Chapter 1 An Opportunity to Rob

Xu Jingming observed his opponent. This alien powerhouse was shrouded in purple mist, making it difficult to discern his features, save for a slender tail that swayed slowly.

"Asking me how many runes I've accumulated… are you planning to rob me?" Xu Jingming asked.

"If you obediently hand over all your runes, I can spare this incarnation of yours," the alien powerhouse scrutinized Xu Jingming. "If you resist, I don't mind killing you, seizing your third-realm weapon, and then taking your runes. Make your choice. Will you hand them over, or resist?"

As he spoke, he had already discreetly activated one of his third-realm weapons. A phantom scroll instantly merged into the fabric of space.

Buzz!

Purple light emerged in vast quantities, completely enveloping the area, including both Xu Jingming and the alien powerhouse.

"If you had fled immediately, you might have escaped," the alien powerhouse said with a bright smile. "But now that my domain is established, you won't be able to leave."

Xu Jingming observed the domain and praised, "The suppression of the rules here is extremely powerful. Your ability to set up this domain must rely on a third-realm weapon. Very well, this third-realm weapon… will be mine now."

"Big talk!" the alien powerhouse said, his body suddenly transforming into boundless purple mist.

The purple mist that his body became instantly merged with the endless purple light of the entire domain.

At that moment, the entire domain *was* the body of the alien powerhouse.

"Hm?" Xu Jingming immediately felt the terrifying corrosive power within the domain, eroding his body and his mental consciousness. Though his mental consciousness could resist, one-third of his body was corroded in the blink of an eye.

His entire body seemed to be melting, rapidly being eroded and disappearing.

"So you are of the Mind Realm lineage. It's useless. No matter how many incarnations you have, they will all be eroded," within the vast domain, endless purple mist vaguely formed a gigantic face that looked down on Xu Jingming.

"Indeed, very powerful," Xu Jingming's face was twisted by the corrosion, but he still smiled brightly.

"Die!" Killing intent filled the eyes of the gigantic face.

After all, he had entered the inner region of this mysterious continent, though he had been frightened and immediately retreated. He was confident that as long as he didn't encounter opponents at the level of a half-step third-realm invincible or a Abyss Master, he couldn't lose!

Buzz!!!

From Xu Jingming's body, which had mostly melted away, suddenly shot out four rays of light! They flew in different directions, towards all four corners!

Three of the black rays were Xu Jingming's incarnations, each wielding a mind weapon and executing *Golden Halberd's* fourth stance—Black Night! After integrating insights from three categories of runes, the power of Xu Jingming's mind spear technique was significantly greater.

Two of these incarnations held ordinary mind spears, while the third held the third-realm mind spear.

Simultaneously, the fourth ray of light released from Xu Jingming's melting body did not carry any weapons. Instead, it unleashed the full power of Illusionary Abyss! The vast Illusionary Abyss enveloped the entire domain.

"This is—" The alien powerhouse was first dragged into the Illusionary Abyss, and then three terrifying mind weapons pierced through his body.

Because his body was fused with the domain and extended everywhere, he had no time to dodge, and took the full brunt of the three mind spear attacks.

"Ah!!!"

As his consciousness was trapped in the illusion and offered no resistance, darkness immediately spread when the three black rays pierced through the purple mist, engulfing most of the purple mist in the blink of an eye.

It was at this moment that the alien powerhouse finally broke free of the illusion and regained consciousness.

"Are you a half-step third-realm invincible?" the alien powerhouse exclaimed in horror and resentment. Before he could say anything more, the darkness completely engulfed all the purple mist, utterly destroying the mental consciousness within his body.

This incarnation of his was dead!

Xu Jingming's melting body had vanished, and four intact incarnations floated in the air. One stood with his hands behind his back, while the other three held long spears, all watching the corpse of the alien powerhouse.

"Just one incarnation?" Xu Jingming thought.

He had hundreds of incarnations!

"Even if he cultivates in the body refinement lineage, where incarnations are more precious, shouldn't he dispatch one or two more incarnations when exploring a treasure land of the ultimate existence?" Xu Jingming mused.

He didn't know that the alien powerhouse originally had one visible and one hidden incarnation. In the inner region, one incarnation had held off an opponent while the other incarnation had escaped with treasures.

…

Within a distant, faraway territory.

"He's actually a half-step third-realm invincible?" the alien powerhouse lamented in anger and resentment. "With such strength, he didn't enter the inner region of that continent, but stayed in the outer region? The treasures in the inner region are far more plentiful than those in the outer region."

"Are half-step third-realm invincibles so cautious and insidious? Preferring to stay in the outer region?" the alien powerhouse thought.

"The runes I painstakingly accumulated are all gone!" the alien powerhouse felt aggrieved. "Although I haven't been researching these runes for long, these three types of runes… must be left behind by the ultimate existence! They are far more powerful than any inheritance I've learned."

At this level, they all possessed discerning eyes.

Even if comprehending them was difficult, they could still distinguish between high and low, and easily recognize that these runes were far more powerful than third-realm inheritances.

"I can't miss this opportunity," the alien powerhouse gritted his teeth. "I'll dispatch another incarnation."

