As the war between Western Liang and the Great Xuan took a break, the world enjoyed a time of temporary peace.

The dominant Western Liang pulled in its horns a little bit rather than pushing any further.

But the public didn’t underestimate Western Liang because of its restraint. On the contrary, the quieter Western Liang was, the scarier it seemed to the public.

Maybe they had been planning for something big in secret.

Not many people knew about the bet between Western Liang and the Great Xuan. Thus, the world was free from disturbance for a while.

However, some perceptive people could always feel the strong undercurrent surging underneath the outward calmness.

******

The Great Xuan.

Tianhan Gate.

Snowflakes danced in the sky above the Tianhan Gate. The endless snow made the ancient gate tower appear even more frigid and lifeless.

There was a vast expanse of white snow outside of the Tianhan Gate. But who would know how many dead bodies and dried bones were buried underneath?

Countless soldiers of the North County died on the battlefield when the tribes of Xirong led by the Lord of Xirong attacked the Tianhan Gate.

Soaked in blood and tears, every piece of land in front of the Tianhan Gate witnessed the tragedy.

Even though the Great Xuan launched a punitive expedition against the Great Zhou, they did not slack at their defense of the Tianhan Gate.

Because Tantai Xuan perfectly understood that although the tribes of Xirong had been banished to the end of the world by Li Sansi and Nie Changqing, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t return.

The Tianhan Gate was a cardinal fortress on the border. Tantai Xuan didn’t dare to be careless.

The Tianhan Gate was important to the Great Zhou in the past. Now, it was even more crucial to the Great Xuan.

On the high wall of the gate tower.

Armored soldiers stood in line. Despite the harsh weather, they remained still and scanned the border with their eaglelike eyes.

Even the white snow couldn’t block their view.

It was a world of ice and snow on the west side of the Tianhan Gate. Farther north, a vast desert eventually replaced the snowscape.

The Xirong tribes were chased into the desert by Nie Changqing and Li Sansi back in the days.

The ferocious sandstorm howled in the desert.

All of a sudden.

A group of soldiers with parched lips, wrapped in lambskins, came into view in the desert.

They moved closer and closer, slowly revealing themselves from the sandstorm.

Leading the horses, they finally walked out of the desert and stepped into the world of ice and snow.

Wearing lambskins, they all prostrated themselves on the ground, burst into tears at the height of joy, and shouted in a strange language.

One man stood up, pulled out the knife pinned on his belt, and pointed it at the sky.

It turned out the other side of the boundless desert was indeed a promised land with abundant resources, just like what the foreigners who barged in their country had told them.

It was certainly a challenging yet also an exciting discovery for them.

Their Lord led the armored horsemen and conquered the land on their side of the desert. The seven ancient kingdoms all tendered submissions to their ever-triumphant Lord and invincible armored horsemen!

These people looked at the snow in the air with greedy and feverish eyes. Some of them grabbed the snow on the ground and stuffed it in their mouths.

Every drop of water was extremely precious in the desert. They finally had enough water now!

After a period of excitement, these people climbed back onto the horses.

They initially had one horse for each person.

Nevertheless, many horses died from thirst in the desert. The number of horses left couldn’t possibly carry all of the people.

They moved forward, braving the snowstorm.

Compared with the boundless desert, the world of ice and snow seemed exceptionally welcoming in these people’s eyes.

They headed east.

Finally…

A towering gate of a city came into their sight when the tiny shafts of morning light began to shine through the clouds!

Standing in the snow, they were astounded at the sight in front of them.

The exiled foreigners didn’t lie to them. There really was a splendid civilization on the other side of the desert.

Their Lord sent them to see if it was real.

Now, everything was confirmed.

The lofty tower gate and the soldiers in exquisite armors standing on top.

Everything they saw made a tremendous psychological impact on these people who traveled across the desert.

They babbled and argued in the snow.

After a long time, these people finally made a decision.

They picked the strongest horse left and piled all of their resources on the back of the horse. Then, they nominated one person to walk back to their country through the desert, with the horse and the resources, and report the news back to their Lord!

