Imperial Dao Peak, Back Mountain.

Inside the Creation Heavenly Palace, Qing Muling fully unleashed the magical power within him. His cultivation at the peak of the True Immortal realm slowly rose, breaking through an invisible barrier and stepping into a brand-new realm.

Outside the grand hall, the laws of the Heavenly Dao sensed the change. High above in the Nine Heavens, countless dense Tribulation Clouds quietly gathered. The temperature in the surrounding area of a million miles plummeted, soon presenting a scene of a world frozen in ice. A bone-chilling wind howled through the heavens and earth.

Outside, Mu Yinghua, who had already stabilized her Quasi Holy Emperor Realm, presided over the Li Feng Star Cloud Tower, fully activating the Mountain Protection Array of the sect. Xinyu, Tongying, Qinghuan, and other Emperors arrived together to guard Qing Muling during his tribulation.

Qingyao Immortal Venerable and her Three Corpses Avatar personally stayed by Qing Muling’s side, using supreme magical powers and divine abilities to obscure the heavenly secrets and confuse the yin and yang, ensuring that no external powers would detect anything amiss.

In an instant, the suffocating might of the Heavenly Tribulation penetrated through the layers of arrays, reaching the interior of the hall. Countless shadowy, enigmatic figures lingered outside the hall, and eerie, indistinct murmurs echoed at the level of the Divine Soul.

These were the Outer Demons that made cultivators shudder. Those whose Dao Hearts were not firm enough would be lured into confusion, their minds beset by inner demons, leading to their souls being consumed by karmic fire and scattering.

With a thunderous roar, hundreds of blood-red, barrel-sized tribulation lightning bolts appeared outside the hall. Before Qing Muling could react, they exploded simultaneously, causing the ancient treasure to tremble slightly.

A massive canopy of fortune appeared above Qing Muling’s head, spanning over a thousand acres and layered sevenfold. Boundless purple clouds swirled and rose, exuding a vast, eternal pressure that deterred the numerous advancing Outer Demons, making them hesitate and shrink back, only daring to circle around and spy.

“…The destructive power of this tribulation far exceeds that of a typical monstrous genius’s Xuan Immortal tribulation, even surpassing the Golden Immortal tribulation. As expected of the Harmony Spirit Seed’s transformation!”

Qingyao Immortal Venerable frowned slightly, her gaze piercing through the layers of arrays to the vast sky outside. In the endless black tribulation clouds, towering divine shadows formed by blood-red lightning manifested in the clouds. Numerous cold, emotionless eyes fixed on Qing Muling, seemingly ready to descend and obliterate him at any moment.

At this moment, Qing Muling remained focused, paying no heed to the apocalyptic tribulation outside. He calmly sorted his magical powers and divine abilities, gradually adapting to his cultivation at the Xuan Immortal realm.

Under the grand dome of the hall, the magnificent and mysterious starlight poured down like a river, absorbed and fused by the massive Harmony Creation Blue Lotus. Beyond the existing fourteen phantom Blue Lotus leaves, the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth leaves began to faintly appear, becoming clearer and more solid as the starlight essence continued to flow in.

Thirty-three Blue Lotus leaves, thirty-three heavens; now, seventeen Blue Lotus leaves had successfully evolved.

Profound messages surged from the void, merging into Qing Muling’s Divine Soul, enlightening him about the innate divine abilities corresponding to the newly evolved three Blue Lotus leaves. These abilities significantly enhanced his body and Divine Soul, increasing his power tenfold compared to other monstrous geniuses of the same level.

The last Blue Lotus leaf corresponded to the endurance and recovery ability of his Dao body, also enhanced tenfold.

Qing Muling understood that such an increase was indeed astonishing, ensuring that he could dominate at the Xuan Immortal and Golden Immortal levels, easily handling a group of Golden Immortals.

However, at the Taiyi Golden Immortal level, this would not be enough, let alone at the Great Golden Immortal level.

Above the Elemental Immortal realm, each level was vastly different, making it nearly impossible to challenge higher levels. Qing Muling’s situation was a rare exception in millions of years.

Given Qing Muling’s current importance, if any hostile forces decided to target him, they would undoubtedly dispatch a large group of Taiyi and Great Golden Immortal experts, and even a Quasi Holy Emperor’s presence wouldn’t be surprising.

Therefore, he still couldn’t afford to be reckless.

The Harmony Creation Blue Lotus in his sea of consciousness emitted a bright, clear light, covered with countless profound and obscure Dao patterns. Brilliant, gorgeous rays of light swirled around it, enveloped in boundless azure and purple auspicious energy. The deep, mysterious Dao essence radiated from within, with tiny chaotic crystal lights emerging from the void like a meteor shower, gracefully flying around the Blue Lotus before silently merging into his Divine Soul, gradually enhancing his innate foundation.

Thick, resilient, web-like luminous roots extended into more mysterious spaces, continuously absorbing and feeding back various miraculous spiritual essences, nourishing his Divine Soul and Dao body.

