Five options.

Yao Jun and his family stood on one side while Ren Shuren and his wife stood on the other side, the pale and bloody Zue Angye standing in between them. She clutched at the stump that remained of her arm, drawing in a few ragged and hurried breaths as she looked at Yao Jun, all coldness from her eyes already replaced with all-encompassing terror.

She was at the very peak of the Earthly Deity realm, she only needed a small step before she reached the Heavenly Deity realm and got a big promotion. But that strength hadn't amounted to anything in front of Yao Jun, he didn't even have to move a hand to nearly kill her.

In fact, if it hadn't been for her sharpened instincts thanks to her race's innate soul strengthening technique, she wouldn't even have noticed the fluctuating energy and would have just died just like the rest. Looking at those ghastly grey eyes that weren't even looking at her, she couldn't help but be reminded of what Ren Shuren had told her not long ago.

'That blood no longer has any ties to us, forget it ever existed.'

'Forget about getting that blood back, it's for the best.'

'God forbid you actually manage to hurt one of those two people around him before he kills you, that spells the inevitable doom of everything we have planned in this universe.'

She scoffed at those words when she first heard them, but now she wished that she had listened. His gaze right now was so calm that it was eerie, yet it had spelt the doom of her companions and possibly her. With that being the case, what would happen should those eyes be dyed with anger? What sort of price would need to be paid then?

Ren Shuren, despite standing behind her, could guess what Zue Angye was thinking. He had personally experienced how scary Yao Jun could be, his very existence was like a massive volcano hidden in the core of a planet. When he was calm, you might not even notice his existence, but when he erupted, all things in existence would be forced to feel his presence. But even if he could understand Zue Angye's feelings, he didn't bother too much with them or pity her, he had warned her and did his best. As such, he ignored her and allowed his gaze to meet Yao Jun's.

"I told her that the Heaven Concealing Robes wouldn't work, but I was honestly only about 60% confident in that statement. I'm almost a bit sad that I was proven correct, that correctness inevitably proves that you've only gotten scarier. So, I take it that we get to live another day since we haven't died yet?"

Other than his thoughts on Yao Jun's strength and scariness, Ren Shuren had also come to a conclusion when it came to Yao Jun's personality, he was an exceedingly difficult yet simple man to deal with. A single wrong word or move could end in instant eradication so you constantly had to be wary. But as long as you stayed away from things that went against his family, he was calm and even rather logical so he could easily be interacted with. And just as he expected, Yao Jun nodded his head.

"You two haven't tried anything against us, so I don't really have a reason to do anything to you. There's also the fact that I still owe you a debt, I'd prefer it if you can stay alive until I can pay that back. Of course, had you worked with her here, then all bets would be off."

Yao Jun still remembered how Ren Shuren helped him in the past, ambushing him with what should be a Heaven Concealing Robe. He even warned him of an ambush that they would encounter if they kept following their route. And since Yao Jun was surrounded by his entire family at that point, there was no telling how many he might have lost should they actually fall into that ambush. But his words only extended to Ren Shure and his wife, his gaze landing on Zue Angye.

"As for her..."

He handed over Yao Xuelian, who was still immersed in the illusion that nothing had happened, to Guo Luo and stepped towards Zue Angye. He reached her before she could even take a step back, one hand landing on her forehead while the other brushed past the stumps that remained of her left arm and leg.

A small spark of flame so deeply azure that it was on the verge of turning violet jumped out from Yao Jun's hand, instantly cauterizing the two bleeding stumps. Ren Shuren was a bit curious about what Yao Jun was doing, he didn't seem like the merciful type that would even help stop an enemy's bleeding.

But Zue Angye was fully clear on what he was actually doing, because she felt a vicious stream of energy pierce directly into her soul. The stream of energy erased any trace of hostility, fear or anger that she had, leaving behind only undying loyalty. And by the time Yao Jun pulled his hand back, the Human God's Gate had already turned Zue Angye into a follower so loyal that she wouldn't question it even if Yao Jun ordered her to massacre her entire family.

Yao Jun had acquired the Human God's Gate all the way back before he even left his own universe, handing it over to Little Gray since he couldn't absorb the gate himself. But as long as Little Gray remained a part of his Demon God's Gate, all of his abilities would be available to Yao Jun, so he could make loyal slaves like this whenever he wanted. If he wanted to, he could even siphon the cultivation of these people and give it to Little Gray, it was how the Human God's Gate cultivated. But he didn't do that right now, casually tossing the woman over to Ren Shuren.

"You can take her back with you. Killing her subordinates is one thing, but if I kill her and let you return, you'll face more than a bit of trouble, no?"

Yao Jun came up with a casual excuse that fit him wanting to repay a debt, but the truth was of course that he wanted to use Zue Angye as a source of information. The Sebettu definitely had more information than him, even with him scattering spiders wherever he went, keeping an informant there would be very helpful.

Ren Shuren supported Zue Angye, who had regained her frightened expression so that things wouldn't look too strange. He moved his gaze between her and Yao Jun somewhat suspiciously but stopped bothering with it after a few instances. Even if he had done something to Zue Angye, Ren Shuren still decided that a good relationship with Yao Jun would be very important to his race. That was what his instincts were telling him, his very blood was urging him on. As such, he simply helped Zue Angye remain stable and changed the subject entirely.

