Dad, you've kept me in the dark for so long

Fang Zheng's sudden remark quickly caught the attention of the group members.

[Unemployed Light God: Hey, "a little closer and it'll explode"? Let me guess—is the group leader about to undergo a tribulation again?]

[Two-Sleeved Sword Immortal: As expected of the group leader, undergoing tribulations wherever he goes!]

[I Really Don’t Want to Be Sacrificed: Group leader, can you see this? I’m so scared...]

[Damn Heavenly Tribulation Still Chasing Me: Don’t be afraid. Everything is part of the plan. With me here, you’ll be safe!]

In the Illusory Star Cave Heaven, Chen Yi's true self calmly replied to the messages before shifting his focus to the one-star clone he had dispatched to the Celestial Pivot Star Domain.

The rewards for the mission to eradicate the Wang Family were underwhelming—just a few million points, equivalent to a little over fifty Immortal Yuan Stones. That wasn’t even enough for a single clone to undergo the transformation into an immortal body.

In the Western Sea Realm, he could at least make up for it elsewhere, but the Celestial Pivot Star Domain was far less lucrative.

The reason? This world’s level wasn’t particularly high.

The moment he arrived, upon sensing the local laws, he immediately grasped the general power level of the Celestial Pivot Star Domain.

The foundational laws here could only sustain beings up to the Unity Realm. Their so-called "Great Emperors" were those who fused with the Heavenly Dao’s Heart Imprint, pushing beyond the limits to suppress all other laws and ascend to the Great Emperor realm—equivalent to the Tribulation Transcendence stage.

Admittedly, while these Tribulation Transcendence cultivators were invincible within their world, their reliance on the Heavenly Dao meant they couldn’t compare to true Tribulation Transcendence experts who relied solely on their own power once they left their native realm.

Of course, none of that mattered. The real issue was that this world lacked Immortal Dao Essence. Aside from completing missions, there was nothing else here to hold Chen Yi’s interest.

Since he was already here, he couldn’t just leave after earning such meager mission rewards, could he?

So, Chen Yi immediately devised a bold plan.

He would have Fang Zheng provoke the so-called "Self-Severing Great Emperors" hiding in the forbidden zones!

Considering those old monsters had only recently instigated a Dark Calamity and were now lying low, unwilling to emerge, he needed to force them out.

And what could be more alarming than an invasion by extra-dimensional demons?

No matter how much chaos erupted within the Celestial Pivot Star Domain, it was still an internal affair. But if an outsider barged in to tear the place apart, and they still chose to hide, the Heavenly Dao would never let them off the hook!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"

The Heavenly Dao of the Celestial Pivot Star Domain was indeed furious, its thunderous roars deafening.

Chen Yi’s one-star clone remained unperturbed, calmly wrestling with it, pressing his palm downward with unwavering force.

A colossal hand condensed in the sky, defying the overwhelming heavenly might as it slowly descended. The terrifying pressure forced members of the Wang Family to cough up blood in agony!

At the same time, the dark clouds gathered by the Heavenly Dao above the Fang Family unleashed a barrage of heavenly lightning—eighty-one massive bolts that twisted space as they rained down upon Chen Yi, demonstrating the Heavenly Dao’s unwavering resolve to purge the extra-dimensional demon.

But did it work?

Not in the slightest.

If this were the Western Sea Realm’s pseudo-immortal Heavenly Dao, Chen Yi might have been cautious. But the Celestial Pivot Star Domain’s laws capped at the Unity Realm. Even if the Heavenly Dao, which governed all creation, stood one level above the foundational laws, it was still only at the Tribulation Transcendence level.

And Chen Yi’s one-star clone was a genuine Tribulation Transcendence expert!

A single man standing against an entire world was no exaggeration!

The eighty-one heavenly lightning strikes barely tickled him—not even one ten-thousandth the intensity of a true immortal tribulation.

While Chen Yi remained unshaken, Fang Zheng beside him flushed with excitement, trembling uncontrollably as if he had reached the pinnacle of his life.

Just moments ago, the group leader had effortlessly refined the eighty-one heavenly lightning bolts into a pure essence of heavenly thunder and casually stuffed it into Fang Zheng’s mouth.

The crackling energy exploded on his tongue, the dense essence surging down his throat and flooding his dantian and sea of suffering. An indescribably euphoric sensation spread through his limbs and meridians, sending him into instant ecstasy!

Breaking through realms as easily as drinking water—Fang Zheng had only seen such a thing in his son. Never had he imagined it would happen to him one day.

Spirit Nurturing Stage 1, Spirit Nurturing Stage 2, Spirit Nurturing Stage 3...

300,000 combat power, 400,000 combat power, 500,000 combat power...

