Indeed, Huang Luan devoted himself with unwavering diligence to a single pursuit: not exhausting all means to heighten his killing prowess, but rather relying upon several ancient maps and esoteric manuals as foundational blueprints to forge in his mind’s eye a conceptual “Heavenly Emperor’s Palace.”

For instance, that ancient patriarch known as Yuan Shou, the Mountain Mover, also an elder throne, harbored extreme disdain for Huang Luan, who was renowned throughout the world for his grand dojo and myriad magical treasures. He would demean him as a mere rag-picker, one indulging in trivialities and lacking ambition, entirely disregardful of the matter of Dao integration, thus spirit depressed and Dao heart unstable.

This assessment was, perhaps, a touch too dismissive of Huang Luan.

After all, Huang Luan, too, intended to utilize the “Shuo Ren” birthed from the severing of the three corpses as a ladder for Dao integration, merely awaiting the latter’s ascent to the Ascension Realm before making his move.

Regardless, in the eyes of Rain Long and the younger generation of demon cultivators, Huang Luan, despite being an old almanac, remained a throne of unquestionable strength, one even more genuine than many of the newer thrones.

Fei Fei shared a good rapport with him and once offered this fellow Daoist a piece of admonition: “When life and death arrive, how is one to resist?”

No matter how the mountains appraised Huang Luan, Rou Yi felt a debt of gratitude to this “main lord.”

Of the more than a hundred palace observatories, treasure halls, pavilions, towers, ancient true caves, golden immortal relics, and the like, Huang Luan had refined each one, lest they become too much of a burden, hindering his ascent during future Dao integration.

Truly refined by Huang Luan as life-bound “dojo” objects, there were but three.

All were bequeathed to Rou Yi.

Simply speaking of the five-elements life-bound objects he left behind, they were exceptionally rare, deserving to be called the finest set of “five elements” supreme treasures in the world.

Huang Luan, in his long career of seeking the Dao, dedicated himself to refining the world’s finest five-elements life-bound objects. In this process, he continuously refined, selected, eliminated, and replaced a full hundred and thirty-odd life-bound objects, ultimately refining two immortal soldiers and three half-immortal soldier grade five-elements objects.

Though in the Sword Qi Great Wall, Huang Luan perished, body and Dao dissipated, two of these were damaged and one broken. Yet, Rou Yi quickly obtained two new treasures of fire and water attributes and gradually repaired the wood attribute life-bound object whose rank had fallen. In this manner, where was this merely preparation for Ascension? It was simply laying the very foundation for Dao integration.

The one who secretly gifted her those two treasures was none other than Zhou Mi.

In fact, even Rou Yi’s previous Dao title, “Shuo Ren,” was bestowed upon her by Zhou Mi.

Back then, Rou Yi had self-mockingly remarked that her method of severing the three corpses was likely inferior even to the wandering ghosts in the wilderness. How could she possibly presume to call herself “Shuo Ren”?

That gentle and elegant Barbarian Wilderness Literary Sea merely smiled and nodded at the time, saying it was acceptable.

Obstructed by the Bottle Continent’s great dike, the Barbarian Wilderness’s grand momentum had already waned. She returned to her hometown through a sea-returning passage. Upon the dispersal of the Three Teachings Ancestral Masters’ Dao, she quickly ascended to the Ascension Realm, still benefiting from Zhou Mi’s guidance that year. He had instructed her to seek out an excellent, aura-rich physical body on the Vastness Tong Leaf Continent, borrowing this opportunity to deceive both heaven and sea, which might prove miraculous in the future.

And this physical body, or perhaps the residual soul’s previous owner, was precisely the chief culprit who had opened the gates and invited calamity upon a certain sect on the Tong Leaf Continent, leading to the severance of its Dao lineage.

At this moment, Rou Yi lightly sighed, raising her head to gaze at the sky. Mister Zhou Mi, how could you possibly lose?

On the battlefield, the Hidden Official, wielding his spear, employed the enemy’s methods to counter the enemy’s might, causing a sudden “blossoming.”

All four king systems were either smashed or impaled by the iron spear on the spot. One after another, golden armored Dao bodies exploded in mid-air. The battlefield in all four directions was as if a sparse, fragmented golden rain had fallen, splashing onto the heads of the demon race.

Golden flowing water gathered on the ground, slowly rising, and transforming back into the appearances of golden armored divine beings.

But the demon race surrounding each golden armored king system had already lost their lives. From their corpses rose tendrils of “incense smoke,” surging towards the face armor covering the king systems’ visages.

This scene, the actions of the king systems, was truly the literal meaning of “gilding one’s own face.”

Originally, the war losses of all military forces in the war array, whether from the Barbarian Wilderness’s side or the Vastness’s, would all transform into provisions for the king systems’ own Great Dao, paving the way for their advancement.

Thus, it wasn’t merely a high-sounding phrase like “on the battlefield, life and death are at one’s own risk.” In the end, the king systems fundamentally did not care about losses.

Hence, as long as they were positioned on the battlefield, this new throne, as long as he wasn’t beheaded, would forever remain undefeated.

No wonder it is said that only parents give wrong names; the Jianghu never gives wrong nicknames, and the mountain never gives wrong Dao titles.

Seeing that the king system was still not decisive, Rou Yi could only suppress the impatience in her heart, steadying her Dao heart. She turned to the woman drumming Up and Dance with a spiritual message, “Rain Long, you understand the Hidden Official quite well. What do you think is the intention behind his action?”

The woman with the boudoir name Rain Long was already exhausted, her breathing unstable. If she distracted herself to converse with Rou Yi, it would only cause the drum sound to be off-key.

