eneath the pale gray clouds, Wang Fangxian, the eldest disciple of Sacred Bamboo Peak, stood before her four junior sisters. Her gaze was filled with hesitation and the weight of countless tangled thoughts. Her mind was in turmoil, swirling with conflict, before she finally took a deep breath and spoke slowly.
"What do all of you... wish to do next?"
Shen Yuehua, the second disciple of the peak, lifted her face slightly before replying with a bitter tone.
"I… I don't think I can return to the Sacred Land of the Immortal River anymore. Even if I didn't kill anyone… I still hurt them. I can't bear to return and face their eyes. As for the future… I'll find a way to atone for everything, no matter how difficult it may be."
Her words drew the group into another heavy silence.
Mei Jingya, the third disciple, said nothing. She stood motionless, her eyes drifting toward the gloomy horizon. Her expression remained calm, but within, her heart raged like a storm.
In truth, she was the root cause. Though she did not speak of it, the truth circled endlessly in her mind.
Their decision to leave the Sacred Land… in part, it was because of Ye Lin. But the real reason was her.
She remembered clearly. Just a few days ago, one of the protectors from the Upper Realm who had been secretly watching over her had sent her a confidential message. The order was simple: stay away from Mu Nansi immediately. They only said this The Holy Son of the Sacred Land of the Immortal River in the Upper Realm had now set his sights on Mu Nansi.
No reason was given. No explanation followed. The Upper Realm gave no room for questioning. They didn't want the matter to spread, fearing she might warn Mu Nansi and ruin the Holy Son's plans, which could force them to take a side instead of remaining neutral.
In the end, she chose to tell her four sisters and held a private discussion. They all agreed to quietly withdraw. They would take a neutral stance refusing to side with anyone. Not even Mu Nansi… was told the truth.
What further solidified their confidence in this choice was another secret letter that Shangguan Tingting had received from her mother. That letter confirmed that the Holy Son would be coming to this small world personally.
But now... even though no words were spoken, Mei Jingya knew full well that everyone in the group understood this truth everyone except for one. Ji Yiren.
The elegant master slowly swept her gaze over the five disciples before her until her eyes came to rest on Shangguan Tingting. Her voice was calm and steady.
"So... you've all betrayed the Holy Land of the Immortal River?"
Her tone was not loud, yet it cut deep into the hearts of everyone present.
Shangguan Tingting immediately lowered her head. Her face turned pale, and her voice was barely more than a whisper.
"Master... we are truly sorry. I... we never meant to hide anything from you, but... you were gone for several days, and when you returned the other day, it was only to leave Ye Lin here before departing again. And when you came back, you were summoned by Mu Nansi for a meeting right away... so we never had a chance to say anything to you."
Her voice trailed off as tears began to fall from her eyes. Wang Fangxian let out a soft sigh. Though she spoke no words of blame, the silence that followed cut even deeper than any reprimand. Then, Wang Fangxian began explaining everything to Ji Yiren.
On the other side, Wu Wen stood silently, watching the scene before him. He could not hear what the women were saying, and even if he could, he did not care. His eyes held no trace of emotion.
Not long ago, they had meticulously devised a plan to attack the Holy Land of the Immortal River. It was a complex strategy, one that relied on the combined strength of multiple forces: Suizhui Meng's seven adopted children, the White Tiger Army, and the Wu Clan Alliance.
The plan began with unleashing the Seven Celestial Maidens, each possessing tremendous power, to lead around two hundred Great Emperors in an assault on the Holy Land of the Immortal River. The objective was to provoke Mu Nansi into awakening the five dormant guardians the ancestral protectors of the land who possessed unimaginable strength.
Meanwhile, though Suizhui Meng was the true power behind the Wu Clan, she played no direct role in the plan itself. Her task was to manage the formation that concealed the lower world, a duty that was far from her area of expertise. Suizhui Meng excelled at divination. While she was capable of manipulating the formation through her mastery of fate, it still proved to be a challenging endeavor.
Everything seemed to be unfolding smoothly. Ye Lin had betrayed the Holy Land of the Immortal River just as planned, leading to a massive number of casualties. But then, in an instant, everything collapsed.
