Yue Buqun had become a Land Immortal.
Forget reviving the Mount Hua Sect—in an era when Grandmasters were top-tier experts and Great Grandmasters had all but vanished, unifying the world was only a matter of time.
But she clearly remembered that before her husband went into seclusion, he had only been one minor realm above her, at the late Xiantian stage. He was still a long way from becoming a Grandmaster!
So what was going on now? In just one month, he had gone straight from Xiantian to Land Immortal?
Had he eaten some kind of heavenly treasure?
Yue Buqun held his hands before him, centering his mind. His eyes slowly opened, and when he saw his wife and daughter outside the door, a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Junior Sister, you're here."
"...Mm..."
Ning Zhongze felt her heart stir. Her beautiful eyes kept roaming over Yue Buqun, but she didn't know how to begin.
"Father, were you cultivating immortality just now?"
Yue Lingshan, however, didn't hold back. As soon as she saw Yue Buqun finish his cultivation, she excitedly hurried over and peppered him with questions.
"Cultivating immortality? You could say that."
Yue Buqun paused, then burst into hearty laughter.
The knots that had weighed on him for years unraveled, lending him an air of effortless grace.
When he saw the adoration in Yue Lingshan's eyes, he felt even more pleased with himself.
Yes, I won't hold it against you for calling me Little Yue in the Chat Group.
After all, whether it's Ye Fan from a fantasy world, Ancestral Dragon Ying Zheng, who unified the world, or Little Dragon Girl, who founded a divine religion, I still can't compare to them.
But outside the Chat Group, what should you call me?
Yue—disciple of Emperor Lord Taihua—the Land Immortal—Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect—the Gentleman Sword—Buqun!
"Senior Brother, your cultivation...?"
Ning Zhongze was still reeling.
"That's right. I'm a Land Immortal now."
Yue Buqun nodded with a smile, confirming her guess.
"Father's become an immortal!"
Yue Lingshan clapped her hands excitedly. She didn't know what the realm of Land Immortal meant; she only knew that her father had become an immortal.
"Just a Land Immortal."
Yue Buqun reached out and patted Yue Lingshan on the head.
"But it won't be long now. Once I become an immortal, I'll take you all with me to enjoy the good life."
Yue Buqun withdrew his hand with confidence and stroked his beard.
"Ah!"
Ning Zhongze froze again. Become an immortal?
Even Zhang Sanfeng, back in his day, hadn't managed to become an immortal. Why was Senior Brother so confident?
Yue Buqun didn't offer much explanation in response to Ning Zhongze's doubts.
After all, even if he told them about the Heavenly Emperor Visualization Diagram, they might not believe him.
He had cultivated for only one month and gone from Xiantian to Land Immortal. Becoming an immortal was nowhere near the end for him.
"Now that I've come out of seclusion, the next step is to make the Mount Hua Sect the strongest in the world!"
Looking out at the bright, tranquil moonlight, Yue Buqun silently began making plans.
With his current cultivation, he was more than worthy of being called the strongest in the world.
As for Ye Fan and Ying Zheng, there was no need to mention them. Little Dragon Girl had already founded a divine religion and begun having people worship the Emperor Lord.
He needed to hurry, too. Nothing else mattered, but if the Emperor Lord came to see him as useless, he would miss an opportunity that could defy the heavens.
Shrouding the Heavens.
Stone Village.
Ye Fan stood at the entrance to the village, with Black Emperor and Duan De a short distance away.
Facing them stood the villagers of Stone Village, reluctant to see him go.
"Fifth Master Zhang, I still have things I need to do, so I won't impose on you any longer."
Ye Fan held this old man in great respect. Anyone who could withstand the temptation of the Source Heavenly Book must have been a person of noble character.
Unfortunately, he did not belong here. Someone was waiting for him beyond the stars, on the Other Shore, so he had to find his way home.
"A pond can't contain a Flood Dragon. You never belonged here. An eagle belongs soaring through the vast sky. But if you ever grow tired of flying, you can always come back and rest. Stone Village will always welcome you."
Fifth Master Zhang leaned on his cane, his back hunched. Yet his eyes shone with wisdom, and his cloudy gaze seemed able to see right through people.
Unlike the others, who were reluctant to let Ye Fan go, he had known this day would come.
The strong were never made through arduous cultivation alone.
Ye Fan had recovered the Source Heavenly Book for them, allowing Wang Shu and Lei Bo to activate their Sea of Suffering and embark on the path of cultivation. Now Stone Village had the strength to protect itself. Fifth Master Zhang was already more than satisfied.
"By the way."
Fifth Master Zhang seemed to remember something and offered Ye Fan a word of advice.
"Our Zhang Family's ancient ancestor once brought many strange stones out of Purple Mountain. Even he couldn't see through the mysteries of many of them."
"Before he entered Purple Mountain, he sealed those stones away using the methods of an Origin Heaven Master and placed them in Yaochi Holy Land. Perhaps they hold the truth about what happened to the Origin Heaven Master in his later years."
After they opened the strange stones in Stone Village and found nothing inside but remnants of ominous red hair, they realized that their ancestor, Zhang Lin, must have gone into Purple Mountain to suppress the evil within his body.
That was why Fifth Master Zhang told Ye Fan about this, hoping he could find some clues.
"Thank you, Fifth Master."
Ye Fan nodded to show that he would remember.
"Woof, woof, woof! Yaochi Holy Land!"
Black Emperor barked loudly from the side.
"Ye Kid, this Emperor risked his life to save you. As repayment, just kidnap the current Saintess of Yaochi and make her this Emperor's pet."
At Black Emperor's lecherous grin, Duan De slapped it right on the head.
"A dog thinks it can take a Saintess as its pet? Besides, I'm the one who shed blood back then. You just ran your mouth—what did you do?"
"Woof, woof, woof! How dare you hit this Emperor? I'll bite you to death!"
"Ah, my butt! You lousy dog, let go!"
Watching the man and dog brawl, Ye Fan smiled helplessly.
Then he clenched his hand and felt the unceasing surge of power within him.
"I should be able to match a prodigy like Ji Haoyue now!"
He hadn't used up the drop of True Dragon Essence Blood the Heavenly Emperor had given him.
In fact, even with his Ancient Desolate Sacred Body's black-hole-like constitution, he had only consumed a small portion of its power.
Most of the True Dragon Essence Blood had transformed into divine radiance and hidden itself within him, continually tempering and strengthening his physical body.
Then Ye Chen waved goodbye to everyone and resolutely headed out of the village.
"With a True Dragon emerging, the outside world seems bound to get even more interesting."
Watching the figure silhouetted against the light, Fifth Master Zhang said with a sigh.
Northern Region, ruins of the Feathered God Dynasty!
Several streaks of light cut across the sky, hurtling toward the distant horizon.
"You damned Wicked Daoist! Didn't you say nobody was here? Why does it feel like we just dug up someone's ancestral grave?!"
Beneath a golden streak of light, Ye Fan cursed at Duan De.
Behind them, a terrifying figure appeared. The moment it did, all the Spiritual Energy around it submitted. It strolled forward, crossing hundreds of miles in the blink of an eye.
If Ye Fan hadn't learned the Old Madman's Xuanji Step, giving him peerless movement skills, they would have been caught long ago.
But even so, the distance between them was still closing fast.
"Black dog, are you ready or not?!"
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