the battlefield, and leave their pursuer to follow if they dared.

This confirmed that the mighty being who forged the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands could not be ordinary. Indeed, Lei Dong found relevant documentation within the Nether God’s memories.

It was easy to locate such data because even the Nether God himself held this artifact in high regard. The origin of the Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land was linked to the Nether God’s early fortuitous encounter within the Crystal Ancient Clan ruins, where he discovered two treasures the clan called ‘Time Conversion Orbs.’ Though the name sounded grand, they could only slow the passage of time within a specific area.

The Nether God ultimately established his power base by utilizing the Time Conversion Orbs to forge an ultimate Chaos Treasure, which was the Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land that Lei Dong now possessed. Otherwise, even the Nether God could not have fabricated an item of that caliber.

This revelation underscored the staggering might of the Crystal Ancient Clan. According to the intelligence the Nether God acquired, the Time Conversion Orbs represented the pinnacle of the Crystal Ancient Clan’s artifact refinement; each one demanded immense wealth and resources. Their original intention was to use the orbs to rapidly manufacture a large contingent of puppets at the Combination Stage to eradicate the Demon Clan, whom they termed a ‘malignant tumor.’

Alas, before these two supreme treasures could be fully completed, the Crystal Ancient Clan’s central goddess was personally struck down by the Demon Venerable, plunging the entire clan into chaos. They were eventually picked off one by one by the Demon Clan, suffering total annihilation.

However, these two treasures proved a boon to the Nether God. Relying on the Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land, he gained extensive time for cultivation and research. It was through these advantages that he ascended to the Supreme level in a short span and found the time to pursue his ‘life creation’ experiments.

After escaping an attack by the Supreme Being of the Three Realms that nearly killed him, this Chaos Treasure remained hidden in his secluded lair. Both Lei Dong and the Nether God hypothesized that these artifacts eventually fell into the hands of the King of the Underworld, otherwise, how could the King have risen so rapidly?

As for how the Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land ultimately ended up with the Grand Supreme Sect, that remained unknown. But what was certain was that before Lei Dong acquired it, that scoundrel surnamed Li from the Grand Supreme Sect had only just obtained the item. If he had been given time to utilize it, his cultivation would certainly not have remained at that level.

In the end, after circulating through countless hands, it still benefited Lei Dong. Of course, Lei Dong’s possession of the artifact was deserved, as it rightfully belonged to his lineage.

But that was not all.

Because there were two Time Conversion Orbs in total, only one was used to construct the Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land. The Nether God always carried the other orb on his person. After fleeing to this remote and ecologically complex wilderness, the Nether God utilized that ‘Time Conversion Orb’ to refine another Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land.

It was also thanks to this new Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land that the Nether God was able to swiftly research and develop several new races in a short time. Ill-fatedly, before he could truly amass sufficient strength, his trail was discovered by Demon Clan scouts.

Fortunately, the Supreme Being of the Three Realms had not fully recovered from his injuries, and secondly, they were unaware that this Barbarian Ancestor was their hidden affliction, the Nether God. This allowed him to evade detection until now, merely dispatching subordinates to clean up the remnants.

And what interested Lei Dong most, naturally, was that new Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land. He had assumed that his recent cultivation and accumulation of power would require enduring a slower pace, as his original Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land remained in the Chaotic Void Dimension.

Even though it was his soul-refined Natal Spirit Treasure, it was impossible for him to summon it across such a vast distance—at least, not with his current ability.

The new Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land was not enjoyed solely by the Nether God. Some of his more talented subordinates also benefited from its use. Otherwise, no matter how powerful Tai Ming was, it would have been impossible for him to cultivate to the quasi-Saint level.

“Tai Ming,” Lei Dong spoke slowly. “After completing the transmission of my experience and insights, the consciousness body of the Great Ancestor God became overly fatigued and requires a period of recuperation within an external divine sense. Before he entered repose, he commanded me to inform you all that you are to follow my orders and directions. I trust you are already aware of this?” This was a contingency the Nether God had set up before the body possession, ensuring he would not lose these painstakingly gathered subordinates upon successful takeover.

“Yes, Young Master,” Tai Ming rumbled respectfully. But he could never have dreamed that the great Ancestor God had been consumed by Lei Dong.

“My Old Ancestor Master told me we possess a Sacred Domain,” Lei Dong said casually. “Take me there. I need to refine it. The Old Ancestor said that place is no longer secure.”

...(To be continued)RQ