388: Open the door to look back

The urgency of the current situation meant Xiao Shi didn't want to wait even a single day longer.

He knew very well that trying to reach the Martial Dao Ninth Realm faster than the three Demigod Heavenly Kings was an extremely difficult task in itself.

The entire Tianwu Continent... only he would have such a crazy idea.

He had to seize every single second!

Because of this, Xiao Shi began to actively assist Xiang Zizhen in wielding the Initial Martial Retrospection Dao.

This greatly shortened the time it took for him to wield the Initial Martial Retrospection Dao.

From the original ten days, it was directly reduced to five days.

Finally, after Xiang Zizhen successfully wielded the Initial Martial Retrospection Dao, he transcended in one fell swoop to become a Dao Lord!

He was also the first Dao Lord born in Xiao Shi's Fifth Domain!

Although the transcendence brought by the Initial Martial Retrospection Dao did not significantly enhance Xiang Zizhen's strength, the current Xiang Zizhen had undergone a momentous, earth-shattering change compared to before!

That difference in life level would make one feel like an ant looking up at a dragon.

A large part of the reason why a Saint's advancement to a Dao Lord is called transcendence lies precisely in this.

Between a Dao Lord and a Saint, it's not just a difference in one realm; it's also the difference between the Upper Three Realms of Martial Dao and the Middle Three Realms.

The two seem to be only one realm apart, but in reality, it's a world of difference.

Even when Xiao Shi faced Xiang Zizhen, he could clearly feel the difference in their life levels.

This difference would bring an invisible suppression.

It was both a suppression of life level and a suppression of cultivation realm.

This suppression was not intentionally emitted by Xiang Zizhen.

Rather, it was a suppression that every martial artist in the Middle Three Realms would feel when facing those in the Upper Three Realms.

The greater the difference in cultivation realm between the two, the stronger this suppression would be.

The suppression a Demigod exerts on a Saint, for example, doesn't even require action; just a thought can make a Saint tremble and prostrate.

This was also why the three Demigod Heavenly Kings looked down on Xiao Shi.

A mere Saint, whether in cultivation realm or life level, was nothing but an ant in their eyes!

Apart from these changes, the Dao Lord's transcendence also brought one most obvious change to Xiang Zizhen: his domain instantly became different after he became a Dao Lord!

His entire domain not only expanded but also filled with the powerful aura belonging to a Dao Lord.

It immediately became distinct from the domain of an ordinary Saint.

Xiao Shi even felt that if Xiang Zizhen's domain could advance further, it would be close to reaching the level of a Great Domain.

This also made him realize that... under normal circumstances, if one could cultivate all the way to a Demigod, their own domain would basically expand to a level close to a Great Domain.

But this was only the case for ordinary martial artists.

It was hard to imagine what Xiao Shi's Great Domain would become when he became a Demigod, given that he already controlled a Great Domain at the Saint stage!

Not only that, but after Xiang Zizhen's domain changed, Xiao Shi's Great Domain also received an upgrade!

After all, Xiang Zizhen's domain was located within Xiao Shi's Great Domain, forming a part of it.

Therefore, when any domain within Xiao Shi's Great Domain improved, Xiao Shi would also receive a corresponding enhancement!

This was also an important reason why those Demigods, knowing they couldn't establish new imperial dynasties at present, still desperately wanted to incorporate the territories of the outside lords into their own Great Domains.

The more Saints and Dao Lords there were within one's Great Domain, the stronger the overall blessing the Great Domain could receive.

Currently, Xiao Shi even felt that he could utilize a portion of a Dao Lord's power through Xiang Zizhen's domain!

This greatly shocked him.

Although Xiang Zizhen's Dao Lord domain was not the first Dao Lord domain within Xiao Shi's Great Domain, when he transferred the many domains of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect from the Imperial Domain to his own Great Domain, the first one he transferred was Chen Yuan's Dao Lord domain.

Unfortunately, with Chen Yuan's death, his Dao Lord domain lost its power.

Otherwise, Xiao Shi would have already been able to use a portion of a Dao Lord's power back then.

Since Xiang Zizhen's Initial Martial Retrospection Dao currently did not offer much combat power enhancement, the Dao Lord power Xiao Shi could utilize was also very limited.

But through Xiang Zizhen's transcendence, Xiao Shi experienced for the first time the blessings brought by a Dao Lord domain.

