One shout after another, one voice following the next, rising and falling continuously without end.
Su Bai quietly savored this moment of glory that belonged to her alone.
A warm current surged straight from her lower abdomen to her mind, a sensation so exhilarating that a single word—“amazing”—could hardly capture it!
Now she finally understood why Su Father had always insisted on her becoming an official.
Lowering her gaze slightly, she saw more than ten Foundation Establishment cultivators obediently standing in formation. Glancing a bit farther, the dense crowd below all wore faces full of respect.
There was no doubt—the wonder of power and the intricacies of the system lay precisely within this.
Su Bai looked down at the people below, then shifted her eyes toward Zhang Sanhong, who was stationed outside the Discussion Hall. She nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
“Envoy, let’s begin.”
Zhang Sanhong’s expression was calm and solemn as he carefully withdrew a scroll-like artifact from his robe sleeve. The scroll floated into the air and unfurled slowly. Amid shimmering light, a vast, crystal-clear map of Central State was projected before them.
On the map, mountains, rivers, cities, and villages were all distinctly visible, with lines precisely drawn and colors faintly shimmering with mysterious radiance. The mountain ranges rose and fell like the spine of a dragon, rivers flowed like silver ribbons, and every significant region and sect bore unique markers.
Zhang Sanhong’s face was grave as he spoke loudly: “After review and judgment by the Xian Alliance, it has been determined that cultivator Su Bai, Dao name Qingyang, who has cultivated for forty-six years and attained Jindan, enjoying a lifespan of over a thousand years! Since the former Three Mountains Sect leader, Yan Yan Zhenren, has passed away, and in accordance with the Xian Alliance’s ‘old death, new succession’ regulation, the new sect leader of the Three Mountains Sect shall be Qingyang Zhenren. Are there any objections?”
As he finished speaking, his gaze swept over the many Foundation Establishment cultivators present. Not one dared to meet his eyes.
The gesture was a mere formality to gauge public opinion.
Zhang Sanhong retracted the artifact, stepped forward, and bowed slightly before Su Bai.
“Congratulations to Sect Leader Qingyang!”
“Congratulations, Sect Leader!”
The dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators behind them cupped their hands in salute in unison, while over ten thousand disciples outside the hall knelt halfway, their shouts of congratulations deafening.
Among the crowd, Meng He suddenly raised his head, disbelief flashing in his eyes.
Since when did the Xian Alliance become so efficient?
Qingyang Zhenren had only just advanced to Jindan—where could such extensive connections have come from?
Seated on the main platform, Su Bai stood and gently helped Zhang Sanhong up, a faint smile playing on her lips.
“Thank you for your efforts, Mister Zhang.”
“Hopefully you won’t forget our previous agreement,” Zhang Sanhong lowered his voice.
“Of course.”
Su Bai might have lacked personal connections, but she had… financial power!
She couldn’t figure out the Venerable Elder Faction’s true intentions, but she understood that her advantage lay not only in her Jindan cultivation but also in the Xian Alliance’s tradition of “old death, new succession.”
Normally, with the Alliance’s sluggish procedures, securing the sect leader position would take at least a year or more. To avoid unnecessary delays, Su Bai had directly contacted Mister Zhang, whom she had only recently parted from.
With just one sentence—“Let me become sect leader quickly, and I’ll give you half the sect’s resource points!”—she had Zhang Sanhong working tirelessly on her behalf, leveraging his connections to compress a process that normally took one or two years into just three or five days.
She was willing to pay any price to seize the sect leader position—though the cost wasn’t hers to bear.
Once in power, she would manage things reasonably.
Having received more than a decade of quality modern education, Su Bai was civilized enough not to crush her enemies completely; instead, she expelled the majority of the Venerable Elder Faction’s external supporters.
These days, killing people at the drop of a hat was just too outdated.
If she wiped them all out, who would guard the resource points? Who would do the dirty work? Who would fulfill the Xian Alliance’s mission quotas?
Surely not her own profit-driven faction!
Thus, the newly appointed Qingyang Zhenren busied herself with sect affairs, suppressing, dividing, and co-opting the former elders.
Political maneuvers Su Father had only explained before, Su Bai now practiced skillfully and with great enjoyment, completely absorbed in the process.
Three days later, she finally took a short rest.
“Mom, how does it feel to be sect leader?” Su Xiaohei asked with a bright smile as he massaged Su Bai’s shoulders.
“Hmm, it’s amazing. I’ve never felt this way before,” Su Bai said, eating a Ling Fruit and gently pinching her little pet’s increasingly angular face, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
“Xiaohei.”
“Yes?”
“Call me Dad.”
“Master!”
“Call me Foster Father.”
“Mom!”
“Oh, you little rascal, being so disobedient, huh?”
“I’ll just call you Master and Mom!!”
Su Xiaohei pushed Su Bai down and climbed on top of her, waving his short legs in the air as he tickled her.
“The beautiful one gets called Master, the even prettier one gets called Mom. Anyone who calls like that must be because Mom Master is just that beautiful!!”
“Hahaha… you rebel…”
“Don’t tickle my ticklish spots… haha…”
Watching Su Bai laugh until she was trembling and nearly in tears, Su Xiaohei finally relented. After helping her sit up, he resumed massaging her neck, resting his little head against her cheek and nuzzling like a well-behaved puppy.
“Tsk~ so fake.”
“Hehe, I think this little brat’s got some real potential for rebellious disciple behavior.”
“Heh heh heh! Little brat, I have a copy of the Yushiang Art. If you stamp the Xian Slave Mark, no matter her cultivation, she’ll become your Xian Slave, letting you do whatever you want~~”
“Elder Lu is just corrupting the righteous cultivators again.”
“This little brat a righteous cultivator? Look at him now. When he grows up, even if he’s not a rebellious son against his mother, he’ll definitely be a rebellious disciple against his master!”
“Hey hey hey~ why can’t he be both?”
“…”
Once again, the strange, complicated ringing in his ears buzzed. Su Xiaohei was already used to it. After attending to Su Bai for a while, he took his leave and returned to his cave. As soon as he entered, he grabbed a bottle of healing Dan Medicine and swallowed it.
Su Xiaohei felt his tinnitus growing worse lately, almost developing into a hysteria. Before it had been only one voice, now it was tens or hundreds of different voices, not only debating among themselves but also quarrelling.
“Little brat, this isn’t hysteria.”
“Demon Master, take a look at your Knowledge Sea.”
“Why waste time talking to this little brat? The world is vast; it won’t miss a single Demon Master.”
The bizarre voices sounded again. This time, Su Xiaohei furrowed his brows and didn’t dismiss them as usual. After a moment of thought, he sat cross-legged and focused on his own Knowledge Sea.
Thoughts flowed like water, memories like ink. In the colorful sea of consciousness stood a strange prison, as if a mysterious relic from ancient times, exuding an old and eerie aura.
Inside the prison was chaos, as if endless mist filled the space. Deep within that fog, countless figures vaguely appeared—some hunched, some sharp-eyed, others blurred.
“Little brat, you see us, right?”
“We’ve never met such an unpromising Demon Master.”
“Heh heh heh, showing rebellious disciple potential, definitely destined for greatness!”
For a moment, the Soul Prison became lively, countless old ghosts greeting Su Xiaohei. Their voices intertwined as if filling the entire chaotic space.
Su Xiaohei’s expression stiffened. The next moment, he withdrew from his Knowledge Sea and rose to leave his cave.
“Hey, little brat, where are you going?”
“To tell Mom.”
“Little brat, have you lost your mind?!!”
A good child