The rest of them would go and explore the world behind this magnificent gate tower.

An armored man rode the horse and trotted in the light of the morning sun. He disappeared in the desert.

The rest of the foreigners could feel their blood boiling with excitement. One of them pulled out the knife pinned on his belt and made a cross with the sheath in front of him. Dutifully and honorably, they slowly walked to the Tianhan Gate.

On the Tianhan Gate.

A Xuanwu Guard was inspecting as a squad leader.

All of a sudden, the Xuanwu Guard sensed something. He held the icy-cold wall with his hands and focused his eyes on the field below.

The top of the gate tower commanded a panoramic view of the field.

He saw the black shadows crawling forward on the ground…

He saw the foreigners.

“Xirong?”

The Xuanwu Guard frowned.

The next moment, he smashed his hand on the parapet. His voice echoed on the tower of the Tianhan Gate.

“Enemy attack!”

His voice reverberated.

The entire Tianhan Gate heated up in a second.

The archers pulled the bows and set up at the crenels on the parapet.

They aimed at the crawling shadows on the snowfield.

The black shadow seemed to realize they had been exposed. They were surprised that the enemies of this unknown country were so sharp and perceptive.

However, they gave all of their resources to the one person who went back with hope.

They had nowhere to go now.

The only thing they could do was to sneak into the city and the country so they could survive the cold weather.

In for a penny, in for a pound. They decided to go through with it since they had been discovered.

They sprinted at full speed toward the Tianhan Gate.

Surprisingly, these people released powerful Qi and blood that almost blew the snow away.

“Shoot!”

The Xuanwu Guards on the gate tower received the order.

Numerous arrows fell from the sky.

These people used their Qi and blood to dodge the oncoming arrows, yet most of them had been hit by the arrows and collapsed in the snow.

The leader of this team rushed through the rain of arrows, eyes bloodshot, panting for breaths.

Nonetheless, the Xuanwu Guard on the gate tower pulled the bow and shot out an arrow.

It was an arrow wrapped in Spirit Qi.

The arrow whistled at the foreigners.

The leader of the team let out a roar. Even the snow underneath his feet seemed to be melting because of his Qi and blood.

He threw a punch directly at the incoming arrow.

Fizz!

The leader overestimated himself. The Xuanwu Guards were cultivators. Even a Grandmaster wouldn’t dare to dash against the arrow with a bare fist.

The leader of the foreigners was impaled under the gate tower. His blood dyed the snow red.

The Xuanwu Guard sensed something was strange.

He sent people out and pulled the foreigners’ bodies back inside the Tianhan Gate.

He looked at these foreigners with blond hair and blue eyes. They didn’t even look like the people from Xirong tribes.

The Xuanwu Guard’s eyes focused. He realized it was out of the ordinary.

He hurried to draft a secret letter and sent it to the Lord of Beixuan.

******

Beiluo.

Beiluo Lake Island.

Lu Fan didn’t know about the incident that happened in the Tianhan Gate on the border of North County.

He couldn’t watch over every place of the world at every moment.

Right now, Lu Fan was thinking about how he should tackle the two quests.

After some pondering, Lu Fan felt a little dejected. He realized both quests were long-term projects that couldn’t be finished in a short time.

To achieve the Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought of Cultivators—it was not entirely up to Lu Fan himself.

The Contention of the Hundred Schools of Thought required a clash of ideas. Lu Fan alone was not enough.

Nevertheless, at least Lu Fan could sense that the Haoran Sect, Hua Sect, Daoist Pavilion, and Sword Pavilion, among others, already emerged, which meant that the Contention of the Hundred Schools of Thought was in its embryonic stage.

As for the second side quest—to compile the great Dao of the Hundred Schools of Thought into the Plane’s Origin and create the Natural Law…

It was an even longer way to go.

Lu Fan believed that these two side quests probably could only be finished after the Wuhuang Continent had leveled up to the Mid Level Martial World.

