145: Chapter 145 The Psychological Trauma of the Prodigies!

Just as the waves of Su Changge's heart surged and the System notifications in his Sea of Consciousness roared like the Heavenly Dao's own decree, he was weighing his options.

Should he add three parts of indifference to his expression, or perhaps reveal seven parts of impatience, to fully manifest the supreme style of one who views the world's rare treasures as mere dust?

At the edge of the distant sky, several streaks of divine light tore through the sea of clouds, carrying an unmatched, sharp aura, arriving in an instant and finally hovering at the edge of the core area of this misty forest.

The divine light faded, revealing several high-spirited young men and women.

Each of them possessed an extraordinary bearing and vibrant spirit, with Dao Rhyme flowing around them. Deep within their eyes lay an unrefined arrogance and the conceit of those who look down upon their peers.

These people were all peerless Prodigies cultivated by the top orthodox powers of the current age with all their resources; they were the crown princes of the Great Yan Divine Dynasty and the future sect leaders of the Taiyi Holy Land.

"Why did that beast tide that swept across the entire Secret Realm come to such an abrupt stop here, with all its aura completely extinguished?"

A youth clad in crimson dragon-scale armor, holding a halberd, frowned.

Dragon Qi rose faintly amidst his hair, and the way he opened and closed his eyes was domineering and peerless. This was the Crown Prince of the Great Yan Divine Dynasty, Xiao Fan. He had swept through everything along the way, thinking he would face a world-shaking battle to seize the supreme Opportunity that had attracted ten thousand beasts.

"Both the source and the end of the beast tide point here. There must be an unimaginable strange treasure appearing, or perhaps an ancient Legacy has been opened."

Beside him, a woman in moon-white Dao robes, with an ethereal, fairy-like temperament, parted her red lips slightly. A simple wooden hairpin was inserted into her hair, yet it seemed surrounded by three thousand Daos. This was the Saintess of the Taiyi Holy Land, Liu Ruyan.

This group of theirs consisted of the strongest individuals to enter the Secret Realm this time.

Relying on their profound foundations and powerful Magic Treasures, they had forcibly carved a bloody path through a beast tide capable of tearing apart a Nascent Soul Cultivator to arrive here. The bloody battle and competition they had anticipated did not appear; instead, the surrounding dead silence was permeated with a chilling creepiness.

When they pushed aside the last wisp of lingering spiritual mist and cast their gazes toward the open space ahead, everyone's figures froze in place.

Their forward steps stopped.

The innate arrogance on their faces, the confidence of being heaven's favored children, and the burning anticipation for a shocking Opportunity all disintegrated in that instant, shattering into the most primitive confusion and astonishment.

Their Divine Souls and their Dao Hearts were all questioning themselves—We, what exactly are we seeing?

In the center of the clearing, a youth in black robes stood with his hands behind his back, waiting quietly.

He was not standing on the ground, but rather atop a small mountain piled high with endless Heaven And Earth Treasure.

That "mountain" was over several zhang high, blooming throughout with chaotic, seven-colored rays of light. The rich treasure Qi shot straight into the nine heavens, dyeing the firmament into a magnificent display of color.

Ten-thousand-year stalactites were bubbling with spiritual liquid that had turned into substance; on the dragon-blood red gold, the dragon patterns were like living creatures, swimming in the treasure light and emitting low dragon roars;

Nine-leaf Soul-Returning Grass—each leaf contained a Law of Reincarnation, with the Qi of life and death intertwined, incredibly miraculous.

Any one of these items would be enough to set off a bloody storm in the outside world, making Holy Land-level major powers fight to the death to seize them.

Yet here, they were treated as the most ordinary bricks, piled together in a disorderly fashion.

And around that treasure mountain, tens of thousands of Yao Beasts, from the spiritual foxes with weak auras to the Ground-Splitting Bear King whose pressure shook the heavens, were all prostrated on the ground.

They had retracted all their ferocity and Demonic Qi, their huge heads bowed low, piously worshipping the sole figure on the mountain peak, looking less like Yao Beasts and more like a group of the most devout believers.

A black giant bird with a wingspan that covered the sky, possessing a ferocity that made even Xiao Fan feel heart-palpitations, was carefully retracting its wings, which were capable of tearing apart mountain ranges, and flapping a gentle breeze to... brush the dust off the black-robed youth's hem?

"That is... the legendary ancient relic, the Sky-Swallowing Sparrow?!"

The voice of the Great Yan Crown Prince Xiao Fan changed completely. The hand that gripped his halberd, which had once split a mountain range with a single strike, was now trembling slightly.

As the crown prince of the Divine Dynasty, he had read extensively through royal ancient texts and recognized the origin of the giant bird at a glance. It was a great ancient beast, mentioned alongside true Dragons and divine Phoenixes, known for devouring the world and biting the sun and moon!

Its strength had long since surpassed the Nascent Soul realm; it was an existence capable of contending with Nascent Soul Ancestors!

Such a living legend was now as humble as a servant, tidying the clothes for a man?

"They... these Yao Beasts, are they performing a... sacrifice and worship?"

Taiyi Saintess Liu Ruyan covered her red lips with her jade hand. Her beautiful eyes, which had always been as still as an ancient well, reflecting the ultimate truths of the world, were now filled with subversive shock and bewilderment.

She clearly saw a three-tailed spiritual fox with Golden Core cultivation using its three fluffy tails to gently sweep the dirt off the treasures. The piety and humbleness in that action made even her, a descendant of a Holy Land, feel a tremor in her heart.

On their journey, they had lost two fellow disciples just to snatch a three-thousand-year-old Spiritual Plant from the mouth of a Nascent Soul Yao tiger.

