136: Sweep away the evil path, a glorious achievement for all time!
“Oh, right!”
The next moment, Chen Xu seemed to have thought of something and immediately began transmitting a message to Murong Zhuyun.
“Zhuyun, confiscate all Storage Pouches, Magic Treasures, and spiritual materials from the Demonic Path remnants. Don’t miss even a single Low-Grade Spirit Stone.”
At this point, he paused, his gaze sweeping over the blood-stained Cultivators, his tone softening slightly.
“I will not take a single cent from the spoils of this battle.”
“Rewards will be distributed according to merit.”
“For those who died in battle, their compensation will be doubled, and their respective Sects and families will have priority in choosing spoils.”
“Those who are alive will be allocated based on the number of enemies they killed.”
Murong Zhuyun’s figure paused slightly, then she replied via voice transmission: “Understood!”
And when Murong Zhuyun conveyed Chen Xu’s orders,
the emotions of all Righteous Path Cultivators were instantly ignited.
“The Alliance Leader is righteous!!!”
“We swear to follow the Alliance Leader to the death!!!”
Many Loose Cultivators and Disciples from small and medium-sized Sects had red eyes at this moment.
The Cultivation World was cruel; in past great battles, the spoils were mostly divided among the high-ranking officials.
It was already good if the cannon fodder at the bottom could get a sip of soup.
Died in battle?
If you died, it meant you were inferior. Who cared about your affairs after death?
But Chen Xu’s order…
directly placed compensation at the forefront.
The Sect Master of the Hegemon Blade Sect wiped the blood from his face and grinned, “Following an Alliance Leader like this is indeed much better than following those hypocrites from the Heavenly Sword Sect!”
Liu Ruyan looked at the figure in the sky, her beautiful eyes shimmering, and she sighed softly.
This combination of grace and power…
Chen Xu played it too perfectly.
From being the overlord of the Central Continent to now having the hearts of the people, after this battle, Chen Xu’s position in the Cultivation World would likely be unshakeable… After arranging everything, Chen Xu did not linger outside.
He returned to the quiet room of the Azure Dragon flagship.
He casually set up a sound-insulating Restriction.
The outside clamor was completely cut off.
Inside the quiet room, only a luminous pearl emitted a soft glow.
Chen Xu sat cross-legged.
He waved his hand.
Whoosh—
A large pile of Storage Pouches landed on the table in front of him.
This was the biggest gain from this battle—
the entire fortune of several leaders of the Four Demonic Sects.
Chen Xu ignored the mountain of Spirit Stones and Magic Treasures. His gaze was directly fixed on one of the Storage Pouches embroidered with pink peach blossoms.
Lu Cun Demon Lord.
The woman who lived the longest and was the most mysterious.
If anyone was most likely to know the truth of this world,
it had to be her.
His Divine Sense forcefully broke through the remaining Restriction on the Storage Pouch.
The contents inside were in disarray.
There were various Medicinal Pills for cultivation, Secret Manuals for refining Puppets, and many Magical Artifacts that would make one blush… Chen Xu expressionlessly pushed these junk aside.
Until his finger touched something black.
It was a Jade Slip.
Unlike the common green or white jade in the Cultivation World, this Jade Slip was entirely black, its surface covered with cracks, as if it had been burned by fire, or as if its edges had been worn away by time.
The Jade Slip had no spiritual energy fluctuations, not even a luster.
It was like a rotten stone that could be found anywhere.
But the moment Chen Xu touched it, a bone-chilling coldness spread from his fingertips.
This coldness did not belong to the Five Elements, nor did it belong to Yin and Yang.
Chen Xu did not hesitate.
He separated a wisp of Divine Sense and cautiously probed into it.
Boom!
The moment his Divine Sense touched the inside of the Jade Slip, a vast, chaotic will exploded in his mind!
No images, no text.
Only sounds.
Countless sounds!
“Fake! It’s all fake!”
“The sky is sealed! The path is broken! There’s no way forward!”
“Why can’t we Ascend? Why is there nothingness after the Lightning Tribulation?!”
“We want to go home… This isn’t home…”
“Kill them all! Use blood sacrifice! Only blood Qi can corrode that barrier!”
“Deceiving the heavens… Only by deceiving the heavens…”
Chen Xu did not cut off his Divine Sense, but forcibly searched for useful information within this torrent of mad will.
These voices, some ancient, some young, some hysterical, some despairing whispers.
They came from different eras, spanning tens of thousands of years.
