Deep within the Vast Mountain Range, clouds and mist surged like waves, and ancient trees towered into the sky, blotting out the sun. In the heart of a forbidden land where no one had set foot for hundreds of millions of years, a clear phoenix cry suddenly pierced the heavens, scattering the clouds with a thunderous crash and making even thousand-meter peaks tremble faintly.
Lin Chen slowly opened his eyes. Galaxies flickered into existence and vanished within them, and the Great Dao flowed. The vast cultivation he had accumulated over a hundred thousand years awoke completely at that moment, like a primordial beast roused from an ageless slumber, surging through every limb and bone. He still wore a plain blue robe, his figure as straight as an ancient pine, his features as handsome as ever. Yet the presence spilling from him had long since transcended the mortal world, rising above the Principles of this heaven and earth.
A hundred thousand years. A full hundred thousand years.
From first entering this secluded valley and mechanically checking in each day for meager spiritual power, basic cultivation methods, and mortal weapons, to later receiving secret techniques of High Antiquity, Spirit Roots of heaven and earth, and fragments of Dao Principles, and finally obtaining Primordial purple qi, Chaos Dao Fruits, and immortal divine bones... day after day, year after year, he had never taken a single step outside the valley or fought a single outsider. Yet silently, without a trace, he had piled his foundations to a terrifying height that even the great emperors of High Antiquity would have had to look up to.
"A hundred thousand years of checking in, and at last, it has borne fruit."
Lin Chen murmured softly. His voice was calm and unruffled, yet it held the mighty power to shake heaven and earth. The instant his words fell, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within ten thousand li converged madly, forming a visible Spiritual Qi tornado that spun furiously around him. Drawn by his presence, the rare flowers and exotic herbs, Spirit Roots, and immortal trees that had grown in the valley for hundreds of millions of years burst into dazzling radiance. The essence of plants rose in clouds, becoming a skyful of spiritual rain that showered down.
He raised his hand and gently closed it. Thunderous explosions immediately rang through the void, and ripples spread through space, as though it might shatter at any moment. A hundred thousand years of check-in rewards had long since pushed his cultivation past this world's limits, bringing him into the legendary Transcendence Realm. He could pluck stars with a raised hand, fill seas with a turn of his palm, decide life and death with a thought, and settle heaven and earth with a word.
Before him, the simple stone table that had accompanied him for a hundred thousand years now shone with gentle golden light. Above its surface, a Dao Fruit colored entirely like chaos hovered quietly. It was the ultimate reward from his final check-in-the Chaos Immortal Dao Fruit.
This Dao Fruit contained the primordial Great Dao from the first opening of chaos. It was a supreme treasure of the Transcendence Realm. Swallowing it would completely stabilize his Transcendence Realm cultivation and forge an immortal Dao body, untouched by myriad tribulations, eternally indestructible.
Lin Chen flicked a finger, and the Chaos Dao Fruit became a streak of light that flew straight into his mouth. It dissolved on contact, and boundless Chaos Spiritual Qi that embraced all things instantly swept through his entire body. Every inch of muscle and bone, every drop of blood, every cell transformed wildly. His already supremely powerful flesh and divine soul were elevated once more. Golden Dao patterns wound around him, forming an immortal barrier of light that severed all karma and granted immunity to all harm.
"So this is... the power of invincibility?"
Feeling the vast power surging within him, Lin Chen's lips curved into a faint smile. A hundred thousand years of lonely waiting had not been in vain after all. From this day onward, there would no longer be a check-in cultivator trapped in a valley, only Lin Chen, invincible from the moment he emerged into the world.
He turned toward the world beyond the valley. His gaze pierced layer upon layer of mist, seeing the mountains ten thousand li away, the Demon Beast lairs hidden within the range, and several human presences approaching this forbidden land.
"Since I'm coming out into the world, I'll first see whether it remains as it was a hundred thousand years ago."
Lin Chen lifted his foot lightly. Without using any movement method, he crossed a thousand meters in a single step and appeared outside the valley. With every step he took, a golden lotus pedestal formed beneath his feet. As the lotuses bloomed, the Great Dao resonated in harmony, the void grew stable, and the earth bowed in submission.
