The wind is quite boisterous today~

The Heavenly Dao is omnipresent, manifesting in countless forms.

It could be an unremarkable stone by the roadside, a drop of plain freshwater in the ocean, or even a hoe swinging in the fields of a rural village...

But most likely, it would take the form of a fluffy, greedy little cat, circling around Chen Yi, licking its lips and meowing incessantly.

Admittedly, it’s hard to resist the cuteness of the Heavenly Dao.

"Cute" is a common adjective, but the Heavenly Dao is cuteness itself!

Even Chen Yi’s tempered Dao heart, forged through countless trials, melted at the sight.

"Resorting to such underhanded tactics now, huh? You sly Heavenly Dao, you..."

No one can withstand the Heavenly Dao’s charm offensive.

So when his immortal avatar returned from its mission, Chen Yi’s true form immediately stuffed the refined core essence of the Flying Star Heavenly Dao into the Purple Star Heavenly Dao’s mouth.

"Meow~"

The greedy cat let out a satisfied purr, patted its belly with its pink paws, then flopped onto the ground and fell asleep.

There was no helping it—its core operational essence was far too complex and burdensome. It couldn’t simultaneously govern the world and integrate the Flying Star Heavenly Dao’s core essence for self-optimization.

In simpler terms, the Purple Star Heavenly Dao needed to shut down for a system upgrade.

Which raised the question: With the Heavenly Dao’s main program offline, would the world’s host system collapse as well?

Logically, that should be the inevitable outcome!

Yet the Purple Star Heavenly Dao remained utterly unperturbed, sleeping soundly.

Chen Yi, for his part, said nothing—he simply dispatched his immortal avatars.

Though he lacked the Heavenly Dao’s effortless mastery over the laws of the world, he still had a fair bit of strength to spare!

One avatar pushed the sun, another herded the moon...

One stabilized the four seas, another suppressed the eight directions...

The remaining avatars joined his true form in anchoring the center, steadying the turbulent fundamental laws to keep the world running smoothly even without the Heavenly Dao’s direct control.

Admittedly, maintaining a world’s operation was far more troublesome than refining one outright.

But what could he do? When your own Heavenly Dao dumps a mess in your lap, you have no choice but to clean it up.

At the same time...

As the Heavenly Dao’s presence faded and the Calamity-Suppressing Sovereign emerged to dominate the realm, cultivators across the Purple Star Continent couldn’t help but feel a creeping dread.

In an ancient hall, dozens of supreme cultivators gathered—each at least at the late-stage Unity Realm, with no early or mid-stage Unity cultivators qualifying to attend.

Indeed, these were the old monsters who had suppressed their cultivation for millennia, daring not to break through. Among them were patriarchs of great sects, emperors of exotic races, and even a handful of ancient relics who had survived since the era of ascension.

Every one of them was a peerless genius of their time!

Though the Purple Star Continent had declined, a starved camel was still larger than a horse—its talent pool remained as deep as ever.

"The winds today are rather restless..."

A great sect’s patriarch sipped his tea, his tone languid.

"I just don’t get it. That kid was practically sharing pants with the Heavenly Dao. Why the sudden change today? Is he planning to replace the Heavenly Dao himself?"

The White Tiger Emperor, still brimming with vitality despite being eight thousand years old, looked baffled.

"Who knows? Maybe he had an epiphany after surviving his eighty-first Immortal Ascension Tribulation? You know how he is—always pulling some incomprehensible stunt..."

An elder from an ancient sacred land shrugged.

"Speaking of which, that guy’s downright monstrous. A few days ago, I went beyond the realm to gather materials for refining. Guess what I saw?"

A bare-chested elder, his back rippling with explosive muscle, suddenly lowered his voice mysteriously.

"Go on!"

"I sensed something big happening out there too, but I missed the details!"

"Stop dangling the bait, or I’ll drag you outside for a one-on-one!"

The old-timers perked up instantly.

They loved gossiping about "that kid" in their spare time, but lately, he’d been oddly quiet—leaving them starved for fresh material to spice up their dull lives.

The muscular elder smirked and cut straight to the point: "He sent just two avatars and wiped out the demonic scourge’s nest beyond the realm!"

"......"

After a brief silence, the room erupted.

"Bullshit! I’ll admit his avatars are impressive, but he’s raided demon nests before—always with at least ten avatars. Two? No way!"

"Hmm... Is he messing with us?"

"Damn it! If you’re lying, I’ll beat you senseless!"

The hot-tempered Black Dragon King lunged for him.

But the muscular elder merely scoffed, swatting away the dragon’s claw as he retreated to the back of the hall, casting a disdainful gaze over the crowd—a lone sage amidst fools.

"Hah! You blockheads haven’t noticed how that kid’s gotten even more terrifying?"

"Let me spell it out for you: What I saw was real. I even snuck close to the Abyssal Scourge’s nest for a look—not a single demon left!"

"And two days ago, as I was returning from the void with materials, I saw him hauling back a lump of rotten flesh on his spear!"

"No doubt about it—that was the Abyssal Scourge’s progenitor!"

"Mark my words: Those two avatars were no ordinary clones. Their aura was utterly transcendent, and they charged straight into the void’s devouring abyss. My guess? After failing his eighty-first tribulation, he found another path to immortality!"

"So, boys... How about we gang up on him and force him to share his insights? Not to brag, but one punch from me, and he’d be on his knees!"

"Gasp——"

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire room inhaled sharply, eyes bulging like copper bells. Trembling hands reached for teacups as they all simultaneously ducked their heads to drink.

The Black Dragon King, who’d been itching for a fight earlier, slithered back to his seat like an eel, staring intently at his claws—Huh, these claws sure look claw-like today...

"Wait, hold on—we’re just gossiping here! He can’t hear us. Why are you all so scared?!"

The muscular elder frowned. These old coots were usually the biggest braggarts around. Why were they suddenly acting so meek?

What, was "that kid" here or something?

Pfft—as if! This ancient hall was a relic from when the Purple Star Continent was still a pseudo-immortal realm, imbued with immortal-grade restrictions. Even he would have to knock to enter!

Did anyone hear knocking?

Sure as hell not him!

...

Wait.

The elder’s overdeveloped muscles had apparently squeezed out a few brain cells, but even he finally caught on.

In this world, who else could make these unruly old monsters behave like obedient children?

That’s right—

There was only one person!

Oh no.

I just said it—how could you forget again? After failing his eighty-first Heavenly Tribulation to ascend to immortality, this kid has only grown more and more monstrous!

Him barging in without knocking—doesn’t that make perfect sense?!

Too bad he realized it a little too late. All he could do now was accept it.

Because a calm, unhurried voice had already drifted in from the entrance.

"Grandmaster of the Extreme Dao Artifact Sect, it’s been a while. Did I just hear you say that with one punch from you, I’d be forced to my knees?"