The silence hanging over the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect's main peak was not peaceful; it was heavy. It was the kind of pressurized stillness that precedes a cataclysm, where the very air seems to hold its breath in anticipation of a god's wrath.
Then, the world screamed.
BOOM!
The stone doors of the meditation cave didn't just open; they were atomized. A shockwave of pure kinetic force blasted outward, turning the heavy granite into dust instantly. It wasn't an explosion of fire or lightning, but a sonic boom so violent it threatened to tear the fabric of the spatial zone apart.
Before the dust could even begin to settle, reality seemed to glitch.
One millisecond, the cave entrance was an empty, gaping maw. The next, a figure was standing in the absolute center of the main courtyard, hundreds of meters away. There was no blur of movement, no trailing shadow, no "whoosh" of wind. One moment he was there, and in the exact same moment, he was here.
It was a violation of physics. It was the manifestation of the Emeralds
Ling Feng stood amidst the settling dust, his body crackling with arcs of neon-blue electricity that hissed like angered serpents. His aura was retracted, yet the space around him warped and rippled like a mirage over hot pavement.
"Miss me?" Ling Feng announced, his arms spread wide, a lazy, confident grin plastered across his face.
The women of his inner circle stood frozen, their cultivation bases screaming at them that a predator had just materialized in their midst.
"Feng!"
Xu Pei was the first to break the stupor. Her heart, already attuned to him through their deep emotional bond, bypassed the shock. She didn't hesitate. She launched herself forward, her feet kicking up dust as she sprinted toward him, tears of relief already pooling in her eyes.
Ling Feng's grin softened. To the onlookers, he simply caught her. But in Ling Feng's perception—under the effects of the [Cyan Chaos Emerald: Chronos Perception]—the world had slowed to a crawl. He watched Xu Pei running in slow motion, saw the individual tears floating in the air, saw the desperate love etched onto her face.
He stepped forward, time resuming its normal flow for him, and scooped her up. He didn't just catch her; he spun her around, using the momentum to lift her high.
"There's my good luck charm!" he laughed, the sound rich and vibrant.
He planted a firm, loud kiss on her lips, suspending her in the air. Xu Pei squeaked, her face turning a brilliant shade of crimson, but she clung to his shoulders, basking in the familiar warmth of his energy. It was grounding. It was home.
"Put her down, you show-off," a husky, challenging voice cut through the air.
Chen Baojiao stepped forward, her hand resting habitually on the hilt of her saber. She looked him up and down, her phoenix eyes narrowing as she tried to gauge his new depth.
To her King Noble senses, he felt... slippery. Like trying to catch smoke with bare hands.
"You feel... different," she noted, a competitive spark igniting in her gaze. "Hard to pin down. Like a phantom."
"Try me," Ling Feng challenged, his eyebrows waggling playfully.
Chen Baojiao didn't need to be told twice. Her body tensed, ready to blur forward with the explosive speed of her Tyrannical Immortal Physique.
But she never got the chance to flex a muscle.
A streak of cyan light tore through the retina of everyone present.
Ling Feng vanished from in front of Xu Pei—leaving the girl standing safely on the ground—and materialized directly behind Chen Baojiao. The displacement of air was so sudden it created a vacuum that whipped Baojiao's hair into a frenzy.
Before her hand could even tighten around her saber, Ling Feng's arms were already wrapped around her waist. He dipped her low, a move straight out of a cheesy romance movie, leaving her suspended and vulnerable.
"Too slow," Ling Feng whispered directly into her ear, his breath hot against her skin.
"You—!"
He cut off her protest by sealing her lips with his own. It was a deep, dominating kiss that swallowed her surprised gasp. Chen Baojiao's body, usually coiled tight like a spring, melted instantly. Her saber was forgotten, her arms coming up to wrap around his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair.
When he finally pulled back, hauling her upright, the fierce beauty was breathless, her eyes hazy and unfocused.
"That... that speed," she stamina, her chest heaving. "It's cheating. It defies the Grand Dao."
"All is fair in love and war, babe," Ling Feng grinned, tapping her nose. "And I don't play by the rules of this dusty old world."
He turned his sights on Li Shuangyan. The descendant of the Nine Saint Demon Gate stood like a frozen lotus, trying to maintain her icy composure, but the relief in her eyes betrayed her. She had been worried.