The Vast Mountain Range, also known as Black Wind Ridge, was one of the most dangerous forbidden lands within the Azure Flame Kingdom. Demon Beasts roamed rampant through the mountains, and powerful beings emerged in abundance. Even the Azure Flame Kingdom's leading sects dared not venture lightly into its core.
At that moment, on the outskirts of Black Wind Ridge, three groups stood locked in confrontation. The tension had reached its breaking point. The thick stench of blood filled the air, and several mutilated Demon Beast and human corpses lay on the ground. Clearly, a brutal battle had just taken place.
The group on the left wore blue Daoist robes with the three large characters for "Azure Cloud Sect" embroidered on their chests. Their leader was a middle-aged cultivator with a stern expression whose cultivation had reached the ninth level of the Soul Condensation Realm: Zhao Kun, an outer sect elder of the Azure Cloud Sect. More than twenty disciples followed behind him, all wounded and dispirited, clearly badly depleted.
The group in the middle wore fitted black clothing and had vicious faces. They belonged to Black Sha Stronghold, a local bandit cultivator force of Black Wind Ridge. Their leader was a burly man whose face was covered in blade scars. His cultivation was likewise at the ninth level of the Soul Condensation Realm, and he was known as Black Sha Tiger. He gripped a bloodstained greataxe, Sha Qi soaring around him. The bandit cultivators behind him were numerous, a full forty or fifty, each as fierce as a fiend. They had completely surrounded the Azure Cloud Sect and the other group.
The group on the right consisted of young men and women in luxurious clothing. Leading them was a beautiful young woman with a cool bearing, dressed in a long white gown. Her cultivation had reached the seventh level of the Soul Condensation Realm. She was Su Qingyue, the eldest young lady of the Su Household, one of the Azure Flame Kingdom's three great lineages. Those behind her were all young members of the Su Household. They had the fewest people, only a dozen or so, and every one of them looked frightened, their faces pale with fear of Black Sha Stronghold's bandit cultivators.
"Zhao Kun, Su Qingyue, if you know what's good for you, hand over the inner core of the Scarlet Flame Tiger you killed, and leave all your Spirit Stones and cultivation methods behind. Then I might spare your miserable lives!" Holding his greataxe, Black Sha Tiger pointed at Zhao Kun and Su Qingyue, his tone arrogant to the extreme and his eyes filled with greed.
The Scarlet Flame Tiger was one of the strongest Demon Beasts on the outskirts of Black Wind Ridge, its strength comparable to the ninth level of the Soul Condensation Realm. Its inner core contained pure fire-attribute Spiritual Qi and was an invaluable treasure for refining pills. The Azure Cloud Sect and Su Household groups had joined forces and suffered several casualties before finally killing it, only for Black Sha Stronghold's bandit cultivators to swoop in and reap the fisherman's profit, trapping them here.
Zhao Kun's face turned livid as he roared angrily, "Black Sha Tiger, how dare you! The Azure Cloud Sect and Su Household obtained that Scarlet Flame Tiger inner core by killing it together, and you dare steal it? Aren't you afraid the Azure Cloud Sect will come out in full force and flatten your Black Sha Stronghold?"
"Flatten my Black Sha Stronghold?" Black Sha Tiger burst into laughter, his voice dripping with disdain. "Zhao Kun, stop trying to scare me with the Azure Cloud Sect! Black Wind Ridge is my territory. Heaven is high and the emperor is far away. Your sect's experts don't dare come deep into this place. Even if you go back and report this, by the time your people arrive, I'll be long gone with the inner core!"
"Today, that inner core is mine! Either hand over your things or die. Take your pick!"
As Black Sha Tiger's words fell, the bandit cultivators behind him drew their weapons, their Sha Qi surging as they prepared to strike at any moment.
Su Qingyue's beautiful face paled. She stepped forward and cupped her hands toward Black Sha Tiger. "Stronghold Chief, we can give you the Scarlet Flame Tiger's inner core. We ask only that you let us leave. How about it?"
