Lanyu Immortal Sect

The seven women all understood.

No wonder.

No wonder for so many years, despite their countless explicit hints and subtle suggestions, their Master had remained indifferent.

It wasn't that their Master was cold, heartless, or felt nothing for them.

It was that he simply couldn't "see" it.

Their emotions had been blocked by that restriction before they could even reach him.

"That night, when Xiao Xi came to my room to see me, I had only just recovered my emotions not long ago. I was still thinking about how to handle this matter later—whether to find a chance to explain it clearly to you all, or let nature take its course and take it slow."

He paused.

"In the end, before I could even make up my mind, you all arrived."

The helplessness in his tone was as clear as if it were written on his face.

"But since it has already happened—"

Gu Changyuan's gaze swept over the seven women one by one, finally resting on Ye Qingxue's face.

"I accept your feelings."

The room fell quiet for a moment.

Immediately after, the seven women abruptly raised their heads, their eyes shining with brilliant light, their faces brimming with undisguised joy and excitement.

Their eyes reddened slightly, as if they were in an unreal, beautiful dream, unable to believe their own ears.

Looking at their reactions, a certain place in Gu Changyuan's heart was gently touched.

Right at this moment, Mo Yingluo suddenly raised her hand.

"Then Master, in the future, can we still do... things we love to do together?"

The atmosphere in the room changed instantly.

Mo Yingyue nodded vigorously beside her, indicating that her sister had asked the question she wanted to ask the most.

Gu Changyuan shook his head helplessly and gently waved his right hand.

A stream of spiritual energy condensed into an invisible force, accurately tapping Mo Yingluo on the forehead.

Mo Yingluo was knocked slightly backwards, and a faint red mark appeared on her forehead.

She reached up to rub the spot that was hit, but the smile on her face didn't diminish at all; instead, it grew even wider.

"Have all the elders prepare over the next few days."

Gu Changyuan's voice returned to a formal tone.

"As for those matters—"

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the seven women one by one.

"We will talk about it after we reach the Immortal Realm."

We will talk about it after we reach the Immortal Realm.

Did that mean—once they reached the Immortal Realm, it would be okay?

"Yes!"

The seven women replied in unison.

With that, the seven women happily left the room to carry out their Master's arrangements.

Only after the sound of the seven women's departing footsteps completely faded at the end of the corridor did Gu Changyuan sit back down properly.

The room returned to silence. He closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into his sea of knowledge.

The information brought back by the system slowly unfolded in his mind.

The Wanluo Immortal Realm was vast and boundless.

The layout of the immortal domains was extremely similar to the Jiuxiao Realm, divided into the East, West, South, North, and Central Continents. Each continent was further divided into five regions: East, West, South, North, and Central. However, the territorial scope was vastly larger than that of the Jiuxiao Realm.

The Imperial Court was located in the Central Region of the Central Continent, while the other four continents were dotted with tens of thousands of immortal sects and aristocratic families of all sizes.

When cultivators ascended from the lower realms to the upper realm, they were generally transported to random locations.

Those with good luck would land in safe areas and slowly figure things out. Those with bad luck might drop directly into a demonic beast's lair or some mighty expert's forbidden grounds, perishing right after ascension—which was not an uncommon occurrence.

However, for factions with upper realm backgrounds like the Five Families of the Central Continent, the situation was different.

Their main families in the upper realm would set up specialized teleportation arrays. When clansmen from the lower realm ascended, the tokens they carried would resonate with the arrays, pulling them directly into their family's territory.

Of course, there were also some disgusting factions.

They laid down special arrays at the exits of the ascension passages from the lower realms. These arrays didn't need precise targeting; they only needed to "capture."

When a cultivator ascended from the lower realm, the array would act like a massive net, "scooping" that cultivator out of the void and forcibly dragging them into their own territory.

Those with high talent might catch their eye and become members of the faction.

Disciples with low talent who were judged to be worthless would be directly enslaved and sent to mine ores.

