The Zhao Clan was no longer the Zhao Clan of days past.

The present Zhao Clan had now become one of the great clans of the Eternal Heart Land, and their leader was a Spiritual Infant Tier elite; it was rare to find anyone to match him. Furthermore, Zhao Xin had also chosen another well-known mountain as residence, choosing a new location for Zhao Clan. However, Ling Han did not go with him, but remained at the ancestral grounds of Zhao Clan in Grand Prosperity Town.

Indeed. The cultivation of this small world was not flourishing. A mere Spiritual Infant Tier was capable of reigning supreme, and there weren’t any elites of the Deity Transformation Tier, Heaven Tier, or Shattering Void Tier to be found at all.

Ling Han investigated thoroughly, and it was not that this place could not produce any prodigies, or like with the Lower Realm, a force from the Ancient Realm would “harvest” them once every 10,000 years.

It was just that this place did not have enough Spiritual Qi, so merely Spiritual Infant Tier was considered the pinnacle.

The fact that Zhao Xin could ascend to this cultivation level in a short 100-odd years was naturally because he was capable of alchemy, which compensated for the lack in Spiritual Qi.

And precisely because of this, he could continue to improve his strength under such extremely harsh conditions. Furthermore, his speed of advancement was also astonishing.

And at this time, Ling Han had finally recovered some vitality. Through some calculations, he would need another 300 years before he could recover enough of his strength to rip open the fragile seal over the heaven and earth of this small realm.

He continued to rest and recover. In any case, he had already entered into the Ancient Realm, so he would not be able to return to the Celestial Realm yet for the time being. Thus, he might as well wait until he recovered his strength to the level of Ascending Origin Tier or Celestial King Tier, and then seek out the Empress and the others. He was sure that with a supreme elite like Zhou Heng standing guard, Heavenborn would have no way to play any tricks, either. At most, he would only become a First Tier Heavenly Venerate, and that was a matter of who knew how many years later.

Ling Han kept a very low profile. In the entire Zhao Clan, aside from Zhao Xin, only those that guarded the ancestral grounds knew of his existence.

200 years, 300 years… Time passed by in a flash.

300 years later, Zhao Clan had already become a supreme overlord of the Eternal Heart Land because Zhao Xin had already advanced into the Shattering Void Tier. Next, he would be opening the skies so that the whole realm would rise into the Ancient Realm, and only that could fundamentally alter the environmental conditions of this small world.

Ling Han naturally was completely unconcerned. When Zhao Xin especially brought this matter up to him for guidance, Ling Han only nodded calmly, and allowed him to make his own decisions.

Zhao Xin had heard Ling Han talk of how there were many elites in the Ancient Realm. His strength, over there, was completely inadequate, and he could only become a subsidiary power of a strong force.

There was a saying: “better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.”

He was enjoying a relaxed, free life here, so why should he go to the Ancient Realm to suffer?

“Senior, I have still decided to open the skies!” Zhao Xin said. He could not guess Ling Han’s strength, and felt that while this great man was enshrouded in an air of death, with injuries so heavy that he could die at any moment, he was still not dying. Though Ling Han had never talked of his origins, Zhao Xin was sure that he came from the Ancient Realm, and had been forced into dire straits by his enemies’ pursuit, and that was why he had fled into the small world to escape.

Though that wasn’t right, it was actually already very close to the truth. The only disparity was that Ling Han did not come from the Ancient Realm, but rather the Celestial Realm. Furthermore, he was already standing at the highest tiers of the Celestial Realm.

Ling Han declined to comment. However, if Zhao Xin really opened the skies and went into the Ancient Realm, Ling Han would be willing to do some things.

Protecting Zhao Xin was naturally no big deal. He also wanted to do something that he had wanted to do before, but hadn’t gotten around to do yet.

…Reuniting the Immortal Realm and Netherworld.

With his present strength, if he used himself as a core, it was completely possible that he could unite the Ancient Realm as one in a short period of time. Of course, this short period of time was only in relative terms. It would possibly take a few thousand years.

