The atmosphere inside the Patriarch's Hall of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect was thick enough to choke a mortal. It was the kind of heavy, suffocating silence that usually preceded a declaration of war or a sect-destroying calamity.
However, the source of this tension wasn't an invading army. It was a man with his boots on the table.
Ling Feng reclined in the grand, high-backed chair usually reserved for visiting dignitaries, his posture the definition of negligent. He picked at his ear with a pinky finger, looking utterly bored, while Su Yonghuang, the majestic Sect Master, paced back and forth like a caged tigress. Her robes, embroidered with the solar motifs of the Solar Immortal Physique, rustled sharply with every agitated turn.
"You are taking them all?" Su Yonghuang stopped mid-stride, her beautiful brows furrowed in a mixture of disbelief and concern. She gestured to the empty space where his designated entourage would be. "Shuangyan, Baojiao, and Little Pei? You intend to strip the sect of its core geniuses and leave us defenseless?"
Ling Feng blew the imaginary dust off his pinky and finally looked at her, a lazy grin stretching across his face.
"Defenseless? Come on, my dear, give yourself some credit," Ling Feng laughed, the sound echoing irreverently against the ancient stone pillars. "We've got Old Man Gu flexing his new Enlightened Being muscles. He's practically vibrating with energy these days. And you? You're already sitting at the peak of the Ancient Saint realm. Plus, I set up that chaotic formation around the gate. Unless some Virtrious Paragon decides to drop by for a cup of tea and a chat, this place is tighter than a drum. A fly couldn't get in unless I gave it a hall pass."
Su Yonghuang's cheeks colored slightly, not at the tactical assessment, but at the address. "Don't call me 'my dear' in the war room," she scolded, though the bite in her tone was non-existent.
She sighed, a long, weary sound, and rubbed her temples as if trying to massage away a headache named Ling Feng.
"The War God Temple..." she began, her voice dropping to a serious, almost reverent whisper. "Dealing with them is like dancing on a knife's edge, Ling Feng. They are a behemoth that has stood since the Desolate Era. They are arrogant, demanding, and accustomed to ruling the world. And you... you have a tendency to..."
"Create chaos?" Ling Feng offered helpfully, tilting his head.
"Provoke disaster," she corrected sharply.
"Pot-ay-to, Pot-ah-to." Ling Feng swung his legs off the table and stood up. The sudden movement wasn't fast, but it carried a kinetic weight that made the air in the room shift. He walked toward her, his casual stride eating up the distance between them. "Look, here's the lowdown. The War God Temple wants to bury their old fossil, War God Mu, to extend his life. They need a guide. I'm just going there to oversee the tour. It's a babysitting gig."
"And the payment?" she pressed, trying to maintain her authoritative facade.
"They promised a treasure," Ling Feng waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting away a gnat. "Probably some dusty artifact they dug out of a basement. I don't give a damn about their payout. My eyes are on the Burial Ground itself. There are things sitting in that dirt that belong in my pocket, not rotting away in the mud."
Su Yonghuang looked up at him. She was a peak Ancient Saint, a powerhouse who could suppress rivers and mountains, yet standing next to Ling Feng always made her feel... small.
It wasn't that he was physically imposing, but his presence was vast. It was an oceanic pressure, deep and unfathomable. His confidence wasn't the arrogant posturing of a Young Master; it was the factual understanding of a predator who knew exactly where he sat on the food chain—at the very top.
"Just..." She hesitated, her mask of the stoic Sect Master cracking to reveal the worried woman beneath. "Be careful. The Ancient Heavenly Corpse Burial Ground is one of the Twelve Burial Grounds. It eats Sovereigns for breakfast. It is a place where death reigns supreme."
Ling Feng smiled. It wasn't his usual mocking smirk or his cocky grin. It was a genuine, warm expression that reached his eyes, softening his sharp features. It made Su Yonghuang's heart skip a beat, a traitorous reaction she couldn't suppress.
"Worried about your husband?" he teased softly, his voice dropping to an intimate rumble.
"You are not my husband," she retorted, looking away toward the tapestries on the wall, her neck flushing a lovely shade of pink.
"Not yet. But all good things come with time, right?" Ling Feng stepped closer, invading her personal space with zero hesitation. He lowered his voice further, leaning down. "I'm bringing the girls because they need the exposure. Ancient Sky City is a melting pot. It'll be good for their cultivation to see how big the world really is. Plus... I need someone to carry my bags."
"You have an Inner Void," she pointed out dryly, refusing to meet his eyes.
