THE GOD EATER

Chapter 973: The Guardian.

Shaking his head, he said, "I don’t know whose idea it was. Maybe, at the time, it looked like a good idea to refuse to surrender. Anyway, our domain went to war with that external force. We lost terribly, and everyone died."

"When I asked him how he had survived that massacre, he said, "Oh. I didn’t survive anything. I was one of the people who did the killing. It was easy, and there was no danger to myself."

Both Loki and Golden Sun were surprised to hear this. But the other Dao Lords didn’t seem surprised by the news.

Their reaction seemed to amuse Tepid Scholar because he chuckled as he said, "I was as surprised as you were. No, I was shocked even. I stepped away from him in fear that he would kill me just as the ancient cultivators were slain. But he didn’t kill him."

"He laughed at my antics, though. I remember trying to return to the Sea of Worlds back then. I tore space open and tried to open a rift. That was the first time I was making that attempt. It was also the time I learned why Dao Lords couldn’t return to the Sea of Worlds."

"All the while I was fumbling around like some idiot, he was laughing at me. But after laughing, he told me that the war had ended and that he wasn’t going to kill me."

"He said that the Sea of Worlds was conquered territory, so I was already a part of them. When I asked how I became one of them, he said it was because I use Metacs now. It was then that I remembered that I changed my cultivation system to using Metacs after spirit energy disappeared."

Chuckling, he said, "I remember I used to wonder who came up with the Metacs cultivation system. Apparently, it was them. As for why they did so, I don’t know."

"However, he did tell me that he was asked to stay behind to help guide the next generation to take up the mantle that was left behind. That’s why he spread the Metac cultivation system and why he spread the method to become Dao Lords in the absence of spirit energy."

"Now his main goal is to create ten Dao Lords to kickstart the competition for domain king. As for what comes next, I don’t know. But I don’t think it can be good for us."

"After all, they should have a reason for invading the Sea of Worlds. There should be a purpose to all of that death, and their pantheon should gain some benefits from the invasion. So far, I haven’t seen any benefits."

"But maybe I am only being short-sighted. Maybe they’ve taken their benefits earlier on. Who knows? I don’t."

After saying so much, he closed his eyes and said, "That is all. I hope you’ve been enlightened."

For a while, no one said anything. Loki himself couldn’t say anything because he was busy digesting the information he just acquired. This was a big mental task that made him somewhat uninterested in engaging in conversation at the moment.

He felt that it was safe to say that his horizon had been broadened. After all, until this moment, he didn’t know that the section of reality he was in was called a domain. He also didn’t know that the domain was dying.

Until this moment, he always thought that the ancient cultivators went extinct because they were weak. To learn that ancient cultivators had gone extinct because the strongest were massacred while the weakest were forced to switch to another form of cultivation in the absence of spirit energy changed his worldview in ways he couldn’t explain.

All in all, he was glad he acquired this information and learned more about the history of the world. But now knowing that he was running out of time and that there was a powerful pantheon out there with designs for the Sea of Worlds made him feel some sort of dread and anxiety.

Mixed with his fear for the future was his rising expectations from the fact that the Sea of Worlds wasn’t all of reality. Apparently, there was more to all of existence than this corner of space 100,000 light-years in diameter.

As he thought about these things, his expectations for the future began to rise. He wanted to see what else was out there, and he wanted to learn more about the pantheon that destroyed the ancient cultivators.

He also wanted to know and experience the stages of cultivation at the Dao Lord rank and beyond. This thought finally made him want to speak.

He said to Golden Sun, "It was mentioned earlier that this domain is sealed. Is that why I can’t leave it when I reach the edge of the world, or is it that I’m just too weak to leave?"

Hearing his question, Golden Sun chuckled and said, "When I was a Dao Lord, I also tried to leave the domain. I couldn’t leave it back then, so I dare to say that weakness didn’t have anything to do with why you couldn’t leave."

Tepid Scholar, in the sky, added somewhat frivolously, "The whole place has been locked down. No one is going anywhere, at least until there are ten Dao Lords."

When Loki heard this, he asked hesitantly, "Doesn’t that make the Sea of Worlds a prison?"

As soon as his question came out of his mouth, Martial Will began to laugh. The Dao Lord of the Martial Body Sect didn’t say anything. He just laughed.

He was the only one laughing too. At least, Loki didn’t hear anyone else laugh or chuckle. So it felt, to him, that Martial Will was amused by an invisible joke.

While he was wondering what it was about his question that made Martial Will amused, Golden Sun said, "Some of us considered our current arrangements similar to a prison. They didn’t like that their freedom of movement was being limited."