After the Myriad Immortals Formation collapsed, the momentum of the entire Celestial Court army visibly plummeted.
The hundred thousand immortal soldiers had suffered their formations being broken twice in succession, and the confidence they had built up earlier was already almost gone.
Especially after seeing Luxuan emerge from the formation completely unscathed, many Celestial Court cultivators began to feel uneasy.
What exactly was this man?
Late Daluo Immortal?
What kind of Late Daluo Immortal fought like this?
First, he had punched a Quasi-Saint back.
Then, he had entered the Myriad Immortals Formation, dismantled it, and taught his disciple at the same time.
In the end, it was even his disciple who found the key node first and broke the formation.
By this point, the Celestial Court had gone beyond merely losing face.
It felt somewhat like they had specifically brought a hundred thousand men to Penglai to serve as a practical teaching base.
Dongwang Gong stood in midair, his expression ugly to the extreme.
Ever since becoming the leader of the male immortals, he had never suffered such a stifling defeat.
In terms of cultivation.
He was higher.
In terms of numbers.
The Celestial Court had brought an army of one hundred thousand.
In terms of treasures.
He possessed the Dragonhead Staff bestowed by Hongjun.
Yet from beginning to end, he had gained almost no real advantage.
Especially Luxuan's unhurried demeanor, which gave Dongwang Gong an absurd feeling for the first time.
Even now.
His opponent probably had not truly gone all out.
"Still want to fight?"
Luxuan spoke.
Dongwang Gong did not answer.
He merely tightened his grip on the Dragonhead Staff again.
His status as leader of the male immortals made it impossible for him to lower his head directly before a hundred thousand immortal soldiers.
Luxuan understood his meaning as well.
"Fine."
"Then I'll keep fighting until you no longer want to."
The moment his words fell.
Luxuan had already vanished.
Dongwang Gong's pupils contracted.
"So fast!"
The Dragonhead Staff instinctively swept across before him.
The next instant.
The fist arrived.
Clang!
Terrifying force surged through the staff and instantly spread across his entire body.
Dongwang Gong's entire right arm shook violently, and he was sent flying backward several thousand miles.
Before he could steady himself.
Luxuan's second punch had already arrived.
"Purple Palace Immortal Light!"
Dongwang Gong shouted sharply.
Countless streams of purple radiance instantly gathered before him, forming layer upon layer of defensive barriers.
The first layer.
Shattered.
The second layer.
Shattered.
Just as the third layer formed, Luxuan's fist had already forcibly pierced through all the purple light.
Boom!
Dongwang Gong's dharma form behind him shattered once more.
His entire body fell from the sky.
The sea surface exploded, blasting open a massive crater.
"Lord Emperor!"
The Celestial Court immortals were shocked.
Several Great Luo Immortals had just prepared to step forward.
Luxuan merely turned his head and glanced at them.
"Stay where you are."
His voice was not loud.
Yet the several Great Luo Immortals truly stopped in their tracks.
It was not because they were obedient.
The instant Luxuan's gaze fell upon them, an incomparably terrifying Array Dao aura had already sealed all the space around them.
Whoever dared step forward.
Would most likely receive the next punch.
A flash of purple light emerged beneath the sea.
Dongwang Gong shot into the sky once more.
Compared with before, he was now clearly far more disheveled.
His imperial crown sat slightly crooked.
His daoist robe was torn.
Blood had appeared at the corner of his mouth for the first time.
But a Quasi-Saint was still a Quasi-Saint.
His vitality and reserves of mana were far beyond those of an ordinary Great Luo Immortal.
Luxuan could suppress him in battle, but he also knew that if Dongwang Gong was determined to flee, it would not be as easy as it appeared to keep him here completely.
Since he could not kill him.
Then he would squeeze something out of him first.
He could not spend so long serving as a sparring partner for nothing.
"Dongwang Gong."
Luxuan did not throw another punch.
"Still want to fight?"
Dongwang Gong's expression shifted uncertainly.
He looked at the Celestial Court cultivators around him, whose morale had already sunk to rock bottom, then at the distant Penglai Formation, which remained completely undamaged. At last, he understood that continuing today's battle held no meaning whatsoever.
If they kept fighting.
They would gain nothing but become a bigger joke to the mighty figures of the Great Wilderness.
"What do you want?"
Dongwang Gong's voice was low.
Luxuan smiled.
Wouldn't it have been better to ask that sooner?
It would have saved everyone the trouble.
"First."
"From today onward, no one under the Celestial Court may enter the sea region within hundreds of millions of miles around Penglai without prior notice."
Dongwang Gong frowned slightly.
But he did not object.
"Second."
"You came to my door three times, disturbed my disciples' cultivation, and damaged the environment of the Eastern Sea. You should provide some compensation."
Dongwang Gong's eyelid twitched.
Disturbed his disciples' cultivation?
Who was it that had beaten the Celestial Court's people into swimming all over the sea the first two times?
And the part about damaging the Eastern Sea's environment was even more outrageous.
The one who had fought most fiercely just now had clearly been Luxuan.
