The Unruly Divine Tribe

At this moment, Xiao Chen somewhat regretted bringing this group of Divine Tribe youths to the Nine Provinces. He couldn't tell if they would be a powerful fighting force or a pack of troublemakers that would give him a headache.

The few young men and women chattered noisily, each with their own opinions—a complete bunch of mischief-makers. They all looked as if they feared nothing under heaven could be too chaotic. To make matters worse, Keke had found kindred spirits and was muttering every so often, introducing the strengths and weaknesses of the Hundred Races of the Nine Provinces to them.

"Rebellion..." Xiao Chen grabbed the snow-white beast's ear, yanking the little one back first. Ignoring its fierce protests, he ruthlessly 'suppressed' it under his arm, then said to the seven problematic Divine Tribe youths, "Behave yourselves and stay close by my side. Don't go anywhere."

"Uncle..." A seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl called out sweetly, nearly making Xiao Chen stumble. He said gloomily, "Am I really that old?"

"Uncle…" The girl smiled charmingly, her voice honeyed. "I really want to taste what angel wings are like. Could you take me to Heaven to catch a couple?" She leaned in, shaking Xiao Chen's arm.

Xiao Chen felt goosebumps rise and quickly stepped back. "If you have something to say, just say it."

"Let's go to Dragon Island and catch a winged dragon."

"No, let's catch a demon ape—monkey brain is a great tonic."

...

The problematic youths gathered around, clamoring and causing a ruckus. In the end, the discussion circled back to the starting point.

"I said no, and that means no!" Xiao Chen had no choice but to release his oppressive aura. These brats were too worrisome; if he didn't show some real power, he'd never get them under control.

"Uncle, you're such a tyrant," a Divine Tribe youth muttered in protest.

"That's right! You can't restrict our personal freedom," another chimed in.

Xiao Chen glared at them. "I'm doing this for your own good. The Hundred Races have emerged; this golden age overflows with experts. The Nine Provinces are extremely dangerous, not the paradise you imagine."

"Uncle the tyrant! We will resist!" A Divine Tribe girl jumped out, extending her tender arm to wave it vigorously in a rallying cry.

"Fine. You call me a tyrant, so I'll suppress you." Seeing how 'uncooperative' these problem youths were, Xiao Chen prepared to grab a couple of 'examples.'

But then, the most mischievous girl, named Binglan, stirred up the crowd. "For freedom, everyone—run!"

Her closest friend, Xuemeng, immediately responded, "Resist the tyrant! Brothers and sisters, scatter and flee!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The seven troublesome Divine Tribe youths shot off in all directions, vanishing cleanly.

Xiao Chen freed Keke from under his arm. "Hurry up and chase them! Put them into your Paradise Lost!"

But the little creature just grumbled and refused to move. Annoyed, Xiao Chen tapped it on the forehead. "Hurry!" Only then did the little fellow sluggishly give chase.

Xiao Chen himself began hunting down the problem youths. With the Eight Aspect Extreme, he moved at incredible speed, instantly capturing one with the Eight Aspect Worlds and sealing his cultivation. He headed in the direction Keke had gone and heard the little beast muttering from far away: "Faster, faster!"

Xiao Chen was furious. That little wretch was actually helping the outsiders escape! He used the Eight Aspect Extreme to catch up and found that the two running in one direction were the most lively troublemakers, Binglan and Xuemeng.

"Tyrant! Let us go!"

Ignoring the two girls' protests, Xiao Chen mercilessly rapped Keke on the head. "Open Paradise Lost."

The little one held its head and grumbled, reluctantly opening it. Xiao Chen tossed the three Divine Tribe members inside and said to the creature, "Don't let a single one escape, or I'll ban you from eating for a month!"

Relying on the Eight Aspect Extreme, Xiao Chen recaptured all seven problematic Divine Tribe youths and threw them into Paradise Lost. Of course, the seven seemed to know that their 'guardian' meant well, and they felt they were in the wrong, so they didn't resist violently. If each of them had fought him seriously, the trouble would have been far greater.

Xiao Chen decided to go deeper into the Nine Provinces to first understand the situation, since he had already been away for seven or eight months and was out of touch with many things.

Two days later, when he appeared in a small city and prepared to let a few of the Divine Tribe problem youths out for a grand meal, Keke hesitated and refused to open Paradise Lost. Finally, it even tried to sneak away.

"What's wrong? Hurry up and open it. You're not hiding something from me, are you?" He looked at the little creature suspiciously.

When Keke reluctantly opened Paradise Lost, Xiao Chen was furious. He grabbed the little beast's ear. "You... you let them all go! You little traitor!"

"No..." Keke muttered softly. "There are still two left."

Clang! Clang!

In the distance, a large bronze tripod was shaking, with someone clearly trapped underneath. Xiao Chen walked over and moved the cauldron aside. Little Tianya crawled out with a bright red face, and a dignified Divine Tribe big man jumped up as well.

