Immortal Kingdoms



Jin Dynasty. 

While almost every large faction from the great sects and three dynasties had their hands in the business of rearing cultivators and resources in the stellar worlds of the main plane, it was the Jin Dynasty that took things to the extreme. 

With thousands of stellar worlds pooling resources into the dynasty, they were able to establish military schools not unlike actual sects with the excuse of training their young soldiers. No dynasty would conscript millions of citizens into the army, especially citizens of the Core Mainland. 

However, human trafficking from the stellar worlds to the Core Mainland wasn't an issue, albeit the transfer costs were very expensive. Oftentimes, the gains don't make up for the losses. 

Nonetheless, with this practice persisting for millions of years since the founding of the Jin Dynasty, the scales slowly began to shift as the early investments are now paying off. 

The Jin Dynasty might not have the strongest lineup when it comes to powerhouses of the Star Lord realm and higher, but they surely have the strongest army when it comes to both quality and quantity. 

With the resources from the Jin Dynasty, those trapped in stellar worlds could unearth their potential, with some hidden gems in the rough awaiting harvest. For example, House Hestia and their innate martial intent, something the Jin Dynasty had been dying to get their hands on. 

Just when they finally were about to get their hands on a virgin female of House Hestia's main bloodline, Leonardo entered the picture. 

As 'compensation' for the trouble of taking Leonardo from House Hestia, the Interstellar Supreme Court of the Jin Dynasty allowed Nier to enter the mainland without any affiliations to a sect. 

They thought she wouldn't get far from their surveillance as they had eyes and ears literally in every city, but they surely wouldn't expect that Ingrid had a wealth of knowledge in the fields of alchemy and medicine, enough to survive in the uncharted wilderness while concealing their tracks. 

With both women being high divinities on the cusp of achieving zero rebirth, as long as they were careful, they would be safe. 

Of course, safety also meant fewer interactions with outsiders, and that further translates into fewer resources. Other than the wild spiritual herbs, the only natural resource available to them was the chaotic ether in the environment, hence the process of cleansing their bodies and undergoing the baptism of ether was a process that consumed a lot of time, explaining their staggering cultivation that would remain stuck at the 4th tier. 

(Author Note: I will hint at the cultivation levels with tiers from now on for all professions and creatures.

A brief reminder, the 5th tier is zero rebirth, the 6th tier is core molding, the 7th tier is singularity, the 8th tier is inception, and the 9th tier is star lord.) 

… 

As a 6th tier cultivator, accompanied by the 7th tier cultivator from the Black Market against the latter's will, it took Leonardo but a few months to cross from the Luan Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty. 

On the way and after consolidating their alliance, Leonardo finally got to learn of the identity of the 7th tier cultivator. Honestly, he wasn't surprised at this point when the person under the heavy disguise turned out to be a female cultivator. 

Long black hair and fair pale skin, narrow golden eyes, and soft cherry lips. She went by the name Emily, a native of the Jin Dynasty though her ancestry dates back to the Lost Dynasty. 

Leonardo came to learn that the Black Market was founded as a small trade hub settlement in the center of four towns. These were records millions of years old, depicting the rise of the human population in the Core Mainland and four ruling dynasties. 

It only makes sense that the claws of this dark organization are entrenched deeply into the systems of these behemoths, but it also signifies that the survival of this organization was rooted in the prosperity of these dynasties. 

A true relationship of love and hate. 

This also meant that although this organization seemed harmonious on the outside, the conflict between the internal factions was just as intense as the struggle for the throne between the crown prince and his siblings. 

Emily was frustrated that Leonardo stuck close to her on the trip back to the Jin Dynasty; only two people were aware of his departure while everyone else thought he was busy consolidating his realm for the upcoming retaliation from the Jin Dynasty. 

These two were Rosaline and Emily. 

Try as she might, fast as she could, Emily had no way of leaving Leonardo behind as she streaked across the alternating sky from dusk till dawn; his speed was incomprehensible. 

Leonardo's movement technique was built on the Fourth Dimension Immortal Scripture, the same as his sword technique. 

Although his cultivation scripture was modified to better suit his path to the Infernal Throne, the movement and sword techniques derived from the scripture were too good to waste. 

While he didn't have time to progress from the twelve changes of the moon stance to the six changes of the solar stance, nor did he have the time in the past to progress his movement technique from the lunar phasing and solar eclipses, the rebirth realm was a comprehensive breakthrough for Leonardo. 

The sword technique and movement technique each had four layers respectively, and Leonardo maximized his comprehension in both aspects. If he was still going by the original scripture and achieved rebirth, completing all three aspects to the pinnacle, he might have combined all three into a new cultivation scripture for the rebirth realm with the help of his innate martial intent. The four stances of lunar, solar, stellar, and void. 

With the attributes of void attached to his movement technique, supplemented by his thunderforce, he easily caught up with Emily. For the past few months, a streak of white light and a string of black lightning crossed the skies of the Luan Dynasty and into the borders of the Jin Dynasty through a secret channel of the Black Market. 

Whoosh! Whoosh! 

The two descended on a mountain peak concealed by thick clouds as Emily gritted her teeth and glared at Leonardo; how she wished to strike him dead then and there.