Gazing at the billowing dust, Yao Qianji laughed heartily.
"Hahaha!"
"Such a foolhardy man, one who courts death so openly, is truly rare in all my years!"
The Black Dragon Divine Guards also seemed to relish their apparent triumph, exchanging looks and laughing with gusto.
"Hahaha..."
However.
At the forefront of this smug crowd.
Liu Haotian and a few elderly women merely stared intently at the thick dust cloud. The more they looked, the more familiar it seemed, and the more they felt a sense of foreboding.
After just a few breaths.
Listening to the laughter around him, Liu Haotian couldn't help but glance sideways and speak up.
"You."
"Send a message to the Divine Palace immediately! Have my father dispatch someone to escort this young master back!"
Hearing this, Yao Qianji was taken aback.
Seeing the urgency on Liu Haotian's face, he thought the young master was just impatient to return to the palace, and his chance to curry favor was about to slip away.
How could he allow that?
This young master was a VIP, someone he couldn't even hope to meet on ordinary days. Now that he finally had a chance to build a connection, how could he just let it go?
Yao Qianji quickly tried to dissuade him, flattering with a smile.
"Young Master, please remain calm..."
"This humble one is simply incapable of sending messages directly to the Divine Palace. I truly lack the means and authority. Please set your mind at ease, Young Master. These lowly scum are not worth worrying about. Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? There's no need for the Divine Palace to send anyone. I will definitely slaughter them all, washing away your disgrace!"
Hearing these arrogant words, Liu Haotian grew more and more frantic!
This damned fool!
Where did he get such confidence?!
Even he, Liu Haotian, couldn't defeat that formidable enemy. How dare this pack of bootlicking sycophants boast so shamelessly?
He was just about to curse in anger.
From within the dissipating dust, Yi Feng indeed walked out slowly.
His eyes held a trace of helplessness as he spoke with annoyance.
"Is that all?"
"With skills like these, you still dare to call people 'lowly scum'? I thought you were something special!"
As he spoke, his gaze drifted calmly towards Liu Haotian.
"Liu, you're always looking down your nose at people, acting so high and mighty, bragging about how amazing your father is... But looking at this, your father isn't much either..."
Liu Haotian's face flushed red with rage!
"How dare you compare that trash to my father! Your repeated insults go too far!"
Yao Qianji and the others, however, wore expressions of utter shock, suddenly sensing the situation had turned dire, their eyes gradually filling with terror!
Before they could even react.
Yi Feng had already drawn his forty-meter-long greatsword.
"Oh, so he's not your dad. And here you were putting on an act all this time. What a waste of time!"
With a step and a leap, he was like a tiger plunging into a flock of sheep!
In just a few breaths.
The sounds of cracking and snapping in the mining area became almost continuous, and the Black Dragon Divine Guards were completely wiped out.
Even though they only provided a meager amount of experience points, since someone had come to rescue Liu Haotian, it meant the real mastermind couldn't be far off. After giving a few instructions, Yi Feng returned to the small town to wait for his prey.
At the foot of the mountain.
Yao Qianji lay dead with eyes wide open, his terrified face devoid of all color.
Liu Haotian watched, gnashing his teeth in fury, almost tempted to go and whip the corpse!
Useless!
A complete and utter waste!
The opportunity he had waited for so long was severed by this trash's arrogance. Now he had to go back to mining again, who knew when he would get his revenge...
For a moment.
Liu Haotian clenched his teeth and looked up at the sky, inexplicably nostalgic for the past.
Watching Yi Feng leave once again, the people in the mining area seemed somewhat accustomed to it by now. The elder from the Shendao Sect also stepped forward with practiced ease, urging them on steadily.
"Get back to mining!"
"Still standing there looking at the sky and putting on airs? Who do you think you're fooling!"
...
Divine Fall Palace.
In a side hall.
A figure sat alone. The hour of Zi was approaching.
The steward elder still hadn't received any message. Clutching the jade slip, his brow furrowed tightly.
The longer he waited, the more anxious he became, and he couldn't help but mutter to himself.
"This shouldn't be..."
"That Yao Qianji is a figure of some standing in the outer regions. Judging by his earlier message, he seemed sensible and knew his place. How could he be so delayed? He promised to escort the Young Master back, why is there still no news?"
Thinking he would soon have to face Liu Changfeng, the steward's eyes grew increasingly panicked.
