Jiang Qingshan took a deep breath. The spiritual energy within his body circulated frantically, and his Golden Core trembled with increasing violence.
He wanted to make a move, to fight back, to let Gu Chengyin know that the Qingjian Sect was not some soft persimmon to be easily squeezed.
But Jiang Qingshan did not dare.
Because he felt another gaze.
Lin Qingyan.
From the moment Gu Chengyin released his aura, this Jingzhe of the Heavenly Master Mansion had locked onto him.
Jiang Qingshan swept his peripheral vision over and saw Lin Qingyan standing there quietly, her expression cold and detached.
Her aura did not leak out, her spiritual energy was not circulating, and she had not even assumed any offensive posture.
But Jiang Qingshan knew that if he made even the slightest abnormal movement.
In the next second, he would directly face Lin Qingyan's golden lightning.
That was the strongest killing power of this generation in the Heavenly Master Mansion, an invincible Golden Core existence capable of fighting three at once.
What was more, the bloodline suppression was still continuing, and his Qingjian Mantra had already been weakened by thirty percent.
To fight Lin Qingyan under these circumstances.
He would undoubtedly lose.
Jiang Qingshan froze in place, the expression on his aged face shifting constantly.
Time trickled by.
The sunlight turned from molten gold to a warm orange, and dust motes floated slowly in the rays of light.
The kneeling disciples had gradually recovered from their shock.
Yet they remained kneeling. It was not that they did not want to get up, but that they could not.
The bloodline suppression was still ongoing. In the face of this suppression, their Qingjian Mantra was like a mouse meeting a cat, unable to muster even the slightest thought of resistance.
Some tried to forcibly circulate their spiritual energy, but only trembling came from their dantians.
Some struggled to stand up, but the moment their knees left the bluestone, they were suppressed and fell back down.
Looking from afar, among the pavilions, on the sword terraces, and along the mountain paths, kneeling figures were everywhere.
Some wore azure Daoist robes, some carried long swords on their backs, and some even maintained their sword-practicing postures.
But at this moment, all of them bowed their heads before the bloodline suppression.
In the center of the plaza, Gu Chengyin still stood quietly.
His aura was still radiating, the Qingyun Mantra was still circulating, and that faint smile still hung on the corners of his lips.
He just looked down upon the entire subjugated sect like this.
There was no smugness, no arrogance, and not the slightest look of complacency.
Only calmness.
A calmness as if he were doing an insignificant little thing.
But this calmness was more heart-stopping than any arrogance.
Because he was not showing off, he was merely demonstrating.
Demonstrating what absolute power was.
Demonstrating what bloodline suppression was.
Demonstrating what it meant to crush someone completely.
Finally, Gu Chengyin withdrew his aura.
The bloodline suppression that had forced the entire Qingjian Sect to bow receded like the tide, vanishing into the air.
The kneeling disciples felt as if they had received a grand pardon. They slumped to the ground one after another, panting heavily.
The gazes they directed at Gu Chengyin were filled with shock mixed with bewilderment, and bewilderment mixed with an indescribable reverence.
This was a reverence born in their bloodlines.
When the Qingjian Mantra met the Qingyun Mantra, this sense of submission could not be resisted by mere willpower.
Jiang Qingshan stood in place, taking a deep breath.
His white robe was already soaked with sweat, and his aged face was full of exhaustion.
Although the bloodline suppression had disappeared, his Qingjian Mantra was still trembling slightly, like a beast that had not recovered from its fright.
He looked at Gu Chengyin, his gaze extremely complex.
There was anger, wariness, incomprehension, and a reverence that even he himself was unwilling to admit.
The heir of the Qingyun Immortal Clan.
These words only truly sank into Jiang Qingshan's heart at this moment.
"Sect Master Jiang, have you rested enough?"
Jiang Qingshan's Adam's apple bobbed, but he did not speak.
What could he say?
He remained silent for a long time before finally cupping his hands and bowing.
"Sect Master of the Qingjian Sect, Jiang Qingshan."
"Respectfully welcomes the heir of the Immortal Clan."
This bow was not a courtesy to an imperial official, nor was it a pleasantry to the head of the inspection team.
It was a submission to a superior.
Gu Chengyin smiled faintly and reached out to help Jiang Qingshan up.
"Sect Master Jiang, there is no need to be so polite. This junior still respects you very much."
"Now, we can rest."
From beginning to end, Gu Chengyin released his aura for only one purpose.