"Don't think you're safe, angel," Ling Feng teased, his voice dropping an octave.
"I would never presume—"
Zip.
He was there. The space between them didn't exist. He cut off her sentence with his lips, moving with a fluidity that made water look rigid. Li Shuangyan stiffened for a fraction of a second—a reflex of her noble upbringing—before sighing and leaning into him. She placed a hand on his chest, feeling the terrifyingly powerful heart beating beneath. It was a rhythm of pure, unadulterated power, beating like a war drum.
After thoroughly ravaging Li Shuangyan's lips until the ice beauty was flushed pink, Ling Feng turned to his final target.
Su Yonghuang stood a few paces back, her arms crossed over her chest. She was trying desperately to look like the disapproving Sect Master, the majestic figurehead of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect. But her flushed cheeks and the way her fingers dug into her sleeves told a different story.
"Congratulations on your breakthrough," she said, her voice stiff, struggling to maintain authority. "Now, if you are done assaulting your... fellow disciples..."
"Not a disciple," Ling Feng corrected, walking towards her.
He didn't use his super speed this time. He walked slowly, deliberately, letting the tension build with every step. The sound of his boots on the stone pavement echoed like a countdown.
"You're the Sect Master. My boss. Allegedly," he drawled, stopping right in front of her, invading her personal space with zero hesitation.
"Ling Feng..." Su Yonghuang warned, backing up half a step before stopping herself. She wouldn't retreat. "People are watching."
"Let them watch. Let them see who the real master is," Ling Feng murmured, his eyes dancing with amusement.
He didn't kiss her. He knew the intricate dance they were playing. She wasn't ready for that public display of affection yet. Instead, he pulled her into a crushing, intimate hug. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling the scent of sun-drenched spirit flowers that clung to her.
"Celebrate," Ling Feng whispered in Su Yonghuang's ear, his voice vibrating through her bones. "I'm one step closer to the peak. Which means you're one step closer to being the wife of the Immortal Emperor. Or, you know, just my wife. Whichever title you prefer."
Su Yonghuang felt the immense, stable power radiating from him. The energy of the Cyan Chaos Emerald wasn't violent like the Black Rings; it was soothing, rhythmic, like the endless crashing of waves against a shore. Her resistance crumbled. She didn't hug him back, preserving the last shred of her dignity, but she leaned her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes.
"You are a tyrant," she murmured, the words lacking any bite.
"I prefer 'Benevolent Dictator'," Ling Feng corrected smoothly.
"You are a fool," she whispered, her voice thick with suppressed emotion. "But... you are our fool."
"Damn straight," Ling Feng pulled back, keeping his hands firmly on her waist for a moment longer than propriety allowed.
He turned to look at the four of them—his family, his harem, his foundation.
"Tonight," Ling Feng declared, sweeping his hand toward the moon rising above the sect gate. "We're having a banquet. Meat, wine, music. I'm tired of sitting in a cave staring at my own navel. I want to party."
"Party?" Li Shuangyan raised a delicate eyebrow. "My master has sent a message. He wants—"
"Deal with that later," Ling Feng waved his hand dismissively. "Business is for tomorrow. Tonight, we drink. Pei, break out the good wine! The stuff we stole from that old fogey in the Ridge!"
"Yes, Feng!" Xu Pei chirped, her face beaming as she turned and ran off toward the kitchens, her feet light as air.
Ling Feng watched her go, then looked up at the stars. The Chaos Force within him was singing. The Green, Red, Yellow, and now Cyan Emeralds were spinning in perfect harmony within his Inner Void.
He was four-sevenths of the way to becoming the ultimate being. Four-sevenths of the way to having the power to flip the table on the Old Villainous Heavens.
...
One Year Later
Time, in the world of cultivation, was often described as a ruthless river, eroding the bones of geniuses and turning beauty into dust. But for the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, the past year hadn't been a river of erosion; it had been a waterfall of pure, unadulterated steroids.
A full year had passed since Ling Feng condensed the Cyan Chaos Emerald.