Wu Wen remembered it clearly. In the span of a single breath, he watched the souls of countless Great Emperors disintegrate like falling leaves. They were not destroyed through normal combat, but were shattered by something against which they had no power to resist. Even now, he could not be certain whether it was the work of Mu Nansi's five guardians or not.
What was certain, however, was that in that very moment, he sensed an overwhelming and unfamiliar aura erupting from the heart of the Holy Land of the Immortal River. Wu Wen was convinced it was the power of an immortal. Just before that moment, he had received a warning from one of his spies, a message he now realized had undoubtedly been forged. But that realization came too late. It could not change the truth of what had already happened.
Wu Wen, having received the forged message from the spy, wasted no time in taking action. He immediately set out to persuade the remaining hesitant allies the Myriad Ocean Chamber of Commerce and the Holy Land of the Immortal Bloom. In the end, both forces accepted his invitation, each sending thirty Great Emperors to join the cause.
With the reinforcements in hand, Wu Wen led his army straight toward the Holy Land of the Immortal River to provide support. But before he could step onto the battlefield, he was forced to halt abruptly. Ahead of him, he saw Ye Lin his most important piece on the board locked in a fierce confrontation, under heavy assault from someone.
Wu Wen narrowed his eyes the moment he sensed the aura from that opponent. It was a power far beyond that of any Great Emperor. And in the next instant, he realized it was the same overwhelming power he had sensed just a few hours earlier within the Holy Land of the Immortal River.
At first, he was about to decide whether to retreat. But while he hesitated, that wretched boy didn't waste a single breath.
No words. No warning. No explanation. Nothing at all. He simply raised his hand, and in the blink of an eye, unleashed a million blades of light.
Each blade was razor-sharp, slicing through their warships crafted from materials fit for Great Emperors and protected by barriers of the same level as though tearing through a thin sheet of paper.
The sound of the shattered vessels erupted like thunder. The violent shockwave wiped out everything within a radius of hundreds of li.
Now, Wu Wen could only stand in silence, staring at the devastation before him. His forces had been obliterated. More than a hundred Great Emperors perished on the spot. Counting those who had joined the earlier assault on the Holy Land of the Immortal River, the total loss was three hundred.
Even if those people could be reborn in the Wu Clan's Soul Hall, the consequences were far too severe to ignore. Their cultivation levels would suffer a drastic drop. Some of the high-tier Great Emperors... might fall all the way down to Half-Emperor in the worst-case scenario. In the best case, they could still lose one to three sub-realms. That wasn't a minor wound that could be recovered in a short time. And this didn't even include the massive resources required for resurrection.
Wu Wen slowly shook his head. He clenched his jaw, struggling to suppress the rage boiling within his chest. The plan to annihilate the Holy Land of the Immortal River would now have to be postponed... for quite a while. But he also knew it was still too early to give up hope.
Wu Wen narrowed his eyes. His thoughts turned toward the final option... the Secret Herb Realm. That might be the key to pulling the situation back under control.
But his heart grew even heavier. Ever since the day his son... Wu Zhao... was defeated and had his entire cultivation shattered, that boy had reverted to the way he had been many years ago.
No... this time it was even worse.
He spent his days lazing around with beautiful women, drinking until he was completely senseless, then shouting Lei Chen's name in hatred, cursing someone else whose identity remained a mystery to all someone called "the System." Wu Wen had no idea who or what that was, nor what kind of grudge it might have with his son.
There were days when he tried to intervene, to reason with him, but his son would no longer listen. He even hurled insults back at him. Wu Wen had once tried to understand, but in the end, he had to admit that all of this was his own failure his failure to raise his son properly.
Wu Wen fell silent for a long time before letting out a heavy sigh, his mind drifting back to the memory recorded in the stone crystal the image of Wu Zhao battling Lei Chen.
In both battles, Wu Zhao had the upper hand in every way cultivation level, weaponry, everything. And yet, he still lost.
If only he had changed his strategy. If he had adopted the same style as that white-robed youth who had just obliterated his army emphasizing long-range attacks and maintaining control of the battlefield instead of charging in and trying to overpower his opponent through brute strength there was no way Wu Zhao could have lost.
But thinking about it now... it was far too late. Now, his son had completely fallen. He had become nothing more than trash. And with each passing day, things only grew worse. As a father, Wu Wen had tried everything he could, but it was beyond his ability now. All he could do was watch... and wait for the Secret Herb Realm to open.