To let Jiang Qingshan, the elders and higher-ups behind him, and the entire Qingjian Sect clearly know one thing.
He was the heir of the Qingyun Immortal Clan.
At the same time, he was the Junior Preceptor to the Crown Prince, the Chief Eunuch of the Internal Affairs Department, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and the Marquis of Equal Standing.
He was also the head of the Sect Inspection Team.
And within this inspection team, there was Lin Qingyan, invincible in the Golden Core realm.
There was Chen Busha, the strongest in the Foundation Establishment realm.
There were the Golden Feather Guards, the Internal Affairs Department, the Luodu Heavenly Master Mansion, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Chief Surveillance Office, the Ministry of Justice, and so on.
From top to bottom, there were a full two hundred elite experts.
Therefore, he, Gu Chengyin, was no ordinary person.
He was not a chess piece to be arbitrarily controlled by the Qingjian Sect.
On this chessboard, he was the chess player.
This was an establishment of authority.
It was also a deterrent.
And as the Sect Master of the Qingjian Sect, Jiang Qingshan had only two choices before him.
First, clash head-on.
The consequence would be Gu Chengyin ordering the entire Qingjian Sect to be directly flattened.
With the strength of the Sect Inspection Team, coupled with the bloodline suppression of the Qingyun Mantra, this would by no means be a difficult task.
Afterward, a simple sentence like "Bandits were found gathering at the Qingjian Sect" would settle the matter.
The grand banner Gu Chengyin had prepared could be used on other sects, and it could also be used on the Qingjian Sect.
Second, submit.
This was also the choice Jiang Qingshan ultimately made.
After being personally helped up by Gu Chengyin, Jiang Qingshan stood in place, the expression on his face shifting unpredictably.
He was at the Golden Core realm, the Sect Master of the Qingjian Sect, and an expert who had cultivated for decades.
He had seen great storms, court intrigues, sect struggles, and life-and-death moments.
But at this moment, facing Gu Chengyin, he felt a profound sense of powerlessness.
Because Gu Chengyin had far too many cards in his hand.
So many that he simply had no choice.
So many that he could only yield.
Jiang Qingshan took a deep breath, stepped aside, and made a gesture of invitation.
But Gu Chengyin did not move. He just stood there, looking indifferently at Jiang Qingshan.
Jiang Qingshan's heart tightened.
What did this mean?
Was he still not satisfied?
What more did he want?
While he was pondering, he saw Chen Busha behind Gu Chengyin slowly raise his hand.
Then press it down gently.
In the next breath.
Waves of spiritual energy fluctuations suddenly surged from the surroundings.
It was the experts of the inspection team retracting their auras.
Jiang Qingshan's pupils shrank slightly as his peripheral vision swept the area.
Just now, he had been so immersed in Gu Chengyin's bloodline suppression that he had not noticed.
The surroundings had unknowingly been filled with people.
These people wore various official robes: the black armor of the Golden Feather Guards, the brocade robes of the Internal Affairs Department, the Daoist robes of the Heavenly Master Mansion.
There were the green shirts of the Ministry of Rites, the martial attire of the Ministry of War, the Xiezhi badges of the Chief Surveillance Office, the dark official uniforms of the Ministry of Justice...
A full two hundred people, all of them in the Foundation Establishment realm, and all of them experts.
They stood behind pillars, hid atop pavilions, or concealed themselves in the shadows of the trees.
When that bloodline suppression erupted just now, they had made no movement.
But Jiang Qingshan knew that as long as Gu Chengyin gave the order, these people would strike immediately.
Flattening the Qingjian Sect.
It was absolutely not an empty threat.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
or! A blessing for those who struggle with love, a guidebook for dating novices. Quickly match with your dream goddess! Complete walkthroughs earn rewards, and perfect walkthroughs unlock limited achievements!】 Shen Yi, an ordinary office worker, accidentally downloads a mini-game called Dating Simulator. The mini-game is simple: randomly search for dating targets, simulate dates, and receive rewards upon successful confession. Rewards include but are not limited to money, attributes, and skills. The higher the evaluation, the better the rewards, with perfect ratings unlocking mysterious achievements. Shen Yi plans to use this mysterious mini-game to continuously pursue targets and improve himself, making his life better and better. ...... However, after several successful walkthroughs, Shen Yi suddenly notices something strange - the targets he previously simulated dating seem to be searching for him in real life?
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
