Chapter 25: The Most Powerful Kingdom

Ji Ning looked around. Many cultivators who had arrived with him were also trying, but the edge of the mountain peak and the heights above were indeed covered with invisible restrictions, allowing Ji Ning and the others to fly at most about a hundred zhang high. They could not take a single step beyond the peak.

"What kind of restriction is this?" Ji Ning pushed with his hand. There was an invisible seal in front of him. Even with the power of the blueflower mist, he could not budge it in the slightest.

"The feeling that mysterious giant beast gave me is too terrifying."

"My big brother Tianyi, and Lord Da Mo—the feeling they gave me wasn't this terrifying." Ji Ning felt horrified just thinking about it, because Lord Tianyi and Lord Da Mo were both extremely powerful existences in the Endless Territories. "Perhaps Big Brother Tianyi and Lord Da Mo were both kind to me, so I didn't feel threatened."

"Master, master." Su Youji was beside Ji Ning.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning looked at her.

"Master, I heard from other cultivators nearby that they were in Chunfu Domain when a giant beast swallowed them in one gulp and brought them here. Another cultivator said he was in Tiancang Domain when a giant beast swallowed him..." Su Youji quickly said.

Ji Ning was startled.

Chunfu Domain? Never heard of it.

Tiancang Domain? That was his destination.

All swallowed by giant beasts? It was already astonishing that such a terrifying giant beast existed in the Endless Territories. Ji Ning didn't believe there were several giant beasts.

"When the giant beast swallowed us, it formed spacetime passages." Ji Ning pondered. "It seems this mysterious giant beast is extremely skilled in the Dao of Spacetime... Perhaps precisely because it is so skilled in the Dao of Spacetime, it can appear in many places across the Endless Territories in a short time."

"Its strength might not be much greater than my big brother Tianyi's; it's just skilled in the Dao of Spacetime."

Although Ji Ning comforted himself like this, he understood how terrifying it was to appear in many distant territories in a short time.

Consider that even Lord Tianyi had to travel all the way, even using spacetime teleportation arrays, to finally reach Da Mo Domain! Being able to easily appear in many places across the Endless Territories was already an inconceivable feat. Ji Ning comforted himself, hoping the mysterious giant beast was weaker, so his chances of escape would be greater.

But deep down, he understood...

There was another possibility: the mysterious giant beast's strength was truly, truly immense! Far surpassing Lord Tianyi! Remember, Lord Wanshen far surpassed Lord Tianyi, even chasing and killing Eternal Emperors!

"What to do?"

"How can I get out?"

Ji Ning felt a trace of anxiety and unease.

Should he abandon this true body? Have the clone in Da Mo Domain cultivate another true body? Cultivating a true body was easy, but the treasures carried by this true body—six Eternal Divine Weapons, three Snowscape Diagram scrolls, the Primordial Water-Fire Gourd, and many other treasures—could not be cultivated back.

"When the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a road." Ji Ning waited silently. "Since the giant beast swallowed us and brought us here, it probably won't just kill us outright."

...

Time passed.

One day, two days, three days... More and more cultivators gathered on the mountain peak, along with many other lifeforms.

In the blink of an eye, twelve days had passed.

The cultivators on the peak exceeded thirty thousand, along with other rare lifeforms—some born from flame, some plant beings, some rock beings... all extremely powerful, rarely seen in the Endless Territories, yet here thousands of them had gathered.

"Master, it seems no new ones are coming." Su Youji sat beside Ji Ning and whispered.

"Mm, half a day has passed without a single newcomer. Probably soon we'll find out why we were captured." Ji Ning had been quietly observing.

Another quarter-hour passed.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Two streaks of light tore through the sky from afar, approaching at an incredibly terrifying speed.

"Such terrifying speed." The cultivators and other beings gathered on the peak were shocked, because the speed of these two streaks was so great that compared to the 'Golden Chi Bat' Ji Ning had once encountered, it was incomparable.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

The two streaks of light crashed directly onto the mountain peak, causing it to tremble slightly before their figures appeared.

The terrifying auras belonged to two powerful beings clad in silver armor—one male, one female. The silver-armored man's armor faintly bore a lightning mark, while the woman's armor bore a sword mark. The pressure they radiated made the thirty thousand-plus cultivators and other beings present feel suffocated.

"So strong." Ji Ning felt a terrifying threat. Although the threat from these two was not as great as that from the mysterious giant beast, they could still easily crush them.