"Metaphorical bags. Emotional baggage. It gets heavy," Ling Feng chuckled. He reached out, his hand moving with a gentleness that belied his power, and tucked a stray lock of silky black hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered on her cheek, warm and rough. "I'd invite you, but someone needs to keep the kids in line here. Can't have the sect falling apart while dad is away on a business trip."
Su Yonghuang leaned into his touch for a fraction of a second—a moment of weakness—before her discipline kicked in. She composed herself, straightening her spine. "Just go. Before I change my mind and lock you in the meditative cave for another year."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Ling Feng leaned in. Su Yonghuang flinched slightly, expecting a tease or a flick on the forehead, but he moved with deliberate purpose. Not super speed, just pure, confident intent. He planted a firm, lingering kiss right on her lips.
It wasn't a quick peck. It was a claim. It was the stamp of ownership and a promise of return.
Su Yonghuang froze. Her eyes widened, her hands hovering in the air before instinctively gripping the lapels of his robes to steady herself. For a moment, the world stopped without the use of a Chaos Emerald.
The Grand Dao, the sect politics, the looming threat of the Burial Ground—it all evaporated, leaving only the heat of his lips and the scent of ozone and chaos that clung to him.
When he finally pulled back, Su Yonghuang was breathless. Her face burned a brilliant crimson, her composure shattered into a thousand pieces.
"You..." she stammered, all her Ancient Saint dignity evaporating into the ether.
"Payment in advance," Ling Feng winked, stepping back with a satisfied smirk. "I'll bring you back a souvenir. Maybe a nice skeleton. Or something good for the sect."
Before she could shout at him, slap him, or—heaven forbid—pull him back for another kiss, Ling Feng turned on his heel. He walked toward the entrance where Li Shuangyan, Chen Baojiao, and Xu Pei were waiting. The three beauties had their bags packed and were biting their lips, trying very hard not to giggle at their Sect Master's thoroughly flustered state.
"Alright, ladies!" Ling Feng clapped his hands together, the sound sharp and energetic. "Field trip time. Next stop: Ancient Sky City. Try to keep up."
"Are we taking a portal?" Xu Pei asked, adjusting her pack. Her eyes were bright with excitement; she had rarely left the sect's territory.
"Portals? For us?" Ling Feng scoffed, looking offended. "Portals are for people who like standing in line and paying tolls. We're taking the express line."
Inside his Inner Void, the universe trembled. The Cyan Chaos Emerald began to spin violently, emitting a high-pitched hum that only Ling Feng could hear. The energy of Time and Space flooded his meridians.
"Chaos Control."
He didn't freeze time. He didn't tear open a portal. He reached out with his will, grabbed the fabric of space, and folded it like a piece of paper. He wrapped his chaotic energy around the three girls, a protective cocoon against the void.
"Hold onto your lunch," he advised casually.
ZAP!
There was no chanting of Dao laws, no swirling runic circles. Just the sound of thunder imploding in a vacuum. The air where they stood collapsed inward, and the four of them vanished from the hall instantly, leaving behind a swirling vortex of neon-blue wind and a very flushed, very confused Su Yonghuang touching her lips.
"That... that absolute scoundrel," she whispered, fighting a smile that threatened to bloom across her face.
...
Ancient Sky City.
The transition was instantaneous and jarring.
One moment, they were in the sterile silence of the Patriarch's Hall.
The next, their senses were assaulted by the roar of a metropolis that defied history.
The air here was thick, heavy with a mixture of immense vitality and the cloying, sweet stench of the grave. Ancient Sky City was a monstrosity suspended in the sky, a massive relic of an era long forgotten. It was a place where the living and the dead engaged in commerce.
Cultivators from all over the Mortal Emperor World swarmed the streets—humans, demons with towering horns, stone golems that shook the ground with every step, and the pale, ethereal members of the Blood Race. It was a chaotic mess of commerce, death, and opportunity.
CRACK-BOOM!
A bolt of blue lightning, thick as a tree trunk, struck the center of a quiet plaza. The kinetic force was contained, but the visual was terrifying. It scattered a group of cultivators who yelped and dove for cover.
When the dust settled, Ling Feng stood there, casually dusting off his shoulder as if he had just stepped off a bus. Behind him, the three beauties stumbled slightly, disoriented by the sudden shift in reality.
"And we're here," Ling Feng announced, checking his fingernails. "Instant, efficient, and infinitely more accurate than some shaky Dao portal."
