Beyond the Tiannan Continent.
Above a vast expanse of sea, an enormous flying boat sped away from the mainland as fast as it could fly.
Figures bustled across the decks.
Bewilderment, anxiety, and confusion were written on every face.
None of them could comprehend why the family, having finally settled down, was suddenly forced to abandon Bailu Marsh.
What left them even more lost and uneasy was where they were headed next.
Deep within the vessel, four figures sat circled in a private chamber, their expressions grim.
"The Eastern Desolation?"
"Yes. This journey takes us to the Eastern Desolation, to make our home at Pingshan Sea!"
"Pingshan Sea? Where is that?"
"I hear it was once the territory of a Nascent Soul upper sect, but was later swept up in a battle between Deity Transformation almighty experts and turned into an inland lake. Adjacent to it are the Taihu Domain, teeming with mortals, and the Bikong Region, rumored to be a lifeless dead end. Going there will allow us to expand the clan in peace, and since it isn't far from bustling Lingtian Pass, trading with the outside world will be far easier in the future."
"Such thoughtful arrangements? Were they made by that Fairy Gu, or the rumored Dan Master?"
"Neither. Ancestor Zhou traveled to the Eastern Desolation and personally chose Pingshan Sea for our Zhou family. Have faith in the Old Ancestor!"
At the mention of the Zhou family's sole Nascent Soul True Person in a millennium, all four fell into a heavy silence.
The secret bargain struck between Old Ancestor Zhou Yunshen and Dan Master Luo Chen had already been disclosed to them when Gu Caiyi quietly arrived at the Zhou family.
Only because of this had the clan been able to summon its kin from everywhere in such short order, bringing every single cultivator aboard to flee the Tiannan Continent together.
Yet to them, it was precisely their own shortcomings that had forced their Old Ancestor to plan so far ahead for their survival even on the verge of passing away.
Family Head Zhou Junxiao let out a heavy sigh. "Had Eldest Brother not failed his push into the Nascent Soul realm and perished, we would not have been left without a mighty figure to rely upon."
Elder Zhou Shuzhen still harbored doubts. "Yet don't we still have Fuyou? He has become the leading figure among the Tiannan Dao Palace's new generation, and I hear he even seized first place in the Dao Sect's Sixty-Year Grand Competition. With him around, our Zhou family would surely have a prosperous future within the Tianyuan Dao Sect. Now, not only are we flouting the Dao Palace's orders and leaving without permission, but we have abandoned Fuyou as well."
At the mention of Zhou Fuyou, deep regret surfaced in Zhou Junxiao's eyes.
There was a time when he, too, believed that boy was the future hope of the Zhou clan.
Only after learning the truth did he realize the youth was both their hope and the root of their doom.
Only by leaving Tiannan could the Zhou family survive.
Staying behind would only bring catastrophe upon the clan through Zhou Fuyou!
Seeing his silence, Zhou Shuzhen could not help adding, "Even setting Zhou Fuyou aside, what of the dozen or so exceptional clansmen still cultivating in the Tiannan Dao Palace? Are we truly abandoning them like this?"
At the side, Zhou Chongxiao spoke with equal worry. "We defied the Tiannan Dao Palace's ban and slipped away just as the continent-wide formation was activated. Those clansmen will inevitably face retribution afterward."
Zhou Junxiao pressed his lips together, his face resolute.
"That is their fate!"
Just as the four Golden Core cultivators of the Zhou family were conferring, a crisp, melodious voice drifted in from outside.
"Where do you think you are going?"
The voice felt as pleasant as a spring breeze at first listen, yet the inquiry within it was chilled through and through.
The faces of all four Zhou family Golden Cores blanched simultaneously.
A True Person of the Dao Sect had arrived!
Out on the deck, chaos erupted among the Zhou clansmen. Looking at the green-robed woman hovering in the sky after chasing them down, terror and reverence filled their eyes.
As heavenly might pressed downward, the swift flying boat was brought to a grinding halt by sheer force.
Fu Qinglan looked at the panicked low-tier cultivators, her delicate brows knitting slightly.
How could people like this dare defy the ban on their own?
Behind the Zhou family's sudden relocation, there had to be someone pulling the strings.
Right at that moment—
Clang!
The shrill screech of a blade tearing through silk rang out.
A flaw was gouged into the Nascent Soul domain pinning the vessel down. The boat roared back to life, fleeing into the distance.
Fu Qinglan did not pursue, because someone had stepped into her path.
It was a woman—mature and curvaceous, with a tall, slender figure. Her bright, dignified elegance carried the unwavering resolve of a true seeker of the Dao.
