Tonggu’s sudden appearance caught the flame left from Qiang Huo’s annihilation in his grasp.

  The terrifying pressure radiating from the flame was instantly crushed by overwhelming force.

  The Five Phoenix Continent and everyone in it felt the oppressive weight vanish in an instant.

  Lu raised an eyebrow, looking curiously at the newcomer.

  This aura… he recognized it.

  Wasn’t this the human powerhouse he’d seen in the comprehension ground?

  The atmosphere grew slightly awkward.

  Because Tonggu hadn’t bothered to lower his voice.

  So Lu, Ancient Emperor Hao, and all the Golden Immortals watching from the Five Phoenix Continent heard every word clearly.

  Everyone was speechless.

  This powerhouse’s words… sounded oddly playful.

  What was with that barely contained glee?

  The flame remained silent for a long time, as though it had also heard Tonggu’s message.

  After extreme suppression and silence came explosion.

  “Tonggu?”

  “You’re courting death?!”

  An icy voice rang from the other end of the flame.

  It carried boundless rage.

  Though there was a hint of doubt at first, it vanished quickly.

  Because Tonggu did indeed have the strength to kill Qiang Huo.

  Qiang Huo had only recently entered great-path rank, but as the prized disciple of the Fire Elemental God, he wielded fire origin power and had comprehended Gold Origin mysteries.

  Even against a perfected human Heavenly Emperor, Qiang Huo shouldn’t have died.

  Even if he couldn’t win, escape should have been possible.

  Yet he died.

  And his will flame hadn’t even had time to self-destruct!

  There was only one possibility: the one who killed Qiang Huo far surpassed him—only a quasi-saint level human could do this!

  Most human quasi-saints were being watched by the Elemental Realm’s god-demons and rarely dared leave their ancestral immortal-martial lands.

  The only quasi-saint wandering the ancient starry void recently… was Tonggu!

  So Qiang Huo’s death was indeed very likely Tonggu’s doing.

  “Hey, hey? Old Fire, are you still listening?”

  Tonggu held the flame and called out.

  Far away, Chai Feng looked helpless.

  He’d thought Tonggu meant some kind of grand cleanup when he said he’d handle the aftermath.

  He never expected… this.

  Chatting like old neighbors.

  But the words… how did they sound so infuriating?

  “Get lost!”

  From the other end of the flame, the Fire Elemental God’s rage nearly exploded.

  “Tonggu… are you declaring war on my Elemental Realm?!”

  The Fire Elemental God’s killing intent was palpable.

  Why hadn’t he acted in the comprehension ground—joined forces with the other four Elemental Gods to kill this damned Tonggu?

  “War? Don’t joke. Killing one disciple of yours warrants this much fuss? Also, Old Fire, let me criticize you a bit. Your prized disciple—how come you didn’t give him any life-saving treasures? Not even a single innate spiritual treasure for protection? Tsk. You call him your most beloved disciple, yet deep down you must not care much, huh…”

  “Next time, remember to give your disciples life-saving treasures—or at least supreme treasures. Otherwise, if they offend someone, they won’t even be able to run.”

  “Lucky you met me, Tonggu—I’m good-tempered, one strike and done. If you met someone with a twisted hobby, the torture would’ve been miserable.”

  “Alright, enough talk. I’ve got things to do. Let’s chat next time…”

  “Same as always: don’t worry, don’t grieve—take care.”

  Tonggu rattled off a string of words at the flame.

  Even from countless light-years away, Lu could feel the Fire Elemental God’s rage about to erupt from the other end.

  After finishing, Tonggu pursed his lips, squinted his eyes, and—before the flame could unleash another surge of powerful will—pinched it out with two fingers, even rubbing it slightly as though snuffing out the will within.

  The dancing fire origin power lost all will fluctuation.

  So… so cheap.

  Lu drew a deep breath, looking at Tonggu’s beaming, red-faced grin.

  This old daoist’s skill at messing with people’s heads… was no weaker than his own, Lu Ping’an!

  The thickness of this old daoist’s face probably couldn’t be pierced even by an arrow from the Five Phoenix Bow!

  “I’ve met my match.”

  Lu felt a trace of gravity.

  Qiang Huo’s annihilation had created a massive energy field with a diameter of tens of millions of li centered on his place of death. Terrifying energy ripples still clashed and tore through it. In the short term, this energy wouldn’t dissipate—it might linger for ten thousand, even a hundred thousand years.

  These tearing energies were a mix of Gold Origin mysteries, fire origin power, and more. They would take a very long time to naturally fade.

  The old daoist stood calmly within the energy field, completely unaffected.

  Like a spring breeze, as though detached from the energy itself.

  Soon, he floated out of the field and drifted toward Lu with Chai Feng, smiling all the way.

  His gaze fell on Ancient Emperor Hao.

