Xuan Qi's collusion with the Nether God Clan and his dealings with the Nether God King were common knowledge among the people of the Sacred Pilgrimage True Domain.
Furthermore, when Xuan Qi was expelled from the Xuan Kong Mountain Holy Land by Xuan Qing Ming, his true essence cultivation was already crippled.
His rapid recovery of strength, even surpassing the five great Holy Lords of the human race, must have been due to the help of the Ancient Nether God King.
"Senior Dragon Ancestor, I have agreed to your terms. May I have the Eternal Dao Seal now?"
"You may, but I advise you to ascend to the Great Emperor realm before claiming the Eternal Dao Seal."
"Oh? Why?"
"Because this Eternal Dao Seal that I guard has a restriction placed upon it by the Eternal Great Emperor. Apart from myself, anyone who touches this Eternal Dao Seal will trigger the restriction."
"It will summon an Emperor-level clone left by the Eternal Great Emperor on this Eternal Dao Seal. Only by defeating this Emperor-level clone can one gain the recognition of the Eternal Dao Seal, even if you have cultivated the Eternal Dao Sutra and are a descendant of the Eternal Great Emperor."
Xin Ci was momentarily stunned, not expecting the Eternal Dao Seal to have such a restriction.
No wonder the Dragon Ancestor had advised him to reach the Great Emperor realm before attempting to claim the Eternal Dao Seal.
However, Xin Ci was currently a Four-star Saint Emperor. The higher his realm, the longer it would likely take him to naturally break through to the Great Emperor realm, perhaps decades.
Moreover, during the breakthrough to the Great Emperor realm, one had to endure the Emperor's Tribulation. Without sufficient preparation, one could easily be obliterated into ashes.
He could afford neither the time nor the energy to wait until then, as the seal on the Land of Twilight would not last even ten years.
But if he were to directly claim the Eternal Dao Seal now, he would have to face an Emperor-level clone of the Eternal Great Emperor.
With Xin Ci's current strength, even giving his all, he could only barely defeat an ordinary One-star Great Emperor.
And the Eternal Great Emperor was a legendary existence who was the first to attain eternity sixty thousand years ago. Even an Emperor-level clone of a One-star Great Emperor would be far stronger than an ordinary Great Emperor.
Xin Ci hesitated for only a moment before deciding to challenge the Eternal Great Emperor's clone immediately.
Seeing Xin Ci's firm resolve, the Dragon Ancestor could only shake his head helplessly and said, "Fine, fine. For the sake of being Yong Ye's successor, I will help you."
Then, the Dragon Ancestor opened his massive golden maw, and a golden, radiant bead flew out, appearing before Xin Ci.
Xin Ci looked at the enormous golden dragon bead, which was at least ten zhang in size, with surprise and instinctively asked, "Senior Dragon Ancestor, this is...?"
The Dragon Ancestor raised his claw and pointed at the giant dragon bead, saying, "This is the Dragon Origin Bead I condensed with ten thousand years of dragon origin. It contains pure and immense energy. For cultivators below the Emperor level, attempting to absorb the energy of this Dragon Origin Bead would inevitably lead to their bodies exploding."
"But you are different. You have the divine-level cultivation technique, the Eternal Dao Sutra, which can absorb any spiritual energy from the Eternal Continent and convert it for your own use. Even my dragon origin is no exception. With this Dragon Origin Bead, you can break through to the Great Emperor realm within ten years."
Mu Qingqing and Xin Ci looked at the giant Dragon Origin Bead with astonishment upon hearing the Dragon Ancestor's explanation.
They tried to probe it with their divine senses, and indeed, the dragon origin energy contained within the Dragon Origin Bead was incredibly vast, like an boundless ocean.
This immense dragon origin was enough to allow tens of thousands of cultivators to break through to the Great Emperor realm in one go.
Furthermore, the amount of dragon origin stored in this Dragon Origin Bead was only a small portion of the Dragon Ancestor's total. This showed how powerful the Dragon Ancestor, who was in the Pseudo-Eternal realm, truly was.
