To the Resource Exchange City

“Senior Li, it’s about time. Let’s set off. The Resource Exchange City is a long way from here; I’m afraid it’ll take us quite a few days to reach it.”

Having packed his belongings, Tang Jin appeared outside Mo Tianxiao’s room with Tang Shuang in tow and called out a reminder.

Every land of nothingness was vast beyond measure. The land of nothingness within the Feather Spirit Star Domain, for instance, was broadly divided into four regions: east, south, west, and north. The area of any one region alone rivaled the entire Profound Yellow Realm.

The Resource Exchange City lay at the center of those four regions and was no less enormous. According to Mo Tianxiao’s understanding, although it was called a city, it was large enough to rival the entirety of the Demon Province in the Profound Yellow Realm.

This was truly a place where Saints were everywhere, and Quasi-Emperors were as common as stray dogs. Saints and Quasi-Emperors could be considered powerful figures in the land of nothingness, yet their numbers were beyond counting.

As for cultivators below the Saint Realm, they were even more numerous—like the hairs on an ox.

Mo Tianxiao opened the door and smiled. “Let’s go.”

As he spoke, he took out a modest-sized flying vessel from his spatial ring and suspended it in midair.

“Come aboard. This will be faster.”

Tang Jin’s residence was located at the southernmost edge of the southern region of the land of nothingness. Even if he, a Saint Realm expert, traveled at full speed, it would still take him nearly a month to reach the Resource Exchange City—not to mention that he had a child with him.

“Could this be... a supreme treasure?”

This was Tang Jin’s first time seeing a magical artifact above the grade of a Saint Artifact. His expression turned somewhat excited as he carefully examined the small flying vessel, which seemed capable of carrying a dozen or so people.

Faint traces of the power of laws circulated across its hull. One look was enough to tell that it was a treasure beyond the Saint Artifact grade.

The Shamo Clan that had previously invaded the Profound Yellow Realm had been able to equip each person with two supreme treasures, while Moke had even brought out a high-grade supreme treasure—all because the Shamo Clan possessed such deep foundations.

Above Saint Artifacts were supreme treasures. These were further divided into ordinary supreme treasures, high-grade supreme treasures, and top-grade supreme treasures. For a Dao Master Realm cultivator without a powerful background, possessing one or two ordinary supreme treasures was already quite impressive.

Although Mo Tianxiao had no real backing in this territory of foreign races, he was no ordinary Dao Master Realm cultivator. He was an Imperial-grade Artifact Refiner capable of forging supreme treasures.

He had plundered a fair amount of resources from the Profound Yellow Realm. Though not much, it had still been enough for him to barely forge a flying vessel at the high-grade supreme treasure level.

After all, the Profound Yellow Realm’s resources were limited. Naturally, those limited resources had to be used to prepare means of survival, and this flying vessel was one of them.

“Senior Li, what kind of continent is the Spirit Qi Continent, exactly? It actually has treasures like supreme treasures? Could it be that the Spirit Qi Continent is also a top-tier lower plane comparable to the Profound Yellow Realm—a realm that once ventured into the cosmic starry skies?”

Tang Jin was stunned by Mo Tianxiao’s extravagance. What newly ascended cultivator could possibly produce a magical artifact at the level of a supreme treasure?

Saint Artifacts and Saint-grade pills were one thing. Though rare, top-tier lower planes could still produce them. But even supreme treasures? Wasn’t that a little excessive?

Did top-tier lower planes really have it that good? Why hadn’t he been born in a top-tier lower plane? Instead, he had been born in a mid-tier lower plane, where he had only just barely broken through to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm before ascending to this miserable place.

Before his ascension, he had been the foremost prodigy of his original world, the first cultivator in several thousand years to break through to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. Yet after ascending to this Void Realm, he found Tribulation Transcendence cultivators everywhere, while cultivators above that realm were hardly uncommon.

The crushing realization that he had become merely ordinary took him several decades to come to terms with.

