In the Great Xia World, Dongfu Commandery, the Chenyu Mountain Range.
At the Shaoyan Clan's stronghold, several of its Celestial Immortals sat around a round table in a magnificent palace that covered a thousand miles, chatting happily.
After all, each of these Celestial Immortals usually had important matters to attend to, and they rarely had a chance to gather.
Besides, a major tribe like the Shaoyan Clan generally avoided having more than one Celestial Immortal appear together, to keep an enemy from wiping out its top fighters in one fell swoop.
"Why haven't we seen Xuanji, Chixin, or Jingyu?" Celestial Immortal Kumu, whose hair was white, suddenly asked with a puzzled look.
"Strange," Celestial Immortal Huoba said, equally puzzled. "Those three usually stay behind to guard the tribe. Why is there no sign of them today?"
Just then, Shaoyan Chou arrived late. After entering, he went straight to the seat of honor in the main hall.
"Patriarch, may I ask why you summoned us?" Seeing that Shaoyan Chou had finally appeared, the forthright Celestial Immortal Jinzhong spoke up.
"Everyone," Shaoyan Chou said heavily in response to Jinzhong's question, "Xuanji, Chixin, and Jingyu have all fallen!"
"What?!" The Shaoyan Clan's Celestial Immortals all cried out in shock.
"This..." Celestial Immortal Huoba could hardly believe it. "Master, Chixin was quite formidable even among Celestial Immortals, and he was with Xuanji and Jingyu. Who could possibly have killed all three of them..."
"Could it be that His Majesty has moved against our Shaoyan Clan?!"
It was no wonder Celestial Immortal Huoba had reached that conclusion. In the Great Xia World, he really could think of no one but the Xia Emperor who had the means to make three Celestial Immortals fall without a sound.
"What?!" The other Shaoyan Clan Celestial Immortals were also shocked by the speculation.
The Xia Emperor had moved against their Shaoyan Clan!
As Shaoyan Chou watched the Celestial Immortals below him speculate wildly, the corners of his mouth curved into a strange smile.
"Huoba, are you still as sharp as ever? Unfortunately, you guessed wrong."
"Hm?" When Huoba noticed the strange smile on his master's face, he sensed that something was wrong.
"Go, my children," Shaoyan Chou suddenly said.
The next moment, several insect beasts that had hidden themselves as soon as they entered suddenly burst from the shadows and lunged at the Shaoyan Clan's Celestial Immortals.
"Ah!"
In an instant, two hideous insect beasts tore Jinzhong and Kumu's bodies apart.
Only Celestial Immortal Huoba, whose cultivation was a little higher and who had already grown wary because of Shaoyan Chou's abnormal behavior, escaped the attack.
"Master, have you gone mad?!" Celestial Immortal Huoba retreated again and again.
"Huoba, why dodge?" Shaoyan Chou asked in a demonic voice. "I saved your life back then. Why not return it to me today?"
After hearing Shaoyan Chou's words, Celestial Immortal Huoba turned and fled without hesitation.
He was now completely certain that the master before him had either suffered Qi deviation or was an impostor.
But at Shaoyan Chou's command, several insect beasts comparable to top-tier Celestial Immortals immediately pursued Celestial Immortal Huoba.
Seeing this, Celestial Immortal Huoba gritted his teeth and used a life-saving treasure.
A bloody light enveloped Celestial Immortal Huoba, greatly increasing his speed and allowing him to shake off the pursuing insect beasts.
Just as he flew out of the Shaoyan Clan's grand formation and was about to leave the Chenyu Mountain Range, he suddenly heard Shaoyan Chou's voice.
"Master, strike!"
The moment Shaoyan Chou's words fell, Huoba sensed that disaster was upon him.
Then he saw a vast hand blotting out the sky as it crashed down.
As a spatial storm raged, Huoba let out a miserable scream and turned into a cloud of bloody mist that dispersed.
After killing Celestial Immortal Huoba, Zhou Qing slowly descended from the sky to Shaoyan Chou's side.
"Master, this old servant was incompetent," Shaoyan Chou said, looking terrified.
"I failed to deal with Huoba just now and caused you trouble."