Chen Baojiao shook her head, her beautiful hair swaying. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the dizziness. "That... I will never get used to that. It feels like my soul was yanked through a drinking straw."
"You get used to it," Ling Feng shrugged. "Trust me, it's better than sitting in a carriage for three weeks, listening to some carriage beast roaring and smelling its farts. This is traveling in style."
"Feng, where do we go first?" Xu Pei asked, looking around with wide, curious eyes. She clung to his sleeve, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the city and the oppressive auras of the powerful cultivators walking by. "The inn? Or to meet the War God Temple?"
"The War God Temple can wait. Let them sweat a bit," Ling Feng said, casting a dismissive glance toward the horizon where the great sects usually gathered. "They need us, we don't need them. Playing hard to get is a classic strategy. Besides, we're here early. We have time to kill before the Underworld Boat shows up. Let's do some window shopping."
They wandered through the streets, cutting a path through the throng. To the onlookers, they were a bizarre, eye-catching group. Ling Feng, dressed in loose, casual robes that looked almost like modern loungewear compared to the ornate armor of the cultivators, walked with an arrogant, carefree stride. He looked like he owned the pavement.
Flanking him were three women of peerless beauty. Li Shuangyan's icy nobility, chilling the air around her; Chen Baojiao's explosive curves and fiery aura; and Xu Pei's gentle, heartbreaking charm. They drew eyes from every corner—lust, envy, and curiosity.
"Look at that guy," a passerby whispered, nudging his companion. "Is he a Young Master from a Great Power? Look at those women... that's the descendant of the Nine Saint Demon Gate!"
"Shh, don't make eye contact. He walks like a dragon in human skin. You don't want to offend someone like that."
Ling Feng ignored the chatter. It was just background noise, like the hum of a server room. His Chaos Sense—amplified by the Green Chaos Emerald (Space)—was active, expanding outward like an invisible radar. He wasn't looking for herbs or weapons; the junk sold in these stalls was beneath him. He was scanning the city for a specific spatial signature.
He turned a corner, leading the girls down a less crowded, dustier street. Suddenly, Ling Feng stopped. His Chaos Sense pinged loud and clear.
He looked at a dilapidated shop on the corner. It looked like it was about to collapse under the weight of its own history. There was no signboard, just an old, rotting wooden door that creaked in the wind.
"Bingo," Ling Feng grinned, a predator finding its prey.
In the original timeline, Li Qiye had to use his deep knowledge of the Ancient Nine Languages to barter with the mysterious shopkeeper of the Gu Clan. He had to trade secrets, play word games, and navigate a complex verbal dance to get the items needed for the Burial Ground.
Ling Feng didn't know the Ancient Nine Languages. He knew of them, sure, but he couldn't speak them. He hadn't spent millions of years as a Dark Crow learning dead dialects.
But why did he need to know a dead language when he had powers that broke the fundamental laws of the universe?
Why negotiate when you can just take?
Ling Feng stopped in front of the shop. The girls stopped behind him, confused.
"Why are we stopping here?" Li Shuangyan asked, wrinkling her nose at the dusty facade. "This place looks abandoned."
"It's not abandoned. It's a gold mine," Ling Feng murmured.
Inside his Inner Void, the Cyan Chaos Emerald flared with blinding light. The concept of 'Time' bent to his will.
[Chaos Control: Time Stop]
WUB.
The sound was subsonic, a deep vibration that resonated in the soul.
The color drained from the world. The vibrant blues of the sky, the grays of the stone, the reds of the robes—everything turned into a high-contrast monochrome of grey and white.
The bustling noise of the street was severed instantly. A bird flying overhead froze in mid-air, its wings caught in a downward beat. The wind stopped, freezing the dust motes in suspended animation. The chatter of the crowd, the distant roar of beasts, the heartbeat of the girls behind him—silence. Absolute, perfect silence.
Ling Feng was the only thing moving in a frozen photograph.
"The World," he whispered, striking a pose and chuckling at his own joke. "Man, I love this ability. Never gets old."
He teleported straight inside the shop.
Inside, the shop was dusty and cluttered. An old man—the mysterious shopkeeper of the Gu Clan, a being of immense, hidden power—was standing behind the counter. He was frozen mid-blink, his mouth slightly open as if he were about to yawn.
Ling Feng didn't waste time. He knew exactly what he was looking for. His Chaos Sense guided him like a GPS to the back of the shop.
He vaulted over the counter, moving past the frozen shopkeeper with a casual swagger.
