Chapter 1672: The Fairy Takes an Oath
Every major world faces challenges both great and small, some from the Hell Realm, some from disputes over interests with neighboring major worlds, or from feuds and calamities left over from the Medieval period.
The Heavenly Beginning Civilization was no exception.
The Heavenly Beginning Civilization was located at the edge of the universe where the Heavenly Court Realm was situated, bordering the territory of the Shura Clan of the Hell Realm. For a hundred thousand years, battles between the two had never ceased.
The Old Heavenly Lord of the Heavenly Beginning Civilization was an ancient powerhouse. With him in command, both the enemies the Heavenly Beginning Civilization had made and the Shura Clan were filled with fear and did not dare to invade lightly.
However, three thousand years ago, the Old Heavenly Lord engaged in a world-shaking battle with a supreme powerhouse of the Shura Clan. Although he repelled the Shura Clan's supreme, the Old Heavenly Lord also suffered extremely severe injuries.
For three thousand years, the Heavenly Beginning Civilization had searched everywhere for divine medicine to heal the Old Heavenly Lord's wounds.
But treasures like divine medicine were quite rare even in the four dominant worlds. How easy was it to find one?
Six hundred years ago, the Heavenly Beginning Civilization finally found a divine medicine in an ancient secret realm in the universe. Unfortunately, the divine medicine had not matured. A large amount of divine spring water was needed to hasten its ripening in a short time.
To purchase divine spring water, the Heavenly Beginning Civilization had used almost all its connections, resources, and wealth, yet the divine medicine still had not matured.
Without the divine medicine to heal his wounds, it was certain that the Old Heavenly Lord would not be able to survive the Eon Calamity, which occurred once every one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years. Once the Old Heavenly Lord fell, wouldn't the enemies, who were already stirring restlessly, seize the opportunity to carve up the Heavenly Beginning Civilization?
There was not much time left before the Old Heavenly Lord's Eon Calamity.
It was precisely because Gu Feng had probed this information that he made such an outrageous demand.
He believed that the Heavenly Beginning Fairy would surely be able to distinguish what was important and what was not, and would very likely compromise.
If he could marry a famous peerless beauty like the Heavenly Beginning Fairy, just the thought of lying in the same bed with her made Gu Feng feel a wicked fire burning in his belly, trembling with excitement.
The cultivators present belonged to the same faction—the Ancient Civilization Faction.
The leaders of this faction were either Heavenly Sons or Heavenly Daughters, or Divine Sons or Divine Daughters, with extremely high cultivation and lofty status.
Seeing Gu Feng's arrogant demeanor, they all showed displeased expressions.
The Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince was the most furious. He stood up abruptly and said, "Gu Feng, do you think we absolutely must rely on your spatial power to brave the Wind Dome? Let me tell you plainly, I, the Crown Prince, have also invited a spatial cultivator whose mastery of the Way of Space is by no means inferior to yours."
Within the halls of the Wind Dome, there were many treasures, not just divine spring water. All the major forces present were rubbing their hands together, eager to seize this opportunity to make a big haul.
Therefore, each major force had invited some spatial cultivators.
Although the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince did not belong to the Ancient Civilization Faction, he was one of the greatest pursuers of the Heavenly Beginning Fairy. Upon entering the God-Sealing Platform, he had declared that he would advance and retreat together with the Heavenly Beginning Fairy.
He was well aware of the importance of divine spring water to the Heavenly Beginning Fairy, so he had expended great effort on this matter.
If he could help the Heavenly Beginning Fairy obtain the divine spring water, how could he fail to win the beauty?
Hearing this, Gu Feng let out a cold laugh. "A mastery of the Way of Space not inferior to mine? To be honest, among spatial cultivators below the Great Saint realm, apart from Gongzi Yan, there are few who dare claim to surpass me. Even if there are a few, they are old fellows from the Space Divine Temple, and given their age, there's no way they could come to the Truth Heaven Domain."
From behind the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince, an old man in a black robe stepped forward and said, "Such big talk. I, Chou Gu, really don't believe it."
"Tap, tap."
The black-robed old man named Chou Gu, holding an iron staff topped with a dragon head, hunched over and walked step by step toward Gu Feng.
With each step Chou Gu took, it seemed only a short distance, but his legs emitted spatial fluctuations, allowing him to cover several zhang in a single stride.
This technique was different from the martial skill of "shrinking the ground into an inch." It was Chou Gu using spatial power to shorten the space beneath his feet by dozens of times.
The martial skill of "shrinking the ground into an inch" was mostly a combination of illusion techniques and movement martial skills, merely an illusion.
Chou Gu's display caused the cultivators present to show expressions of surprise, thinking to themselves, "The spatial cultivator invited by the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince is indeed not simple."
"On the God-Sealing Platform, where the spatial structure is extremely stable, he can cover several zhang in a single step. If it were in the mortal realm, wouldn't he be able to cover hundreds of li in one step?"
The Thousand Star Heavenly Daughter's beautiful eyes flickered as she transmitted her voice to Zhang Ruochen, saying, "Chou Gu's spatial footwork isn't bad, is it? Can you do it?"
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was fixed on the iron boots on Chou Gu's feet. He sensed that the spatial fluctuations were actually emanating from the soles of the boots.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Those iron boots should be a fairly decent spatial treasure. Chou Gu is likely borrowing the power of the boots to achieve the effect of shrinking the ground into an inch, covering several zhang in one step."
The Thousand Star Heavenly Daughter's eyes were extraordinary—a pair of Origin Divine Eyes. With Zhang Ruochen's hint, she too saw the trick.