  He paused slightly. The smile on his face faded a bit, replaced by a sigh.

  In his eyes, the blood aura coiling around Ancient Emperor Hao and the terrifying resentment made the experienced old daoist instantly understand what had happened.

  Clearly, he had sacrificed all life in an entire world to qualify for breaking through to Heavenly Emperor.

  He’d seen this more than once.

  When forced into desperation by gods and demons, what choice was there?

  “I arrived too late.”

  Tonggu sighed.

  Behind him, Chai Feng also fell silent.

  For ordinary people, breaking through to Heavenly Emperor without resources or guidance was nearly impossible.

  Ancient Emperor Hao looked calmly at Tonggu.

  But there was caution in his eyes.

  He sensed a familiar aura from Tonggu—similar to Lu Ping’an. This old daoist… also loved messing with people’s heads.

  So he had to be wary.

  Tonggu didn’t linger on Ancient Emperor Hao. He turned to Lu.

  The moment he did, his face bloomed into a wide smile again.

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  “Haha, little friend—we meet again!”

  The void rippled. White light flashed.

  The old daoist appeared beside Lu as though teleporting. After tossing the fire origin flame to Lu—who accepted it without hesitation—he grabbed Lu’s hand and patted it enthusiastically.

  He looked like long-lost brothers reuniting.

  Lu was slightly dumbfounded.

  Are we that close?

  Lu discreetly pulled his hand back, maintaining his aloof demeanor.

  The perfected Indestructible Golden Body radiated. Gold Origin mysteries were displayed to the extreme.

  He didn’t rule out the possibility that this old daoist could be an enemy. After all, Lu had taken the adorable little Beast Ancestor statue—a supreme treasure. This old daoist might also be tempted?

  “I am Tonggu, from the human ancestral land—Primordial Immortal Domain.”

  Tonggu smiled warmly.

  He kept sizing up Lu, growing more shocked the longer he looked.

  Only at the peak of Extreme Emperor—yet capable of crossing ranks to kill a great-path rank god-demon. And this god-demon was one of the Elemental Gods’ prized disciples—a terrifyingly talented one even among god-demons.

  It seemed he’d stumbled upon an absolute prodigy this time!

  But thinking of Lu’s identity and performance in the comprehension ground, Tonggu wasn’t surprised.

  After all, someone who could send Lu into the comprehension ground unnoticed must be a disciple of a starry saint.

  A saint’s disciple crossing ranks in battle… was that surprising?

  When he was young, hadn’t he done the same?

  Nothing worth being shocked about.

  The more he looked at Lu, the more satisfied Tonggu became—like seeing his younger self.

  “Primordial Immortal Domain, the human ancestral land?”

  Lu was puzzled.

  “Is your master here, little friend? Send my regards—tell the senior to visit Primordial Immortal Domain when he has time~”

  Tonggu smiled.

  Lu was dumbfounded. His master?

  Where did he have a master?

  But Lu wasn’t stupid. After a moment’s thought, he understood why Tonggu was acting this way.

  Clearly, the methods Lu displayed while taking the statue in the comprehension ground had led this Tonggu to mistakenly believe he had a powerful master.

  Fine then—let the misunderstanding continue.

  Lu’s mind began to turn.

  “No problem, no problem. My master often says Primordial Immortal Domain is full of powerhouses—he’s admired it for a long time. Unfortunately, he’s currently traveling the starry void. If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll definitely bring him to visit.”

  Lu smiled and patted Tonggu’s hand in return.

  The two seemed to hit it off instantly, on the verge of becoming sworn brothers.

  Ancient Emperor Hao’s pupils shrank. He felt a wave of darkness.

  This old daoist was so powerful—and allied with Lu Ping’an. If Lu wanted to deal with him now, escape would be nearly impossible.

  On the other side, Chai Feng’s eyes also narrowed.

  Because Lu’s performance and strength shocked him.

  “Little brother, you killed a disciple of the Fire Elemental God. That old thing won’t let it go. Though I crushed his will flame, the coordinates have already been sent back. With the Fire Elemental God’s strength, he’ll soon track them down.”

  Tonggu said.

  Lu narrowed his eyes, feeling a jolt in his heart.

  The Elemental God would come hunting?

  “Does big brother have any solutions?” Lu smiled and asked. Though his heart was racing, his face showed nothing.

  “If your master were here, it wouldn’t be a problem. But since you said he’s traveling the starry void, I actually have a method.”

  “Shift this entire explosive region into spatial turbulence using spatial mysteries. With the turbulence’s flow, it’ll drift chaotically to some corner of the starry void. The Fire Elemental God won’t be able to track it.”

  Tonggu said.

  Lu’s eyes lit up. His expression remained unchanged, but he hesitated slightly: “That would be too much trouble for big brother. How about waiting for my master to return?”

  “No trouble, no trouble…”

  Tonggu waved his hand.

