Shi Wanshan opened his mouth, but his throat felt stuffed with cotton.
"I... well... that is... I just thought..."
His eyes darted, his mind racing with images of Xiao Ruobai's overwhelming divine halberd techniques, Fang Hanyu's unfathomable Chaos Sword Intent, and Ling Xi's astonishingly bizarre methods...
Then he looked at Gu Changge, who had casually elevated someone's talent right before his eyes...
The words "I want to become your disciple too" rolled on the tip of his tongue again and again.
But seeing Gu Changge's status as his junior brother, considering his own position as the master of Qingyue Peak, and his age, an immense sense of shame erupted like a volcano, instantly drowning those unrealistic fantasies and impulses.
The shameless words reached his lips but were swallowed back down!
"N-nothing!"
Shi Wanshan suddenly waved his hand, as if trying to brush away something unclean, his voice becoming rapid and flustered, almost incoherent.
"I was just... just asking casually! Yes, just asking! Changge, don't take it to heart!
There are matters at the sect; those little brats on Qingyue Peak are still waiting for me to drill them! I'm leaving now!"
With that, he didn't even dare to meet Gu Changge's somewhat puzzled gaze. He practically fled in panic.
His figure turned into a somewhat hasty and awkward earth-yellow streak of light, vanishing instantly into the horizon at a speed more than twice as fast as when he had arrived.
Gu Changge watched the direction Shi Wanshan had practically "bolted" off in, furrowing his brow slightly with genuine confusion.
This senior brother's behavior today was truly strange.
After everyone had dispersed, he stayed behind, hesitating and stammering about taking on disciples. When asked if he had discovered a promising talent, he was evasive and then fled in panic...
That expression wasn't the excitement of finding a genius; it looked more like he had done something shameful.
"Could it be that while training his physique, his Qi and blood impacted his sea of consciousness, causing mental disturbance and erratic behavior?"
Gu Changge speculated silently, thinking this might be the only reasonable explanation.
Senior Brother Shi was straightforward by nature; being so hesitant today was truly unusual.
"I need to find an opportunity to remind Senior Brother Xuanyangzi to keep an eye on Senior Brother Shi's condition, or perhaps give him a few pills to clear his mind and calm his spirit."
Gu Changge shook his head, attributing the matter to a possible minor deviation in Shi Wanshan's cultivation. He didn't dwell on it, merely finding his senior brother's behavior a bit inexplicable.
On the other side, Shi Wanshan flew back to his Qingyue Peak in one breath, activated the cave's protective formations, and only after confirming no one was around did he let out a long sigh.
He collapsed onto a stone chair, feeling his face burn and his heart pound like a drum.
Recalling his embarrassing performance on Purple Bamboo Peak, especially that absurd thought that had nearly slipped out, and Gu Changge's clear, confused gaze, he wished he could crawl into a hole!
"Slap!"
He suddenly raised his hand and gave his own cheek—muscular and hard as refined iron—a light but crisp slap.
"Shi Wanshan, you bastard! Have you no shame left?!"
He cursed himself under his breath, his face filled with chagrin, lingering fear, and deep shame.
"That's your junior brother! Your own junior brother! And you wanted to become his disciple? Is your head filled with the forged iron lumps of Qingyue Peak?!"
"If Xuanyangzi finds out, if Junior Brother Ye and the others find out, if the whole sect finds out... how can I show my face?! The face of Qingyue Peak would be utterly disgraced! Even the ancestral founder would rise from his grave to whip me!"
The more he thought about it, the more ashamed he felt. He wished he could turn back time and strangle that foolish thought in its cradle.
"Pah! Getting more foolish as I age!"
Meanwhile, deep beneath the earth.
In that secret space sealed by ancient formations, the Dao resonance of deathly stillness and devouring continued to spread silently.
Ling Xi sat cross-legged before the massive ancient Qilin skeleton, her eyes slightly closed, her aura faintly resonating with the devouring force of the space. Countless insights into devouring surged toward her like a tidal wave.
Her vast experience as an emperor in a past life, combined with Gu Changge's seemingly casual yet profoundly enlightening guidance, now collided with, merged into, and resonated with the most primal and overpowering form of devouring essence from the ancient Taotie.