She knew very well that their side had suffered grievous casualties and was no match for Black Sha Stronghold now. Fighting head-on meant certain death. They could only swallow their grievances and compromise to preserve their lives first.
"Let you leave?" A lecherous gleam flashed through Black Sha Tiger's eyes. He stared fixedly at Su Qingyue's exquisite face and licked his lips. "Little beauty, you're quite a looker. Stay and keep me company for a few days, and I'll not only let them go, I'll give you half the inner core. How about it?"
"You! Shameless!" Su Qingyue trembled all over with anger, her face flushing red, her eyes filled with humiliation and fury.
"Hahaha! So what if I'm shameless? Here in Black Wind Ridge, I am heaven! I am the law!" Black Sha Tiger laughed without restraint. "Since you refuse to appreciate my kindness, don't blame me for being ruthless! Brothers, kill them! Cut down every man and keep the women for us to enjoy!"
At his command, Black Sha Stronghold's bandit cultivators charged with howls, each savage and vicious, swinging their weapons at the Azure Cloud Sect and Su Household disciples.
"Fight!" Zhao Kun's eyes nearly split with rage. Longsword in hand, he was the first to charge forward, engaging Black Sha Tiger.
His ninth-level Soul Condensation Realm cultivation erupted at full strength. Spiritual Qi churned and Sword Qi crisscrossed, colliding with Black Sha Tiger's greataxe in deafening crashes that sent sparks flying.
But Black Sha Tiger had spent years fighting in Black Wind Ridge, and his combat experience far exceeded Zhao Kun's. His greataxe whistled fiercely through the air, and his Sha Qi suppressed Zhao Kun's Spiritual Qi. Within a few dozen exchanges, Zhao Kun fell into a disadvantage. The wind from the axe swept across him, leaving several wounds so deep that bone showed, blood streaming from them.
"Elder!" The Azure Cloud Sect disciples cried out in alarm at the sight. They wanted to rush over and help, but Black Sha Stronghold's bandit cultivators kept them occupied, leaving them unable even to protect themselves.
The Su Household's young members fared even worse. In mere moments, two were cut down by bandit cultivators and fell into pools of blood. Su Qingyue resisted with all her strength, but the difference in cultivation was too great. A bandit cultivator at the eighth level of the Soul Condensation Realm soon forced her back step after step, danger closing in from every side.
"Hahaha, little beauty, stop struggling and submit to me!" The bandit cultivator wore a lecherous grin, his long saber driving straight toward Su Qingyue's vital points with vicious strikes.
A trace of despair flashed through Su Qingyue's eyes. She had never imagined she would die in Black Wind Ridge, at the hands of these bandit cultivators.
At that critical instant, an unremarkable figure in a blue robe slowly appeared at the edge of the battlefield.
Lin Chen stood with his hands behind his back, quietly watching the slaughter before him. His expression was calm, without the slightest ripple. A hundred thousand years of checking in had long since made him indifferent to life and death. In his eyes, this little clash was nothing more than ants fighting.
His arrival drew no one's attention. Everyone was caught in the brutal battle, their lives hanging by a thread, with no time to spare for anyone else.
Seeing success within his grasp, the bandit cultivator attacking Su Qingyue grinned even more lecherously. He hacked down hard with his saber, intending to gravely wound and capture her.
Su Qingyue closed her eyes and quietly awaited death. But the pain she expected never came. Instead, she heard an utterly piercing scream.
Her eyes flew open, and she saw a sight she would never forget for the rest of her life.
The bandit cultivator at the eighth level of the Soul Condensation Realm now looked as though an invisible hand had seized his neck. His whole body hung suspended, his feet off the ground and his face swollen purple. His hands clawed desperately at his neck but caught nothing. Choked screams rasped from his mouth as his life rapidly ebbed away.
Before the bandit cultivator stood a young man in a blue robe, handsome and composed. With nothing more than a casually extended finger, he had restrained this eighth-level Soul Condensation Realm bandit cultivator from a distance.
"Who... who are you?" The bandit cultivator forced out a few words, his eyes filled with terror and disbelief.
He simply could not understand it. No one had touched him, so why had he been lifted into the air? Why could he use none of his strength, as though the Principles of heaven and earth had imprisoned him?
