East Kunlun, atop a cloud cliff.
Yang Huai's figure appeared. His gaze swept across this land that had once been so familiar to him, and faint ripples stirred in his eyes.
Before the Celestial Venerable on Kunlun Mountain threw open the gates of the mountain, he had come here.
The Daoist temple of old was already gone.
The lady of that temple had long since become the woman in his bed.
He simply did not know whether those old friends of his were still around.
That thieving rabbit was one thing, but the Golden Toad had helped him greatly back then.
Of course, the one he most wished to see was Chang Xi.
Yet in the next instant, he suppressed those thoughts.
He still could not meet Chang Xi, at least not until his own Dao cultivation had reached a certain level. Otherwise, he would only bring danger to Chang Xi and himself.
Buzz, buzz!
Just then, his heart stirred. A familiar din suddenly rose from beneath the cloud cliff. Immediately afterward, a vast swarm of elephant beetles like a sea of fire emerged from below the cliff and, the moment they appeared, rushed toward Yang Huai.
Yet at the sight of these Flame Elephant Beetles, he merely smiled faintly and said softly.
"Retreat!"
As his words fell, a peculiar force seemed to bloom forth. Those incomparably ferocious Flame Elephant Beetles actually stopped in midair upon hearing him. In the next moment, they obediently withdrew beneath the cloud cliff.
This was the Golden Word and Jade Pronouncement, also known as bearing the Heavenly Constitution in one's mouth.
It was power brought by the authority of the Heavenly Emperor.
This was merely the most basic application of the Heavenly Emperor's authority.
Yang Huai gazed beneath the cloud cliff, then transformed into