Nine Heavens.

  Void Rift.

  The massive chasm tore across the Nine Heavens’ void.

  Powerful auras surged within.

  From deep within the rift came a wave of somewhat exasperated divine fluctuations—clearly triggered by discovering that Kui Si had been suppressed by Lu.

  The ancient Emperors could only find it both amusing and absurd.

  “It’s all because of greed… Kui Si wanted to monopolize Five Phoenixes’ Dao Origin, so he acted alone and ended up getting crushed by Lu Ping’an.”

  “Serves him right. If he’d waited for the other Immortal-tier gods and demons to join forces, this wouldn’t have happened.”

  “But this is a problem. A newborn Immortal-Martial Dao Origin is right there—few Immortal-tier gods and demons could resist the temptation. Or perhaps these gods and demons simply don’t know how terrifying Lu Ping’an is.”

  The ancient Emperors exchanged thoughts.

  Their judgment was largely accurate.

  They simply assumed Kui Si, recruited by the Water Tribe Ancient Emperor, had been unable to resist the temptation and acted rashly.

  In truth, Kui Si hadn’t attacked proactively. He had only crouched on the primordial star and roared a few times.

  From the depths of the rift, Ancient Emperor Hao’s divine fluctuations surged forth.

  “It seems we can’t let Immortal-tier gods and demons go one by one. We must unite them completely before launching a joint assault on Five Phoenixes.”

  Ancient Emperor Hao’s divine sense spread, delivering the decision.

  His sharp gaze fixed on Five Phoenixes.

  One Immortal-tier god and demon could be suppressed by Lu Ping’an—so bring several more…

  Unless Lu Ping’an surpassed the Immortal-tier and peak Emperor level, Five Phoenixes’ ultimate fate would still be destruction.

  Ancient Emperor Hao’s divine sense wavered slightly, as if with a sigh.

  In truth, he had never expected Five Phoenixes to grow so quickly.

  Back then, he had even intervened to help Five Phoenixes overcome many difficulties. At the time, he had merely viewed Five Phoenixes as a future replacement for the Nine Heavens.

  Five Phoenixes—and Lu Ping’an—were just pawns in his game.

  Yet now, this pawn had leaped off the board, completely escaping his control. It had matured and even openly defied him.

  Ancient Emperor Hao couldn’t help but sigh.

  Cause in the past, effect in the present.

  If he hadn’t helped Five Phoenixes, hadn’t helped Lu Ping’an—would none of this have happened?

  Of course, sighs were just sighs. Even with the “Proximity” formation word under his command, he could not change the flow of time.

  He had to face the current Five Phoenixes.

  This was now an unchangeable reality.

  …

  Inside the Sermon Platform.

  Mists of immortal qi swirled continuously. Lu’s thoughts surged as he deduced something.

  A new generation of enhancement plans for Five Phoenixes was gradually taking shape under his calculations. This time, he intended to craft a series of innate spiritual treasures.

  For now, he had a basic framework.

  Lu sat upon the Sermon Platform, white robes fluttering. Eight Trigrams formation words danced around him.

  He planned to build a cultivation-assisting spiritual treasure modeled after the Trial Tower.

  For the time being, he called it the *Destiny Tower*.

  Starting from the Heavenly Human level, then Human Immortal, True Immortal, Profound Immortal, Golden Immortal… it would be divided into five levels. Besides the vast mission hall on the first floor, each subsequent level would correspond to a specific cultivation realm.

  Thus, the Destiny Tower would have six floors.

  Buzz…

  White lines flickered in Lu’s eyes.

  In the next moment, he felt as though he stood within a towering structure—though currently transparent, visible only as faint outlines drawn by the lines.

  Lu stood with his hands behind his back.

  He stepped into the first floor of the Destiny Tower. A pitch-black stone tablet rose from the ground.

  Lu raised his hand and placed it on the tablet. It immediately glowed with light.

  Lu pondered for a moment, then waved his hand.

  In the center of the first-floor hall, behind the handprint stone tablet, a pitch-black stele rose upright. A light silhouette floated around it like a playful spirit.

  After some thought, Lu’s mind moved.

  The silhouette’s form shifted like clay. Finally, it transformed into the appearance of a young Zhu Long—cute, graceful, and charming.

  Her role was to issue missions and guide cultivators entering the Destiny Tower.

  Vast amounts of data flowed into the Zhu Long-like light silhouette under Lu’s interwoven formation words.

  Having finished, Lu continued upward, beginning to arrange and construct each floor.

  For example, how to distribute the power of god and demon clones, what kind of trial scenarios to set up on each level, and so on.

  Difficulty would be divided according to cultivation realm.

  From the second floor to the sixth floor (representing Golden Immortal), the difficulty increased progressively.

  Lu also arranged the mission rewards.

  Different difficulties would yield different rewards.

