The Goldflow Prefecture is situated in the central region of the Imperial Dynasty. With sects and Immortal Clans standing in great numbers, it is a place of visible prosperity.
It also serves as a vital transportation hub for the empire; trade from all major prefectures passes through here, and many have established shops within its borders, turning it into a veritable Commercial Capital.
As dawn broke, a white mist pervaded a small town, within which human figures began to appear.
At a tea stall in the morning market, the shopkeeper was still stoking the fire to steam buns.
Through the rising steam, he spotted a black shadow. He had intended to call out a greeting, but the moment the figure arrived, the shopkeeper's expression froze.
The man was clad in black robes, with iron chains wrapped around his body that bound a coffin to him.
He nodded to the shopkeeper, then produced a medicinal pill—one that dazzled the senses with a mere glance—and placed it to the side, signaling the shopkeeper to push the tables and chairs together.
The shopkeeper wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
Early this morning, a succession of strange individuals had arrived in this small town and seated themselves beneath his wooden shed.
A figure in white carrying a sword case had just arrived—how could such an appearance belong to a mere mortal?
Under the cover of the heavy fog, more people arrived one after another.
They looked like a large family that had arranged to have morning tea together.
There was a woman of stunning beauty dressed in simple clothes; a woman in Daoist robes fondling a jade-green bamboo pole as if it were a rare treasure; a two-meter-tall shirtless brawny man rubbing his bald head; a Daoist priest with an otherworldly aura; a middle-aged man sitting with an imposing and extraordinary bearing; and three youths who, while respectful, looked anything but decent...
With his forehead drenched in cold sweat, the shopkeeper served steamer after steamer of buns. The beautiful woman took the teapot and poured the tea herself.
"Shopkeeper, bring us eighty steamers of buns."
Li Yaotie called out an order casually, then looked toward Li Dalong. "Father, why did you choose such a place?"
Li Dalong smiled. "I can't recall how long it has been since our whole family ate a meal together outside."
Hearing this, the group fell silent for a long moment. Several hundred years had passed in the blink of an eye, yet everything felt as if it were yesterday.
Soon, however, smiles returned to everyone's faces. Some were pale, their injuries clearly unhealed, yet they acted as if nothing was amiss, savoring this rare morning tea after the great battle.
.....
High in the skies above the Goldflow Prefecture.
Su Chen wore a red leaf hanging around his neck.
It was a Primordial Red Leaf taken from the very center of the Old Tree's crown, possessing the supreme efficacy for shielding against Heavenly Secrets.
Over these years, he had relied on this leaf to evade the tracking of powerful experts.
He was clad in Li clan armor, and hanging at his waist were a small sword, a spirit tablet, and a medicine gourd.
"Peerless Hall, Min Tiange, Mu Xueqing."
In the past, whenever Su Chen spoke the names of his former haunts and old acquaintances, his expression would invariably turn dark and gloomy. But now, his expression was tranquil, his eyes as still as an ancient well without a ripple.
He had already received intelligence from the family; just a few days ago, he learned of the powerful forces controlled from behind the scenes by the Peerless Hall.
"Impressive skills. So, after I died sixty thousand years ago, you brought Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems and the Grand Tower under your fold. Min Tiange, oh Min Tiange... your ambition is truly not small."
Su Chen had to admit that with sixty thousand years having passed, those old acquaintances of his had long since reached a completely different realm.
The enemies he faced now were inevitably far beyond his current self.
He gazed down at the sect on the ground named the "Sect of Righteous Qi." Within the sect, he could see disciples flying back and forth on their swords.
Under the perception of his Divine Soul, the strongest cultivator on the ground appeared to be no higher than the Golden Core Realm.
Yet Su Chen was certain: this was the headquarters of the Grand Tower, and this was the result he had obtained after years of investigation!
"With the Peerless Hall coming under the scrutiny of the Immortal Suppression Department, Min Tiange did not hesitate for a moment to surrender Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, the Grand Tower, and the Three Corpses of Ling Tian.
Yet, this man is driven by greed. This implies that to him, neither these two major forces nor the Three Corpses hold any further significance."
A trace of worry flashed across Su Chen's expression.
"Back then, the opportunity he stole from me was sufficient to allow him to break through to the Body Integration Realm.
The Three Corpses of Ling Tian possess the Imperial Bloodline, and he used Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems and the Grand Tower to study them for sixty thousand years.
He also seized the Dao Seed of Azure Mist Mountain, using it to embed his schemes within the major factions of the Azure Dynasty."
"Now that the dynasty is crumbling and there is hardly anyone left in the world capable of suppressing him, he is undoubtedly plotting something..."
As he spoke, Su Chen raised an eyebrow. He chanted an incantation and concealed his figure.
Within the cloud-filled sky, Spirit Boats approached one after another, the figures aboard them radiating powerful auras.