Chapter 5: Ten Great Taboos, the So-Called Age of Strife

"Kingsley… you're really just letting him go?" Before the Ancestral Shrine, Drew Yale stared at the figure fading into the mountain woods. A thread of unease flickered in his eyes. Kingsley had already ripped out Santiago Yale's Supreme Bone, yet Drew still felt they should have cut the weeds at the root. Santiago should have been killed, clean and final. "Grandfather, I have my own plans for this. Don't interfere, no matter what." Kingsley smiled brightly and held out his palm. "Oh, right. Lend me the key to the Yale family treasury." There was an old saying: at home, you relied on your parents. Once you stepped outside… you relied on your parents' money. Kingsley had bound the Ten Thousand Times Return System. Of course he needed to carry more spirit treasures and Fortune items on him, just in case. "Fine." Drew let out a soft sigh. He did not understand what Kingsley was doing, but he supported every decision Kingsley made without hesitation. If Santiago truly dared to seek revenge, Drew would personally slap him to death. Tch. You beat the kid, the old one shows up. That familiar flavor. Time passed. When Kingsley returned to his sleeping hall, he stared at the Cosmic Vault Ring in his hand, stuffed with divine treasures and spiritual materials. A thoughtful glint passed through his eyes. Less than a month remained until the Divine Child Battle. And within that month, he could fleece Daniella Greaves four times in total. As a villain, Kingsley understood all too well what kind of danger waited ahead. That was why he planned to squeeze a few life-saving trump cards out of Daniella. Before that, he still had seven days to cultivate. It was the perfect window to fuse that Innate Way‑Sovereign Bone. "System, fuse the Innate Way‑Sovereign Bone." The moment he barked the command, a surging aura of the Great Dao erupted around him. At that point, he did not bother concealing it at all. He let the innate dao-rhythm billow upward, spreading until it gradually shrouded the entire Yale Family Territory. "Rumble, rumble, rumble." A thunderclap tore across heaven and earth, shaking the world to its bones. Clouds boiled. Auspicious light spilled. The Dao itself seemed to sing in harmony. Above the Yale Family Territory, towering phantoms of ancient Great Emperors and True Immortals abruptly appeared, their bodies covered in glowing rune patterns, each one tens of thousands of feet tall. Under the dumbstruck gazes of every powerhouse in the Yale family, those emperor-shadows and immortal-shadows dropped to their knees in unison toward the Yale family. Great Emperors bowed their heads. Immortals chanted scripture. The spectacle instantly shocked the entire Three Thousand Wayrealms. Countless ancient figures emerged from the earth and from sealed tomb-palaces, lifting their eyes toward the Central Holy Dominion. Even the masters of Immortal Sect and the holy lords of undying great teachings had never seen such an astounding omen in their lives. Curiosity and fear churned together in their hearts. In the Celestial Arcane Realm, Daniella Greaves stood before the imperial palace in a blazing crimson phoenix robe. Her gaze remained cold as she looked toward the Holy Dominion. By her reckoning, in her previous life Kingsley had done the same thing before the Divine Child Battle. He had dug out a clan younger brother's Supreme Bone, then unleashed his might in the battle and successfully seized the seat of Divine Son. More than that, the first thing he did after becoming Divine Son was cripple an entire batch of the Yale family's ranked heirs, tearing the nine branches apart until they became a family in name only. "Kingsley. Looks like you really haven't changed at all." Daniella lowered her eyes to the Eighth Grade Creation Pill in her hand, frost rising in her gaze. Yet as she turned, her beautiful eyes tightened. A petite girl in green stood before her, small-framed yet strikingly voluptuous. She watched Daniella with a half-smile that was not quite a smile. "Something's on your mind, Daniella. Is it because of that Kingsley?" the Green-Clad Girl teased softly. "I heard that so-called young lord of longevity is very… calculating. Don't let him fool you." "Oh." Daniella walked straight down from the city wall and headed toward the imperial palace. "Hmph. Then I'll find a chance to test this Kingsley," the Green-Clad Girl muttered after a moment, a crafty gleam flashing through her green pupils. "I'll make Daniella see his true face." In the Great Brahma Buddhist State, atop a mountain temple. An old monk with snow-white eyebrows that hung