  “As for the reward of joining White Jade Capital…”

  After some consideration, Lu assigned a correspondingly difficult mission.

  Buzz…

  With everything arranged, Lu exited the Sermon Platform.

  He sat at the passage mouth, eyes gleaming.

  The North Sea Fishing Rod remained still. The elemental god and demon hidden in the spatial turbulence had learned its lesson and wouldn’t take the bait so easily. Or perhaps Lu’s single sword strike that severed one of its claws had instilled deep fear.

  He put away the fishing rod and stored the Gold-Origin Insect Corpse bait.

  Lu waved toward the Overlord, Tang Yimo, and the others, who were fiercely battling Kui Si’s subordinate gods and demons within the chessboard domain.

  He had a task for them.

  The Overlord and Tang Yimo naturally wouldn’t refuse.

  They soared into the Primordial Starry Sky.

  Soon, they returned from various primordial stars with loads of ore.

  The Primordial Starry Sky lacked little else, but these ores, nurtured over countless ages, were true treasures. They could be used to forge extremely powerful Emperor weapons—or even various innate spiritual treasures.

  Lu swept his sleeve, storing all the ores in the Nether Profound Ring.

  Then, seated on the Thousand-Blade Chair, he tore open space and left the passage.

  The Overlord and Tang Yimo returned to their battles against the gods and demons in the chessboard domain, continuously honing their strength and potential through combat.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Lu returned to Heart Island.

  He melted down the ores retrieved from the Primordial Starry Sky, including the golden scales of the elemental god and demon.

  He began constructing a model of the Destiny Tower.

  As for where to build the Destiny Tower?

  After some thought, Lu’s eyes lit up. He decided to construct it in a place no one in the world could find.

  Ning Zhao finished her cultivation and pushed the Thousand-Blade Chair.

  Yi Yue followed like a shadow at Lu’s side, while Ni Yu carried her black pot, curiously tagging along.

  Following Lu’s instructions, the three maids left Heart Island with him.

  Lu smiled and flicked his finger.

  Boom!

  The sea exploded. The colossal whale opened its eyes, head rising from the water.

  It locked gazes with Lu for a long time. In the end, still feeling a little intimidated, it obediently opened its mouth as Lu requested.

  Lu cast one formation after another.

  He imparted spatial laws to the whale. Its stomach became a self-contained world.

  This was where Lu planned to build the Destiny Tower.

  A whale carrying an immortal island on its back, with a universe hidden in its belly.

  Perhaps the whale itself never imagined that when it submitted back then, hoping only to outlive this human, Lu would give it so many extravagant surprises.

  Both Heart Island and the Destiny Tower were objects imbued with immense destiny.

  In other words, the whale itself carried great destiny—even Golden Immortals wouldn’t dare harm it.

  Ning Zhao, Yi Yue, and Ni Yu were equally stunned.

  After the whale opened its mouth, Lu led the three inside its abdominal space.

  This was a vast, self-contained world within the whale’s belly.

  Blue skies, white clouds, peaceful and serene.

  Lu took out the ancient ores from the primordial stars and constructed the Destiny Tower.

  He also transferred the gods and demons from the void abyss into the Destiny Tower.

  The Destiny Tower was not only a cultivation treasure but also a prison for gods and demons.

  Building the Destiny Tower was no simple task. It took Lu immense time and effort.

  In Five Phoenixes’ accelerated time flow, it took roughly thirty years.

  Thirty years to craft a single innate spiritual treasure.

  This was unprecedented for Lu.

  It also showed just how precious and powerful the Destiny Tower truly was.

  “This tower is called the Destiny Tower. From now on, the three of you will jointly control it.”

  “In peacetime, it will serve as Five Phoenixes’ sacred cultivation ground. In wartime, with the three of you in command, even a peak Emperor would struggle to breach it.”

  Lu smiled.

  Ning Zhao, Yi Yue, and Ni Yu were stunned. They hadn’t expected Lu to make such a decision.

  “Young Master…”

  Ning Zhao’s red lips parted slightly. Her usually cold face showed traces of anxiety.

  “This is unacceptable…”

  “Such a treasure should remain in Young Master’s hands.”

  Yi Yue and Ni Yu nodded in agreement.

  Lu’s white robes fluttered. He waved his hand.

  “This Young Master doesn’t lack a single spiritual treasure.”

  “Besides, this Destiny Tower was built for all the cultivators of Five Phoenixes. Consider it White Jade Capital’s great contribution to Five Phoenixes—helping the world grow stronger. With the threat of gods and demons looming, Five Phoenixes’ cultivators must become stronger.”

  Lu said.

  “Moreover, as this Young Master’s maids and members of White Jade Capital, you naturally deserve some privileges.”

  “This Destiny Tower is the privilege of White Jade Capital’s people.”

  Lu smiled.

  The three women were speechless and could only bow.

