Below, in another training field, thunder rolled.
Xu Pei stood at the center of a storm.
Clouds coiled above her like a tightening noose, lightning crawling across their bellies in nervous threads. Her Violent Cloud Chant pulsed through her meridians in steady, ruthless beats—each circulation compressing her qi sharper, denser, like a blade being hammered on an anvil.
At the edge of the formation, Ling Feng watched with Bai Jianzhen, arms casually crossed.
Xu Pei exhaled once, long and slow.
Then she stepped.
Lightning fell.
It crashed down in a pillar thick as an ancient tree, Heaven's rage condensed into a single bolt.
Xu Pei met it with a fist.
Her storm-qi did not explode outward in a crude spray as it once had. It twisted. Curved. The force folded around the lightning like a whirlpool swallowing a falling spear, coiling it into a spiraling funnel that she slammed back into the ground.
Boom.
The training field's layered formations lit up one after another, swallowing the destructive force in ripples of Dao light instead of shattered stone.
"…Your control has improved," Bai Jianzhen said quietly. Her voice was calm, but her sword eyes were serious. "Before, you always pushed everything forward. One line. Now, you can turn the blade in the middle."
Xu Pei let the storm disperse. Sweat clung to her forehead, darkening the collar of her robe, but her eyes were bright, clear.
"Feng said I was wasting half my strength on flashy noise," she admitted, breath still a little uneven. "So… I tried to make it quieter."
Ling Feng chuckled.
"Hey, I like your flashy noise," he said, lips quirking. "It's cute. Just don't let it leak when it should cut. Storms that rumble too much scare farmers, not gods."
Xu Pei's ears went red, but she smiled.
Ling Feng flicked his gaze toward the woman beside him.
"And you," he said. "Sword."
Bai Jianzhen stepped onto the field without a word.
Her Sword Dao had always been brutally straight. Extreme. A blade that pointed at the sky and refused to bend, splitting anything that blocked its path. That made her terrifying—but also a line that could be read by someone who understood lines.
Now…
She drew and cut.
The sword light was still clean. Still without ornamentation. It shot out in a straight ray that seemed to divide heaven and earth.
But in the heart of that straight light, there was a faint, nearly imperceptible deviation—a curve so small it only appeared at the last instant, turning what should have been a direct thrust into a sidelong slash. A sword aimed at the sky that, from nowhere, appeared at the enemy's heart.
The cut carved a flawless groove along the formation stones—so clean the edges gleamed like polished jade.
Ling Feng watched. His eyes narrowed, then softened.
"Mm," he said. "Again."
She cut again.
Behind Bai Jianzhen, five Fate Palaces shone like five worlds, the sixth a dim, slowly condensing shadow. Her dao foundation was stable. Her heart, once weighed down by rigid vows and a life of single-minded pursuit, had shifted by a hair's breadth under Ling Feng's constant provocation and wordless support.
Every slight curve in her sword strokes was a reflection of that change.
After ten cuts, he nodded once.
"You're both almost at your sixth Fate Palace," he said. "I'll push you through after I handle two more troublemakers."
Xu Pei tilted her head slightly. "Troublemakers?" she asked.
Ling Feng smiled, eyes glinting.
"You'll see," he said. "For now, focus. I want your foundations clean when I start flipping more tables."
...
Of all the people he trained, though, two occupied most of his time.
Li Shuangyan and Chen Baojiao sat opposite him in a secluded cultivation chamber, knees almost touching, the air thick with medicinal fragrance and suppressed power.
A jade formation carved into the floor glowed faintly beneath them; Chaos patterns that only Ling Feng could see threaded through the lines, linking their bodies to his in an invisible triad.
Six Fate Palaces floated behind each woman, vast and luminous.
They had already stood at the peak of Royal Noble when they came to the Hundred Cities. After Lion's Roar, after the battles in Eastern Hundred Cities and the path through Heavenly Dao Academy's trials, their foundations had grown frighteningly deep. All that remained was the final, brutal leap into Enlightened Being—and beyond, toward Eternal Prestige.
Ling Feng's fingers moved quietly in the air, tracing unseen lines.
"Again," he said softly. "Follow my rhythm. Don't chase it. Match it."
He breathed.
They breathed with him.