Fu Qinglan had never met her, yet for some reason, she felt strangely familiar.
"Who are you?"
"Who I am does not matter. What matters is that the Central Plains are about to reunite, yet Fairy Qinglan is not guarding the Tiannan Continent to maintain the formation. If an accident occurs, can you bear the blame?"
Fu Qinglan's expression shifted slightly. With the formations across all three continents activating simultaneously, concealment was impossible.
Yet the reunion of the Central Plains was not something that could be deduced from mere appearances.
How did this woman know of it, and why was she spiriting away the Zhou family at this exact moment?
Fu Qinglan's face turned icy.
"Whoever you are, the Zhou family is the kin of my disciple. I cannot allow you to lead him into dishonor!"
As she spoke, her Nascent Soul domain crashed down upon her opponent.
Intent on testing her strength, the woman released her own Nascent Soul domain in turn.
Yet upon the first clash, her domain collapsed into a rout, falling back step by step.
Had swirling sword qi not ringed her to shield her immediate perimeter, she might not have even maintained her hold over the stray spiritual energy between heaven and earth.
In the end, she had achieved the Nascent Soul realm too recently to match her foe.
"So this is the Dao Sect's prodigy, the champion of the Five-Hundred-Year Grotto-Heaven Competition?"
The woman offered praise before raising her palm, sending an array diagram drifting into the sky.
Fu Qinglan looked impassive. "An array cultivator?"
In the next instant!
Before her eyes, five glimmers like fireflies shot forth, and countless sword beams burst forth, forming a vast tempest of sword qi in the blink of an eye.
A colossal sword formation took shape!
Fu Qinglan's expression shifted. "A sword cultivator after all!"
She flicked her fingers in a blossom gesture, and an emerald leaf materialized before her, wrapping snugly around her body.
This was her natal magic treasure, tempered over centuries and long since elevated to the rank of True Artifact. While its defensive might was not absolute, it was more than sufficient to withstand ordinary sword formations.
Yet as countless sword beams spun into thread-like filaments, slashing forward in a dense thicket, tiny sword marks began appearing across the emerald leaf.
Fu Qinglan's face changed dramatically. "A sword formation formed of five True Artifact sword pellets!"
At this realization, she dared hold back no longer.
If she remained passive until the sword formation fully settled, even she would be injured.
With a thought, Fu Qinglan formed hand seals and chanted an incantation, her internal mana surging as external vitality roiled.
She paid no attention to the sword pellets crisscrossing through the air.
With her discernment, she understood clearly that this woman's realm was lacking and her mana too thin to finely control each sword pellet with precision.
What truly kept this great array turning was that array diagram!
Fu Qinglan looked up sharply, a ruthless glint in her eyes, and struck with a palm.
Divine ability—Great Creation Seal!
A vibrant emerald handprint swept through layers of sword qi, snapping sword threads, thrusting forward unimpeded.
A thunderous boom rang out in midair.
Boom!
The array diagram tumbled through the air, cracks spreading across its surface.
The five sword pellets scattered in disarray, and the array held together by all the woman's might abruptly collapsed. Shock appeared on the bright woman's face as she blurted out:
"Impossible! How could the Great Five Elements Sword Formation bestowed by my husband be broken?"
Yet she quickly realized that her cultivation was simply too shallow to wield the formation skillfully. Furthermore, the foe before her was no ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.
The might of that single palm strike was unquestionably at the level of a Great Cultivator.
Still, she had bought enough time for the Zhou family.
In that case, it was time to withdraw!
The array diagram curled around her flank, and the five sword pellets merged into one, transforming into a rainbow streak of sword light that engulfed both her and the diagram before shooting into the distance.
Before departing, the woman looked back with curiosity.
The Dao Sect prodigy remained frozen where she stood, unexpectedly making no move to pursue.
"How strange."
A rainbow streak of sword qi tore through the sky, vanishing into the horizon.
The green-robed woman stood dumbfounded where she was, staring down at a shallow sword mark on her palm.
A faint murmur escaped her lips.
"That array diagram's style..."
"That mana signature..."
"There is no mistake—it is his handiwork!"
Immediately after, an irrepressible dread welled up within Fu Qinglan's heart.
"Why did he send someone to take the Zhou family away?"
"And the person he sent called him husband. No wonder she looked familiar—when I searched for him in the Eastern Desolation years ago, I saw her portrait. It is Gu Caiyi!"
"To dispatch someone so close to him on this mission, why didn't he come himself?"
