Yun Qingluan glanced at Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao, hesitating for a moment before tentatively asking, "Earlier, before entering the city, I heard you mention the top-ranked prodigy on the Heavenly Pride Leaderboard."
"Do you... know him?"
As expected, it was about Chen Chang'an!
Yun Qingluan's response confirmed that her special attention toward them was indeed because of Chen Chang'an.
However, it was still unclear what relationship existed between Yun Qingluan and Chen Chang'an.
"You mean Chen Chang'an, the number one on the Heavenly Pride Leaderboard?" Gu Xian'er asked.
"Exactly."
"My name is Gu Xian'er. Chen Chang'an... is my young master. I am his maidservant."
A maidservant?
Yun Qingluan never expected that Gu Xian'er was actually her master's maidservant!
"My name is Gu Fengyao. Originally, I had the status of a fiancée, but Chang'an-gege seemed a bit reluctant about it."
"Anyway, we’re very close."
"And you?"
Hearing Gu Fengyao's words, Yun Qingluan was even more astonished. A former fiancée? That would make her her future master’s wife!
At this point, Yun Qingluan didn’t dare to be careless and quickly replied, "My name is Yun Qingluan. Chen Chang'an is my master."
Her master, Chen Chang'an?
So she was Chen Chang'an’s disciple?
Chen Yunxuan and the others, who had been observing from a distance, immediately approached upon hearing this.
"Who would’ve thought Master took on another disciple?"
"That makes you our junior sister, then."
"My name is Ye Zhiqiu. I suppose I’m your second senior brother."
"I’m Li Qiye, your third senior brother."
"My name is Chen Yunxuan. Chen Chang'an is the ancestor of my Chen family. I am his descendant and, in a way, his first disciple—so I’m your eldest senior brother."
Yun Qingluan never imagined that all these people were connected to Chen Chang'an.
And now, she suddenly had three senior brothers!
"Qingluan greets her three senior brothers," she said with a smile.
"No need for formalities, Junior Sister Qingluan. Do you know where Master is now?"
"If you're here, where is Master?"
"Is Master also in Liuyun Domain?" Ye Zhiqiu asked eagerly.
At this, Yun Qingluan shook her head helplessly. "Master and I parted ways a long time ago."
"I came to Liuyun Domain this time mainly because this is where Master achieved first place on the Heavenly Pride Leaderboard. I wanted to make a name for myself here."
"I hope I won’t disgrace Master."
Yun Qingluan’s motivation was the same as Chen Yunxuan and the others—they had come here because Chen Chang'an had once participated in the Heavenly Pride Leaderboard in this place.
"Can you tell us how you and Master met?"
"Of course."
Yun Qingluan recounted her past experiences, and Chen Yunxuan and the others listened attentively.
Unfortunately, she had no knowledge of what happened after Chen Chang'an left Xuantian Domain.
Over the years, Yun Qingluan had remained in Xuantian Domain’s Heavenly Pride City, continuously cultivating and challenging herself in the Heavenly Pride Tower.
Her rapid progress had astonished the entire Xuantian Domain.
"As expected of our junior sister. Your cultivation talent is truly terrifying."
"So, if we want to enter the Heavenly Pride Tower, we need to undergo testing first, right?" Chen Yunxuan asked.
"Correct. You must pass the test to qualify for entry into the Heavenly Pride Tower."
"However, I’ve already been tested in Xuantian Domain and secured a spot on the sub-ranking, so I don’t need to do it again."
Chen Yunxuan and the others nodded. They felt both nervous and excited about the upcoming test. After years of cultivation, they wondered if they would qualify for the Heavenly Pride Leaderboard.
After all, this was the Heavenly Pride Leaderboard—the standards here were much higher than in Xuantian Domain.
"Let’s all rest for a day. Tomorrow, we’ll go take the test."
"Agreed."
After a day of rest and preparation, the group headed straight to the testing hall in Heavenly Pride City the next day.
Curious about Chen Yunxuan and the others’ strength, Yun Qingluan accompanied them.
"I didn’t expect the testing hall to be so crowded."
"And there are three sections."
"Of course. This is one of the Ten Great Heavenly Pride Cities. Moreover, ever since Chen Chang'an claimed first place on the Heavenly Pride Leaderboard here, its reputation has grown even more. Over the years, more and more people have come."
Hearing this, Chen Yunxuan smiled and asked, "Brother, have you seen Chen Chang'an before?"
"Of course I have," the man replied proudly.
"Do you know where Chen Chang'an is now?"
"Well... I don’t know that."
"Not just me—even the people from Nine Clouds Immortal Sect have no idea."
Nine Clouds Immortal Sect?
"Brother, why specifically mention the Nine Clouds Immortal Sect?"
"You’re not from Liuyun Domain, are you? You don’t even know this?"
"Chen Chang'an is the Supreme Elder of the Nine Clouds Immortal Sect."
"Ever since he left Liuyun Domain, no one has known his whereabouts."
"All these years have passed, and no news has returned."
From this man’s words, Chen Yunxuan and the others learned that Chen Chang'an was also the Supreme Elder of the Nine Clouds Immortal Sect.
"Thank you."
"Are you here for the test?"
"Yes."
"Alright, the primary testing area is over there. With your cultivation levels, that’s where you should go."
"Thanks."
Exchanging glances, Chen Yunxuan and the others made their way to the primary testing area.
The line there was the longest, but they weren’t in a hurry. It gave them a chance to observe the results of others.
"Celestial Immortal Realm, First Layer, but combat power hasn’t even reached 100,000?"
"That’s a bit weak."
Yun Qingluan frowned slightly upon seeing one person’s test results. Back in Xuantian Domain, Yun Zhilan, at the Golden Immortal Realm’s Ninth Layer, had already achieved 99,999 stars.
"Weak?"
"What do you mean?"
"How am I weak?"
Already dissatisfied with his results, the man turned angrily toward Yun Qingluan upon hearing her remark.
"She’s not wrong. Why are you picking on a woman?"
"Exactly. If you’re weak, just admit it."
"What, you want to start a fight here?"
Naturally, Chen Yunxuan and the others wouldn’t let anyone bully their junior sister.
"Hmph!"
"Fine, then you try. Let’s see if you have the right to say such things."
Chen Yunxuan and the others exchanged glances, unfazed by the man’s challenge. Still, they were genuinely curious about what their own test results would be.
"No need to rush. You’ll find out soon enough," Chen Yunxuan said calmly.
"Fine. I’ll be waiting."
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.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
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!
