105: From this day forward, the surname of the people of Zhongzhou is Li.

In the Void Realm, there was a deathly silence.

The only sound was the heavy, ragged breathing of the dozen or so Holy Lords and powerful figures who had once shaken Central Continent, but were now black and blue with bruises.

They lay in the cold Void Realm Turbulence, their eyes unfocused and their fighting spirit completely gone.

They were... completely beaten into submission.

Both physically and mentally.

That absolute crushing pressure, originating from a higher level of life, left them without even a single thought of resistance.

He was too strong.

So strong it defied all logic.

So strong it made them question their very lives.

"Who... who else?"

Li Daoxuan stood among them, dusting off his hands as if he were just doing some trivial post-meal exercise.

He scanned the circle of "defeated opponents" on the ground who had completely lost their will to fight, a kind smile appearing on his face.

"No one's speaking?"

"Does that mean you're all submissive?"

Silence.

It was still a deathly silence.

Only Sect Master Yaoguang struggled to crawl up from the ground. Dragging his face that had been beaten into a swollen mess, he bowed deeply to Li Daoxuan.

His posture was humble to the extreme.

"Sen... Senior's Divine Might is peerless. This Junior... is thoroughly convinced."

His voice was trembling, filled with a fear that came from the depths of his Soul.

"We failed to recognize the mountain before us and offended Senior's majestic presence. We deserve ten thousand deaths."

"I beg Senior, for the sake of our difficult cultivation paths, to give us a... chance to turn over a new leaf."

"Oh?"

Li Daoxuan raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued.

"A chance?"

"I suppose I can."

He walked up to Sect Master Yaoguang and said with a beaming smile, "I've always been a kind-hearted person who loves giving others chances."

"However..."

His tone shifted, and the smile on his face became somewhat playful.

"The death penalty can be avoided, but punishment is inescapable."

"You all had such a grand time hitting my Disciples just now, and you even wanted to steal my treasures and grind my bones to ashes."

"This debt has to be settled, doesn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Sect Master Yaoguang and the others felt their hearts tighten, and cold sweat instantly broke out.

They knew.

The main party... was starting to settle the score.

"What Senior says is correct!"

Sect Master Yaoguang nodded like a woodpecker, fearing he might be half a beat too slow.

"We are willing to pay compensation! We are willing to pay any price! We only beg Senior to appease his thunderous wrath!"

"Hmm, a good attitude."

Li Daoxuan nodded in satisfaction.

He liked dealing with "smart people" who knew how to adapt to the situation.

He held up one finger and said leisurely:

"First."

"Mental anguish fees."

"You just scared my young and innocent Disciples, causing indelible trauma to their Souls. So, each of your families will compensate them with one million... Top-Grade Spirit Stones. That's not too much, right?"

One million... Top-Grade Spirit Stones?!

The Holy Lords present nearly had their eyes pop out of their sockets.

Those were Top-Grade Spirit Stones! They weren't common cabbages!

One million Top-Grade Spirit Stones was enough to buy several first-rate Sects!

They wanted to object.

But as soon as they saw Li Daoxuan's "kind" gaze and the young Devil Kings behind him who were rubbing their fists and eager to have a go.

They instantly swallowed the words that were at the tips of their tongues.

"Not... not too much! Not too much at all!"

Sect Master Yaoguang was the first to state his position, squeezing the words through his teeth.

"It's only right! We should compensate!"

"Very good."

Li Daoxuan held up a second finger.

"Second."

"Technical exchange fees."

"The Scripture Pavilions of your respective families will be open to my Hidden God Sect for one month. I'll send a few of my good-for-nothing Disciples over to study and learn from your advanced management experience and corporate culture. This is quite reasonable, isn't it?"

Reasonable?

Reasonable my foot!

Those were the secret Legacies that their Holy Lands had passed down for tens of thousands of years!

Letting his Disciples in to study for a month?

What was the difference between that and exposing their entire family inheritance?!

But... did they dare say no?

"Rea... Reasonable! It's too reasonable!"

The Ji Family Head had a look of grief as he nodded through his tears.

"Welcome! Our Ji Family welcomes our young friends to come and guide our work at any time!"

"Good, seeing as you're all so sincere, the third rule will be simpler."

Li Daoxuan held up a third finger.

"From today on."

"You, and all the Disciples under your gates."

"Must take a detour whenever you see someone from my Hidden God Sect."

"If you really can't avoid them..."

Li Daoxuan paused, the corners of his mouth curling into a demonic arc.

"The men must kneel and kowtow."

"The women... don't need to kneel. Just stand and shout 'Junior Martial Uncle is so handsome' three times."

"..."

The entire area fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

They stared blankly at Li Daoxuan, feeling their worldview being shattered once again.

They had seen overbearing people.

But they had never seen anyone this overbearing.

They had seen unreasonable people.

But they had never seen anyone this unreasonable.

What kind of unequal treaty was this?

This was clearly pressing their faces into the ground and rubbing them back and forth frantically with the soles of his shoes!

...Half an hour later.

The dozen or so once-mighty Holy Lords of Central Continent, each battered and dejected, pressed their humiliating handprints onto a "Letter of Surrender" formed from spiritual energy.

Then, they handed over their respective Sect-protecting Imperial Weapons (as collateral) and all the Storage Rings on their persons.

Finally, under the watchful "kind" gaze of Li Daoxuan, they slunk away, tearing through the void to flee.

Their wretched appearance made them look like a group of tenant farmers who had been stripped of all their belongings by a landlord.

"Revered Master is mighty!"

"Revered Master is awesome!"

Looking at the mountain of Storage Rings and the dozen or so dim Imperial Weapons, Shi Tian and the others howled with excitement.

This haul... was dripping with wealth!

And this news, as if it had grown wings, spread through the entire Central Continent at an unprecedented speed.

One man, one staff.

Arrogantly dominating the ages, he had suppressed all the top forces in the entire Central Continent!

This news was a hundred times more explosive than the Hidden God Sect Disciples sweeping the heavenly prodigy ranking!

The whole world was shocked!

Everyone realized.

The sky of Central Continent... had changed.

From today on, those Holy Lands, those Great Families, those Imperial Dynasties.

They were all things of the past.

In the entire Central Continent, there was only one voice, one will.

And that was—

Hidden God Sect!

Li Daoxuan!

"Sigh, being invincible is so lonely."

Li Daoxuan stood in the shattered void, looking down at the land that had completely submitted at his feet, and sighed softly.

He'd finished acting cool, and he'd finished plundering the money.

What should he do next?

Go back to the Eastern Desolation to continue farming?

"No, too much trouble."

Li Daoxuan shook his head.

The Spiritual Qi in the Eastern Desolation was too thin; even traveling back and forth felt like a waste of time.

"It seems I'll have to set up a branch in Central Continent as well."

He pulled a map of Central Continent out of the System space, which he'd stripped off some unlucky fellow.

His finger slowly traced across the map.

Finally.

It stopped at the very center of Central Continent, where the Spiritual Qi was densest, and where a giant 'X' was drawn.

That was... the former site of the Taichu Holy Land.

Now, it was a bottomless giant crater.

"Hmm."

Li Daoxuan nodded in satisfaction, a "kind" smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"I think... right here."

"Beautiful scenery and spacious, just right for a peace-loving hidden Sect like ours."