Consciousness stretched out, gradually blurring, thoughts drifting far away.
It felt like spacing out, or perhaps like being in a dream state.
Chen Xia forcibly shook his head, bringing his drifting thoughts back, then slapped himself, waiting until the buzzing in his ears subsided before he managed to regain his awareness.
He found himself above the Way of Heaven, higher than the myriad worlds, able to look down on everything, yet what lay before him brought a sense of dense unreality, more surreal than anything imaginary.
If he were to describe it, it would be like a dream.
A daydream.
He controlled his consciousness and slowly moved forward, walking through this place higher than the Way of Heaven, seeking to uncover the true meaning of the ultimate path.
The further he went, the more illusory and unreal everything seemed.
Mist surrounded him, rippling like waves.
Chen Xia was like a mountaineer, climbing upwards, but suddenly stopped at the halfway point, staring at what lay above.
There seemed to be a figure seated there, its back to Chen Xia and to the entire Way of Heaven.
Who was it?
He couldn’t make it out, so he began to ascend directly.
To perceive the will of heaven.
The sound of chess pieces falling still echoed outside the Heaven Pill Gate, but no one was focused on the game anymore, all waiting for Chen Xia’s return.
It had been some time since the puppet and Chen Xia had vanished, supposedly for cultivation, but there had been no news of either of them.
Xu Zhen and Huang Qingyue were the most concerned, constantly seeking news of their "Chen Ge," asking every day,
"Has Chen Ge returned?"
"No, I’m still looking." Emperor Capital shook his head, feeling helpless, muttering,
"Maybe that wooden puppet kidnapped Chen Ge, we haven’t seen him for so many days."
"It’s not impossible, that puppet doesn’t look like a good person, and it never talks." Huang Qingyue agreed.
Everyone at the Heaven Pill Gate had little to do, so they all worried about Chen Xia.
Emperor Capital would sometimes sit at the front of the mountain gate, hands behind his back, looking at the sky with a melancholy gaze, his eyes flickering as he couldn’t help but shout,
Come back, my Chen Ge, my most proud faith!
"Are you summoning fate?!" Qiu Li reprimanded from behind.
"My brotherly longing for Chen Ge, you’ll never understand it." Emperor Capital shook his head sadly, his words full of disdain.
"Oh please, you’re talking about brotherhood? You’re just a good dog at best." Qiu Li rolled his eyes.
"Jealousy, you’re just outright jealous!" Emperor Capital retorted, crossing his arms and ignoring him, simply staring at the sky.
Why look at the sky?
Maybe hoping to see Chen Ge descend from the heavens.
"Since you’re all so idle, why not improve your strength? When Chen Xia returns, you can help him, much better than doing nothing right now." Li Yang offered a rare piece of advice.
"Who do you think you are to lecture me? You’re not even a Great Emperor yet." Emperor Capital didn’t take it kindly, his head held high with pride, countering with sarcasm.
Li Yang was stunned, then clenched his fists, his expression darkening. He didn't respond, turning around to practice on his own.
"Aunt Li Yang was only giving you good advice, and you don’t even appreciate it? You just had to insult her. You’re really getting more and more arrogant since becoming a Great Emperor." Li Yue spoke up for Li Yang.
"I’m full of it, I’m full of it." Emperor Capital began to act shamelessly.
"Forget it, that’s just how he is. A typical good dog." Qiu Li tried to calm things down.
"Mind your place, you’re another one who’s not even a Great Emperor." Emperor Capital retorted again.
He was feeling bolder now, daring to mock everyone, and who knew what he’d do next.
It seemed like the Blue Sky Sword Sea was on the brink of an internal conflict.
"Ahem." Chi Yu, who had been quietly sitting, coughed lightly.
Everyone fell silent, Emperor Capital included, simply staring at the sky.
Aside from Chen Xia, Chi Yu was now the lead elder of the Blue Sky Sword Sea. He rarely spoke, but when he did, no one in the sect dared to ignore him.
Big Yellow Dog also sat nearby, looking quite human-like, when suddenly his ears twitched, turning toward the distant Treasure Ring Scale State.
In an instant.
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed from the Treasure Ring Scale State, startling everyone, all turning to look.
"Another battle between Five Paths Great Emperors." Big Yellow Dog sighed, knowing he was beyond his league and feeling powerless.
His four paths of cultivation were forcibly condensed, not truly genuine, at a level of three real and one fake.
Which two Five Paths Great Emperors were fighting in the Treasure Ring Scale State?
Big Yellow Dog sent his divine sense out into the world, observing, and quickly identified them.
It was the Lord of the Divine Realm and the Emperor Witch.
It seemed the only possibility, as the Emperor Witch was the only one seeking out other Five Paths Great Emperors to fight, while the others remained in their own states.
The Lord of the Divine Realm fought back, angered: "Emperor Wu, you've only just taken over a state. Why aren't you focusing on cultivation and connecting with the world, but instead coming to fight me?"
Emperor Witch unleashed a deadly move, then paused, responding: “If I eliminate all of you, I can slowly cultivate to the highest level without worrying about you stealing my opportunities.”
There was a hint of logic to his words, but the underlying message was clear: the Emperor Witch saw the Lord of the Divine Realm and others as easy targets.
The Lord of the Divine Realm wasn’t willing to give up, fighting while reaching out for reinforcements from other states, planning to eliminate the Emperor Witch in the Treasure Ring Scale State!
“We’re coming, we’ll definitely kill this rogue in the Treasure Ring Scale State, or else our paths to the highest realm will be blocked.” The Sovereign responded to the Lord of the Divine Realm’s call.
“Indeed.” The Star Lord agreed.
“By the way, where’s Chen Xia? Why isn’t he answering? Is he hiding out of fear at a time like this?” The Sovereign wondered aloud.
Still, there was no response.
They couldn’t wait and rushed towards the Treasure Ring Scale State, where the strongest Five Paths Great Emperors of the era gathered for a three-on-one battle.
By the way, Chen Xia isn’t considered a Five Paths Great Emperor; he’s a fake Four Paths Great Emperor.
Alright, let’s see what Chen Xia is doing.
He’s still climbing the mountain!
Can he reach the summit?
No.
Because at this moment, he’s falling.
The figure seated with its back to the Way of Heaven grew more distant.
Thud.
It was as if he had fallen into the water.
It was a sea.
A sword sea.
He opened his eyes in the sea, slowly rising, with a massive flying sword standing in the center, the Blue Sky Sword Sea.
Yet, silence surrounded him.
Chen Xia's face was blank, emerging from the sea and standing on the shore, gazing at the scene.
I’ve been above the heavens, and I’ve sunk below the sword sea.
Is this the meaning of the ultimate path?
No.
Chen Xia shook his head. He began to ponder the question: What is the ultimate? Is it cultivation or will?
As he pondered, he suddenly uttered, almost by instinct:
“I’m the best under heaven!”
“That’s right.”
Daoist Suppressing Heaven appeared beside him, a smile on his face.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
