With the matters settled, Lin Jiufeng could finally go into seclusion in peace.

The Yuhua God Dynasty did not belong to him, he had no reason to protect it for the rest of his life. The reason why he became the Yuhua God Dynasty's guardian deity was because of Emperor Yuan and Emperor Ming.

He only helped Emperor De because he was their descendant.

But protecting the Yuhua God Dynasty forever was never a part of Lin Jiufeng's ambitions.

This time, the fate of the Yuhua God Dynasty was now in the hands of Emperor De.

Lin Jiufeng closed the door of the Cold Palace and brought the white cat down to the Land of Extreme Negative Energy.

"Are you really willing to let the Yuhua God Dynasty fend for itself?" The white cat was skeptical.

She couldn't believe it.

Ever since she met Lin Jiufeng, every time he made a big move or even left the Cold Palace was all for the sake of the Yuhua God Dynasty.

Lin Jiufeng replied, "Didn't I leave them a trump card?"

The war machine of the Zenith Heaven Path Sect certainly was a terrifying weapon.

The white cat's soft and snow-white tail wrapped around Lin Jiufeng's neck as she intimately placed her face on Lin Jiufeng's and asked.

"What if the war machine failed?"

Lin Jiufeng thought for a while and replied with a question of his own. "Is there a need for the existence of a god dynasty that I have to constantly save?"

Over the years—whether it was Emperor Yuan, Emperor Ming, or Emperor De.

Lin Jiufeng helped them solve many of their major problems.

Those problems were brought about by the recovery of the world's spiritual energy. It was understandable that the Yuhua God Dynasty found it hard to handle them well, so it was normal for Lin Jiufeng to help them out.

Especially in Emperor Yuan's reign—Lin Jiufeng would definitely have the heart to help his own brother.

When it came to Emperor Ming, Lin Jiufeng watched him grew up…

It was understandable that Lin Jiufeng helped him too.

But Emperor De had never interacted once interacted with Lin Jiufeng in his younger years.

The only reason why Lin Jiufeng helped Emperor De was due to the fact that he was connected by blood to both Emperor Yuan and Emperor Ming.

However, Lin Jiufeng knew that he couldn't always help Emperor De and clean up his mess.

And what if Emperor De died by accident and the succeeding emperor came to beg Lin Jiufeng for his help?

Would Lin Jiufeng still lend a hand?

Not anymore…

"The relationship between me and the Yuhua God Dynasty has always been in decline with the passing of Emperor Yuan and Emperor Ming. Helping Emperor De is the last. Whether the Yuhua God Dynasty lives or dies in the future will all depend on Emperor De's methods."

Lin Jiufeng said.

After all, the lifestyle that he had always wanted was to sign in peacefully and pursue the peak of the cultivation path.

"Don't worry, Emperor De is a decent emperor. He consistently studied state affairs for the past few years, and his methods have gradually become more and more innovative. With the war machine serving as his trump card, he can handle every troublesome matter out there. I won't also have to worry anymore." Lin Jiufeng said.

His words carried confidence in Emperor De.

He brought the white cat to the Land of Extreme Negative Energy—a huge underground world.

It was a very dark world with ghostly fires flickering everywhere. These fires were the souls of the former powerhouses who died in battle for the right to occupy this place.

The fires have been constantly burning for thousands of years.

These ghost flames also seemed to drift with the air currents.

They looked and felt bizarre.

The white cat leaned on Lin Jiufeng as she looked at her surroundings with a calm gaze.

With Lin Jiufeng around, she wasn't afraid.

Lin Jiufeng brought the white cat with him as he continued to venture deeper.

In the past five years, he had spent most of his time in the Land of Extreme Negative Energy.

He signed in before more than a thousand graves—all of which belonged to people who died in action back then. From the number of casualties, one could see how intense the war that Demon King Pingtian had mentioned to him was.

Lin Jiufeng planned to sign in at the remaining tombs in the Land of Extreme Negative Energy.

Then, he would also use the time in between to expand his domain.

He wanted to accumulate enough strength to climb into a higher realm.

Arriving at the next tomb in line, Lin Jiufeng stopped and chanted in his heart. "Sign in!"

[Sign-In successful. Received Light Mandara Technique!]

Lin Jiufeng was instantly overjoyed.

'I followed Princess Yulin to the plains and I received the Dark Mandara Technique as a reward for signing in at Wolf Storey Mountain…'

'But the Dark Mandara Technique was only half of the entire technique, so I was never able to experience the true power of the Mandara Cultivation Technique.

'So I put aside the Black Mandara Technique and mentally noted that I would only cultivate using it after I've obtained the other half.'

'I didn't expect to receive the Light Mandara Technique here. What a pleasant surprise.'

