Chapter 440: A Single Idle Move, Guiding the Progress of Civilization

The immortals entered the Xuanxiang Realm through the Taixuan Immortal Network.

Aside from Xu Xing and Bie Xuening traveling together, and Master Mei Zu coming to them, Hong Zun tended to his children.

After all, the real moment to act would come only after the second round ended.

During this free time, each naturally went about their own affairs.

For Ning Ruo, this was the perfect chance to gather data and see if any fine adjustments remained possible.

Xiang Yuanjun, who governed cause and effect, saw and heard directly to the source, so Ning Ruo recruited her as a "laborer."

As for Dan Zu… this world was deeply influenced by "Xuan," so he planned to observe internally, preparing to later purge "impurities."

Ba Zun and Qi Zun also paid attention to their own disciples, each with their own tasks to attend to…

Although these matters were unnecessary for true immortals to observe closely, as the saying goes:

Since you've come…

Fundamentally, the immortals' entry into the realm brought little change to the Xuanxiang Realm.

The Xianzong Sect leaders monitoring from outside had hoped to locate their ancestral masters, to see…

Cough!

One should say, to observe and learn from the ancestral masters' conduct.

Yet even though the main and branching timelines of the entire Xuanxiang Realm were crystal clear to them, not a trace of the ancestral masters could be found.

In the end, they could only sigh inwardly: "The ancestral masters' abilities are beyond comprehension—truly enviable."

They then turned their gaze once more to the participants of the Xian Sect Grand Competition.

In the blink of an eye, a night had passed within the Xuanxiang Realm.

Outside Miaocheng, under the jurisdiction of Tianling Sect.

Dawn light spilled into the deep mountains and dense forest, filtering through gaps in the leaves to fall upon a cave bearing clear signs of axe and chisel work.

Birds chirped, frogs croaked.

Huh~

From within the cave came a sound of exhalation—initially faint, as if a slender breath escaped.

But instantly it roared, a white streak like a river of light shooting forth.

Boom!

As if a gale had swept through, the trees outside the cave trembled violently!

Spiritual energy rippled across dozens of li; white radiance gradually emerged, and all living things within felt as if needles pricked their backs, their hearts inexplicably uneasy.

Tigers crouched low, whimpering softly; eagles fell from the sky, wings stiffening.

Even ants in the mud and stone crevices scurried wildly, as if a storm loomed and disaster was imminent.

Just as these strange phenomena were about to intensify further:

Hum~!

Instantly, spiritual energy patterns spread across the void, harmonizing the agitated spiritual energy and quelling the gale triggered by the white streak.

It was the array, stimulated, activating spontaneously.

In less than half a breath, the winding, interwoven spiritual energy patterns dimmed.

Inside the cave, Chi Jiuyu slowly opened her eyes; golden flames burned fiercely within them, brimming with boundless creative power.

She gazed calmly outward—and instantly saw distant clouds surging, dawn light faintly breaking.

A beauty of heaven and earth beyond words.

After one night of cultivation, she gained slight insight into the "Slaying Annihilation Sword Scripture."

Her spirit relaxed, and a breath slipped out—nearly triggering a major disturbance…

It was only because her foundation was so profound; a Spirit Transformation cultivator from this world could never achieve such a feat.

Or rather, even in the Taixuan Realm, very few Spirit Transformation cultivators could reach this level.

"No choice—after all, I'm the number one prodigy of all countless worlds!"

She indulged in self-satisfaction for two seconds, then stood and reached for the six-faceted crystal array core before her.

With a gentle twist of its base, the spiritual energy patterns surrounding her, like swallows returning home, were all drawn back into the array core.

"This intensity can only be used two more times…"

After two uses, even if it still functions, its effect will be greatly diminished.

Chi Jiuyu stored it away and stepped out of the cave.

After all, it's low-grade stuff—being able to use it this far is already enough.

She still had two new ones left; these should suffice for the competition.

"Time to go."

Though she'd made some progress, she remained at the early Spirit Transformation Stage—mid-Spirit Transformation was still impossibly distant.

Two hundred years…

She would surely achieve Return to Void!

Although the spiritual anomaly had been promptly calmed, the disturbance could not escape the notice of a Return to Void cultivator.

Even if the Return to Void cultivators in this world were all weaklings who relied on external forces!

…

…

Above the clouds.

A figure clad in purple-gold ritual robes, long hair flowing over her shoulders, her face exquisitely perfect with not a single flaw, held in her palm a sphere formed by countless rotating purple-gold runes.

Around her, golden characters circled like tiny emblems.

The purple vertical mark on his brow grew even more eerie, his eyes, shimmering with seven-colored luster, gazed calmly down at the earth below.