Chaos circulated through his body, then spilled into theirs—not as a foreign invasion, but as a guide, nudging their grand dao into tighter, more refined flows. Their Fate Palaces responded, light thickening, the stars within each palace burning brighter, more compressed.
Chen Baojiao's aura surged first.
Battle intent wrapped around her like a cloak; the Immortal Springs in her body roared in silence, the water within them turning viscous, heavy, like molten metal at the edge of overflowing. Every circulation made her blood drum louder in her veins.
Her fingers twitched.
"I want to hit someone," she muttered through gritted teeth.
Ling Feng laughed quietly.
"That's normal," he said. "You're sitting at the door of a new realm. Your blood wants to see if it's worthy. It's like a drunk at closing time, looking for a fight."
Chen Baojiao's lips curved despite herself.
Li Shuangyan's aura moved differently.
Her Pure Jade Physique radiated a calm, profound light. The jade-like brilliance had always been flawless—cold, distant, untouchable. Now, under Chaos' touch, that light deepened. It was no longer just pure; it became transparent, like divine glass, her flesh and soul turning into a lens that focused the Dao instead of merely reflecting it.
Her breathing stayed even, but a faint flush colored her snowy cheeks.
"…It feels… close," she said softly. "Like a thin veil. I can see the other side, but when I reach out, my hand passes through smoke."
Ling Feng reached out and took her hand.
His fingers intertwined with hers, warm and callused. On her other side, Chen Baojiao grabbed his sleeve and scooted closer, grinning as if she were about to start a brawl rather than cross a heavenly threshold.
"Then we break it," he said simply. "Together."
The days blurred.
He drilled them in battle until the hall's formations groaned. He pitted them against his avatar constructs, against each other, against crushing arrays that simulated the pressure of ancient battles. He dragged them into dual cultivation sessions where they sat pressed against him, sharing breath and heartbeat, circulating Chaos through intertwined meridians until their Fate Palaces hummed in perfect resonance.
He did not allow shortcuts.
He teased them. He coaxed them. He pushed them until they cursed him hoarsely, until Chen Baojiao threatened to bite him and Li Shuangyan's frosty gaze turned sharp enough to cut. Then he pushed them one more step past that, until laughter broke through the pain.
Slowly, the pressure built.
From the outside, Grand Era Hall disciples began to notice how Li Shuangyan and Chen Baojiao's auras grew heavier by the day, how the air seemed to thicken when they crossed a courtyard. When they stood side by side, the sky itself felt a size too small.
Whispers spread like wildfire through the Heavenly Dao Academy, one of the oldest heritages of the human race.
"Those two women… their foundations feel like Ancient Saints already…"
"They're still at Royal Noble, right? How can that be…"
"Of course it's absurd. They're always next to that Ling Feng…"
...
It came to a head on what should have been an ordinary day.
Ling Feng lay half-asleep under an old tree in a quiet courtyard, sunlight dappled across his face. Li Shuangyan was using his lap as a pillow, a jade scroll held up in slender fingers as she read with calm concentration. Chen Baojiao leaned against his back, chin on his shoulder, complaining idly about how boring "cultivation breaks" were.
Chi Xiaodao trotted in with a box of steaming buns, eyes sparkling.
"Young Noble, I stole—cough, I secured—these from the kitchen—"
He had just taken a huge bite when a panting Grand Era Hall disciple skidded to a stop at the courtyard entrance.
"Young Noble Ling!" the disciple blurted, face flushed, hair disheveled. "Ba Xia and Hu Yue—they're coming! With their entourages! They're shouting that they want justice for Princess Huangfu and Sima Lingyun!"
The air tensed instantly.
Chi Xiaodao choked on his bun and coughed so hard his eyes watered. "Ba Xia… the prince of Furious Immortal Saint Country?" he squeaked. "And Hu Yue from Tiger's Howl School?"
Ba Xia—prince of Furious Immortal Saint Country, inheritor of a tyrannical Immortal Physique law. Hu Yue—one of the top geniuses of Tiger's Howl, a name that had been running rampant across the Hundred Cities. Their reputations had been hammered into every young cultivator's bones like scripture.
Chen Baojiao straightened immediately, eyes lighting up with dangerous delight. "Oh? They're finally here?"
Li Shuangyan's fingers paused on her scroll. Her lashes lowered, obscuring the brief killing intent that flashed through her eyes.
Ling Feng blinked his eyes open and stared at the leaves above his head.