Qing Muling briefly calculated and found that his current lifespan limit was thirty-five million years, equivalent to nearly three hundred Yuanhui, far exceeding the lifespan of an ordinary Golden Immortal.

Once his Xuan Immortal realm stabilized, his innate divine abilities also improved and optimized, including the triple blessings of fortune, luck, and destiny. Additionally, his innate divine ability “Heavenly Palace Paradise” could transform an area of forty thousand miles in radius and a thousand miles in thickness into a spiritual energy-rich paradise within half an hour, completely purifying any demonic energy pollution.

In other words, for the floating lands in the Great Void, Qing Muling could transform them inside and out with a single effort, then piece them together to form larger, more habitable floating lands.

The internal space evolved from the Blue Lotus leaves now exceeded a volume of one and a half million miles, easily accommodating many such floating lands, allowing him to transport and place them in designated areas.

If he focused on purifying and transforming the floating lands’ environments, the amount of heavenly merits he could accumulate would be unimaginable. Given enough time, he might even achieve a genuine Harmony Saint Supreme Dao fruit through sheer accumulation of heavenly merits.

Moreover, his ability to cultivate using the essence of spiritual herbs and grasses had now reached a stage where each use could increase their medicinal power by eighty thousand years, allowing him to treat rare Heavenly Medicines as casual snacks, benefiting both Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace and the entire female cultivator alliance immensely.

Additionally, his innate divine abilities such as “Stealth and Shadow,” “Distance as Near,” “Chrono Dial,” “Insight into the Subtle,” “Void Transfer,” and “Fortune Detection” all received corresponding enhancements. Notably, his ability to temporarily boost his cultivation realm now required burning forty thousand years of lifespan per use, granting him peak Great Golden Immortal-level power for an hour.

With these special trump cards, and a suitable set of Postnatal Spirit Treasures from the sect’s treasury, Qing Muling would have enough self-preservation ability even when traveling alone, alleviating the sect’s high-level concerns.

Most importantly, with the newly evolved three Blue Lotus leaves’ power, Qing Muling felt he no longer needed to worry about avoiding his senior sisters.

The comprehensive enhancement of his Dao body and Divine Soul, along with his endurance and recovery abilities, meant that even facing his current master, Mu Yinghua, Qing Muling could hold his own for a few rounds, rather than being completely overpowered in their private chambers.

After a day and night, the frequency of the blood-red tribulation lightning finally began to decrease, and the tribulation clouds showed signs of dissipating, indicating that Qing Muling’s Xuan Immortal tribulation was nearing its end.

“…Senior Sister, are the innate beings born in the chaos of the vast void all incredibly powerful in both body and Divine Soul?” Qing Muling asked after some thought.

“Naturally,” Qingyao Immortal Venerable replied. “The chaos of the vast void and the Great Void are entirely different concepts. The living environment in the chaos of the vast void is extremely harsh. Cultivators below the Great Golden Immortal level can’t stay there for long. Even Quasi Holy Emperors must be cautious, as injuries or even death are common. Some particularly terrifying innate demons are troublesome even for me!”

“I understand.”

Qing Muling nodded. Many of the severely injured and dormant Quasi Holy Emperors and Great Golden Immortals in the Great Void likely encountered trouble while exploring the chaos of the vast void for opportunities. Unable to recover, they had to enter the sect’s secret realms to sleep, hoping for eventual recovery.

For those above the Great Golden Immortal realm, ordinary opportunities no longer aid their cultivation. To advance further, they often venture into the chaos of the vast void, seeking suitable resources.

This process is extremely perilous. Once targeted by some sinister and ruthless innate beings, escaping unscathed is nearly impossible. The fortunate ones return heavily injured, while the unfortunate ones perish, leaving no remains.

Xinyu Emperor and her eight junior sisters, along with Yu Lingzhou and others, were in such situations. Without Qing Muling’s intervention, they would likely still be in deep sleep within the secret realms, with no chance of recovery, eventually turning to dust after tens or hundreds of thousands of years.

Seeing Qing Muling’s cultivation realm stabilize, Qingyao Immortal Venerable looked around and said, “This treasure of yours is quite good. Take it with you when you venture into the chaos of the vast void. It can serve as a temporary refuge and recovery abode. There aren’t many innate chaotic beasts that can threaten it.”

Qing Muling nodded. “Alright.”

The Creation Heavenly Palace was an Innate Spirit Treasure, and a top-grade one at that. Even in the perilous chaos of the vast void, it could still play a significant role.

It could devour and refine the blood, flesh, and souls of powerful beings, transforming them into boundless, brilliant starlight, the most suitable essence for cultivators. Since subduing it in the Misty Illusion Secret Realm, Qing Muling and his senior sisters had fully enjoyed the various benefits it provided.

