The light that appeared on the eastern horizon was like the rising sun, yet this sun was not a fiery red orb shining upon the earth, but a holy, pure, radiant sun—a sun accompanied by the rolling majesty of Immortal might.
This radiant sun was profoundly mysterious and wondrously subtle, seemingly infinite in its transformations. Within it, mist coiled and swirled, like a mirage or a celestial realm, inspiring awe in all who beheld it.
Upon seeing this radiant sun, two words involuntarily surfaced in the minds of many: Cloud End.
That's right!
It was precisely Cloud End—the entity that stood above the Immortal Dynasty, presiding over the order and laws of This World, hailed as the Little Nine Heavens.
In the Ancient Era, This World only had the Immortal Dynasty; there was no Cloud End. The one who presided over This World was the World-Honored Empress, Jun Xuanji, who descended from the Nine Heavens to oversee the Immortal Dynasty.
As was well known, Jun Xuanji was infatuated with Monarch Chixiao, trapped by love. As the World-Honored Empress, she did not stop him when Monarch Chixiao embarked on his great slaughter, nor did she intervene when he annihilated the Immortal Dynasty. Not only did she not stop him, in the end, she herself even fell into demonhood.
To prevent such an event from recurring,
Cloud End, hailed as the Little Nine Heavens, was thus established at the dawn of the Present Era.
With Cloud End's descent upon This World, it meant Jun Xuanji was no longer the supreme ruler here. Now, it was Cloud End that presided over This World. In other words, Cloud End had taken control of This World's fundamental lifeblood, possessing absolute authority over it and the power to invoke the World's Laws to judge all beings and all things within This World.
However,
There had been whispers that Cloud End only nominally presided over the laws of This World, while the fundamental lifeblood of This World remained in the hands of the World-Honored Empress, Jun Xuanji.
But these were merely whispers.
No one knew if they were true or false.
Thus, to this day, it remained unclear whether the World-Honored Empress Jun Xuanji still presided over the laws of This World, or if Cloud End had replaced her.
Who exactly presided over the laws of This World was unimportant to ordinary cultivators. They neither cared nor were concerned.
In everyone's eyes, since Cloud End's existence stood above the Immortal Dynasty and was hailed as the Little Nine Heavens, it represented the presence of the Nine Heavens Immortal Dynasty. For this reason alone, no one dared not to revere it.
Soon,
Under the gaze of the crowd, a group of Immortals emerged majestically from within the radiant sun.
There were dozens of them.
All were clad in holy white robes, appearing transcendent and dignified.
Upon closer inspection, many were frightened to the point of trembling, for the Immortals descending from Cloud End were uniformly Golden Immortals.
The leaders among them were even the legendary Grand Luo Golden Immortals.
The existence of a Golden Immortal was already beyond comparison to True Immortals or Upper Immortals. As for Grand Luo Golden Immortals, they were entities so far beyond reach as to be unimaginable. If a Golden Immortal was like an insurmountably high mountain to an ordinary Immortal, then a Grand Luo Golden Immortal was like the Nine Heavens themselves—sacred and noble. The gap between them was as vast as the chasm between heaven and earth, impossible to cross.
As the Cloud End Immortals descended, Xun Daolin and the others immediately stepped forward to pay their respects.
Although they were also Golden Immortals and held the position of Grand Elders within the Immortal Dynasty, Cloud End stood above the Immortal Dynasty and represented the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao. They dared not show the slightest disrespect.
Others might not know, but Xun Daolin was well aware that the leading Grand Luo Golden Immortals were not only elders of Cloud End but also remnants of the Nine Heavens. Whether in terms of seniority, status, or generation, they were beyond comparison.
However,
Shangguan Yu, Shi Tian, including the three mysterious giants and the Empress of the Female Sect, Ye Tianlan, seemed unmoved. Not only did they not step forward to pay respects, they did not even offer a greeting, appearing not to regard these Grand Luo Golden Immortals from Cloud End with any importance.
Indeed,
They all had the qualification.
Shangguan Yu bore a True Mandate, making him the Taiji Human Prodigy, the future Human King.
As the saying went, the True Mandate was greater than Heaven.
With Shangguan Yu's status, even if these Grand Luo Golden Immortals hailed from Cloud End, or even if celestial Immortals from the Nine Heavens descended, he would have no need to bow.
To put it plainly, Shangguan Yu's background was immense, for he was a man of True Mandate. What was the True Mandate? It was Fate itself, the legendary Dao of Fate that stood above the Three Thousand Great Daos.
With Fate as his backing, why should he bow to mere Grand Luo Golden Immortals?
As for Shi Tian,
Though he did not bear a True Mandate like Shangguan Yu, he was undoubtedly uniquely favored by Heaven. It must be known that he possessed three Present Era Heavenly Mandates, making him a future Star Lord.
Moreover, Shi Tian also bore an Ancient Heavenly Mandate. Ancient Heavenly Mandates were Thrones, and Shi Tian's Ancient Heavenly Mandate was the Immortal Dao Throne, making him a future Immortal Lord.
The status and position of an Immortal Lord were far nobler and more esteemed than that of a Grand Luo Golden Immortal.
If anyone should bow, it would be the Grand Luo Golden Immortals bowing to him.
If Shangguan Yu was a man of True Mandate, backed by Fate, then Shi Tian was a man of Heavenly Mandate, backed by the Old Master Heaven's Heavenly Dao.
The backgrounds and statuses of these two were absolutely formidable, each more powerful than the last.
It was precisely for this reason that Shangguan Yu was hailed as the World Leader, able to summon wind and rain within This World.
It was precisely for this reason that Shi Tian dared to proclaim himself the World Tyrant, roaming unhindered across This World.
As for the Great Heir Apparent, the Third Prince, and the Purple Heaven King—these three mysterious giants—their identities were each more enigmatic than the last, their capabilities each more formidable. Consider: even Present Era Heavenly Mandates, Ancient Heavenly Mandates, and numerous old demon kings and old fiend kings followed their lead. How could they possibly regard mere Grand Luo Golden Immortals with any importance?
Of course,
Not regarding them with importance did not mean they dared to scorn these Grand Luo Golden Immortals descending from Cloud End.
On the contrary,
Whether it was Shangguan Yu, Shi Tian, or the three enigmatic giants, though they did not step forward to pay respects, none of them did anything inappropriate.
Because they all knew that Cloud End presided over This World, and the power of World Law Judgment was not something anyone could withstand.
It was no exaggeration to say that due to the existence of Heavenly and Earthly Order, spatial laws, and World Barriers, any power descending into This World from beyond its spatial confines would be greatly diminished—including Immortal Dao Judgment and even Heavenly Dao Judgment.
However, the power of World Law was absolute within This World.
In a sense, the Law Judgment of This World was far more powerful, terrifying, and dreadful than any Immortal Dao or Heavenly Dao judgment delivered within This World.
As long as you were within This World, you could not resist World Law.
Just as you, a person within Heaven and Earth, could never resist the Laws of Heaven and Earth.
Shangguan Yu understood this principle, and Shi Tian understood it as well. Therefore, when the Grand Luo Golden Immortals of Cloud End descended, even if they were seething with rage and resentment towards Su Hua, they had no choice but to cease their actions.
As for the Great Heir Apparent, the Purple Heaven King, and the Third Prince, they understood the principle of 'when under another's roof, you must lower your head' even more clearly. Hence, over the years, they had maintained an extremely low profile, never daring to overstep their bounds by half a step.