# Chapter 1306: The Secret of the Zhou Tian Realm (Part 2)
"All you young ones who carry the hopes of the Eastern Domain," Zhou Tian Shen Di said, standing before a group of young people, his expectant gaze sweeping across each youthful face. "During this time, you should have all heard of the existence of the 'Crimson Rift'. You should also understand that this represents not only glory and opportunity, but also hope and responsibility."
"Of course," he said with a faint smile. "It is also entirely possible that the crack on that Chaos Wall is merely an illusory crimson bubble. Therefore, you need not put too much pressure on yourselves, much less disturb your state of mind. Focus on improving yourselves within the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, and do not waste this opportunity."
"Please rest assured, Zhou Tian Shen Di," Lu Lengchuan spoke up. "As children of the Dong Shen Domain, if a calamity truly erupts in the future, even without this opportunity bestowed by the Zhou Tian Realm, we will give our all, even if it means sacrificing our lives."
These words from Lu Lengchuan, if spoken by someone else, might have sounded like impassioned flattery, but coming from his mouth, every word was as solid as iron.
Zhou Tian Shen Di glanced at Lu Lengchuan, nodded with a smile, and showed a look of gratification. "Once you enter the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, you will each have your own independent small world. Unless you permit it, no one can enter another's small world. Whether you wish to cultivate alone or train together is entirely up to you."
"Furthermore, once the Zhou Tian Divine Realm closes, it cannot be opened again for three years. The 'three thousand years' you spend within will have no way for you to come out. If an accident occurs, no one can help you. Therefore, if any of you feel resistance or fear toward these 'three thousand years,' you may still withdraw now. No one will force you."
No one responded... and no one would reject this unprecedented, heaven-defying opportunity.
"Good." Zhou Tian Shen Di nodded slightly. With a light wave of his arm, the world behind them lit up with a dense white light. "The Zhou Tian Divine Realm has been opened. Once you enter, it will be three thousand years."
"I hope that three years from now, the immature youths you are today can become another pillar of strength for the Dong Shen Domain." Every word Zhou Tian Shen Di spoke carried deep hope. "Go now."
"Wait!" Just as Zhou Tian Shen Di finished speaking, four urgent voices rang out simultaneously.
Lu Lengchuan, Huo Poyun, and Shui Meiyin.
The other person was none other than Luo Changsheng!
Huo Poyun stepped forward and said hurriedly, "Brother Yun Che, he..."
Zhou Tian Shen Di raised his hand and slowly shook his head. "You were supposed to enter the Zhou Tian Divine Realm at the Chen hour today, but it is now the You hour. Alas, such is the will of heaven."
Yun Che, this divine son who had shone with astonishing brilliance on the Feng Shen Platform, was unable to enter the Zhou Tian Divine Realm. Undoubtedly, no one felt more regret and disappointment than Zhou Tian Shen Di himself.
These young people who had dazzled at the Xuan Shen Assembly were all under sixty years of age. Not entering the Zhou Tian Divine Realm meant Yun Che would fall behind them by a full three thousand years!
Moreover, the Zhou Tian Divine Realm not only possessed an extremely high level of aura, but also allowed cultivators to focus entirely without distraction during training. Those three thousand years within were equivalent to six thousand years in the outside world... even ten thousand years would not be an exaggeration.
That meant, three years later, Yun Che, who had originally surpassed all of them, would become insignificant before them. Even the weakest among them would far surpass Yun Che in both strength and realm.
They would become the foundation of the Dong Shen Domain, while Yun Che, who had not entered the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, would remain merely a "Divine Son" among the younger generation... nothing more.
"The time has come. Set aside all your distracting thoughts. From today onward, all cultivators of the Dong Shen Domain will look forward to the moment you emerge from the Zhou Tian Divine Realm. I hope that three years from now, each one of you can shine with a radiance that illuminates the entire Dong Shen Domain."
Zhou Tian Shen Di pushed his palm forward, and an irresistible gentle breeze carried all the young cultivators into the white light behind them.
The world behind suddenly blazed with intense white light. After a few breaths, as the white light dispersed, the Zhou Tian Divine Realm slowly closed. The young cultivators sent inside would not emerge for three years. After three thousand years within the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, each of them would undergo earth-shattering changes.
