"Hahaha! What a blast!! Those trash from the Eastern Celestial Realm! They thought they could unite and attack our Sacred Domain? They didn’t stand a chance!"
"Uh... correction—it was us who launched the Sacred War against the Eastern Celestial Realm."
"Eh, who cares about the details! The point is—"
"All thanks to the Domain Lord and Lord Qin Luo! Come, let’s toast to the Domain Lord!"
"To Master Qin!! And to Lady Su!"
The cultivators raised their cups and drank wildly, not caring as wine splashed onto their robes.
Huo Feng was even more unrestrained, planting one foot on the jade table and tipping a whole wine jar into her mouth.
The liquor streamed down her neck.
She wiped her lips, planted her spear on the ground, and laughed heartily, "After today, the name of our Netherfrost Sacred Domain will shake the heavens!"
"All hail Lady Huo Feng!"
"Long live the Sacred Domain!!"
Cheers surged through the hall like tidal waves.
Huo Feng looked like she was on the verge of tears.
Sniff... This is the life!
Sure, she used to be the almighty Fire Domain Lord, but this kind of life wasn’t so bad either!
High Platform · Throne
Su Muwan lounged lazily on a soft divan.
Her raven-black hair spilled freely as she nibbled on a translucent spirit fruit.
Squinting at the lively crowd below, a smug smile curled at her lips.
"Heh, this is the empire I built!"
Qin Luo sat beside her, glancing at Su Muwan’s expression before chuckling. "My lady, we’ve only just unified the Eastern Celestial Realm, and you’re already acting like a tyrant?"
"At least wait until we conquer the entire cosmos before saying that."
"So what? I’ll be an empress whenever I please!"
Su Muwan huffed and waved her hand dismissively. Then, leaning close to Qin Luo’s ear, she whispered, "Hey, Qin Luo, tonight, should we…"
Before she could finish, Qin Luo covered her mouth, sighing at her mischievous blinking. "My lady, every time you smile like that, trouble follows."
"Mmph!"
Su Muwan glared, swatting his hand away indignantly. "I wasn’t done! I meant, should we call the spirit beasts over?"
"You know, like in those books—after a victory feast, there’s always dancing and performances!"
Qin Luo: "..."
My apologies, my lady.
I misunderstood. I’m the worst.
I actually thought you had something else in mind. My mistake.
But if anyone was the true leader of these spirit beasts…
His gaze drifted to the silver-haired girl crouched in a corner, stuffing her face with spirit fruits.
Xiaobai was munching away, crumbs all over her mouth. Sensing his stare, she looked up blankly, fruit pulp still clinging to her lips.
Qin Luo cleared his throat and beckoned. "Xiaobai! Come here!"
Her ears perked, and in a flash of silver light, she darted to Su Muwan’s feet, blinking up at him with wide eyes.
"Master Qin, you called?"
By now, she’d figured it out—Qin Luo was her master’s favorite human male!
That made him half her master too!
So she’d better listen.
And for some reason, his aura felt... familiar.
So, so familiar.
Like she’d encountered it before—somewhere, sometime, somehow.
In reality.
Qin Luo blinked and said, "Come on, let the little ones in Yunhai put on a talent show for everyone!"
"A talent show?"
Xiaobai tilted her head, then suddenly understood and proudly puffed out her chest. "No need for them! I can perform too!"
"You can?"
"I can breathe fire!"
With that, she took a deep breath—
"Wait! Not inside the hall!!"
Qin Luo quickly grabbed her head.
But it was already too late.
"Whoosh—!!"
A blazing white flame shot out from Xiaobai's mouth.
Whoosh!!
The flames soared upward, burning through half the hall.
The drunken cultivators erupted into wild cheers and applause.
"Great fire! Encore!"
"Encore!!"
Encouraged, Xiaobai wagged her tail excitedly and turned to take another deep breath.
"Enough!"
Su Muwan pinched her mouth shut, gritting her teeth. "I asked you to perform, not demolish the place!"
She was stunned—how could this pet be so dumb?
Who on earth did she take after?
Xiaobai: "Mmmph! (Pouting)"
In a corner of the banquet hall...
"What a bunch of uncouth cultivators."
"Right, Boqi?"
Su Bailian glanced at the noisy center of the commotion and rolled her eyes dramatically.
She slid a piece of steak onto a plate nearby.
Boqi, wearing a napkin, nodded. "Woof!"
After the chaos subsided, Qin Luo raised his hand, unfurling the Ten Thousand Demon Banner. Countless glowing orbs floated at the center of the hall.
Each orb contained "generously donated" techniques, fortunes, and insights.
