Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

Despite this, the realm thrived for tens of thousands after the Heavenly Monarch’s death. All of this had to do with the inheritance system of the Grand Sirius. In particular, two trials that the Heavenly Monarch established in his last years.

The Earthly Beginning and the Heavenly End Trial.

In the entire realm, only a few forces have sufficient clout to participate in the trial, and it can be done as long as you have two things. Firstly, a ’Heaven’ and ’Earth’ token; secondly, two participants - one male and one female from the younger generation for each trial.

Unfortunately, there was a further twist.

It was randomly bestowed to a single individual per Heavenly Commander’s force in the realm.

This random bestowment was given to the female gender, and then, they must select three other participants. Unfortunately, the others don’t necessarily need the approval of the chosen female. They just needed the token. Although, the token can’t initially be taken by anyone until the female selects. After, as long as you obtained the token, then you’ll be able to participate.

The trial could be taken at any time, but generally was decided by the force which owns the four tokens. After all, the chance to participate in the trial was of the utmost importance and may not arrive for another ten thousand or so years.

There were two tokens for each side, one denoting heaven and the other denoting earth. A total of four tokens for each pair. When brought together, the trial shall initiate.

On one of the Nine Earthly Moon, the Gigantus Moon, a grand immortal palace colored black floated silently in mid-air. In this place, there was a location that housed a vast group of people who belong to a single force.

This location was filled with cyan-dressed figures, both male and female, both young-looking and old-looking, but standing notably from the rest was a single woman. She was young, about sixteen or seventeen in appearance. She was dressed in a cyan-robe but it had embroideries of flowers such as roses and sunflowers.

Her phoenix eyes were bright, soft cherry lips, hair as black as night, and her jade-like beauty were beyond perfect. She was like a lotus in full bloom. It entranced and mesmerized all that saw. Her jade slender arms and long legs revealed themselves without a single blemish anywhere to be seen.

Those bright eyes seemed to contain an unprecedented level of intelligence but also a deep worry. If Yan Zaizen had seen this young, beautiful-beyond-description woman, his heart would tremble.

Ma Xiuren!

She was surrounded by members of the ’Xiuhei’ force. Each member present had a heavenly cultivation base and couldn’t be considered nobodies, but in the Xiuhei force, they looked like nothing more than a weak faction. They each had varying emotions but the one emotion that was consistent was anxiety.

"Miss, this..." The old man who had met Yun Baili, Jun Lei, spoke at this moment. The attention of all honed onto his body. One could see that he was hesitating to speak. Ma Xiuren’s eyes moved to his figure, they revealed a deep calmness.

Gathering his courage, he spoke, "We all agreed that you were to travel to the Asura Phantom Realm and pick someone, we even sealed your cultivation base to prevent any tracking, and yet...the one you choose made his way here." The eyes of the others flashed, they looked at the young woman, their eyes flickering with various lights.

"..." Ma Xiuren was silent. In truth, she didn’t expect Yan Zaizen to make it here. He was supposed to stay alive in the Xiantu Realm until summoned. Afterward, he would be rewarded for keeping the token safe. As for the token, it would be removed from his possession.

Even she felt a headache at this. The very reason she sealed her cultivation base, the reason she sent the token away, and more was now becoming pointless.

"If the token is here, then the Yun Clan will not stop until they obtain it. We have both ’Earth’ tokens, but the Xiuhei Sovereign has one ’Heaven’ token...if the Yun Clan obtain the second ’Heaven’ token..." This thought caused him to shudder.

An elderly woman standing behind Ma Xiuren stepped up, "We may lose our qualifications to participate in the Heavenly End Trial." Her words left the entire atmosphere stale.

There were four tokens, two ’Earth’ and two ’Heaven’, and they gave the qualifications to participate in the two special trials. They required a male and female pair for each trial. The ’Xiuhei’ qualifications were given to Ma Xiuren, and thus she had to choose three people within a certain time. Giving one to the Xiuhei Sovereign, one to another Gigantus force, she kept one for herself and gave another to Yan Zaizen.

She had the ’Earth’ token to participate in the Earthly Beginning Trial. She needed to keep the other ’Heaven’ token for someone special. Unfortunately, Yan Zaizen was not that person. He was a guardian, a protector, but now that the token was here, the Yun Clan will definitely want to gain qualifications. Not only them but if news spread, the other forces may as well.

This left them feeling despondent. After all, they were lucky to be selected, but their small and weak faction within the Xiuhei force didn’t have the qualifications to actually contend with the tokens. This was why they gave two of the tokens to powerful forces - protection. The Yun Clan or any other force wouldn’t dare try to snatch their token.

Unfortunately, they could only keep one.

The last token was agreed to be free game. This was why they sent it away, hoping to reclaim it during the opening of the trial, and gaining qualifications to participate in the Heavenly End Trial as well. This scheme could’ve worked. Even to this day, there were countless forces of the gigantus race looking for the token.

"This person is still in the realm, he’s hiding in chaotic space. The other forces are already trying to figure out a method to enter chaotic space and obtain the token." An elderly woman stated causing the hearts of everyone to drop. The fact they knew this would cause Yan Zaizen to be shocked.

"If he tries to escape the realm, the Xiuhei Sovereign and other Heavenly Commanders have decided to jointly stop him. However, they won’t take action until he does. It will be up to the younger generation capabilities to obtain the token in this case." She continued, this caused a few to breathe a sigh of relief.

It seems that Tao’s deduction and Yan Zaizen’s instincts were right.

"Miss, what shall we do?" Jun Lei asked with a lost tone.

"..." Ma Xiuren’s gaze flickered. She recalled Yan Zaizen figure and their adventures. Unfortunately, her force was only a fourth-level heavenly-tier force subordinate to the Xiuhei Sovereign. They didn’t have enough strength to contest. The old man, Jun Lei, was their strongest expert.

She softly shook her head. Everyone’s gaze turned dejected. "The only thing we can do is push up the schedule to prepare for the trial. Ma Xiuren’s cultivation base must be unsealed and we can still achieve good results. If he can keep the token in his possession, perhaps our future can still be salvaged."

The others nodded their head in agreement. Their gazes turned to Ma Xiuren. She was only three thousand years old, but she was incredibly talented. A heaven-defying genius. She developed her own Middle-tier Mortal Dao, comprehended a World Law, and reached a profound level in her bloodline ability. They were placing all their hopes on her.

They had to.