After pacing back and forth for a few moments.
He quickly picked up the jade slip again to send another urgent message.
...
Broken Cliff Ancient City.
Black Dragon Divine Guards' main hall.
In the vast hall, only the Third Elder waited quietly. After who knows how long with still no news, he couldn't help but stand up and stare intently, his eyes filled with urgency.
"Logically, Lord Yao should have returned long ago!"
His mutter had just faded.
A phantom image of a powerhouse from the Divine Land materialized in the hall, angrily demanding!
"Where is Yao Qianji? Why hasn't he replied to my message?!"
The Third Elder hurriedly rose and bowed, his face tense.
"The Sect Master's whereabouts are unknown, this humble one also doesn't know where he went..."
His words were cut short.
A series of explosive cracking sounds suddenly came from outside!
"Crack! Crack!"
Immediately after, a Black Dragon Divine Guard stumbled in, trembling as he bowed and reported!
"Th-third Elder, a disaster has occurred!"
"Lord Yao's and everyone else's soul tablets... they've all suddenly shattered!"
The Third Elder's eyes widened in shock, his body giving an involuntary shudder!
"What?!"
Without waiting to ask another question, he rushed out.
When he reached the door of the side hall storing the soul tablets, the Third Elder suddenly froze as if struck by lightning!
Within his sight...
Soul tablets of all sizes had completely shattered. Even Yao Qianji's soul tablet had turned into fragments scattered on the ground, now just a pile of debris.
How was this possible?!
The entire core combat strength of the Black Dragon Divine Guards had been completely wiped out, their Dao extinguished!
What in the world had happened?!
The mighty Black Dragon Divine Guards, exterminated?!
The Third Elder trembled from head to toe, his legs suddenly giving way as he collapsed to the floor.
Behind him.
The phantom image of the Divine Fall Palace steward hovered in the air, gazing for a few moments before gradually dissipating into nothingness.
...
Divine Fall Palace.
The steward elder slowly opened his eyes, his face showing shock.
He never would have imagined that the entire Black Dragon Divine Guards had been slaughtered. It seemed there was an extraordinary presence in the Northern Desert Wasteland. He had no idea what kind of deadly peril Yao Qianji and the others had encountered.
They had all fallen. What about the Young Master now?
Hiss...
As this worrying thought arose, the steward elder grew more and more flustered the more he pondered. A sense of increasingly dire foreboding took hold, making him restless.
Seeing that the hour of Zi was almost upon him.
He decisively stood up and walked towards the main hall, prostrating himself on the floor to report!
"I report to the Elder!"
"This subordinate deserves death! I previously discovered the Young Master's whereabouts and dispatched Yao Qianji to lead the Black Dragon Divine Guards to respectfully welcome him back. Never did I expect the entire Black Dragon Divine Guard sect to be annihilated!"
"The Young Master... the Young Master's fate remains unknown to this day. I beg the Elder to punish me!"
Hearing this.
Liu Changfeng's figure paused, and he set down the jade slip in his hand.
His usually calm and unfathomable eyes also revealed a trace of astonishment.
"Such a thing has occurred?!"
With just those four words, an imposing aura spread through the hall like a gust of wind!
The steward elder was practically flattened against the floor, answering in a trembling voice.
"It is absolutely true!"
"I do not know what deadly peril they encountered, but the soul tablets of the entire Black Dragon Divine Guard sect have shattered, and no messages have returned. This matter is entirely due to this subordinate's carelessness. I beg the Elder to punish me!"
Liu Changfeng narrowed his eyes, stroking his beard as he glanced at the prostrate elder.
"Yao Qianji..."
"If my memory serves, this man had a solid foundation in the outer regions of the Divine Land. He was, after all, a cultivator at the ninth grade of the Heaven Tier. For his entire sect to be slaughtered is indeed somewhat unexpected."
"This matter... cannot be entirely blamed on you."
"Enough..."
"There is no need to entrust this matter to others anymore. It has been nearly ten thousand years since I last ventured out. I shall personally go to retrieve Tian'er. Along the way, I shall see what anomaly exists in this insignificant Northern Desert Wasteland."
The steward elder was deeply shaken by these words, remaining prostrate in shock for a long time, not daring to rise.
The Elder personally descended to the outer perimeter...
Such a spectacle, unseen for ten thousand years, is bound to cause a great stir!
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.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
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!
