Realm of the Azure Clouds

“Go, and focus on your cultivation,” Gu Changge said.

The four disciples respectfully acknowledged his command before returning to their respective cultivation.

Peace and quiet immediately settled over Violet Bamboo Peak. Gu Changge seemed to recall something.

His gaze pierced through the endless void and fell upon that fragment of the Immortal Domain which had once been ruled by the Chengyun Immortal Palace, but had now descended into chaos.

The Chengyun Immortal Domain. It seemed that someone had once again grown unable to endure the loneliness.

Having lost its unified rule and the continuous nourishment provided by the origin of the lower realm, the fragment was like a giant ship that had lost its power, drifting slowly through the chaos as it withered away.

Compared with a year ago, the immortal radiance on its surface had clearly dimmed. The regions along its edges had even begun to flake away, breaking apart into smaller fragments that dissipated into the chaos.

Within the Immortal Domain, the peace of the past had long since been shattered.

The power vacuum left behind by the destruction of the Chengyun Immortal Palace, combined with the scant resources that remained, had sparked a new round of even more brutal and bloody struggles.

Large and small factions had carved out their own territories, fighting over the few surviving immortal veins, ancient medicinal gardens, and even ruins containing fragments of incomplete laws. Continuous conflicts erupted across the domain.

The radiance of immortal arts flashed across different parts of the fragment from time to time, accompanied by collisions of laws and the fall of lives. All of it accelerated the loss of the little vitality this world still possessed.

“Poisoning oneself to quench one’s thirst.” Gu Changge shook his head slightly.

These struggles were nothing more than an acceleration of their shared destruction.

However, to those immortals who could already sense their Dao foundations beginning to waver, this frenzied plundering was their final struggle against the instinct of annihilation.

“So be it. Since chaos has already begun, I shall start bringing order from here.”

Gu Changge withdrew his gaze from the chaos atop Violet Bamboo Peak and stirred his mind.

In the next instant, a streak of azure light flashed, and the figure of Sect Master Xuanyangzi appeared atop the peak. A trace of lingering cultivation aura still clung to his face, clearly indicating that he had been roused from secluded cultivation.

“Changge, you summoned me?”

Xuanyangzi hurried forward, surprise coloring his tone.

Gu Changge would not easily disturb him during cultivation. If he had done so, there must be something important.

“Senior Brother, take a seat.”

Gu Changge gestured for Xuanyangzi to sit beside the stone table, then asked directly, “How is the sect’s strength now?”

At the mention of this, Xuanyangzi’s face immediately lit up with pride.

“Thanks to you, the sect is stronger than it has ever been!”

He began listing their accomplishments with great enthusiasm. “There are five Ancestors, and together with me, that makes six Great Emperors in total.

“Shi Wanshan, Ye Guying, and the other peak masters have all tempered their foundations to flawless perfection. They are making their final preparations to undergo the Emperor Tribulation. At the earliest, they will be ready in a few months; at the latest, within a year. All of them will be able to attempt breaking through the threshold!”

“Even more gratifying is that first group of one hundred disciples who entered the Cangyun Mystic Realm!”

Xuanyangzi grew more and more excited as he spoke.

“With the realm’s hundredfold time acceleration and inexhaustible resources, every one of them has now broken through to the Quasi-Emperor Realm!

“This is a level of prosperity our Azure Profound Sect has never seen throughout the ages!”

Gu Changge nodded slightly. This rate of progress was within his expectations.

With abundant resources, maximum time acceleration, and the baptism of Marrow-Washing Pills and Myriad Tribulations True Water, these disciples’ aptitudes were no longer what they had once been. Reaching this realm was simply the natural result.

However, Xuanyangzi’s excited tone soon faltered, and a trace of worry appeared on his face.

“Still, Changge, now that you mention this, there is one concern weighing on my mind.”

“Go on.”

“Back then, you merged with the origin of the world and completely elevated the Cangyun Mystic Realm into a great world.

“Myself and several of the Ancestors sensed that the Cangyun World had been newly born and possessed limitless potential. That was why we resolutely decided to prove the Dao and become Emperors in this world, so as not to shake the Xuanhuang Main World, which had only just begun to recover and whose foundations still required time to stabilize.”

Xuanyangzi explained in detail. This was also an arrangement Gu Changge had been pleased to see at the time.

“Now, based on our perceptions and the feedback from the laws within the realm, the Cangyun World has essentially reached its current limit in bearing six Great Emperors.

“If we forcefully add any more, we may damage the foundations of the world. That would defeat the purpose.”

He raised his eyes toward Gu Changge and asked the crucial question:

“Shi Wanshan, Ye Guying, and the others now have sufficiently tempered foundations, and the Emperor Tribulation is imminent.

“If they prove the Dao in the Xuanhuang Great World, can the Xuanhuang World’s current foundation withstand it?

“Would it provoke a backlash from the Heavenly Dao and damage the world’s roots?”

Upon hearing this, the approving look in Gu Changge’s eyes deepened.

“Senior Brother, your concerns are well founded. This is indeed the matter that must be addressed first.”

Gu Changge nodded. He did not answer immediately, but slowly closed his eyes.

His divine sense spread out silently, instantly piercing through the barriers of space and descending upon the great Cangyun World he had personally created.

What his divine sense perceived was no longer the scenery of the former mystic realm.

The heavens were vast, and the laws interwove like a net.

Dense immortal qi had transformed into mist that coiled among the mountains, rivers, and lands of this newly born world.

The earth’s dragon veins were steady and powerful, breathing in and out pure spiritual energy.

Countless stars filled the sky, moving slowly along profound trajectories. The sun and moon hung high above, illuminating the land below.

At the edge of the world, the chaotic barrier was thick and sturdy. It was slowly absorbing the remaining power of the world origin Gu Changge had previously injected, undergoing subtle yet continuous growth and strengthening.

However, Gu Changge’s keen divine sense also captured a faint, almost imperceptible tension within the web of the world’s laws.

The Dao auras of the six Great Emperors were like six pillars supporting the heavens, deeply engraved into the Heavenly Dao of this world.

Just as Xuanyangzi had said, the world had indeed reached a state close to saturation. It was like a child who had eaten too much and needed time to digest—it was not suitable to burden it further so soon.

At the same time, a strand of his divine sense also brushed gently across the embryonic membrane of the Xuanhuang Great World.

Compared with the youthful fullness of the Cangyun World, the Xuanhuang World appeared more ancient and profound. Its foundations were deeper, and it was fully capable of bearing more Great Emperors. However…

A moment later, Gu Changge opened his eyes. He had already reached a decision.

“The Cangyun World has indeed reached the limit of its current capacity. Your perception was correct, Senior Brother.”

“Then it is time for the Cangyun Mystic Realm to advance another step.”

Gu Changge spoke calmly, as though he were discussing something utterly insignificant.

“Advance another step?”

Xuanyangzi froze. The Cangyun Mystic Realm was already an unparalleled land of supreme creation. How could it possibly progress any further?

Gu Changge slowly raised his hand. Three strands of world origin quietly emerged above his palm.

“Go.”

With a flick of his finger, the world origins transformed into three streaks of light. They instantly vanished into the void and reached the very core of the Cangyun Mystic Realm deep within the Azure Profound Sect.