“Investigate! Find out immediately! Who exactly are these seven people? Who taught them?”
An elder with an impatient temperament could not help shouting.
“Foolish!”
A deep shout silenced all the commotion.
The one who had spoken was a middle-aged Daoist dressed in a black Daoist robe. His features were refined and austere, and his aura was as profound as the sea.
He was none other than Perfected Xuanji, the current dean of Daozang Academy.
His gaze swept across the elders in the hall. His voice was not loud, yet it carried an unshakable authority.
“This is the Golden Age. With the blessings of fate gathering, peerless talents will naturally emerge in response to the times.
“They have come to Daozang Academy to participate in the examination because they trust our academy. Forcefully probing into their origins would be unwise—and might even ruin the karmic ties between us.”
He paused, then looked toward the water mirror reflecting the platform at the eight-thousandth step. Deep astonishment and solemnity flashed through his eyes.
“Pass on my orders.”
Perfected Xuanji’s voice returned to its usual calm, but there was finality in it.
“First, the Heavenly Ladder examination will continue. No one is to interfere with the climbers in any way. Those who disobey will be severely punished.
“Second, open access to core secret realms such as the Dao-Nurturing Pool and the Ancient Hall of Enlightenment. Prepare supreme resources, including Enlightenment Pills and Origin Qi of the Great Dao, to welcome this batch of true disciples.
“Third, order the Heavenly Punishment Hall and the Dao-Protection Hall to remain on covert alert, in case any faction takes advantage of the situation to cause trouble, or any villains attempt to attack these heavenly prodigies.”
He drew a deep breath and slowly said, “This batch of disciples concerns our academy’s fortune for the next ten thousand years, and even our position in this Golden Age.
“They must be treated with the highest possible standards. As for their origins…”
Perfected Xuanji gazed toward the towering Heavenly Ladder outside the hall, which pierced the clouds and disappeared into the primal chaos. His eyes grew distant.
“We will know when the time comes. For now, all we need to do is open our gates wide and wait for the true dragons to enter the sea.”
The elders in the hall were all shaken. They bowed in unison.
“We respectfully obey the dean’s decree!”
The elders exchanged glances and nodded, their hearts gradually coming together.
Although these disciples would cultivate in Daozang Academy for only three years, the kindness of their teacher and the bonds between fellow disciples would be enough for them to remember the academy for the rest of their lives.
Today, the academy treated them with sincerity. In the future, no matter where they went, the academy would naturally hold a place in their hearts.
Besides, three years might be brief, but karmic ties could last a lifetime.
Who could say that none of them would be willing to stay and watch over this vast starry river together with Daozang Academy?
At the same time, in the deepest part of Daozang Academy…
At the center of the void floated an ancient blue-stone platform.
The platform held nothing but a stone table and two stone stools.
An old man dressed in a simple gray robe stood respectfully beside the stone table, his hair silver-white, yet his face as ruddy and youthful as an infant’s.
He was the academy’s previous dean, Master Qingxu, who had long since withdrawn from worldly affairs.
And seated calmly on one of the stone stools was none other than the Nirvana Emperor, Xing Tian'ao.
Master Qingxu secretly lifted his eyelids, his gaze sweeping over the calmly seated figure. His heart churned with indescribable emotions.
His master had returned several days ago, yet even now, he still did not know his master’s exact condition.
Before this, he had personally witnessed his master’s Dao wounds erupt during the world-ending Imperial Tribulation, annihilating both body and spirit.
The scene had been too tragic, too real.
He had grieved without end. Even his Dao-heart had been shrouded in a layer of gloom. A few days earlier, he had stood on this very platform, gazing at the familiar surroundings and mourning his master until tears streamed down his aged face.
Yet just as he had been weeping with total concentration, his thoughts sinking into despair, his master had appeared before him without the slightest warning or sound.
Master Qingxu had been so startled that his very soul screamed, and his Dao-heart had trembled violently, nearly collapsing.
What was going on?!