"Why would the Zhou family willingly leave with Gu Caiyi? They had already taken root in the Tiannan Continent, with someone like Fuyou—a leading figure of the contemporary Tianyuan Dao Sect—to rely upon. Why shun what was near at hand to seek refuge with him in the Eastern Desolation?"
Too many questions surged forth after shattering that array diagram crafted by him.
Too much unease swelled until it turned into an unspeakable terror.
Why do this?
Why now, of all times?
The Zhou family, Zhou Fuyou, God Burial Valley, the Black King attacking Zhenhai City...
As the distant sword rainbow vanished from sight, leaving behind only a long void trail in the sky, the green-robed woman snapped awake from her paralyzing dread.
"Luo Chen!"
Without hesitation, Fu Qinglan turned and sped back toward the Tiannan Continent.
She moved at the absolute limit of her speed, faster than she had ever flown in her life.
Once over the mainland, she did not pause for a second, disregarding her duties to patrol the perimeter and guard the formation, heading straight for the Tiannan Dao Palace.
Along the way, she even defied prohibitions to repeatedly activate short-range teleportation formations.
At last, half a day later, she returned to the Tiannan Dao Palace.
The moment she arrived, before Monastery Head Zhan Bingtao could question her, she blurted out, "Someone intends harm against the Tianyuan Dao Sect! We must reinforce the ancestral court at once!"
Zhan Bingtao's face altered drastically.
Beside him, Mo Family Patriarch Mo Liheng was stunned as well.
Who in the world would dare... No, someone truly had dared, over a century ago, charging into the Central Plains.
"Has Monarch Qixia staged a comeback?"
Fu Qinglan took a deep breath. "No, it is Luo Chen!"
Hearing that, Mo Liheng breathed a sigh of relief instead. "So it's him!"
Zhan Bingtao chuckled. "Junior Sister, that Luo Chen may enjoy the reputation of being the foremost figure beneath Deity Transformation, but that was only because there were no great experts in the Western Desert Buddhist Lands, allowing him to carve out an outsized name. Even if he truly possesses strength unmatched beneath Deity Transformation, compared to our Tianyuan Dao Sect, he is nothing more than an ant. Where would he get the audacity?"
Fu Qinglan shook her head, her face laden with worry. "No, you do not know him. Beneath his seemingly gentle demeanor lies extreme madness. Once someone blocks his path, he will destroy them no matter who they are. In the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven years ago, Shi Ju was proof. Today, our Tianyuan Dao Sect is no different!"
Zhan Bingtao grew slightly more solemn. "Junior Sister, isn't that an exaggeration?"
"Not in the slightest!" Fu Qinglan stated firmly. "He has already made his move—or rather, he began laying the groundwork long ago!"
Zhan Bingtao and Mo Liheng exchanged bewildered glances.
Next, Fu Qinglan laid out everything she had discovered over the years, connecting the threads until the Zhou family's extraction at this critical juncture corroborated her suspicions beyond doubt.
"To reclaim his life soul, to attain the Dao of Longevity, Luo Chen will never back down, not even against our Tianyuan Dao Sect! From what I know of him, he will exhaust every scrap of power at his disposal to achieve his goal!"
After hearing her explanation and deductions, Zhan Bingtao's expression turned exceedingly grave.
"If there were clues back then, why did you not speak earlier?"
"I... I..." Fu Qinglan's pale lips trembled, shame written across her face.
Zhan Bingtao struck the table with a palm, shattering the solid wood into fine powder.
"Liheng, guard the Tiannan Dao Palace!"
"Understood, leave it to me!"
"Qinglan, recall the three Hall Masters, and notify the True Persons of the Wen, Bu, Hu, and Zhai clans. We depart for the Dongyuan Continent immediately!"
"Yes!" Fu Qinglan answered heavily.
She had to stop Luo Chen. Compared to certain vague sentiments, the sect and her clan were far more important to her.
Yet!
The instant Fu Qinglan stepped out of the hall, the entire earth shook violently.
The sudden tremor caught her off balance in her chaotic state of mind, causing her to stagger involuntarily.
Fu Qinglan supported herself against a pillar, her face filled with bewilderment.
"It stopped?"
Under the pull of the Heavenly Vault Continent-Gathering Formation, the Tiannan Continent, which should have been steadily converging toward Tiandi Island, had come to a halt at this very moment?
Just what had happened over on the Dongyuan Continent?
...
Winding back time slightly.
Beyond the Dongyuan Continent, facing toward the Eastern Desolation.
Robed in black Daoist vestments, Luo Chen stood aloft in the sky, looking down upon the boundless sea.
A giant turtle parted the waves, rising slowly from the unfathomable depths of the ocean.
