The Steward Demonic Emperor

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"Humanity focuses on insight. To advance, they need to go through the stages. Sacred beasts rely on power and need to amass greater power to advance. This ended up being the root of the most terrible war of all time."

Dragon ancestor's eyes shone as he grit his fangs, showing his bloodlust, "All humans searched for a way to advance, with almost none succeeding. But two Sovereigns and one beast had their own ideas. They were the strongest Heavenly Sovereign, the most devious Nine Serenities, and the most unscrupulous geezer Kunpeng. If not for him, Thunder Phoenix would've never had suffered so much at Heavenly Sovereign's insidious blow."

Zhuo Fan's heart shook, "H-Heavenly Sovereign hurt the Thunder Phoenix?"

"How else do you think the Purple Lightning Gold Eye came to be?"

Decimating Dragon Ancestor mocked, "Each of these three had their own way of overcoming the Sovereign Stage. Heavenly Sovereign wanted to do it through the Divine Eye of the Void that contained everything. By holding all the world offered, he'll become its supreme ruler. Nine Serenities Sovereign pondered that all things had the same source, the world's Dao. By wielding the world's power, wouldn't you have it all? Through their own understanding, each ruled!"

Zhuo Fan shook and nodded.

[This must be the source of the Demon Transformation Art. A shame Nine Serenities Sovereign never got the chance to train it, having gone missing.]

"As for Kunpeng…"

Dragon ancestor grew angry, his burning claw swiping around, "He actually wanted to steal our four great sacred beasts' power. By means of returning them to primal chaos, he would go beyond a sacred beast and reach the highest level."

"What, combining five great sacred beasts powers?" Zhuo Fan was shocked. Thinking about it, he had considered it as well at some point. But he was not the first, Kunpeng came up with it in ancient times.

If he hadn't combined four of them already, Zhuo Fan would've labeled Kunpeng as a madman. Five extreme powers clashing into each other? It'd be a miracle if you were still around to tell the tale.

But having gone through that preliminary process, he knew that the result would be beyond the five great sacred beasts' power.

So much so, it was in another realm.

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While Kunpeng's intentions were dubious at best, this avenue showed promise. As for success, it all came down to how he handled these powers.

Dragon ancestor continued in a dark tone, "Ever since the ten Sovereigns appeared, we could no longer overlook humanity. But humans are deceitful, unlike the frank spiritual beasts. To come in contact with the ten Sovereigns, we elected the most glib sacred beast among us, Kunpeng. We had no way of knowing the crafty Kunpeng who only mediated our conflicts had been corrupted by humanity's twisted minds.

"To test whether the five powers could be combined, he created the Word Crushing Array that five beasts could use. He came to us with it by lying it was to counter the ten Sovereigns. The day the array was employed, no matter how strong the five powers were, there was no sign of joining together. Disappointed, he figured the powers were still inside each of us and that's why they could not fuse correctly. So he sought the help of Heavenly Sovereign. The first victim ended up to be Thunder Phoenix!"

"That means young Sanzi is in terrible danger?!" Zhuo Fan panicked. He had severe doubts about Kunpeng from the start, but since he had done nothing untoward so far, he let down his guard.

But hearing Kunpeng's goal from dragon ancestor, letting Gu Santong in his charge was like handing him on a silver platter.

Dragon ancestor shook his head, "Worry not, the old coot won't touch the kid. He's still growing. All the powers in the world are in balance. A tiny Qilin won't put a dent in his appetite to begin with. It's too soon for his plan. Besides, he has yet to find the right way to even achieve it."

Nodding, Zhuo Fan eased a heavy breath. But even so, he was still worried about leaving young Sanzi with that geezer.

"Especially since he painted a pretty picture when he asked you to come save us. It's obvious to everyone that with your immature Divine Eye of the Void, there won't be any rescue. His meaning was to make peace since we all have a common enemy."

"Heavenly Sovereign?"

Zhuo Fan's heart thumped.

Dragon ancestor's mood was heavy, "Yes, when he went to ally with Heavenly Sovereign, it was the worst mistake of his life. Heavenly Sovereign's ambition was far greater. After stealing Thunder Phoenix's Berserk Purple Lightning, he turned. Heavenly Sovereign is a proud man, considering everyone beneath him, even us, sacred beasts. But he feared our powers. Especially Thunder Phoenix's, known to be a destructive force of raw power, the most terrible of the five. If he took the purple lightning for himself, then nothing in the world could escape his Divine Eye of the Void!"

