Word of Ask Dao Sect joining forces with the imperial court to wipe out the Heartless Sect had spread far and wide. Anyone with even the slightest intelligence network knew about it.
The great cultivators were even more stunned by the news, left speechless for a long time.
One great cultivator heard the news and promptly slumped into his chair, his face full of disbelief.
"Old rascal Buyu reached Tribulation Transcendence Realm? How is that possible?"
His steward looked conflicted. "I don't know if it's true, but I heard that Daoist Buyu deliberately spread the news himself."
"...That does sound like him."
"Back then, he formed his core a day before I did, and he wouldn't stop showing off. If he's reached Tribulation Transcendence Realm, just imagine how insufferable he'll be."
"If even that bastard can reach Tribulation Transcendence Realm, there's no reason I can't!"
"Heaven has no eyes!"
"Seclusion! I'm going into seclusion!"
Scenes like this played out throughout the cultivation world. For a time, the bigwigs cursed Heaven for having no eyes even as they decided to enter seclusion.
Even the Body Integration Realm cultivators in the Demon Realm and the Eastern Sea were no exception. They all began trying to break through to Tribulation Transcendence Realm.
When Zhu Tian attended court, he noticed that more than half the ministers were missing. Only after asking around did he learn they had all gone into seclusion.
With Daoist Buyu's breakthrough to Tribulation Transcendence Realm, the bustling cultivation world quieted down for a time.
The sharp-eyed began to feel that a great era was approaching. After this wave of collective seclusion, quite a few Tribulation Transcendence Realm cultivators were bound to emerge.
"I heard there's a saying in the Eastern Sea: 'When a whale falls, all things thrive.' It's just