"…Already?" he said lazily. "That's fast. Guess news travels quicker when people are mad and brainless."
The disciple swallowed.
"They're heading toward the Dragon Arbiter Stage," he said, words tumbling out. "Many halls are gathering. Banners, saved seats, gambling slips—everything. They're shouting about life-and-death duels and—"
Ling Feng yawned, stretching carefully so Li Shuangyan's head slid from his lap onto a folded robe instead of the ground.
"Alright, alright," he said. "No need to panic."
He rose in one fluid motion, rolling his shoulders. His lazy atmosphere didn't vanish—but there was a subtle edge to it now, like a drawn bow hidden in loose sleeves.
"Let them scream for a bit," he added, voice casual. "The people who are going to kill them are busy right now."
The disciple blinked. "…Busy…?"
Ling Feng looked at Li Shuangyan and Chen Baojiao.
Both women were already glowing faintly, qi cycling faster of its own accord. Even without looking up, they could feel it—the pressure of a looming Fate Calamity pressing down like an unseen mountain. Heaven's gaze had turned toward them.
"You two," he said. "You feel that, right?"
Li Shuangyan's eyes lowered. "…Yes," she murmured. "Heaven's gaze is… heavier than usual. Every breath feels weighed."
Chen Baojiao grinned, but her fingers flexed unconsciously, nails digging into her palms.
"Feels like someone's staring at my back," she said. "Makes me want to punch the sky and ask what it's looking at."
Ling Feng chuckled.
"Good," he said.
He glanced up at the cloudless sky, eyes half-lidded.
"Then we'll let Heaven throw its tantrum first," he said. "After that, if Ba Xia and Hu Yue still want to act tough, we'll let you two take out the trash. It'll be good for warming up."
Chi Xiaodao felt his throat go dry.
"You're… really going to have them cross their Fate Calamity here?" he asked in a small voice. "In front of everyone? If something goes wrong—"
Ling Feng reached over and ruffled his hair.
"Nothing's going wrong," he said. "You've seen me work, right? Trust the process."
To the trembling disciple, he added, "You can go back and enjoy the show. Tell whoever's asking that Grand Era Hall is 'preparing a reply.' Say it with a straight face."
The disciple hesitated, then bowed, a strange mix of terror and excitement in his eyes, and ran off.
...
They didn't have to walk to the Dragon Arbiter Stage.
When the calamity came, it walked to them.
The sky over the Heavenly Dao Academy darkened without warning.
One moment, the sun shone over the majestic peaks and tranquil rivers of the ancient academy. The next, clouds rolled in like ink poured across a scroll. A heavy, suffocating silence fell, thick enough that even outer-court students felt their hearts stutter.
Emperor's Domination
"What's going on?"
"A calamity…? At the academy?"
"At this level… whose would dare…"
It wasn't just a Fate Calamity.
It was two.
In the Grand Era Hall's main training grounds, the air above Ling Feng's group twisted violently. Two pillars of light shot up from Li Shuangyan and Chen Baojiao, piercing the roiling clouds like heavenly spears.
Thunder answered.
The calamity cloud that formed above them was denser than any ordinary Royal Noble breakthrough had any right to be. Lightning swam inside it like furious dragons, intertwining and devouring each other.
Even some Enlightened Beings observing from distant pavilions felt their expressions change.
"Such intensity…" an elder murmured in shock. "Is this truly a calamity for two juniors crossing into Enlightened Being?"
"It feels more like the wrath Heaven reserves for monsters," another said under his breath.
Word spread like wildfire.
Disciples poured out of halls and pavilions, crowding balconies and filling hovering platforms. Others took to the skies on treasures, ringing the training grounds at a cautious distance.
The Dragon Arbiter Stage, which had been filling with people expecting a bloody duel, abruptly lost a chunk of its audience as onlookers rushed toward the source of the calamity light. Those who remained turned to watch the black clouds over Grand Era Hall instead, attention torn between promised blood and present miracle.
Among the crowd, Mei Suyao stood calmly on a high platform, her robes fluttering slightly in the storm wind.
Her presence was like an endless, tranquil river—gentle yet unfathomably deep.
Her gaze fixed on the twin pillars of light.
"Again…" she murmured. "That person…"
Beside her, a faint shadow in the void—an Immortal Emperor's lingering will—quivered for a moment, then grew still. Even such remnants could not fully see through the anomaly below.
