Xiao Ruobai nodded, a warm smile appearing on his face. “Good. It seems you gained far more than expected from your trip to the ancestral land. Congratulations.”
Fang Hanyu narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping over Mo Yu like a sharp sword. Having cultivated the Way of Slaughter, he was exceptionally sensitive to the fluctuations of aura.
At this moment, Mo Yu gave him a feeling of being utterly flawless. It was not that his defenses were especially powerful; rather, Mo Yu’s very existence seemed to conform to some kind of perfect Dao.
There was even an ancient pressure hidden within his blood and qi that caused Fang Hanyu’s sword heart to tremble faintly.
After a moment of silence, he slowly uttered two words:
“Very strong.”
Ling Xi quietly studied Mo Yu. A trace of contemplation flashed through her cool, aloof eyes. After a long while, she murmured two words so softly that only she herself could hear them.
“Immortal charm?”
The most direct reaction came from the Demon Emperor Yuan Tiangang.
He had been conversing with the others, but the instant Mo Yu approached, an involuntary tremor and sense of oppression arose from within his bloodline. It was as if he had encountered an emperor of an even higher rank!
His pupils contracted slightly, and his gaze toward Mo Yu was filled with astonishment and an even deeper regard.
Even Lao Huang, who was usually so carefree and unruly, became unusually quiet. Tilting his large head to one side, he stared at Mo Yu without blinking with his pair of huge, copper-bell-like eyes.
His nostrils twitched faintly, as if he wanted to sniff out what was unusual about Mo Yu. He muttered under his breath:
“How strange, how strange. Little Mo, why does your scent seem different? It smells even better now?”
Just then, Wang Zhan, who had been standing silently nearby, slowly stepped forward.
He first looked at Mo Yu, as if trying to see through his tranquil exterior.
After a moment, an extremely faint ripple crossed his stern face. It was admiration, along with a trace of competitive spirit stirred by Mo Yu.
“Looks like you’ve taken another great step forward.”
Mo Yu’s speed of growth made Wang Zhan clearly feel the pressure.
He lowered his head and looked at his own fists, thinking to himself, My path is still a long one.
The prodigies of my generation are all racing ahead. I cannot fall behind either.
With that thought, Wang Zhan said, “Everyone, the matter in the Southern Region is settled. I’ll be leaving first.”
He looked toward the others, his gaze lingering briefly on Mo Yu and Ling Xi in particular.
Then, before anyone could respond, his figure transformed into a streak of azure light and shot straight into the sky. His back appeared solitary and resolute before he soon vanished into the horizon.
Watching Wang Zhan disappear, Xiao Ruobai withdrew his gaze and said to the others, “All right. We should head back as well.”
“Hey, what are we gonna do with these four?”
Lao Huang prodded the four Ancient Emperors’ heirs, who were still immobilized on the ground, with his hoof, drawing everyone’s attention back.
“They’re an eyesore. How about I, Lao Huang, just swallow them whole? Saves them from taking up space.”
Upon hearing this, the four Ancient Emperors’ heirs, despite being bound so tightly by the restrictions that they could not move, could not help but reveal humiliation and fear in their eyes.
Xiao Ruobai’s gaze shifted slightly as he looked across the lingering fear and resentment on their faces. He said indifferently, “We’ll suppress them for now and decide what to do after we return.”
Xiao Ruobai raised his hand and waved it. A streak of clear light swept up the four men and transformed into a stream of light that vanished into a storage sacred artifact.
“Demon Emperor, after suffering this calamity, the Southern Region is in desperate need of rebuilding. We cannot remain here for long, so we shall take our leave.”
Yuan Tiangang accepted the storage artifact with both hands and bowed deeply. “Thank you, fellow Daoists. Thank you all! A great kindness needs no words of thanks. The demon clans of the Southern Region will remember this favor forever!”
Xiao Ruobai said no more. He merely nodded slightly to Lao Huang, Fang Hanyu, Ling Xi, and Mo Yu.
“Let’s go.”
With a shout from Xiao Ruobai, several streaks of light shot into the sky once more. They swept across the newly reborn mountains and lands of the Southern Region and sped toward the Azure Profound Sect.
On Purple Bamboo Peak, the purple bamboo swayed gently amid misty spiritual fog.