Zhou Qing paid Shaoyan Chou no attention and asked instead, "Where are the Shaoyan Clan's other two Celestial Immortals?"
If he remembered correctly, the Shaoyan Clan had nine Celestial Immortals in the original story.
Aside from Shaoyan Chou and the Xuanji, Chixin, and Jingyu he had killed, there should have been five more, but only three had appeared today.
Faced with Zhou Qing's question, Shaoyan Chou immediately explained, "Rest assured, Master. Heiyu and Jinyun have already been dealt with by my other clones."
Zhou Qing nodded and said, "Good. Have all your clones come here, then kill yourselves."
Shaoyan Chou carried out Zhou Qing's order without hesitation.
Across the many worlds of the Three Realms, Shaoyan Chou's other seventeen clones simultaneously used Greater Teleportation Talismans to travel to the Great Xia World.
After the eighteen clones appeared beside Zhou Qing, they simultaneously shattered their Celestial Immortal golden cores and ended their own lives.
Watching Shaoyan Chou and his clones die with smiles on their faces, Zhou Qing calmly gathered their treasures.
He had always held that a gentleman should repay a grudge tenfold.
The Shaoyan Clan had captured the demon race in the Wujiang Immortal Mansion to use as slaves, and had tried to take his life while he was undergoing his tribulation. They could be said to have incurred a grudge with him that could not be shared beneath the same sky.
Now, his revenge had merely been to kill all the tribe's Celestial Immortal patriarchs. That was already quite merciful.
If it had been some of the protagonists from novels in his previous life, they would never have let the matter rest without slaughtering the entire Shaoyan Clan, every last one of them.
Just as Zhou Qing was about to leave, a majestic voice called out to him.
"Fellow Daoist, you came to my world without even offering me a greeting?"
The next moment, a middle-aged man in black robes appeared not far from Zhou Qing.
Sensing the Pure Yang presence emanating from the middle-aged man, Zhou Qing immediately knew who he was.
In the Great Xia World, only one person matched all three traits-Pure Yang True Immortal, black robes, and this world: Xia Mang Xun, the Great Xia Emperor.
Clearly, the disturbance just now had been a little too great, drawing the attention of the Great Xia World's ruler.
"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Xia Mang," Zhou Qing said, neither servile nor overbearing.
Although this clone of his had not yet broken through to the Pure Yang True Immortal level, with second-level Space Power, he had no need to bow and scrape before the Xia Emperor.
If the Xia Emperor pushed him too far, he might even be able to use fourth-level Heartforce to suppress and kill him on the spot.
"Greetings, Fellow Daoist." Seeing that Zhou Qing, a mere Celestial Immortal, had addressed him as a fellow Daoist, the Xia Emperor immediately frowned.
He then began to study Zhou Qing.
What he saw gave him a fright.
The youth before him had a presence as deep as the sea, with the faint pressure of a Great Dao.
As a Pure Yang True Immortal, the Xia Emperor naturally knew this meant that the youth before him had already mastered a Great Dao and could expect to reach the Pure Yang level.
"May I ask your esteemed name, Fellow Daoist? Under which great power did you study?" the Xia Emperor could not help asking.
"Hahaha..." Before Zhou Qing could answer, a hearty laugh came from the distance.
A green-robed man with an immortal sword on his back came riding an auspicious cloud.
"Fellow Daoist Xia Mang, if you're so curious, why not ask me, Lü Dongbin?"
"Fellow Daoist Donghua?" The Xia Emperor looked surprised.
"I've long heard that you're skilled at training disciples, but I truly didn't expect you to produce someone like him."
Hearing the Xia Emperor's words, Lü Dongbin stumbled and nearly fell off his auspicious cloud.
Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he explained, "Fellow Daoist Xia Mang, don't joke. This fellow Daoist isn't my disciple. He's my junior fellow apprentice."
"So he is a disciple of Dao Father Carefree." The Xia Emperor's expression turned solemn, and his estimation of Zhou Qing rose another notch.
"Fellow Daoist Xia Mang..." Lü Dongbin shook his head with a smile. "I wasn't talking about Master Carefree."
"What?" The Xia Emperor was stunned.
If not Dao Father Carefree, could it be that person...