Lin Jiufeng happily browsed through the Light Mandara Technique.

After signing in, the various information about the cultivation technique entered Lin Jiufeng's mind.

Lin Jiufeng instantly learned it.

He then compared it with the Dark Mandara Technique.

Where there was darkness, there must be light.

Where there was light, there must be darkness.

The fusion of darkness and light was the true Mandara Cultivation Technique.

It was a supreme technique that belonged to the Essence Qi Sect.

Yin-Yang Mandara Great Domain!

Darkness and light transformed into yin and yang.

Combined, they formed the Mandara Flower. A catalyst for a domain.

It was perfect for Lin Jiufeng.

His Divine Grade Grotto-heaven was already a domain.

Lin Jiufeng had created and explored his own domain without any guidance whatsoever.

As a result, his strength improved greatly in the past five years.

But without any guidance on domains, his research had long stagnated.

With this cultivation technique, Lin Jiufeng gained confidence in cultivating his domain.

"As expected, this place is truly my blessed land. If I had gotten rid of those secular matters earlier, my domain could've already been at the perfection stage by now!" Lin Jiufeng muttered. He was overjoyed with his reward today.

There were stages in the Supremacy Realm, but they were according to levels like the Grotto-Heaven Realm.

They were divided according to the completion percentage of their very own domain.

Beginner, lesser mastery, greater mastery, and perfection.

This was how strength was divided in the Supremacy Realm.

But this classification wasn't suitable for everything.

It was only suitable for domains.

Everyone had their very own domains, some were big, some were small, some were ordinary, and some were heaven-defying.

The difference in power between different domains was huge.

One could say that everyone's domain had to go through these four stages.

But it didn't mean that one would definitely be able to defeat or even crush a greater mastery stage domain with a perfection stage domain.

This was an incorrect assumption.

What if the grade of the perfection stage domain was ordinary?

Even if it was in perfection—the maximum coverage it could have was only about a hundred inches of space. How strong could it possibly be?

Compared to someone else whose domain came from his own comprehension of heaven and earth, the cycle of life and death. How strong could that ordinary domain be? Even if the latter was at the beginner stage while the former was at the perfection stage.

The battle would most likely end in a draw.

.

Ordinary domains at the perfection stage could not possibly hold a candle against those that had high grade domains at the lesser mastery stage.

Lin Jiufeng began to comprehend the [Yin-Yang Mandara Great Domain] and he soon came to understand these principles.

Back then, he had to rely on his own intuition.

There wasn't such profound knowledge recorded in the royal library of the Yuhua God Dynasty, so he took many detours to reach his current stage.

Fortunately, Lin Jiufeng could still rectify his situation.

For this, he had to cultivate in the [Yin-Yang Mandara Great Domain] technique.

In the Land of Extreme Negative Energy, Lin Jiufeng quickly blended with the environment.

He had no intention of wasting time.

…

The imperial capital of the Yuhua God Dynasty…

As Lin Jiufeng entered the Land of Extreme Negative Energy, Emperor De returned to the Forbidden City and sat alone in the Great Council Hall for the night.

He stayed up all night.

He constantly thought about the Yuhua God Dynasty's future.

Without Lin Jiufeng's protection—even with the war machine—he still felt uncomfortable.

'I have to make my arrangements. There's no such thing as permanent enemies, only permanent interests…'

'I should take advantage of the might that Big Grand-Uncle displayed when he killed those Supremacies. With him as my backer, I should be able to rope in many people to my side. I can rope in everyone to me—Daoist sects, Buddhist sects, the people from the Wild Lands, the tribes in the Plains, and even the members of the demonic sects and overseas factions!'

'They are all people that I can convince to side with me.'

'Together, we can stabilize the Yuhua God Dynasty.'

'Then, once I am done with that. I should make sure that the sects and the factions of the world are busy fightings against each other. If that happens, then they would not have the energy to deal with the Yuhua God Dynasty…'

'Recruiting powerhouses in private, cultivating talented youths, and building an invincible army…'

'This must be done at all costs.

'Even without Big Grand-Uncle, the Yuhua God Dynasty won't fall. I must use everything at my disposal to seek huge benefits for the Yuhua God Dynasty in this chaotic world.'

Emperor De thought about it all night and came up with a lot of ideas.

He was no longer the cultivation-obsessed young man that he was in the past.

He had become a wily old fox.

Under the earnest guidance of the court officials, he became skillful at manipulating the affairs of the world to control its overall situation.

"Big Grand-Uncle, I will prove to you that I will not be worse than Father or Grandpa Emperor…"

Emperor De's fighting spirit soared.

"The Yuhua God Dynasty will improve greatly in my hands."