Inside Longyin Hall, the atmosphere was as tense as a coiled spring.
Upon the majestic Dragon Throne that had once belonged to Qin Qingyue, now sat Jiang Huai, his expression calm and unreadable.
Standing quietly by his side were Su Yingman and Zhu Siyao, their silent presence further highlighting his current position at the center of it all.
Opposite them stood Qi Yuyong and Bai Lei from the Wenxuan Sect.
Bai Lei, dressed in plain white robes and standing as upright as a green pine, now had her elegant brows tightly knitted.
Her gaze, filled with undisguised doubt, was fixed firmly on the ancient Token held in Jiang Huai’s hand.
“Why would Senior Sister entrust this to you?” Her voice carried a suppressed bewilderment.
Jiang Huai met her eyes, his tone steady: “Before her ascension, Zhaohua entrusted the Wenxuan Sect to me, asking me to take care of it.”
Bai Lei’s brows drew even tighter.
To hand over the authority of the entire sect to an outsider, a man at that—
Both emotionally and logically, it was hard for her to accept at once.
As her gaze swept past Su Yingman, who stood beside Jiang Huai with a faint smile and unfathomable aura, the words of rebuttal at her lips were forcibly swallowed back.
News of Senior Sister Wu Zhaohua’s ascension to the Immortal Realm had already spread.
Having lost this anchor, the Wenxuan Sect was like a small boat caught in a tempest.
If they could gain the protection of a peak Integration Realm cultivator, it was undoubtedly the best choice for now.
For the sake of the sect’s survival, even if she had to lower her head to Su Yingman, with whom she had once held grudges, she could only bear it for now.
By contrast, Qi Yuyong was quicker to size up the situation.
She took a step forward, a fitting smile on her face as she eased the tension:
“Since Senior Sister has entrusted this weighty responsibility to you, Young Lord Jiang, we naturally trust you.”
“However, Young Lord Jiang, do you know why Senior Sister and Palace Lord Qin left together and ascended so suddenly?”
Jiang Huai pondered for a moment, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall.
His voice was solemn:
“The situation was urgent, and there was no time to explain in detail.”
“I can only tell you all this was orchestrated by the Outworld Heavenly Demon.”
“At this moment, there is not a single Great Ascension Cultivator left on the Five Provinces Continent.”
He paused, his tone turning urgent: “There’s no time to lose. We must leave the Nine Heavens Palace at once.”
“Leave?” Bai Lei was stunned and blurted out.
“Return to the Wenxuan Sect? Or where else are we to go?”
She had never heard of any Outworld Heavenly Demon, nor did she understand why they had to leave the seemingly impregnable Nine Heavens Palace in such haste.
Even with Qin Qingyue gone, surely there were still formations here to protect them.
“The Wenxuan Sect is not an option!” Jiang Huai immediately rejected.
“There’s no powerful Sect Protecting Formation there—it cannot withstand a demon invasion.”
“We will first take refuge in the Jade Ai Realm, once governed by Tang Zhaoxue.”
There was helplessness in his tone. What he needed now was time—a chance to let this seed take root, grow strong, and flourish.
Qi Yuyong keenly caught the point and softly asked, “Are the enemies truly that powerful? Is there a Great Ascension Cultivator among them?”
Jiang Huai nodded heavily: “There is. And I fear, not just one or two.”
“If we face them head-on, we have no chance. All we can do is avoid their edge.”
“I suspect they will find this place very soon. We must leave at once.”
He knew that since the Heavenly Demon had once possessed Zhu Siyao, it was very likely aware of his status, which would be troublesome.
“Disperse the sect disciples immediately, and distribute to them all suitable cultivation resources, artifacts, and pills.” Jiang Huai rubbed his aching temples as he spoke.
Hearing this, Bai Lei felt a surge of anxiety in her heart.
If she and Qi Yuyong left as well, wouldn’t all the foundations that the Wenxuan Sect had accumulated over the years—spiritual veins, mines, treasured books—fall into the hands of others?