"Excuse me, pops. Just borrowing these. Permanently. Don't wait up."
He reached the back shelf. There they were, gathering dust, waiting for a destiny that had just been rewritten.
He grabbed the first item: The Heavenly Ancient Corpse Box. A small, unassuming wooden box. Inside were the nine trade tokens, essential for getting the best deal on the Underworld Boats.
Next, the Frightened Corpse Gong and Hammer. The tools needed to lure the boats from the mists of death.
Then, the Ancient Heavenly Corpse Adornment. A strange outfit that masked one's life aura, allowing a living person to board the boat without being corroded by the death energy instantly.
Finally, the Immortal Writ. A decree left by Immortal Emperor Jiao Heng himself. A "Get Out of Jail Free" card for the Burial Ground.
Ling Feng swiped them all, tossing them into his Inner Void. The items vanished into his personal dimension.
"Let's see... anything else?" He looked around the dusty shelves. "Nah, don't want to be too greedy. Actually, yes I do."
He grabbed a handful of random ancient coins from a jar on the counter. He weighed them in his hand, then tossed them back onto the counter next to the shopkeeper's frozen hand.
"Service fee," he quipped.
He vaulted back over the counter, walked out the door, and closed it gently. He returned to his original spot next to the girls, turning his body to match the exact position he was in before he activated the Emerald.
"Resume."
SNAP.
The world flooded back with color. Sound crashed back into existence like a dam breaking. The bird continued flying. The chatter of the crowd resumed mid-sentence.
"Wait here a sec, something looks good here," Ling Feng suddenly spoke, as if he hadn't moved a muscle. Then he blinked, acting as though a thought had just crossed his mind. "Actually, never mind. Changed my mind. Let's go."
Li Shuangyan blinked, her icy composure cracking. She stared at the shop door, then at Ling Feng. "You... you just said you were going in."
"Did I?" Ling Feng grinned, tapping his temple. "I decided against it. I already got what I wanted."
"What?" Chen Baojiao looked at the shop, then back at him, her brow furrowing. Her instincts as a cultivator were screaming that something had happened, but her senses couldn't explain it. "You didn't even move! How could you get what you wanted?"
"I moved faster than you can blink, my dear," Ling Feng laughed, reaching out and grabbing Xu Pei's hand. "Come on! I'm suddenly in a fantastic mood. The loot is secured."
"Why are you so happy?" Xu Pei asked, confused by his sudden shift in demeanor. One second he was scanning for something, the next he was beaming like he'd won the lottery.
Ling Feng stopped and looked at the three of them. The bustling street of Ancient Sky City flowed around them like a river around a stone. He pulled them into a group hug, right there in the middle of the street, ignoring the scandalized looks of passing cultivators.
"How can I not be happy?" he said, his voice dropping into a smooth, genuine register that made Xu Pei melt. "I'm in a legendary city, about to go on a crazy adventure, and I'm surrounded by my favorite girls. Life is good. Life is damn good."
Li Shuangyan blushed furiously, trying to push him away but failing to put any real strength into it. "Shameless! In public!"
Chen Baojiao rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "You're weird today. Weirder than usual."
Xu Pei just beamed, hugging him back tightly, burying her face in his chest. "I'm happy too, Feng!"
"Alright, enough mushy stuff," Ling Feng released them, though he kept an arm draped over Xu Pei's shoulders. "Now, we wait for the War God Temple folks. I bet they're going to be uptight. Let's go find the Nine Saint Demon courtyard and watch the boats come in. I want front row seats for the show."
As they walked away, laughing and chatting, a scene of absolute horror was unfolding inside the dilapidated shop.
The Gu Clan shopkeeper blinked. He felt a strange breeze, a displacement of air that shouldn't have been there. He looked down at the counter.
There were random coins scattered there.
He looked at the shelf behind him.
His eyes widened until they threatened to pop out of his skull. His jaw dropped, his ancient heart skipping a beat.
"The... the Heirloom Box? The Gong? The Writ?!"
They were gone.
Vanished.
There was no residual energy. No sign of a formation breach. No lockpicking scratches. No aura of a thief. It was as if reality had simply deleted them.
"Ghost..." the old man whispered, shivering uncontrollably. "A ghost thief... impossible... even an Immortal Emperor couldn't steal from me without a trace!"
Outside, Ling Feng whistled a catchy pop tune from 2020 as he walked down the street, feeling the weight of the legendary items safely tucked in his Inner Void.
Cheating, he decided with a satisfied smirk, was absolutely the best superpower.