The cultivator team spent two days in Yulan City, where they also discussed the Dao with Luo Feng and Palace Master Yuan Xiang. At their level, even a slight improvement was incredibly difficult, so discussions and exchanges with peers often helped deepen their friendships.

Outside the city, Luo Feng and Palace Master Yuan Xiang saw the cultivator team off.

“Our gathering these past two days has been truly enjoyable!” the winged woman, God-Emperor Bai Yin, said with a talkative smile, having grown more familiar with them. “We shall now return to the Dark Saint Realm, Brother Luo Feng. We look forward to meeting you again there!”

“When I visit Chengfeng City, I will certainly contact you all!” Luo Feng said with a smile. The Dark Saint Realm has five cities in total, and God-Emperor Bai Yin’s cultivation team frequently resided in ‘Chengfeng City,’ the central one.

“We’re off!” The elder and the red-robed youth also nodded slightly to Luo Feng and Palace Master Yuan Xiang. The three of them flew into their ship, and as Luo Feng and Palace Master Yuan Xiang watched, the ancient vessel quickly disappeared into the horizon.

Palace Master Yuan Xiang watched them disappear, then smiled faintly. “They’ve gone, Luo Feng. It’s time for me to leave as well!”

Luo Feng was startled.

“Originally, I had planned to leave right after the Battle of Yulan City, as we agreed, but then I stayed an extra two days with these three old friends,” Palace Master Yuan Xiang said, looking at Luo Feng. “I feel very relieved entrusting Yulan City to you!”

“As for me, I will disperse all my external avatars and dedicate all my strength to fighting the corruption in my homeland. I will either suppress it completely or succumb entirely,” Palace Master Yuan Xiang stated.

At this moment, Luo Feng’s emotions were complex. Palace Master Yuan Xiang had reached a very dangerous point; once he succumbed, his soul would be annihilated. The myriad worlds were created by powerful beings like Senior Yuan and others of similar standing. Although the experts nurtured within these myriad worlds didn’t possess avatar techniques, there was still hope of revival if a world creator could intervene. This information had long been circulating among cultivators in the Nine Rivers Saint Realm. Many cultivators in the myriad worlds harbored regrets and wished to revive their dearest loved ones. Senior Yuan, Senior Jin, and others had promised that after breaking free from their confines, there would be opportunities for revival.

However, the Source World was different. The Source World was protected by supreme rules and had avatar techniques. Yet, these same supreme rules also blocked external powers. Once an expert within the Source World died, even Senior Yuan and the others could not revive them! Palace Master Yuan Xiang was an expert who came from the Source World. If he died, he would be truly dead! Even Senior Yuan and the others would be powerless!

“Even if I die, there’s no need to be sad!” Palace Master Yuan Xiang laughed heartily. “The path of cultivation is full of countless difficulties and dangers. To have reached this point, to be a peak-level existence in the Dark Saint Realm, there’s nothing to regret in death!”

“Brother Yuan Xiang!” Luo Feng earnestly urged, “You have defeated many powerful enemies on your cultivation path! You will certainly be able to defeat this formidable foe, the ‘High-Level Chaos Origin Corruption’!”

Palace Master Yuan Xiang nodded. “I will defeat it. Let us part ways here!”

With that, Palace Master Yuan Xiang’s figure dissipated. Luo Feng watched the scene in silence. He knew that unless Palace Master Yuan Xiang completely suppressed the corruption, it would be very difficult for them to meet again.

As time passed, the avatars of the elders who had died in the Battle of Yulan City gradually returned to the Elder Hall in Yulan City. Seven elders were summoned to meet Luo Feng.

“City Lord!”

The seven elders were quite respectful, and at this moment, they were both nervous and expectant. With so many elders in the city, and only these seven being summoned, they naturally guessed the reason.

“During the Battle of Yulan City, all seven of you were attacked by the Transcendent Mind-Bewitching Worm!” Luo Feng smiled and waved his hand, and seven secret treasures appeared in mid-air. “These seven secret treasures are yours. Take them.”

Not many elders in the city carried powerful secret treasures. Only seven elders lost their secret treasures during this war.