Yet here, ten-thousand-year holy medicines were piled like mountains, and countless Yao kings, more powerful than that Yao tiger, were queuing up to proactively present the treasures they had guarded for thousands of years.

This stark contrast between heaven and earth caused the Dao Hearts of these Prodigies, who considered themselves peerless among their generation with hearts higher than the sky, to suffer an unprecedented imbalance in an instant.

"This... what is the point of cultivating immortality? What is the point of fighting for one's fate?"

A burly youth from the Tyrant Blade Sect swayed, and actually sat down on the ground with a thud. His domineering long blade, which had never left his side, fell to the ground with a "clatter." His eyes were unfocused, and he muttered to himself.

"I have painstakingly cultivated the blade path for one hundred and twenty years, created the 'Seven Styles of Tyrannical Absolute,' and was confident that there was no rival among my peers.

Yet I cannot even take a full-strength strike from a Nascent Soul great Yao, while that person... that person can make ten thousand beasts bow their heads and willingly become servants... Is the gap between people really greater than the gap between humans and ants!"

His indestructible blade heart showed a clear crack at this moment.

Mo Wentian and Lin Gujian stood behind Su Changge. Looking at the group of Prodigies in the distance who had been struck by lightning and were lost in spirit, an unprecedented sense of pride and glory burst forth from the deepest part of their hearts.

They unconsciously straightened their backs and stood with their heads held high, feeling honored.

Look, this is the Senior we follow! In the eyes of you mortals, you are Prodigies, but before Senior, how are you different from dust?

Su Changge naturally noticed the few new gazes.

His heart was already blooming with joy; these were all walking "emotion points." But on the surface, he only slightly furrowed his brows. That expression was not directed at the newcomers, but rather a trace of impatience revealed toward the "vulgar objects" at his feet.

He casually reached out, picked up a piece of jade from the mountain of treasures that held its luster within and looked unremarkable, and then plucked a golden grass with an elegant shape, tossing them back to Mo Wentian without looking back.

"These two are acceptable in form; you may take them."

"As for the rest... dispose of them."

That light and airy tone, that casual attitude of disposal, was truly as if he were cleaning up a pile of unsightly rubble.

Mo Wentian scrambled to catch the "jade" and the "small grass." The moment they were in his hands, a pure, extreme force of Dao Laws and majestic life essence almost made him kneel on the spot!

This was no mere jade; it was a Dao Marrow Crystal, which could only be nurtured by a million-year-old earth vein! That small grass was even the legendary Nine-Turn Golden Lotus, capable of reshaping Dao foundations and bringing the dead back to life!

The "trash" that Senior casually threw away was actually such a Heaven-Defying divine object! Mo Wentian was so excited that his Divine Soul was trembling; he was almost about to faint from happiness.

And the Prodigies in the distance, upon hearing Su Changge's words, were shocked to the core. They felt a sweetness in their throats and almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Dispose of them?

That treasure mountain's value was enough to increase the foundation of any Holy Land or Divine Dynasty by several times, and might even lead to the birth of a new Nascent Soul Ancestors!

You... you just... disposed of them like that?

Su Changge did not give the treasure mountain a second glance. He gently waved his sleeves at the endless beast horde prostrated on the ground.

"All of you, disperse."

Three simple words, containing no spiritual fluctuations, yet seeming to contain some supreme Heavenly Dao Law; it was the Words Become Law.

The thousands of Yao Beasts, upon hearing this, felt as if they had been granted amnesty, yet they dared not be the slightest bit negligent. They stood up in unison, kowtowed three times respectfully toward the direction Su Changge was leaving.

Afterward, the entire beast horde turned around in an orderly fashion, with clear distinctions between strong and weak, and retreated into the depths of the forest without a sound.

They came like a landslide and a tsunami, and left like dissipating green smoke.

This Divine Ability of waving away ten thousand beasts once again refreshed everyone's perception.

After doing all this, Su Changge's gaze never once lingered on the Prodigies like Xiao Fan and Liu Ruyan for even a second.

He stepped forward slowly, and after the Sky-Swallowing Sparrow submissively lowered its noble head, he calmly sat on its wide and sturdy back.

The Old Yellow Ox remained in its leisurely manner, flicking its tail and following behind unhurriedly, seemingly unperturbed by having a more imposing "mount."

"Let's go, to that palace in the sky."

Su Changge's voice was as indifferent as before, pointing toward the deepest part of the Secret Realm, to that magnificent palace floating above the sea of clouds, exuding an ancient aura.

The Sky-Swallowing Sparrow let out a long cry full of joy and glory, and its wings flapped violently! A gale howled, the sea of clouds rolled backward, and it carried Su Changge, turning into a black lightning bolt, soaring into the sky and heading straight for that palace in the sky.

On the ground, only a mountain of treasures radiating brilliant light was left behind, along with a group of top Prodigies whose worldviews were being reshaped and were left in disarray in the wind.

However, just as the Sky-Swallowing Sparrow was carrying Su Changge and was about to fly within a thousand zhang of that towering palace.

This ancient relic, which had just been full of Divine Might and monstrous ferocity, had its massive body uncontrollably trembling violently, and its flight speed sharply decreased.

In its fierce eyes, a fear a hundred times deeper than when it first saw Su Changge appeared. That was not awe of a strong person, but an absolute trembling from the deepest part of its Bloodline and Divine Soul when facing a natural predator!

It was as if within that palace, which had been silent for eternity, a terrifying existence was sleeping—one that made it unable to even produce the thought of resisting!

"Senior... that palace, there is a big problem!"

Mo Wentian's voice came from far behind, carrying unprecedented solemnity and tension.