The Celestial Master Emerges from Seclusion, and a Heavenly Marriage Scroll Welcomes Hu Liena

Tiandang Mountain, Taixu Temple, Dragon-Locking Seclusion Chamber.

This was the most forbidden place in Taixu Temple, buried deep within the mountain, at the eye of its dragon vein. No sunlight had touched it for ages.

Only the Ancient Celestial Master Dao Patterns carved into the stone walls gave off the faintest glimmer in the silence.

Humm—

A barely audible tremor came from the deepest part of the Seclusion Chamber.

The massive stone door, sealed for an entire century, began to shudder violently. The talismans sealing it peeled away layer by layer, crumbling into golden dust.

In the next instant, a hundred years of accumulated Dao Qi erupted like an ancient deity awakening!

Boom!

There was no earth-shattering crash, yet an invisible pressure swept outward.

Upon the stone walls, the tens of thousands of ancient, inscrutable Celestial Master Dao Patterns seemed to be infused with life all at once, blazing with dazzling golden light!

The entire shadowy Seclusion Chamber was swallowed by a boundless ocean of pure Dao resonance.

At its heart, a figure who had sat in meditation for a century slowly opened his eyes.

A hundred years had left not the slightest mark on his face. He still looked like the same handsome, otherworldly young man.

Shen Yichen.

Master of Taixu Temple, the Celestial Master of this age.

He parted his lips slightly and slowly exhaled a wisp of gray-white, turbid air that had built up over a hundred years.

It was no ordinary breath. It was the worldly dross and bodily impurities that had settled within him during his century of seclusion.

The turbid breath left his body, but did not disperse. Instead, it spun in midair and condensed into a lifelike phantom of a nine-tailed fox!

The fox was gray-white all over. It raised its head and gazed at Shen Yichen, its eyes holding a hint of relief and longing. Then it circled three times in the air and gave a clear, ethereal cry.

After the cry, the phantom went "poof," bursting into a sky full of golden sparks that vanished completely into the Dao resonance.

"A century in seclusion, and I still fell short of that final step."

Shen Yichen spoke softly. His voice was hoarse from long disuse, yet rang through the empty Stone Chamber like the tolling of a morning bell and evening drum.

He raised a hand and gently brushed his fingertip over the faintly visible, pale-gold Celestial Master Seal between his brows.

He knew full well that he had refined ninety-nine percent of the Ancient Celestial Master's teachings. His cultivation had long surpassed those so-called God Kings in the Divine Realm, reaching the "half-step to the Great Dao" realm.

Only a thin sheet of paper stood between him and true, supreme perfection.

And that sheet of paper was "Red Dust Heart Refining."

More precisely, it was the pact forged in ancient times between the Celestial Master lineage and the Qingqiu Fox Clan.

A thought stirred in Shen Yichen's mind, and he raised his hand to form the ancient divination seals.

His fingertips moved so quickly that only afterimages remained. Countless profound Dao patterns flowed and flickered at their tips, as if he were plucking the river of time.

Ten thousand years raced backward before his eyes. Countless threads of karma intertwined and tangled until, at last, a faint yet utterly pure trace of nine-tailed fox bloodline emerged clearly in his divination.

"So that's how it is. The last inheritor of the bloodline is actually her?"

Shen Yichen's fingers stilled, and understanding flashed in his eyes.

Spirit Hall, Holy Maiden, Hu Liena.

He already knew the answer.

Then Shen Yichen released a wisp of his divine sense.

Formless and intangible, it swept across the entire Douluo Continent in an instant, spreading like quicksilver across the ground!

Above Jialing Pass, the skies were thick with clouds of war, and killing intent soared.

The allied forces of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire had finished assembling. Their banners stood like a forest, their swords drawn and ready. At any moment, they could launch an all-out assault on the Spirit Hall Empire to decide who would rule the continent.

In Spirit City, Bibi Dong wore the ceremonial robes of the Pope. Rakshasa Divine Power churned around her. Though she had not become a god, she had come infinitely close.

The worry and murderous intent between her brows remained clear even from ten thousand miles away.

Far off, on the other side of the continent, lay Sea God Island.

A young man bathed in golden divine light as he received the Sea God's inheritance.

His Soul Power had already broken through level eighty-three, and he was undergoing the Seventh Trial. His fortune was at its peak, and he seemed faintly connected to the entire ocean.

Tang San.

"Before long, this continent will welcome a new Sea God."

Shen Yichen felt no stir of emotion. He was simply stating a fact:

"And the Spirit Hall Empire—and Hu Liena—will become stepping stones for the new god's rise, their Divine Souls shattered and their hopes of ever breaking through to Titled Douluo crushed. They'll meet a miserable end."

He knew exactly how this world was destined to unfold.

"That miserable ending from the original story..."

The corner of Shen Yichen's mouth curled into a faint smile, tinged with both languor and unquestionable authority.

"Now that this Celestial Master has emerged from seclusion, I'll repay this karma myself, and rewrite that ending."

He had already made up his mind.

A Celestial Master Grand Wedding, with heaven and earth as witnesses and the Eighteen Betrothal Gifts as the pledge.

It would fulfill the ancient pact, help him refine his heart in the mortal world, and carry him through that final step.

It would also protect the last remnant of the Qingqiu bloodline and spare her a lifetime of calamity.

The time was right.

Shen Yichen raised his palm, facing it upward.

He drew upon the power of the Heavenly Dao, unseen and beyond reach, and called forth the remaining trace of the Qingqiu Fox Clan's bloodline, which had endured across the ages.

Two supreme powers converged and merged in his palm.

In an instant, purple-gold light blazed forth!

Within the light, two ancient, magnificent marriage scrolls slowly took shape.

Both were purple-gold, their edges engraved with intricate, exquisite patterns of nine-tailed foxes. The designs seemed almost alive, giving off a faint spiritual glow.

Somewhere between heaven and earth, faint fox cries seemed to echo—the call of blood resonating in its depths.

One scroll bore the name "Shen Yichen," inscribed in Dao runes.

The other bore the name "Hu Liena."

These were twin Marriage Contracts, acknowledged by heaven and earth and witnessed by the Great Dao!

Shen Yichen gazed at the scrolls in his palm, his expression calm. He flicked a finger lightly.

Whoosh!

The purple-gold Marriage Contract bearing Hu Liena's name turned into a streak of light. It tore through the space before him and vanished into a pitch-black rift, flying toward Spirit City faster than anything in the world.

Having done all this, Shen Yichen slowly rose to his feet and brushed the nonexistent dust from his plain Daoist robe. After a century in seclusion, it was time to go out and stretch his legs.

At the same time.

The instant the Marriage Contract left Tiandang Mountain,

in the heart of the Star Dou Great Forest, ten thousand miles away,

"Awooo—"

A thousand-year-old demon fox out hunting suddenly stopped in its tracks. Abandoning the prey just within reach, it jerked its head up and let out a long, respectful cry toward Spirit City.

Then, all throughout the forest, fox Soul Beasts of every age—ten-year, hundred-year, thousand-year, and ten-thousand-year—froze in unison, as if answering a supreme summons from the source of their bloodline.

They all turned toward the same direction and prostrated themselves on the ground, throats rumbling with humble, reverent whimpers.

All foxes paid homage!

This sudden disturbance sent shockwaves through the entire ecosystem of the Star Dou Great Forest.

At the bottom of the Lake of Life,

the enormous ox head and ape head that had been sleeping suddenly opened their eyes!