But circumstances were stronger than people.
Dongwang Gong endured it.
"What do you want?"
Luxuan had clearly calculated it all in advance.
"Three Large Innate Spiritual Veins."
"Ten Innate Spiritual Roots."
"Three High-grade Innate Spirit Treasures."
"And a batch of innate immortal materials needed for pill refining and artifact forging."
"The quantity need not be too great."
"Just calculate the resources consumed by the hundred thousand immortal soldiers today and convert them into equivalent compensation."
Dongwang Gong's face twitched violently.
This was what he called not too much?
Did he misunderstand the phrase "not too much"?
Three Large Innate Spiritual Veins would be manageable.
The Celestial Court possessed great wealth and vast resources, and there were quite a few around Purple Palace Isle.
They could also produce ten Innate Spiritual Roots.
But three High-grade Innate Spirit Treasures, along with a massive quantity of innate immortal materials, were no ordinary compensation.
This was carving flesh directly off the Celestial Court.
"Your appetite is rather excessive."
Dongwang Gong spoke coldly.
Luxuan nodded.
"Then let's keep fighting."
As he spoke, he raised his fist.
The movement was utterly natural.
There was not the slightest intention of bargaining.
Dongwang Gong: "..."
He realized that Luxuan did things somewhat outside the usual logic of the Great Wilderness.
When powerful figures normally negotiated, they would at least mention providence, karma, or fortune, before each side made a concession.
But when it came to Luxuan, there were only two choices.
Pay up.
Or keep getting beaten.
It was so simple and brutal that he did not know how to bargain for a moment.
In the distance, Bixiao could barely suppress her laughter.
For the first time, she learned that besides fighting, her master had such style when conducting business.
Dongwang Gong remained silent for a long time.
In the end, he still suppressed his anger.
"Fine."
The expressions of the Celestial Court immortals all changed.
But no one dared say anything.
The Celestial Court had indeed lost this battle.
If they remained here, they would only lose even more disgracefully.
"However, I also have one condition."
Dongwang Gong stared at Luxuan.
"After today, Penglai must not take the initiative to encroach upon the Celestial Court's existing territory."
Luxuan did not even need to think about it.
"Fine."
He truly had no interest in the Celestial Court's territory right now.
He had not even fully developed Penglai yet. Going out to seize a pile of ordinary sea regions would only create more work for himself.
If the Celestial Court came knocking again someday, that would be another matter.
Dongwang Gong took a deep breath.
"The compensation will be delivered within three days."
"Go!"
At his command,
the hundred-thousand-strong Celestial Court army, as if granted a pardon, swiftly reformed its ranks and left the Eastern Sea.
When they had arrived, they had blotted out the sky and shaken the heavens with their war drums.
Yet when they left, they were strangely silent.
Even the flood dragons pulling the immortal carriages moved much faster than before, as though afraid that the man behind them might suddenly change his mind and demand another payment for emotional damages.
Luxuan did not stop them.
Only after everyone from the Celestial Court had completely vanished beyond the horizon did he turn to look at the Three Cloud Sisters.
Bixiao was the first to hurry over.
"Master."
"Did we strike it rich?"
Luxuan glanced at her.
"Didn't you always think Penglai was already wealthy?"
Bixiao nodded seriously.
"It was."
"But seeing the way you demanded things just now, I suddenly feel that being rich and continuing to get richer don't seem to conflict."
Luxuan laughed.
When this girl applied her insight to strange places, it was equally absurdly high.
Yunxiao, however, was still immersed in her realization from the Myriad Immortals Formation.
"Master."
"This disciple wishes to return to Enlightenment Cliff and enter seclusion for a time."
"Go."
Luxuan nodded.
"Digest what you saw just now first."
"Above all, do not think of copying the Myriad Immortals Formation outright."
"The formation belongs to others."
"Only the Dao is your own."
Yunxiao bowed solemnly.
"This disciple understands."
The three sisters soon returned to the depths of Penglai.
Standing at the edge of the island, Luxuan glanced in the direction the Celestial Court had departed and did not give it any further thought.
His words had already been made very clear.
The first time they came to his door, he could treat it as their ignorance.
This time, Dongwang Gong had come in person, and Luxuan had given him every chance to retreat.
If there was a next time,
then three spiritual veins and a few spiritual roots would not be enough to settle it.
Purple Palace Isle.
Dongwang Gong had only just returned to the immortal palace when he strode straight into the main hall.
A host of Celestial Court experts followed behind him, but no one dared to speak first.
The entire hall was terrifyingly oppressive.
After a long while,
Dongwang Gong finally slammed the Dragonhead Staff heavily against the ground.
"Open the treasury."
The Great Luo responsible for the Celestial Court treasury stiffened.
"Your Majesty..."
Dongwang Gong closed his eyes.
"Three Large Innate Spiritual Veins."
"Ten Innate Spiritual Roots."
"Three High-grade Innate Spirit Treasures."
"Also prepare a batch of innate immortal materials."
"Tomorrow."
"Send them to Penglai."
Before you continue