The girl in the green dress appeared before Lu Xuan, looking exactly as she had the first time they met.
Her cheeks were exquisitely sculpted, like jade carved from snow. Her white, slender arms were folded across her chest as she manifested a stone stool out of thin air and sat down beside Lu Xuan. Her delicate legs were crystal-clear and flawless; her whole being seemed ethereal, like she belonged to another realm.
Lu Xuan glanced at the girl in the green dress, then closed his eyes again to rest.
The girl bit her lip, looked at Lu Xuan as if wanting to say something, then held back. Turning her gaze toward the Dao Xuan Iron Pot, she asked softly,
“What are we eating today?”
Chen Changsheng replied, “Boiled giant mutton, stir-fried spirit cicadas, and spirit pepper rabbit…”
The girl made an “Oh” sound, then turned her bright eyes toward Lu Xuan again. “Hey, why aren’t you saying anything?”
Lu Xuan asked casually, “Aren’t you the Heavenly Dao? You don’t need food, do you?”
The girl’s long hair cascaded like a waterfall, shimmering with divine radiance. Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, yet carried a touch of playfulness. She puffed her cheeks slightly and said, “You eat every day too, don’t you?”
Lu Xuan had no reply.
Wrinkling her delicate nose, the girl began talking about her recent experiences in the Emperor Realm.
She had been searching everywhere for heavenly treasures that contained the power of the Star Core.
She found quite a few—but compared to the true Star Core, they were worth next to nothing.
Lu Xuan could tell what she was hinting at.
This girl in green was trying her best to make him hand over the Lower Star Core voluntarily.
But Lu Xuan remained unmoved.
Chen Changsheng thought to himself, In this whole world, only my master could stay so calm before the Heavenly Dao itself.
Seeing Lu Xuan still lying there lazily, the girl ground her tiny, shining teeth, her dimples appearing as she pouted. She looked as if she wanted to bite him again.
Lu Xuan suddenly asked, “Is this the final Supreme Path?”
The girl nodded. “This world has already exhausted its strength. If you give me the Lower Star Core now, I can tell you how to obtain the ultimate inheritance of the Bronze Ancient Hall!”
Lu Xuan shook his head. “No need.”
The girl huffed angrily, clenched her tender fists, and lightly hammered him on the thigh.
Just then, Chen Changsheng brought over steaming dishes.
Lu Xuan slowly sat up, and the three of them began to eat together.
As she ate, the girl in the green dress kept staring at Lu Xuan with her large, glimmering eyes.
Lu Xuan smiled. “Xiao Qing, when the time is right, I don’t mind giving you the Lower Star Core.”
The girl’s face lit up with joy, dimples deepening. “Really?”
A moment later, she asked, “Xiao Qing? Is that the name you’ve given me? I’m not little at all—I’ve been asleep for countless millennia!”
Lu Xuan said seriously, “Actually, the Star Core you saw last time—I have plenty of those. And that was just the lowest-grade Lower Star Core. I’ve got piles of Upper Star Cores too.”
Her soft lips opened into an “O” of surprise.
Her snow-white hands began to wander over Lu Xuan’s body, searching here and there—
But after a long time, she found nothing.
“Are you… a special kind of space?” she asked suspiciously.
“Yes,” Lu Xuan replied.
The girl snorted, glancing sideways at him, and went back to eating. “Hmph. I’m ignoring you.”
Lu Xuan said with a smile, “I’ll give it to you eventually. For now, think of a way to help my disciples cultivate faster.”
The girl wrinkled her nose again. “They’re already progressing quickly.”
“Faster,” Lu Xuan said.
She thought for a moment. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do once I leave. But once the Supreme Path opens, I may have to fall asleep again.”
After a while, the girl put down her chopsticks and pouted. “Don’t you dare trick me. If you don’t give me the Star Core when the time comes, the consequences will be very serious!”
Lu Xuan chuckled. “I will, I will.”
As he spoke, he reached out and gently patted her head. The sensation was subtle and strange.
The girl gave a light hum, then stepped into the air. “I’m heading to the region above the Emperor Realm.”
With that, her voice faded.
She vanished into the heavens in an instant.