The members of Zhao Clan had varying opinions about the matter of opening the sky. Some agreed, and thought that they would have better prospects only once they went into the Ancient Realm, but there were some that thought it would be better not to take the risk. How great was it to be overlords here? Even if their aptitude was slightly poor, and their strength was not that great, who would dare disrespect them outside?

Yet, who could persuade Zhao Xin?

After preparing for 100 years, Zhao Xin had also polished his cultivation of the Shattering Void Tier to an incredibly sturdy level. There was really no further room for advancement. Finally, he opened the skies.

His aptitude was not very good. Though he had cultivated the cultivation technique that Ling Han taught him, he could only just barely be considered a prodigy, this was a very arduous venture for him, and he almost failed. It was Ling Han who had lent him a helping hand at the final crucial moment, allowing him to narrowly attain success.

A hole had been created in the Ancient Realm, and the Eternal Heart Land rose through this hole, entering into a wider, more expansive world.

After flying in the Ancient Realm for three days, the Eternal Heart Land arrived at a planet. It landed and integrated with it.

Breathing in the far more abundant Spiritual Qi, along with the fact that opening the sky was a great merit, the heaven and earth bestowed blessings that bathed all of them. Instantly, quite a number of people broke through on the spot.

“Long live! Long live! Long live!” Countless people knelt down, extremely excited.

Meanwhile, Ling Han experienced the blessings bestowed by the heaven and earth. For others, this was an indescribable benefit, but for him, it was not the slightest bit useful.

He lay idly. Throughout these several centuries, he could already use the Regulations of Time. Though he could only channel a slight sliver, for the slight sliver of a Celestial King to be in this Ancient Realm, what kind of concept was that?

“To remove the shards of great dao in my body, there is no way without a few tens of thousands of years.” Ling Han sighed. He had initially thought that it would only take several thousand years, so he was disappointed, of course.

Furthermore, Zhou Heng should have brought people to that transcendent dimension by now, right?

Ling Han frowned. After so long of not returning, would they have thought that he had died alongside Heavenborn?

He shook his head. There was no point thinking so far ahead now. He had best just focus on recovering his injuries first.

***

Outside.

Zhao Xin had successfully opened the skies, and led the great land to descend. This naturally drew the reactions of various forces of this planet immediately. They all sent out envoys, wanting to bring the Eternal Heart Land under their authority.

Looking at the many elites arriving through the air, Zhao Xin’s expression became involuntarily grim. Previously, he had ruled supreme, and could find no one that could match him. But now, any elite was stronger than him, and he had a first-hand experience of just how serious the circumstances were.

“Become the subject of our Fortunate Horse Nation, and your nation’s security is assured!”

“Humph, I have come as the representative of General Qi of the Great Youth Nation. Who is the master of this nation? Come out immediately to greet me with respect!”

“…”

All the envoys introduced themselves respectively, and they were all extremely arrogant and overbearing.

It couldn’t be helped, for they all knew that the strongest in a world that had newly opened the skies and ascended could only be a Shattering Void Tier, at most. What need was there for them to be wary?

And all the cheers also ceased. Under the intimidating pressure of Mountain River Tier elites, everyone felt anxious, their hearts extremely heavy.

This was suppression from a superior level. The Mountain River Tier was a height that only beings in the Ancient Realm could attain.

Zhao Xin’s expression was calm as the predictions that Ling Han had previously spoken to him about surged through his mind. He slowly said, “I am Zhao Xin, the master of the Eternal Heart Land! However, as for whichever force we should align with, I cannot make the decision, either. I have to first ask the opinion of a prominent lord.”

‘Huh?’

To say nothing of the fact that the various envoys were stunned, even those subjects were surprised.

There was another lord? What lord? Wasn’t Zhao Xin the strongest elite of the Eternal Heart Land?

“All right, then let’s go take a look.”

“Haha, does he think he is all that, putting on such airs.”

“Come, I would really like to show him what the cultivation level of Mountain River Tier is like. Who knows if this ‘lord’ would die in fright.”

The envoys humphed coldly. They did not mind meeting this “lord” first and making fun of him before eliminating him.

“Come with me,” Zhao Xin said. He led the way in front, bringing those envoys with him to the ancestral grounds of the Zhao Clan, and did not let any other people follow suit.