"The eighth fetal pearl is finally in my hands!"
"Immortal Realm!"
Chen Chang'an gazed at the fetal pearl in his palm, then with a mere thought, it dissolved into a surge of energy that flowed directly into his body.
Yet this time, no spiritual energy rushed into Chen Chang'an's body. Instead, the sky darkened in an instant, thick with rolling storm clouds!
A terrifying energy was rapidly gathering above.
Da Huang, witnessing this, couldn't help but freeze in shock.
"What's going on?"
"He hasn't even broken through—is this a heavenly tribulation?"
Da Huang was puzzled. By all logic, in the Tai Xuan World, heavenly tribulations only appeared when one broke through to the Immortal Realm.
But Chen Chang'an was still at the Supreme Realm. Though he had fused the fetal pearl, there wasn't the slightest ripple of spiritual energy—meaning he hadn't achieved a breakthrough. Yet the heavenly tribulation was already forming?
"Wait!"
"This doesn't seem like a heavenly tribulation!"
After observing for a while, Da Huang realized this was different from any heavenly tribulation he'd seen before.
While heavenly tribulations were fearsome, they paled in comparison to the energy now gathering in the sky.
As Da Huang stood bewildered, a terrifying force descended from the heavens, crashing straight into Chen Chang'an's body.
BOOM!
"Holy shit!"
The moment that energy entered Chen Chang'an, an overwhelming aura erupted from his body.
In less than a heartbeat, this terrifying pressure blanketed the entire Western Lands.
"What's happening?"
"What in the world is going on?"
"Such a terrifying presence—is it the Sacred Buddha?"
"No, this isn't the Sacred Buddha's aura. Who could it be? Has someone stronger than the Sacred Buddha appeared?"
Every single person, without exception, dropped to their knees under the weight of this oppressive force.
Though it wasn't lethal and caused no physical harm, the sheer terror rising from their hearts left their bodies beyond their control.
"Immortal Realm, First Layer!"
"Finally!"
With the support of this terrifying energy, Chen Chang'an's cultivation soared instantly to the First Layer of the Immortal Realm.
Yet, just as he achieved this breakthrough, the sky darkened again as that dreadful energy began gathering once more.
Chen Chang'an knew—this time, it wasn't a breakthrough awaiting him. It was… the heavenly tribulation.
He looked up at the sky. If he could curse away divine punishment, how hard could a heavenly tribulation be?
Probably not much different.
"You done?"
"If you've got nothing better to do, scram. I'm busy."
Sure enough, the moment Chen Chang'an spoke, the gathering heavenly tribulation halted.
Within moments, the sky cleared, not a single cloud in sight.
"Well, that worked."
"I really must be the heavens' favorite."
Chen Chang'an didn't know why he had this ability—just like he didn't know why he was immortal, or why there had been nine fetal pearls inside his mother's womb.
There had to be an answer. But for now, it remained beyond his grasp.
"There are this many?"
When Chen Chang'an found Da Huang, even he was stunned by the sight before him.
He knew the Tian Yin Temple had been hoarding infants—that the Da Yin Temple was just one of many executioners aiding them across the Western Lands.
Still, he hadn't expected the number of surviving infants in Tian Yin Temple to exceed hundreds of thousands.
"Yeah, no kidding."
"I've been running back and forth—I'm practically a dog at this point."
"You are a dog."
"Shut up, it's a metaphor! Ever heard of one? And here I thought humans were supposed to be cultured."
Da Huang huffed before continuing, "No idea what tricks Tian Yin Temple used, but all these kids are unconscious."
"Should we wake them up?"
Wake them up?
Hundreds of thousands of infants all crying at once—the mere thought made Chen Chang'an's scalp tingle.
He shook his head immediately. "No, this is fine."
"But handling this many infants… that's a real headache."
"We don't know where they came from, who their parents are—there's no way to return them."
"Even if their parents were here… they probably wouldn’t recognize their own children now."
Saving them was easy. Finding them homes? That was the hard part.
Chen Chang'an rubbed his temples. But with so many innocent lives at stake, he couldn’t just walk away.
"So what then? Give them away for free?"
Give them away?
Da Huang's suggestion was absurd. Too many families had lost children—and countless infants had already perished at the hands of Tian Yin Temple's Sacred Buddha.
What about the parents whose children never returned? Seeing others reunited while theirs remained lost—how would they cope?
"Find someone reliable. Someone who can take them in and care for them."
"We don't have that much time to deal with it," Chen Chang'an said helplessly.
"Alright, this works. That woman we met earlier seems pretty reliable."
"Plus, I noticed Tianyin Temple has hoarded a lot of gold and treasures. While everyone was distracted by you, I swiped all of it."
"Heh heh heh," Da Huang chuckled mischievously.
"Good job."
"Let’s go. We should head back and find that woman—no idea if she’s already left."
After speaking, Chen Chang'an raised his hand slightly, and the hundreds of thousands of infants lying on the ground slowly levitated into the air.
"This’ll be faster. Carrying them one by one would take forever."
Chen Chang'an and Da Huang traveled with hundreds of thousands of infants in tow—a sight that was, without a doubt, utterly spectacular.
On the way back, Chen Chang'an didn’t idle either. Every temple they passed was reduced to ruins.
Every monk—wiped out!
Only then could these people truly live in peace. As for what would happen afterward, that wasn’t Chen Chang'an’s concern.
Originally, Chen Chang'an thought his trip to the Western Lands would take just over half a year.
Unexpectedly, it ended up taking a full year before he finally left.
"Finally out of this damn place!"
"That was brutal!"
"Da Huang, you better never have kids. It’s painful. Really painful."
Hearing this, Da Huang rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"I’m a divine beast. Finding a mate is hard enough, let alone having offspring."
"You should worry about yourself instead."
"Besides, whether I have kids or not is none of your damn business."
"Just looking out for you," Chen Chang'an replied.
"We’ve been gone for about a year now, right?"
"No idea what’s happening over at Taihua Peak."
"Let’s go back and check."