Was this a remnant soul born from an unfulfilled obsession?
No. The man before him possessed abundant flesh and blood, his life origin surging like an endless tide.
Was someone else disguising himself as his master?
No. The vicissitudes, aloofness, and faint weariness belonging exclusively to his master that lay deep within those eyes could not be imitated by anyone under Heaven—and no one would dare attempt it.
While still filled with doubt, he had even secretly drawn upon a strand of the academy’s Imperial Armament aura to sense him.
The response he received was unmistakable: it was indeed his master’s origin aura.
What realm had his master reached now? Had he failed the Imperial Tribulation, or had he succeeded?
He still had no idea what had happened.
Since his master had not brought it up, he had not dared to ask.
“Master.”
Master Qingxu suppressed the turmoil in his heart and respectfully began to speak. His voice echoed through the void.
“Anomalies have appeared one after another on the Heavenly Ladder. Nearly thirty people have already reached the eight-thousandth step, the threshold for becoming true disciples. Among them are clearly several with extraordinary talent!
“Based on the current pace of their ascent and past experience, once the final examination concludes, there should be no fewer than forty true disciples. This academy opening has surpassed all previous occasions in grandeur.”
His voice carried a trace of excitement. He seemed already able to glimpse a future in which Great Saints and Quasi-Emperors emerged in great numbers throughout the Profound Yellow Great World.
The profundity of Daozang’s Heavenly Ladder lay in the fact that it did not measure everyone by the same standard.
It could reflect a person’s true self and, according to each climber’s cultivation realm, establish an ultimate trial uniquely suited to their current level.
What it measured was not how much power a climber possessed at that moment.
It measured how fully they had excavated their potential at their current stage of life and cultivation, how firmly they had built their foundation, and how clear and untainted their Dao-heart was.
A cultivator in the King Realm and one in the Saint Realm might stand on the same step, yet the intensity of the pressure they experienced, the level of their inner demons, and the might of the attacks formed from the laws of the Dao would be completely different.
Anyone who could ascend to the eight-thousandth step would, so long as they did not perish midway, almost certainly become a Great Saint.
With careful cultivation, they would also have a very good chance of entering the Quasi-Emperor Realm.
For those who reached the nine-thousandth step, becoming a Quasi-Emperor would be a straightforward path. They might even touch the threshold of the Emperor Realm.
This meant that they had already gained the qualifications to glimpse that supreme realm. It could be said that they possessed the aptitude to become Emperors.
Every additional step signified that their life origin, Dao foundation, and even their unseen destiny had drawn closer to the highest and most exalted Imperial Dao.
The higher they climbed, the greater their chances of eventually setting foot in the Emperor Realm.
As for the summit of the Heavenly Ladder, only a handful had ever reached it. Yet every successful climber, so long as they did not perish along the way, had ultimately become an Emperor who reigned over the heavens and swept across an entire era.
Xing Tian'ao withdrew his gaze from the Heavenly Ladder. The ripple in his eyes caused by Gu Changge and his disciples gradually faded, and his expression once again returned to calm.
He merely said, “The Golden Age has arrived, and destiny is flourishing like countless rivers flowing into the sea. Countless dragons will naturally be born.
“When Heaven and Earth respond to one another and the Great Dao manifests, the emergence of outstanding talents is only to be expected. Why be surprised?”
Master Qingxu was briefly taken aback.
He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he could not suppress the excitement in his heart—for the sake of the academy, and also for this resplendent Golden Age. Carefully, he asked, “With your wisdom penetrating the ages, what do you think, Master? Among the disciples ascending the Heavenly Ladder this time, are there any who possess Imperial aptitude and may one day have the chance to glimpse that supreme Great Dao?”
When he asked this, Master Qingxu’s heart was filled with tremendous anticipation.
In such a magnificent Golden Age, surely it was possible for one or two seedlings with Imperial aptitude to emerge, wasn’t it?
Even the slightest hope would be enough for the entire academy to devote all its resources to their cultivation.
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
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.
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.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
