Chapter 354 - 148: 4 Bow in Submission, Establish the Divine Platform, Seal the Gods

"You broke through to the Extraordinary Realm? Good, very good..."

"No, wait! You’re saying you’ve already broken through to the Extraordinary Realm?"

Cui Yanliang had subconsciously started to praise her, but he suddenly caught himself, his eyes widening in shock.

"You... you reached the Extraordinary Realm in less than a month?"

"It’s been almost a month."

The mirth in Ye Xiaoyu’s eyes deepened.

This whole time, her life within the Gui Chen Sect had been incredibly oppressive. The hatred in her heart never ceased for a moment, and she had kept her Heart Spirit wound tight.

She had never told anyone her true cultivation level.

Only now, in front of her master and senior brother, did she finally relax, revealing a little girl’s playful nature.

’Less than a month... ’

Cui Yanliang’s expression stiffened, and he didn’t know what to say.

He thought of his own journey: born a mortal, he had spent over a decade seeking the path of the immortals, then another twenty-plus years stoking furnaces for alchemists, just to finally obtain a single Martial Dao Cultivation Technique.

After that, he spent another decade stationed at the border, performing funerals and conducting rituals to guide souls. It took many more years for his Daoist Skills to improve enough that he could barely break through to the Divine Platform.

It wasn’t until he met Su Bai that both his Daoist Skills and his cultivation saw significant improvement.

’It’s just that now, even Senior’s dog has surpassed me...’

’And now here’s another one—a little junior sister with such terrifying talent...’

Even with his relatively steady temperament, he was starting to lose his composure.

’As expected, trying to steal a treasure right under this man’s nose... we were bound to get caught. If only we had left sooner...’

The Confucian Daoist Venerable, the White Lotus Daoist, Chen Qin’Yin, and the Iron Sword Young Venerable looked at the master and two disciples before them.

They could only smile bitterly.

’We really just came here to suffer!’

"Master, the Gui Chen Sect is already empty. After the Life Lamps of Old Thief Gui Chen and that old thief Xiao Yu were extinguished, all the Daoists in the city looted everything they could..."

Ye Xiaoyu pointed to the back courtyard.

"Only the back courtyard... no one can get in. Anyone who tried to force their way in died, every last one of them..."

"Xiaoyu, you and your senior brother go to the woodshed and bring that Elder Huaisheng Daoist here."

Su Bai nodded, gave the order, and then walked towards the back courtyard.

’In this world, many people use lives to break an array. This True Master... surely he’s not thinking of...’

The four, including the Confucian Daoist Venerable, exchanged a look, each seeing the apprehension and unease in the others’ eyes.

Using lives to break an array naturally meant using *other people’s* lives to break the array.

And those "other people" were very likely the four of them!

But the four of them had no choice but to brace themselves and follow.

No one thought of running away or trying to fight back.

This powerhouse had killed dozens, nearly a hundred True Masters, with a single move. The four of them probably couldn’t even withstand one of his fingers.

However, to their surprise, Su Bai stepped into the back courtyard so easily, as if there was no array there at all.

"This!?"

The White Lotus Daoist’s pupils shrank.

It wasn’t just the Confucian Daoist Venerable; the other three had also tested the back courtyard several times. But no matter what methods they used, they couldn’t break the array and enter.

That was why they had come up with the idea of eliminating all other threats before attempting to break the array.

’This man...’

The Confucian Daoist Venerable’s heart sank as well. He had a faint feeling that he was in big trouble this time!

...

Huaisheng Daoist let out a long sigh. He was, of course, aware of the commotion outside, but unfortunately, his entire cultivation base was sealed by a Secret Technique, making it impossible for him to know what was happening.

Old and frail as he was, without his cultivation, he couldn’t even escape this meager woodshed, even if it was unguarded.

CREAK!

The woodshed door swung open.

Elder Huaisheng shielded his eyes from the blinding sunlight and saw a strange man in a cloak leading a little girl of seven or eight into the woodshed.

"Daoist, my master wishes to see you."

Ye Xiaoyu glanced at the Huaisheng Daoist.

She knew a little about this man.

It was said that Xiao Yu had originally wanted to take him to the Ten Thousand Laws Grand Assembly to be utterly humiliated.

But unexpectedly, at the banquet, in front of more than a hundred True Masters, the man had mocked him out loud, enraging Xiao Yu, who promptly sealed his cultivation and left him here to die.

"Oh."

Huaisheng Daoist stood up, brushed off his clothes, and spoke with a slight frown.

