Chapter 7: Huai City

"Hello there, little Wangshu!"

Su Kuang reached out and ruffled Little Wangshu's hair. At the sound of that familiar voice, she trembled and stretched out both hands.

"I… I can really see…"

"Thank you, big brother. From now on, my life is yours!"

Tears slipped from the corners of Wangshu's eyes. Blind from birth, she had learned the coldness of the world well before her tenth year.

Counting Shen Yi, Su Kuang was only the second person who had ever treated her this kindly.

"Remember my name—Su Kuang. From now on, just call me Sect Master!"

"Sect Leader Shen, get a room ready at once. Let Wangshu wash up, change into clean clothes, and have a proper meal!"

Shen Yi glanced instinctively at Wangshu. He had wanted to do the same before, but the girl had refused, afraid of being a burden.

Now, though, Wangshu's eyes stayed fixed on Su Kuang, and she offered no refusal.

She was filthy. If she left with big brother like this, she would only make him lose face!

"Of course!"

"Sect Master, is Wangshu the kind of genius you mentioned—the kind single-mindedly devoted to the Dao?"

Xue Weiyang's face was full of curiosity. Su Kuang gave a slight nod.

"Little Wangshu's spiritual roots aren't very good. Her path isn't that of a pure spell cultivator—it's sound cultivation!"

Sound cultivation?

Sound cultivators usually had excellent spiritual roots as well, unless… Wangshu was simply born for this path.

Xue Weiyang's expression turned grave. She herself had no Sacred Body, yet she had overcome every obstacle to reach the peak of the Great Emperor Realm.

An Extreme Grade spiritual root was impressive, but it was only a ticket to becoming a powerhouse.

It wasn't unheard of for someone with Low-Grade roots to rise later in life—they simply had to work far harder.

The difference was that an Extreme Grade root could reach Qi Refining in ten days, while a Low-Grade root might need several years.

The further one went, the harder the road became, and the more time cultivation demanded.

"Never mind. The Sect Master must have his reasons!"

Before long.

Wangshu, freshly bathed and fed, stood timidly before Su Kuang.

And what a difference it was—compared to her earlier filthy state, it was like heaven and earth. The Wangshu standing there now was nothing short of an exquisite little girl.

"We leave for Lingxiao Sect the day after tomorrow. From now on, that place is your home!"

"Yes! I'll listen to everything… Sect Master!"

She said the words, but her small hand still clutched the hem of Su Kuang's robe.

She was ten years old, after all—Su Kuang couldn't keep her at his side every moment, so he simply left her in the care of Shen Qingluan and Xue Weiyang.

Once they had gone, Su Kuang rubbed his hands together and started drawing cards in his room.

"Time once again to witness hard work and sweat. System, summon them all!"

[Ding! Consumed one Gold Summon Card. Successfully summoned Late Quasi-Emperor Realm: Jin Tu!]

[Ding! Consumed two Silver Summon Cards. Successfully summoned two Peak Venerable Realm guards!]

Jin Tu?

Could this have something to do with Jin Chi?

Forget it. I'll find out when we get back.

…

Meanwhile.

Inside the grand hall of the Xuantian Holy Land.

Beyond the various Elders and Peak Masters, Zhao Xuan had also awakened several Supreme Elders—and Ancestor Xuantian himself.

"Holy Lord, you woke us. Has something happened to the Holy Land?"

Ancestor Xuantian swept the surrounding ten thousand miles with his divine sense, found nothing amiss, and grew even more puzzled.

Could it be… that the Xuantian Holy Land had offended a Hidden Imperial Clan or an Ancient Sect?

Zhao Xuan knew full well that the Ancestor was in closed-door cultivation, striving to take that final step!

A Quasi-Emperor cultivator had only three hundred thousand years of lifespan, while a Great Emperor realm expert lived for a million.

The Ancestor had already lived two hundred and eighty thousand years. Unless it concerned the life and death of the Xuantian Holy Land, he was not to be disturbed lightly.

"Ancestor, Elders—the Lingxiao Sect truly is an Ancient Sect. Just what I saw with my own eyes included three Great Emperor realm powerhouses!"

