When the fire in the forest was extinguished by everyone's concerted efforts, before they could even rejoice, they first heard a baffling remark from the Purple-robed Daoist high in the sky, followed immediately by the shout of Senior Liao, who had been closely monitoring the situation outside.
Only then did everyone realize that Mo Yuanjiao had coincidentally returned at this exact moment!
Soon after, everyone immediately understood what the Purple-robed Daoist's words meant.
They all looked up and saw that the Purple-robed Daoist had already raised his hand and launched an attack toward the village entrance.
Seeing this, Sun Yigao acted faster than the eye could follow, gripping his peach wood sword and rushing out of the sect's barrier, using the Void-Treading Technique to rush toward the village entrance at full speed.
Liao Pantu didn't even have time to stop him, watching helplessly as he charged out headlong.
Thus, Liao Pantu could no longer stand idly by. He turned and instructed Liu Yunan:
"You must not step out even a single pace!"
Saying that, he immediately flew out, chasing after Sun Yigao.
In mid-air, Wei Hai, who had been solidly struck by lightning, was dazed for quite a while before he reacted, opening his mouth to exhale a mouthful of black smoke.
Struck by this lightning, he felt that the circulation of spiritual energy throughout his body had become much more sluggish.
He glanced up at the dark clouds in the sky but didn't pay much attention.
He simply thought there was going to be a heavy rainstorm.
Standing in the sky, getting struck by lightning was quite normal.
It wasn't as if he hadn't been struck before. Aside from the lightning tribulation when he broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, he had occasionally been struck during regular thunderstorms.
In the past, to experience the feeling of having completely shed his mortal flesh, he would even intentionally go out to get struck by lightning.
However, the usual lightning didn't seem quite as potent as today's.
The intensity of this lightning was almost a tenth of what he experienced during his Nascent Soul tribulation.
It seemed there really might be a massive rainstorm today.
It was just a pity for his dharma robe.
This was a dharma robe he had spent a thousand spirit stones to purchase in the cultivation world!
Alas, mass-produced goods were just unreliable; they couldn't even defend against ordinary lightning.
But once he reclaimed the spirit stone mine, this small amount of spirit stones would mean nothing.
Subsequently, Wei Hai's gaze returned to Xiushui Village below.
Watching the three people fleeing through the village, as well as the figure rushing out of the sect, he curled his lips into an extremely wicked smile.
He had guessed right; this disciple was quite important after all.
Someone couldn't sit still and came out to rescue him.
With that thought, he immediately attacked in both directions simultaneously.
Two massive fireballs erupted, shooting toward opposite ends of Xiushui Village!
Seeing this, Liao Pantu immediately formed hand seals and shot a stream of spiritual energy toward a spot in Xiushui Village, activating the large-scale defensive formation he had previously set up.
Thus, the scene Wei Hai expected—the two fireballs exploding on the ground and blowing those people and the village to pieces—did not occur.
Instead, just as his fireballs were about to land on Xiushui Village, they crashed into a barrier in mid-air.
A large swath of golden formation runes appeared at the points of impact.
When the fireballs crashed into the barrier and exploded with a bang, the surface of the formation runes flickered faintly a couple of times before stabilizing. Once all the spiritual energy attacks dissipated, the runes vanished back into thin air.
"A large-scale defensive formation?"
Wei Hai was somewhat surprised.
He didn't expect this sect to actually have some tricks up its sleeve.
Aside from their grand mountain-protecting formation, they could actually produce such a high-level formation to protect this dilapidated village.
But he was only surprised for a moment.
He quickly noticed that this defensive formation didn't seem all that sturdy.
He had only attacked twice, and it was already flickering.
Causing this defensive formation to collapse would likely only take a few more attacks.
While Wei Hai was outside trying hard to break the shell and Mo Que and the others were desperately fleeing for their lives.
Lin Xiao, inside the Nature Terrace, was also at his most critical juncture.
At this moment, he was breaking through to the Golden Core stage, welcoming the first lightning tribulation of his life.
After working hard day and night to cultivate, he had finally pushed his cultivation base from 999,999 to 1,000,000 just in time, and was now striving toward 1,000,001.
For this step, the idle cultivation feature played no role.
The system said that undergoing the tribulation and breaking through required him to do it himself.
After that, no matter how much Lin Xiao asked, the system remained silent.
Lin Xiao had no choice but to accept reality.
Getting struck by lightning was something he had to face eventually.
He used his divine sense to scan his surroundings and the sky above, but didn't detect any signs of a lightning tribulation.
Above his head was a solid layer of rock.
Rock surrounded him on all sides as well.
He really had no idea how the lightning tribulation was supposed to strike down...
He waited for a couple of breaths and, seeing that the lightning tribulation still hadn't arrived, wondered if it couldn't find him because he was inside the Nature Terrace.
So he wanted to stand up and go outside to check.
Unexpectedly, just as he tried to get up, he found he couldn't stand.
Could it be that his lower body was numb from sitting too long?
But he could still feel his lower body very clearly.
He struggled forcefully again but found he still couldn't move. He remained firmly seated in the exact center of the white jade stone platform, his whole body seemingly immobilized by something, completely unable to rise.
The next moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the small, gentle stream of water beside him suddenly fill with lightning, crackling and dancing atop the current.
Then, that violently dancing lightning followed the stream and poured directly into the pool below.
After that, Lin Xiao felt a wave of numbness run through his entire body.
He knew then that he had successfully been struck.
Slowly exhaling a puff of white smoke from his mouth, Lin Xiao turned to look at the slender stream of water slowly flowing into the pool below.
So, this was the purpose of the pool and stream in the Nature Terrace...
Outside, halfway up the mountain, the people of the Lingxian Sect were still anxiously watching the situation below. Seeing the Nascent Soul cultivator continuously bombarding Xiushui Village, they were all as anxious as ants on a hot pan.
But they also knew that going down wouldn't help, so they could only wait on the mountain.
Suddenly, they heard rumbling sounds coming from above.
Everyone looked up and witnessed an incredibly thick bolt of lightning pass through their grand mountain-protecting formation without any resistance, striking straight into the back mountain of Guiyuan Mountain Residence.
Knowing that this was the exact direction where Lin Xiao was in secluded cultivation, the clueless crowd was deeply astonished.
Everyone worried if something had happened to Lin Xiao. Jiang Youfu immediately said to the crowd:
"I'll go over and take a look!"
Saying that, he sprinted swiftly toward the back mountain of Guiyuan Mountain Residence.
Lin Dayou and the rest of the Lin family couldn't wait any longer and also ran after Jiang Youfu.
As they were running over, two more bolts of lightning struck down rhythmically in the same direction.
However, when they arrived at the back mountain, they saw that the lightning seemed to be absorbed by the small white stone at the entrance of the Nature Terrace, disappearing completely after drilling into it.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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.