  “A small matter.”

  The next moment, Tonggu flickered and appeared before the clashing energy field.

  He raised his hand and formed a seal.

  Vast purple qi surged from his body.

  Purple qi roiled. Spatial mysteries wove into a massive silver-gray cutting domain that enveloped the energy field.

  With a slice, he tore open the void and tossed the entire region into spatial turbulence, letting it drift away and gradually disappear.

  Tonggu wiped his brow, completed the task, and floated back toward Lu with a beaming face.

  Lu drew a deep breath. Tonggu’s technique truly astonished him.

  Spatial slicing…

  The old daoist’s mastery of spatial mysteries far surpassed Lu’s.

  After all, he was a quasi-saint.

  Lu sighed in admiration.

  But just as he was sighing—

  He suddenly froze.

  Because a system prompt had appeared before him.

  “Encountered a human quasi-saint powerhouse. Challenge mission activated.”

  “Challenge Mission: Establish a comprehension ground using the adorable little Beast Ancestor statue and arrange a competition between prodigies from the Primordial Immortal Domain and the Five Phoenix Continent. Upon victory, randomly obtain one of Tonggu’s divine abilities.”

  Challenge mission?

  Oh?

  A wool-pulling mission?

  Lu’s eyes instantly lit up. He hadn’t expected the system to issue such a task.

  Establishing a comprehension ground with the little Beast Ancestor statue to study Gold Origin mysteries…

  Lu had already planned to do this.

  Now, with the mission, he felt even more excited.

  Most importantly, the reward was one of Tonggu’s divine abilities…

  The technique Tonggu had just used to shift the energy field into spatial turbulence was truly dazzling.

  So Lu became interested.

  “Big brother, since we’ve met by chance, why not come sit in my Five Phoenix Continent?”

  “Though the Five Phoenix is not as grand as Primordial Immortal Domain, it has just achieved immortal-martial status. If big brother could offer guidance, it would be greatly appreciated.”

  Lu suddenly became enthusiastic.

  Tonggu froze. He instinctively sensed scheming.

  But Lu’s overflowing warmth made him dismiss the feeling.

  What a good young man.

  What an outstanding junior.

  Moreover, he was very interested in this newly ascended immortal-martial world of the Five Phoenix.

  To achieve immortal-martial status under the suppression of the Elemental Realm in the ancient starry void… this world was extraordinary.

  Lu dispersed the Indestructible Golden Body. Silver blades stacked. White robes fluttered as he sat back in the Thousand-Blade Chair.

  He nodded slightly toward Tonggu and drifted toward the Five Phoenix Continent.

  Tonggu paused, narrowing his eyes.

  “A secret art? No wonder he can cross ranks in battle… but this secret art has quite a backlash. He needs to suppress it usually.”

  Then he dismissed the thought.

  Which secret art didn’t have backlash? Some were far worse.

  With Chai Feng in tow, he followed Lu.

  Ancient Emperor Hao didn’t move. Lu ignored him.

  Though Ancient Emperor Hao had sacrificed an entire world for the Nine Heavens’ survival and bore immense karma,

  Lu’s relationship with him was bad—and it stayed bad.

  He, Lu Ping’an, wasn’t that forgiving.

  Not killing Ancient Emperor Hao right now was already merciful.

  Tonggu seemed to sense the tension between Lu and Ancient Emperor Hao. He raised an eyebrow but didn’t dwell on it.

  Ancient Emperor Hao was pitiable. Unless forced into desperation, who would bear such monstrous karma?

  In short, sacrificing an entire world’s life to reach Heavenly Emperor realm… basically severed his path to starry saint.

  When the time came, he’d take Ancient Emperor Hao back to Primordial Immortal Domain…

  Lu led Tonggu through the Nine Heavens toward the Five Phoenix Continent.

  The dead silence of the Nine Heavens weighed heavily on Tonggu and Chai Feng. The fate of the Nine Heavens was the fate of most human worlds.

  Oppressed by the god-demons of the ancient starry void.

  Ancient Emperor Hao didn’t enter the Five Phoenix.

  He walked alone through the Nine Heavens.

  Lost. Melancholy…

  Finally, he landed on a desolate star. Beside him, a set of withered bones lay neatly arranged. Ancient Emperor Hao gently stroked them and sighed.

  …

  Boom!

  Space exploded. Blazing flames distorted the void.

  A crimson figure appeared in the endless spatial turbulence—like twisted light and heat.

  All spatial turbulence seemed to freeze the moment this figure arrived.

  It was a vermilion sphere of light—dazzling heat that obscured the figure within.

  In the crimson blaze like a blazing sun, a pair of cold, ruthless eyes appeared.

  The Fire Elemental God gazed at the clashing energy field before him.

  Qiang Huo’s aura had vanished within it, along with the ashes of the flame will that Tonggu had crushed.

