Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

This young man was Yan Zaizen! Utilizing the Regalia of Mimicry’s abilities, he put together a few personal features from people he could remember and slapped on Tao’s aura. With this, he was essentially an entirely different person.

"As I thought, this is a reinforcement shipment for the war." Earlier, Yan Zaizen fully intended to bulldoze the barrier, but this ship’s appearance made things easier. If he went full force, it’s possible he would attract too much attention which could lead to being attacked by both groups. Now, he could infiltrate the realm without drawing too much attention.

"These people should have some way to temporarily bypass the barrier," Yan Zaizen assumed. Looking at everyone on board, he felt more reassured. There were Heavenly Genesis Cultivators in the early, middle, and later stages. Not only that, he felt various soul fluctuations that were exceptional.

This didn’t include the beastly aura he felt from various others. As someone who wasn’t too informed on the Beastial Path, he could only speculate. However, the individuals on board could easily contend with a seventh-level force.

"Have you heard of the 7th Heaven?" Yan Zaizen quietly asked Pinaka. Since exiting from the inter-heavenly spatial formation, Pinaka had been somewhat silent. At the moment, she was drenched in and absorbing a vast quantity of Yan Zaizen’s soulforce and soul energy.

He wasn’t quite sure what she experienced while traveling through the spatial tunnel, but it seemed to have injured her worse than the Deep Mines. However, he wasn’t worried. Whatever she needed to recover, he would give her.

"No," Pinaka curtly answered. Yan Zaizen awkwardly smiled. His question was ridiculous in hindsight. He wasn’t even sure if sixth-floor Heavenly Genesis Cultivators had the ability to traverse between heavens.

"A realm war..." When his mind turned towards war, he felt a heat build up in his heart. If it was the sixteen-year-old him, the very concept of a war would’ve left him hiding in fear, but the current him felt oddly excited!

"The amount of loot and wealth..." If Tao and Bai Lufeng had heard those words, they would warily smile. Yan Zaizen always had a distinct penchant to rob and steal, and what better way to do that than on the battlefield?

Imagine the innumerable heavenly shrines! The storage of wealth and items! Even the physical bodies of cultivators would be priceless!

Just the thought of it caused his lips to dry. He had to lick them slightly as a response. To others just casually glancing in his direction, they felt a shiver down their spines. Some even stepped away and checked their spatial storages instinctively.

When they realized their actions, they felt awkward and would leave.

"Well, I should first figure out the situation. And before I do ANYTHING, I need to ensure my trump cards to escape." Yan Zaizen had been put into too many situations where his cultivation base was far too inferior to escape. Heavenly might or formations could either impede spatial shifting of any type or restrict it all together.

With a peak upper-tier dao, which was now a False Grand Dao, an Imperial Law of Spacetime, and a peak Essence Path cultivation base, he was more than ready to construct a heavenly shrine!

He had a few reservations because the dao is supposed to be the foundation of a shrine, but his Mortal Dao was a False Grand Dao. He didn’t know if there would be consequences or hindrances in the future. When he informed Pinaka about it, she only responded with a simple answer: "I don’t know."

This left him grasping at the dark abyss of the unknown. If it wasn’t for that invisible stream of information in the spatial tunnel helping him understand his situation a little, would he even understand anything about this False Grand Dao?

"We should be entering the realm soon. When we do, I should leave and find a location to construct my shrine." As he determined his plans, he felt excited.

"Fellow Sir," an elderly man called out to Yan Zaizen. The elderly man had a hunched back and a withered aura, his vitality was dim and weak. It was like a candle’s flame at the end of its wax stick. His wrinkly skin and decrepit smell that was reminiscent of death were overshadowed by his bright and calm smile.

Yan Zaizen wasn’t used to the address, so he didn’t immediately understand the man’s intentions. Only when the old man repeated his words did Yan Zaizen realize the old man’s actions to seize his attention.

In the myriad realms and many heavens, cultures varied. Sometimes this difference was slight but oftentimes it was vastly different. It wasn’t just realms, but even continents that shared the same land had such differences. A form of address difference was minor in comparison.

"Yes?" Yan Zaizen answered. To him who was foreign, he didn’t want to stick out. He hadn’t understood the differences in cultures or even the language. If it wasn’t for his Astral Soul Realm cultivation base, he would be completely confused. With his soul cultivation, he can negate the lingual barrier and communicate with the soul directly.

"Oh?" The old man was slightly surprised that Yan Zaizen used a soul transmission. However, he ignored it and asked his question, "May I ask you...which force you belong to?"

"..." Was he found out so soon? Holy hell, he thought his disguise was perfect! Then again, he couldn’t exactly pose as a force member. If they saw him and found him unfamiliar, it was the same as giving up his identity. This was why he wore an ambiguous disguise. Yet, he was still approached.

He cursed this old, nearly lifeless man for being too damn nosy. "Why?" He inquired curiously, but internally he was already cursing the man’s three generations.

"Because...you’re not supposed to be here." The old man kept his smile, but Yan Zaizen felt a chill roll down his spine. How the hell did he know that?

Before Yan Zaizen could question and come up with a lie, "We’re not idiots, Fellow Sir. You weren’t here one moment and was here the next. Many discovered your appearance the moment you arrived. We do have our senses, you know." This old man kept smiling throughout.

"..." For that split second, Yan Zaizen felt incredibly stupid.

Pa!

He slammed his palm in his face in shame. When people disguise themselves, isn’t it usually never noticed? This was especially so in the stories he read of the heroes infiltrating the villainous factions!

As he thought more on the subject, his expression darkened. If he was smart, he should’ve snatched someone currently on the ship and swap with them while concealing his aura. If he did that, then wouldn’t it have been smoothly done and unnoticed? He could also soul search them for information!

Hindsight, it truly was perfect.

He took mental notes for future events. He would just chalk this up as beginner’s failure.

"You don’t have to worry, Fellow Sir. No one stopped you because they simply do not care." The old man tried to comfort Yan Zaizen with some truth. In reality, Yan Zaizen’s disguise was too perfect but his plan of action was heavily flawed.

Because of his perfect disguise, all those who noticed him didn’t feel any sort of threat from him. He was either too weak or simply irrelevant to the whole picture. Not to mention, if a guy wants to join a realm war with such a weak cultivation base, why did it matter to them?

Let him court death.

"I see," after discovering this fact, he did feel a little bit better.

"I just wanted to ask if you wanted to join our force. Every additional member counts." The old man extended an offer.

"So that’s what this is about? He just wants me to strengthen his force." Silently thinking, Yan Zaizen felt it was a little laughable. No one cared about him enough to approach but this old man. Not only that, this old man’s cultivation base wasn’t low, being at the fourth-floor of the Heavenly Genesis Realm. However, to Yan Zaizen, even Yun Baili couldn’t take a single punch from him.

Strengthen his force? He would be his force!

Thinking about it, he decided to seriously consider this. If he joined a weaker force, he could have an easier time disappearing to form his heavenly shrine. He could also gain an understanding of the overall situation. The latter was most crucial.

"I can join, but I have a condition." Yan Zaizen calmly said.

The old man didn’t seem too bothered that a second-floor Heavenly Genesis cultivator wanted to propose a condition. Instead, he smiled a little bit more. "Please."

"I need to build my heavenly shrine...the next stage of it before I enter the battlefield."

"The true war won’t be happening for a few years. If you just need to build your next floor, you’ll have plenty of time." The old man replied. After all, building a heavenly shrine took very little time. Accumulating the necessary heavenly materials, heavenly liquid, and comprehension was a different matter.

With a smile, "then you’ve got yourself a new member."