On another terrace, Jikong Wudi stood with hands clasped behind his back, expression tranquil like an old monk's—yet his eyes were sharp.
He looked once toward Ling Feng's direction.
Then he closed his eyes, as if uninterested.
Ling Feng followed that brief glance and snorted.
"Deity, huh?" he muttered, voice carrying just enough for those near him to hear. "He'll get what's coming to him soon enough. That little rat loves hiding in his own legend."
He lifted his chin slightly, attention shifting to a more interesting presence.
Mei Suyao.
Even at a distance, she felt like a gentle, eternal spring—neither cold nor scorching, just quietly nourishing. Her dao heart was clear, her temperament firm. She watched the calamity with calm eyes, but Ling Feng's Chaos-tuned senses caught the slight tightening of her fingers on her sleeve.
He smiled.
He raised his voice slightly, letting it ride the storm-wind more through Dao resonance than mere sound.
"Hey," he called lazily. "Watch carefully."
Several people jerked, looking around for who he was talking to.
Mei Suyao's eyes moved, finding him with unerring accuracy across the chaos.
Ling Feng flashed her a smile that was half-teasing, half-serious.
"You all keep making a fuss about 'Nine-star Eternal Prestige' like it's some unreachable legend," he said lazily. "For my people, that's just the minimum standard."
A wave of shocked murmurs rolled through the disciples nearby.
"He's boasting again…"
"Does he know what he's saying? Nine-star Eternal Prestige—"
"Nine stars means having one's own sky; in the future, it's the prerequisite for forming twelve Fate Palaces… and he calls it 'minimum'?"
Before anyone could shout back, the calamity moved.
Thunder roared.
Bolts of lightning as thick as ancient pines fell from the black clouds, smashing down toward Li Shuangyan and Chen Baojiao without warning. There was no time to adjust, no time to bow. Heaven did not negotiate; it simply descended.
Li Shuangyan's jade aura flared.
The first bolt hit her.
Her slender body shook, the impact ringing through her bones like a bell struck by a divine hammer. Her Fate Palaces roared awake, absorbing the strike, refining it, sending it washing through her grand dao. The Pure Jade Physique shone brighter, impurities in meridians and bones burned away by heavenly fire.
The second bolt followed instantly. Then a third. Then an entire sheet of lightning poured down like a waterfall of white death.
Beside her, Chen Baojiao laughed once—a harsh, exultant sound—and jumped straight into the heart of the storm.
Her Immortal Springs exploded into motion, water-qi surging to meet the thunder. Every bolt that struck her body plunged into her springs, churning like a typhoon smashing into an ocean, then erupted back outward in spiraling, violent waves.
From the outside, it looked glorious. Blinding. Two peerless beauties standing beneath a sky of ruin, cloaked in jade light and storm-water.
From the inside…
It was pain.
Li Shuangyan's bones sang like struck metal. Every nerve felt as though it were being peeled away, reforged, and hammered back into place. For a moment, her vision went entirely white.
If you die here, I will be very annoyed.
Ling Feng's lazy voice from days ago echoed in her mind.
She gritted her teeth.
"This one… will not let you down," she whispered through the roar.
Her sixth Fate Palace flickered, walls shuddering, then stabilized, thickening under the pounding of heavenly lightning.
Beside her, Chen Baojiao staggered.
For all her battle instincts, for all the Chaos Ling Feng had seeded into her springs, this calamity was heavier than she had imagined. It wasn't just testing her strength; it was testing her direction.
Images flashed before her eyes—the early days at Cleansing Incense, the fights at Heavenly God Sect, the afternoons sprawled in a Lion's Roar courtyard, her head pillowed on Ling Feng's thigh as she complained about being bored.
What do you want? the calamity seemed to ask. Glory? Blood? His shadow?
She snarled.
"I want to beat down anything that dares touch my people," she spat, voice hoarse. "Is that clear enough for you?!"
Her Immortal Springs surged.
Under Ling Feng's earlier adjustments, Chaos nodes lay coiled deep in their roots like sleeping serpents. Now, under the strain, they woke fully.
Water compressed.
Lightning fell.
The two forces collided inside her body and merged, becoming something harsher and purer—a storm-spring, a source that could generate both crushing pressure and explosive impact.
Outside, onlookers saw her silhouette stiffen, then straighten.