His strength skyrocketed all the way to 1,000,000 combat power—Immortal Platform Stage 1—and yet, eighty percent of the heavenly thunder essence the group leader had forced into him remained!

Fang Zheng lost control, his mind consumed by the urge to keep breaking through.

But just then, a gentle force suddenly swatted him away, suppressing his unstable and frenzied power before floating him into the Fang Family’s grand hall.

By the time Fang Zheng regained his senses, he found an exquisitely crafted circular seal in his arms—and the awe-inspiring group leader had vanished without a trace.

The next moment, the chat group’s notification tone echoed in his mind.

[Damn Heavenly Tribulation Still Chasing Me: @I Really Don’t Want to Be Sacrificed, Fang Zheng, the advancement mission is complete. I’m leaving now. Be careful—I’ve made some arrangements. Those self-severing old monsters in the forbidden zones will likely come for you soon. The Star-Suppressing Seal I left behind will protect your family. Just focus on provoking them. Any chaos that ensues will be dealt with by me!]

Fang Zheng: "..."

I knew it! I knew it!

No wonder the group leader made such a grand spectacle—he was clearly after that 300-million-point Dark Calamity mission!

Group leader, you old fox... you’re using me as a pawn, aren’t you?

Fang Zheng glanced at the faintly glowing Star-Suppressing Seal in his arms, then felt the vast heavenly thunder essence surging within him. A smirk tugged at his lips.

This job wasn’t for nothing. What the group leader had given him was worth far more than his life!

A Star-Suppressing Seal that might very well be an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon, and a heavenly thunder essence capable of propelling him to the Quasi-Emperor Realm—barring any mishaps, he wouldn’t even need to rely on his troublemaker of a protagonist son. Fang Zheng would surpass the ancient ancestors and lead the Fang Family to the pinnacle of Yunzhou, to the pinnacle of the Celestial Pivot Star Domain!

The Fang Family would claim its place among the immortal emperor clans!

What’s that? The Fang Family has never produced a Great Emperor?

Push me too far, and I’ll show you what a living Great Emperor looks like!

As long as he clung tightly to the group leader’s thigh, even the Great Emperor realm might not be his limit!

In the end, all his thoughts condensed into a single sentence:

"Hey, group leader, just watch—my death will be beyond your wildest imagination!"

At that moment, the Fang Family members, seeing their patriarch’s irrepressible grin, swarmed around him with burning curiosity.

"Patriarch, you weren’t bluffing? Where did you meet such an unfathomable supreme expert? When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell us...?"

"I think that might have been a Great Emperor! The moment he appeared, my soul trembled uncontrollably, as if instinctively submitting..."

"Patriarch, patriarch! He left you that circular seal—let me touch it and bask in its glory..."

"Father! You kept this from me?! Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?! I was this close to going down with the Wang Family in mutual destruction! Do you hear me?!"

Suddenly, a loud, vigorous shout drowned out all other voices.

Fang Fan, the young master of the Fang Family, stood at the entrance, his eyes red-rimmed, a coffin exuding a faint aura of death resting on his shoulder.

He had calculated every possibility, yet never imagined that his unreliable father could actually summon such a terrifying figure. Driven to desperation, he had already carried the coffin—which suppressed the evil thoughts of a Great Emperor—onto the ancestral grounds of the Wang Family, ready to stake his life to force them into retreat!

But then...

A colossal palm suddenly descended from the heavens, nearly crushing him to death the moment he reached the Wang Family's gates!

Fortunately, the owner of that monstrous hand bore no ill will—in fact, they seemed inexplicably benevolent. While obliterating the Wang Family, they also gently sent the trembling young man back to the Fang Family.

It wasn’t until he stepped through his own doorstep that he finally learned the truth: the owner of that terrifying palm was none other than an ally his father had called upon. The life-or-death crisis he had agonized over had been resolved with absurd ease?!

So what did all his frantic scheming, reckless gambles, and desperate attempts to save his father and the Fang Family even amount to?

In an instant, overwhelming frustration surged in his heart.

Damn you, old man! Why didn’t you tell me you had such an overpowering trump card?!

Am I not your proudest son anymore?!

"......"

Watching his protagonist son fume with indignation, Fang Zheng’s lips twitched, his smirk growing harder to suppress.

Meanwhile, deep within the Illusory Star Cave Realm...

As Chen Yi’s avatar returned, the system notification of the chat group chimed.

[Ding! Advanced mission completed. Calculating rewards...]

[Total eliminated: 252 Wang Family cultivators. Breakdown: 198 with combat power exceeding 100,000; 19 exceeding 1,000,000; 3 exceeding 5,000,000; 2 exceeding 8,000,000; and 1 surpassing 10,000,000...]

[Rewards: 50,000,000 points; 2,500,000 group EXP.]

[Rewards have been deposited into your account. Please check promptly.]