Behind the silver-armored man and woman were two black-armored attendants each.

These four black-armored attendants also had powerful auras, faintly radiating... the aura of a Daoist of Life and Death! But they didn't seem particularly strong, not much stronger than the Golden Chi Bat.

"You have been selected from the vast Endless Territories by the great Dominator and sent here. Many of you should have high potential." The silver-armored man's voice was deep, resounding across the peak. "Don't panic. To come here, to the most powerful kingdom in the entire Endless Territories, is a tribulation, but also an opportunity."

Ji Ning and the others were all shocked inwardly.

Selected by the great Dominator?

Was that mysterious giant beast the great Dominator? Based on his推测, Ji Ning thought this silver-armored man should be an extremely powerful Daoist. Calling him 'great Dominator' seemed a bit exaggerated. But recalling how the mysterious giant beast had sent beings from all over the Endless Territories here, Ji Ning was no longer surprised.

"The most powerful kingdom in the Endless Territories?" Ji Ning muttered inwardly. "Is it stronger than the Eternal Kingdom of the Eternal clan?"

"And they mentioned high potential? Was our flying ship captured because of me?" Ji Ning thought secretly. Not that he was narcissistic, but his potential was indeed extremely high among World-level cultivators. Even the strength he displayed on the surface was already astonishing.

...

"Although you have come here, you are not yet members of this most powerful kingdom, the 'Mangya Kingdom'." The silver-armored man said, "If you fail to become a citizen of the Mangya Kingdom, you must die! To survive, you must become a citizen of the Mangya Kingdom."

"We are willing!" Some cultivators immediately shouted. "We are willing to become citizens of the Mangya Kingdom."

Among the captured cultivators, although there were truly exceptional talents like Ji Ning and Ge Huo, there were also many ordinary ones. Many of those on the same flying ship as Ji Ning had wanted to become disciples of Lord Jue Mie. Now they saw how powerful this mysterious 'Mangya Kingdom' was; joining it might be no worse than becoming Lord Jue Mie's disciple.

"Not everyone is qualified to become a citizen of the Mangya Kingdom." The silver-armored man glanced around and said coldly.

"To gain freedom and become a citizen of the Mangya Kingdom, there are five paths."

"The first path is the best: if you break through and become a Daoist of Life and Death, you will become a citizen of the Mangya Kingdom."

Ji Ning and the others were speechless.

Become a Daoist of Life and Death?

All those captured were at the World level; not a single one was a Daoist of Life and Death. Breaking through to become a Daoist of Life and Death was far too difficult.

"The second path is to gain the protection of a Daoist of Life and Death! Each Daoist of Life and Death can protect three friends and also take up to ten slaves." The silver-armored man said. "If you are a relative or friend of a Daoist of Life and Death, you can directly become a citizen of the Mangya Kingdom. Of course, if you are willing to be a slave, you can also survive. Slaves are the lowest level of the Mangya Kingdom... they have labor duties, but at least they can live."

Ji Ning and the others frowned.

Become a slave? The lowest level? With labor duties? No one wanted that.

As for Daoists of Life and Death protecting three friends, the Mangya Kingdom probably made this allowance considering that Daoists of Life and Death also had relatives and friends. But Ji Ning and the others had just arrived; they didn't know any Daoists of Life and Death.

"The third path is a very safe one: go to the distant 'Nine-Headed Dragon Mountain' in the Endless Territories to mine ore. If you mine enough ore, you can also gain freedom and become a citizen of our Mangya Kingdom. But I must tell you in advance: for a normal World-level cultivator to mine enough ore, it generally takes a thousand chaos cycles."

"Nine-Headed Dragon Mountain?" Among the cultivators, the inconspicuous 'Ge Huo' frowned. "I've heard my father mention it. Nine-Headed Dragon Mountain is a legendary place, with the ore 'Nine-Headed Dragon Crystal,' very precious. It was said to be monopolized by a mysterious force. I didn't expect it to be monopolized by this Mangya Kingdom."

The silver-armored man swept his gaze and smiled slightly.

A thousand chaos cycles of mining?

"I know you don't want to toil mining for a thousand chaos cycles, but in the future, many of you will be crying and begging to go mining." The silver-armored man said calmly. "The fourth path is to survive for a thousand years in the 'Third Insect Nest.' If you are still alive after a thousand years, you can also become a citizen of our Mangya Kingdom."