Venerable Supreme of Myriad Dragons

WHOOSH!

The biting sandstorm raged, howling past Gu Tianyao's ears. He pressed onward, about to reach the storm's center.

Suddenly, Gu Tianyao saw them—layer upon layer of Desert Poison Scorpions, so dense they swarmed the entire desert floor below. They had a young man surrounded and were scrambling over each other to attack him.

Gu Tianyao immediately urged the Flying Boat to accelerate. His eyes turned sharp, and the broadsword in his hand flared with a dazzling light, exuding a terrifying aura.

'Anyone who insults or bullies my sister must not be forgiven!'

But just then…

SWISH!

A surging wave of energy suddenly blasted toward him from the front, followed by a magnificent crescent of sword light that seemed to slice the entire sky in two.

Gu Tianyao jumped in fright. Before he could even react, the crescent of sword light grazed perilously over the top of his Flying Boat.

It skimmed right over his head.

Before Gu Tianyao could process what had happened, a lock of his hair drifted slowly down.

The next moment, when Gu Tianyao looked forward again…

RUUUMBLE!

A massive explosion sounded.

All the Desert Poison Scorpions on the desert floor collapsed at the same instant, without any warning.

Then came the sound.

CRACK!

A crisp snap.

The bodies of all the Desert Poison Scorpions suddenly split, their upper and lower halves sliding apart. They fell in two pieces, circle after circle, around the young man in their midst. It was a neat, orderly display, as if they were prostrating themselves before a supreme monarch.

Even the sandstorm in the sky seemed to freeze, as if it too had been split in half. The storm abruptly ceased, and the endless yellow sand came crashing straight down.

"!!!"

Gu Tianyao.

"???"

Gu Tianyao.

"!!!"

Gu Tianyao.

Before Gu Tianyao could react, Shen Daoxing's figure flashed and disappeared, reappearing right in front of him the next moment.

Shen Daoxing's eyes were cold. He glanced at Gu Tianyao, then at the broadsword in his hand, and spoke with indifference. "What? You want to fight?"

Gu Tianyao froze for a second, then a wide grin immediately spread across his face. "Ah, Junior Brother Shen, what are you talking about? You're my dear junior brother from the same sect! How could I, your senior brother, possibly lay a hand on you?"

"Hehehe, it was all a misunderstanding! A complete misunderstanding!"

As he spoke, Gu Tianyao let out a loud laugh, quickly and discreetly hiding the broadsword behind his back.

On the surface, Gu Tianyao was all smiles, but inside, he was utterly terrified.

'Are you kidding me?!'

'Who the hell is this monster in front of me?'

'Just one move!'

'A single move!'

'He annihilated an entire swarm of Desert Poison Scorpions—a swarm of several hundred of them!'

He took them all out in one strike, and Gu Tianyao hadn't even seen clearly how Shen Daoxing had done it.

Not only that, but he had also split the entire sandstorm in two with a single slash of his sword, bringing it to a dead stop. That was just insane.

'Wouldn't I just be asking for death if I went up against him? I probably couldn't even take one hit from him. No, I *definitely* couldn't.'

In that instant, Gu Tianyao completely abandoned any thought of fighting.

Just then, Shen Daoxing's indifferent voice rang out again. "Didn't you just say that I insulted your sister?"

As he spoke, Shen Daoxing's expression darkened, and he stared coldly at Gu Tianyao.

Gu Tianyao flinched, a shiver running down his spine. How could he dare to offend Shen Daoxing now? He quickly forced a laugh. "Junior Brother Shen, you have a great sense of humor. How could stealing a few undergarments be considered an insult? If you need more, I can go to my sis's place and steal a few more for you next time. No problem at all."

"…"

Shen Daoxing.

Seeing how shameless Gu Tianyao was, Shen Daoxing no longer had a reason to attack. He said coolly, "Let's go."

"Yes, Junior Brother Shen."

Gu Tianyao immediately complied. He went to the prow of the Flying Boat, muttered an incantation, and raised a finger, slowly turning the vessel around.

"Hui!"

Shen Daoxing called out, looking down from the Flying Boat.

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!

The Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat responded. Opening its huge, bloody maw, it inhaled sharply, sucking one Desert Poison Scorpion after another into its mouth. It then abruptly shrank back to the size of a small gray mouse and looked at the scorpion-covered ground, seemingly regretful it couldn't eat more.

With a few more squeaks, the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat turned into a gray blur and flew back into Shen Daoxing's arms.

Its belly was now round and taut. It settled into Shen Daoxing's embrace and immediately fell asleep.

「…」

The Demonic Creature was Gu Tianyao's Contracted Demon Beast. They shared a telepathic link, so Gu Tianyao could sense its location.

Shen Daoxing and Gu Tianyao quickly caught up with Gu Muyun and the others.

As the huge Flying Boat slowly descended from the sky, Gu Tianyao saw that Shen Daoxing was about to disembark. He rushed forward and wiped the edge of the boat with his sleeve, as if afraid it would dirty Shen Daoxing's clothes. After dusting it off, he gestured for Shen Daoxing to step down. "After you, Junior Brother Shen."

Throughout the entire process, Gu Tianyao was reverent and cautious, like a completely different person from the little tyrant of Yingzhou he'd been before. He was utterly deferential to Shen Daoxing, with no trace of his former arrogance.

This left everyone else staring, dumbfounded.

Wan Hai, in particular, couldn't make heads or tails of it. Just a short while ago, Gu Tianyao had loathed Shen Daoxing more than anyone and had even been eager to kill him.

Yet, in just a few moments, Gu Tianyao had transformed completely, acting like Shen Daoxing's underling, at his beck and call.

'What in the world just happened?'

Suddenly, Gu Tianyao turned to Gu Muyun, looking like he was about to cry. "Sis!"

He cried out, rushing to Gu Muyun's side. Lowering his head, he complained cautiously, "Sis, Shen Daoxing is that powerful! Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"

Gu Muyun glanced up and shot him a look, but only said coolly, "I told you before. If you want to die, go ahead and fight him."

Gu Tianyao froze.

He had thought Gu Muyun was just threatening him. It turned out she meant it literally.

"Alright, this isn't the time for that. We found it," Gu Muyun said calmly.

"Found what?"

Gu Tianyao paused, then looked up. There, in the desert ahead of them, a majestic Stone City had appeared at some point.

The Stone City was massive, so large that they couldn't see its edges. It had clearly been uninhabited for a very long time. The stone throughout the city was heavily weathered, many of its buildings had collapsed, and the air was filled with an ancient, primeval aura.

And right then, in the very center of this Stone City, above a towering Stone Palace, a dark green Jade Token was floating. It rotated slowly, emitting a soft, shimmering glow.

This dark green Jade Token was none other than the Celestial Mirror Order of Pengze Immortal Island.