nearly to the ground set down the wooden fish in his hands and looked up at his disciple. "Amitabha. Quinn Lowne, your heart is in turmoil." "Master…" The nun named Quinn Lowne flushed. Wrapped in a pure white kasaya that shimmered with gentle Buddhist light, even her delicate, rosy little face warmed with a faint blush. "Enough. Whether it is tribulation or fate will depend on your Fortune." The old monk's voice softened. "Go down the mountain." In the Desolate Ancient State, a tall, slender woman in a golden phoenix robe stood with her hands clasped behind her back on a mountain peak. Her features were breathtaking, her bearing regal. Her allure was ripe and deep, the kind that sank into the bone. "So the ancestor's prophecy was true…" As she murmured, nine pale tails seemed to sway faintly behind her, a bewitching grace born of heaven. In the Central Holy Dominion, an old blind man in plain clothes stepped onto a busy street, tapping a bamboo cane. He suddenly frowned. "An immortal trace has descended, and calamity has already begun. This should be the first of the Ten Great Taboos… the White-Robed Worldbane. The age of strife begins from here…" Shaking his head, he limped onward, muttering strange words as he headed toward the direction where the immortal trace had appeared. … Meanwhile, the entire Yale family had already erupted into a frenzy. The elders of the nine branches streamed out of the main hall and gathered before the Ancestral Shrine. Even with their cultivation, under the cover of such dense innate dao-opportunity, they still failed to truly trace the source. At that moment, the whole Yale Family Territory resembled a land of chaos. Heavenly secrets evolved and unfolded, and immortal pacts seemed to glimmer everywhere. "Who is it?!" "It's not in the Ancestral Shrine. Could it be a bloodline awakening within someone?" Only Drew Yale remained calm, though confusion stirred in his heart. The might of this omen far, far surpassed a Supreme Bone. Even he could not be certain whether this phenomenon had been triggered by Kingsley. "Bzzzz." A deafening hum suddenly rolled out from the ancestral grounds of the Yale family. A withered, ancient figure strode forward, gaunt as a ghost. Yet with each step, terrifying qi and blood boiled around him. His shriveled body swelled, expanding until he became a towering, ten-foot giant that descended from above. "Rumble, rumble, rumble." An indescribable saintly will crashed down, grinding the elders of the nine branches straight into the ground. Even Drew Yale's aged eyes flashed with deep dread. A Saint!! He had not expected the Yale family's omen to awaken a slumbering saintly ancestor. "Yale family patriarch Drew Yale pays respects to Ancestor Malachi." As Drew bowed, horror surged through the elders' eyes. The Yale family's Ninth Ancestor, Malachi Yale. The first generation of the Dominant Body Lineage!! It was said that back then, this Dominant Body ancestor had hammered a true dragon to death with sheer physical might, endured a Supreme being head-on, and smashed an entire ancient world apart. "My Yale family has produced a true dragon in this era…" Malachi Yale sighed, his mountain-like frame roaring with qi and blood that resonated with heaven and earth. "I only wonder who this peerless child truly is." "Heh, heh, heh…" At his side, Jerry Yale, an elder of the Dominant Body Lineage, let out a smug chuckle. With the Divine Child Battle approaching, a saintly ancestor of their lineage had actually emerged. That alone raised their odds by several notches. "Hm?" Malachi Yale frowned, eyeing Jerry's foolish grin. "You know who drew this omen?" "Reporting to Ancestor… I don't know." "Smack!" A crisp slap rang out. Malachi Yale flicked his hand and struck Jerry across the face, sending him flying. "If you don't know, what the hell are you laughing for?" For seven full days, the immortal-shadows and emperor-shadows above the Yale family slowly faded away. Only then did Kingsley open his eyes. He lowered his gaze to his chest, where the Innate Way‑Sovereign Bone radiated seven-colored radiance. A faint smile tugged at his lips. He could feel it clearly. Within that bone of the Dao, a terrifying power was evolving, something beyond description. If his guess was right, this was the Innate Way‑Sovereign Bone's innate divine ability. True taboo power. [Ding. Friendly reminder: seven days have passed. Daniella Greaves's return reward attempts have refreshed.] "Hm?" Kingsley lifted his brows. He looked at the golden, brilliantly radiant battle armor in his hand, and a bright smile spread across his face. A villain's life mattered most, after all.