Lin Chen did not answer. A trace of indifference flickered through his eyes, and he gently bent his finger.
Crack!
A crisp snap of breaking bone rang out. The eighth-level Soul Condensation Realm bandit cultivator's neck twisted apart in an instant. His body sagged limply, completely lifeless, and his corpse dropped to the ground like a torn sack.
An instant kill!
He had instantly killed an eighth-level Soul Condensation Realm cultivator with one move, without even moving his hand-just a bend and flick of his finger from afar!
The sight struck the battlefield like a thunderclap. Everyone fighting stopped what they were doing and turned in unison toward Lin Chen, their eyes filled with shock, fear, and disbelief.
Black Sha Tiger, who had been fighting fiercely with Zhao Kun, abruptly stopped and turned toward Lin Chen. His pupils contracted sharply. The arrogance on his face vanished without a trace, replaced by deep wariness.
"Who are you? Why are you meddling in Black Sha Stronghold's affairs?" Black Sha Tiger tightened his grip on his greataxe and demanded in a deep voice, while towering waves surged through his heart.
Instantly killing an eighth-level Soul Condensation Realm cultivator from a distance-such strength meant he was at least a Profound Understanding Realm expert!
The Profound Understanding Realm was the level of elders from the Azure Flame Kingdom's leading sects and lineage patriarchs. Experts at that realm could be counted on one's fingers throughout the entire kingdom. Why would one appear on the outskirts of Black Wind Ridge?
Zhao Kun was stunned as well. Looking at the young man in blue who had suddenly appeared before him, he was filled with confusion. He had spent years in the Azure Flame Kingdom and knew the talented experts of its major sects and lineages, yet he had never seen this person. He looked only about twenty years old. How could he possess such terrifying strength?
Su Qingyue's beautiful eyes widened as she stared blankly at Lin Chen, shock filling her heart to the utmost. The man before her was outrageously young, yet he possessed the strength to instantly kill an eighth-level Soul Condensation Realm cultivator. It simply overturned everything she knew.
Lin Chen slowly raised his eyes. His gaze swept over Black Sha Tiger, and he said lightly, "Black Wind Ridge is no place for you to commit evil."
His voice was not loud, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly, like the solemn voice of the Great Dao, making their divine souls tremble faintly.
"Brat, you dare kill one of Black Sha Stronghold's men? You must be tired of living!" Though Black Sha Tiger feared Lin Chen's strength, he relied on his many subordinates and the fact that they were on his territory in Black Wind Ridge. His courage immediately rose, and he shouted fiercely, "Brothers, attack together! Kill him!"
As his words fell, the remaining forty-odd bandit cultivators roared and charged toward Lin Chen, their weapons flashing coldly. They intended to use their numerical advantage to hack him to death.
In their eyes, however strong Lin Chen was, he was still only one man. Surrounded by more than forty Soul Condensation Realm cultivators, he was certain to die.
Zhao Kun and Su Qingyue both frowned at the sight. They wanted to call out a warning, but it was already too late.
Yet the next second, their eyes widened again, their expressions even more shocked than before.
Facing more than forty fiendishly vicious bandit cultivators, Lin Chen still stood with his hands behind his back, his expression completely unchanged. He merely uttered one word softly:
"Disperse."
With that single word, heaven and earth changed color.
An invisible, formless, terrifying pressure that stood above all Principles suddenly erupted with Lin Chen at its center!
This was neither Spiritual Qi pressure nor divine soul pressure. It was the pressure of the Great Dao, born from the origin of chaos and transcending heaven and earth!
Boom-!!!
Visible golden ripples swept outward. Wherever they passed, space froze, air currents stilled, and the earth sank. Even light seemed fixed in place.
The dozen or so bandit cultivators at the front did not even have time to scream. Their bodies seemed struck by an invisible giant hammer. Their bones shattered inch by inch, blood spraying wildly, and they were reduced straight to puddles of mangled flesh. Even their divine souls were crushed to dust and smoke.
Those behind them suffered an even more horrifying fate. The instant the Great Dao's pressure touched them, their cultivation, flesh, and divine souls were all crushed and broken apart. Like ants facing the heavens, they had no power to resist.