His fingers tapped on the arms of the wheelchair.

Lu Fan’s consciousness flickered.

Suddenly, a thundering noise sounded on the White Jade City Pavilion.

Then, Lu Fan sat in the Thousand Blades Chair and appeared on the lake.

Bang!

The little Responsive Dragon shot up from the water like a cannonball, its wings tightened. It sprayed a stream of water at the Tianji Pigeons flying in the sky.

However, the little Responsive Dragon detected Lu Fan’s presence. It flapped its wings and sucked the water back into its mouth.

It raced to the Dragon Gate and stood in an obedient posture…

Like a sleepy owl.

Lu Fan didn’t pay much attention to the playful little Responsive Dragon.

His body sunk into the lake as the water split in half.

He stopped at the bottom of the lake.

A floating thunder bead was chained by trigram labels and suppressed by the formation.

A thunder dragon was roaring frantically inside the thunder bead.

“The thunder dragon was formed by the Natural Law Thunder Calamity. It represents the natural law of the Mid Level Martial World. Even so, that is the peak Mid Level Martial World, which is much stronger than the primary Mid Level Martial World.”

Lu Fan was thinking.

He needed to keep this low-key.

Although he could connect with the Plane’s Origin of the peak Mid Level Martial World through this Thunder Calamity, it would be extremely difficult for him to absorb the Origin to enhance the Origin of the Wuhuang Continent as he did before…

Not only because he might attract the attention of the Lord of the Plane of the peak Mid Level Martial World, but also because the current Wuhuang Continent had reached its capacity and couldn’t absorb any more.

It might explode if it took in more.

However, Lu Fan still believed the Plane’s Origin of the peak Mid Level Martial World could give him some inspiration and help him to compile the great Dao of the Hundred Schools of Thought into the Plane’s Origin and create the Natural Law.

The Origin was the foundation of a world and the cornerstone for Lu Fan to build a world.

Lu Fan was amazed at how every world above the Low Level Martial World had its own Origin.

Maybe the differences between the worlds were manifestations of the differences between their Origins.

Lu Fan suddenly was intrigued. The Origin of the High Level Martial World or even higher level—how powerful would it be?

The Thousand Blades Chair slowly moved.

Lu Fan raised his hand and placed it on the thunder bead.

The thunder dragon inside the thunder bead bellowed.

Lu Fan stared at the thunder dragon calmly. Lines started to bounce in his eyes.

The roaring thunder dragon…became quieter and quieter, eventually shrinking into a ball.

The scene in front of Lu Fan’s eyes also changed abruptly.

******

By the time Lu Fan opened his eyes again…

The tremendous pressure forced him to gasp for air.

A white wall of light erected in front of him. Lu Fan raised his head but couldn’t see the end of it. He knew it was because this Origin was too huge.

Much like how the earth was round, yet it felt flat when looking around.

Lu Fan was filled with wonder.

He reached out his hand and touched the Origin. All of a sudden…

The scenes in front of his eyes changed swiftly. He could almost feel the veins were pulsing on the Origin.

Every vein represents a school of thought.

Some veins were extremely thick, while others were thin like hair…

It displayed the strength of the people in that particular school.

Moreover, there were so many veins on the surface of this Origin…

They crisscrossed like a dense net.

Suddenly…

Lu Fan sensed something.

He let go of the hand that touched the Plane’s Origin.

He saw a ray of light shooting at him from the distance.

Lu Fan jolted. He raised his eyebrows in confusion as the incoming people felt familiar to him.

“Why, isn’t it the Lord of the Plane?”

It was out of Lu Fan’s expectation. Shouldn’t his presence attract the Lord of the Plane?

Besides, only the Lord of the Plane could enter the world of Origin.

“It’s you?”

Du Longyang’s eyes were bloodshot when he saw Lu Fan.

Both of their consciousness were pulled into the world of Origin by the Natural Law. Much to their surprise, they met a familiar face.