"Everyone," Qin Luo announced loudly.
"Today’s victory was thanks to your bravery. These spoils shall be distributed based on merit!"
Ouyang Xuan and the others froze.
An awkward silence filled the air.
Qin Luo looked at them in confusion. "What’s wrong?"
"Qin... Master Qin..."
Ouyang Xuan and the other cultivators scratched their heads, looking embarrassed. "We didn’t really contribute much."
"We were just slacking off..."
"We don’t deserve these rewards..."
Oh, that’s all?
Qin Luo waved his hand dismissively, scanning the guilt-ridden crowd before speaking earnestly.
"Everyone!!"
"Do not feel guilty! And do not belittle yourselves!"
"Without you, the Sacred Dominion would not be what it is today!"
"Therefore!"
"Starting today, every cultivator will receive an extra 3,000 spirit energy and 30 Blood Qi Pills per month!"
"Those who advance in cultivation will also receive techniques and treasures!"
"Everyone!"
Qin Luo took a deep breath, raised his wine cup, and shouted, "Today’s glory will not be hoarded by me and the young mistress alone!!"
"And in the future, the world’s karma—you won’t have to share it!"
After all, it would all end up with Su Muwan anyway.
"All you need to do is pledge your loyalty to me and the young mistress!!"
The moment these words were spoken—
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!
The Destiny Tree floating in the heavens trembled violently, as if responding to Qin Luo’s declaration.
The crowd trembled with excitement, tears streaming down their faces.
"Master Qin is wise!!"
"Master Qin! Master Qin!"
"Young Mistress Su! Young Mistress Su!"
"Loyalty!!"
"Loyalty!"
"LOYALTY!! ┓(๑˃̶͈̀ᗨ˂̶͈́)┏!!"
Su Muwan’s eye twitched.
Seriously?
Hadn’t the Sacred Dominion just ascended not long ago?
But whatever.
This was nothing new for Qin Luo.
Below the banquet hall...
Shen Fei wiped his tears: "Brother Luo is still the same as before, always putting us first."
Zhu Lan curled her lips: "Hmph, so what? I’m still the most loyal watchdog by the young mistress’s side."
Nearby, Huang Lingyu, nibbling on a small cake, tilted her head: "Sister Zhu Lan, didn’t you know?"
"Know what?"
"Brother Luo isn’t the young mistress’s follower anymore—he’s her boyfriend now."
"So what if he’s... huh?!"
Zhu Lan’s expression froze.
What?!
Then, she drowned her sorrows in alcohol.
The banquet lasted until late at night, and the crowd gradually dispersed.
Su Muwan wasn’t much of a drinker, but she still had a few sips.
After bidding farewell to everyone, she carried the half-empty jug of wine and dragged Qin Luo to the colossal golden tree that grew atop the sky of the Netherfrost Sacred Domain.
According to Xiaobai, this was called the Tree of Destiny.
A single leaf represented a heaven-defying opportunity.
And yet, this Tree of Destiny was covered in countless leaves.
Su Muwan’s cheeks were flushed.
She pulled Qin Luo to lean against the roots of the Tree of Destiny.
Gazing up at the starry sky, she suddenly sighed.
"Qin Luo."
"Hmm?"
"Do you think... we’re being too arrogant? What if one day, the whole world gangs up on us?"
Qin Luo chuckled and ruffled her hair: "The young mistress is only worrying about this now?"
"Hmph! I’m just being prepared!"
Su Muwan pouted, took another swig of wine, and realized it was the last drop.
Tossing the gourd aside, she suddenly turned and pressed closer to Qin Luo, nestling into his arms with half-lidded eyes.
She murmured,
"But... with you here, I guess there’s nothing to fear."
Under the moonlight, her eyes were clear and bright, reflecting Qin Luo’s face.
Qin Luo quietly watched her, brushing away the traces of wine from her lips before whispering with a soft laugh:
"Mm, I’ll always stay by the young mistress’s side."
"Even if you try to chase me away, I’ll shamelessly cling to you."
Su Muwan blinked, then broke into a radiant smile.
"Good! It’s a promise then!"
"Oh, right! Speaking of staying together, tonight we should..."
"Watch the spirit beasts perform again?"
"What?! No! I mean that! That! Let’s go back and do that!"
A night breeze swept past.
The Tree of Destiny shimmered with flecks of starlight.
A faint silhouette materialized atop its canopy.
Gazing at the retreating figures of Qin Luo and Su Muwan, it murmured to itself.
"A cleaner from the minor worlds..."
"Could you be... the final choice of the Heavenly Dao?"
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.
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
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!
