The “Lin” Array Word radiated strange fluctuations.

  Lu’s brow arched slightly.

  He was genuinely surprised. The rune’s reaction made him think.

  “Is this the work of that giant’s Liujia Array Sect?”

  Lu mused inwardly.

  He watched the rune calmly, curious what tricks the Liujia Array Sect had.

  Though the sect was mysterious and powerful,

  Lu felt no great fear.

  Five Phoenixes had not yet ascended to High-Tier Martial; world protection force still shielded it.

  Even if a High-Tier Martial expert descended, Lu could fight, and with the Heaven Covering Formation, he could make them cry.

  Of course, only within Five Phoenixes and the formation’s range.

  The rune flickered faintly.

  Soon, energy fluctuations spread,

  forming sound waves,

  as though transmitting a voice across vast distance.

  “I am the Sect Master of the Liujia Array Sect. You obtained and refined my sect’s Array Word, proving fate binds us.”

  “The Ninth Disciple’s death is tied to you, his living sin unavoidable. Yet since you share fate with the Array Word, join my sect, and the sin is forgiven.”

  “Today, I give you one chance.”

  “Will you enter my Liujia Array Sect?”

  The fluctuations carried an arrogant, supreme pressure,

  as though spoken from on high.

  Lu was speechless.

  Was this human speech?

  He had expected some profound mechanism from the rune.

  Instead, the Liujia Array Sect’s master was… recruiting him?

  Lu felt a twinge of regret.

  If they wanted to recruit him, they should at least send a disciple with another Array Word.

  That would show sincerity!

  Then he could refuse, and keep the word.

  Lu shook his head.

  A blunt rejection didn’t suit his style.

  BOOM!

  His divine sense surged, crushing the wisp of intent.

  Like hanging up on a scam call, without hesitation.

  Then he resumed studying the rune.

  The “Lin” Array Word involved time.

  Time was what Lu lacked most now.

  If he could gain insight from it, it might greatly benefit all of Five Phoenixes.

  He sipped his plum wine.

  Fingers tapped the armrest.

  A gentle breeze brought comfort.

  He had earned a rare moment of leisure.

  He had just slain the High-Tier Buddhist Venerable One’s reincarnation body and secured the right to fuse three continental origins, a major task completed.

  But he was in no rush to fuse.

  Before that, he needed to strengthen Five Phoenixes’ cultivators.

  Insufficient overall power would make fusion more harm than good.

  “How to rapidly increase strength?”

  Lu drank, pondering.

  “Pills? Spirit fruits? Immortal legacies?”

  He murmured.

  All ordinary methods.

  His gaze fell on the “Lin” Array Word, eyes flickering.

  “If I could create a formation or treasure that accelerates time for cultivation… that would be the most direct way to boost strength.”

  The Nine Prisons Secret Realm was excellent for Golden Core and Heavenly Lock cultivation.

  But far from enough.

  Once Lu chose to push Five Phoenixes toward High-Tier Martial,

  Golden Core, even Nascent Soul, would be insufficient.

  At minimum,

  he needed to produce Yang Spirit or Primordial Spirit Unity experts.

  Yin Spirit realm was still too weak.

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  Lu checked the system, hoping for aid.

  But the system remained silent, no missions.

  As his strength grew, missions had dwindled.

  Their original purpose had been guidance.

  He had finally left the tutorial phase.

  Now he faced a problem.

  How to elevate Five Phoenixes’ cultivators quickly.

  After some thought, with no clear solution,

  he downed his plum wine, entered the Preaching Platform with the “Lin” word, and resumed deducing a time array.

  Combining work and rest yielded surprising results.

  Lu’s hair and robes whipped.

  Divine sense surged.

  Runes crashed through the void, constantly probing the “Lin” word.

  This was his most serious array deduction yet.

  …

  Above Five Phoenixes,

  the oppressive mist returned.

  The suffocating pressure vanished.

  The crisis had passed!

  The world erupted in cheers.

  Young Master Lu is invincible!

  Many roared.

  At this moment, reverence for White Jade Capital reached fanatic heights.

  Though hidden, its fame shook the world.

