Chapter 773- Handling the Things in His way
~~ The Inheritance Mountain — Discovery
The word spread like wildfire through the camps.
"Found it! The Reincarnation Pool! The scouts found it!"
The shout, from a breathless Nascent Soul cultivator, tore through the eastern camp of the Long Dynasty forces. The soldiers, the guards, the Divine Integration captains who had been maintaining perimeter defense around the inheritance mountain, turned. The news, the confirmation that the legendary pool had been located, rippled outward like a stone dropped in still water.
Within minutes, the communication formations lit up. Golden inscriptions, the spiritual arrays embedded in jade tablets and communication pendants, flashed. The message, encoded in spiritual qi, traveled. From the mountain camp to the ships. From the ships to the Purple Astral Palace. From the palace to the jade pendant on Emperor Zihao’s desk.
Zihao, the Human Emperor, the peak Divine Integration ruler of the Purple Astral Province, held the jade pendant. His warm face, the genial host’s expression, was gone. The sweat, the beads on his temples, was there. His hand, the trembling hand, gripped the pendant.
"Call for him," Zihao said. His voice was strained. The words, the instruction to summon the Emperor of the Long Dynasty, were the words of a vassal recognizing his sovereign’s claim. "At least let them know before they break it."
The aide, the attendant, bowed. The communication array, the golden formation on the jade pendant, was activated. The message, the summons, was sent.
~~ The Portal
The moment the message was received, the air above the inheritance mountain split.
The golden rift, the spatial portal, the signature manifestation of Divine Transcendent power, tore through the sky. The sound, the tearing, the ripping, the fabric of space being parted like silk, was loud. The qi, the divine pressure, the transcendent energy radiating from the rift, hit everyone. The soldiers, the cultivators, the captains — every person on the mountain felt it. The knees buckled. The heads bowed. The bodies trembled.
Out of the portal, walking with his hands behind his back, stepped Tianlong.
He was dressed. Completely. Impeccably. The dark silk and crimson robe, the imperial attire, was perfect. Not a wrinkle. Not a stain. Not a single hair out of place. His dark hair, loose and flowing, framed his golden face. His gold-crimson eyes, calm and imperial, swept the crowd. His expression, the composed, slightly bored expression of a man who had not just spent the last several hours fucking a mother and daughter into Soul Formation breakthroughs, was absolute.
He looked like an emperor. He walked like an emperor. He carried himself like a being whose power was so absolute that the world itself bent to accommodate his comfort.
The crowd, the thousands of soldiers and cultivators who had been fighting beasts and braving formations for days, parted. The sea of bodies, the dark armor and colored robes, opened. The path, the clear, wide, respectful path, was made.
The background chatter, the whispered praise, the bootlicking, began immediately.
"The Emperor has arrived! The Immortal Emperor himself!"
"Look at him! He walks as if the mountain should be grateful he stepped on it!"
"Truly, the Son of the Long Dynasty! The aura! The presence! I could not even breathe when the portal opened!"
"To think such a being has come to our humble province! We are blessed! Blessed!"
The voices, the murmured, awed, sycophantic voices of cultivators who recognized which side their bread was buttered on, filled the air. Tianlong, his gold-crimson eyes sweeping the crowd, did not acknowledge them. The praise, the adulation, the bootlicking — all of it was beneath his notice. Like ants praising a boot.
He stopped. At the edge of the cave entrance, the dark, yawning mouth of the inheritance mountain, he stood. His gold-crimson eyes, on the formation barrier that protected the entrance, assessed.
"Has anyone gone inside?" he asked. His voice was calm. Conversational. The tone of a man asking if anyone had touched his luggage.
The commanders, the Divine Integration captains who had been maintaining the perimeter, shook their heads.
"No, Your Majesty," one captain said. His masked face, the rigid posture, was there. "We are waiting for you."
Tianlong nodded. The acknowledgment, the minimal imperial gesture, was there. His gold-crimson eyes swept the crowd. Found what he was looking for.
"You," he said. His finger, extended, pointed. "And you. And you. And you."
Four women, among the crowd, were indicated.
Madam Fengwan. The sharp-eyed woman, the schemer, the one whose ass he had fucked in a cave hole during the journey. Her dark red and gold robes, her calculated expression, was there. Her eyes, meeting his, held the eagerness. The ambition.
Bai. The young woman, the student from the Azure Cloud Academy. The childhood friend of Lau. The one who had tried to save the headmistress and had gotten fucked for her trouble. Her plain robes, her slender frame, her dark eyes — wet, nervous, still carrying the phantom sensation of his cock inside her — were there. Her hands were folded. Clasped in front of her. The posture of a woman who was walking toward something she did not want but could not refuse.
The twins. Jin Yuhan, the princess, and the junior sister, the prodigy. Their identical faces, their identical Body Integration cultivation, their identical robes. Their dark eyes, on him, held the subservience. The broken, remade, devoted subservience of women who had been fucked into enlightenment.
"Follow," he said.
The four women, the moment the word was spoken, moved. Their eyes widened, then blurred, then focused. The command, the divine qi in his voice, the resonance that bypassed conscious thought and directly stimulated their spiritual cores, hit. They walked. Through the crowd, past the soldiers, toward the cave entrance.
Bai, her hands folded, her steps measured, walked beside Fengwan. The older woman, her sharp eyes on the cave entrance, her expression calculating, was already planning. The twins, behind, their identical movements, their identical submission, followed.
They entered the cave.
~~ The Inheritance Cave
The cave was massive.
The entrance, the dark, yawning mouth, opened into a cathedral-like space. The walls, the natural stone, were covered in formation diagrams. Ancient, jade-green inscriptions, the remnants of the Jade Sect’s legacy, glowed on every surface. The air, the spiritual energy, was dense. The qi, the pure, concentrated, ancient spiritual energy, was almost liquid.
Tianlong walked. His dark silk robe, his imperial stride, his gold-crimson eyes scanning the space, was there. His four women, behind him, followed. Their footsteps, on the stone floor, echoed.
A sound. A hiss. The deep, guttural, primal hiss of a beast. From the darkness, from the deeper part of the cave, something moved.
The snake.
It was enormous. A spiritual serpent, the guardian beast of the inheritance site, was coiled in the main chamber. Its body, thick as a tree trunk, scaled in deep emerald and gold, was massive. Its head, the size of a carriage, was hooded. Its eyes, the golden, slitted pupils, were on the intruders. Its fangs, the curved, venom-dripping teeth, were the size of swords. Its qi, the Nascent Soul peak cultivation, radiated.
The four women knelt. Instantly. The instinct, the trained, conditioned response to a threat in their master’s presence, was there.
"Let us handle it," Fengwan said. Her sharp voice was steady. The ambition, the need to prove useful, to prove worthy, was there.
The twins moved. Jin Yuhan and the junior sister, their identical bodies, their identical Body Integration qi, surged. Their swords, the spiritual blades, were drawn. The qi, the golden energy, blazed.