Time trickled by.
For a full month, Chen Fan and the others drifted in the chaos.
No one moved, everyone was cultivating.
Apart from Old Demon Chu who constantly stirred up trouble and fought with Dao Ling, nothing particularly special happened.
Oh right, there were also some unpleasant incidents involving Overlord.
Overlord's state underwent several changes. Initially, no one noticed the changes happening to him.
It wasn't until Old Demon Chu came to provoke Overlord that the matter of Overlord having a dual soul was finally discovered.
No one said anything about the intelligent Overlord; everyone maintained sufficient goodwill.
But when the souls switched and the brute Overlord emerged, the mockery erupted.
Over the past month, Overlord had fought everyone more than once.
Of course, except for Qi Sha, he hadn't won against anyone.
This made Overlord even more anxious. For the latter half of the month, he simply stopped coming out, handing over control of his body entirely to the intelligent Overlord.
After all, the brute personality had no intention of coming out until the intelligent Overlord broke through to the seventh stage.
He couldn't bear the shame.
...
A month later, the Cloud Sea Dao Lord arrived.
A while later, the Mountain Lord also arrived.
There was no reception area, so Chen Fan stood calmly in the chaos, waiting.
Boom.
The Dragon King descended.
A powerful aura spread in all directions.
"Fellow Daoist Huang, won't you come for a chat?" the Cloud Sea Dao Lord greeted with a smile.
Huang shook his head. "No need."
It was enough for the Dragon King of the Chaos Clan to participate in the discussion. Representatives from all factions were present, so it was not appropriate for him to go.
As for the Evil Monarch, well... he simply didn't want to come.
From beginning to end, he remained alone, quietly parked at a distance.
He didn't participate in anything, but he also didn't stray too far.
The four leaders convened.
"City Lord Chen."
The Cloud Sea waved his hand.
Boom.
A torrent of energy rolled like a vast ocean, a dense mass of Dao crystals, numbering close to ten billion.
Besides these, there were also empty worlds interspersed among them.
Two of them even possessed complete Dao universes.
"So many."
Chen Fan was truly astonished by so many spoils of war.
He hadn't obtained so many spoils of war when he swept across the Tenth Land.
Well... to be precise, he hadn't paid any attention to such things.
Thinking back now, he deeply regretted it.
There were too many.
If they were taken back to the Realm of Life and Death, it would be enough for the Realm of Life and Death to undergo another leap.
Beside him, the Mountain Lord smiled. "I still have some..."
As he spoke, he directly took out the spoils of war from the Yin Death Realm.
"Dragon King."
Chen Fan spoke, casually flicking the vast quantity of spoils of war towards the Dragon King.
This was the Dragon King's share.
"Thank you."
The Dragon King cupped his fists and accepted it without pretense.
This was what he deserved.
If he were alone, he wouldn't care about a few spoils of war; the Dragon King truly disdained such things.
But don't forget, he had a vast clan behind him.
The entire clan followed his lead. Both the Golden Crows and the Chaos Demon Butterflies who had followed needed these resources.
Chen Fan shook his head. "You deserve it."
He was clear about his position; he was in a cooperative relationship with the Dragon King, not a subordinate.
Even if the Dragon King was willing to come out with him for the sake of his clan, he was still helping Chen Fan.
Chen Fan acknowledged this favor.
The Dragon King nodded and said no more.
"City Lord Chen."
Next, came the main point.
Both Chen Fan and the Dragon King knew that the Cloud Sea Dao Lord's visit definitely had another purpose.
Giving gifts was certainly not the entire objective.
The Cloud Sea Dao Lord asked, "What are City Lord Chen's plans next?"
"Continue fighting upwards," Chen Fan replied directly.
This was his true intention.
The Lower Ten Lands against the Upper Nine Heavens.
The Cloud Sea Dao Lord nodded. "City Lord Chen, would you be willing to listen to my words?"
"Please speak."
"It's like this..."
The Cloud Sea Dao Lord's expression became much more solemn. "If City Lord is willing, we can form an alliance. Now that the Sixth Land is relatively safe, we can unite and jointly head to the Fifth Land.
And before we depart, City Lord needs to know some information; the Fifth Land is very chaotic."
"Hmm?"
Chen Fan asked, puzzled. "Does fellow Daoist mean..."
The Cloud Sea had no intention of hiding anything. He said directly, "The Great Dao contained within the Fifth Land is very special. All the Great Daos contain a chaotic will. As long as one stays within the world, there will be no problem. But if one wanders in the chaos, they will inevitably go mad over time."
The Cloud Sea Dao Lord's tone became noticeably more serious when he said this.
Upon hearing this, Chen Fan's brow furrowed immediately.
After a long pause, he asked, "Even ninth-stage cultivators are not immune?"
"No."
The Mountain Lord spoke. "I once had a Dao companion who went mad in the Fifth Land."
"There's also something to clarify: foreign worlds that enter the Fifth Land have no effect; only native worlds are accepted."
Truly bizarre.
Chen Fan's expression turned grim. "You two mean that to enter the Fifth Land, one must seize a world as a habitat."
"No."
"Hmm?"
Chen Fan was confused. Why was this not allowed, and that not allowed either?
"The Fifth Land is extremely exclusive. It's not people who are exclusive, but the Great Dao itself. Ninth-stage cultivators can only stay in the Fifth Land for a maximum of one month. If the problem isn't resolved within a month, they must leave."
"You two mean, a quick resolution."
"Exactly."
The Cloud Sea Dao Lord nodded. "To deal with the Million Tribulations, the Mountain Lord and I have decided to act together. But there are seven ninth-stage cultivators in the Fifth Land. How can we determine which one is a hidden agent of the Upper Nine Heavens?"
"If we attack the wrong one, it will be troublesome."
Chen Fan fell silent.
This was indeed a troublesome matter; the entire Fifth Land was a big problem.
"Then what do you two mean?" Chen Fan inquired.
Since the two of them had come, they must have a purpose.
They should have a solution.
As expected, the Cloud Sea Dao Lord revealed their plan. "There is one person who entered the Fifth Land, wandered in the chaos for a year, and eventually emerged safely. Throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, only that person managed to safely exit."
"Who?"
"The Corpse King."
The Cloud Sea Dao Lord said, "City Lord Chen can try to find the Corpse King; perhaps you will find an answer."
Chen Fan pondered for a moment and asked, "You two should have inquired, right?"
"Mm."
"And the Corpse King didn't say?"
"Correct."
The Cloud Sea continued, "The Corpse King is a very powerful existence among ninth-stage cultivators. He was resurrected from death and rose from the ruins. Nothing can pique his interest, so..."
Chen Fan finished his sentence. "So you two mean, you want me to find the Corpse King and get the method, and then we will act together to storm the Fifth Land."
"...Yes."
Although a bit embarrassed, that was the reality.
The Mountain Lord and the Cloud Sea had this intention.
Now that the Sixth Land was peaceful, the next step was the Fifth Land.
The Cloud Sea added, "Among the Lower Ten Lands, the Fifth Land has always been considered a dividing chasm. The four lands ranked higher are unlikely to be as accommodating as us. City Lord Chen should still be prepared."