Even though Lu Fan wasn’t in Young Master Tianxu’s body anymore, his energy, demeanor, and the wheelchair…

All indicated Lu Fan’s identity without a doubt.

He was the thief who stole the Heavenly Calamity!

Du Longyang was the man who was going through the calamity in Wudi City.

Lu Fan swept around and saw some other people.

An old man missing an arm carried a short knife on his back. His eyes were sharp and curious.

And an ascetic monk wearing Buddhist beads.

A woman wearing a crown was standing next to the ascetic monk. Posied and stately, she had an elegant figure and a stunning face. Her long white legs were indistinctly visible under her crimson robe.

Beside the woman, there was also a slim, ashen-faced man who was glaring at Lu Fan. It was the Young Master Tianxu whose mind was controlled by Lu Fan before.

Lu Fan’s eyebrows arched. They were probably the strongest people from this world.

They emitted terrifying energy.

Was the Lord of the Plane hiding among them?

Or maybe…

Lu Fan turned his head and looked at the gigantic Plane’s Origin.

His eyes sparkled.

The Origin gradually turned transparent.

Lu Fan squinted and saw a giant eyeball staring at him menacingly from the inside of the Origin.

In the distance…

Du Longyang launched an attack out of the blue.

The world of Origin was crucial. This thief who stole the Heavenly Calamity was up to no good showing up here.

“Kill!”

Du Longyang thrust the spear forward with enough force that could almost cause an explosion.

Next to him, Young Master Tianxu opened his mouth and revealed a tiny sword about six centimeters long under his tongue. He flicked the short sword toward Lu Fan.

The old man without an arm also had a solemn face. He waved a broken knife and chopped down on Lu Fan. The knife Qi formed a giant blade that could almost slash the sky open.

The ascetic monk put his palms together and then threw a solid punch.

The punch was accompanied by a ray of golden light and superior Buddhist energy.

“Empress! What are you waiting for?! Attack him!” Du Longyang shouted at the woman who was standing idly by and watching the fight.

The Empress flashed a radiant smile.

She gave Lu Fan a strange look and then raised her hand. Numerous silver needles shot out of her robe.

Five people fired on Lu Fan together, trying to make him stay.

Any harm received while in the world of Origin would be reflected in their real world.

Therefore, they fought mercilessly.

Lu Fan smiled.

His fingers closed up and plucked on the Thousand Blades Chair.

Tens of thousands of silver blades appeared in an instant. The Phoenix Feather Sword led the silver blades and formed a round shield.

Bang! Bang!

The attack from the five people blasted on the round shield.

The shield remained still with only a small cloud of silver dust rising.

Lu Fan stared at the Origin.

Raising his hand, he applied seal techniques with his slender fingers.

The trigram labels appeared one by one. He flicked the formation into the Origin.

The next moment…

Lu Fan retrieved the Thousand Blades Chair and the Phoenix Feather Sword, sitting upright.

He smiled at the five people.

His body gradually vaporized and disappeared like translucent water.

Du Longyang’s expression was grim.

“Who on earth is this person?”

The ascetic monk put his palms together and said solemnly, “He comes and goes without a trace…like a ghost.”

“Maybe…he’s not from our world.”

The Empress opened her red lips and said, “Could he come from…the Immortal Realm?”

“Du Longyang is powerful enough to blow up the void yet was defeated by a person from the Immortal Realm. Is Immortal Ascension only a hoax?”

The old man without an arm sneered.

“I don’t care if he is a person or an immortal. We will definitely keep him here if he shows up the next time!”

******

Beiluo Lake Island.

Lu Fan opened his eyes. His consciousness returned from the world of Origin.

He glanced at the thunder dragon inside the thunder bead, yet he only made the thunder dragon shiver harder with fear.

The little Responsive Dragon lying on the Dragon Gate mocked the terrifying thunder dragon, flapping its wings.

Nevertheless…

When Lu Fan shifted his eyes to the little Responsive Dragon…

It stopped laughing and tucked in its wings involuntarily, afraid of Lu Fan’s formidable presence.

…