81: Chapter 81 The "Dao Ancestor" who was only at the Qi Refining stage was in a panic.

Su Changge stared blankly at the glaring red number on the System panel.

【System Reboot Progress: 1%...】

Half an incense stick of time passed, and the number remained completely motionless.

His heart sank little by little.

"No way, did it freeze?"

Su Changge tried calling out in his mind a few times, but the System background remained deathly silent, with only that line of red text stubbornly flickering.

A foreboding premonition shrouded his heart.

He subconsciously tried to mobilize the spiritual energy within his body, wanting to feel his own strength to at least have some sense of security.

However, when he introspected his Dantian, he was completely stunned.

His Dantian was completely empty.

No, it wasn't entirely empty.

There was only a wisp of spiritual energy, as thin as gossamer, floating there alone; that was his most primitive cultivation of the Qi Refining First Layer when he had just Transmigration.

"Where is my spiritual energy?"

Su Changge's face instantly turned deathly pale.

He remembered that the System had previously warned him that in order to instantly kill the Devil Lord, he had not only exhausted all his emotion points but also overdrawn his future quota.

Now it seemed that to maintain the reboot, the System had also drained the spiritual energy he had painstakingly accumulated from the Medicinal Pill he hadn't yet used!

He was now just a pure, small Cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage with a combat power of approximately five.

His only advantage might be that he looked quite handsome.

But being handsome couldn't be eaten as a meal, nor could it block a slap from a Nascent Soul Ancestor!

"It's over, it's all over..."

Su Changge collapsed onto the rocking chair, feeling as if the sky had collapsed.

Without the System's special effects, without cultivation, he was now a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Just at this moment.

"Disciple Qin Wudao, along with all the Elders of the Taixuan Sect, requests an audience with the Dao Ancestor!"

A voice, filled with respect mixed with immense excitement, yet deliberately suppressed, came from the foot of Changge Peak.

The voice was not loud, but it reached Su Changge's ears clearly.

Su Changge shuddered, nearly rolling off the rocking chair.

"Who? Qin Wudao? What are they here for?"

He scrambled to the fence of his small courtyard and looked down through the gaps.

He saw that on the mountain path, led by Sect Master Qin Wudao, followed by a large group of Grand Elders who were usually elusive, each wearing the most solemn Sect ceremonial robes with grave expressions, they were walking toward the peak step by step.

Behind them, on the main peak square of the entire Taixuan Sect, densely packed with people kneeling, they were all Disciples and deacons of the Sect.

Everyone was looking toward the direction of Changge Peak with fanatic and worshipful eyes.

"Oh my god!"

Su Changge was so scared that he felt his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering; his legs went weak, and he sat down on the ground with a thud.

What is this formation for?

Are they trying to drag me, a fake, out and execute me in public?

"The Dao Ancestor just displayed his world-destroying Divine Might, surely he must have gained some insights. We have come only to express our reverence, and we dare not disturb the Dao Ancestor's quiet cultivation!"

Qin Wudao's voice came again, filled with piety.

Su Changge listened to these words, his brain working at high speed.

Insights?

I have insights my ass! I almost pissed myself in fear just now!

How could he dare to see anyone now? Once they met, if they used a simple detection spell, wouldn't his Qi Refining First Layer cultivation be completely exposed?

By then, the crime of deceiving the entire Eastern Wasteland would likely be enough to make him die ten thousand times.

What to do? What to do?

Su Changge paced around in anxiety, his gaze sweeping over his small wooden house, when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck.

He dashed back into the house, dived straight into the bed, and covered himself tightly from head to toe with the quilt.

"I am dead, I am not here, I am in closed-door cultivation, no one is to bother me!"

He muttered to himself, deciding to use the "playing dead" tactic to stall for time first.

As long as the System reboots successfully, there is still hope for everything!

At this time, Qin Wudao and the others had already arrived outside the small courtyard.

They looked at the tightly closed wooden door and the suspiciously quiet courtyard; not a single person dared to step forward to push the door open.

"Sect Master, the Dao Ancestor... is he perhaps unwilling to see us?" an Elder asked in a low voice.

Qin Wudao frowned, then immediately relaxed, his face revealing an "I understand" expression.

"You mortals, what do you understand?"

He lowered his voice and said in a tone filled with reverence.

"The Dao Ancestor just wiped out the Devil Lord with a single word; what kind of heaven-defying means is that?"

"That Realm, those insights, how could we possibly fathom them?"

"The Dao Ancestor must be immersed in the supreme Realm of merging with the Heavenly Dao at this moment. If we rashly disturb him, it would be a grave sin!"

The Elders, upon hearing this, all showed expressions of sudden realization, and their gazes toward the courtyard became even more reverent.

"The Sect Master is right, we were foolish."

"The Dao Ancestor's Realm is already beyond what we can imagine."

Su Changge, hiding under the quilt, heard their conversation clearly, feeling both panicked and amused.

Merging with the Heavenly Dao?

I'm fucking merging with the God of Dreams!

He peeked outside through a crack in the door.

Good heavens!

Standing outside, the lowest level were Nascent Soul Stage big shots, and there were several Soul Transformation old monsters with deep auras that made him tremble just by glancing at them.

Cold sweat streamed down his forehead.

If he were discovered, he probably wouldn't even have his ashes left.

"Buzz... System rebooting..."

In his mind, there were occasional crackling static noises, but that 1% progress bar still stubbornly refused to move.

Su Changge wanted to cry but had no tears.

Just at this moment, the rumors about him in the outside world had already developed in an even more outrageous direction.

Some said the Dao Ancestor destroyed the Devil with a single word and was currently refining the Devil Lord's indestructible remnant soul to prevent it from making a comeback.

Others said the Dao Ancestor had drained the Devilish Qi of the Eastern Wasteland with one strike and was re-organizing the Laws of Heaven and Earth.

In short, the more mystical, the better.

Su Changge listened to the intermittent discussions from outside, having only one thought.

Before the System recovers, even if you beat me to death, I won't go out!

I won't see anyone!

"Sect Master, what should we do now? We can't just wait here forever, right?" an Elder asked.

Qin Wudao pondered for a moment and made a decision.

"We shall stay right here and act as Protectors for the Dao Ancestor!"

"Pass on my order: designate the area within a hundred miles of Changge Peak as a restricted zone. No one is allowed to approach, and those who violate this will be executed without mercy!"

"Yes!"

Su Changge, hearing this from under the quilt, felt slightly relieved.

Being Protectors is good, being Protectors is great; just stay outside and guard, but definitely don't come in!

But what he didn't know was that a bigger "surprise" was still to come.

Qin Wudao and his group were just the advance party.

The real main force was currently coming from all directions of the Eastern Wasteland, covering the sky and the earth!