“Thank you, City Lord!” The seven elders were overjoyed and excited. They had guessed the possibility but never imagined the City Lord would return them without any conditions! One should know that, according to common cultivator rules, spoils of war obtained from normal combat usually belonged to the individual.

“You all fought for Yulan City too!” Luo Feng smiled faintly. These seven, who carried important secret treasures, were all diligently building their power in Yulan City, intending to establish roots there. The seven elders increasingly felt that with such a benevolent City Lord, their lives would be much easier in the future. The City Lord’s influence permeated the entire city. In the past, when Palace Master Weiyang was in charge of Weiyang Palace, he would take a significant cut of many profits. If such valuable secret treasures had fallen into Palace Master Weiyang’s hands, he would never have returned them!

“City Lord, Palace Master Weiyang has recently been secretly transferring some resources out of the city!”
“He doesn’t dare to come himself, so he’s asking other elders to help carry the resources away,” several elders reported consecutively.

“I know,” Luo Feng said. Given his control over Yulan City, how could Palace Master Weiyang’s minor movements escape his notice! “His purpose in transferring resources is likely to leave voluntarily,” Luo Feng said. “There’s no need to pay too much attention to it!”

“Yes, sir!” the seven elders respectfully assented.

Five days later, Palace Master Weiyang’s avatar unexpectedly arrived in Yulan City to personally visit Luo Feng!

“Palace Master Weiyang, the City Lord has agreed to see you! Please follow me.” A guard at the front of the Elder Hall led the way.

Palace Master Weiyang could only follow. He walked through the familiar Elder Hall, a place he once believed he would fully control and become the master of Yulan City. But who would have thought that Luo Feng would rise so ferociously, his strength so terrifying, single-handedly overpowering a group of Transcendent-level beings. Using formations, he allowed only ten percent of the massive army of low-level Chaos Origin creatures that entered the city to escape by sheer luck.

“Even if I carried a secret treasure, I probably wouldn’t withstand a single move against him!” Palace Master Weiyang sighed inwardly. The power Luo Feng displayed was even more terrifying than Palace Master Yuan Xiang at his peak!

Soon, led by the guard, Palace Master Weiyang saw Luo Feng sitting in a garden in the distance.

“Weiyang greets the City Lord!” Palace Master Weiyang bowed slightly.

Luo Feng looked on with interest. “Palace Master Weiyang! You actually still came to see me,” Luo Feng said, looking at him. “Do you still intend to remain in Yulan City?”

“With the City Lord here, Yulan City is incredibly stable, so naturally, I am not needed!” Palace Master Weiyang respectfully said, “I have decided to completely withdraw from Yulan City! I have also come with a request this time!”

“Oh? What is it?” Luo Feng looked at him.

“My avatar, which was guarding Yulan City, died at the hands of that Transcendent Mind-Bewitching Worm, and I also lost two important secret treasures!” Palace Master Weiyang pleaded sincerely. “I earnestly request the City Lord to return them! Please state whatever price you require me to pay!” Luo Feng couldn’t help but smile as he looked at him.

“You actually have the nerve to ask me for your secret treasures?” Luo Feng couldn’t help but shake his head. Back then, he had tried to force me to resign from my position as Commander of the Sky Patrol Palace, and when I refused, Palace Master Weiyang even resorted to violence. Given such a conflict, Luo Feng was quite surprised that Palace Master Weiyang dared to show up and make such a request.

“I know I have offended the City Lord!” Palace Master Weiyang said. “But the City Lord also knows how important powerful secret treasures suitable for oneself are. Please state whatever price you require.”

Luo Feng looked at him and said, “I’ll give you two choices!”

Palace Master Weiyang’s heart soared with joy. Was Luo Feng’s temper really that good? He had heard that the seven elders had all recovered their lost important secret treasures, which had given him hope.

“What two choices?” Palace Master Weiyang pressed. He was willing to pay a higher price as long as he could get his two lost secret treasures back!

“First, you self-annihilate your avatar. Second, I destroy your avatar myself,” Luo Feng said, looking at him. “Choose!”

Palace Master Weiyang’s expression changed as he perceived the coldness in Luo Feng’s eyes.