In that year, the sect had undergone a transformation so radical that if Patriarch Min Ren were to crawl out of his grave, he'd probably check the sect's signage to make sure he was in the right place. The crumbling ruins were gone, replaced by majestic pavilions reinforcing the earth veins. The dispirited atmosphere was replaced by a hungry, ambitious drive that bordered on fanatical.
With the resources Ling Feng had liberated from the Evil Infested Ridge—mostly stolen from the slaughter of rival sects—and the political backing of the Nine Saint Demon Gate, the disciples were walking taller.
But it was Ling Feng's modification of the sect's core manuals, infused with his understanding of the Chaos Force, that truly broke the laws of common sense.
The Main Hall.
First Elder Gu Tieshou sat on the main throne, his aura deep and terrifying. A year ago, he was a dried-up Royal Noble fearing his end, grasping at straws to extend his life.
Now?
His blood energy rumbled like a dormant volcano. His skin had regained a youthful elasticity, and his eyes shone with the sharpness of a hawk. He had successfully shattered his bottleneck, stepping firmly into the realm of an Enlightened Being.
The other four Elders weren't far behind. Their gray hair had regained its luster, and they walked with the swagger of men who had been given a second lease on life, all successfully breaking through to the Royal Noble realm.
But the true terror lay in the younger generation.
Of the seven disciples Ling Feng had dragged into the nightmare of the Ridge, the growth was nothing short of monstrous. A quiet youth named Luo Feng had triggered a sensation that shook the main peak, stepping into the Royal Noble realm.
The remaining six were all peak Named Heroes, their foundations solid as bedrock.
As for the general disciples? Reaching the Warrior Canopy realm—a feat that used to take decades of bitter cultivation—was now considered the bare minimum for graduating from "noob" status.
The Training Grounds.
"Again!"
A shout echoed, accompanied by the screech of metal tearing through the air.
Chen Baojiao stood in the center of a stone crater, sweat drenching her training robes, plastering the fabric to her curvaceous figure. She was panting heavily, steam rising from her skin, but her phoenix eyes burned with a ferocity that could melt steel.
Opposite her, Li Shuangyan stood calm and composed, though a flicker of genuine admiration crossed her icy gaze. The space around Li Shuangyan was frozen, rimed with frost, a testament to her Pure Jade Physique.
"You're pushing too hard, Baojiao," Li Shuangyan noted, her voice cool but not unkind. "Your foundation has only just restabilized. To force the issue now is unwise."
"It's not enough," Chen Baojiao gritted out, gripping her saber until her knuckles turned white. Sparks of chaotic lightning danced along the blade's edge. "He's moving too fast. If I don't sprint, I won't even see his shadow, let alone his back."
Over the past year, Chen Baojiao had done the unthinkable. She had shattered her own cultivation, purging the impure arts of her clan to restart from scratch. It was a gamble that would have crippled 99% of cultivators.
But she had Ling Feng.
He had fixed her Tyrannical Valley Immortal Spring Physique, modifying the Violent Cloud Chant to perfectly suit her constitution. The result was terrifying. From zero, back to the Royal Noble realm in a single year. It was madness. It was legendary.
"He doesn't need you to be his shield," Li Shuangyan said softly, summoning a barrier of jade energy. "He needs you to be alive."
"I don't want to just be alive," Baojiao retorted, her aura exploding outward, shattering the stone beneath her feet. "I want to be useful! Now, defend yourself, Princess!"
BOOM!
Baojiao vanished, propelled by a burst of lightning. Her saber slashed down, carrying the weight of a mountain. Li Shuangyan raised her hand, and a wall of pure jade manifested. The collision sent a shockwave rippling through the training grounds, cracking the defensive formations.
The Pavilion Roof.
While the women sparred with earth-shaking intensity, a figure sat on the roof of a nearby pavilion, watching with a lazy smile.
Ling Feng leaned back, chewing on a piece of spiritual grass like it was a cheap toothpick. His aura was completely retracted. To the naked eye, he looked like a mortal who had wandered into a sect by accident. But inside his Inner Void, a galaxy was spinning.
Four Chaos Emeralds—Green, Red, Yellow, Cyan—orbited his Spirit slowly, like planets around a sun. Their light was blinding, a testament to his mastery over Space, Power, Energy, and Time.
"She's got grit," Ling Feng muttered to himself, watching Baojiao launch another lightning-infused assault. "Gotta respect the hustle."