The Supreme Elder of Tianling Sect—Xuan Feng!

"Go."

With a faint utterance, the purple-gold talisman sphere in his hand blazed with radiant light.

The floating talisman runes within shot forth, drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, transforming into countless purple-gold chains.

Clatter-clatter~!

The golden chains sealed all directions of space, enveloping a radius of dozens of li, completely covering the entire area where the anomaly had occurred.

A sliver of sword light burst from the Shenshan dense forest, pausing briefly in midair.

Hundreds of li away, Xuan Feng finally saw the one riding the sword light.

Bone and blood refined into purity, harboring creation; Primordial Spirit clear and purified into pure yang; sword intent vast and unadulterated; foundation towering and weighty…

A prodigy unseen since antiquity!

A terrifying talent worthy of envy.

"Indeed… this is an exceptionally rare material."

In the Xie Cheng Wei realm, the Dao was born from Tianling, originating from Ancestor Xuan Qi.

The Tian Gui oversees heaven and earth, tending to all living beings.

Tianling Sect is the heaven of the Xie Cheng Wei realm!

It is the rule all beings of the Xie Cheng Wei realm must obey!

No matter how high one's talent, it is but firewood for Tianling Sect to tend its myriad lives.

Perfect—after capturing him, I'll extract his spine bone and forge it into a flying sword.

Allocating thirty percent of this year's quota should be sufficient to offset the cost.

"Retract."

The purple-gold chains, which sealed all directions of space and banned all arts, drew inward, preparing to imprison and capture him.

At that moment, Chi Jiu Yu moved.

She pulled out an object—a pale blue crystal, apple-sized and oval—the High-Frequency Spiritual Energy Oscillator.

It is typically used to dismantle aged, poorly maintained large ritual devices; its effect resembles Xi Jie Cheng Wei, though its principle is entirely different.

"Idiot, didn't your my lord ever teach you to install anti-spiritual-oscillation armor on the connection points of ritual devices?"

Hm?

Before Xuan Feng could react, he saw the crystal in Chi Jiu Yu's hand emit a strange light—the spiritual energy in the air suddenly underwent an odd vibration!

The once infallible "Fuben Suo" lost control at this moment, twisting chaotically.

Snap!

Snap!

Two of the chains snapped outright, dissolving into scattered purple-gold runes.

How could this be?

Xuan Feng was stunned.

Could mere specific-frequency spiritual oscillations really snap the "Fuben Suo"?

This reality exceeded his understanding—even with his Soul Transformation vision, he could not fathom it.

"Nyah-nyah-nyah! I'm done playing with you!"

The sword qi surged like a rainbow, snatching up several purple-gold runes; the azure sword light vanished instantly into the distance.

Simultaneously, a deep, muffled sound—as if rising from the world's depths—came as the shadow of a scale extended one end toward him.

A seamless combo—still bewildered by the snapped "Fuben Suo," Xuan Feng immediately felt his realm and cultivation draining like a burst dam.

He snapped back to awareness, not panicking like Bu Gui, but gazing deeply at the sword light fleeing into the distance.

After all, he was merely a Soul Transformation; once recovered, he could capture him in an instant—no need to rush.

But what truly concerned him was this "Suiyue Tianping."

"Indeed, it is a heretical art."

Among cultivators, which cultivation has not been painstakingly earned? This heretical art dares to steal others' cultivation…

Heretic!

But it can only work on paupers like Bu Gui—Tianling Sect tends all living beings; its foundation is not something a pauper like Bu Gui could match.

This is the confidence of the orthodox sect's leader!

As his thoughts turned, he waved his hand and assimilated a gilded character beside him; the vast cultivation within surged into his body, replenishing what he had lost…

Hm?!

How could this be!

Xuan Feng's expression changed drastically.

Why wasn't he recovering?!

…

…

He changed direction several times, fleeing thousands of li before finally halting above a waterfall.

He glanced back and saw the idiot had not followed—only then did he exhale in relief.

He looked again at the purple-gold runes he'd picked up.

Each was the size of a thumb, translucent and radiant, neither gold nor jade, with auspicious mists flowing within.

"If I put these up online, they'd fetch a good price."

Though its identity was unclear, the material's rank was decent—Shenji Lianbao Pavilion's blacksmiths would likely be interested.

emm……

But we can take it first to the Sect's Dan Ding Pavilion and ask.

In fact, she had long realized that cultivators in this world seemed terrified of regressing in cultivation, which was why she could act with impunity.

Added to that, the world's overall technology was extremely backward, and she still had a few cards up her sleeve…

From start to finish, she had a seventy percent chance of escaping!