Or they would be sent to beast arenas for people's amusement, or simply sold for resources to factions in need of labor.

One of the strongholds the system had filtered out for Gu Changyuan was a faction in the East Continent of the Immortal Domain called the Lanyu Immortal Sect, whose highest cultivation level was the Golden Immortal realm.

The Lanyu Immortal Sect held considerable status within the city it was located.

The sect's strength was not worth mentioning in the Immortal Realm, but they were quite skilled at their "business."

They had set up arrays within their sect specifically to capture "wild" ascended cultivators who lacked any upper realm background.

After capturing them, they would first assess their talent.

Those with good talent were kept, brainwashed, and taken in as disciples under the guise of "destiny."

As for those with poor talent—the men were sent to dig in spirit mines, while the women...

Day after day, year after year.

They had used this method for thousands of years without ever failing.

The system had modified this array, changing the interception into a reception.

After the modification, when Gu Changyuan ascended, he could choose to have all his disciples ascend together to the Lanyu Immortal Sect.

At that time, taking out the cultivators of the Lanyu Immortal Sect and claiming the mountain as king would be far more convenient than ascending directly to the Immortal Realm and starting over completely blind.

The sect was ready-made, the territory was ready-made, the arrays were ready-made, and even the spirit veins were ready-made.

If he could just use what was already there, why bother starting from scratch?

He spent the rest of the time recovering his vital energy in the room until the early morning of the next day.

Gu Changyuan stood up and stretched his somewhat stiff limbs.

Then, his figure vanished from the room.

Above the Heavenly Human Holy Land.

Gu Changyuan's figure appeared out of thin air above the clouds. Below him lay rolling mountain ranges and overlapping clusters of buildings.

He glanced down and gently waved his right hand.

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!

The sound of the Holy Land's grand bell echoed through the sky.

Four rings of the bell signified the highest level of summons in the Heavenly Human Holy Land.

As Gu Changyuan waved his right hand again, all the cultivators at the peak of the Tribulation Crossing realm were summoned by him.

Those from the Heavenly Human Holy Land, the Heavenly Demon Pavilion, the Heavenly Fiend Sect, the Five Families of the Central Continent, the Zichen Dynasty of the South Continent...

At this moment, they all converged in the sky above the Heavenly Human Holy Land.

Nearly a thousand peak Tribulation Crossing realm cultivators.

This lineup was enough to flatten the entire Jiuxiao Realm.

With the path to immortality severed for over a thousand years, the number of peak Tribulation Crossing realm cultivators in the Jiuxiao Realm had grown to a terrifying extent.

Many people had been stuck at the peak of the Tribulation Crossing realm for hundreds or even thousands of years, unable to ascend and unable to break through.

Gu Changyuan had taken in so many factions, and over this past century, he had continuously provided them with cultivation resources from his endless resource vault.

From spiritual materials to medicinal pills, from cultivation techniques to magical treasures, from heaven and earth spiritual items to supreme treasures of enlightenment—he had everything one could possibly need.

A century of accumulation had allowed the number of cultivators under his command who could ascend with him to reach such a grand scale.

Gu Changyuan looked at the faces looking up at him from below.

Nearly a thousand gazes fell upon him, holding reverence, anticipation, trust, and nervousness.

Gu Changyuan didn't say much.

Bold words were unnecessary at this moment; his very existence was the greatest promise.

He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the clouds above the Heavenly Human Holy Land, through the canopy of the Jiuxiao Realm, and through that invisible barrier.

His figure shot upward sharply, soaring toward the highest heavens.

His black robes snapped violently in the wind as he pushed his speed to the absolute limit.

Gu Changyuan raised his head, his eyes locked onto the seal.

He did not slow down.

Instead, he accelerated.

Like a shooting star soaring in defiance of the heavens, his figure erupted with blinding light as he crashed ruthlessly into the seal.

"Boom!!!"

The entire Nine Heavens Realm trembled.

Every living being within the realm, whether in bustling cities or deep within remote mountains, felt the earth-shattering tremor.