Perhaps the shock the Immortal Dynasty Nobles brought everyone today was simply too great and too numerous. Even after they had left and entered the Immortal Estate, the countless cultivators kneeling around the Immortal Domain remained unable to regain their senses for a long time.
Nothing but shock. Shock that touched the depths of their hearts and souls.
Sects that had originally resisted the Immortal Dynasty no longer resisted at this moment, deciding to accept the Dynasty's incorporation. Disciples of these sects secretly swore to cultivate diligently in the future, striving to one day enter the Immortal Dynasty's Immortal Estate. Only by becoming true members of the Immortal Dynasty could they qualify to become Immortal Officials. Only by becoming Immortal Officials could they possess the protection of the Immortals.
Beyond the shock, many appeared extremely agitated and excited.
This was especially true for the major powers of the Northwest like the Hunyuan Sect and the Tiger Might Wang Family. They had originally worried whether the Immortal Dynasty's envoys this time would be a match for that Chiyan Young Master. After witnessing the formidable strength of the Heroic-Year Immortal Noble with their own eyes, they realized their worries were completely unnecessary.
No matter how formidable that Chiyan Young Master's physical body might be, he likely could not withstand the Heroic-Year Immortal Noble's Great-Sun Radiance Dharma Form and his full one hundred and eight layers of Natural Colored Spirits. Moreover, they could all see that the Heroic-Year Immortal Noble had not exerted his full strength. They did not know to what terrifying extent his true power reached.
And this was only one Heroic-Year Immortal Noble. One must remember that nine had come this time, and the strength of the Star-Shining Immortal Noble was even more unfathomable.
If that were all, it still wouldn't be enough to make them so agitated and excited. In truth, having heard the Star-Shining Immortal Noble say earlier that the other Nobles would arrive one after another in the coming days, what did this signify?
It signified that the number of Immortal Officials stationed in the Northwest Immortal Estate this time would be far greater than imagined, and the statuses of the arriving officials would be increasingly noble.
This time.
Even if that Chiyan Young Master truly was the successor of Monarch Chixiao, he would undoubtedly meet his end.
On a sand dune far outside the Immortal Domain stood two people.
Two young men.
One was calm and composed, the other had sharp eyebrows and starry eyes. Both appeared to be in their early twenties, yet their eyes held a trace of vicissitude.
They were precisely Wan Huaiyu and Qin Hao.
"They are not old, having cultivated for at most thirty or forty years, yet each has cultivated a Primordial Spirit Dharma Form, and what's more, the Great-Sun Radiance Grand Dharma Form. In the ancient era, such a thing would have been unimaginable," Qin Hao shook his head, sighing as he gazed in the direction where the nine Immortal Dynasty Nobles had departed.
"What of it?" Wan Huaiyu smiled faintly. "Are you envious?"
"Envious is not the word. At most, I feel some emotion. They should all be products of the Nine Heavens' Radiant Path of the Brilliant Plan, correct?"
Wan Huaiyu nodded. In his previous life, as the renowned Dual-Polar Mystic Lord of the Heavenly Realm, he naturally knew some secrets unknown to others.
The so-called Brilliant Plan was something concocted by the Nine Heavens Immortal Realm.
Towards the end of the ancient era, the Nine Heavens had suffered several calamities, resulting in many Immortal casualties. Later, a great catastrophe occurred, causing the collapse of the Nine Heavens, and countless more Immortals perished.
After the modern era began, to seize the initiative, the Nine Heavens needed many, many Immortals.
Thus, the so-called Brilliant Plan was born, its meaning being to cultivate as many Immortals in the Three Thousand Worlds in a short time as there are countless brilliant stars in the night sky.
"The Radiant Path of the Nine Heavens' Brilliant Plan may seem flawless, but no matter how perfect, it cannot escape the workings of karma and Fortune. Forcing growth like this, after attaining the Dao and becoming Immortals, what awaits them will be an abyss of ten thousand calamities."