  Lu swept his sleeve. Three tokens forged from the golden beast’s scales flew toward them—the control tokens of the Destiny Tower.

  With that done, Lu led the three away.

  Back on Heart Island, everything remained unchanged.

  Yet the world had gained a new sacred cultivation ground.

  “Ning Zhao, go spread the word. This Young Master will continue fishing.”

  Lu smiled, then happily delegated the task.

  The Thousand-Blade Chair transformed into the silver boat. Lu donned a bamboo hat and straw raincoat, settling onto the vast sea.

  Like a lone boat drifting where sea met sky, he fished.

  He didn’t go directly to the passage mouth.

  Yet if one looked closely, they would see that where the fishing hook descended, space twisted and tore—leading straight into the ancient aura of the Primordial Starry Sky.

  Lu sat on the sea of Five Phoenixes, fishing gods and demons from the Primordial Starry Sky.

  If the world knew, they would surely be astonished.

  …

  Having received control of the Destiny Tower, Ning Zhao, Yi Yue, and Ni Yu fully understood its immense value.

  They even held authority over distributing rewards and supervising task completion—ensuring no one cheated.

  Ning Zhao left Heart Island and gracefully arrived at Heavenly Mechanism Peak.

  She found Mo Tianyu and Lü Mu, who were playing chess at the summit.

  She informed them of the Destiny Tower.

  Lü Mu was utterly shocked.

  Both of them pinched their fingers to divine. Their expressions changed dramatically.

  “This is a treasure capable of influencing the destiny of heaven and earth!”

  “It is Five Phoenixes’ sacred cultivation artifact!”

  He quickly mobilized the disciples of Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion to spread the news across the world.

  This time, it wasn’t some ancient ruin.

  It was a cultivation sacred ground personally crafted by Young Master Lu of White Jade Capital—a labor of love dedicated to strengthening Five Phoenixes’ cultivators.

  It was White Jade Capital’s monumental contribution to Five Phoenixes.

  The name of Young Master Lu of White Jade Capital was known to all. When this news spread, the entire world was shaken!

  Though the Destiny Tower had cultivation restrictions—only those at Heavenly Human level or above could enter—

  The number of Heavenly Human experts in Five Phoenixes had already reached an enormous scale.

  Whether on Five Phoenixes Continent or the life-bearing stars beyond, there were countless Heavenly Human experts.

  Of course, they were still one-in-a-million geniuses.

  Countless Heavenly Humans, Human Immortals, and True Immortals were filled with excitement.

  Ning Zhao used this time to set up registration points across Five Phoenixes Continent and the outer stars.

  There were four registration points on Five Phoenixes Continent: the capital of the Great Xuan Divine Dynasty, the Demon Capital of the Demon Tribe’s royal court, the Witch Qi Tribe of the Witch Tribe, and the Sea Tribe’s royal city.

  For the outer stars, Mi Jia led the registration on the life star of the Heavenly Spirit Tribe.

  In an instant, these four locations became gathering points of wind and clouds.

  Experts at Heavenly Human level and above from human, demon, witch, and sea tribes converged. Heavenly Human cultivators scattered across blessed lands and those who had ascended to the Immortal Realm all returned to their respective registration points, desperate to qualify for the Destiny Tower.

  The Heavenly Spirit Tribe’s star was nearly bursting with cultivators from other life stars.

  Such was the prestige of White Jade Capital.

  The name of White Jade Capital resounded like thunder across Five Phoenixes.

  Tian Yuan Domain.

  Martial Emperor City.

  Du Longyang wiped his Martial Emperor Spear, exhaling slowly. After reaching Profound Immortal, further progress had become increasingly difficult.

  The appearance of the Destiny Tower was an unexpected blessing.

  Fighting gods and demons inside the tower, breaking through oneself in battle, and gaining destiny blessings from the gods and demons to advance realms—this was exactly what Du Longyang pursued.

  At Absolute Blade Sect, Ye Shoudao, one-armed and gripping his blade, felt the same.

  Tian Xu Gongzi was already thrilled, sitting in his sedan chair, preparing to head to the capital of the Great Xuan Divine Dynasty.

  Qiannu Palace.

  The Empress’s red robes billowed. Her eyes blazed with brilliant light.

  “A special mission… Completing it even grants the chance to join White Jade Capital and receive personal guidance from Young Master Lu?!”

  The Empress’s red lips parted slightly, her breathing quickening.

  Just this reward alone made it impossible for her to refuse.

  “This mission… I, Ni Chunqiu, must complete it! No one can stop me!”

  Determination and resolve shone in Ni Chunqiu’s eyes.

  She had waited too long for this opportunity!

  Even if… she knew the mission’s difficulty would be immense!

  …

  All of Five Phoenixes erupted into a frenzy, swept up in celebration.

