Lord of the Earth

Ten more days passed...

The night was as dark as ink, deeply enveloping the vast and dangerous "Devil's Sea".
Only the hazy, nebula-like glow emanating from the massive "mirage" ship cast shimmering bands of light across the dark, satin-like sea!
"Emperor Xia! Ahead lies the designated location for this transaction—however, it appears to be nothing more than a vast, empty ocean?"

On the bridge of the "Mirage" ship, Zhu Di, dressed in a dragon-patterned imperial robe and sturdy armor, with a calm and composed demeanor, held a gleaming brass telescope and strained his eyes to look into the distance, a hint of doubt in his gaze.

Are you sure the location for the transaction with the 'Heavenly Demon Dynasty' is really in this empty sea area?
This "Ming Taizong Emperor," known for his great talent and ambition, was constantly adjusting the sophisticated reconnaissance runes engraved on the "ultimate artifact" telescope in his hand.

However, what was reflected deep within the lens was still that boundless, undulating, dark sea. Within the field of vision, there was no trace of any islands, reefs, or even man-made structures, as if they had come to a pure sea desert!

"Your Majesty, please calm down. The agreed-upon trading coordinates are indeed in this vicinity... However, the exact location and form of the entrance, or 'door,' still require further verification using the 'key' we possess..."

Xia Tian spoke with a calm smile, but her sharp gaze swept across the seemingly ordinary sea ahead.

"Gan Ning, bring out what you obtained earlier."

Then, he looked at the person behind him.

"Yes, this subordinate obtained this item by chance while clearing out a pirate's lair..."

At this moment, Gan Ning, dressed in the uniform of a naval commander, stepped forward and presented an item with both hands.

It was a dark red stone slab of a special material, warm to the touch and slightly heavy. The surface of the slab was not smooth, but covered with some kind of ancient and strange, seemingly naturally formed characters and twisted patterns, faintly flowing with a reddish light, like the blood vessels under the skin of a sleeping giant beast!
"Hmm? This thing..."

The "pirate kings" who had been captured and temporarily restricted in their freedom and were watching from the sidelines all had their pupils suddenly shrink and their breathing become more rapid the moment their eyes swept over the stone slab!
Zheng Zhilong took a step forward, his tone heavy with disbelief, and exclaimed in a low voice.

"Could this be the legendary mysterious stone tablet that records the 'coordinates' leading to the ultimate treasure?"

In this region known as the "Grand Line," there has always been a legend about the "Land of the End." It is said that by collecting the "Four Mysterious Stone Tablets," one can piece together a route to the "Final Island," which lies at the end of the world and holds a great secret!

The stone slab before us, with its unique material bearing the marks of time and the subtle aura it exudes that seems to guide destiny, perfectly matches the legend!
"This item was found by us several days ago, deep within the core of the collapsed divine kingdom of the 'Abyss Pirate King,' who occupied the 'Ghost Vortex' and possessed the level of a top-tier deity..."

Gan Ning added, clarifying the origin of the stone slab.

As summer arrived, she took the dark red stone slab, and the moment her fingertips touched it, her soul trembled slightly.

He could clearly sense a subtle yet vast flow of information within the stone slab, as well as a very clear guiding force, similar to "spatial coordinates"!

"This feeling, the power of the rules contained within it seems somewhat similar to... the sensation I had when I collected the 'Azure Dragon Seven Constellations' treasure?"

Summer stirred something within her.

It is important to know that before Qianxia could open the "First Immortal Court Secret Realm of the Human Race", seven "Azure Dragon Treasures" needed to be collected in order to unlock the secrets of the Azure Dragon Seven Mansions!
These four "mysterious stone tablets" may also play a similar role as "keys" to unlock some kind of ultimate place.

"Indeed, this is the 'Mysterious Stone Tablet'! In the Devil's Sea, each of these stone tablets is incredibly precious, practically priceless. They must have been secretly collected by some powerful force or individual long ago, and they won't easily appear in the world!"

Zheng Zhilong frowned as he recalled.

"Speaking of which, I once saw a similar stone slab in the hands of a 'pirate king' from the 'Beiyang' region in my younger days, but that guy was later mysteriously killed, and that 'coordinate' mysteriously disappeared... I never expected to see another one now..."