"Two of those Great Emperors are merely elders—not Senior Elders, not Supreme Elders!"

"Fortunately, by offering the Xuantian Holy Land as a vassal, I managed to latch onto this towering backer!"

After Zhao Xuan finished, he laid out the whole sequence of events for the Peak Masters, Supreme Elders, and Ancestor Xuantian.

Everyone exchanged glances, a chill running down their spines.

Thank goodness the Sect Master had reacted quickly. Otherwise, the Xuantian Holy Land would have been wiped from existence!

"Good, good, good! This time, the Holy Lord is a great contributor to our Xuantian Holy Land!"

Ancestor Xuantian's face was full of relief—but Zhao Xuan turned to look at him.

"Ancestor, with the Lingxiao Sect behind us, there may finally be hope for you to step into the Emperor Realm!"

Emperor Realm…

Ancestor Xuantian stared tremblingly at his own hands. Was he weak?

He possessed a Spiritual Body and an Extreme Grade spiritual root. But before the Emperor Realm, none of that amounted to much!

To step into the Emperor Realm, one had to comprehend the power of Laws.

Even though the Great Emperor Realm only meant initial control over Laws, it was already a qualitative transformation!

"Holy Lord, prepare everything the Lingxiao Sect requires at once!"

"Also… announce to all of Xuan Province that the Xuantian Holy Land is a vassal of the Lingxiao Sect!"

"As for announcing it to the other provinces—when you go to the Lingxiao Sect, ask Senior Su in person!"

Announcing it within Xuan Province was fine, because the Xuantian Holy Land held enough authority there.

But announcing it across the entire Nine Heavens Continent would bring the Lingxiao Sect unnecessary trouble. Ancestor Xuantian dared not make that call on his own.

After all, the revival of an Ancient Sect would inevitably draw the eyes of other Ancient Sects and Hidden Imperial Clans.

"Yes! Ancestor, I will see it done properly!"

Watching Zhao Xuan lead his people out, Ancestor Xuantian felt his mood soar.

"Hahaha… as long as we cling tightly to the Lingxiao Sect, our Xuantian Holy Land will surely rise to the next level!"

…

The next day.

Xue Weiyang and the other two women came to see Su Kuang. He was just about to pass the upper volume of the Chaos Dao Scripture to Wangshu when a familiar voice spread through the entire Shen estate.

A sweep of his divine sense revealed Gao Rong himself had come.

A mid-Great Sage cultivator, descending in person upon a small city of a hundred thousand—he was truly afraid of the Lingxiao Sect's wrath!

"Sect Leader Shen, the previous matter was entirely a misunderstanding. These are all the members of the Third Prince's lineage!"

"Please convey this to Fairy Qingluan!"

Su Kuang had barely looked up when the other families of Feiyun City and the City Lord's Manor came rushing toward the Shen estate.

And there, before Shen Yi, lay over a thousand corpses—the Third Prince among them.

"This…"

Shen Yi swallowed hard. No wonder Qingluan had said the Third Prince would never see today's sun—the Lingxiao Sect had made its move.

Seeing Shen Yi frozen, Gao Rong simply projected his voice across all of Feiyun City.

"I am Gao Rong, Ancestor of the Da Jing Imperial Clan. From this day forth, the Shen Family is an honored guest of our Imperial Clan!"

"Should anyone dare show them the slightest disrespect, every offering and soldier of the Imperial Clan will march out and exterminate their entire clan!"

Sss!

The City Lord of Feiyun City went pale. A single voice had nearly shattered the soul of a Sea Transformation Realm cultivator like him.

Terrifying! Utterly terrifying!

"The Imperial Clan is treating the Shen Family with such honor—did Shen Qingluan join the Xuantian Holy Land?"

"Really? Wasn't she crippled? Did she stumble onto some fortuitous encounter after leaving the Shen Family?"

"Hehe! The grudge between the Duan Family and the Shen Family runs deep. This time, the Duan Family won't get off lightly!"

The Duan Family?

With Gao Rong's cultivation, he caught every murmur with ease.

But this time, he had no intention of acting himself. Instead, he turned toward the empty air beside him.

"Second Offering, I'll leave the Duan Family to you!"