"How… can they withstand that…" someone whispered, voice faint.
"Even some Enlightened Beings would be smashed into paste…"
The calamity was not finished.
The clouds above twisted upon themselves.
Sensing the abnormal foundations of its targets, this tribulation intensified. The lightning darkened, carrying slivers of will—not yet Heaven's Will itself, but close enough that weaker dao hearts watching from afar instinctively lowered their heads.
Ling Feng watched, eyes half-lidded.
His hands stayed at his sides. He did not raise a finger.
But Chaos coiled invisibly around his feet, seeping into the ground beneath the two women, into the fabric of space around their Fate Palaces. Not to shield them. Not to soften the blows.
Just to make certain the world did not break before they did.
"Come on," he murmured, voice so soft only those closest could hear. "Show them."
Li Shuangyan felt her dao foundation tremble.
For a heartbeat, she teetered on the knife's edge between ascent and collapse. If she faltered now, her jade would crack. Her path would twist. Everything she had built would bear scars that never truly faded.
Her fingers clenched hard enough that her nails pierced her palm.
Faces floated through her mind.
Ling Feng, smiling as he stole food from her plate with shameless ease. Chen Baojiao, laughing as she argued with him over trivial matters. Xu Pei's quiet, warm gaze. Bai Jianzhen's straight back. Chi Xiaodie standing on city walls, eyes bright with stubborn courage. Bing Yuxia's disguised smirk. The Lion's Roar bell tower, Cleansing Incense's old courtyard, Heavenly Dao Academy's ancient stones beneath her feet.
Lion's Roar. Cleansing Incense. Heavenly God Sect. Heavenly Dao Academy.
"…I will walk with you," she whispered, more to herself than to heaven. "So move aside."
Her sixth Fate Palace blazed.
Stars bloomed within it—one, then two, then three—each a dense knot of condensed dao, burning like miniature suns.
At the same time, Chen Baojiao roared, a wordless sound of refusal and defiance.
Her Fate Palaces boiled, springs overflowing, storm-water smashing against the calamity lightning. A first star flickered into existence above her life wheel. Then a second, born from the collision of thunder and water. Then a third that burned with her sheer stubborn will.
The sky shrieked.
The calamity cloud split into two vortexes, each one centered over a woman, each funneling down its own branch of fury.
People watching held their breath.
Even Mei Suyao's eyes narrowed, a faint ripple appearing in the otherwise placid river of her dao heart.
"…If they fail, they will die," someone said hoarsely.
On the nearby terrace, Chi Xiaodao's hands were twisted in his own robes, knuckles pale.
"Sister Li… Sister Chen…" he whispered, eyes red.
Chi Xiaodie watched, jaw tight, hands clenched at her sides until her knuckles went white. Bing Yuxia's fan had gone still in her fingers, her gaze locked unblinking on the storm.
Thunder rose to a peak.
The calamity's final wave descended like a collapsing sky.
Then—
The clouds shattered.
With a sound like the world cracking, the cloud ocean above blew apart. A column of light speared down one last time, sheathing both women.
Two silhouettes stepped out of that light.
Li Shuangyan and Chen Baojiao stood at the center of a suddenly clear sky.
Their auras had changed.
Behind each of them, nine blazing stars shone above their Fate Palaces, each star a miniature sky unto itself, revolving slowly in orderly majesty. The pressure that rolled off them was not that of ordinary Enlightened Beings—it was deep and heavy, the kind of presence that made heaven and earth instinctively give way.
Nine stars. Eternal Prestige. A level most cultivators never even dared to dream of attaining—and if they did, it was after countless years of accumulation. Yet here, in the Current Era, two women had stepped into it together in a single calamity.
The academy fell utterly silent.
For a few breaths, even the wind seemed to forget how to blow.
Then the whispers started, thin at first, then swelling like a rising tide.
"Eternal Prestige…"
"Nine-star… both of them…"
"In this era, where the dao is withered… two Nine-star Eternal Prestiges appear at once…"
"Are they planning to seize Heaven's Will together… or is that Ling Feng going to push someone even further…"
Mei Suyao exhaled softly.
Her gaze was thoughtful. The calm surface of her dao heart rippled once, then stilled again—clearer than before.
"…So that is the foundation he wants for his people," she murmured. "Nine stars as the floor, not the ceiling."