Just then, Jia Xu, who was in charge of intelligence and strategic analysis, stepped forward quickly, avoiding the pirate prisoners, and whispered to Xia Tian, ​​his tone full of certainty.

"Your Majesty, according to the joint deductions of Master Lai Buyi of the 'Heavenly Secrets Hall' and Saintess Xi Shi of the 'Goddess of Destiny Hall,' and after multiple cross-verifications, this place is indeed the location of the 'Fusang Tree'..."

This time, the "location" for the transaction was chosen by Qian Xia, and Xia Tian naturally didn't just point to something on the map and make the choice.

In fact, this location was finally determined after combining the captured nautical charts, the confessions of prisoners, the secret information provided by the demons, and especially the highest-level revelations from Xi Shi and Lai Buyi, two masters of deduction.

Especially Xi Shi, who not only inherited the core knowledge of the Weaver Girl about the threads of fate, enabling her to weave and peer into the web of destiny, but also held the identity of "High Priestess of the Temple of the Goddess of Fate," able to listen to the subtle tides and whispers of the river of fate.

Today, her expertise in predicting fate has reached the "top" level. In terms of intuitive sensitivity and vague predictive ability regarding major events, she is not inferior to people like "Lai Buyi" who have specialized in this field for many years!

The group's previous attempts to pinpoint the exact location of the "Fusang Tree" seemed to be hampered by a powerful, unseen force, preventing them from completely pinpointing it...

But all the clues point roughly to this area of ​​the sea...

Now, combined with this unexpectedly acquired "mysterious stone tablet" as corroborating material... the conclusion drawn is naturally highly reliable.

“Indeed, this place should be our destination... and if I’m not mistaken, it is very likely one of the entrances to the legendary ‘Takamagahara’ in the Eternal Land, or rather, a stable projection anchor point!”

Jia Xu spoke up.

That's why Xia Tian decided to "go with the flow" and set the transaction location in this area.

He not only had to complete the deal with the "Heavenly Demon Dynasty" to obtain the crucial Fusang branch.

We should take this opportunity to personally investigate the truth behind "Takamagahara," which is hiding behind the scenes, has repeatedly reached out, and may even have been involved in the theft of "Eastern Heavenly Gate"!

“It seems we didn’t come to the wrong place.” Xia Tian handed the red stone slab back to Gan Ning for safekeeping, then turned his gaze back to the seemingly empty but mysterious sea area, a deep and knowing smile playing on his lips.

"It's not that the island doesn't exist, but rather... it's hidden by some powerful force or rule, or rather, it requires a specific 'key.' For example, only the complete set of four 'mysterious stone tablets' can allow those with the right intentions to see its true form..."

Of course, even during the summer, no one had managed to collect the "four" complete mysterious stone slabs.

However, it's not necessary in the summer.

hum!
An object suddenly appeared in Xia Tian's hand. It was a lock-like object with an ancient and strange shape, neither gold nor jade, and its entire body flowed with a star-like luster. At the top was a strange keyhole. It was none other than the Lock of Heaven!
Summer then activated this precious glass treasure.

The next moment, the "Key to the Heavenly Lock" suddenly lit up, like a stone thrown into calm water, emitting an invisible yet strange fluctuation that interfered with the rules of space...

Om-!
A deep, ancient hum resounded.

The space above the sea, which had been empty in front of them, began to twist and fold violently, as if an invisible veil had been lifted!

Immediately afterwards, the outline of an island, larger than anyone could imagine, materialized slowly, yet with an irresistible sense of oppressive weight, and appeared before everyone!

The island has an extremely strange shape; it is neither a typical circle nor an oval.

Instead, it is composed of eight enormous, winding mountain ranges stretching for thousands of miles, like eight ferocious giant serpents radiating out from the center of the island and fiercely "biting" into the surrounding sea!
And at the very center of the island, which is protected by eight "snake-shaped" mountain ranges.

A massive volcano that still slowly emits thick black smoke and dark red flames.