  The four holy lands of Tianyuan were nothing before it.

  Outside the Nine Prisons Secret Realm,

  Nie Changqing withdrew his gaze from the sky.

  He exhaled.

  At Eight Extreme Heavenly Lock, he felt pressure for the first time.

  Was it over?

  With divine sense, he faintly sensed it was not.

  As terrifying enemies appeared one after another,

  Nie Changqing felt powerless.

  Not just him, even Overlord, number one on the Human List, felt the same.

  Heavenly Lock realm was no longer enough.

  They had to grow stronger, fast.

  The only aid was the Nine Prisons Secret Realm.

  But to them, it was too slow.

  They had no choice.

  They re-entered the secret realm.

  This time, every cultivator felt a change.

  The Nine Prisons seemed more vivid, more real.

  Like a true underworld.

  “Will the Nine Prisons… truly become the actual Netherworld?”

  Mo Tianyu muttered as he ventured inside.

  He felt the souls of the dead being drawn into the Nine Prisons.

  With his divination skills,

  he sensed great terror within.

  Outside,

  the world knew nothing of Five Phoenixes’ push for High-Tier Martial.

  Only Yin Spirit experts like Du Longyang knew such secrets.

  If revealed, a few might be excited, but most would panic.

  High-Tier Martial experts descending, countless terrifying wanderers coveting them,

  disaster.

  Northern Commandery, Tai Ridge.

  Tantai Xuan stood in the martial arena, mist swirling.

  Suddenly,

  his eyes flickered.

  Figures emerged from the array.

  Xuanwu Guards and Great Xuan Academy students returning from the blood-colored battlefield.

  Jiang Li’s silver armor was nearly blood armor, exhausted yet excited and awed.

  He could not help it.

  What he witnessed on the battlefield made his blood boil.

  Tulang, so powerful, had bled and died, his soul annihilated.

  The giant had roared to tear the earth and descend.

  Those scenes were etched forever in Jiang Li’s mind.

  They also showed him the value of strength.

  But Jiang Li knew his talent was ordinary.

  Though soul rain gave him a chance at Golden Core Heavenly Lock,

  further great breakthroughs were nearly impossible.

  Unlike Bai Qingniao, favored by immortals,

  or Li Sansui, an array genius.

  Though a war god, in cultivation he was ordinary.

  Perhaps his brilliance required his own unique path.

  “Alive is good enough.”

  Tantai Xuan smiled at the dazed Jiang Li, giving him a bear hug.

  Jiang Li snapped back.

  He and the Xuanwu Guards revealed everything from the battlefield.

  Mo Beike, Mo Ju, and others listened intently.

  Academy students below gaped as though hearing myths.

  “A ten-zhang giant roaring to tear the earth?”

  “A fallen expert’s soul rain instantly boosting cultivation?”

  Tantai Xuan’s breath caught.

  Mo Beike’s heavy eyelids twitched.

  “The experts from those three continents… are that strong?”

  Mo Beike’s voice was hoarse.

  Unparalleled crisis loomed.

  Without Young Master Lu holding it back,

  could human waves stop such beings?

  Impossible…

  Everyone felt oppressed.

  Growth became every heart’s urgent desire.

  The world surged like steel about to be forged by a thousand hammers.

  …

  Three days.

  Lu spent them deducing arrays.

  In the Preaching Platform, he attempted hundreds, thousands of formations.

  All failed.

  Time was too profound.

  He exited, pinching his brow to relax.

  Ni Yu finished daily cultivation, hugging the All-Seeing Mirror to watch battles in the Nine Prisons.

  Only combat interested her.

  Little Yinglong lay on her head,

  dragon and girl crunching sugar-coated Body Tempering Pills.

  Good stuff.

  Ni Yu had eaten so many, though immune to effects, her body had undergone immeasurable changes.

  Lu saw it at a glance.

  Ni Yu did not.

  Too many pills had stunted her growth.

  Her figure was set for life.

  Ning Zhao still comprehended at the Dao Stele.

  Fourth-Grade Sequence Ice Frost Dao Intent, quite good.

