# Chapter 1135: Zhou Tian God Realm
Jun Wuming led the way, with Jun Xilei following behind. Jun Wuming remained silent the entire time, while Jun Xilei kept her head lowered, also without uttering a single word.
Such an atmosphere had never existed between master and disciple before.
Their pace was not fast, and before they knew it, they had already left the territory of Yin Xue Realm.
It was then that Jun Wuming stopped. His white beard fluttering, he stared straight ahead, completely motionless.
Jun Xilei halted behind him. She asked nothing, said nothing. Only her lips remained tightly pressed together, never loosening from the very beginning.
Such humiliation, such a drastic fall from grace — she might never be able to let go of it in her entire lifetime, let alone when it was still so close at hand.
The tempering of her "sword heart"? She didn't believe it…
"Ah." Jun Wuming let out a very light sigh. "The nearest star realm with a teleportation profound formation outside Yin Xue Realm is the Qing Yan Realm, which we have visited before. Though remote, it gives us enough time."
Jun Xilei: "…"
"Cough… ahem…"
As his voice faded, Jun Wuming's body suddenly trembled, and he let out a light cough. Then it abruptly became violent, each cough heavier than the last.
"Cough… ahem… cough…"
By the end, there was even a trace of pain in his voice.
"Cough…"
After the final agonizing bout of coughing, Jun Wuming's body finally settled down. The hand he had been covering his mouth with slowly lowered…
Jun Xilei caught sight of it at once — in the center of his palm were clearly visible streaks of blood.
Jun Xilei was so alarmed that her face lost all color, and for a moment, she couldn't speak.
"Just now, I intended to intimidate Mu Xuanyin with my sword energy, but… before the sword energy could be released, it was instantly sealed within my body by her. No matter how I tried to drive it out, I couldn't break free, and thus the sword energy turned back to injure me."
Jun Wuming spoke very calmly, but every sentence, every word, was like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky to Jun Xilei.
What was a Sword Lord's sword energy? It was the pinnacle of the divine realm's sword mastery, ultimate supreme sword energy unparalleled throughout the entire Chaos Space — yet it was actually sealed within the body, unable to be released?
"How… is that possible?" Jun Xilei exclaimed, her voice breaking.
"This is the reason," Jun Wuming said with closed eyes.
"Then… then it must be because Master didn't use his full strength, so she managed to suppress him in that instant. She's just a Realm King of a mid-ranked star realm, how could she possibly… how could she compare to Master?" Jun Xilei said urgently.
"If that were truly the case, would I have retreated to this extent?" Jun Wuming said with a sigh. If he had turned around at that moment, Jun Xilei would have seen a flash of terror on his face. "Yin Xue Realm King Mu Xuanyin gave me a terrifying feeling… that no matter what, I could never defeat her."
Someone who could make Jun Wuming utter the word "terrifying" — throughout the entire Eastern Divine Region, there were barely a handful.
"…" Jun Xilei was completely stunned. After a long time, she murmured blankly, "That must be… just an illusion, or perhaps… she used some method to create a false impression."
"Heh." Jun Wuming smiled faintly. "I have lived for fifty thousand years and have seen far too many deceptive tricks, false faces, and fabricated illusions. But this feeling alone — there is absolutely no way it could be fake."
These words were spoken by Jun Wuming himself, and Jun Xilei finally understood why he had endured and retreated to such an extent… Although she had considered this possibility earlier, the moment it crossed her mind, she had dismissed it. Even now, with Jun Wuming saying it with his own mouth, she still couldn't believe or accept it.
"Master, you once said that throughout the entire Eastern Divine Region, including within the King Realms, there are no more than ten people you absolutely cannot defeat. Could it be that she… has already reached such a level? She's clearly just a Realm King of a mid-ranked star realm!"
"…" Jun Wuming said nothing, and silence was naturally an admission.
"Even if… even if she really is that powerful, in terms of seniority and prestige within the Eastern Divine Region, she can't compare to Master at all. Back then, when I accompanied Master to visit Zhou Tian God Realm, even Zhou Tian Shen Di treated Master with courtesy. Yet she, a mere Realm King of a mid-ranked star realm, dared to… insult and humiliate Master to such a degree!"
Jun Xilei's voice was filled with hatred, but Jun Wuming slowly shook his head. "Lei'er, you must understand one thing: in this world, strength is always supreme. What origin, what seniority — in the face of absolute power, they are all illusions. Do you truly think that people respect me so much just because of my seniority? If I didn't have this level of profound path cultivation and sword mastery, even if my seniority were ten times higher, no one would truly look at me squarely."
"You did nothing wrong today, and no one was at fault." Jun Wuming said helplessly. "If that had been just an ordinary mid-ranked star realm, even if you had trampled all over them, they wouldn't have shown the slightest anger. Instead, they would have been terrified and sent you off with respect. But Mu Xuanyin's cultivation surpasses mine, so this affront of yours was a great mistake."
"The Way has no order of precedence; those who attain it are honored. It is not wrong to look down on the weak, but to offend one's superior brings consequences… This is why countless beings in this world spend their entire lives pursuing a higher profound path."
Jun Xilei had heard these words many times before, but this time, they struck her a hundred times more deeply. Yet she still couldn't accept it and said in a low voice, "Disciple cannot reach Master's state of mind and still finds it difficult to resign herself."
What she truly couldn't resign herself to was not the slap Mu Xuanyin had given her, but rather… being forced to kneel before someone weaker. To her, that was an indelible and immense humiliation.
"Heh, Mu Xuanyin is indeed an anomaly. Someone who has reached such a supreme level yet still possesses such an extreme temperament — perhaps she is the only one in the world."