The crater was as wide as a small lake, with scorching magma churning inside, and the pungent smell of sulfur could be faintly detected even from a distance.

The strangest thing is that it's right above the boiling crater.

In the void, a colossal, ancient-style portal, constructed from unknown white bones and black rocks, floated prominently. The portal was tightly closed, its surface carved with countless twisted, seemingly agonizing ghostly and divine patterns, exuding a chilling, ancient, evil, yet sacred contradictory aura!
Furthermore, what is even more striking is that on the inner wall of the crater, there grows a strange tree that is entirely black and looks as if it were carved from obsidian!
Its branches and leaves are sparse, yet each leaf is like a dancing black flame. The trunk is winding and twisted, with a ferocious shape, exuding an aura of darkness and chaos that is the same as that of "Devil Fruits," but purer and more primal!

"That's... the legendary 'Island of the Ultimate'?!"

The well-informed pirate king gasped in surprise, his voice trembling.

"That tree in the volcano at the center of the island... could it be the legendary Devil Mother Tree that can nurture all 'Devil Fruits'?!"

"And that door, the pattern on it seems to depict a mythological story from the legendary Cherry Blossom Kingdom!"

"Could it be a gateway to the ruins of the 'Celestial Court and Imperial Court'?"

"So that's it! Yan Ming and the outsider Qianxia forces entered the Devil's Sea for this very purpose!"

At this moment, some spiritual fluctuations suddenly appeared in the surrounding area.

Surprisingly, these were remnants of pirate forces, forced to abandon their long-established hideouts and flee in disarray after being swiftly and decisively swept away by the Qianxia army...

It should be noted that the original pirate forces in this "Devil's Sea" that stretches for millions of miles numbered in the tens of thousands, and the number of pirates, refugees, and alien races that relied on it exceeded 10 billion!
Even though Qian Xia has swiftly conquered nearly half of the pirate lairs these past few days, it will still be quite difficult to completely annihilate these local tyrants who are familiar with the environment and have multiple burrows.

These pirates, who were originally lawless and vicious, are now displaced and naturally harbor deep-seated anger and fear towards Qianxia.

Some of the more audacious pirates have been hiding like hyenas in the fog or deep sea around the Qianxia fleet, trying to find an opportunity for revenge or a comeback...

However, at this moment, faced with this suddenly appearing "ultimate place" that only existed in legends, they could no longer remain hidden!

"That's right, absolutely right! Judging from the shape of that tree... it's definitely the legendary 'Demon Mother Tree'! As long as we obtain it, or even just a single fruit directly conceived by it, we all have the chance to become 'gods'..."

The pirates' eyes turned red.

This was all because Qianxia had actually found the end of the "Grand Line" that they had always dreamed of but had never been able to see, whether it was the existence of the suspected "Devil Mother Tree" in the center of the island, or the mysterious portal leading to the unknown above the crater.

All of this made the pirates' hearts race, and greed instantly overwhelmed reason and fear!

It should be noted that during the previous unlocking of the rules of heaven and earth, a mirage of the legendary "Takamagahara" briefly appeared above the Devil's Sea, a scene of celestial palaces and gods patrolling the heavens that countless people yearned for.

Behind that gate, which is suspected to be the ruins of an ancient "celestial dynasty", there must be all sorts of unimaginable treasures and opportunities!

Now that the legendary Demon Mother Tree and the portal that seems to be the entrance to "Takamagahara" have appeared before them at the same time, how can these pirates who lick the blade of blood and pursue power and wealth sit still?
In particular, they were well aware that once Qianxia, ​​this powerful "dragon crossing the river," landed first and occupied the "Eight Snakes" island, everything on the island would probably be completely out of their reach as "local snakes"!
"Charge! Grab the Devil Fruit!"

"There must be treasure behind that door!"

"We can't let Qian Xia take it all!"

The pirates went crazy. They had been wary of Qian Xia, but now they were drawn to the irresistible temptation before them.

Thousands upon thousands of pirate ships of all sizes and grades, like a swarm of sharks that have smelled blood, burst forth from their hiding places and charged headlong toward the newly revealed "Ultimate Island"!
The scene instantly descended into utter chaos. (End of Chapter)