All those years of effort, was it all to be abandoned like this?
Unable to restrain herself, she stepped forward, her tone filled with unwillingness: “Young Lord Jiang, what about the Wenxuan Sect’s estates—?”
“Elder Bai.” Jiang Huai gently interrupted, looking directly into her eyes.
“At this point, it’s not about cultivation resources or territory.”
His words were clear and deliberate, spoken one by one: “Those resources, for you and me at this moment, are of no use.”
“Let me be blunt—if the situation spirals out of control, and I fail to reach the Great Ascension Realm in time—”
“By then, I fear the entire Five Provinces Continent will cease to exist.”
Bai Lei’s lips parted slightly, stunned on the spot, unable to speak for a long while.
Indeed, not only had Senior Sister left, but even the domineering Qin Qingyue had departed.
With Wu Zhaohua’s temperament and vision, if she was willing to hand the Da Zongzhu Token and the whole sect to Jiang Huai, it could only mean that this was the most helpless, yet most likely correct, choice right now.
She suddenly recalled when she first met Jiang Huai, he had been nothing more than a trivial Qi Refining cultivator.
How long had it been? He had already reached the Golden Core realm, faster than she’d ever built her own foundation.
Bai Lei was decisive by nature; once she made a decision, she hesitated no further.
“If that’s so, I’ll leave it all to Young Lord Jiang. There’s no time to waste—we’ll depart at once!”
She exchanged a glance with Qi Yuyong, and without further words, immediately turned and left the hall to arrange for the disciples’ evacuation and the distribution of resources.
In just a short while, the two had completed their tasks and returned to the hall.
Qi Yuyong looked at Jiang Huai, her tone solemn: “Young Lord Jiang, from this day on, the fate of the entire Wenxuan Sect rests with you.”
Su Yingman, standing by, lowered her beautiful eyes and let out a soft sigh, her voice laced with deeper worry: “It’s not just the Wenxuan Sect. Now, the very survival of the whole Five Provinces Continent may…”
With these words, both Bai Lei and Qi Yuyong felt their hearts sink heavily.
“Let’s go.” Jiang Huai spoke no more, stepping out of Longyin Hall first.
He soared into the air, forming seals with his hands.
In the next instant, the entire palace complex of the Nine Heavens Palace roared and trembled as spiritual light shot skyward.
The towering halls—including the core Longyin Hall—began to rapidly shrink and transform, finally returning to their true form.
A exquisitely crafted Dragon Palace transformed into a stream of light and flew into Jiang Huai’s chest.
This was the final sanctuary Qin Qingyue had left for him before her ascension.
Having stored the Dragon Palace within to be nourished by his body, Jiang Huai and the women boarded the Xianzhou moored nearby.
Su Yingman poured her full strength into channeling her spiritual power, and the Xianzhou let out a tremendous roar as it broke through the clouds, racing toward the Jade Ai Realm.
Onboard the Xianzhou, each person could not help but look up at the sky.
Though the heavens had regained their tranquil, deep blue, every heart was weighed down by a thick, formless gloom.
Standing alone at the bow, Jiang Huai watched the sea of clouds race by, muttering to himself in confusion:
“Where can I find a woman born with the Yin Yang Constitution?”
Without Qin Qingyue’s protection and guidance, everything ahead could only be explored by himself.
Without a suitable Dao Companion to assist him, his Yin-Yang Body would struggle to break through.
Without that breakthrough, how could he reach Great Ascension and turn the tide?
“In the end, I can only rely on myself.”
He took a deep breath, turned, and entered the cabin—the one he and Qin Qingyue had shared—sat down cross-legged, cleared his mind, and began cultivating with every second he could seize.
Tang Zhaoxue silently kept watch at his side, gazing at his resolute profile with a complicated look.
What good would it do to return to a Small World? Could it really help him?
