Huo Hai was experiencing being an incense god for the first time, and it was also his first direct encounter with the oppression of the lower classes by the cultivator hierarchy. This realization struck him with immense impact!
No wonder the City God of Sinking Star Pass was determined to bleed the Carefree Sect dry and squeeze every last drop from them!
If he were in that position, he’d probably do the same!
After all, just a single high-ranking Nascent Soul elder from the Carefree Sect monopolized enough resources to sustain millions of people. If the entire sect were dismantled, how many lives could be nourished instead?
The more he thought about it, the more he felt the weight of their crimes.
As the 1,001st-generation sect leader of the Carefree Sect, he wasn’t wrong to prioritize his sect’s interests. But as the newly appointed Land God of Carefree Isle, he also believed that uprooting this malignant tumor hindering local prosperity was equally justified.
Sacrificing the Carefree Sect could uplift the entire region, allowing its people to thrive like dragons. Yet, he was born of the Carefree Sect. He loved it. He couldn’t bear to watch his home be torn apart.
Torn between emotion and conscience, his thoughts clashed violently, leaving him deeply conflicted.
“Sect Leader, what’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? It’s... kinda creepy...”
Luo Wutian shivered.
Ever since their sect leader had his physical body dissolved and was enshrined as the Land God of Carefree Isle, he had been staring at him with an unsettling gaze—one that even carried a hint of malice. What was going on?
Had he done something to offend him?
Was it because he still had a physical body while the sect leader no longer did?
But if necessary, Luo Wutian would gladly sacrifice himself for the grand cause of reviving Ancestor Lingxiu—without a single complaint!
Sect Leader, you’ve changed. I barely recognize you anymore.
“Ah... it’s nothing. Just some unpleasant thoughts. Nothing to do with you.”
Huo Hai sighed faintly, suppressing his turbulent emotions before shifting his gaze to the group led by the Calamity-Subduing Venerable.
In that instant, he felt as if he had gone blind.
The Calamity-Subduing Venerable stood there like a black hole, instantly devouring all attempts to perceive him.
Beside him, the sword immortal cradling the statue of an unknown woman shone like a blazing sun, so radiant it was impossible to look at directly.
The only one he could actually observe was the weepy female ghost—no, his colleague, another Land God. Her rank was peculiar: by power, she should be a seventh-rank minor deity, yet she inexplicably wielded the authority of a fifth-rank true god.
Like him, her observable strength only reached the sixth rank, but as the deity of Carefree Isle—a blessed land—her official rank was elevated to fifth.
But that wasn’t the main issue. The real question was: What level were the Calamity-Subduing Venerable and that sword-immortal statue-carrier?
According to the incense system’s classification of living beings:
- White qi marked mortals.
- Blue qi indicated Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment.
- Yellow qi represented Golden Core.
- Green for Nascent Soul.
- Cyan for Spirit Transformation.
- Red for Unity Realm.
- Gold for legends—those from Tribulation Crossing to Jade Immortal (Pseudo-Immortal).
- And purple, the supreme hue, for True Immortals!
As the newly appointed Land God of Carefree Isle, Huo Hai held the fifth rank—not the highest, but still capable of perceiving even the supreme purple qi.
Yet when he looked at the Calamity-Subduing Venerable and the statue-carrying man, he saw nothing. Worse, his eyes burned with pain!
What realm were they in?!
He had always known the Calamity-Subduing Venerable was extraordinary, even capable of slaying immortals despite not being one himself. But he never imagined he was this unfathomable!
After the Purple Heaven Dao’s ascension, the highest achievable realm was True Immortal—yet that was far from the Calamity-Subduing Venerable’s limit!
Even the man beside him, holding that statue, surpassed it!
Astonished, Huo Hai had only one thought, but he dared not voice it.
“Well?” Chen Yi asked with a smile once Huo Hai had familiarized himself with the incense god system. “Now do you understand why the City God of Sinking Star Pass had to crack down on your Carefree Sect?”
You can preach all you want, but experience teaches best.
Two conflicting worldviews could never reconcile—unless both sides swapped perspectives.
Unfortunately, incense gods had a low ceiling. Even a first-rank god was only equivalent to a Pseudo-Immortal, burdened with endless restrictions. In the flourishing world of Purple Heaven, anyone with ambition would never willingly abandon their flesh to become a toiling, thankless incense god.
Once branded with a divine seal, one was no longer whole. Freedom and carefreeness became forever out of reach. The greater the power granted by heaven—or rather, the masses—the heavier the responsibility. Slacking even slightly would make the divine seal sear the soul, bringing unbearable agony!
This was why traditional cultivators refused the divine seal, unable to comprehend the toil of incense gods. The clash of ideologies was inevitable.
Had Chen Yi not suppressed all dissent, the newly transplanted incense system would’ve sparked immediate rebellion, plunging the world into chaos!
“Venerable One, I now understand your wisdom!”
Huo Hai bowed deeply, enlightened. “But deep-rooted maladies cannot be cured overnight. Force can suppress temporarily, but never eternally!”
“What is too rigid will break. Traditional cultivators are vital to heaven and earth’s progress. A towering edifice may rest on a solid foundation, but its height is ultimately determined by the pinnacle materials!”
“Thus, the new system may be strong, but not overwhelmingly so. Crushing the morale of traditional cultivators and driving the world to abandon immortality for divinity would be disastrous!”
“If the Venerable One permits, I vow to dedicate my life to Purple Heaven’s rise! Let Carefree Isle serve as a testing ground—uniting all disciples to forge a harmonious coexistence model for the world to witness!”
Hearing this, Luo Wutian behind him shuddered with fervor, immediately declaring: “By the Sect Leader’s command, I shall lead the charge!”
Though he didn’t fully grasp his sect leader’s meaning, it stirred his blood!
The sect leader would never harm his own. All he had to do was follow and fight!
But Huo Hai shook his head. “I am no longer the Carefree Sect’s leader. I am the Land God of Carefree Isle. Luo Wutian, hear my decree: You are now the 1,002nd-generation Sect Leader of the Carefree Sect!”
As he spoke, the Sect Leader’s Ring—discarded after his body dissolved—rose into the air and hovered before Luo Wutian.
“Sect Leader, this... I...” Luo Wutian flushed, torn between eagerness and embarrassment.
He wanted to grab it immediately, but wouldn’t that seem too desperate?
As if he’d been itching to take over all along...
“Enough dithering! Take it when it’s given!” Chen Yi cut in impatiently. “Now, let’s discuss reviving Chen Lingxiu!”
At this reminder, Huo Hai and Luo Wutian snapped out of their fervor.
Right—Ancestor Lingxiu!
How had they gotten so sidetracked?
Ah, the grand vision of the future had been too intoxicating, nearly making them forget their true purpose!
“Venerable One, we beg for your guidance!”
Huo Hai and Luo Wutian spoke as one.
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?!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
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!