Only the youngest, Tianya, and the oldest, the Divine Tribe big man, remained held.

After questioning them, Xiao Chen learned what had happened. Binglan and Xuemeng, those two problem girls, had bribed Keke by promising it ten pairs of demon bear paws, five pairs of grilled angel wings, three original-flavor dragon legs, and two pairs of fried phoenix wings. The little beast had gleefully let them out that very day.

The others followed suit, making their own promises and trading with Keke. All of them gained their freedom, escaping from Paradise Lost without a trace.

"Why didn't you escape? You're not this stupid, are you?" Xiao Chen looked at the Divine Tribe big man named Qi'er—an oddly delicate name for someone so burly, with a decently heroic face.

Qi'er scratched his head sheepishly. "I'm different from them."

Looking at this oldest and most stalwart man, Xiao Chen nodded. "Rare indeed. At least there's someone less troublesome."

"I'm older now, nearly thirty. I'm not like those gluttons. I was thinking of capturing a god king as a wife…"

Xiao Chen choked on his words and almost slapped him. This guy was no good either—clearly someone who could cause big trouble. If killing a foreign king was one thing, this brute wanted to capture one as a wife. Such an insult would be sure to sow deep enmity and vengeance.

"In our village, after dozens of generations of intermarriage, we're all close relatives and can't marry each other. We need new blood. So I wanted to find a Heavenly King at the Perfected Man realm to bring back as a wife." Qi'er grinned sheepishly.

Xiao Chen nearly choked with anger. What kind of people were these? Old Li Mu and Zhao Ying of the Divine Tribe—how had they selected this lot? Not only had they chosen troublemakers like Binglan and Xuemeng, but they'd also sent this live wire. He looked at Qi'er with displeasure. "Perfected Man realm... your standards are quite high."

Qi'er scratched his head, still grinning foolishly, and said with some embarrassment, "Not high, not high. My grandfather said that only a Heavenly King at the Perfected Man realm is barely worthy of allying with our Divine Tribe."

"Hmph! Spouting nonsense when you're out of shape!" Xiao Chen was already grinding his teeth.

At this point, everything was clear. Qi'er had also wanted to escape Paradise Lost, but he'd angered Keke with a single remark—saying he would snatch a few lolis from a god king's household as wives for Keke. The little creature had scowled, sealed him, and trapped him under the bronze cauldron.

As for little Tianya, once he entered Paradise Lost, he couldn't move his feet. He stared wide-eyed at the garden full of spirit fruits, drooling. Naturally, he too ended up trapped under the cauldron by Keke.

"You—get lost too!" Xiao Chen pointed at the Divine Tribe giant Qi'er. "Seven have already run off with five; one more won't make a difference."

Qi'er said not a word. He leaped out of Paradise Lost and fled, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

"So obedient!" Xiao Chen laughed bitterly despite his anger. Then he looked at Tianya. "You want to escape too?"

Little Tianya's face was bright red. "I'm not leaving even if you kill me!" He stared at the garden full of divine fruits, swallowing continuously.

Keke's 'sense of caution' was extremely strong. It picked three or four spirit fruits, stuffed them into Tianya's arms, and directly tossed him out of Paradise Lost, gesturing for him to flee—fearing that its sacred garden might be robbed by a homegrown thief.

"You little traitor, always undercutting me!" Xiao Chen tapped its forehead.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Tianya was very straightforward, determined to stick close to them.

This made Keke frown and huff angrily, warning Tianya not to overstep.

At the eastern seacoast, towering waves crashed against the shore, piercing the sky and scattering rocks.

Keke was straining with all its might to collect the enormous stone statue, stirring up thousand-foot waves across the surrounding sea. The monstrous breakers were so fierce they shattered the clouds above. Fishermen living on the coast had never seen such a terrifying tsunami—the great waves actually connected with the dark clouds in the sky, a truly appalling sight.

Fortunately, the waves were strange and did not surge onto the shore, as if some mysterious force was holding back the massive billows.

The colossal stone statue, pierced by the twenty-four War Swords, had stood silently in the sea for two or three years. Today, it emitted a rumbling sound as it slowly rose up and ascended into Paradise Lost.

Not only were there cracks inside the great statue, but even on the surface, countless fissures spread like a spider's web. It was clear that it could not hold out much longer before shattering.

Even Keke, using Paradise Lost to envelop it, expended a great deal of effort to take in the giant statue—a testament to just how extraordinary it was.

Boom!

Paradise Lost trembled as the enormous stone statue was taken inside, standing in the center of the divine garden like a lofty mountain peak.

The garden was thick with spiritual energy, far denser than the outside world. As the statue stood there, multi-colored rays of light swirled around it. Xiao Chen was astonished to see wisps of spiritual energy seeping into the statue through the cracks.