For Zhang Ruochen to achieve "shrinking the ground into an inch" was the simplest thing in the world. He could easily do it by using spatial distortion, without needing to borrow a spatial treasure like those boots.
Zhang Ruochen asked, "Chou Gu must be quite old. How does he qualify to cultivate at the Truth Divine Temple?"
The Thousand Star Heavenly Daughter shook her head and said, "This person is only about two hundred years old. Among Saint Kings, he is considered extremely young, equivalent to a teenager of about ten or so among ordinary mortals. However, the cultivation technique he practices is very special, which is why he looks so aged."
Each major realm represented a different level of life.
An ordinary mortal's lifespan was at most a hundred years.
A Saint King's lifespan, however, exceeded a thousand years. The definition of the "young generation" was naturally different.
While the Thousand Star Heavenly Daughter and Zhang Ruochen were conversing, they didn't know what conflict had erupted between Chou Gu and Gu Feng, but the two had begun to fight using spatial techniques.
"Gravity Space."
Chou Gu thrust the dragon-headed iron staff in his hand into the ground. As he infused his saintly qi and spatial rules into the staff, it formed a special spatial domain—a Gravity Space Domain.
Even Zhang Ruochen, sitting more than ten zhang away, felt the gravity on his body increase by twenty or thirty times. Moreover, the intensity of the gravity continued to rise.
"Hundredfold Gravity."
Chou Gu let out a light roar.
The gravity of the Heavenly Court Realm was already far greater than that of the mortal realm. Only cultivators who had reached the Saint King realm could fly short distances off the ground. It was easy to imagine that with a hundredfold gravity pressing down on a cultivator, their combat power would drop significantly.
"Interesting."
Zhang Ruochen gently stroked his chin with his finger, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Gu Feng quickly retreated backward, searching for places where the gravity was weaker, and let out a loud laugh: "Is that all you've got? A mere Gravity Space Domain can't suppress me."
"Palm Heart Space Burst."
Gu Feng raised his right hand. On his palm, a spatial imprint appeared, spinning rapidly.
In an instant, a beam of light surged out from the spatial imprint, flying toward Chou Gu.
Where the beam of light passed, one could see with the naked eye that space was violently trembling. The Gravity Space Domain could not suppress it at all.
"Not good."
Chou Gu's expression changed drastically. He quickly activated the spatial inscriptions on the soles of his iron boots, using the footwork of shrinking the ground into an inch to rapidly retreat backward.
"Boom."
The beam of light exploded in front of Chou Gu, releasing a powerful spatial storm that shook Chou Gu until he spat saintly blood and stumbled backward repeatedly.
The Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince turned into an afterimage and rushed forward. With one hand, he pressed down on Chou Gu's shoulder, and with the other, he struck out a palm print, blocking the rampaging spatial storm.
Gu Feng let out a cackling laugh: "Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince, this is the spatial master you invited? If I hadn't held back just now, he would already be a dead man."
Chou Gu was deeply ashamed. He cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, my spatial mastery is indeed far inferior to his. Gu Feng possesses a very powerful spatial imprint. I'm afraid only the spatial controller Gongzi Yan could suppress him if he were to make a move."
"Forget it, you've done your best."
The Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince let Chou Gu step back to heal his injuries. Then, his gaze turned cold as he prepared to personally teach Gu Feng a lesson.
Suddenly, a voice from the Heavenly Beginning Fairy sounded in the Imperial Ancestor Crown Prince's ear. He immediately stopped in his tracks, turned around to look at that peerless beauty, and showed a puzzled expression.
The saintly qi halo around the Heavenly Beginning Fairy's body became extremely bright, illuminating the sky above the Alchemy Pavilion like daylight. A vast, ethereal, and clear voice rang out: "The divine spring water at the Wind Dome is indeed extremely important to me and the Heavenly Beginning Civilization. Today, I, Luo Ji, swear an oath here: Whoever can help me obtain one hundred thousand drops of divine spring water, I will marry that person as my wife. If I break this oath, may heaven and earth destroy me."
The Heavenly Beginning Fairy's voice traveled very far, echoing throughout the entire Free Trade Zone.
Hearing this voice, the clamor in the Free Trade Zone vanished, becoming dead silent.
After a long while, it erupted into a sound like an avalanche or a tsunami. Every cultivator was stirred up, their blood boiling with excitement.
"Did I hear that wrong? Was that really the Heavenly Beginning Fairy's voice?"
"The divine spring water is too important to the Heavenly Beginning Civilization. The Heavenly Beginning Fairy is willing to sacrifice herself to obtain the divine spring water and help the Old Heavenly Lord survive the Eon Calamity."
"Heavens! If I could marry the fairy, it would shake the entire Qi Yuan Divine Dynasty, making me the pride of the dynasty. My father would definitely make me the Crown Prince on the spot."
"Marrying the Heavenly Beginning Fairy is equivalent to gaining the support of the entire Heavenly Beginning Civilization. Although the Heavenly Beginning Civilization is now beset with crises, if the Old Heavenly Lord survives the Eon Calamity, his cultivation will surely reach a higher level. At that time, the Heavenly Beginning Civilization will only be stronger than it is now."
...
The Heavenly Beginning Fairy's oath was like a stone thrown into a lake, stirring up a thousand waves.
There was no helping it. The Heavenly Beginning Fairy's beauty was renowned far and wide, and she had countless suitors. Even being able to walk alongside her would make countless cultivators envious and jealous. If one could marry her as a wife, they would absolutely be a winner in life.
Originally, those cultivators who dared not brave the Wind Dome were now, like chickens injected with stimulant, rubbing their hands together and eager to try. The risk was indeed great, but what if they succeeded by luck?