The Mad Director: What Is a Heavenly Human?

The Evil Sect had been destroyed.

Like a stone plunging into a river, it stirred up a thousand ripples.

Li Chunfeng had already been a legend of the martial world before this, invincible beneath the heavens twenty years ago.

He had slain the Devil Master and pacified the jianghu. Among the countless martial artists in the world, who did not know Li Chunfeng?

But later, Li Chunfeng had failed in his attempt to break through to the Heavenly Human Realm.

It was said that he had fallen from the pinnacle of the True Man Realm, reduced to the most ordinary Grandmaster Realm.

He had fallen completely from the altar, fading into the common crowd.

Yet now, rumors spread throughout the outside world that Li Chunfeng had wiped out the Evil Sect. He had surely recovered the strength of the True Man Realm.

That meant this former overlord, who had lain dormant for so long, had awakened once more.

The jianghu was utterly shaken, while the court and commonfolk alike discussed the matter heatedly.

A few days later, Ying Huai once again arrived at the Imperial Observatory atop Fulong Mountain.

Accompanying Ying Huai into the Imperial Observatory was a woman in armor, radiating an imposing noble aura.

"Chunfeng! This is Phoenix, Grand Commander of the Shadow Guards. Your attack by the Evil Sect a few days ago has drawn Your Majesty's great concern. She ordered Phoenix to investigate it personally."

Ying Huai looked at Li Chunfeng with a beaming smile.

The Shadow Guards were a force directly under Empress Tianyuan of Great Gan.

Unlike the True Martial Sect, Facing Heaven Pavilion, and Imperial Observatory, which still had to answer to the Imperial Court, the Shadow Guards only answered to the Empress herself.

Thus, as the commander of the Shadow Guards, Phoenix naturally wielded overwhelming power and influence.

Looking across the court, let alone the civil and military officials, not even imperial relatives dared provoke Phoenix.

"This junior greets Lord Li!"

Though Phoenix held immense authority, she remained exceedingly respectful toward Li Chunfeng.

After all, Li Chunfeng had been a Jianghu Myth twenty years ago. Now that he had recovered the power of the True Man Realm, he was already worthy of Phoenix's attention.

Moreover, no one could guarantee whether Li Chunfeng might succeed in breaking through to the Heavenly Human Realm.

If he truly succeeded in reaching the Heavenly Human Realm, even Empress Tianyuan would likely have to treat Li Chunfeng with the courtesy due an Imperial Preceptor.

Under such circumstances, Phoenix naturally did not dare slight Li Chunfeng.

Li Chunfeng merely responded courteously to Phoenix's goodwill.

He could not help sighing inwardly.

If Phoenix learned that the one who had destroyed the Evil Sect was not him, but sixteen-year-old Ren Xiaoyao, what would she think?

Ren Xiaoyao stood beside Li Chunfeng.

He also used his Spiritual Sense to peer at Phoenix.

The True Essence within Phoenix's body was exceedingly abundant. Though she was far inferior to him, she was still much stronger than the previous Evil Sect. She should also be in the Grandmaster Realm.

Next, Phoenix and Ying Huai asked about the details of the day the Evil Sect had come to Night Gazing Peak.

Li Chunfeng and Ren Xiaoyao had already agreed on their story beforehand, so it was naturally seamless.

After their testimony had been recorded, the atmosphere eased.

Ying Huai said with a beaming smile.

"This Evil Sect must have swallowed a bear's heart and leopard's gallbladder, daring to come all the way to Fulong Mountain to cause trouble for you, Li Chunfeng. They got what they deserved."

"Indeed!"

Phoenix also said with a chuckle.

"If the Evil Sect had not acted, we would never have known that Lord Li had already recovered the strength of the True Man Realm. You truly kept us in the dark."

But upon hearing this, Ren Xiaoyao's expression did not look good.

From Ying Huai and Phoenix's words, they believed the Evil Sect had come specifically to seek revenge on Li Chunfeng.

Yet Ren Xiaoyao had clearly placed his portrait back inside the Evil Sect's remains. With even a slight investigation, they should have discovered that the Evil Sect's true target had been Ren Xiaoyao.

This meant someone had removed Ren Xiaoyao's portrait from the Evil Sect beforehand, destroying this crucial piece of evidence. That was why Ying Huai and Phoenix had failed to uncover the Evil Sect's true purpose.

"Someone capable of doing this within the Imperial Court must hold immense power and influence! Otherwise, there is absolutely no way they could conceal it from Ying Huai's Facing Heaven Pavilion and Phoenix's Shadow Guards."

Ren Xiaoyao thought to himself.

That was why Ren Xiaoyao had taken his portrait from the Evil Sect and then placed it back.

He had wanted to fish for something, and unexpectedly, he had truly hooked a clue.

"Could that person really be Ren Xuanji?"

Ren Xiaoyao's expression darkened.

Looking across all of Great Gan, there were very few people who could hire the Evil Sect to kill someone and then erase the critical evidence afterward.

Among them, Ren Xuanji was the most likely.

"A Tiger Does Not Eat Its Cubs. Why does Ren Xuanji insist on driving me to my death?"

A sense of urgency arose within Ren Xiaoyao.

If Ren Xuanji truly wanted to eliminate him, Ren Xiaoyao was still in great danger.

After all, aside from his power and influence, Ren Xuanji himself was also a True Man Realm existence.

If Ren Xiaoyao wanted self-preservation, he had to at least raise his combat strength to the True Man Realm.

At that moment, Phoenix looked at Li Chunfeng and said.

"Lord Li, I have come this time partly at Your Majesty's instruction. Her Majesty believes that having someone of your True Man Realm strength merely observe the stars is a waste of your talents. If you wish, she can grant you the position of Director."