Seeing this, he felt a surge of surprise. Could the statue pierced by twenty-four swords actually be repaired?

A few days ago, when he heard that a Half-Ancestor was among the Hundred Races, Xiao Chen had felt a heavy burden. But now that he had the statue under his control, he suddenly felt a new confidence.

"Ya-ya…" Keke muttered softly. "Why aren't they back yet? Shouldn't we go look for them?"

Xiao Chen scolded, "If you hadn't secretly released them, we wouldn't need to go looking."

"They owe me a lot of delicious things—angel wings, original-flavor dragon legs, demon steak..."

Xiao Chen rapped it on the head. "So that's what you're worried about." But hearing about those legendary delicacies, Xiao Chen also felt a stirring of interest. "When you get those treats, I'm taking half as tax!"

The snow-white beast grumbled bitterly, refusing to agree outright. However, when it came to the divine fruits in Paradise Lost, it was not stingy with Xiao Chen, letting him pick as he pleased. Every day, more acupoints were divinely transformed.

"Share half with me, too." Tianya had become Keke's little shadow, following it around all day, pestering and pleading for spirit fruits.

At this, Keke looked up at the sky, completely ignoring his request.

"Those brats really are a handful," Xiao Chen sighed, feeling a headache coming on. If he really let them run wild, and all seven died, Old Li Mu of the Divine Tribe would surely fight him to the death. He'd originally thought they would be a powerful fighting force, but instead they were a bunch of ancestral troublemakers.

"Ya-ya…" the little beast suggested softly. "Let's go check out Heaven. They finally agreed on one thing—they want to eat grilled angel wings."

Xiao Chen knocked on its forehead. "I knew you were a troublemaker too. Let's go!"

They shot out over the ocean, soaring high into the sky based on the information they'd gathered.

It was said that Heaven floated among the clouds, beautiful beyond compare, a peaceful and joyful pure land—the sacred garden of the Angel clan.

But there was another ancient legend: the Angel clan was a tool of war, created by a supreme being, and Heaven was the home of that holy god who created them.

If the latter legend were true, then it was terrifying. The Angel clan was notoriously powerful; if they were merely puppet-like tools of war, the one who controlled their fate would be an unimaginably dreadful existence.

High above, white clouds drifted like great patches of cotton. Little Tianya shouted in delight—in the Dead World, all he had seen were leaden clouds; never such snowy white ones.

Ahead, a faint, misty land appeared, suspended silently in the sky, dreamlike and illusory.

Xiao Chen and the others all hid inside Paradise Lost. Little Keke glanced at Tianya warily like a thief, then carefully steered Paradise Lost into the pure land of Heaven.

Only Paradise Lost could block the perception of a Half-Ancestor, making it safe to penetrate deep into the secret realm.

It was indeed a peaceful and joyful pure land. Flowers bloomed in abundance, sacred grasses carpeted the ground, and beautiful streams meandered gently through fragrant meadows—a picturesque scene that brought peace and relaxation to the soul.

They saw little angels busily picking immortal fruits in the orchards, dancing gracefully as if they were enjoying themselves rather than working.

Of course, they also saw many powerful angels training. Various mountain peaks were occupied by strong angels. Xiao Chen frowned; he had already sensed very intense energy fluctuations around several large mountains and personally witnessed an angel wielding a War Sword—a dazzling beam of sword-light pierced straight through heaven and earth.

He stood at the entrance of Paradise Lost, inwardly marveling at the extraordinary nature of this clan.

As they ventured deeper into the pure land of Heaven, Xiao Chen saw several towering divine mountains with palaces perched atop them. Though he didn't sense powerful energy fluctuations, a feeling of oppression spread through the air, indicating that even stronger beings were cultivating in seclusion.

Further in, there were magnificent temples floating directly in the sky. Nine temples blazed like nine suns, radiating ten thousand beams of light and exuding a terrifying oppressive pressure. Any angel passing by this area did so with extreme caution and reverence.

Xiao Chen and his group did not stop there. They pressed further in and, at the very center of the pure land of Heaven, saw an ancient, unadorned palace. It emitted no pressure or energy fluctuations, floating quietly in the sky.

No angel dared to come near this place. Occasionally, those who passed in the distance would kneel in worship.

Suddenly, a clamor erupted from within the holy temple of Heaven, cutting through the serene atmosphere.

"Bird god! Get the hell out here! You dared to annihilate my disciples? I've come to destroy you!"

"Bird god! Come out and give us an explanation, or we'll tear down this pure land of yours!" Another voice, slightly more childish, also sounded, equally arrogant.

Who would dare to block the entrance to the holy temple of Heaven and curse insolently? This was an outrageously bold figure! Xiao Chen was extremely shocked. Keke's eyes went wide too.