"So, what are you planning on doing now? I know that we met during a competition, but I don't think those are quite your style so I'm fairly certain you aren't here for the baptism. Are you hunting strong bloodlines to improve your own bloodline?"

Ren Shuren managed to somewhat guess at Yao Jun's target thanks to the fact that he bought the refined Sebettu blood, but he guessed the wrong reason since he didn't know anything about Yao Jun's God Gate. Yao Jun returned to Guo Luo and rubbed Yao Xuelian's head, a soft light flashing through his eyes as he turned his head over.

"The king rank on the Multiverse Bloodwind List, do you know a good way to reach it?"

There was no way Yao Jun could forget about this goal of his. He had caused the death of his closest friend, Yun Yantian, so he had to do everything in his power to reach the king rank so that he could ask the creator of the Bloodwind Code to revive him. And the Sebettu had been around for quite a while and were a fairly strong force, they should have more information about the Bloodwind Codes. Ren Shuren's eyes flashed with a bit of surprise when he heard Yao Jun's question, but he still responded after rubbing his chin for a bit.

"I didn't expect you to know about those things, I don't think they've reached your minor universe yet. You got your hand on a Bloodwind Code after coming here? You even know about the ranks and the Multiverse List, so I'm guessing you got a title on it? But trying to cheat your way to a title won't work, the Bloodwind Code itself is responsible for deciding when you deserve a higher rank. Strength, age, cultivation realm, bloodlines, achievements, everything is taken into account."

Other than the collective consciousness of the Bloodwind Codes, there was only one existence that could change one's rank on the Multiverse Bloodwind List, and that was the Bloodwind Emperor himself. But to make such an exalted being personally alter your rank? There had only ever been one precedent for it, and that was the Lord of the Fallen Star himself. Yao Jun nodded his head in understanding, but Ren Shuren opened his mouth again before Yao Jun could say anything.

"There's no cheat to increasing your rank, increasing your strength is the fastest bet. And if you're looking to increase your strength, there are indeed three opportunities available to you. Each one is more dangerous than the previous one, so I'll just list them based on how dangerous they are."

Yao Jun's ears perked up slightly when he heard Ren Shuren's remark, he was looking to increase his strength even if it wasn't for Yun Yantian's matter. He had seen how weak he truly was and had come to the conclusion that his strength was far from enough to protect his family. So he made sure to listen closely as Ren Shuren listed off what he knew.

"The first and 'safest' one, is the Hungering Heaven Trials that will take place in 5 years. Anyone who can pass those trials will gain the right to become a disciple of the Hungering Heaven sect, one of the top three organizations in this entire universe. I call it the safest, but the competition is quite vicious so about 1 out every 100 trial takers perish."

"The second one is the Dreamland Convergence, an event that should start in about 3 or so years. When a powerful cultivator specializing in illusions dies, they may leave behind an illusory realm that will keep acting even after their death, drawing in the surrounding energy to maintain itself. The Dreamland Convergence is an event where a multitude of such illusory realms are drawn into this universe and collide, it is filled with countless opportunities and rare items that the creators of those illusory realms encountered while still alive. About 1 out of every 70 people who enter this end up perishing."

"And finally, the one event that can't be left out, the Six Dawn's Baptism that will arrive in one or two years, the grandest competition that involves the entire universe. Everyone is allowed to enter and compete for not just the grand prizes but also the opportunities present within the special location of the contest. But since everyone below the middle stage of the Empyrean Ruler realm can enter the competition, about 1 out of every 30 ends up losing their lives while chasing those riches."

Yao Jun had only read a little bit about the first two events, they were both located in different dominions than this one so that was only to be expected. He had heard comparatively more about the Six Dawn's Baptism, mainly due to how grand it was.

And while the rewards from that competition might be great, it would certainly allow Yao Jun to increase his strength by a fair bit, the level of the competitors made his brows furrow. The Empyrean Ruler was a realm that was far above him, it was the realm directly following the Sovereign God realm, or Godking realm as he knew. He hadn't even stepped into the Heavenly Deity realm yet, much less the following Godking realm.

It was most certainly an option, but it was far from being his first choice. His first choice was still what he was doing right now, hunting down Divine Beasts so that he could evolve all of his gathered Demonic beasts, there would definitely be a qualitative difference if they were all Divine Beasts. And the second choice and option he had was one he hadn't spent much time thinking about yet, the Blood Ocean's Hunger.

The Blood Ocean's Hunger was a body cultivation technique he got thanks to Tang Guanyu's trial back when he took part in the grand competition in his own homeworld. It was this cultivation technique that gave him the chance to come to this major universe, but he would still have to reach the Blood Ocean and actually meet Tang Guanyu if he wanted to become his true disciple and receive the full technique.

He already had two options available to him, Ren Shuren pointing him towards three other options he could pursue eventually. But they, along with the second option he had available to him, all carried one fatal flaw, they were extremely dangerous. How could he possibly dare to bring Guo Luo or Yao Xuelian to any of these places?

He didn't even feel safe bringing them to the Blood Ocean, as Tang Guanyu's trials made it clear that he did not shy away from ruthless methods. Of course, Yao Jun too was a ruthless man, but that wasn't something he wanted to show his daughter, and he certainly wouldn't be ruthless to his own wife. So he was stuck pondering, uncertain if any of the options were ones he should pursue, resulting in the gears in his mind churning endlessly.