  Finally, when all Heavenly Human cultivators had gathered,

  On Heart Island,

  Ni Yu, Ning Zhao, and Yi Yue took out their golden scale tokens.

  Their divine senses surged.

  The teleportation formations prepared at the four registration points instantly activated.

  Buzz…

  Four beams of light shot into the sky.

  “Burp~”

  In the vast sea, the colossal whale let out a belch.

  Meanwhile, in the self-contained world within the whale’s belly,

  Outside the Destiny Tower,

  Figures were teleported in, arriving in four groups at the four cardinal directions of the tower.

  Boom!

  The mission hall on the first floor of the Destiny Tower suddenly opened.

  Everyone surged inside. Astonishingly, the hall could accommodate them all.

  The moment they entered,

  Buzz…

  In the center of the hall, a faint silhouette resembling young Zhu Long appeared.

  Among the crowd, Ni Chunqiu’s beautiful eyes sparkled.

  Hidden within was also Heavenly Spirit Ancient Emperor, his gaze flickering.

  When Heavenly Spirit Ancient Emperor learned that Lu Ping’an had built something called the Destiny Tower, he immediately joined. He could use it to enhance his own cultivation.

  After the Zhu Long-like silhouette announced the rules of the Destiny Tower’s mission hall,

  A stone tablet appeared before each person. Under the guidance of the Zhu Long silhouette, they placed their hands on the tablets.

  A suction force seemed to connect with their souls.

  Heavenly Spirit Ancient Emperor’s heart nearly stopped. His soul contained great secrets—if Lu Ping’an discovered them through this, he would be finished.

  His current happy life might turn to ashes.

  He held his breath for a long time.

  Fortunately, nothing unusual happened.

  Heavenly Spirit Ancient Emperor finally exhaled in relief.

  Suddenly, everyone looked up and saw a massive black stele.

  The stele was densely engraved with text. Each line corresponded to a mission.

  Missions were divided by strength: Heavenly Human zone, Human Immortal zone, and so on…

  Everyone knew their own strength. Following the Zhu Long silhouette’s instructions, they began accepting missions from the appropriate zones.

  Once a mission was accepted, they would be teleported to the corresponding floor of the Destiny Tower, entering the mission scenario to complete the task.

  Missions naturally carried danger. Lu’s goal was to strengthen Five Phoenixes’ cultivators.

  Thus, before entering a mission, participants had to infuse soul power.

  If the mission failed, all infused soul power would be erased, inflicting severe damage. Recovery would take time.

  Thus, failure came at a cost, making cultivators wary of recklessness.

  …

  Ni Chunqiu’s red robes billowed. She bit her red lip, eyes scanning the mission panel rapidly.

  “Destiny Maiden, tell me… which is the special mission that rewards joining White Jade Capital?”

  Ni Chunqiu asked.

  The Zhu Long-like light figure appeared before her, its ethereal voice ringing in her ears.

  “With your current mid-stage Profound Immortal cultivation, I do not recommend choosing the special mission.”

  The Destiny Maiden—Lu’s designated Zhu Long silhouette—said.

  The Empress bit her red lip, eyes wavering slightly.

  “If I choose this mission now, what are my chances of success?”

  The Empress asked.

  “One in a million. And there is a risk of soul annihilation.”

  The Destiny Maiden replied.

  Ni Chunqiu’s long lashes trembled. Her pale hand clenched beneath her red sleeve.

  “Even if the success rate is only one in a million, I must try…”

  The Empress took a deep breath. Then, with a surge of divine sense, she selected the special mission.

  Despite the Destiny Maiden’s repeated warnings, the Empress remained resolute.

  She was afraid—afraid someone else would complete the mission first!

  This news quickly reached the minds of Ning Zhao, Ni Yu, and Yi Yue, who controlled the Destiny Tower.

  The three women exchanged glances, hesitation in their eyes.

  Ning Zhao’s gaze was complex.

  She perhaps vaguely understood Empress Ni Chunqiu’s feelings.

  “If I were her, perhaps I too would fight desperately for that one-in-a-million chance.”

  Ning Zhao murmured.

  Ni Yu’s lips trembled. “Sister Ning, we should still ask Young Master…”

  However, Ning Zhao slowly exhaled.

  She shook her head.

  “Normally, we should indeed consult Young Master…”

  Ning Zhao looked at the red-robed figure in the mission hall, light flickering in her eyes.

  She knew that if they asked Young Master, he might very well refuse the Empress.

  “But this time, let me be willful. Let her take on this mission.”

  Ning Zhao said.

  Ni Yu and Yi Yue were stunned.

  …

  On the vast sea,

  A lone silver boat drifted.

  A white-robed youth sat motionless upon it, holding the fishing rod and fishing quietly.

  While Ning Zhao and the others debated whether to consult Lu,

  Beneath Lu’s bamboo hat, his eyes had long since shimmered with white light.