To think that the Dragon Ancestor would be willing to bestow such a precious Dragon Origin Bead upon them.
Seeing that Xin Ci did not immediately accept, the Dragon Ancestor, sensing his thoughts, became impatient and said, "You brat, it's just a Dragon Origin Bead. I've lived for over sixty thousand years; this much dragon origin won't have much impact on me."
"Hurry and take it to break through to the Great Emperor realm, or I'll give it to the young lady who came with you."
"Thank you for your generous gift, Senior Dragon Ancestor!"
Xin Ci no longer hesitated, accepted the Dragon Origin Bead, cupped his hands respectfully to the Dragon Ancestor in thanks, and then said, "Senior Dragon Ancestor, I have another request."
"What request?"
"Please teleport me out of this space, Senior Dragon Ancestor, so I can find a cave dwelling to absorb this Dragon Origin Bead and attempt to break through to the Great Emperor realm."
"There's no need for such trouble. You can break through to the Great Emperor realm in the Outer Domain space that I created."
As he spoke, the Dragon Ancestor casually raised his dragon claw and pointed in a certain direction.
The immense dragon origin caused the surrounding space to fluctuate.
The next second, it transformed into a majestic mountain, and a cave dwelling naturally appeared there.
"Go ahead, break through to the Great Emperor realm in this Outer Domain space. You don't need to worry about the Emperor's Tribulation affecting you."
"However, when you leave this space and return to the outside world, the Emperor's Tribulation will sense your presence and descend," the Dragon Ancestor added.
Xin Ci nodded quickly and then entered the cave dwelling to go into seclusion and attempt to break through to the Great Emperor realm.
For any cultivator, the Great Emperor realm was a difficult threshold to cross.
Even exceptionally gifted prodigies would stagnate at the peak of the Saint Emperor realm for ten or even decades. Some would spend hundreds of years preparing to face the Emperor's Tribulation before attempting to break through.
Even Emperor Ming, whose combat power was comparable to a One-star Great Emperor, had remained at the peak of the Saint Emperor realm for nearly fifteen years.
This demonstrated that breaking through to the Great Emperor realm required immense accumulation and thorough preparation.
However, for Xin Ci, it would not take that long. Having cultivated the Eternal Dao Sutra, as long as he had sufficient resources and spiritual energy, he could shorten the time needed to break through to the Great Emperor realm.
In the blink of an eye, seven years passed.
During these seven years, Xin Ci had been continuously comprehending and breaking through within the cave dwelling created by the Dragon Ancestor.
He had now reached the peak of the Five-star Saint Emperor realm, only half a step away from the Great Emperor realm.
The dragon origin energy contained within the Dragon Origin Bead was incredibly vast. Even though he had broken through to the peak of the Five-star Saint Emperor realm, the Dragon Origin Bead showed no signs of depletion.
While Xin Ci was attempting to break through to the Great Emperor realm, Mu Qingqing was also idle in this space.
According to the original plot, Xin Ci would break through to the Great Emperor realm around this time.
Therefore, Mu Qingqing was not worried about Xin Ci's breakthrough.
Since she was idle anyway, Mu Qingqing turned to the Dragon Ancestor and said, "Senior Dragon Ancestor, the Eternal Dao Seal should be with you, right? I'd like to try and break the restriction on it."
"You brat, don't tell me you want to challenge Yong Ye's Emperor-level clone?" The Dragon Ancestor raised an eyebrow.
"Since I'm idle here, and besides, I also want to witness the demeanor of the Eternal Great Emperor."
"Very well, but I must warn you, Yong Ye was the first cultivator in the Eternal Plane to reach the Eternal realm. His Emperor-level clone's strength is naturally extraordinary."
"Don't worry, if I can't defeat it, I can still concede. The Emperor-level clone on the Eternal Dao Seal will not kill the challenger."