The Demon’s Gate - Chapter 305

The light of the morning sun swiftly reached the Pan clan mansion, the elderly Pan Huisu personally coming to escort Yao Jun and the others to breakfast. Pan Huisu was still extremely shaken due to the events of last night, but his wealth of experience allowed him to at least hide his emotions and act normal as he escorted them through the hallways. He took the long and winding way through the mansion, taking the opportunity to showcase some of the paintings and statues, as well as the rare item encased in a crystal cage, that depicted the history and exploits of the Pan clan.

Yao Jun mentioned that they would just gather some information and then leave, so while Pan Huisu talked about the exploits of his ancestors, he also supplemented everything with whatever other relevant information he could get his hands on.

“This statue depicts the fourth matriarch of our clan acquiring the 100 millionth rank in the Six Dawn’s Baptism, the grandest competition, and bloodbath, within the entire universe. It is co-hosted by all six dominions, and while the various rewards are all so exorbitant that they leave the contestants drooling, everyone’s goal is actually to reach the top 25 rankings so that they can receive the Baptism of Six Dawns. This baptism is a special type of energy created every 100 thousand or so years by the core locations of the six dominions, legends say that everyone who bathes in it is destined to climb towards the peak of this universe. Our matriarch may have just reached the 100 millionth rank, but she was only a single step away from the Sovereign God realm at the end of the competition so her rank is something we are truly proud of.”

Yao Jun inspected the statue, which depicted a dashing and heroic woman who seemed to be approaching her late twenties gazing up at the distant peak of a mountain that was shaped like a lion, the head of the lion becoming the peak of the mountain. Cultivators loved competitions, the older generation liked showing off the younger generation and the younger generation loved showing off, competitions were the best place to do this so Yao Jun wasn’t terribly surprised that this major universe would have a competition similar to the one he experienced in his own universe.

The reward interested him somewhat, such a type of energy would surely be extremely helpful should he give it to his Demonic beasts, it might even help some of them evolve further. But the main part of the explanation that caught his interest was the sentence that Pan Huisu ended his explanation on. He dug a bit further to receive some clarification, Pan Huisu not daring to hide anything within his answer.

“The Sovereign God realm, while it might not be enough to reach an incredibly high rank in the competition, is still a cultivation realm that’s quite high up, the only realms above it are the Empyrean Ruler, the Primeval Sovereign, and the long-lost Universal Heart realm. To reach the Sovereign God realm, a person must fuse all their laws together and funnel enough energy into them that they turn your dantian into a miniature heaven filled with the unique energy you have acquired upon fusing all your laws, this is how the realm received its title.”

Yao Jun had never heard about the three other realms that Pan Huisu mentioned, but he did notice that the description of the Sovereign God realm sounded rather familiar. The realm known as Godking in his own universe required a person to not just assimilate their body with the laws, but also to fuse together all their laws into a single unique law. The realms seemed a bit too similar to be vastly different, so he guessed that while this universe retained the name of the Heavenly Deity realm, time might have changed the way they referred to the Godking realm. Yao Jun didn’t state his guess out loud, there wasn’t really a point in it, allowing Pan Huisu to continue talking about the various items along the hallway.

“This image depicts the founding of our clan, Founder Pan Ying struck down the Black-Souled Wurm, a beast living beneath the earth that is capable of disintegrating practically everything that it can fit into its jaws, that lived here and had turned the entire area into an inhabitable wasteland. He then spent a further 3000 years to nurse the land back to health before finally creating the clan here. The province emperor, the highest ruler of the province, personally sent down a decree that the territory lords were to show some leniency to Pan Ying, even gifting him a total of 12 villages that his newly established clan could rule.”

“This fox’s hide…its history is a bit more complicated. The second patriarch of our clan, Founder Pan Ying’s own son, was sent away from the clan for a short while to temper himself. He ended up being gone for nearly 1000 years, crossing all the way over to the easternmost Sunsong province and slaying a fox that belonged to the son of the woman who ruled the Lang clan at the time. The Lang clan rules three of the easternmost provinces and due to the fury of the son, the second patriarch was forced to flee madly for a further 500 years before things finally calmed down and he could return. The hide was then enshrined to immortalize the effort the second founder had made, as well as the tribulations that most cultivators must face, and the second patriarch was officially granted the title of patriarch.”

Pan Huisu didn’t speak much of the fox that was killed, but the dark green hide that was showcased was actually nearly 400 meters long and 200 meters wide, it took up the entire wall and even part of the ceiling of the room where it was stored. Considering the fact that this room was quite a bit taller than the others they had passed through so far, Yao Jun even found it likely that this entire room had been constructed for the sole purpose of showing off this hide.