Those ancient monsters who had cultivated for thousands of years might envy and resent the Immortal Dynasty's Nobles, and feel the Dao of Heaven was unjust.
In truth, Qin Hao knew the Dao of Heaven had always been fair.
You reap what you sow. Even if you don't receive it now, you will in the future.
Moreover, he understood even more clearly that there were no shortcuts in cultivation. The more shortcuts one took, the more terrifying the tribulations one would face in the future.
Cultivation, cultivation. It seems one cultivates immortality, cultivates the Great Dao, but in truth, one cultivates a heart.
If the Dao-heart is unstable, no matter how high one's cultivation, the final outcome will be only one: reduced to ashes.
The Demonic Dao of evil cultivators was the best proof.
The Demonic Dao of evil cultivators walked the shortcut of the Great Dao. Thus, since ancient times, even though evil cultivators and the Demonic Dao were denounced like rats scurrying across the street, countless people still embarked on this path. And the result? Only after stepping onto this path did they realize what awaited them was a road of eternal damnation.
It truly was eternal damnation.
In the Great Desolate Heavenly Realm, they had witnessed far too many ancient demons who had cultivated for tens of thousands of years reduced to ashes, or living day by day in constant fear and trepidation. Because you never knew when a tribulation would descend, nor what kind of tribulation it would be, nor whether you could survive it.
If one asked what lay at the end of the Demonic Dao path of evil cultivators?
No one knew.
Because no one had ever reached the end. Many Monster Kings, Demon Monarchs, and Demon Emperors had died halfway.
As for Fortune.
This thing might seem like a rare, serendipitous treasure to others.
But in the eyes of Wan Huaiyu and Qin Hao, so-called Fortune was nothing but a burden. The more Fortune one had, the greater the burden, and the more terrifying the things one would face in the future.
This was fact.
In the ancient era, in the Great Desolate Heavenly Realm, those possessing great Fortune were not few. They might appear glorious ordinarily, but it was only an appearance. In the shadows, the tribulations they suffered surpassed even those of the evil cultivators' Demonic Dao. Many bearers of great Fortune were utterly worn down by the Fortune on their persons—some succumbing to Qi deviation, others losing their minds; some constantly evading tribulations, others having their souls devoured and bodies possessed, becoming puppets of their Fortune.
Therefore.
As reincarnated individuals, Wan Huaiyu and Qin Hao, to this day, possessed no Fortune on their persons.
Only with an unburdened self can one attain the Great Dao.
The two had always kept this phrase in mind.
...
The sun set in the west, dusk fell.
Night arrived.
The moonlight was bright.
Yao Yue Mountain was ablaze with lights. Disciples of the Yao Yue Palace were discussing the events that had transpired at the Immortal Estate during the day.
Since half a month ago, when those led by Second Elder Fei Lu died at Xiao Zhe Manor, the Yao Yue Palace had also returned to its former tranquility. With the threat of Second Elder and the others gone, after discussions between Palace Master Fei Yan and several Ancestors like Feng Hua and Feng Lie, they had prepared to have Han Dong formally succeed as the Palace Master of Yao Yue Palace in the coming days.
Before Han Dong could succeed, she needed to accomplish one thing: fuse with the Yao Yue Heart. This was the symbol of the Palace Master, and something every successive Palace Master of Yao Yue Palace had to do.
However, Palace Master Fei Yan had not fused with it. Not that she didn't want to, but she had not succeeded in the fusion.
At this moment, Han Dong was in seclusion, fusing with the Yao Yue Heart. Thus, she was also very worried internally, constantly praying.
Ancestors like Feng Hua and Feng Lie had also been pacing back and forth in the main hall, because a full two days had already passed, and there was still no news from Han Dong's side, which worried them greatly.
And just at that moment, a white figure inexplicably appeared within the main hall of the Yao Yue Palace.