Chen Chang'an's words threw Nie Pengju and Ye Liuyun into a state of panic.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, how could they possibly save face now?
Run?
Back at the Gu Family, few had witnessed their humiliation, so fleeing had been an option. But now, with so many eyes on them, escaping would mean utter disgrace.
They were trapped—unable to advance or retreat, caught between a rock and a hard place.
"Who is this man? The sect master of the Wuji Sect actually addresses him as 'sir'?"
"And that powerhouse from the Gu Family—he actually calls him 'Little Gu'?"
"That Gu Family expert is no weakling among Great Emperor realm cultivators. His strength is second only to the Gu Family's ancestral patriarch, who stands at the peak of the Great Emperor realm. Damn, this man's identity is terrifying!"
"Have any of you heard of him before? I certainly haven’t."
"N-no… never seen him in my life."
"Wait, I think I have. His name is… yes, Chen Chang'an. I remember now—Chen Chang'an."
"Chen Chang'an?"
This was the first time the name "Chen Chang'an" had reached so many ears, the first time he had truly entered the awareness of the Central Heaven Domain's inhabitants.
"Deputy Palace Master Hua Wulei of the Luo Shen Palace greets the Palace Master."
At that moment, Hua Wulei arrived with the disciples of the Luo Shen Palace. While the disciples might struggle to compete in the Human Ranking, they could still participate in the Earth Ranking.
"Palace Master?"
"What the hell? How is this possible?"
"Isn’t the Luo Shen Palace exclusively for women? How is Chen Chang'an their Palace Master?"
This scene left everyone dumbfounded—even those who knew Chen Chang'an were stunned. No one had expected him to hold such a position.
Shortly after, members of the Qingyun Sect arrived to pay their respects.
"Hahaha! Master, your disciple has arrived!"
A booming laugh echoed as the Heavenly Sword Emperor, the ancestral patriarch of the Heavenly Sword Sect from Famous Sword State, appeared before the crowd.
"The Heavenly Sword Emperor?"
"What the—? The Heavenly Sword Emperor has a master? Since when?"
"This is insane! Absolutely insane!"
"Just who is this Chen Chang'an? Is he defying the heavens?"
The Heavenly Sword Emperor addressing Chen Chang'an as "Master" shattered everyone's expectations. This was the Heavenly Sword Emperor—the only Sword Emperor in the entire Tai Xuan Realm!
Chen Chang'an glanced at the Heavenly Sword Emperor and smiled. "Seems you’ve made some progress recently?"
"All thanks to Master’s guidance. My Sword Domain has finally taken shape," the Heavenly Sword Emperor replied excitedly.
"Good. Keep at it, and you might not be far from the peak of the Great Emperor realm."
"Yes, Master."
More and more familiar faces arrived—something Chen Chang'an hadn’t anticipated. Yet, many others were absent, likely uninterested in competing for the Earth Ranking.
Despite the distractions, Chen Chang'an hadn’t forgotten about Nie Pengju and Ye Liuyun.
"Well, you two?"
"Shall we begin?" Chen Chang'an said with a faint smile.
"W-wait! Let’s talk this over, alright? We were ignorant back then. Can we just let this go?"
"We owe you a favor. We’ll repay you properly in the future," Nie Pengju said nervously.
"Who gave you the right to decide for me?" Ye Liuyun shot Nie Pengju a disdainful look before turning to Chen Chang'an.
"Fine, no need to repeat yourself. I know what you’re going to say—just echoing his words, right?"
Chen Chang'an sighed. These two seemed like bitter rivals, but their relationship wasn’t as hostile as outsiders assumed.
"Exactly! My affairs are mine to decide. I don’t need him speaking for me," Ye Liuyun nodded.
"It’s not impossible."
"You two owe me a favor."
"When and how I call it in will be my decision—no objections."
"Either agree, or we proceed with the bet right now. Your choice," Chen Chang'an said calmly.
Nie Pengju and Ye Liuyun exchanged glances. This wasn’t a promise to make lightly.
It meant Chen Chang'an would have the right to command them once, without refusal.
"Relax. I won’t ask you to act against your own families."
Seeing their hesitation, Chen Chang'an added with a smile.
The two visibly relaxed. Their greatest fear had been Chen Chang'an ordering them to harm their own kin.
After all, a Great Emperor’s vow was not to be broken lightly—doing so could damage their cultivation or even invite divine retribution.
This was precisely why Great Emperors rarely made bets or promises.
Back then, these two had agreed to the wager only because they were certain of victory, never imagining they’d lose to someone they’d underestimated.
Fortunately, they’d found a loophole—as long as the bet remained unresolved, they weren’t technically in violation.
"Fine, I accept."
"Me too."
"Whenever you need me in the future, I won’t refuse."
"Same here."
"Damn it, speak for yourself! Stop piggybacking on my words!"
"I’ll do as I please. None of your damn business!"
Chen Chang'an ignored their bickering. Meanwhile, those unfamiliar with him—or who had never even heard of him—were buzzing with speculation.
Not only was he the Heavenly Sword Emperor’s master and the Luo Shen Palace’s Palace Master, but among the three great families, the Gu Family treated him with respect, while the other two seemed almost… afraid?
Even among the three great sects, the Wuji Sect and the Qingyun Sect regarded him with deference.
This spectacle was beyond what most could fathom.
Just what kind of person could command such reverence?
"So… he’s already reached such heights?"
In the distance, Changsun Xixue watched with a complicated expression.
After being repelled by Mu Yunyao, she had returned to the Changsun Family and questioned her ancestral patriarch, Changsun Wuwo.
Yet upon hearing her description, Changsun Wuwo had trembled in fear, offering only one piece of advice before falling silent:
"Xixue, some obsessions aren’t worth holding onto. This man… you cannot provoke him. No—no one in the entire Tai Xuan Realm can."
Those words had plunged her into despair.
Now, finally seeing Chen Chang'an again, she lacked the courage to approach.
Though the Changsun Family ranked among the top five powers, trailing only the three great families, she still felt unworthy to face him.
Perhaps he had long forgotten the past—maybe this was all just her own stubborn fixation.
"Look! Isn’t that Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao?"
"They're here!"
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!
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?!
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.
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
