I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

Qin Yuan stood there for a long time. Then he went into the hall and began packing his belongings. The Old Man of Ten Thousand Paths stood at the door, hesitant to speak. Qin Yuan said, "They've been captured. I'm going to find them." The Old Man of Ten Thousand Paths said, "The myriad realms need you." Qin Yuan said, "Without them, the myriad realms mean nothing to me." The Old Man of Ten Thousand Paths didn't speak again and stepped aside to let him pass.

Qin Yuan stepped into the rift. The rift closed behind him, and the world spun around him. He landed on a desolate plain, golden earth beneath his feet and a chaotic sky above. Nine suns lined up, each a different color—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, black, and white. The air was thick with primal energy, a hundred times more concentrated than the Source of Ten Thousand Daos. Qin Yuan took a deep breath, feeling the suppression—his Dao Ancestor cultivation was compressed here, allowing him to only unleash the power of a first-level Chaos Heavenly Monarch. The patterns on his bone blade dimmed from ten thousand to only five hundred.

A young man approached from afar, dressed in a blue Taoist robe with a long sword hanging at his waist. He was a fifth-level Chaos Heavenly Monarch. He saw Qin Yuan, sized him up, and sneered. "A first-level Chaos Heavenly Monarch? This kind of trash dares to come to the Chaos Origin Realm?" Qin Yuan remained silent. The young man drew his sword and thrust it forward. Qin Yuan dodged, his bone blade unsheathed. The first strike severed the young man's sword. The second strike severed the young man's right arm. The third strike placed the blade against the young man's neck. The young man's face turned deathly pale, and he knelt on the ground. "Spare...spare my life..." Qin Yuan asked, "Where is this?" The young man said, "The Chaos Origin Realm...the Desolate Region..." Qin Yuan asked again, "Where is the Heavenly Mystery Divine Sect?" The young man shook his head. "The Heavenly Mystery Divine Sect is in the Divine Realm, I don't know the way..." Qin Yuan killed the young man with a single strike, searching his divine consciousness.

The Desolate Domain is the weakest of the Nine Domains. It is dominated by three major powers: the Myriad Beasts Manor, the Heavenly Sword Sect, and the Netherworld Valley. The Heavenly Mystery Sect resides in the Divine Domain, countless miles away from the Desolate Domain. But one thing is certain—the seven women were captured by the Heavenly Mystery Sect. Qin Yuan sheathed his bone blade and headed towards the nearest city.

The city walls of the desolate city were black, hundreds of feet high, and guards stood at the city gates. Qin Yuan reached the city gate and was stopped. "Identity token," the guard said, extending his hand. Qin Yuan had no token. The guard drew his sword. "No token, no entry." Qin Yuan drew his bone blade and beheaded the guard in one stroke. Other guards rushed forward, but Qin Yuan killed three of them in quick succession, and the rest scattered. He stepped into the city without looking back.

Most cultivators in the city were at the fifth to ninth level of the Chaos Heavenly Monarch realm. Qin Yuan, at the first level of the Heavenly Monarch realm, was considered lowly, and no one paid him any attention. He found a tavern, sat down, and ordered a pot of wine. The tavern was bustling with activity, and he overheard some news—the Heavenly Mystery Sect selects "Divine Sons" and "Divine Daughters" from various domains every hundred years, and those chosen are taken to the Divine Realm for training. The person who kidnapped the seven women was a divine envoy of the Heavenly Mystery Sect. To enter the Divine Realm, one must first achieve a ranking in the "Genius Tournament" of each domain. The Desolate Domain Genius Tournament will be held in three years.

Three years. Qin Yuan couldn't wait three years. But with his current cultivation level, he wasn't even qualified to register for the Heavenly Pride Tournament. He inquired about an "Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm" in the city; the realm was rich in resources, but extremely dangerous. Qin Yuan registered to enter.

The entrance to the secret realm was beneath the desolate city, a black vortex. Qin Yuan stepped inside and found himself in an ancient battlefield. Bones littered the ground, and broken magical artifacts were scattered everywhere. The sky was gray, the earth was red, and the air was thick with the stench of decay. In the distance, the roars of demonic beasts echoed across the land.

Qin Yuan had traveled less than ten miles when a Chaos Heavenly Monarch level five demonic beast pounced. It resembled a giant wolf, covered in black scales, with blood-red eyes. Qin Yuan drew his bone blade and severed the wolf's head with a single strike. The beast fell to the ground, and he extracted its inner core to refine, slightly increasing his cultivation. He continued deeper, killing several more demonic beasts, increasing the number of patterns on his bone blade from five hundred to six hundred.

