Time flowed like a long river beneath the setting sun. Silently, five years slipped away.
Over those five years, storms raged across the Great Zhou Immortal Dynasty's territory, leaving scars everywhere.
The northern defenses against demons faced crisis after crisis. Rebels and heretical cultivators sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain in the central heartland. With the old emperor nearing the end of his lifespan and his sons fighting for succession, the government in the Divine Capital sank into internal strife that brought it almost to a standstill.
Yet amid this storm-tossed world, the Heavenly Abyss District on the southwestern frontier alone remained as unshakable as a slab of iron.
Under the formidable reputation of Chu Bai, the "Prince Who Quells the North," and the Heavenly Abyss Merchant Alliance's vast logistical network, the southwestern prefectures enjoyed favorable weather and thriving trade. There were even places where people left their doors unlocked at night, as in an age of prosperity.
Countless refugees and rogue cultivators strained every nerve to squeeze into Heavenly Abyss City's protective sphere. It had all but become the last sanctuary within Great Zhou.
Yet very few knew that the absolute ruler of this immense political and economic empire—Chu Bai, the Prince Who Quells the North—had long since left the lofty depths of the Protectorate Prefecture.
Beneath Heavenly Abyss City, in the secluded cultivation chamber at the heart of its supreme-grade spirit veins.
One day five years earlier, Chu Bai had slowly opened his eyes as he sat cross-legged upon the Merit-and-Karma Purple Gold Lotus dais.
The Purple Abode space within him had already expanded to the absolute limit this world allowed. His spell power shone like purple-gold jade marrow, and his Five-Origin Divine Abilities linked end to end in an endless cycle. Neither his physical foundation depth