  If Five Phoenixes had any capital for High-Tier Martial,

  early Dao Intent comprehension was the greatest advantage.

  Ni Yu and Ning Zhao had improved much,

  but to Lu, still too slow.

  He looked skyward.

  “Time to collect the three continents’ origins. And see… if there’s anything to rapidly boost strength.”

  Lu murmured.

  Next moment, he became a thunder arc and vanished.

  Golden Body Continent.

  Lu appeared in a corner, seated in his Thousand Blades Chair.

  The continent was nearly dead silent, blood dried, corpses everywhere.

  Wuxing’s slaughter had wounded its vitality.

  Cultivators nearly extinct.

  Golden Body revered Buddhism, though they tempered flesh.

  Their faith was Buddha,

  for Tulang had been the Venerable One’s blade.

  They had destroyed many worlds.

  Now they reaped karma.

  Lu sped across the continent.

  As a supreme Mid-Tier Martial world, treasures abounded.

  In a collapsed ancient temple,

  a Buddha niche shot golden light, trying to sway Lu’s mind.

  High-Tier Buddhist faith energy.

  Lu’s divine sense crushed it.

  A spiritual palm materialized, smashing the niche.

  Beneath the ruins, blood flowed, an ancient tree grew.

  “Ancient tree bearing Golden Body Fruit, a heavenly spirit fruit of Golden Body Continent, extremely rare.”

  Lu flipped through an ancient record of the continent.

  “Consuming Golden Body Fruit forges a golden body constitution.”

  “Not bad. Mystic-grade spirit fruit.”

  Lu said.

  The fruit was small, pale gold, faintly fragrant.

  Dry and bitter.

  Lu ate one, no desire for a second.

  Little effect on him.

  “Spirit fruit… gives me an idea.”

  Lu pondered.

  He uprooted the tree, storing it in his Dark Profound Ring for research.

  He roamed Golden Body Continent three more days.

  Found no other rapid-strength treasures.

  He stabilized the nearly collapsing origin and left.

  Tianluo Continent.

  Fu Tianluo dead, the continent in chaos.

  Compared to Golden Body’s genocide, Tianluo was thriving.

  Experts alive and well.

  Origin fluctuations sparked conflicts.

  Lu traveled, taking spirit fruits, heavenly materials, ore veins.

  Uninvolved in karma.

  He stabilized Tianluo’s origin, then Prajna Continent.

  Same, wandering like an immortal, observing life, collecting treasures and fruits.

  Wuxing’s death had shaken Prajna’s origin.

  Chaos erupted.

  Lu stabilized it and left.

  Laden with gains, he returned to the whale-borne Lake Heart Island.

  Half a month away.

  Relaxed, Lu re-entered the Preaching Platform to deduce the time array.

  Work and rest balanced, results were remarkable.

  Lu’s hair and robes whipped.

  Divine sense surged.

  Runes crashed through the void, probing the “Lin” word.

  This was his most promising attempt.

  Excitement shone in his eyes.

  Yet,

  the formation collapsed again.

  Lu frowned, baffled.

  As he puzzled,

  the “Lin” word trembled.

  The scene before him changed.

  He sat in the starry sky.

  Across from him, a majestic man with loose hair sat, back turned.

  Lu froze.

  The back felt familiar.

  The Ancient Emperor who created the Nine Array Words… Hao?

  “Watch closely… I will demonstrate only once.”

  The man’s calm voice rang like thunder in Lu’s ears.

  Huh?

  Was he… speaking to him?!

  Lu’s hair stood on end.

  But soon he relaxed.

  Behind the man were countless radiant worlds.

  On them sat experts capable of shattering heavens.

  They responded reverently.

  The Ancient Emperor was teaching.

  The man began deducing.

  Heaven and earth trembled.

  The massive “Lin” word blotted out the sky.

  A River of Time cascaded down.

  Lu instantly fell into enlightenment, entranced by the rune entwined with the River of Time.

  A transmission across eternity.

  Silence filled heaven and earth.

  The demonstration complete,

  the majestic man slightly turned.

  His peripheral glance seemed to catch Lu.

  His lips curved in a meaningful smile.