Towards the Divine Realm for a Piece of Sky

Chen Xia proposed to attack the Divine Realm. Inner Demon agreed, but Daoist Suppressing Heaven's puppet form felt something was amiss and hesitated, saying,

"Attacking the Divine Realm will take too much time, and there are some powerful entities within. The difficulty is significant, so I suggest we take over two or three parts of it first."

"Then let's follow the strategist's advice," Chen Xia nodded. Their roles had already been defined, based on wartime positions.

Chen Xia was the leader, Inner Demon was the second leader, and Daoist Suppressing Heaven acted as the strategist.

The three of them began plotting how to take over the Divine Realm. Being devious individuals, they had plenty of ideas. Chen Xia started,

"Let's start with a diversion. We'll spread the news that Heaven Pill Gate is going into full seclusion, to lower the Lord of the Divine Realm's guard. Then we'll strike directly at the boundaries of the Divine Realm, hitting them by surprise!"

Inner Demon added, "Just a sneak attack isn't enough. If we're going to provoke them, we should leave a sign in their territory that says 'The Lord of the Divine Realm and dogs are not allowed!'"

"Good!" Chen Xia agreed, then shook his head. "But I think that's a bit unfair to dogs. How about we change it to 'Only the Lord of the Divine Realm and dogs are allowed'?"

The two were enthusiastically discussing their plans when the puppet form hastily interrupted, looking at them with a serious expression and asking,

“Is there a possibility that we just want to provoke the Lord of the Divine Realm, not engage in life-and-death combat with him?”

"Huh?" Chen Xia looked surprised and retorted, "Isn't it your job to engage in life-and-death battles with the Lord of the Divine Realm?"

The puppet form shook its head, "Of course not. This puppet form of mine is no match for the Lord of the Divine Realm in one-on-one combat. My real body is in hiding and can't show itself, or it would be immediately killed by the Martial Emperor. So it mainly depends on you two."

"Then there's another problem," Chen Xia crossed his arms and asked, "What if the Lord of the Divine Realm comes to attack us after we provoke him? If the three of us can't handle him, what's the point of provoking him? Aren't we just asking for trouble?"

"No," the puppet form shook its head. "The Lord of the Divine Realm has said he’ll act in a thousand years, so he’ll definitely wait that long. In the meantime, in the Immortal Realm, he won't use any other methods."

"If he dares to act within a thousand years, it would actually be us breaking the deadlock first, which means we win. The reason for provoking him is to make him make a misstep, so we can take advantage of it."

"So we're sticking to the plan?" Chen Xia asked.

The puppet form nodded.

So, half a month later, Heaven Pill Gate announced it was closing its doors, this time for real. Medicines were available for self-purchase, with no one in charge.

This news naturally shocked the cultivators of East Jia State. Without a governing sect, the state became chaotic, with only the emperors maintaining order. However, the emperors held Heaven Pill Gate in high regard, so no unrest occurred.

The news of Heaven Pill Gate's closure spread to other states, including Treasure Ring Scale State.

The Lord of the Divine Realm, also known as the current ruler of Treasure Ring Scale State, sat atop the highest peak at the center of the state, cut off from his senses and divine consciousness, connected to the state, detached from worldly affairs. It was his subordinates who informed him of this news.

"Closing the sect?" he muttered thoughtfully, then guessed,

"Trying to cultivate within a thousand years? But what growth can occur in just a thousand years? Merely a last-ditch effort, I suppose. Hehe, their efforts have piqued my interest in what kind of genius the Martial Emperor is betting on."

Obviously, he didn't know Chen Xia at all.

High in the Immortal Realm, Chen Xia and Inner Demon had already set out for the Divine Realm. They walked along the River of Time, appearing calm and unhurried, but every moment they would flash a great distance through the void.

Chen Xia took out an item from his robe. It was a wooden finger. Upon closer inspection, it looked exactly like a finger from Daoist Suppressing Heaven's puppet form.

This was the protective treasure the puppet form had given them, capable of avoiding any form of detection, ignoring causal fate, and was the most powerful concealment artifact in the world.

Chen Xia suddenly asked, "How much of what the puppet form said can we trust?"

Inner Demon walked behind him along the River of Time and shook his head, "I don’t know. But since he dared to talk to us like that, there must be some truth to what he says. One thing is certain, though."

"He definitely isn't on good terms with the Martial Emperor. As for how much of what he said is true or false, we’ll have to wait and see. We just shouldn’t fully trust him and keep an eye out."

Inner Demon's eyes fixed on the puppet form’s finger, then asked,

"Are you not afraid that Daoist Suppressing Heaven might hear you say that?"

After all, the puppet form's thumb might avoid any detection, but it didn't say anything about avoiding the puppet form itself.

Chen Xia laughed calmly, responding, "It’s meant for him to hear. Since I dared to doubt him, I’m not afraid he hears it. And he knows it himself; he just didn’t say it before."

Chen Xia had no personal connection to Daoist Suppressing Heaven. Why would he help him?

It was just mutual exploitation.

Chen Xia was using Daoist Suppressing Heaven to get past the Lord of the Divine Realm’s obstacle, while Daoist Suppressing Heaven was using Chen Xia to break the Martial Emperor’s moves. Each was fulfilling their own needs.

The outcome was yet to be seen, but hopefully, it would be a win-win.

Chen Xia chuckled and said to Inner Demon, "Come on, let’s give this old bastard a small taste of the home-invasion shock!"

He wasn’t the type to take a beating without fighting back. Having lived so long and experienced life-and-death situations, he had long figured out what was important. If he got a chance, he would definitely retaliate.

Inner Demon also laughed, "Let’s go."

A thin line formed by the River of Time sent the two to the Divine Realm.

As they approached, immortal swords mounted their assault.

No clouds or mist, no mountains or waters.

Today, the Divine Realm saw the Immortal Realm unleash three million sword qi combined, causing the entire Divine Realm to burst forth with immense sword light.

After this attack, the sky of the Divine Realm was split into two parts, one large and one small.

Chen Xia landed in the smaller section, flipped his immortal sword into a simple sword flourish, and laughed lightly at the entire Divine Realm."Today, Chen Xia arrives, claiming a piece of the Divine Realm’s sky."