Hearing this, Li Chunfeng shook his head and said, "The position of Director? I would not dare accept it. Besides, my master is still alive. How could I become the Director?"

"Everyone knows the old Director's condition. The reason Your Majesty has kept him in that position is because there has been no suitable candidate. Now that you have recovered the power of the True Man Realm, you are naturally the most suitable candidate for Director."

Phoenix thought Li Chunfeng was interested and hurriedly added.

"Forget it. Today, they can kill the donkey after it grinds; someday, they can do the same to me."

Li Chunfeng waved his hand and said, "Commander Phoenix, please thank Your Majesty for her kind intentions. I have no interest in power. All I want in this life is to be an idle man."

Hearing this, Phoenix did not raise the subject again, lest she make herself unwelcome.

After chatting for a while longer, Ying Huai and Phoenix finally left the Imperial Observatory.

Only then did Ren Xiaoyao look at Li Chunfeng and ask curiously, "Master, when Elder Ying and Phoenix mentioned the Director earlier, does the Director's current condition seem to be abnormal?"

Hearing this, Li Chunfeng instinctively wanted to scold Ren Xiaoyao.

After all, knowing too much was not necessarily a good thing.

But Li Chunfeng quickly realized that Ren Xiaoyao was no longer the Ren Xiaoyao he knew. The current Ren Xiaoyao was in the True Man Realm.

A sixteen-year-old True Man Realm expert—he was even more monstrous than Li Chunfeng had been in his youth, and his combat strength was far greater than Li Chunfeng's current strength.

In a few more years, Ren Xiaoyao might even be able to break through to the Heavenly Human Realm.

If he truly attained the Heavenly Human Realm.

Then he would truly stand supreme beneath the heavens!

At the thought of this, Li Chunfeng's heart surged violently and could not settle for a long time. After taking a deep breath, he looked at Ren Xiaoyao and said.

"The Director is too obsessed with the Heavenly Human Realm, yet he has never been able to break through. He has already gone mad. Of course, that description is not entirely accurate. Sometimes he is normal, and sometimes he is insane. He is impossible to fathom."

"Intermittent Psychosis?"

Ren Xiaoyao nodded as well.

Under such circumstances.

It was reasonable for Empress Tianyuan to want to replace the Director.

Ren Xiaoyao spoke again.

"Then what exactly is the Heavenly Human Realm? You went astray in pursuit of the Heavenly Human Realm back then, while the Director became mad in pursuit of it. Is the Heavenly Human Realm really so difficult to reach?"

"That is a Heavenly Human!"

Li Chunfeng let out a long sigh and said.

"Those who do not enter the Heavenly Human Realm are all ants. Only by entering the Heavenly Human Realm can one act as one pleases! Look at me, look at Ren Xuanji, even the Director. To Empress Tianyuan now, we are all dogs. But if we entered the Heavenly Human Realm, would the Empress dare treat us like dogs?"

Ren Xiaoyao nodded.

For now, he had no intention of pursuing the Heavenly Human Realm.

What Ren Xiaoyao wanted first was to ensure that he entered the True Man Realm. Reaching for what was beyond his grasp was not a good thing.

The matter of the Evil Sect came to an end.

Over the next two months, Ren Xiaoyao continued cultivating, and his strength steadily increased.

Though Ren Xiaoyao's realm was still the Dao Realm Double Heaven, his strength was already equivalent to twenty times that of the previous Evil Sect.

If the Evil Sect came back to life, Ren Xiaoyao would not even need to use any cultivation technique. He could smash the Evil Sect apart with his fists alone.

Because he had never witnessed the strength of the True Man Realm, Ren Xiaoyao could not easily compare himself to it. Still, he felt that with his Chaos God-Demon Body Refining Technique, fighting a True Man Realm expert should not pose much of a problem.

But since he had never fought in actual combat, Ren Xiaoyao was not entirely confident.

However, if he could break through once more and enter the Third Heaven of the Dao Realm, Ren Xiaoyao would have sufficient confidence to defeat a True Man Realm existence.

During this time, aside from observing the heavens, Li Chunfeng was also observing Ren Xiaoyao.

Li Chunfeng had discovered something strange: Ren Xiaoyao seemed never to practice martial arts.

That was highly unreasonable.

"This kid clearly does not practice martial arts, so why do I feel that the power within his body grows stronger by the day? What a monster!"

Naturally, Li Chunfeng could rack his brains and still fail to understand it.

What Ren Xiaoyao cultivated was not martial arts, but immortality.

Li Chunfeng could only force himself to explain it away.

Ren Xiaoyao was a genius beyond his comprehension.

"Perhaps I can give him the Great Evolution Tome. Even with my aptitude, I have been unable to comprehend the Great Evolution Tome. But this kid might be able to?"

Li Chunfeng thought to himself.

The Great Evolution Tome.

This was the most important secret in Li Chunfeng's possession. Liu Ruyan had lurked within the Imperial Observatory for the Great Evolution Tome.

Yet Li Chunfeng ultimately had not made up his mind. He still needed to consider it for some time, for the Great Evolution Tome involved matters of enormous importance.

Naturally, Ren Xiaoyao did not know Li Chunfeng's thoughts. He continued cultivating quietly, hoping to break through into the Third Heaven of the Dao Realm as soon as possible.

On this day, Bai Su came to Night Gazing Peak once more, bringing news.

With the year's end approaching, the Director had been lucid again recently. He wanted to gather all the Imperial Observatory's disciples together for some liveliness.

Ren Xiaoyao was also quite interested in this Director.

For no other reason than that Ren Xiaoyao was curious about just how powerful the True Man Realm truly was.

Until now, Ren Xiaoyao had lacked a point of reference.

If he could meet the Director.

Then he would have something to compare against.