"The Temple does not tolerate the belief of other gods. Both the Seeker and the Ruler of the Scholar Region believe in the god of knowledge. Even if they wanted to say that they no longer believed in that god, the fact that they are part of the clan that worships the god of knowledge by blood means that the Temple would never let them live."
"Both sides lost a Grandmaster level combatant, though the Mainland also lost their strategist. The Temple Master did not make another appearance, simply appearing to kill the heretic. With both sides at three Grandmasters, the battle continued. With Sword Grandmaster Shang, who had seemingly surpassed even the Grandmasters of the Mainland, we had the upper hand. Another year of brutal on and off battles ensued. Eventually, we pushed back the Mainland. Slowly but surely, we began to overtake their territories. First was the Sword Region. When we took over their capital, I found many different sword arts, which I passed on to Sword Grandmaster Shang. Through them, he became even stronger."
"Next was the Spear Region. I did not pay too much attention to their inheritances at that time. The Continent of Wu only had Sword Masters, and it would take far too long to bother creating an entirely new regiment of Spear or Bow Masters."
"After the Spear Region, there was only the Bow Region and the Temple Region left, though I was unconfident in my ability to oppose the Temple Region after seeing the Temple Master in action."
"The Bow Region was where they made their final stand. Although the Ruler of the Scholar Region could no longer make an appearance due to the Temple Master taking notice of his involvement, it was clear that he was directing things. They put up a valiant fight, and although I won't bother with the details, the Ruler of the Scholar Region set up multiple traps that nearly killed me and Sword Grandmaster Shang. Most of my victory in that battle could be attributed to luck."
"Sword Grandmaster Shang killed yet another Grandmaster, which I imagine is the most Grandmasters killed by someone throughout history. We weren't done of course. The remaining two did not have the chance to escape. Sword Grandmaster Shang levied the finishing blow on the last two, making his kill count five Grandmasters."
"He stood invincible on the battlefield. Even the woman in the golden dress and the veil had clearly given up any and all thought of betrayal. Sword Grandmaster Shang was enough to put all such thoughts to rest. The Ruler of the Scholar Region did not make an appearance, but I had learned of his threat. Regardless, I simply continued on."
"I visited the Temple Region and spoke to the Temple Master privately. After a meaningful conversation, he promised that he would allow the Temple Region to be ruled by the Empire on just two conditions. One, the Temple must remain an individual, unaffected entity. Two, the Empire must discover and wipe out the Seekers."
"I agreed. Some of my people spent a long time searching, and eventually found the island. Sword Grandmaster Shang was in and out within a day. That same day, the Temple announced that the Temple Region formally surrendered to the Empire."
"I had won. Both continents, the world, was mine. I became the Emperor of the world. In that way, I lived peacefully for a year. My ambitions did not stop there, however. The same man that told me about the Mainland, known as the Fisherman, appeared before me. With Sword Grandmaster Shang at my side and the world in my hand, I was fearless."
"He did not come with any ill intentions. He simply told me about a world beyond the world, a world of Cultivation. He explained to me that in the wider Universe, there are people who can hold stars in their hands, people that can destroy planets with a breath. Giants larger than galaxies. He said he was once a cultivator. He claimed that he could destroy a planet of this size with ease, and that he had been known as a Space Shattering Realm Cultivator. However, his cultivation had been crippled as he fell into this strange world. He was nothing but a mortal now."
"Since then, I have had the ambition to go beyond this world. However, it had proved impossible. There is little to no "Qi" in this world, which Cultivators use to cultivate. The Fisherman left after explaining that much."
"Not too long later, the world shook. It was much like the shaking felt not long ago. The Ruler of the Scholar Region had angered the Treant. It took exactly three months for the vast figure of the Treant to appear in the distance. Its size was more than enough to instill fear into all living things. Following it was an endless storm."
"What happened next is quite simple to explain. The Treant began to wreak havoc. Not only it, but the other Mythical beings of the Continent of Wu came, bringing havoc. Sword Grandmaster Shang, with his supreme power, tried to fight the Treant. Although the Treant failed to kill him, he could not defeat it either. The storm surrounding it was striking lightning at him as well, causing him some minor injuries."
"All hope was lost. All we could do was constantly retreat. However, a hero arrived. The Temple Master soared into the air wearing golden armor. He stood on the back of a golden dragon. The dragon was huge, far larger than any of the Mythical beasts, but that did not include the Treant. He fought like a god. I now understand that he was using something known as the Power of Faith."
"Unfortunately, despite killing three of the eight Mythical beasts, and cutting off a main branch of the Treant, the Temple Master ran out of Faith Power. He died soon after. The dragon was nowhere near as strong without the Temple Master. It took another Mythical beast down with it."
The Emperor sighed. "There isn't any more suspense. Me and Sword Grandmaster Shang retreated with a few others. The Treant wreaked havoc for years before stopping. Although we had survived, nothing else remained. I lived out the rest of my life contemplating how to escape this world, but failed. I died at the age of 99 years old."