“I am willing to self-annihilate,” Palace Master Weiyang said, still bowing respectfully. Then, his avatar silently dissipated.

Luo Feng watched the scene indifferently. His benevolence was selective, and Palace Master Weiyang clearly did not deserve it. Luo Feng had already erased the formations belonging to Palace Master Weiyang and Palace Master Gai in Yulan City’s core formation layer, effectively stripping them of their palace master positions.

Time flowed on. The elders of Yulan City gradually grew accustomed to Luo Feng’s temperament. Apart from the share inherently due to the City Lord, Luo Feng showed no interest in contending for other resources within the city. This encouraged more powerful cultivators to settle in Yulan City. Elders and Palace-Master-level cultivators moved in one after another, and many ordinary cultivators also relocated there. There was no denying its appeal: a city that could be called absolutely safe, whose City Lord disdained to vie for resources, and who protected the weaker low and middle strata. Such a city naturally held great attraction among the thirty-five cities in the region. The number of cultivators in Yulan City steadily increased.

Di Qing, Di Ming, and Di Fu, Luo Feng’s trusted aides, oversaw the entire city from a high vantage point in the Elder Hall. They were responsible for the City Lord’s miscellaneous affairs.

“It is truly fortunate for many cultivators to encounter a City Lord as benevolent as ours!” Di Ming said. “The vast majority of this cultivation world still operates on the principle of the strong preying on the weak!” Di Fu nodded. “The strong preying on the weak is the norm. The City Lord, relying on his immense individual power, has altered the order of Yulan City. Otherwise, even without the Worm Nest, Ghostly Den, and Myriad Shadow Pavilion, other forces would have emerged to steal and plunder!”

But Luo Feng’s strength was simply too formidable. With his formations, a single thought could encompass the entire city and annihilate any force. Thus, his “word became law.” When he declared that no forces engaging in theft or plunder would be allowed to exist, no such forces could be found throughout the city.

“The City Lord has been appearing less and less!” Di Qing said, turning to look at the cave dwelling next to the Elder Hall, which was now Luo Feng’s residence. “It’s like the Ancestors of the two nations rarely appear in the Origin Continent,” Di Fu mused. “The City Lord doesn’t show himself much in Yulan City either. Perhaps his main focus is already on other worlds!” Di Qing and Di Ming also thought the same. It was indeed very likely that Luo Feng had already gone to the Dark Saint Realm.

In fact, Luo Feng had been in secluded cultivation for over half an epoch, only emerging after the effects of the Hundred Tribulations Marrow had completely dissipated. Cultivating for over half an epoch while under the influence of the Hundred Tribulations Marrow had been immensely beneficial to Luo Feng. After emerging from seclusion, Luo Feng first erased the original formation in Yulan City’s core formation layer and re-engraved a new, more powerful formation after careful consideration. Then, leaving behind an ordinary avatar in Yulan City, he quietly departed! Now, an ordinary avatar wielding the city’s even more formidable formations would possess even greater combat power than Yulan City had before.

Luo Feng walked alone across the vast lands of the Nine Rivers Saint Realm. He traversed all nine rivers, observing them closely. Along the way, he encountered some heedless low-level Chaos Origin creatures that attacked him. These low-level Chaos Origin creatures simply ended up as corpses in Luo Feng’s storage treasures.

After traversing all nine rivers, Luo Feng arrived at a sacred mountain in the center of the Nine Rivers Saint Realm. It was time to go to the Dark Saint Realm! This time, Luo Feng did not go to the teleportation abyss at the foot of the mountain. Instead, he walked along the mountain path towards the summit. The invisible pressure on the path grew increasingly terrifying, but to Luo Feng, whose Indestructible Blood Sea Body was now completely perfected, it felt as comfortable as a gentle breeze. He simply walked all the way to the summit. At the summit, there was also a dark abyss. As a wisp of Luo Feng’s thought permeated the abyss, he immediately sensed that this teleportation abyss led to another distant world!

“Let’s go take a look!”

Luo Feng stepped into the dark abyss and vanished. With a swirl of light, Luo Feng was teleported.

(End of this volume)