Especially those who were highly anticipated and possessed extraordinary talent—they would very likely leap from being outstanding members of the younger generation to becoming the highest-level beings of the Dong Shen Domain, or even the entire God Realm.
Yet the one who was expected the most, Yun Che, was missing.
Zhou Tian Shen Di himself had special permission to freely enter and exit the Zhou Tian Divine Realm. But since Yun Che was not inside, his interest had faded completely, and he had no such intention.
All the chosen ones had entered the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, but Zhou Tian Shen Di did not leave. Facing the empty world before him, he suddenly sighed and said, "Ancestor, when he comes here in the future, is there truly no way to reopen the Zhou Tian Divine Realm for him? You have seen his performance and the anomalies about him clearly. Although the talk of 'becoming a True God' is hard to fully believe, his limits might actually break through what we currently know. If the Crimson calamity erupts in the future, he would become the most brilliant hope."
For the King Realms, they craved greater power, but they absolutely did not want others to become more powerful than themselves. Yun Che's "Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation," "Heavenly Dao Son," and "True God Prophecy"... all of these had fiercely tugged at the nerves of the various King Realms, making them shocked, covetous... and even jealous and wary.
They wanted to know the secret of Yun Che's talent. If possible, they would stop at nothing to take it for themselves... If not, once Yun Che began to display power beyond comprehension in the future, they would surely think of erasing him from the world.
As the highest existences in the Chaos, the King Realms would never allow something more powerful than themselves to emerge.
Only the Zhou Tian God Realm was an exception—a King Realm that, since its inception, had upheld righteousness and earned the reverence of all cultivators in the Eastern Domain. As the Realm King of the Zhou Tian Realm, Zhou Tian Shen Di genuinely admired this freak called Yun Che and sincerely hoped to see him grow strong, becoming the glory of the Dong Shen Domain and the strongest force to counter future calamities.
He did not envy, covet, or even think of killing him.
On the contrary, after Yun Che's brilliance became too dazzling, he began to consciously protect him.
The respect the Dong Shen Domain held for the Zhou Tian God Realm had never been false. Even Mo Li had emphasized to Yun Che that he must not leave the Zhou Tian Realm before entering the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, because Zhou Tian Shen Di would never harm him.
No one had expected such an accident to occur in the Yue Shen Realm.
But on the other hand, since Qianye Ying'er already knew Yun Che's greatest secret and decided to prevent him from entering the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, even without the Yue Shen Realm accident, even if he never left the Zhou Tian Realm, he would still fall victim to her schemes—and the Zhou Tian God Realm might not even notice... Such was the terror of Qianye Ying'er.
As Zhou Tian Shen Di's figure faded away, a hoarse voice suddenly echoed in the empty world:
"Opening it once for three thousand years is already the limit of the Zhou Tian power. With the increasingly murky Chaos aura today, who knows how many years it will take to recover enough to open it again."
This hoarse voice was faint and ethereal, as if coming from an infinitely distant world, carrying a weight of unfathomable antiquity.
"Alas..." Zhou Tian Shen Di let out another long sigh. "Could it truly be the will of heaven?"
"I thought he would return to Zhou Tian within a few days, but there has been no news at all. I fear he is no longer within the Eastern Domain. I worry he may have fallen victim to some ambush... Those who can catch up to the Dun Yue Immortal Palace are few and far between, but those few are precisely the ones most likely to covet him. Alas."
"This is his own fate. You need not dwell on it any longer." The hoarse voice spoke again. "In these years, you must do your utmost to prepare for the Crimson calamity. Few believe in it, but you have no choice but to."
From the vast voice, Zhou Tian Shen Di detected a weight heavier than ever before. He frowned. "Has it worsened again?"
"The feeling of unease draws closer every day. This feeling does not come from me, but from the Zhou Tian Pearl."
"Sigh." Zhou Tian Shen Di let out a heavy sigh, his face filled with worry. "What lies behind that Crimson Rift... What kind of calamity could make even the Zhou Tian Pearl fear..."
"..." The empty space was silent for a long time.
Zhou Tian Shen Di bowed deeply, preparing to leave, when the voice that seemed to come from ancient times spoke again: "Until now, 'that matter' should also be told to you."
Zhou Tian Shen Di looked up. "That matter?"
"In the first year after the Chaos Wall crack was discovered, the Zhou Tian Pearl told me it sensed a special aura. That aura was very faint and blurry, but it gave it an extremely distant sense of familiarity."