Deep within the secret realm, an ancient stone palace stood in the valley. The palace door was ajar, and a faint light emanated from within. Qin Yuan pushed open the door and entered. Inside, a skeleton sat cross-legged, its bones as translucent as jade, holding a jade slip in its hand. Qin Yuan picked up the jade slip and probed it with his divine sense—it contained a cultivation technique, "Nine Transformations of Chaos," consisting of nine levels, capable of being cultivated to the Creation Realm. Overjoyed, he sat down cross-legged and began to study it.

Following the cultivation technique, he guided the flow of his internal energy, which surged through his meridians, breaking through bottleneck after bottleneck. His cultivation level advanced from the first to the second level of the Chaos Heavenly Monarch realm, and the number of patterns on his bone blade increased to eight hundred. Footsteps sounded outside the hall, and a dozen cultivators rushed in. Their eyes lit up when they saw the jade slip in Qin Yuan's hand. "Boy, hand over the jade slip!" Qin Yuan stood up, drawing his bone blade. With the first strike, he severed the neck of the person charging at the front. With the second strike, he cut two people in half at the waist. With the third strike, he swept away three more. He killed more than ten people in succession, blood splattering on the walls of the stone hall. The remaining few turned and ran, but Qin Yuan did not chase after them. He carefully put away the jade slip and left the stone hall.

Qin Yuan continued deeper into the secret realm. A demonic beast at the seventh level of the Chaos Heavenly Monarch realm blocked his path, resembling a giant bear, its body engulfed in flames. Qin Yuan fought fiercely with it, burning away a portion of his lifespan, causing the patterns on his bone blade to illuminate up to a thousand times. After a hundred moves, he severed the bear's head. The demonic beast's corpse split open, and a token fell out. The token was golden, with the four characters "Heavenly Mystery Divine Sect" engraved on the front, and seven small portraits on the back—Su Yao, Yan Ling Ji, Mu Hong Yi, Jian Wu Shuang, Bing Ji, Hong Yue, and Yue Yao. The faces of the seven women were lifelike.

Qin Yuan gripped the token tightly, his fingers digging into his flesh. The token was a mark used by the Heavenly Mystery Sect to identify the "Goddesses." They were indeed here. He put away the token, his eyes filled with murderous intent. Deeper into the secret realm, he discovered another entrance. The entrance was obscured by vines; pushing aside the vines, he found a downward stone staircase. Qin Yuan walked down, and at the end of the staircase was an underground palace.

A ball of light floated in the center of the palace, within which lay the phantom of an old man. He had white hair and beard, a benevolent face, and a profound aura. "I am the Ancient Desolate Elder, once a Creation Realm expert in the Desolate Region. Your presence here qualifies you to receive my inheritance," Qin Yuan inquired about the conditions. The Ancient Desolate Elder replied, "Defeat my shadow puppet."

A humanoid figure emerged from the darkness. Faceless, expressionless, only a black silhouette. A shadow puppet, a ninth-level Chaos Heavenly Lord. Wielding a long sword, its blade pitch black and non-reflective. The shadow puppet slashed down, the blade's energy like a mountain. Qin Yuan parried with his bone blade, but was sent flying, crashing into the palace wall, coughing up blood. The shadow puppet continued its attacks, Qin Yuan retreating and blocking, sustaining several wounds, including a gash on his left arm, dripping with blood. He burned ten thousand years of his lifespan, causing twelve hundred patterns on his bone blade to light up, severing the shadow puppet's arm with a single strike. The shadow puppet retaliated with a swift strike, breaking Qin Yuan's left leg. Qin Yuan knelt on one knee, his bone blade piercing the shadow puppet's chest. The shadow puppet shattered, dissipating into specks of light.

The ancient sage nodded in satisfaction, pouring his life's cultivation and techniques into Qin Yuan's body. A surge of immense power coursed through his meridians, propelling his cultivation from the second level of the Chaos Heavenly Monarch realm to the fifth. Fifteen hundred golden patterns lit up on the bone blade, their light dazzling. Qin Yuan stood up, his injuries completely healed. The ancient sage's illusory figure vanished, and the palace began to collapse. Qin Yuan escaped the secret realm and returned to the desolate city.