He shifted his focus inward, checking the progress of his next milestone.
The Fifth Chaos Emerald.
It was barely a silhouette. A faint, ghostly outline that refused to solidify. Floating around it were various Golden Rings, radiating pure affection and love—the energy harvested from his nights with Xu Pei and Li Shuangyan.
"So this isn't enough, eh?" Ling Feng shrugged, unbothered. "I've been loving Pei and Shuangyan regularly all year now. The 'dual cultivation' is top tier, but I suppose there is a limit considering their cultivation bases."
He wasn't disappointed. If he could, he would just spend years loving his girlfriends, living the slow life without giving a damn about the outside world.
The only reason he hadn't reached that level of intimacy with Chen Baojiao was due to her maniacal training schedule. She was determined to reach Royal Noble within the year, leaving little time for... other activities.
Still, Ling Feng made sure to be affectionate. He shared his Chaos energy with her through massages, hugs, kisses, and long talks, feeding her resolve.
He looked down at the courtyard.
Xu Pei was currently managing the sect's alchemy division. She had reached the peak of Named Hero, her gentle nature hiding a terrifying proficiency in controlling fire.
Li Shuangyan was a monster in her own right. Five Fate Palaces, and the sixth was practically crowning. She was knocking on the door of Supreme Noble and Enlightened Being.
And Su Yonghuang...
Ling Feng's gaze shifted to the distant, secluded peak where the Sect Master resided. She was advancing rapidly in her Solar Immortal Physique, hitting the peak of Ancient Saint. Their relationship had settled into a strange, comfortable zone. She no longer tried to kill him when he teased her, and she accepted his hugs without stiffness, but she hadn't crossed the final line yet.
"Slow burn," Ling Feng mused, scratching his chin. "Classic romance trope. But I'm a patient man. The payout is always better when you wait for the drop."
Suddenly, a piercing cry cut through the sky.
A streak of light tore through the clouds, heading straight for him. It was a communication crane, but the aura it carried was heavy, pressing down with the weight of a Demon King.
Ling Feng didn't flinch. He didn't even stand up. He simply raised a hand, his movements blurring slightly as he caught the crane out of the air. The kinetic energy dispersed instantly against his palm.
He unfolded the paper. It was stamped with a demonic sigil that pulsed with dark light.
'To the Young Noble of Cleansing Incense,
The agreement regarding the Ancient Heavenly Corpse Burial Ground stands. The War God Temple is moving. We await your presence.'
— Demon King Lun Ri.
Ling Feng read it once, his expression bored. He crumpled the paper in his fist. A small flicker of Chaos energy sparked, and the message was incinerated into ash.
He sighed, recalling the tedious plot from the original novel. During the past few months, Li Shuangyan had relayed the message that the Nine Saint Demon Gate had received a business proposition tied to the burial ground.
At its core, the War God Temple wanted Ling Feng's help. The rumors of his heaven-defying feats—the restoration of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, the slaughter in the Ridge—had spread far and wide. The changes to the sect were too damning to ignore.
The War God Temple, just like in the original timeline, was placing its hopes on an outsider expert to help them find an Underworld Boat to extend the life of an ancestor. They thought they were manipulating him. They thought he was a pawn they could use to navigate the treacherous waters of the Burial Ground.
"Cute," Ling Feng chuckled.
In the original story, Li Qiye had to play 4D chess, showing off obscure knowledge to tempt the War God Temple into thinking he was useful.
"I don't need to prove anything," Ling Feng thought, standing up and stretching his back until it cracked. "I don't care about their validation."
He had accepted the deal without explaining the risks. Why? Because he didn't really care about the War God Temple. In his eyes, they were just future subordinates. Or loot drops.
"Ancient Sky City..." Ling Feng murmured, a predatory glint entering his eyes. "That means the Middle Continent Princess, Bu Lianxiang."
He was confident. With Li Qiye and his alternative identity 'Chu Yuntian' out of the picture, that buried genius was fair game.
And the treasures in the Burial Ground?
The Underworld Boats?
They were just waiting for him to collect them.
"Time to go on a trip," Ling Feng announced to the empty roof. "It's time to see if the Ancient Heavenly Corpse Burial Ground can handle the chaos."