Changes Over Six Years

Six years had passed since Gu Yuena's super birthday that year.

Su Xuan had grown quite a bit taller this year, reaching roughly 174 centimeters. He was probably fourteen now. (When he had gone to the Central World back then, time flowed differently. He had only spent one day there, but it counted as two years, though his strength had not changed.)

Too much had changed over these six years.

First was Su Xuan's own strength. He was already a level 44 Soul Ancestor, and that was despite barely cultivating at all. (There had simply been too many things to deal with.)

Third soul skill—Divine Dragon Wind Thunder Transformation.

Description: The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon was beloved by Heaven and Earth. Any heavenly might was merely a place for them to frolic and play. By smoothly wielding the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon's innate gifts, one could summon the power of wind and thunder to bolster oneself.

Effect: Buff enhancement. All attributes doubled for five minutes.

Fourth soul skill—Racing Thunder and Flashing Lightning, Palm Wind and Command Rain.

Description: The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon was beloved by Heaven and Earth and could freely control lightning, wind, and rain. With proper use of its gifts, one could command heavenly might.

Effect: Buff enhancement. The effects of the second soul skill, Power of Heaven and Earth, doubled, while control over celestial phenomena was enhanced twofold.

But none of that was Su Xuan's strongest asset.

One of Su Xuan's trump cards, the Ambrosial Arbor, had awakened domain power—Land of No Dust.

Description: One of the Ambrosial Arbor's innate gifts as a divine tree of Heaven and Earth.

Effect: Defense and debuff reduction.

Simple, yet absurdly powerful.

As for the Taiqing Yuandao True Scripture, Su Xuan had finally broken past the prologue.

Over these six years, Su Xuan had constantly traveled back and forth.

Spirit Hall one day, Heaven Dou City the next.

After a round of backroom dealings, Su Xuan had "effortlessly" won over Qian Daoliu.

With the Great High Priest and the Pope backing him,

Su Xuan had practically become someone who could run rampant through Spirit City.

Su Xuan vigorously promoted technology and cast a wide net to recruit all kinds of talented individuals.

Without exception, they all possessed unique skills or gifts.

Under Emma's leadership and direction, these capable and extraordinary people established an institution, a renowned institution—the Heaven and Earth Natural Science Research Institute.

Su Xuan's first teacher, Elder Wang Mo, served as its honorary president. Its research was varied and chaotic, involving airplanes, cannons, computers, and all sorts of miscellaneous things, but there were only two most important research subjects.

The first was the nature of Soul Power.

The second was the nature of Soul Rings.

It burned through money at an astonishing rate, and the Worship Hall had initially refused outright.

But after Su Xuan launched two products, he successfully made a fortune.

The first was Golden Fertilizer. On this continent, where agriculture was still remarkably primitive, it was an unquestionable divine tool, directly increasing crop yields tenfold. The second was firearms. Su Xuan had set his sights on the weak Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and ruthlessly extorted a hefty sum from them. After all, they were the richest sect in the world.

When Su Xuan had gone to negotiate business that year, he had also met a pink-haired little girl named something like Ning Rongrong.

For some reason, she had suddenly latched onto Su Xuan. Her personality was awful too. Su Xuan endured it for the sake of business, but once the deal was done, he promptly fled.

Still, rumor had it that quite a few members of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect worked within the Heaven and Earth Natural Science Research Institute. Of course, no one knew just how many backroom dealings were involved.

As for public welfare, Su Xuan had overruled all opposition and introduced "nine-year compulsory education" in Spirit City. He also encouraged people to "have more children," since they had money now.

Now, transformed by technology, Spirit City's wealth far surpassed that of Heaven Dou and Star Luo.

Su Xuan had established Core Flame.

He was its leader.

Core Flame's divisions:

Heavenly Machine Department: Director Gu Yuena, Deputy Director Lu Qi, in charge of intelligence.

Finance Department: Director Hu Liena, in charge of the economy. All businesses were managed by this department.

Arbitration Bureau: Managed by Uncle Wei. Uncle Wei had taken on a disciple, Gu Yiming, who would likely succeed him in the future. They dealt with heretics and evil soul masters.

Military Bureau: Overseen by Uncle De, who had likewise taken on a disciple, Jin Pipi, in charge of warfare.

Su Xuan had drawn a large number of talented people from Spirit Hall to bolster Core Flame. Aside from being relatively young and lacking top-tier combat power, Core Flame had already become a colossal force.

Although, aside from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, not many forces knew of them yet.

But that would change soon.

Because of his research into Soul Power over the past few years, Su Xuan had constantly sought people out for sparring matches, especially young people. According to Emma's research, the farther cultivation progressed, the harder it became to study. Thus, Su Xuan had no choice but to spar daily with people close to his own age while using instruments specially made by Emma to record data.

He had already fought his way through Spirit City during the first two years. Over the following years, a mysterious youth in white appeared in Heaven Dou City. Starting with Skywater Academy, then Divine Wind Academy, Elephant Armored Academy, Blazing Fire Academy, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he had fought them all.

Yet he always had a Titled Douluo protecting him, leaving everyone completely helpless. Still, Su Xuan's character was impeccable and his looks were handsome, so girls admired him while boys detested him.

A white-robed youth sat beneath a large tree, resting with his eyes narrowed.

"Master, it is time to wake up."

A gentle, soft voice drifted over. The owner of the voice was a blue-haired maid with short hair—styled after Rem. This was Su Xuan's personal taste: Emma.

Through her tireless efforts, she had finally shed that infuriating steel body. Using biological materials and extraordinary techniques, she now possessed a genuine human body.

The youth in white yawned and struggled to his feet.

The youth had a pair of pale golden eyes, clear and pure. His jade-like face was flawless, and two necklaces hung around his neck: one was a black half-moon, while the other was a silver scale. He was Su Xuan.

"What time is it, Emma?"

"It is already three in the afternoon."

Ever since Su Xuan had returned for the first time, Emma had remained by his side. This high-tech maid was truly useful, and as long as the base stations remained stable, Su Xuan could use Emma to contact anywhere. Thus, Emma had been the one who accompanied Su Xuan the most over these six years. (Due to technical limitations, only Emma was a mobile network; the others were fixed base stations.)

Su Xuan scratched his head. "What is on the schedule this afternoon?"

"Master, you are visiting the palace of the eldest prince, Xue Qinghe."

Su Xuan thought for a moment.

"Qian-sis's place? Is there some kind of small gathering there?"

Xue Qinghe had come looking for Su Xuan twice after setting off the fireworks that year. The first time, Su Xuan had returned to Spirit Hall. The second time, Su Xuan had seen through Xue Qinghe's identity at a glance.

Over these six years, Su Xuan had secretly used Core Flame to help Qian Renxue many times, thoroughly stabilizing her power. However, Su Xuan only learned later that it had not been him who won over Qian Daoliu back then, but Qian Renxue's endorsement.

"Yes, Master."

Su Xuan stretched again and said lazily, "Another small gathering. What a bother."

"Master, you could decline it."

Su Xuan moved his fingers and casually performed a divination. With a faint smile, he said, "Oh? The hexagram says there will be something at today's gathering that I cannot afford to miss. Looks like I still need to make a trip. Emma, go prepare the carriage."

"Understood, Master."

Emma smiled softly. To her, being able to remain by Su Xuan's side was the greatest happiness.

P.S. This chapter was mostly setting exposition. There was no helping it—covering six years all at once felt like it could only be written this way.