Golden Ao Island, Biyou Palace.
Immortal mist drifted, and a thousand streams of auspicious qi shimmered. This ancestral court of the Interception Sect remained shrouded in the peaceful dao rhythm that had endured unchanged since time immemorial.
Spiritual qi billowed like a tide, circulating slowly within and around the palace, bathing all of Golden Ao Island in the tranquil, profound resonance of heaven and earth.
Yet today, an atmosphere utterly unlike that of ordinary days permeated Biyou Palace.
At the center of the main hall, an enormous, ancient-looking axe of dark gold hung in the void.
Runes flowed across its surface, its divine radiance held within. Though no one had deliberately activated it, it still exuded a vast, primordial might that made even Sages take notice.
The Heaven-Opening Divine Axe.
It floated there quietly, no longer baring its edge, no longer trembling and roaring.
Like a tamed beast from antiquity, it rested meekly and quietly in its master's palm.
But that did not mean this supreme treasure had lost its edge.
On the contrary, even the faintest wisps of its escaping presence set the void humming.
Surges of an incomparably immense aura spread outward, seemingly capable of crushing the ages beneath their weight, striking terror into the heart.
Tongtian sat upright, his expression unchanged.
But a closer look would have revealed sharp flashes of light in his eyes.
And... whenever his gaze swept over Gu Changqing, admiration and satisfaction that he could not conceal.
He said nothing.
With his temperament, he had never been good at putting his emotions into words.
Yet his gaze shifted several times between Gu Changqing and the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe, carrying silent approval each time.
That silent approval alone already surpassed a thousand words.
Houtu sat upright on the cloud seat to the left, clad