Today was another "cautious" fishing trip!

As she thought this, she descended downward.

The sound of rushing water grew louder—a cascading waterfall twisted into torrents, refracting beams of seven-colored rainbow light.

Chi Jiuyu finally landed beside the emerald-green pool, standing firmly on a slick, wet boulder; mist surged toward her, yet not a single drop touched her body.

She picked up a small stone shard, clenched her hand, and hurled it toward the pool.

Like a dragonfly skimming water, the stone spun across the emerald pool, skipping nearly a hundred times—exactly circling the entire pond.

"…"

Above, a woman with heterochromatic eyes, clad in a long green wide-sleeved robe, her two falling bangs interwoven with crimson and azure, and wearing a white mask, watched her actions silently, making no move to attack.

Huh?!

Chi Jiuyu quickly sensed something was off and whirled around—her gaze met the woman's.

The two stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"You're… the tea seller?" Her memory was always sharp.

Especially someone like this, wearing a mask to show off!

Ye Zhiwei's expression stiffened, though the mask concealed it.

After a pause, she stated her purpose: "Chi Jiuyu, I want to cooperate with you."

"Huh?" Chi Jiuyu blinked, but didn't ask what kind of cooperation, "Aren't you supposed to go team up with Dog Brother?"

Ye Zhiwei: "…"

This person's brain must be broken!

"I'm not her."

"Huh?"

This statement left Chi Jiuyu momentarily baffled—you're not her…

But the way you phrased it, you seem to know about this.

…………

In the mortal realm, the Cangxuan Dynasty.

Xu Xing, Bie Xuening, and Master Mei Zu stood near a factory.

Tall, side-by-side steel furnaces belched thick black smoke; steam engines groaned; molten iron flowed into molds, cooling into rough ingots.

This was a scene never seen even during the Great Transformation of the Taixuan Realm.

After all, in the Taixuan Realm, the supernatural was manifest everywhere—Qi was abundant, Jin Dan were as common as dogs, Nascent Souls walked the streets, a single spiritual flame could rival the Sun's true flame, melting metal and forging iron was trivial.

"Though no spiritual energy manifests, it still progresses in its own way…" Bie Xuening murmured.

If this continued, a thousand or a hundred thousand years from now, it might give rise to a brilliant and magnificent civilization.

"But with Xuan's influence at play, further development is destined to veer toward a direction we do not wish to see," Master Mei Zu added.

This Xuan Realm itself was profoundly affected by "Xuan."

Even without involving the cultivation system, even if focused solely on technology, it would eventually drift toward the direction Xuan had envisioned.

Perhaps gene editing. Perhaps human modification.

When the world's technology reached a certain level, when they began using various techniques to strengthen themselves, they would unknowingly evolve toward the direction of the Cang Clan.

From the perspective of the cultivation system, this is called "the tide has already turned."

And under all these influences,

the Cangxuan Dynasty—a name carrying special significance—has, at every critical turning point in civilization, produced many who willingly sacrificed themselves for its advancement.

The current Emperor of the Cangxuan Dynasty is one such person.

To him, the importance of civilizational progress far outweighs the authority of imperial power itself.

For someone holding the title of "Emperor," this mindset is utterly irrational!

"Xuan's progress cannot be underestimated…" Xu Xing sighed.

Merely a casual, idle move could interfere with civilizational development and guide its direction…

Even though this is only a Fan Xu realm, achieving all this is already quite extraordinary.

In ancient times, He could never have done this!

"But it's still far from perfect," Bie Xuening added.

The conflict between Immortal Dao and the mortal world is unavoidable.

When cultivators in this world see mortals developing power capable of threatening them, they will move immediately to exterminate them.

This is an irreconcilable contradiction.

"If He could achieve perfection with just a casual idle move, that would be terrifying," Xu Xing shook his head slightly, "We've seen enough. Let's go."

"Mm."

"Mm-mm!"

Immediately, the three turned and left.

This time, they headed toward the Cultivation Realm.

The mortal realm has been seen enough; now it's time to set things right.

Not far from there, Master Mei Zu began causing trouble.

"Come to think of it, I thought Xiang Yuanjun and Ling Zu would've come looking too."

That would've been so lively!

Just thinking about it is amusing.

Xu Xing: "..."

"Ningruo had something to do, so she asked Xiang Yuanjun for help."

"Ningruo... she calls her so affectionately," Master Mei Zu turned to Bie Xuening, stoking the fire, "you've never called you 'Xue Ning,' have you?"

Hum~!

A slash of sword light cut through the sky!

"Brother of the Dao, save me!" (End of Chapter)