The Golden Men Emerge, Shaking All Directions

PS: Just a notice—starting this Sunday, there will be two updates a day.

The phenomenon came swiftly and vanished even faster.

The Roc spread its wings, hating the sky for being too low, then vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The group lay sprawled on the ground, covered in mud and dust, looking utterly disheveled. But no one cared about that now. They looked at one another, their faces filled with fear and unease.

What the hell was that?

Lewd Monk wiped the cold sweat from his brow and said in a low voice, "Could this be the phenomenon marking the emergence of a secret realm?"

"Perhaps." Mad Daoist's expression shifted, as though he were wrestling with something.

"So... are we still looking for the secret realm?" Poison Widow's pretty face had gone pale. Her long, slender legs trembled incessantly; she had clearly been scared out of her wits.

"Of course we are. Why wouldn't we? Doesn't this phenomenon prove that Emperor Mountain has a secret realm, and that the secret realm holds an immortal treasure?" Lewd Monk hurriedly said.

The others froze for a moment before realizing that he had a point.

They had searched for so long, and now that the secret realm was about to emerge, it would be hard to give up at this point.

Mad Daoist gritted his teeth. "The monk is right. We've searched for so long—we can't give up when we're just one step from the finish line."

Poison Widow's expression kept changing as she considered retreating for the time being. But the other two disagreed, leaving her hesitant.

Just then, another change occurred in the heavens and earth.

Bzzz!

A hum resounded through heaven and earth!

Along with that soul-shaking sound, the dim world was suddenly engulfed in golden light.

A strange golden ray first bloomed within the dark sky. Then, that faint spark of light burst forth with boundless radiance, like a blazing sun hanging in the heavens, illuminating this vast world.

The blazing sun appeared, and heaven and earth became clear!

Feeling the restless spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the people gazed up at the dazzling sun in the sky. Someone could not help crying out, "What is that?!"

Amid their confusion, the golden light gradually drew inward, revealing the scene within.

A person!

A golden giant that reached from heaven to earth, its shoulders rivaling mountains!

It sat cross-legged in the dark sky, golden light blooming from its body in streaks. It was like a deity from an ancient myth—sacred, majestic, and immortal!

The golden giant towered high, clearly visible even from dozens of miles away.

Li Hao was immersed in enlightenment cultivation, sensing his power growing at an inconceivable speed.

His magical power surged, transforming from a babbling stream into a roaring river!

His strength skyrocketed; his fists could shatter stars, and his feet could crush the earth!

Unlike the Roc, which vanished as soon as it spread its wings, the golden giant lingered in the sky for a long time, its divine light illuminating the dim Emperor Mountain range.

Only after several full minutes did the towering golden giant slowly dissipate.

Mad Daoist swallowed with difficulty and said in a trembling voice, "I just remembered that there's a furnace of pills at home that needs tending. How about we head back for now? Once I've dealt with the pills, we can come back to search for the secret realm?"

Poison Widow had not wanted to stay any longer to begin with. Hearing this, she hurriedly said, "Oh my, if Daoist Brother hadn't mentioned it, I would've nearly forgotten that I haven't fed my little darling at home its cat food yet."

Lewd Monk's face twitched slightly. He was utterly speechless at their pathetic excuses.

But when he thought of the Roc that had blotted out the sky, as well as the towering golden giant that had rivaled mountains just moments ago, he could not help swallowing.

This place seemed a little too dangerous.

Feeling that his pants were already soaked through, Lewd Monk felt both humiliated and awkward.

His eyes shifted slightly before he glared at the two of them and shouted, "Hmph! This venerable monk is ashamed to associate with the likes of you."

With that, Lewd Monk turned and left.

He leaped more than ten feet into the air, his broad monk's robes fluttering loudly in the wind. Apart from the damp traces on his pants, he truly carried the air of an expert.

Mad Daoist and Poison Widow froze for a moment. Then, seeing Lewd Monk flee toward the outskirts of Emperor Mountain without even looking back, their mouths twitched.

Bastard!

What a pretentious fool!

The two silently cursed Lewd Monk for being shameless, but they did not dare linger any longer either.

Afraid that Carefree Scholar might make a move, they both sprang away.

One Daoist and one beauty leaped through the mountains and rivers.

Other than the fact that their legs were clearly weak while using their movement techniques, nearly causing them to stumble and fall, they still exuded the romantic, wandering air of a martial arts novel.

In just a short while, Lewd Monk, Mad Daoist, and Poison Widow had all left, leaving only Carefree Scholar and the young woman behind.

The two exchanged a glance but did not pursue the three.

"Brother Carefree, we..." The young woman swallowed with difficulty, nervously surveying the surroundings as she spoke in a timid, quiet voice.

Carefree Scholar's expression shifted several times before he finally let out a silent sigh.

The commotion caused by the phenomenon at Emperor Mountain was far too great. He did not need to think to know it would definitely alert the authorities. If they stayed to continue searching for the secret realm, setting aside the dangers within it, they would certainly run into people from the authorities.

Carefree Scholar did not want to deal with the authorities, at least not yet.

He took a deep breath and said, "Let's go back. This has gotten out of hand. The authorities should have received word already."

Hearing this, the young girl hurriedly nodded.

She did not want to stay here for even another second.

The two quickly chose another direction and likewise headed out of Emperor Mountain.

And in fact, just as Carefree Scholar had said, the authorities had already taken action the moment the Roc emerged.

Emperor Mountain, Martial Arts Department.

Several grandmasters renowned throughout the land stared blankly in the direction of the Emperor Mountain range. No one spoke for a long while.

"This... this is..."

After a long time, one grandmaster's face turned pale as he said in a trembling voice, "Someone has attained enlightenment!"

What was enlightenment? To surpass a Golden Core Grandmaster and comprehend the power of the origin of heaven and earth—that was enlightenment.

Just as the Daoists said: refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, refining spirit into emptiness, refining emptiness to unite with the Dao. This Dao was the most fundamental law of heaven and earth—the Heavenly Dao.

"No, impossible. How could anyone have attained enlightenment?" someone immediately refuted.

Enlightenment was the realm of refining emptiness to unite with the Dao, the final realm of Daoist cultivation and an important sign that one was about to ascend and become an immortal.

Golden Core Grandmasters, meanwhile, belonged to the stage of refining qi into spirit. That was why they did not believe someone had attained enlightenment.

After all, there were currently very few Golden Core Grandmasters on Earth. They had not even heard of anyone breaking through into the Saint Realm of refining spirit into emptiness, much less advancing into that terrifying realm from legend, one said to belong to immortals and gods among men.

As they spoke, the others found the reasoning sensible as well.

"Alas, regardless of what caused this, Emperor Mountain is afraid it will never be peaceful again," one grandmaster sighed helplessly.

The others fell silent at his words.

The phenomenon at Emperor Mountain had been far too massive, and far too many people had seen it.

They did not even need to investigate to guess how frenzied the internet must be.

And indeed, that was exactly the case. At least several million people had witnessed the phenomenon at Emperor Mountain with their own eyes. Although the Roc vanished too quickly after spreading its wings, the golden giant as large as a mountain had remained for several minutes.

With that much time, even a fool could have reacted and recorded enough evidence to prove that the changes at Emperor Mountain were real.

By now, news of the phenomenon at Emperor Mountain, along with all kinds of short videos, had already spread across the world.

Discussions about Emperor Mountain had become a nationwide hot topic.

Yet the person who had sparked this wave was leisurely walking along a road at the edge of Emperor Mountain, completely unaware of what an enormous event he had caused.