MARTIAL PEAK 5710
These Territory Lords had emerged from the Heavenly Begininning Great Restriction and after a long journey of more than ten or twenty years, they had managed to escape Yang Kai's pursuit and finally reached the No-Return Pass. Before they could even recover their strength and injuries, they had been sent out as pawns under the orders of Mo Na Ye to surround and kill Yang Kai. Many of their clansmen had died in battle, and those who had managed to survive had thought that their hard work had paid off, but who would have thought that such an unforeseen event would occur and they would suddenly be trapped in this void.
For a time, everyone was filled with grief and indignation. How could the outside world be so dangerous? Although life in the Heavenly Beginning Great Restriction was dull and monotonous, it was at least stable.
They were beginning to miss the Heavenly Begininning Great Restriction.
The peculiar illusory shadow didn't just appeared in this void, but also the various Great Domain Battlefields where the Human Race and Black Ink Clan were fighting. Even outside the Heavenly Begininning Great Restriction, and the Spatial Territory.
Although this illusory shadow was scattered throughout the universe, its appearance was quite ordinary, as if it was some kind of magical projection of an existence in a different location. It covered the vast void, but apart from the unlucky Innate Territory Lords who were trapped inside the Ink Battlefield, no other living beings were trapped. This illusory shadow appeared very slowly, and anyone who was vigilant would immediately flee.
The Black Ink Clan's side was completely confused, but the Human Race's old masters were all overjoyed, as if the appearance of this phantom was a great blessing to the Human Race.
In the Head Office Division, after the illusory shadow condensed, news of what had happened quickly gathered here. Mi Jinglun quickly realized what had happened.
The appearance of this treasure at this time, the balance that the Human Race and Black Ink Clan had maintained for thousands of years, was destined to be broken.
This war, which had been accumulating for many years and was destined to sweep through the entire universe, was about to begin.
Orders were quickly issued one after another, spreading out to the various Human Race. Like an intricate great array, under the control of the Head Office Division, it began to operate under the mobilization of the Head Office Division.
Mi Jinglun then ordered his subordinates to collect all kinds of ancient records from the various Cave Heaven Paradise and collect them from the headquarters.
A stream of light descended from the sky and landed in front of the Head Office Division. When the soldiers on duty saw the appearance of this person, they did not stop him and allowed him to enter the Head Office.
Mi Jinglun, who was browsing through the information, looked up and his eyes flashed a trace of sadness. Although he knew that Xiang Shan had a chance of breaking through to the Ninth Order, he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed when he saw the results.
Xiang Shan walked over to the table and glanced at the information in front of Mi Jinglun before raising his brow, "Is it really the Universe Furnace?"
Mi Jinglun nodded, "You should have sensed it."
Xiang Shan said, "Previously, when I was in secluded cultivation, my mind was restless and the Small Universe was in turmoil. It was rumored that every time the Universe Furnace appeared, a peak Eighth Order cultivator would sense it. It seems that this is true."
Pausing for a moment, he asked, "Where is it?"
Mi Jinglun rubbed his forehead as if he was having a headache, "There's more than one spot!"
"What do you mean?" Xiang Shan was stunned.
"See for yourself." Mi Jinglun pushed a jade slip over and Xiang Shan took it and examined it, somewhat surprised, "How could this be?"
Now, according to the intelligence received by the Head Office, the image of the Universe Furnace had appeared in the various Great Domain Battlefields. This was something that the Human Race had discovered, but it was unknown if they had missed anything.
Mi Jinglun said, "According to the ancient records of the various Cave Heaven Paradise, when the Universe Furnace appeared, there was indeed more than one location, with the highest number having three, but this time there were more than ten."
Xiang Shan wore a look of reminiscence as he said, "A long time ago, I once heard Honored Master talk about the Universe Furnace. The ancestors speculated that the real body of the Universe Furnace has always been hidden from the outside world, and no one has ever seen it before. All that is seen is its projection. Although that projection is also illusory, it is closely related to the real body and is the entrance to the Universe Furnace."
Mi Jinglun nodded and said, "I've also heard my Elders talk about this matter before. In addition, the number of projections seems to be related to the number of the dead and the strength of the dead. According to the records, when the number of projections is large, the number of dead creatures is also large, and the more powerful the dead, the more likely it is to attract the projection of the Universe Furnace."
Xiang Shan immediately understood, "So this time, there are projections from all over the Great Domain Battlefield?"
"It's probably because of this reason. In recent years, it is difficult to calculate the deaths and injuries of the Human Race and Black Ink Clan in the Great Domain Battlefields. There are also many masters who had fallen, so it's normal for the projection of the Universe Furnace to appear in these Great Domain Battlefield."
"If that's the case, there should also be some in the Spatial Territory and outside the Heavenly Beginning Great Restriction."
Whether it was the Spatial Territory or the Heavenly Beginning Great Restriction, a large number of living beings had died in battle there, especially in the Spatial Territory. Ninth Order Old Ancestors and even the Black Ink Clan's Royal Lord had nearly been wiped out there, so there was a high chance that the projection of the Universe Furnace would appear there.