Gu Changge returned at an unhurried pace with Little Black, Little White, and the Great Emperor of Annihilation. As his robes fluttered lightly, he carried with him a serenity forged through countless tribulations.
After returning to the sect, the several old ancestors had immediately hurried off to the Myriad Tribulations Battlefield to cultivate.
This Dark Calamity had allowed them to witness firsthand the terrifying clashes between existences at the Great Emperor level. They had even personally taken part in the battle against a Supreme, and the experience had deeply shaken the five old ancestors.
Before true peak-level power, Quasi-Emperors were nothing more than slightly larger ants.
Xing Tian'ao stood solemnly to one side. As a newly ascended Great Emperor, his gaze swept across the tranquil bamboo grove. Feeling the abundant spiritual energy here, yet also sensing that the surroundings were far from extraordinary, he was filled with turbulent emotions.
“So the Exalted One actually came from such an unassuming place.”
Xing Tian'ao sighed inwardly.
The mountain gate of the Azure Profound Sect was blessed with clear spiritual energy and outstanding natural beauty, and could be considered a first-rate blessed land.
Yet compared with the grand image he had imagined for an supreme orthodoxy capable of suppressing the Dark Calamity with a casual gesture and possessing unfathomable foundations, it was far too low-key—so low-key that it could even be called ordinary.
And yet, it was precisely this ordinary appearance, this return to simplicity, that made him feel an even deeper, bottomless awe.
Perhaps true transcendence was indeed like this.
Xuanyangzi sat cross-legged on the other side, watching Gu Changge calmly sip his tea. His face held the relieved contentment of someone whose burden had finally been lifted.
As long as Changge was here, Purple Bamboo Peak would be the stabilizing pillar of the Azure Profound Sect. No matter how the outside world was turned upside down, this place would remain peaceful and tranquil.
While they were chatting, the sound of something breaking through the air came from the horizon. Several streaks of light tore through the clouds and landed steadily before the peak.
It was Xiao Ruobai, Ling Xi, Fang Hanyu, Fatty Wang, Mo Yu, and Lao Huang.
They still carried the smoke and dust of the battlefield in the Southern Region, but the calm strength and sharpness forged through their trials could not be concealed.
Mo Yu stood out in particular. An ethereal aura from the Immortal Ancient era seemed to linger around him, while his crimson-gold eyes were deep and serene.
Compared with before, his temperament had changed completely, as though he had undergone a transformation that had remade him from the inside out.
“Disciple greets Master!”
“Greetings, Exalted One!”
The group saluted in unison, their bearing respectful.
Gu Changge set down his teacup and calmly swept his gaze over his disciples.
When his eyes fell upon Mo Yu, they paused for an instant—so briefly that it was almost impossible to detect.
In that moment, it was as if space and time had frozen.
He did not linger, yet with that single glance, he saw through every change in Mo Yu.
Not only had Mo Yu’s cultivation advanced to the Saint King realm, but the origin of his bloodline had also undergone a leap.
The Immortal Ancient aura lingering around him was clearly a sign that the Qilin bloodline of the Immortal Domain had awakened.
His fingers paused almost imperceptibly before returning to normal. He nodded slightly.
“Mm. You’re back. All of you have made progress during this journey. Not bad.”
Gu Changge’s voice remained as calm as ever, but there was a faint trace of expectation in it that had not been there before.
When his gaze passed over Mo Yu again, a strand of gentle Dao rhythm seemed to flow silently through the air, quietly smoothing the restlessness hidden within Mo Yu, stirred by the inheritance he carried.
Mo Yu’s heart trembled faintly. Meeting Gu Changge’s gaze, he suddenly felt as if his entire body had become transparent, with nowhere to hide.
It was as though all the astonishing secrets he had uncovered in the ancestral land were laid bare before the Exalted One.
The hidden weight and pressure he had been carrying quietly dissipated somewhat beneath that gentle yet imposing gaze.
Just then, Xiao Ruobai raised his hand and waved it. Light shimmered across the storage sacred artifact, and four figures tumbled to the ground, bound by invisible restrictions.
They were the four heirs of the Ancient Emperors, their faces deathly pale.
“Master, the matter in the Southern Region has been settled. These four are princes of the ancient Demon Court and have already been subdued. I await your and the Sect Master’s judgment.”
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.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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."
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