“This small herb is quite a bit more common and low-key than the rest of the items I’ve shown you so far, but it holds quite a bit sentimental value to the clan. It’s exactly 1825 years old and was handed to us by the Lin clan after we beat them in the sparring competition hosted every 20 years by the four clans in charge of the cities within this section of the province. It might just be a rather common lightning-elemental herb to them, but to us, it is a sign that while we might be below them occasionally, we are not doomed to always be beneath them.”

The herb that Pan Huisu pointed at was actually a small tree that was a bit smaller than Yao Jun, the leaves of the tree somewhat jagged and covered in small yellow lines that flickered with lightning. This tree was planted in a specially prepared patch of earth placed right by the open entrance to the grandest dining hall within the mansion, it was an item that Pan Huisu never tired of showing off.

But as it was quite a bit more common when compared to all the other items, he didn’t expect Yao Jun and the others to take much interest in it. After all, even the large hide and extravagant story behind it barely managed to move their eyebrows, only the young daughter and his wife showing more than a little interest in it. But contrary to what Pan Huisu expected, Yao Jun actually showed a bit of interest in the tree, leaning a bit closer to inspect the leaves and the earth that the tree was planted in.

“This Lin clan, does it specialize in the law of lightning, carry a lightning-element bloodline, or do they simply live in an area where the lightning element naturally gathers?”

The plant and the earth in front of him were both saturated with lightning, the element had seeped down into their very core and altered them forever. This tree in front of him probably wouldn’t grow in the slightest even if you watered it daily, only anything containing the lightning element could help it grow larger. For even a tree to be so deeply changed by lightning, the only explanation was that it had been exposed to either lightning or the law of lightning for quite some time, probably since it was no more than a seed. Pan Huisu wasn’t quite certain exactly why Yao Jun would ask such a question, but he didn’t see a reason to not respond, nor did he really have the option to.

“Yes, all three things are actually correct, but all of it boils down to their bloodline as the core reasoning. The founder of the Lin clan originated from the Thunderlight Dominion and his wife was a Skysea Bat that had mutated after devouring the body of a Divine Thunder Sabtertooth, turning her into a Divine Beast with incomparable control over thunder. This bloodline persists in her descendants even to this day and has given the direct Lin clan descendants a high affinity for lightning. Their continued residence in the Skyclaw’s Reach region has also altered the entire area, drastically increasing the density of the lightning and the laws of lightning there.”

The story of the Lin clan founder’s wife was often spread out among minor clans and sects dealing with Demonic beasts. It served as a reminder that they should take good care of their beast companions as any Demonic beast had the chance to mutate in the future, reaching untold heights. Of course, the odds of a beast actually evolving or mutating unexpectedly were extremely slim so the story served more as a reminder that some people simply have more luck than others.

Yao Jun’s eyes flashed with a slight light, the corners of his mouth tugging up ever so slightly upon hearing the story. A sabertooth wasn’t a tiger, but it was close enough that it should fulfill the criteria, even if it had merged with another bloodline and thus mutated. If he got his hands on this blood, he could be considered to have completed one of the requirements for reviving Little Thunder.

And if the name was anything to go by, then this Thunderlight Dominion was likely to contain at least one area filled with so much lightning element energy that it might be used to cover up the last requirement needed to revive Little Thunder. Of course, Yao Jun was not content with just guessing, stating his question and receiving an answer while they stepped into the dining hall.

“The Thunderlight Dominion? Saying that it contains a large amount of lightning energy is an understatement, it has reached a point where nearly all laws other than light and lightning are repressed. If you meet someone from that place who doesn’t use one of those two laws, watch out, they have definitely trained that law to a terrifying strong degree to resist the repression. The very core of the entire domain is a gargantuan planet, the largest in this entire universe, that is comprised entirely of liquid and crystallized lightning. The planet exists even within the first written texts so most people guess that it has been around since the birth of the universe. It can’t house any life, even lightning-element beasts and cultivators, and it even seems to be alive, lashing out at anything that gets close to it. It can be considered one of the greatest danger zones in this universe, a place where even Primeval Sovereigns may die if they carelessly get close.”

The warier Pan Huisu was as he spoke, the more excited Yao Jun got. A Divine beast bloodline coming from a beast with ties to tigers and the lightning element, and a location containing a horrifying amount of lightning element. He had been right in coming to this universe, he had already discovered the location of everything needed to bring back Little Thunder, the only thing he needed now was time.

Pan Huisu glanced sideways at Yao Jun whenever he was talking, so he didn’t fail to notice the slight curve that Yao Jun’s mouth had curled into. The terror of Yao Jun had already seeped into Pan Huisu’s being after last night’s display, so seeing such a slight smile did nothing but fill him with more fear. Exactly what sort of thing could excite a demon tyrant?