Within a single breath, more than forty bandit cultivators of Black Sha Stronghold had all turned to drifting ash, leaving not the slightest trace, as though they had never existed in this world.
Dead silence instantly fell over the battlefield.
Zhao Kun, Su Qingyue, and the surviving disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect and Su Household all froze where they stood, their bodies rigid as iron and their minds utterly blank, completely stripped of the ability to think.
One move... just one move, one word, had annihilated more than forty Soul Condensation Realm bandit cultivators?
Someone with such strength could no longer be described as an expert. This was an immortal, a truly invincible existence!
Black Sha Tiger trembled all over. His legs gave way, and he dropped straight to his knees. His greataxe fell to the ground with a clang. Not a trace of fierceness remained on his face, only bone-deep terror. He lost control of his bowels and bladder, reduced to utter disgrace.
He finally understood. The person he had provoked was no Profound Understanding Realm expert, but an unimaginably supreme mighty being!
"S-Senior, spare me! This junior had eyes but could not see and offended you! Please show mercy and spare this junior's miserable life!" Black Sha Tiger kowtowed desperately, striking his forehead until blood streamed down. His voice shook without stopping, his terror at its limit.
Lin Chen looked indifferently at Black Sha Tiger kneeling on the ground, as though regarding a lowly ant.
"You deserve death."
Three simple words, yet they were like the judgment of the god of death.
Black Sha Tiger's face turned as white as paper. He wanted to beg for mercy but found he lacked even the strength to open his mouth. Beneath the Great Dao's pressure, his body slowly broke apart, finally becoming specks of drifting ash that vanished completely.
With that, Black Sha Stronghold had been wiped out from top to bottom, not a chicken or dog left alive.
Only then did the terrifying pressure of the Great Dao slowly fade. Zhao Kun, Su Qingyue, and the others finally regained the ability to move, yet their bodies remained weak as they gasped for breath. They looked at Lin Chen as though gazing up at a god.
Su Qingyue slowly stepped forward and bowed gracefully to Lin Chen. Her voice trembled slightly, but it was utterly respectful. "Thank you for saving my life, Senior. I, Su Qingyue, am endlessly grateful!"
Zhao Kun hurriedly led the Azure Cloud Sect disciples in bowing as well. "I am Zhao Kun of the Azure Cloud Sect. Thank you for saving us, Senior. We will remember this great kindness until our teeth fall out!"
The remaining disciples all knelt and bowed, lacking even the courage to raise their heads.
Lin Chen's gaze swept over them, and he said lightly, "It was no more than lifting a hand. You shouldn't linger here. Leave as soon as possible."
With that, Lin Chen lifted his foot lightly and took one step. His figure vanished into the void, leaving only a faint blue afterimage and a battlefield full of cultivators shocked beyond measure.
Only after Lin Chen's presence had vanished completely did Zhao Kun and Su Qingyue dare slowly straighten. They exchanged a glance, each seeing utter shock and reverence in the other's eyes.
"That senior... just how terrifying an existence is he?" Su Qingyue murmured softly, her heart unable to settle for a long time.
Zhao Kun drew a deep breath and said gravely, "At the very least, he is a supreme mighty being who has transcended the Profound Understanding Realm. Someone like that is already beyond our ability to fathom. Had he not acted today, we would have died and our Dao would have perished. Remember, do not spread word of this, lest we invite disaster."
Everyone nodded, their hearts filled with boundless reverence for that mysterious senior in blue.
Meanwhile, Lin Chen had already crossed ten thousand li of territory and stood atop a mountain peak that pierced the clouds, looking down over the vast land below.
After a hundred thousand years of silence, he had emerged into the world in a single day. In his eyes, heaven and earth were no more than an illusion he could shatter with a flick of his finger.
His gaze turned beyond the Azure Flame Kingdom, toward the more distant, vaster myriad worlds across the heavens.
"This world is still too small, after all."
Lin Chen murmured softly to himself. Galaxies flowed through his eyes, and a presence invincible beneath the heavens quietly spread.
His road of invincibility had only just begun.