Chen Changsheng stared in disbelief. “Master, they say a tiger’s tail must never be touched—but that’s the Heavenly Dao! You actually patted her head!”
Lu Xuan smiled faintly. “To tread on a tiger’s tail, yet be unharmed—this manifestation of the Heavenly Dao is rather interesting. Even if she grows angry, I have no fear.”
After all, he possessed the Supreme Experience Card.
In the Taichu world, the limit of Heavenly Dao’s power was only that of a One-Star Supreme.
So he had nothing to fear.
Chen Changsheng fell silent.
Lu Xuan asked, “You’ve interacted with the Heavenly Dao before, haven’t you? Was she always like this?”
Chen Changsheng shook his head slowly, eyes glimmering as he recalled the past. “No. The Heavenly Dao has no fixed form. Across endless ages, it has observed every aspect of life and emotion. It understands all desires and can take on infinite appearances.
That girl in the green dress just now was likely one of countless avatars—one that felt closest to us, so she appeared that way.”
Lu Xuan nodded. “We should be heading for the region above the Emperor Realm as well. Once we’re there, you’ll see the surprise I’ve prepared for you. But before we go, I need to clear the path for Fuyao, Ye Chen, and the rest of the Dao Sect.”
Chen Changsheng nodded slightly in agreement.
In the Emperor Realm, at the boundary wall.
The place resembled a heavenly trench. Brilliant Dao patterns flowed constantly, separating two worlds. Crossing this wall meant stepping into the realm beyond the Emperor Realm.
On the barrier, powers that surpassed the Emperor Realm surged, evolving into countless strange visions that changed form ceaselessly—mystical and awe-inspiring.
“Boom!”
“Crack!”
The void split apart.
The Xuanji Holy Lord, her figure graceful and peerless, descended from the clouds. A few strands of her white hair floated upward, her jade feet stepping lightly as she emerged from the mist, gazing at the great barrier ahead.
Fragments of ancient memory stirred in her mind. In the primordial era, she too had entered the region beyond the Emperor Realm. But after leaving the Bronze Ancient Hall, her memories had been wiped clean. Now, seeing this vast celestial curtain, faint and fragmented images resurfaced.
The opportunities in the region above the Emperor Realm were unimaginably difficult to obtain—far harder than in the Emperor Realm itself, like trying to ascend to the heavens.
Her beautiful eyes swept across the surroundings. She saw several Nine-Star Great Emperors standing not far from the barrier, hesitating.
When they noticed the Xuanji Holy Lord, they bowed respectfully. The ominous and strange power that once surrounded her had grown faint and weak.
“Senior Xuanji Holy Lord!”
“Holy Lord, you’ve suppressed the powers of misfortune and corruption!”
The Xuanji Holy Lord said nothing, her gaze fixed upon the barrier.
One of the Nine-Star Great Emperors asked, “Holy Lord, if we Nine-Star Emperors step into the next region, will we find opportunity there?”
Her crimson lips parted slightly. At last, she spoke a single word.
“Difficult.”
The gathered emperors exchanged glances.
A moment later, the Xuanji Holy Lord’s jade feet pressed lightly upon the void—she stepped forward and entered the realm beyond.
A deep rumble shook the heavens.
Profound forces of Dao and resonance flowed over her figure, and in the next instant, her beautiful form vanished before their eyes.
Soon after, several Nine-Star Great Emperors gritted their teeth and approached the barrier. “Without stepping into the Half-Supreme Realm, we’ll never reach the Supreme Path! Let’s go for it!”
Others, however, hesitated, retreating instead. “The path to supremacy leaves endless corpses behind. Between supremacy and life, I’ll choose to live.”
Before long, news spread that the Xuanji Holy Lord had stepped into the region above the Emperor Realm.
The world was shaken.
Having already suppressed the power of misfortune and corruption, if she could obtain an opportunity there, her return to the peak was only a matter of time.
Within a vast stone forest—the gathering place of the Demon Court’s strongest.
Here, the laws of heaven and earth twisted endlessly, and the eternal starlight above cast its glow upon the boundless expanse of stone pillars below.
The pig-headed Great Emperor Zhu Lie looked coldly at Su Luo and the other returning emperors from the Ancient Great Medicine Domain. His gaze was icy as he asked,
“What’s the situation?”