North Julu Continent, Cangxi Kingdom, North Yellow Mountain.
The trees stood still, the forests were dense, birds chirped lightly, and beasts roared like bells—everything seemed ordinary.
But suddenly, a deep green rainbow light shot up from North Yellow Mountain, spanning a hundred yards in an instant, and with a single strike flattened a mountain peak.
Amid the deafening roar and rising dust and smoke, hundreds of Incense Gods, revealed in their true forms, along with demon generals under their command, surged forth in a yellow gale, their might shaking the heavens.
Yet in the next moment, several crimson rainbow lights flared up, connecting into fine threads, and in the blink of an eye, they sliced apart the sky-covering yellow gale.
Screams of agony erupted instantly as the yellow gale scattered.
Then, from all directions, various attacks came forth—dozens of fire dragons sweeping in, stone pillars rising from the earth to reshape the entire landscape, and countless streaks of sword light swirling around.
Spiritual power bloomed, and an oppressive pressure hung in the air.
The moment the yellow gale broke apart, a furious roar echoed through the chaos.
The Incense Gods, revealing their true forms, scattered in all directions and charged toward the attacks lighting up around them. Anything with spiritual energy surging became their target—they were utterly fearless in the face of death.
Most Incense Gods were demon beasts that had cultivated human forms. Aside from the millennium-old convention to do so, their main reason was to learn human cultivation methods and techniques.
But no matter how much they learned, most demons were still inferior to humans in wielding these arts.
The true strength of the demon race lay in their physical bodies—able to withstand spells, cleave through mountains with their palms.
When it came to life-or-death brawls, demons would invariably revert to their true forms, using their most primal instincts to unleash their full power.
Facing Incense Gods that no longer hesitated and lunged forward with reckless abandon, determined to die fighting, the ambushing members of the Evil Spirit Sect had no choice but to respond.
In an instant, all of North Yellow Mountain descended into chaos.
A massive Incense God, broad in form, brought down its palm, its roar shaking the forests and mountains.
Three hundred li from that location.
Before Chen Baiqing, the Azure Heaven Spirit Ring expanded, spiritual light flowing as the center of the ring displayed the bloody scenes of the slaughter at North Yellow Mountain.
A bear-shaped Incense God, its body pierced by over a dozen swords and missing one arm, roared with blood dripping from its mouth as it charged at the enemy before it.
Evil cultivators wielded diverse methods, operating on the principle of learning what they could steal and stealing what they couldn't. A qualified evil cultivator always had several costly life-saving techniques, and in true life-or-death moments, they would not hesitate to unleash their most desperate, hidden tricks.
Though the Incense Gods were fiercely brave, the situation was clearly turning against them.
Lin Luoyu frowned deeply as she gazed at the scene within the Azure Heaven Spirit Ring.
"This sudden encounter—the Evil Spirit Sect still has the upper hand."
Chen Baiqing shook her head calmly, her expression serene.
"I'm afraid this isn't a chance meeting. The Evil Spirit Sect was prepared all along."
"If it were truly unexpected, the Evil Spirit Sect would also have scrambled to respond, not taken the time to spread out. It seems the Evil Spirit Sect has indeed infiltrated the ranks of these Incense Gods."
"Some choose the greater good, and some choose greater profit. It's the same for the Incense Gods."
Lin Luoyu thought for a moment and quietly asked, "According to the reports, the Incense Gods can barely hold back the Evil Spirit Sect's offensive. Given the situation, should we lend a hand?"
Chen Baiqing did not reply immediately.
She had carved out time to come to North Julu Continent. Though Baiqing knew her master would surely come to North Julu Continent to backstop Cui Hao, since her master had asked her to look after her Fifth Junior Brother, she—as his senior sister—had to come, whether her master showed up or not.
At the very least, she needed to give Cui Hao some peace of mind, or observe the situation before pulling together whatever forces she could to supplement.
Accompanying Chen Baiqing and Lin Luoyu this time were two Great Vehicle cultivators and one Tribulation Transcendence cultivator from Xiaoyun Hall.
However, these accompanying cultivators were not by their side—some scouted ahead, while others stayed behind to provide backup.
At a glance, one could broadly discern a cultivator's realm; high-level cultivators beside them shone like beacons to others of the same rank.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, such support arrangements were standard.
Now, Chen Baiqing was heading toward the Yunmeng Marsh while taking a look at the current situation in Cangxi Kingdom. True to expectations, the place was buzzing with activity, and this battle broke out purely by chance as she passed by.
Chen Baiqing swept her gaze across the scene and determined that at least over a dozen Incense Gods at the Nascent Soul realm were embroiled in this fight.
That was truly astonishing. She wondered where so many Nascent Soul Incense Gods had come from. She hadn't expected Cui Hao to be so adept at stirring up trouble.
"Nether Beasts of Beimang, never forsake their homeland."
Now that was a deadly good slogan.
After a brief moment of consideration on Lin Luoyu's question, Chen Baiqing shook her head and said, "Cui Hao hasn't intervened. Without understanding his intent, doing nothing is the right move."
Lin Luoyu could only nod in response.
To her, the Incense Gods at least behaved somewhat humanely, while the Evil Spirit Sect was utterly inhuman.
If forced to choose between the two, Lin Luoyu would bury the inhuman Evil Spirit Sect without hesitation.
Lin Luoyu's gaze passed through the Azure Heaven Spirit Ring, watching as the Incense Gods suffered devastating losses in the slaughter, yet their leader showed no sign of retreat.
Chen Baiqing raised her hand slightly, withdrew the Azure Heaven Spirit Ring, then turned her head to glance at her Fourth Junior Sister and said softly, "Whatever we do, we'll decide after seeing Cui Hao."
Lin Luoyu nodded to signal her understanding and followed Chen Baiqing's pace, skirting around the nearby battlefield toward Yunmeng Marsh.
This place was still quite far from Yunmeng Marsh.
Though Lin Luoyu had mentally prepared herself upon reading the reports, witnessing the actual carnage with her own eyes felt different.
This wasn't because Lin Luoyu was soft-hearted—she harbored no fondness for the Incense Gods either.
But in her impression, her cheerful and carefree Fifth Junior Brother wouldn't have goaded these Incense Gods to their deaths.
Or perhaps he would have used more tactful means to deal with them.
If it had been their Third Senior Sister doing something like this, Lin Luoyu would have found it easier to understand.
Lin Luoyu asked in confusion, "This kind of action doesn't seem like our Fifth Junior Brother's style. Could it be Zheng Zhaoling's idea?"
"Zheng Zhaoling is a core disciple of Cloud Dream Pavilion. If she came up with such a scheme, it would inevitably sow discord between her and Yunmeng Marsh," Chen Baiqing explained seriously. "Given her position, she would never think of this plan. At most, she'd pretend not to know. Whether it succeeds or fails, this affair will only fall on our Fifth Junior Brother."
Chen Baiqing turned to look at Lin Luoyu, who wore a conflicted expression.
Her Fourth Junior Sister wasn't dumb—rather, her style of handling matters emphasized openness and righteousness.
Her ability to get things done was in no way inferior to others; her approach was simply different.
But her Fourth Junior Sister tended to instinctively project the best qualities onto those close to her.
Whenever she noticed inconsistencies, she'd grow hesitant.
Yet, what eluded her Fourth Junior Sister, Chen Baiqing understood.
Cui Hao might be trying to show that he could accept his own actions as correct and undeniable, even if they weren't understood.
At this thought, Chen Baiqing let out a soft chuckle.
This Fifth Junior Brother hadn't wasted all these years under her guidance after all.
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!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
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.
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?!