  This was precisely the field Tonggu had shifted into spatial turbulence—now drifting aimlessly.

  “Tonggu…”

  Killing intent surged in the Fire Elemental God’s eyes.

  Soon, a dazzling golden figure appeared beside him.

  With a casual wave, Gold Origin mysteries gathered…

  “Such pure Gold Origin mystery power…”

  “This is the power of the Beast Ancestor statue! No wonder Qiang Huo didn’t even have time to activate your flame will before dying…”

  The Gold Elemental God said.

  “So the one who killed Qiang Huo… wasn’t Tonggu?”

  “Definitely not. Forget the pure Gold Origin mysteries—even if it was Tonggu, would he waste time chatting with you? He’d kill and run…”

  The Gold Elemental God’s words calmed the Fire Elemental God.

  “So… the Gold Origin Beast Ancestor statue really was taken by a human?”

  The Fire Elemental God said gravely.

  “We originally held four Beast Ancestor statues. Now… one has been taken by humans. The last one remains with that terrifying chaos creature. With human talent, they’ll soon use the Beast Ancestor statue to cultivate many Heavenly Emperor-level cultivators who comprehend mysteries!”

  “At that point, the situation might turn against us.”

  “Enough. We’ll discuss this after returning. For now, guard the remaining Beast Ancestor statues tightly… I have a feeling that damned thief is still eyeing the others!”

  “As for Qiang Huo’s death… humanity will pay in blood one day!”

  …

  “Young Master Lu!”

  Beyond the Void Abyss.

  When Lu returned chatting and laughing with Tonggu, the many Golden Immortals hovering in the Five Phoenix starry void bowed respectfully.

  “This newly ascended immortal-martial world has quite a few emperor-realm cultivators…” Tonggu glanced around, slightly surprised.

  Chai Feng behind him paid little attention.

  Emperor-realm meant little to him. He was Heavenly Emperor level. In the Five Phoenix Continent, only Lu was worth his notice.

  After all, Lu had killed Qiang Huo with a single arrow. Even he wasn’t sure he could match that.

  Lu smiled and nodded slightly.

  Only now did Tonggu and Chai Feng begin to examine the entire Five Phoenix world.

  Their divine souls spread out imperceptibly.

  With Tonggu’s vision, the moment his divine soul expanded, he sensed the Five Phoenix’s extraordinariness.

  His eyes sharpened.

  “A starry world? Similar to the ancient starry void?”

  “Incredible… an immortal-martial world formed through a starry structure?”

  Tonggu’s eyes gleamed.

  Now he was even more certain—Lu must have a starry saint behind him!

  Even Primordial Immortal Domain was formed as a continental immortal-martial world. A human quasi-saint had once tried to achieve immortal-martial through a starry structure, but the origin space collapsed, shattering a first-layer high-martial world and killing countless lives.

  Yet now, he was witnessing an immortal-martial world formed through a starry structure!

  Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

  Suddenly, breaking sounds rang out.

  Zhu Long, eyes closed, long lashes trembling slightly,

  appeared before Lu like an autumn leaf.

  Lu smiled and patted Zhu Long’s head. Her aura had reached the peak of sixth-turn Golden Immortal—ready to break through to ninth-turn Golden Immortal, Extreme Emperor level, at any moment.

  Lu’s mind stirred. Since he’d encountered a quasi-saint, he might as well pull as much wool as possible.

  “Zhu Long, this is a supreme powerhouse of the human race from the ancestral land, Primordial Immortal Domain—quasi-saint Tonggu.”

  “If you have any cultivation questions, feel free to ask Senior Tonggu. He is a pillar of the human race—profoundly knowledgeable. He can definitely help you.”

  Lu said.

  “You too—ask away if you have cultivation questions.”

  Lu’s gaze shifted to Lu Jiulian, Dantai Xuan, and the others.

  “Yes, Father!”

  Zhu Long pursed her lips, eyes closed, and nodded firmly.

  As her father’s little cotton-padded jacket, Zhu Long understood the meaning behind Lu’s words.

  In other words… pull wool. Pull as much as possible!

  Lu Jiulian and the others nodded. They respectfully glanced at Tonggu.

  Lu smiled, very satisfied.

  Tonggu laughed dumbly. Of course he understood Lu’s intention.

  But he didn’t mind.

  They were all humans. Offering guidance was only natural.

  Tonggu smiled warmly, his face full of kindness. He appreciated talented human juniors.

  But in this newborn immortal-martial world of the Five Phoenix, aside from Lu—who was clearly a starry saint’s disciple—the others probably had average talent.

  However…

  When Tonggu’s gaze fell on Zhu Long—

  His warm, kindly smile froze.

  His pupils shrank sharply.

  He pursed his lips.

  This girl’s aura… so unexpected…

  My heavens!