"Familiar? Something that makes the Zhou Tian Pearl feel familiar?" Zhou Tian Shen Di frowned again.
"At first, the Zhou Tian Pearl could not be certain. But as the crack in the Chaos Wall continued to expand, that feeling grew stronger and clearer... so strong that even though it was unwilling to believe, it had no choice but to."
"What exactly is it?" Zhou Tian Shen Di asked. Every word in the voice before him carried endless weight.
The hoarse voice did not answer directly but spoke slowly: "In the ancient era of the gods, there were seven supreme treasures of the heavens: the Ancestral Heaven-Slaying Sword, the Evil Infant Myriad Calamity Wheel, the Primordial Chaos Life-Death Seal, the Zhou Tian Pearl, the Heavenly Poison Pearl, the Cosmic Thorn, and the Lunhui Jing. Four belonged to the God Race, two to the Demon Race, and one had always drifted in the lower realms."
"Among the four treasures of the God Race, each was held by one of the four Creation Gods: the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor Mo E wielded the Ancestral Sword; the Life Creation God Li Suo held the Primordial Chaos Life-Death Seal; the Order Creation God Xi Ke held the Zhou Tian Pearl; and the other treasure, the Cosmic Thorn, belonged to the Element Creation God... who later became the Evil God."
"The Cosmic Thorn possessed the highest level of dimensional power, capable of traversing any space. According to ancient records, the divine void ships of the God Race that could cross space were all inscribed with the power of the Cosmic Thorn by the Element Creation God."
"After the battle with the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor Mo E, the Element Creation God abandoned the title of Creation God and called himself the Evil God. After that, there were no more legends or records about the Cosmic Thorn in the world."
"During the 'Evil Infant Calamity' that ended the age of the gods, the Evil God, who possessed the Cosmic Thorn, was the only one who could have escaped. But he too was struck by the 'Myriad Tribulations of Oblivion' and ultimately perished. Thinking back now, the Cosmic Thorn had likely long since left his possession."
The hoarse voice caused an increasingly heavy shock to appear on Zhou Tian Shen Di's face. "Ancestor, what you mean... could it be..."
"That's... right..." The already heavy voice grew even deeper. "The aura that accompanied the crack in the Chaos Wall is the aura of the Cosmic Thorn."
"..." Zhou Tian Shen Di's body trembled violently. After a long pause, he took a heavy breath and asked, "Why would the Cosmic Thorn be outside the Chaos? And why... would it make the Zhou Tian Pearl feel fear?"
"Quite clearly, although the dimensional power of the Cosmic Thorn can traverse all spaces within the Chaos, it cannot penetrate the Chaos Wall. However... it might very well be enough to open up space outside the Chaos."
Zhou Tian Shen Di was stunned, momentarily not understanding the meaning of these words.
"If that is truly the case, then that race that was supposed to have perished outside the Chaos back then... might very well have survived until now by relying on the space opened by the Cosmic Thorn."
Zhou Tian Shen Di frowned again, greatly puzzled... In the next instant, it was as if he had been struck by heavenly thunder. His entire body shook violently, and his face turned pale in an instant. Then his hands, legs, beard, and entire body began to tremble uncontrollably. "Im... impossible... Could it be... it's... no... no way! Something so absurd could never happen!"
Perhaps no one would believe that the dignified Zhou Tian Shen Di could be so terrified that his face lost all color in an instant.
"This is a possibility a thousand times more terrifying than any previous speculation, yet it is also... the most likely one."
"..." Zhou Tian Shen Di's face had turned frighteningly pale, and for a long time, he could not speak.
"The Zhou Tian Pearl once said that the Cosmic Thorn had vanished without a trace. The time when its aura completely disappeared aligns perfectly with the time when that race was exiled. But... how did the Cosmic Thorn, which belonged to the Evil God, fall into the hands of that race..."
"When the Crimson Rift fully breaks open, what erupts may not only be a disaster, but may also uncover an ancient truth and enmity. But this fragile world, which no longer has gods, is utterly incapable of bearing that truth and enmity."
"All we can do now is to do our utmost, and then pray that everything is merely a delusion that will never come to pass..."
Zhou Tian Shen Di stood rooted to the spot, the empty world filled only with the violent pounding of his own heart.