TL: Etude
The other True Monarchs, intimidated by the power of the four True Monarchs from the True Monarch Ranking, did not dare to make a move. As for the four ranked True Monarchs themselves, they refrained from acting because the Innate Origin Lifeform had not yet fully developed. If they acted prematurely, what they seized would only be an innate origin object of the highest grade and not a true Innate Origin Lifeform.
In the past, a top-grade innate origin object would have been extremely precious, but this time, they had acquired so many such treasures after entering the Realm of Origin that they no longer cared about gaining one more or one less.
Their sole objective was the Innate Origin Lifeform! However, there was only one, and the number of True Monarchs present made its distribution a real problem.
Still, the resources on this Five Finger Mountain were abundant, with many innate origin objects scattered about. Thus, the other True Monarchs busied themselves with seizing these other innate origin objects. If, amidst the chaos, someone managed to acquire the Innate Origin Lifeform, that would be an extraordinary stroke of luck.
For this reason, none of them left this troublesome place. They stayed, watching and waiting.
The Innate Origin Lifeform would be born soon; otherwise, these True Monarchs would have long since lost their patience and gone elsewhere to seek out other innate origin treasures.
After all, the Realm of Origin was filled with abundant innate origin objects. Even wandering around aimlessly would yield significant gains. To waste time here was like wasting vast amounts of innate origin treasures!
Days passed, and in the blink of an eye, a month had gone by.
On this day.The Innate Origin Lifeform inside the stone at the center of Five Finger Mountain had fully taken shape.
With a loud boom, the stone shattered, and a humanoid Innate Origin Lifeform emerged.
Although it had a human shape, it lacked pores, hair, and even distinct facial features, resembling a figure made entirely of energy.
At this moment.
A True Monarch, proficient in the Grand Dao of Space, used a starry sky teleportation divine ability, aided by a spatial treasure of half-Dao weapon grade, to instantly appear beside the Innate Origin Lifeform, attempting to capture it in one swift move.
“It’s True Monarch Starry Sky!” Someone shouted.
Though True Monarch Starry Sky’s strength was inferior to those on the True Monarch Ranking, within the quasi-Dao Realm, he still ranked among the top tens of thousands, a truly fearsome combat power.
“Courting death!”
True Monarch Morning Light roared in anger, and a sliver of morninglight crossed time and space, instantly freezing True Monarch Starry Sky in place.
At that moment, True Monarch Starry Sky was imprisoned, his body gradually cracking, his eyes filled with terror.
He was utterly terrified of True Monarch Morning Light’s power. With just a casual strike, Dawnlight had completely obliterated his life force.
He had vastly overestimated his own abilities and underestimated the strength of those ranked True Monarchs. Otherwise, he never would have risked trying to seize the Innate Origin Lifeform.
It wasn’t entirely his fault for misjudging the situation. In the past, in his own region of chaos, he had been nearly invincible. Though he had heard rumors of the combat strength of those invincible True Monarchs, he had never faced them in battle.
Moreover, his mastery of spatial abilities gave him overconfidence, leading to his fatal mistake.
One misjudgment cost him his life.
With a loud bang, True Monarch Starry Sky shattered into pieces, his remains scattering across the ground. A powerful top-tier True Monarch had perished.
With the fall of True Monarch Starry Sky, the other True Monarchs hesitated, no longer daring to covet the Innate Origin Lifeform.
Boom!
The four ranked True Monarchs finally clashed, and the terrifying shockwaves swept through the entire area. Some True Monarchs who hadn’t left in time were instantly obliterated.
This scene terrified the remaining True Monarchs, who quickly fled, but even so, over ten thousand True Monarchs still fell.
These ten thousand weren’t killed in battle… they simply got caught in the crossfire, an incredibly unfortunate end.
After half an hour of battle, True Monarch Morning Light was the first to be forced out. Severely injured, he had no choice but to retreat from the area and give up on the Innate Origin Lifeform.
