84: Chapter 84 The Great Struggle

The purple-gold flying boat had stopped above Heavenly Saint City.

Three days later.

Top floor of the Star-Plucking Tower.

Hundreds of storage rings were neatly arranged on a sandalwood table. Zhao Tiangang, the Grand Elder of Wan Jian Holy Land, and a Grand Elder from Wuji Holy Land stood before the table, not daring to even breathe loudly.

The six-thousand-year heritage of the Taichu Holy Land was all here.

"Pavilion Master Gu, the inventory of the Taichu Holy Land's treasury is complete. Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, Magic Treasures, and Cultivation Techniques have all been sorted and categorized. Please, take a look." Zhao Tiangang bowed, his attitude even more respectful than when he saw his own Sect Master.

At the Ten Thousand Sect Assembly that day, the image of Saint King Qi Wudao being swallowed by a black hole, along with his carriage, had become a nightmare for these two Elders for days.

Gu Sheng didn't even glance at the storage rings, picking up his teacup to blow away the tea foam.

"Thank you both." Gu Sheng took a sip of tea. "The territory of the Taichu Holy Land will be taken over by the Great Xia Dynasty. You two don't have any objections, do you?"

"No objections." The Grand Elder of Wuji Holy Land quickly replied, "The Empress of Great Xia has great talent and bold vision; it is only right that she rules the Central Plains."

"Alright, you may go back." Gu Sheng put down his teacup. "Heavenly Secrets Pavilion always does business fairly. If you have any deals in the future, come find me anytime."

The two were like receiving a pardon, bowing and retreating.

Su Jiuer walked out from behind the screen and waved her hand, collecting all the storage rings on the table.

"Pavilion Master, this amount of resources is enough to keep the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion running for several hundred years." Su Jiuer toyed with her abacus.

"Take half and invest it in the people below." Gu Sheng instructed. "The intelligence network of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion needs to continue expanding. Once the Golden Great Era begins, all those old things hidden underground will crawl out. I want to know how many bowls of rice they eat every day."

Footsteps could be heard outside the door.

Empress of Great Xia, Xia Qingyue, walked in wearing casual clothes. There was a hint of exhaustion in her eyes, but her spirit was excellent.

"Pavilion Master Gu." Xia Qingyue sat down and poured herself a cup of tea. "The aftermath of the Taichu Holy Land has been mostly dealt with. Great Xia's army has already entered the main Peak. All the die-hard loyalists of Qi Tiandao have been cleaned up."

"Quick work." Gu Sheng nodded.

"There is progress in the Western Desolation as well." Xia Qingyue lowered her voice. "The abandoned earth veins beneath the Great Leiyin Temple have been successfully connected by Great Xia's Formation Masters. In six months at most, the Great Xia Dragon vein will be able to return to its Peak."

Gu Sheng laughed.

The Buddhist Sect had really been plucked clean this time. The karma monument was cracked, the earth veins drained dry, and even the abandoned Spiritual Qi hadn't been saved.

"The situation in the Central Plains is set." Gu Sheng looked at Xia Qingyue. "Great Xia is now the number one power in the Central Plains. But don't be happy too soon. The Heavenly Dao suppression is about to disappear, and the era where Saints are as common as dogs is coming soon. Your cultivation at the Dao Integration Stage is not enough to hold the fort."

Xia Qingyue fell silent. She knew very well that Great Xia's current glory was entirely supported by the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion behind the scenes.

"Take this bottle of Medicinal Pill." Gu Sheng threw a jade bottle over. "A nine-turn soul-returning pill. Keep it to save your life."

Xia Qingyue took the jade bottle, her hand tightening.

"Many thanks, Pavilion Master."

Eastern Region.

Tianshui City, Haiyue Inn.

Ye Yuan sat by the window on the second floor, toying with a white jade wine cup.

After the Second Ancestor of the Dragon Clan of the East Sea was killed in one sword strike by Li Chungang, the entire Eastern Region was terrifyingly quiet.

The Old Beggar from Lingxu Pavilion had sent a carriage of Top-Grade Spirit Stones and several Saint herbs overnight, under the guise of "congratulating the Ye Family's Divine Son on coming out of seclusion." Yanyu Pavilion also sent generous gifts, but only Changsheng Pavilion remained extremely quiet.