He had a total of four incarnations.

Two had been killed this time, and dispatching another one was already his limit in the short term.

"This time I'll be more careful and only collect some runes in the outermost areas. I won't fight any high-dimensional lifeforms again," the alien powerhouse couldn't afford to lose any more.

…

"So many runes?" Xu Jingming examined the alien powerhouse's corpse and all the spoils of war.

"Two third-realm weapons are nothing special, but he also had more than 900 runes?" Xu Jingming was pleasantly surprised. The two third-realm weapons left behind by the alien powerhouse, one a purple ring and the other a painting scroll, were both weapons of the Mother River lineage. Xu Jingming didn't pay much attention to them, as the only thing he valued were the mysterious runes.

Xu Jingming collected the runes, feeling quite excited.

"I painstakingly accumulated only 396 runes, which is already efficient. But he was able to accumulate more than 900 runes? Did he plunder before?" Xu Jingming speculated.

Regardless of how the other party accumulated them, they ultimately benefited him.

"Robbing others, sometimes you kick a steel plate and get 'robbed' in return," Xu Jingming smiled.

"Right, he said I was a half-step third-realm invincible?" Xu Jingming suddenly thought of the words the other party had said before his incarnation died. "I've met some half-step third-realm invincibles, and I'm still different from them."

"He mistook me for a half-step third-realm invincible, it must be because of the mind weapons!" Xu Jingming quickly speculated.

"The mind weapon lineage is known for its strong offensive power among the many lineages of the Mind Realm! And I also obtained a third-realm mind spear, further enhancing my offensive power. I've also made some progress in comprehending those runes… so, in terms of offensive power, I can be comparable to a 'half-step third-realm invincible'?" Xu Jingming guessed.

As for Illusionary Abyss, Xu Jingming was well aware of his own abilities.

Because he had been cultivating *Illusory Abyss* according to the inheritance, his Illusionary Abyss was still quite different from that of a 'half-step third-realm invincible'.

On the other hand, the *Golden Halberd* spear technique, which was based on the comprehension of the ultimate existence's spear technique, had always been his trump card.

"My offense is strong enough, but other aspects are still far behind," Xu Jingming remained modest.

He was well aware that a true half-step third-realm invincible had reached the limit in all aspects.

"Continue to accumulate more mysterious runes. If I miss this opportunity, I'm afraid it will be difficult to find such runes again," Xu Jingming thought. "Perhaps once I leave this treasure land, the third-realm beings will buy these runes under the guise of 'purchasing'."

The third-realm beings would most likely forcibly buy the runes left behind by the ultimate existence.

"Gotta seize the time."

One of Xu Jingming's incarnations continued on the road, while the other incarnations began to comprehend the newly acquired runes within his personal cosmos.

******

Xu Jingming's experience in entering this ancient continent was quite ordinary. He simply killed some native creatures and obtained some mysterious runes. This was the experience of most half-step third-realm beings who entered.

However, among the companions who had acted with Xu Jingming, the weakest 'Boat Master Beihe' had the most unique experience. He obtained an opportunity upon entering the continent and now had a second opportunity.

"Huff."

At this moment, Boat Master Beihe was merged into a wide, gray river, fleeing at an extremely high speed.

"Beihe! Obediently hand over the Primordial Divine Stone, and I can let you go," a black figure flew above the river at an extremely high speed, shouting angrily. "If you force my hand, I will not only destroy this incarnation of yours, but also annihilate all your incarnations in the outside world."

Boat Master Beihe turned a deaf ear, merging into the river and fleeing with all his heart.

"Who gave you the guts to snatch the Primordial Divine Stone from me!" the black figure was extremely angry. "If you don't obediently hand it over, I will hunt down every single one of your incarnations after this is over! I mean it!"

He was indeed enraged.

Because he had been chasing for three full days!

This mediocre Boat Master Beihe shouldn't have dared to provoke him in the first place, but Boat Master Beihe had gone insane this time.

"A palm-sized Primordial Divine Stone is worth 10 drops of Abyss Motherblood. This one is much larger than my body and is enough to be worth thousands of drops of Abyss Motherblood! You want me to give it to you? What are you dreaming about?" Boat Master Beihe sneered via voice transmission.

He had worked hard for countless years and had only accumulated wealth equivalent to a little over a hundred drops of Abyss Motherblood.

That huge Primordial Divine Stone was worth dozens of times his entire accumulation over countless years! Boat Master Beihe had completely lost it. If he didn't fight now, when would he fight?

"Very well! Then I'll start hunting down all your incarnations in the outside world right now!" the black figure threatened.

Boat Master Beihe's eyes turned red.

He had endured for countless years, and finally, he had a great opportunity! He wouldn't retreat!

"I can't catch you in the river, but you will be attacked by native creatures again and again. You will eventually encounter extremely powerful native creatures… and that will be the time of your death," the black figure threatened.

"Beihe, you're being chased quite miserably," a voice sounded.

"Brother Wuming?"

Boat Master Beihe, who was fleeing in the river, couldn't help but feel joy. Using the vast river, he sensed a familiar figure flying nearby. It was Xu Jingming.