Upon the turtle's back stood dozens of figures, each radiating formidable auras.
Seeing this, Luo Chen smiled faintly.
"You have arrived."
With solemn expressions, the crowd spoke in unison: "Greetings, Dan Master!"
Luo Chen nodded. "Good. Since everyone is here, let the battle commence! I shall strike first; follow behind me, storm inside, kill, and shatter the formations!"
With that, he turned to face the Dongyuan Continent.
His ten fingers blurred with practiced ease, weaving seals and chants.
Mana circulated through his body, his primordial spirit resonating with the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.
One hand formed the Nirvana Seal, the other the Spirit Subjugation Seal; the two seals converged into his renowned signature art—the Qingyang Great Handprint!
After gathering momentum for several breaths!
As his right palm slowly pushed forward, a miniature handprint appeared in the sky.
Luo Chen let out a low shout.
"Go!"
The handprint drifted steadily toward the Dongyuan Continent. Along the way, it absorbed vast amounts of world vitality, swelling in size and accelerating with every moment.
Eventually, wherever the palm print passed, colossal waves rolled back and the ocean parted, exposing the seabed a thousand zhang below.
The vast ocean could not check its advance, and the land offered no obstacle whatsoever.
The gargantuan Qingyang handprint drove relentlessly forward, sweeping across thousands, tens of thousands of li.
Along its path, it shattered countless formations and leveled countless peaks. Many mighty experts of the Tianyuan Dao Sect emerged, yet beneath this terrifying palm, none possessed even the courage of a mantis trying to stop a chariot. They could only watch helplessly as the immense Qingyang handprint flattened everything from east to west.
All the way to the Dao Sect's ancestral court—the Lanke Mountain Range!
Several figures had long been forewarned and stood arrayed in battle order, unleashing the mountain-protecting grand formation with all their strength.
"Everyone, beware!"
"After continuously absorbing world vitality, the power of that azure handprint has reached the level of a full-power strike from a Deity Transformation almighty! It cannot be met head-on!"
"Activate the mountain-protecting array to block it, then hold the formation eye of the Heavenly Vault Continent-Gathering Formation!"
Amidst the shouting, dazzling curtains of light rose across the Lanke peaks, forming wall after wall across the path of the Qingyang Great Handprint.
Facing all of this, having escaped all external control after being unleashed, the Qingyang Great Handprint paid no heed, driving relentlessly onward.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Layers of light screens shattered one after another.
The gigantic handprint also dwindled under the relentless collisions.
By the time it reached Zuowang Peak in the Lanke Mountain Range, it had shrunk to the size of an ordinary human palm.
Slap!
This tiny palm pressed against Zuowang Peak, leaving only a shallow imprint.
Seeing this, the cultivators of the Tianyuan Dao Sect finally exhaled.
They had blocked it!
Yet in the next instant.
A bizarre sound of stone fracturing inch by inch whispered into countless ears.
Then, a deafening roar, like a demon howling from the depths of hell, detonated across the peaks.
Roar!
Zuowang Peak, which had stood in the Lanke Mountain Range for millions of years, collapsed into rubble before countless disbelieving eyes.
A behemoth a thousand zhang tall, wreathed in roiling ghostly qi, slowly rose to its feet.
It looked like an ox without horns, standing upon a single leg.
Its body was mottled with old sword scars.
A pair of colossal eyes burned with an insatiable lust for slaughter and destruction.
It looked down upon the dumbfounded Dao Sect cultivators, opened its maw, and unleashed a thunderous blast.
Roar!
Under this roar, figures dropped from the sky like rain.
"All forces, follow me to slay this ghost-god! Repair the formation eye with everything you have!"
The Late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator presiding over the area roared in fury, his eyes nearly tearing at the corners.
Meanwhile, far in the distance, by the seashore.
Facing the awestruck gazes around him, Luo Chen's expression remained calm.
"The rest I leave to you!"
His figure gradually faded into the void. A teleportation formation had long been prepared here; when he reappeared, he was already beyond Tiandi Island.
After his departure, the experts of the Eastern Desolation looked at one another and surveyed their surroundings, finally turning their gazes upon the smoke-veiled, turbulent continent ahead.
Taking the lead, Wang Yuan roared with thunderous force:
"Kill!"
With that, cultivators swarmed like locusts, surging across the Dongyuan Continent in an overwhelming wave.
Magnificent streaks of flying light crossed the sky, vast domains unfurled, and formidable mana began pouring out over this land that was once the most prosperous in the Mountain Sea Realm.
Chapter 1076