Haotian's mind sank into the unseen depths, forgetting everything beyond him.
He felt only that he was crossing a threshold unlike any he had faced before.
The Heaven and Earth Great Momentum borne by his Imperial Great Dao had far surpassed the limit an ordinary Quasi-Saint could bear.
Ninety percent of the Three Realms and Six Paths had given him their allegiance, and the Saints had signed an alliance with him.
Since the creation of the Primordial Wilderness, no one else had ever possessed such Great Momentum.
The sounds of the barrier cracking grew faster and denser.
While Haotian remained in seclusion, striving for his breakthrough, the mortal world quietly began to change.
Chaoge, capital of the Shang Kingdom, was as prosperous as ever.
Carriages and horses thronged its streets, and tribute carts from the lords of every quarter arrived without end.
Within the palace, songs and dances filled the halls, and cups passed from hand to hand, as though this age of peace and prosperity would endure for ten thousand years.
Yet a careful observer would have seen undercurrents stirring beneath the splendor.
The lords paid tribute less often than in years past. Reports from the border arrived more often. And deep within the palace, Di Xin had lately grown
ever more volatile.
Ordinary people, of course, had no way of noticing such subtle changes.
But to cultivators looking down on the mortal world from the clouds, its fortune was like a pot of water about to boil. Bubbles had begun rising from the bottom.
The Chan Sect moved first.
At Jade Void Palace on East Kunlun Mountain, the Twelve Golden Immortals had each gone down the mountain.
Guangchengzi went to Kongtong Mountain, Taiyi Zhenren arrived at Chentang Pass, Jade Cauldron True Person took in a youth named Yang