"At this point, I can already see the end of my lifespan, yet she is still so young, with a lifespan not even twenty percent of mine, and she has infinite possibilities. Whatever remains of my dwindling life will inevitably be beneath her." Saying this, Jun Wuming did not sigh but instead smiled. "But there is one thing she can never compare to me."
"Lei'er, and that is you."
Looking at his only disciple, the one he had spent half his life searching for, Jun Wuming's gaze was filled with affection and satisfaction. "I cannot compare to her, but due to the limitations of bloodline, technique, and destiny, her disciple can never compare to my disciple. So what do I have to be dissatisfied about?"
"Today's humiliation, I cannot avenge for you. But in the future, in that era that belongs to you, even if Mu Xuanyin has countless disciples, they will all kneel before your sword… So why should you feel dissatisfied?"
Thinking back to the group of "top disciples" of the Ice Phoenix God Sect, all of whom were only at the Divine Tribulation Realm, and especially that personal disciple named "Yun Che" who was only at Divine Tribulation Realm Level 1, Jun Xilei felt a heavy release in her heart, as if she had suddenly found some kind of balance. She said seriously, "Master, rest assured. In this lifetime, this disciple will never disgrace the name of 'Sword Lord's Successor.' The humiliation of today, I will one day repay it a million times over!"
"Heh, by then, when you take my place as the 'Sword Lord,' perhaps the events of today and the people of today will be like tiny specks of dust, not even worth a glance." Jun Wuming said with a smile.
"Seven hundred years ago, although Mu Xuanyin's cultivation was remarkable, it was far inferior to mine. To reach such a level in just a few hundred years cannot be done through ordinary methods. The reason she did not go to Zhou Tian God Realm is certainly because she does not want to attract attention." Jun Wuming said thoughtfully.
"Lei'er, do not speak of today's events to anyone, especially about Mu Xuanyin. She spared me some face earlier by not publicly humiliating me, but that was also a kind of warning."
"Yes, disciple remembers."
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Entering the teleportation profound formation, a long journey of spatial travel later, as the light before their eyes suddenly brightened, a brand new world gradually came into view.
The moment the spaces shifted, Yun Che's heartbeat involuntarily quickened. Three years… he had finally, truly taken a step closer to Mo Li. And it was a very, very big step.
The red-clad figure that forever appeared in his dreams had never faded from his memories or his soul for even a single moment.
But the world before him stunned him, along with all the Ice Phoenix disciples.
Completely different from all kinds of preconceived notions, the world before them was nothing but an empty expanse of pale white. There was no sign of the King Realm's majesty or dominance — in fact, they couldn't even see the existence of any land.
Before them stretched a vast, empty white, and even beneath their feet… they were stepping on a smooth curtain of light.
The light within the curtain was still flowing slowly.
But Mu Bingyun, Mu Huanzhi, and the others showed no unusual expressions. Mu Huanzhi turned around and said, "This is the outer world temporarily created by Zhou Tian God Realm for this session of the Xuan Shen Assembly. Although it is not the true Zhou Tian God Realm, we are already quite close."
"Stay close behind. This is not the Yin Xue Realm, and no one is allowed to move about freely." Mu Huanzhi said sternly.
Behind them, Huo Rulie also brought Huo Poyun out of the profound formation and walked alongside the Ice Phoenix group.
Zhou Tian God Realm — just the name alone gave a tremendous sense of oppression. The Ice Phoenix disciples who had come here were the cream of the crop among the younger generation of the entire Yin Xue Realm. They could walk with impunity anywhere else, but here, even before setting foot in the true Zhou Tian God Realm, a feeling of inferiority began to sprout in the hearts of every disciple, growing stronger with each step forward.
It wasn't just the disciples — the auras of the various elders and palace masters were also noticeably restrained.
On the endless light-curtain land, besides them, the figures of other profound practitioners could be faintly seen in the distance, some in groups, some in small clusters of a few, and even some alone.
"Zhou Tian God Realm is the last of the four King Realms of the Eastern Divine Region to be established." Mu Bingyun said softly to Yun Che. "Originally, it was just an upper-ranked star realm. But about six hundred thousand years ago, an ancestor with an extremely special constitution appeared in Zhou Tian God Realm — a heaven-gifted constitution said in ancient legends to be blessed by the Heavenly Dao. Everything that followed proved that it was no mere legend."
"That ancestor with the heaven-gifted constitution found the Zhou Tian Pearl and became its master. From then on, that star realm was blessed by the protection of the Zhou Tian Pearl and was renamed 'Zhou Tian Realm.' It soared to the heavens, not only being elevated to the status of a King Realm but also surpassing Star God Realm and Moon God Realm in overall strength, becoming the most revered King Realm in the Eastern Divine Region."
"After that Zhou Tian ancestor passed away, the Zhou Tian Pearl continued to protect the Zhou Tian God Realm day and night. In fact, some absurd rumors even circulate from time to time — that the Zhou Tian ancestor from six hundred thousand years ago never actually died but instead used the power of the Zhou Tian Pearl to survive until now, hidden within the pearl. That is why the Zhou Tian Pearl has always continued to protect the Zhou Tian God Realm."
"Hahahaha," hearing Mu Bingyun's account, the nearby Mu Huanzhi laughed. "Just wild tales made up by idle people. The only ones in this world who can live for hundreds of thousands of years are the Dragon Clan. No matter what, humans cannot live that long."
"Grand Elder is right." Yun Che responded. But the phrase "a heaven-gifted constitution said in ancient legends to be blessed by the Heavenly Dao" that Mu Bingyun had mentioned suddenly made him think of someone…
But it was only a fleeting thought. He didn't dwell on it.