“Looking at it this way...”

“Besides their own formidable strength, those three Demigod Heavenly Kings also have the blessings brought by their respective Great Domains.”

Xiao Shi knew that Dao Lords existed in the Great Domains of these three Demigod Heavenly Kings, and not just one.

Once they incorporated the territories of those lords into their own Great Domains, they would receive even greater blessings.

In terms of blessings brought by a Great Domain, he was clearly no match for these three Demigod Heavenly Kings at present.

However, with Xiao Shi's own realm improvement, and when more Saints or Dao Lords appeared within his domain, his Great Domain would also bring him immense blessings.

Compared to the Great Domains of the three Demigod Heavenly Kings, Xiao Shi's Great Domain clearly had greater growth potential.

Especially since Xiao Shi, as only a Saint, already controlled a Great Domain, he really wanted to know what his Great Domain would become when he became a Demigod!

A strong sense of anticipation rose in Xiao Shi's heart.

He vaguely felt that by then, his Great Domain would definitely be very different from the Great Domains of the three Demigod Heavenly Kings!

After all, his situation had never occurred in the entire history of the Tianwu Continent.

This made Xiao Shi very expectant.

Now that Xiang Zizhen had become a Dao Lord, he also gained a deeper understanding of the Initial Martial Retrospection Dao.

Before opening the Retrospection Gate for Xiao Shi, he spoke to Xiao Shi with a serious expression.

“Although I can now open the Retrospection Gate to The Primordial Martial Era for you, there is a problem...”

“Once you step into the Retrospection Gate, the entire Retrospection Gate will disappear.”

“And I can only open the Retrospection Gate once...”

“That is to say,”

“I can only let you enter The Primordial Martial Era; I cannot help you return.”

“You can only find a way to return on your own.”

“There will be considerable risks involved. If you cannot find a way to return, you might be permanently stranded in The Primordial Martial Era.”

Xiang Zizhen's words made Xiao Shi frown.

This was indeed something he hadn't thought of before.

He had assumed that the Retrospection Gate to The Primordial Martial Era would not only allow entry but also exit.

However, Xiang Zizhen stated that the Retrospection Gate would dissipate after entry.

If he wanted to return from The Primordial Martial Era, he would have to find a way himself.

“I wonder if the spatial travel of the heavens secret mask can allow me to directly travel back from The Primordial Martial Era?”

Xiao Shi thought seriously.

He felt the hope was slim.

If the heavens secret mask could allow him to travel back from The Primordial Martial Era, then it could certainly travel into it as well.

If it were that easy to travel back and forth in The Primordial Martial Era, then the Initial Martial Retrospection Dao's value would not be that of a top-quality Dao Lord Level item.

In that case, whether to continue choosing to go to The Primordial Martial Era required Xiao Shi to carefully consider and weigh his options.

After some consideration, Xiao Shi felt that he still had to go to The Primordial Martial Era.

He knew very well that this was his only chance to wield the Heavenly Dao.

It was also his only chance to reach the Martial Dao Ninth Realm faster than the three Demigod Heavenly Kings.

Since the breakthrough to the Martial Dao Ninth Realm had no fixed form and depended on the martial artist himself, if Xiao Shi wanted to break through faster in the Martial Dao Ninth Realm, he would inevitably have to be different from others!

If he, like the three Demigod Heavenly Kings, all transcended to become Dao Lords through The Mortal Dao, then how could he break through faster than others in the Martial Dao Ninth Realm?

Wielding the Heavenly Dao was his only way to overtake them on the curve.

“If I give up such an opportunity, once the three Demigod Heavenly Kings reach the Martial Dao Ninth Realm, I will surely face a dead end.”

“Even if going to The Primordial Martial Era carries some risks, I must take that risk!”

Xiao Shi's eyes held determination.

Although he was cautious by nature, he saw the bigger picture very clearly and thoroughly.

He knew that he was currently in a race against the three Demigod Heavenly Kings.

As long as these three Demigod Heavenly Kings reached the Martial Dao Ninth Realm faster than him, he would inevitably have no chance of survival.

The Nine Dragons Divine Sky Formation of the Martial Emperors Royal Robe was only useful for martial artists below the Martial Dao Ninth Realm.

Once a Martial Dao Ninth Realm existence appeared, the Nine Dragons Divine Sky Formation would no longer provide any obstruction or protection.