"He worked with Kunpeng, but only to test his limits. Once he assessed them, he went to work on his true plan, which included all living things."

"What is it?" Zhuo Fan asked even as his mind worked some guesses.

With a sneer, the dragon ancestor said, "As an inheritor of the Divine Eye of the Void, you still don't know its power?"

"A new world?"

"Yes, creating an entirely new world and having everything moved there, to become its supreme ruler." Taking a deep breath, the dragon ancestor revealed a hint of fear, "This is without a doubt a catastrophe to this world. With everything contained in his eye, we'll be nothing but cattle. Or, worse, he plans on using the power of the entire world to advance beyond the Sovereign Stage and attain true dominion.

"Sacred beasts being against this was obvious, but even the other Sovereigns would defy it! This marked the start of a great war among the ten ancient Sovereigns. It ravaged the lands for millennia, taking a heavy toll on its inhabitants. No matter how strong Heavenly Sovereign was, not even he was assured of victory. To make sure his ultimate skill did not go out, he used an Imparting Stone, hiding it behind a realm. Finding out about this, we planned on stealing it and figuring out its weaknesses.

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"But soon, Heavenly Sovereign noticed our plan. Enraged, he hunted us four sacred beasts down. With the power of his eye, he created the mortal domain to trap us. In essence, the mortal domain is Heavenly Sovereign's prison, and we the inmates. We were being assaulted by Berserk Purple Lightning every day, wanting to take back his art. He had no idea Qilin had taken it, ha-ha-ha…"

Dragon ancestor laughed, but his joy was with tears. For the great sacred beasts to be trapped by a single man, this was no longer shame, but humiliation.

And? He was Heavenly Sovereign, the strongest Sovereign for a reason.

Zhuo Fan was dumbstruck. Every Sacred Domain denizen believed the lowest rung, the mortal domain, was made naturally. Now he found out the truth that Heavenly Sovereign had created it to trap the sacred beasts.

[Just what power is that? Isn't this like being the ruler of a world? Is this the power of a Sovereign?]

Dragon ancestor broke him out of his dazed look with a smile, "Heavenly Sovereign is the very peak of this world."

Zhuo Fan sighed.

"Afterward, we roamed the mortal domain, suffering every day, oblivious of how the ten Sovereigns' war was going…"

"Then the ten Sovereigns vanished practically overnight. The rumors say they fell, dead fighting each other…" Zhuo Fan sighed.

Dragon ancestor cracked up, "Ha-ha-ha, they fell? Don't make me laugh. Granted, others might fall, but Heavenly Sovereign? What about this prison, isn't it still standing?"

"The mortal domain will stand as long as Heavenly Sovereign lives?" Craning his head up, Zhuo Fan asked in disbelief.

Dragon ancestor shook his head, "I'm unsure either. The mortal domain was something he made with his eye. I don't know if it would vanish once he's dead. But I can still feel his piercing gaze on this world, to see if we have yet to still be under the purple lightning's onslaught. "

"Heavenly Sovereign still watches this place?"

"Maybe not watch, since everything here is in the palm of his hand." Dragon ancestor gritted his fangs, "Just like in the new world he wants to make in his own image, the people here are at his whim. As if the world laws or The Ten Paths to Heaven, the amount of experts are limited. He appears to be the overlord of this world, pressing down on the strong cultivators. Kid, you came from the Sacred Domain, but have you ever heard of anyone from the mortal domain reaching the Sacred Domain?"

Zhuo Fan frowned, "I have never thought about it like that. But the mortal domain's spiritual energy is thin and makes it hard for…"

A thought struck Zhuo Fan, "You mean…"

"Quite."

Dragon ancestor's voice was firm, "In the mortal domain, Heavenly Sovereign's world, not only is cultivation suppressed, but no one is allowed to leave it. If there's a true outstanding genius that comes out, humph, Heavenly Sovereign's rage would bore down on him, snuffing him out. In the end, this place is a test for Heavenly Sovereign's new world. He is the lord over it and we are merely the guinea pigs populating it."