Not long after Jiang Huai and his group had left, a dense, shifting black shadow, thick as a fist, brimming with suffocating evil, suddenly descended upon the former site of the Nine Heavens Palace.
The shadow swept its gaze over the barren mountain platform below, its powerful evil thoughts enveloping a thousand miles in an instant.
“They ran pretty fast.”
“But the Yin-Yang Body—how far can you run?”
The shadow seemed to relish this cat-and-mouse game, its voice mocking.
“Let me guess, is it that Small World I’ve long failed to break?”
A low, chilling laugh rang out:
“Guess wrong? No matter. After all, you have nowhere left to run.”
“We have all the time in the world to play this slowly.”
As the words fell, at the edges of the Five Provinces Continent, more shadows—like ink dropped in clear water—began pouring forth, carrying a breath of destruction and death, officially starting the invasion and corrosion of this world.
The Five Provinces shook.
Immortal Realm, Celestial Platform of Summoning.
Auspicious clouds coiled, immortal cranes danced, and immortal energy was thick in the air.
Unlike the shadow of dread in the lower world, here was peace, light, and harmony.
Qin Qingyue, Wu Zhaohua, and Zhuxin slowly descended, acclimating to the radically different laws and auras of this realm.
“So this is the Immortal Realm? It certainly looks impressive.”
Qin Qingyue’s voice remained as proud as ever.
The next moment, she tried to sense the way she’d come, but her expression subtly changed.
The Immortal Gate that had brought them here was now completely closed, firm beyond compare, not even a crack to be found—let alone a way to return.
A strong unease surged within her.
This meant that even if she severed her cultivation now, she could not return to the lower world.
“Weren’t we told the Immortal Gate isn’t one-way, and we could sever our realm to return?” She looked at Wu Zhaohua beside her.
Wu Zhaohua’s face remained calm, but a heaviness flashed in her eyes:
“Too many things have already gone beyond what we understand as normal.”
“For now, all we can do is take it one step at a time.” She planned to seek out some elders and explain the situation on the Five Provinces Continent.
Just then, a pleasant female voice, accompanied by brilliant rays of light, approached from afar:
“Congratulations to the three of you on ascending to the Immortal Realm and arriving in the Cloud Domain Immortal Territory.”
A female immortal, dressed in dazzling robes and wreathed in immortal light, rode in on a cloud, a warm and proper smile on her face. In her heart, she secretly rejoiced—so many new ascendants to her territory this time; how many could she win over?
The immortal bowed politely, ready to offer formal congratulations.
But as her divine sense swept across the three, she clearly sensed the vast, surging aura of two Heavenly Immortals and one Earth Immortal from Qin Qingyue and Wu Zhaohua—her prepared words stuck in her throat and her smile froze on her face.
Wait—two Heavenly Immortals, one Earth Immortal?
The Xianzhou had just crossed the world barrier of the Jade Ai Realm, coming to a stop in the skies above the Xuanxian Immortal Sect.
This was once Tang Zhaoxue’s home; now, it had become their temporary sanctuary.
“Husband, we’ve arrived.” Su Yingman’s voice sounded at Jiang Huai’s ear.
Finishing his cultivation, Jiang Huai slowly exhaled a turbid breath, pushed open the cabin door, and stepped out.
Continuous cultivation and the enormous mental strain had left a trace of exhaustion between his brows.
He just wanted to take a breath of the cold air of this foreign world, to relax his taut nerves a little.
Buzz!
A chill beyond words suddenly descended—Jiang Huai felt as if he’d been plunged into ice water.
“Hee hee… ha ha ha ha!”
A wild, piercing laugh rang out without warning, piercing the Xianzhou’s protective light and drilling straight into everyone’s sea of consciousness, carrying a chilling evil energy.
“What luck! I really guessed right, didn’t I, Yin-Yang Body?”
A twisted, familiar female voice echoed through the void.
“So you really did hide here after all.”