It was a helpless decision; otherwise, True Monarch Morning Light would have fallen right there.
Another half-hour passed, and the True Monarch from the Immortal Gate fled after sustaining heavy injuries, leaving only True Monarch Luo Hai from the Chaos Merchant Guild and True Monarch Shadow Zero from the War God Tower.
In terms of ranking, True Monarch Shadow Zero was stronger, but True Monarch Luo Hai was overwhelmingly wealthy. He was armed with multiple half-Dao Artifacts, including a medium-grade defensive artifact and an upper-grade defensive artifact. The weapon in his hand, the Luo Hai Ring, was also an upper-grade half-Dao Artifact.
With these numerous half-Dao Artifacts protecting him, combined with his invincible defense, True Monarch Luo Hai barely sustained any injuries. On the other hand, True Monarch Shadow Zero gradually grew more severely wounded.
In the end, True Monarch Luo Hai emerged victorious, seizing the Innate Origin Lifeform.
Not long after.
One terrifying figure after another arrived at the scene, including True Monarch Dragon Sea from the Void Sky Hall, and even some True Monarchs ranked in the top ten of the True Monarch Ranking.
However, upon seeing the near-destruction of Five Finger Mountain, they could only sigh in regret.
“We arrived too late. The Innate Origin Lifeform has already been taken!”
Many True Monarchs knew that True Monarch Luo Hai had claimed the Innate Origin Lifeform, and they all contemplated surrounding and killing him.
But True Monarch Luo Hai acted decisively. He abandoned all other innate origin objects, immediately shattered the world barrier of the Realm of Origin, and left. He swiftly returned to the headquarters of the Chaos Merchant Guild.
Only then was True Monarch Luo Hai truly safe.
It was clear that in the near future, True Monarch Luo Hai would likely use the Innate Origin Lifeform to break through the shackles of his Dao embryo, refining one of his Daos to its perfected length of 100,000 meters.
A True Monarch like that would undoubtedly be called a Half-Step True Ancestor!
“There’s news of the birth of an Innate Origin Lifeform!!!”
Ye Tian was surprised. This information had been spread by True Monarch Morning Light of the Void Sky Hall, and most of the True Monarchs from the Void Sky Lineage had already received the news. As a personal disciple of a Dao Ancestor from the Void Sky Lineage, he naturally received it as well.
Unfortunately, the Void Sky Hall failed to claim the Innate Origin Lifeform.
“What a pity!” Ye Tian sighed.
He also desired the Innate Origin Lifeform. This kind of supreme innate origin object would be of great help to him. Though it might not be enough to shatter the fifth bottleneck of his Endless Dao, it would still provide an immense boost!
“Five Finger Mountain, huh? I suppose there aren’t many people there now. I’ll go check it out!”
Ye Tian changed direction and flew towards Five Finger Mountain.
After a long while, Ye Tian finally arrived at the location.
By now, there was no longer any sign of Five Finger Mountain. The entire mountain and the nearby Zhao Mountain Range had been completely leveled. The ground in the area had been stripped away by tens of thousands of meters, all due to the intense battle that had taken place.
Ye Tian could sense the residual killing intent in the air, as well as the traces left by the battle between the four ranked True Monarchs. He deeply felt the brutality of that conflict and the immense power of those True Monarchs. Even the lingering aura gave him a faint sense of danger. If he had faced any of them personally, he doubted he would even have had the chance to escape.
Perhaps out of instinct, Ye Tian habitually used his Copy Talent to envelop the area around Five Finger Mountain, including the underground regions.
In the Realm of Origin, the range of his Copy Talent was even broader than that of spiritual sense. When it came to detecting lifeforms, no ability could compare to it. Even those who cultivated concealment-type Origin Divine Abilities couldn’t hide from his Copy Talent.
Upon his scan, Ye Tian’s eyes widened.
His gaze fixed on the deep underground region beneath where Five Finger Mountain once stood, and internally, he was shaken: “That is…?”