"Lead the way."

He didn’t ask any questions, nor did he seem to care.

Though his clothes were ragged and his face was covered in dirt, there was a trace of nonchalant grace about him.

It made Cui Yanliang, who was standing to the side, look at him with new respect.

Ye Xiaoyu said no more, simply tugging on Cui Yanliang’s sleeve before walking out of the woodshed.

’Could this be the turning point?’

Looking up at the sunlight he felt he hadn’t seen in a very long time, Huaisheng Daoist muttered to himself.

He had once traveled through many State Mansions of Da Yu, collecting many portraits of Kuixing and using the residual Incense and Candle Power on them to beseech the Kui God to descend and perform a divination for him.

And the final turning point for his Netherworld Daoist Temple...

...was here, in the Da Yu Capital City, at this very moment.

WHOOSH!

A cold wind wandered through the deserted Gui Chen Sect Headquarters.

The Gui Chen Sect was now completely abandoned; many of its temples had been stripped bare.

In just half a day, the place had been utterly transformed.

After following Ye Xiaoyu and Cui Yanliang for a while, Huaisheng Daoist seemed to sense something.

He looked up, but what lay before him was no longer the magnificent architecture of the Gui Chen Sect Headquarters.

As far as the eye could see, there were a few thatched cottages enclosed by a wicker fence. Some Spirit Grass was planted around them, and in front of the fence, a clear spring gurgled and flowed.

At that moment, four men and women with extraordinary bearings were standing outside the fence, their hands hanging nervously at their sides.

In the very center of the fenced enclosure sat a cross-legged young man in a white robe. He had an otherworldly air, and his aura was as vast as the Star Sea.

In his palm, he held a strange fruit shaped like a tiny person, complete with facial features.

The fruit was only the size of a palm. Its limbs and facial features were identical to a human’s, so exquisitely detailed and lifelike that it resembled a sleeping baby.

And he could feel that within that fruit was contained an amount of Incense and Candle Power he could barely even imagine!

This Incense and Candle Power was like mountains and seas, as vast as an abyss.

Of all the Daoists and Yin Department Ghost Gods he had seen in his entire life, not a single one possessed such an immense amount of Incense and Candle Power!

"You..."

Huaisheng Daoist stopped before the fence, about to ask a question.

"This is a Celestial Longevity Fruit. It is an exotic fruit ranked in the top ten on the list of the world’s Spiritual Materials and Treasures."

"Legend has it that consuming a single Celestial Longevity Fruit can easily extend one’s life by a hundred years. Furthermore, this particular one contains all the Incense and Candle Power the Gui Chen Sect has absorbed over the past century."

"And the Leader of the Gui Chen Sect personally irrigated it with Spiritual Liquid, cultivating and refining it, day in and day out for a hundred years..."

Su Bai slowly raised his eyes to look at the Huaisheng Daoist outside the fence:

"Tell me, what is the value of this fruit?"

As his voice drifted, the Confucian Daoist Venerable, White Lotus Daoist, Chen Qin’Yin, and the others all involuntarily looked up, unconcealable greed flashing in their eyes.

The Celestial Longevity Fruit, also known as the Divine Fruit, or the Feather Transformation Fruit.

According to legend, it is a top-tier Spirit Fruit that can nourish the Divine Spirit and nurture the Spiritual Essence, increasing the probability of breaking through to the Feathered state.

For Cultivators below the Feathered state, the temptation was immense.

What’s more, this Celestial Longevity Fruit was one that the Leader of the Gui Chen Sect had nurtured for a century. Its value was simply beyond description.

Huaisheng Daoist took a deep look at Su Bai. There was not much greed in his eyes, only a calm reply:

"It is, naturally, immeasurable!"

WHOOSH!

The moment the words left his mouth, a brilliant streak of light flashed before his eyes.

Huaisheng Daoist subconsciously raised his hands and caught the fruit, just as a calm voice sounded by his ear:

"It’s yours."

"Senior, what is the meaning of this?"

Huaisheng Daoist’s expression changed slightly, his heart deeply moved.

"Senior, you’ve given me such a precious treasure. May I ask what, specifically, you wish for me to do?"

He couldn’t accept a reward he hadn’t earned.

Not to mention, he and Su Bai had never even met before.

For the other party to be so generous, he must want him to do something.

In the next moment, Su Bai placed his hands flat on his knees, his gaze clear as he spoke:

"I want you to do one thing for me."

"Establish the Divine Platform, and Seal the Gods!"