After pondering for a moment, Qing Muling asked, “Should I first accompany my senior sisters, or help the Supreme Elders in the sect with their tribulations? And what about Fengge Emperor…”

Qingyao Immortal Venerable considered for a moment and said, “Let’s handle the sect’s matters first. After all, we’ve waited this long; a little more time won’t hurt.”

“Alright.”

Qing Muling agreed. The journey to the chaos of the vast void to seek opportunities had an uncertain duration, so he felt it was best to first appease his senior sisters, allowing them to further improve their cultivation.

The Light of Dao Enlightenment at the Xuan Immortal level was about ten times stronger than at the True Immortal realm. Accompanying his senior sisters in cultivation for a month, considering the time acceleration array’s effect, could likely help them reach the threshold of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm. The highest-cultivated Dragon Ritual Princess and Su Yuanzhen could also advance by one grade.

Helping the elders with their tribulations was also a crucial task. Within Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace alone, there were over a thousand Supreme Elders at the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal level, qualified to attempt the Great Golden Immortal realm. Including the entire female cultivator alliance, the total number of Taiyi Golden Immortals exceeded seven thousand.

Given the difficulty of reaching the Quasi Holy Emperor realm, in many Supreme Dao Lineages, the Great Golden Immortal was the strongest strategic force. Their numbers directly impacted the sect’s status and influence in the Great Void.

For the female cultivator alliance, although the Great Golden Immortal’s power was not as formidable as the Quasi Holy Emperor, the sheer number provided a significant boost to the sect’s overall strength. After all, the current calamity of the Magic Clan did not have an overwhelming number of Quasi Holy Emperors.

…

Qinghuan Emperor’s Dao Court.

In the cave abode, Su Yuanzhen looked in surprise at the masked woman in white before her, a hint of evident doubt in her soft voice:

“Senior Sister Yurong, why are you here? Weren’t you in seclusion over there? Why did you come to find me? Could it be that you acted privately without the Emperor’s permission…”

Fairy Yurong smiled sweetly, “It’s been a long time, and I missed you, so I came to see you and catch up.”

“…”

Su Yuanzhen’s doubts deepened. This fairy was her childhood bestie and playmate, also a close confidant of Qinghuan Emperor. However, thousands of years ago, she was secretly sent to Xuan Yin Emperor as a spy. Due to her duties, their contact was almost entirely cut off.

Later, when Qinghuan Emperor took up residence at Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, for safety reasons, Fairy Yurong was secretly recalled and reassigned.

This time, who knows what methods she used to travel from the Dao Court’s territory, claiming to have important information to report to Qinghuan Emperor. After the meeting, she sneaked over to find Su Yuanzhen.

Fairy Yurong said with a smile, “Junior Sister, your cultivation was not as high as mine back then, but now you are two grades higher than me. Your destiny and fortune have also significantly increased. You must have had some great opportunity, making me quite envious…”

She spoke at length, but Su Yuanzhen’s expression turned cold. This woman gave her an uneasy feeling. Could she be a spokesperson for some major power?

“Senior Sister, speak plainly,” Su Yuanzhen said coldly. “If there’s nothing important, let’s end it here. I have duties to attend to with the Princess.”

Seeing Su Yuanzhen’s demeanor, Fairy Yurong finally got to the point, her expression serious:

“Junior Sister, I know you and the Princess are now under his protection. I don’t want to make things difficult for you. Just help me arrange a meeting with him. Can you do that?”

As she spoke, she placed nine fist-sized, luminous pearls on the table. A chilling pressure filled the cave abode, with a faint dragon’s roar echoing at the Divine Soul level.

Fairy Yurong said softly, “These nine pearls are Dragon Pearls from an adult ancient demon dragon, personally refined by Xuan Yin Emperor into a set of top-grade Postnatal Spirit Treasures. Their power will not disappoint you. If you agree to this, these treasures are yours.”

Su Yuanzhen’s expression froze, then her eyes turned cold. “So you are indeed a spokesperson for those two? It seems you have betrayed the Emperor. You cannot be allowed to live.”

She had suspected that Xuan Yin and Weide Emperors of the Dao Court would not be content with their failure and would try other means. Now it was clear, Fairy Yurong had likely been turned, trying to use her connection to lure Qing Muling to their side.

Perhaps… she should deal with her now and hand her over to Qinghuan Emperor?

“Why so harsh, Junior Sister?” Fairy Yurong said calmly. “I have no intention of betraying the Emperor. They offered too much, and they only asked me to deliver a message, nothing more. So I agreed. This isn’t crossing the line, is it?”

Su Yuanzhen sneered slightly. “Has the Emperor ever mistreated you? What did they offer that made you do this?”

“No need to hide it. A decent cultivation manual, a Postnatal Spirit Treasure, and resources to reach the peak of the Great Golden Immortal realm.”

Fairy Yurong said calmly, “My aptitude is not outstanding, and my potential is nearly exhausted. Even if I stay with the Emperor, I won’t get these resources. They are willing to help me, so…”