With this thought, Xiao Shi said without any hesitation,

“Open the Retrospection Gate!”

Although it wasn't yet time for the martial emperors cloak to re-form a clone, he clearly couldn't wait until the martial emperors cloak could form a clone to open the Retrospection Gate.

He would just have to form a clone in The Primordial Martial Era then.

Xiang Zizhen nodded.

He already had absolute trust in Xiao Shi.

He immediately began to open the Retrospection Gate for Xiao Shi.

Buzz!

Waves of profound and powerful aura continuously emanated from Xiang Zizhen.

This was clearly the aura of the “Dao.”

Under the diffusion of this aura, the air currents around them all began to circulate at high speed, but it wasn't a normal circulation; rather, it was flowing backward, giving Xiao Shi a sense of time reversal.

As the many air currents continuously reversed, an ancient gate, imbued with the aura of ancient times, appeared out of thin air from the void.

Xiao Shi gazed at the ancient gate before him, feeling as if he were looking back into the past.

Vaguely, he felt he saw scenes from bygone eras, but they were very blurry and unclear.

Xiang Zizhen's expression was solemn.

He raised his hand and pointed at Xiao Shi from a distance.

Buzz!

A beam of light immediately burst forth from the ancient gate before them, instantly enveloping Xiao Shi.

And under the shroud of this light beam, the entire ancient Retrospection Gate gradually opened with a series of creaking sounds.

Xiao Shi then clearly saw that the moment the Retrospection Gate opened, what appeared before him was a torn space.

The depths of the entire space exuded endless darkness and profundity, like a bottomless, colossal abyss.

At the same time, a powerful suction force continuously emanated from this torn space, and upon acting on Xiao Shi, it directly pulled him into it.

Immediately after, the entire Retrospection Gate closed with a loud bang, and then dissipated into thin air from the void...

Xiao Shi felt as if he had entered a spacetime tunnel, experiencing a sense of temporal travel.

In less than a second, his vision transitioned from blurry to gradually clear.

He then saw a seascape where the sea met the sky, the azure ocean reflecting the azure sky.

He stood on an island, facing the sea breeze and basking in the sunlight.

“The Primordial Martial Era...”

Xiao Shi looked around.

Although this was not his first time entering a past era—he had previously entered the Nether Moon Era—this entry into The Primordial Martial Era was entirely different from the Nether Moon Era.

The Nether Moon Era... was, after all, an era that had been annihilated in the river of history.

Therefore, the Nether Moon Era that Xiao Shi had entered back then was completely in a state of illusion, not truly existent.

Whether it was the people Xiao Shi encountered there or the many items from the Nether Moon Era, almost all of them were illusory.

This also meant that Xiao Shi's gains in the Nether Moon Era at that time were very limited.

He couldn't bring many things out of that illusory state.

His biggest gain was the Evil Energy User.

However, The Primordial Martial Era he had entered this time was not an illusory state, but a truly existing era.

Although The Primordial Martial Era was the first era of the Tianwu Continent, this era had never been annihilated after being exiled to a different dimension.

At the same time, The Primordial Martial Era was also the most mysterious era within the Tianwu Continent.

Currently, information about The Primordial Martial Era on the Tianwu Continent was extremely scarce; even the ancient texts in the Martial Emperor's Treasury contained no records of The Primordial Martial Era.

Xiao Shi mainly learned about the opportunity to wield the Heavenly Dao in The Primordial Martial Era through the records of the upper three realms of martial dao!

As he observed, he found that the island he was on seemed very vast; even though he immediately spread his Soul Consciousness, he couldn't scan the entire island.

However, on this massive island, there was only one path leading to the island's depths.

Xiao Shi immediately followed this path, moving forward.

From what he could see, there were no dangers on this island; the entire island was peaceful, with only a few birds circling in the sky above.

As he continued to move deeper, when Xiao Shi arrived at the innermost part of the island, he suddenly saw nine different cloaks placed on the ground ahead.

Atop each cloak, there was also a wide-brimmed bamboo hat.

In the very center of each bamboo hat, there was a large character for “Dao”!

Although the “Dao” characters on these bamboo hats all looked the same, the feeling they gave off was distinctly different.

Xiao Shi's eyes narrowed slightly at this.

He wanted to get closer for a careful observation.

He could feel that these nine cloaks and bamboo hats seemed to represent some special meaning.