Still, he considered himself fortunate. At least he had been born in a mid-tier lower realm. Those who ascended from low-tier lower realms possessed only the barest Divine Transformation Realm cultivation. Aside from cultivators born in the Void Realm itself, these Divine Transformation ascendants were practically the bottom rung here.

“I don't know. The Spirit Continent revered spiritual power above all else, and Dao Entry Realm experts did indeed exist there once.

“But for reasons unknown, the continent's spiritual energy began to dry up tens of thousands of years ago. Gradually, there were no more Dao Entry cultivators, and it became a lower realm.”

Mo Tianxiao spoke without the slightest change in expression.

The Profound Yellow Realm seemed to have been targeted by the foreign races of late. He would never reveal to anyone that he was a cultivator from the Profound Yellow Realm. Otherwise, he might invite endless trouble upon himself, or even lose his life if his luck ran out.

“This must be the cycle of karma. No world remains powerful forever. Perhaps the Azure Continent where I once lived also had Dao Entry Realm experts hundreds of thousands of years ago.”

Tang Jin sighed softly.

They could not choose the circumstances of their birth. All they could do was defy fate and change their own destinies. Which cultivator who ascended from a lower realm to the Void Realm had not done exactly that?

“Uncle Li, are you very powerful?”

As they boarded the flying vessel and headed toward the Resource Exchange City, the scenery around them rapidly blurred. Tang Shuang gazed about with wide, curious eyes and casually asked the question.

Mo Tianxiao looked at the little girl and smiled. “Your uncle can hardly be called powerful.”

Tang Shuang pursed her lips. “Uncle, you're lying. Daddy calls you Senior, so you must be stronger than Daddy. Shuang'er won't be fooled.”

“Shuang'er, don't be rude.” Tang Jin hurriedly took hold of Tang Shuang, stopping her from saying anything further. Then he apologized to Mo Tianxiao. “Please don't take offense, Senior. She's still young and doesn't know better.”

“It’s all right.” Mo Tianxiao waved with a smile. He had always been quite tolerant of children.

Seeing that Mo Tianxiao was not angry, Tang Shuang immediately looked up at him with big, pleading eyes. “Uncle, I know you're very strong. Can you help me find Mommy? I haven't seen her in a whole year.”

Her soft, childish voice held a trace of supplication. Combined with the tears welling in her eyes, even Mo Tianxiao, the Great Demon Lord, was momentarily taken aback.

Tang Jin's expression changed, his face immediately darkening. “Tang Shuang, I told you already. Your mother is in seclusion. Once she finishes cultivating, she will naturally return.”

“Hmph! I knew you were lying. I’m not talking to Daddy anymore!”

Tang Shuang pulled away, pouted, and angrily ran into one of the flying vessel's rooms, slamming the door shut behind her with a bang.

Tang Jin wore an expression of helplessness and guilt.

Sensing that there might be more to the matter, Mo Tianxiao asked casually, “Did something happen to Little Shuang's mother? You needn't say anything if it isn't convenient.”

Tang Jin let out a sigh. “It’s nothing inconvenient to speak of. A year ago, Shuang’er’s mother and I went to a higher lower realm in search of resources. Unfortunately, we were ambushed and besieged by the foreign races who had gone with us. At the critical moment, she sacrificed herself to carve out a path of survival for me.”

“Shuang’er is still young. I want to wait until she is a little older before telling her the truth.”

Hearing this, Mo Tianxiao sighed regretfully. “My condolences.”

After all, it had been foreign territory. In the eyes of those foreign races, humans were little more than people they could bully and oppress at will.

No wonder Tang Jin had stopped going to the lower realms in search of resources and had instead become a guide for ascenders.

“Now, my only wish is to raise Shuang’er safely and see her grow up. I hope that one day, she can leave the Feather Spirit Star Domain and live in a star domain ruled by humanity.

“Unfortunately, that hope is far too naïve...”

Tang Jin gave a self-mocking smile.

To travel to another star domain by one’s own power, one needed at least a cultivation beyond the Dao-Proving Realm. Could he ever reach such a realm in his lifetime?

“Everyone needs a dream. Who knows? Maybe it’ll come true someday,” Mo Tianxiao comforted him.