The Taotie's devouring was talent, instinct, a predation bordering on natural law—wild and pure like the chaos of creation's dawn.
Her Devouring Heavenly Dao Art, however, aimed to elevate this instinct—to master it with her own will, to devour all Dao, to swallow heaven and earth, and ultimately to achieve the supreme Path of Devouring.
Now, aided by the ancient insights from the Taotie bones, Ling Xi's understanding of the essence of "devouring" grew profound. Her devouring force, nourished and stimulated by the Taotie's essence, became more condensed and aggressive.
The efficiency, depth, and ability to strip and assimilate the very essence of all things improved at a staggering rate.
After an unknown time, when she felt her comprehension of the Taotie's Dao resonance had reached saturation, she slowly opened her eyes.
In her gaze flashed images of cosmic births and deaths, the annihilation of all Daos—profound and deep.
"Verification complete. Time to harvest."
Without hesitation, Ling Xi activated the Devouring Heavenly Dao Art to its fullest, directing it at that dim yet pure mass of Taotie essence. She grasped at the air!
"Buzz—!"
The dormant essence quivered violently, erupting with fierce resistance as if challenged.
It was the crystallized essence of the ancient beast Taotie, containing its innate ferocity and pride. It would not willingly be refined!
The dark-gold energy twisted violently, forming the phantom of a ferocious maw that actually counterattacked, trying to tear apart and assimilate Ling Xi's devouring force!
"Hmph, a mere remnant essence without an owner dares to act insolently?"
Ling Xi snorted coldly, a flash of icy light in her eyes. Her emperor's will and the overbearing might of the Devouring Heavenly Dao Art erupted!
The devouring vortex in her palm abruptly expanded, its rotation speed surging, emitting a devouring Dao resonance even purer and more terrifying than the Taotie essence!
It was the Devouring Dao, refined through countless trials, transcending mere instinct!
"Devour!"
She cried out sharply, the vortex transforming into an invisible black hole, unleashing an irresistible pull!
The phantom maw formed by the Taotie essence let out an unwilling wail, instantly shredded and disintegrated. Pure energy and fragments of law rushed like rivers under the sea into the vortex!
The moment the essence entered her body, Ling Xi's delicate frame shuddered violently!
A torrential, star-sea–like energy and the most primal fragments of the Devouring Law exploded within her! The berserk power, like a wild beast unchained, frantically assaulted her meridians, Qi Sea, and Sea of Consciousness!
The force was too vast and overbearing, far beyond what an ordinary Tianren Realm cultivator could withstand!
"Suppress!"
Unfazed, Ling Xi used her emperor's divine sense as a rock-solid dam, firmly guarding her heart meridian and core consciousness. She pushed the Devouring Heavenly Dao Art to its limit, forming countless intricate runic chains that forcibly bound and tore apart the raging torrent of energy!
She did not choose to convert all this immense essence energy into cultivation power.
She understood the importance of a solid foundation; blindly pursuing rapid advancement in cultivation level would only bring harm without any benefit.
On the other hand, she took a longer view. This pure primordial devouring essence was a supreme divine medicine for tempering the physique, honing mystical abilities, and breaking through higher bottlenecks. How could she squander it all at once?
The majority of the surging devouring essence was compressed and refined by her with supreme methods, forming a dark golden energy crystal. This crystal was sealed deep within her dantian, reserved for slow refinement in the future or for use at a critical moment.
Only about a tenth of the pure energy was channeled out, coursing through her limbs and bones to push against the barriers of her cultivation realm.
“Break!”
With her low shout, that tenth of energy acted like the sharpest chisel, shattering the bottleneck of her King Realm into pieces!
Early King Realm… Mid King Realm… Late King Realm…
Her cultivation level surged unstoppably, climbing wildly!
Under the wash of this pure essence, her body underwent a thorough baptism and reconstruction. Every inch of flesh and blood, every wisp of soul seemed to transform into tiny devouring vortices, becoming tougher, more inclusive, and more predatory.
When that tenth of energy had been completely absorbed and refined, Ling Xi’s aura suddenly surged and stabilized at the peak of the King Realm!
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