She then heeded Rou Yi’s advice, planning to rest for a moment before resuming her drumming. Lightly drifting from the drum surface to the ground, she put away her colorful robe and changed into a spirit vulture pattern brocade robe. She softly said: “Measurement.”

Rain Long added another sentence, “Precisely to assess the elite combat strength of the new Barbarian Wilderness. I heard he became the National Teacher, so the Great Li iron cavalry serves as a reference. Now, our elite force is also one.”

Rou Yi nodded. She still regretted the losses of that group of young talents, solely because she had yet to discover anything similar to the Jia Shen Account of yesteryear in the new Barbarian Wilderness. Originally, this girl Rain Long had a certain opportunity; she could have brought them together to grow up.

Although Rou Yi was not skilled in battlefield planning, having personally experienced so many battles, she was too clear about the importance of the words “mountain down” and “morale.”

Fei Ran’s heart nature was good enough, and his cultivation aptitude was also extremely high. But his accumulation of war merits was insufficient, and his prestige was lacking. If not for Bai Ze’s support and being the co-lord candidate personally selected by the Literary Sea Zhou Mi before ascending to Heaven, Fei Ran would have found it very difficult to firmly occupy the position of the world’s foremost figure. But waiting until that group of ancient great demons were awakened by Bai Ze, and the Vastness gradually established itself in the Barbarian Wilderness, steadily advancing, bit by bit encroaching upon Barbarian Wilderness territory, changing the “heavenly timing,” Fei Ran, with no achievements, became somewhat precarious. However, he formed a Dao companion with the sundial manifested from the Barbarian Wilderness’s Great Dao, which instead solved the urgent problem. Certain new thrones could only hold their noses and continue to recognize him as the world’s co-lord in the highest position.

In Rain Long’s view.

If one were to say that winning today’s battle was the duty of the two commanders, Shuo Ren and the king system.

Then winning the final battle between the two worlds was solely that man’s duty.

But these kinds of inner thoughts were always difficult to speak plainly to Sister Rou Yi.

Rou Yi held a whisk in her hand and said with a spiritual message: “Rain Long, the Vastness has an ancient saying: a son of a thousand gold does not sit under the eaves. For you, it is applicable.”

Official Lane had a granddaughter whom he regarded as a treasure. He also always enthusiastically invited the Hidden Official to be his granddaughter’s son-in-law. Then they would be a family, and he would fully support him in replacing Fei Ran and becoming the new co-lord of the Barbarian Wilderness. Establishing a teaching and claiming ancestry would be no difficult matter. On the Central Earth Wen Temple’s side, let alone a deputy teaching master, they weren’t even willing to give you a sacrificial wine or gentleman title. Then wouldn’t it be carefree to be a teaching master in the Barbarian Wilderness?

And the granddaughter of the great demon Official Lane was precisely this colorful-robed woman beating the drum to cheer on the battlefield.

Rou Yi couldn’t help but feel a touch of envy. Fellow Daoist Official Lane indeed had a good granddaughter.

Rain Long leaped back onto the drum surface. This time, however, she did not beat the drum but sat cross-legged. She assumed a posture of embracing something, looking towards the set of green clothes on the battlefield. Hey, the Hidden Official was truly handsome, wasn’t he? Never tiresome to look at, truly good-looking.

She lowered her head, fingers lightly pinching, and silently recited “Hidden Official.” A clang sounded. Her slender jade fingers were as if plucking strings.

Unsure what divine ability or transformation it was, she embraced a colored lacquer pipa that had condensed into a tangible object, albeit temporarily without strings. Raising her head, she closed her eyes and perked her ears to listen intently, memorizing the mountain-calling, sea-roaring sound of “Hidden Official” from when that set of green clothes landed in the center of the battlefield. This young Jade Purity, possessing the “Golden Voice” Dao title, was using a life-bound object and a secret method to collect, trace back, and gather those sounds that seemed to have already scattered with the wind. Between heaven and earth, countless silken threads floated up, finally slowly condensing into a pipa string.

Rou Yi was surprised and advised: “Do not be impulsive!”

Rain Long simply did not listen. Two fingers plucked that pipa string, and her fingers were instantly severed, fresh blood flowing.

Just like a series of ancient, resonant horns from the great earth had sounded, it was inciting the once human races to conquer the old Heavenly Court upwards.

The young woman’s expression was calm. One after another, fingers continuously cut off by the pipa string fell onto the drum surface.

Kill the Hidden Official, and only the Hidden Official!

At the same time, a muffled voice rang in Rou Yi’s heart lake, “Fellow Daoist Rou Yi, quickly assist me in killing the enemy!”

Rou Yi no longer hesitated. Just as she was about to enter the battle, to join forces with the king system and use that trump card to deal with the Hidden Official.

Just at this moment.

Rou Yi’s Dao heart tensed. She instantly sacrificed her five-elements life-bound objects. A suspended painting scroll depicting mountains, rivers, birds, and flowers appeared. Not only that, she also threw out her whisk. The whisk flew, spinning, and near the great banner, it drew out another grand formation of five peaks standing side by side. She herself then manifested an exceptionally refined ten-zhang golden body, personally blocking in front of the drumming platform, blocking in front of that young female cultivator whose ten fingers were already broken. Even though a great demon of the new throne rank employed one technique after another, she was still directly pierced through the neck by that long spear with a momentum like splitting bamboo, then through the female cultivator’s chest behind her, as if stringing them together like candied haws. The spear’s momentum undiminished, the long spear threw the two female cultivators together towards the far rear of the battlefield, continuing to crash and kill the demon race on the front lines.