The location of the projection was the entrance to the Universe Furnace. This meant that if someone wanted to enter the Universe Furnace to seize opportunities, they would have more choices, but this was not good news for the Human Race.
If there were only one or two entrances, the Human Race would have to exert their full strength to seize control of the entrances and prevent any Black Ink Clan from entering.
But now, wanting to control all the entrances was simply a fool's dream. This way, the masters of the Black Ink Clan would have a chance to enter and destroy the opportunities of the Human Race.
This would inevitably lead to a bloody battle, and it would certainly break the current situation.
"When was the last time the Universe Furnace appeared?" Xiang Shan asked again.
Mi Jinglun replied, "About forty thousand years ago."
Xiang Shan's brow wrinkled. It had been too long, and although some of the ancient records left behind in the Cave Heaven Paradise have some records, they were probably incomplete. Mi Jinglun was flipping through the ancient records here in order to find some useful clues so that the Human Race's masters wouldn't be confused.
"Previously, every time the Universe Furnace appeared, its projection would basically be in the Ink Battlefield. Occasionally, a projection would appear in the 3000 Worlds, but the number of times it appeared was very small, so there weren't many useful clues left behind."
The projection entrance of the Universe Furnace had a great deal to do with the number of dead creatures, and this was certain. In the past, although there had been internal strife within the 3000 Worlds, there had never been a large-scale war, so the projections rarely appeared in the 3000 Worlds. Every time the Universe Furnace appeared, it was basically projected onto the Ink Battlefield. Many of the Old Ancestors had actually obtained opportunities inside the Universe Furnace and reached the Ninth Order.
The Ninth Order Old Ancestors should have some understanding of the Universe Furnace, but after the battle between the Heavenly Beginning Great Restriction and the Spatial Territory, the Ninth Order Old Ancestors had all died, leaving only Smiles and Wu Qing.
The most important thing was that these two were only a rising stars among the Ninth Order Old Ancestors, not to mention Wu Qing. It had only been a few thousand years since he had broken through to the Ninth Order, and it was likely that Smiles Old Ancestor had broken through twenty thousand years ago and had never experienced the appearance of the Universe Furnace.
Now, wanting to ask the older generation masters about the Universe Furnace was just a dream.
Even so, Mi Jinglun immediately sent people to Smiles and Wu Qing to inquire about the Universe Furnace. These two were older than them, so they might know some unknown information.
"What about the Holy Spirits?" Xiang Shan asked, "Is there anyone who lived long enough to know about the Universe Furnace?"
Mi Jinglun replied, "We've already sent people to invite the Elders of the Dragon and Phoenix Clans, but don't place too much hope on them. The Holy Spirits have been stationed in the No-Return Pass all year round, and although they have lived long enough, every time the Universe Furnace appears in the past, they would never enter it, so they shouldn't know much about it."
Pausing for a moment, Mi Jinglun said, "I've also asked someone to invite some of the Elders from the various Cave Heaven Paradise to see if there are any gains."
These old masters weren't necessarily very strong, mainly because they had lived for a long time. Although they had never personally experienced the matter of the Universe Furnace, they had more or less heard their Elders talk about it.
Speaking of which, it was quite sad. To the Human Race, the Universe Furnace was undoubtedly the greatest opportunity. However, because the time interval between each appearance was too long, the Human Race didn't know much about the Universe Furnace, so their top priority now was to collect information.
"Is there enough time?" Xiang Shan asked worriedly.
"There's no need to worry about that," Mi Jinglun consoled, "According to the records in these ancient books, the appearance of the Universe Furnace's projection is only the beginning. Only after those projections are fully condensed will the entrance be opened. This process will take three to five years, or even several months."
Xiang Shan nodded slightly before suddenly revealing an apologetic look and turning to Mi Jinglun, "I want to go in!"
Although he had the qualifications to break through to the Ninth Order, after thousands of years of secluded cultivation, he was certain that he would not be able to break through to the Ninth Order with just his own strength. The fall in his grade back then seemed to have been nothing serious, but it had actually had a profound impact on him.
Mi Jinglun smiled and said, "Brother Xiang should go in, there's no need to feel guilty. Your promotion to Ninth Order will only increase the pressure on the Black Ink Clan."
On the Human Race's side, besides Xiang Shan, only Mi Jinglun had the qualifications to take charge of the overall situation. Over the years, when Xiang Shan had gone into seclusion, it was Mi Jinglun who had managed the Human Race's Head Office Division in an orderly manner.
To them, the Universe Furnace was a great opportunity, but it was impossible for the two of them to enter it together. One of them had to stay behind to oversee the situation, otherwise the Human Race would fall into chaos.
If Xiang Shan wanted to enter, Mi Jinglun had to stay, which was why he felt guilty.
However, he wasn't doing this for his own selfish reasons. Just as Mi Jinglun had said, although the two of them were already peak Eighth Order, in terms of combat strength, Xiang Shan was still better. It would be better for him to enter the Universe Furnace to search for opportunities.
Mi Jinglun could understand this. Even if Xiang Shan hadn't said anything, he would have made such arrangements.
TO BE CONTINUED