Chu Kuangren stood to the side, his back straight. Penglai Sword Sect was now the Ye Family's number one lackey in the Eastern Region, and as the Sect Master, even the Old Ancestors of other Sects had to take a detour when they saw him walking on the street.

"Young Lord, the Dragon Clan has sealed the sea." Chu Kuangren reported. "The entrance to the Return to Ruins is sealed tight by a great formation, not even letting a shrimp out."

"Let them seal it. Now, the big thing is coming."

Central Plains, Heavenly Saint City.

Gu Sheng stood on the terrace on the top floor of the Star-Plucking Tower.

The wind stopped.

It wasn't ordinary stillness. It was the airflow of the entire world, at this second, completely still.

The faint dark golden halo on the horizon suddenly exploded.

There was no sound.

But all Cultivators, whether they were Outer Sect Disciples at the Qi Refinement Stage or Old Ancestors at the Creation Realm in closed-door cultivation, heard a crisp cracking sound at the same time.

It was like a lock being forcibly smashed.

The invisible barrier that had pressed down on the heads of all living beings for tens of thousands of years had completely disappeared.

The originally thin Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi became dense at a speed visible to the naked eye. Tiny droplets of Spiritual Qi even condensed in the air.

Golden rain began to fall from the sky.

Raindrops fell on withered wood, and the wood revived, sprouting new buds. Raindrops fell on Cultivators, and the Bottlenecks that had been stagnant for many years loosened instantly.

"The Heavenly Dao suppression... is gone." Su Jiuer stood behind Gu Sheng, reaching out to catch a drop of golden rain.

Gu Sheng looked up at the sky.

[Ding! The Heavenly Dao Law has finished restructuring.]

[The Golden Great Era has officially begun.]

The System's cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

Deep in the Central Plains.

Hundred Thousand Mountains in the Southern Frontier.

Blood Demon Abyss in the Western Desolation.

Heaven Burial Island in the Northern Plains.

Terrifying auras that had been sleeping for thousands of years erupted one after another, like waking volcanoes.

Saints.

Saint Kings.

There were even a few extremely obscure, yet terrifying Quasi-Emperor pressures that caused the world to tremble, colliding in the Void Realm.

These old monsters who had sealed themselves to avoid the Heavenly Dao suppression finally tore open their coffins.

The struggle of the Great Era.

The path to the Emperor reopens.

Heavenly Saint City had a golden rain.

The rainwater hit the bluestone slabs, creating pits, and Spiritual Qi overflowed from them. The withered trees by the roadside sprouted, and the stray dog passing by howled at the sky, growing scales on its body.

The threshold of the Golden Great Era had been completely broken through.

Top floor of the Star-Plucking Tower.

Gu Sheng sat in the armchair, holding a card glowing with purple-gold light between his fingers.

Chen Changsheng. Early Stage Quasi-Emperor.

With force from his two fingers, the card dissipated into specks of purple light.

Ripples appeared in the Void Realm, and a poor-looking scholar wearing a washed-out green robe walked out. A broken wine gourd hung from his waist, he held a bamboo scroll in his hand, and there was even a hole in the straw sandals on his feet.

Chen Changsheng yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Greetings, Pavilion Master." His voice was lazy, with a nasal tone of not having woken up yet.

Gu Sheng pointed to the wine pot on the table.

Chen Changsheng's eyes lit up. He stepped forward, pulled out the stopper, and without using a cup, poured a large gulp directly into his mouth.

"Good wine. Tribute from the Great Xia Imperial Palace, well-aged." Chen Changsheng wiped his mouth.

Gu Sheng sized him up. With the cultivation of an Early Stage Quasi-Emperor, he didn't leak even a hint of pressure. What was interesting was that this old monster at the Early Stage Quasi-Emperor level could walk on the street, and even the stray dogs on the side of the road wouldn't take a second look at him.

"Can you fight?" Gu Sheng asked.

Chen Changsheng hung the wine gourd back on his waist.

"A scholar is not good at using force. A gentleman uses his mouth, not his hands."

"Will Manifests as Law?"

Chen Changsheng nodded.

"Fine." Gu Sheng pushed the intelligence reports on the table over. "The Great Era has begun, and the Central Plains is very chaotic. Go out for a walk and set some rules for the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion."

Chen Changsheng picked up the reports, scanned them, and turned to go downstairs.