But they all spoke of the same thing.
This world was not just as simple as having its Soul Transformation path cut off.
It was a completely enclosed space!
Among these fragments, Chen Xu… caught several recurring terms.
“Sacrifice all spirits,” “break the shackles,” “we are not beings of this world.”
Chen Xu frowned slightly.
It matched.
What the ancient demon said was right.
These so-called Demonic Cultivators, the so-called source of all evil, the earliest batch, were actually a group of “outsiders” who found themselves trapped here and tried to escape in madness.
Or they were the inheritors left behind by those “outsiders.”
They killed people, performed blood sacrifices, and committed all sorts of evil.
But their original intention was just to… go home?
Or to catch a glimpse of the outside world?
Chen Xu felt it was somewhat absurd, even a little ridiculous.
He had always thought he was acting on behalf of the heavens, but in the end, what he was protecting might just be a large stone covering a well.
And he was the… chief Jailer, holding a stick and beating to death all the frogs trying to climb out of the well?
“Heh…”
This joke was a bit too big.
Just as he was about to withdraw his Divine Sense,
and destroy this Jade Slip that could overturn the entire Cultivation World’s perception,
his Divine Sense, in the depths of the Jade Slip, beneath the layers of mad will, discovered a very obscure Seal.
That Seal had already loosened.
Chen Xu’s heart stirred, and his Divine Sense transformed into a sharp sword, gently piercing it.
Crack.
The Seal shattered.
A cryptic and difficult-to-understand piece of information slowly emerged.
It was not a Cultivation Technique, nor a secret anecdote.
But a coordinate.
A coordinate pointing to the depths of a sea area outside the Central Continent.
At the end of this coordinate, there were only two words, and even through Divine Sense, one could feel the despair and madness of the person who left the message at that time—
“Guixu (Return to the Void)”… The next morning.
A ray of morning light pierced through the thick gloom that perpetually enveloped the Endless Nether Devil Abyss, shattering the surging black residual clouds.
The originally hideous and terrifying abysscrack (fissure), under the solace of the sunlight,
also seemed much less eerie.
Within the Alliance camp, hundreds of thousands of Cultivators had already lined up neatly.
No clamor, no conversation.
Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the temporarily erected high platform.
It was empty.
But everyone knew that the man was about to appear.
The man who, by his own power, slew the seven kill demon star, flattened the Four Demonic Sects, and single-handedly pulled the entire Central Continent back from the brink of destruction.
“Om—”
A strange ripple suddenly appeared in the air.
Immediately after, a cyan figure appeared plainly in the center of the high platform.
Dressed in a cyan robe, spotless.
His black hair was casually draped over his shoulders, and his young, handsome face showed no trace of fatigue after the great battle.
Nor did he possess the arrogance of someone about to rule the world.
What he had was only his usual calm.
Chen Xu stood with his hands behind his back.
His light golden eyes slowly swept over the dense crowd below.
Chen Xu did not mention the ancient demon’s afterimage from last night.
Nor did he mention the black Jade Slip that could overturn the entire Cultivation World’s perception.
Regarding the prisoner, regarding the Jailer.
He buried it in his heart.
Some darkness.
It was enough for him to bear it alone.
What he should give these people was hope.
“Everyone.”
Chen Xu spoke.
“The Four Demonic Sects are now history.”
“The seven kill demon star, all have been executed.”
These two simple sentences invigorated everyone!
Chen Xu paused, his gaze deep and distant.
“From today onwards, there will be no distinction between Righteous Path and Demonic Path in the Central Continent.”
“The Demonic Path has been pacified, the Central Continent… unified!”
As the last four words fell, the entire world seemed to tremble with them.
A dead silence lasted for three full breaths.
Immediately after.
“Boom—!!!”
A surge of fervent emotion, as if accumulated for tens of thousands of years, exploded from the chests of hundreds of thousands of Cultivators!
“Alliance Leader mighty!!!”
“Alliance Leader mighty!!!”
“Alliance Leader mighty!!!”
The sound waves were like a tide, rising higher and higher, soaring into the sky, completely dispersing the last few lingering demonic clouds in the heavens!
Countless Cultivators flushed red, some shouted until their throats were hoarse, some knelt and wept bitterly, some frantically waved the Magic Treasures in their hands.
In this Cultivation World where the strong preyed on the weak and life was precarious, they desperately needed such a myth.
And Chen Xu was a living myth.
And amidst these deafening cheers.
A storm was also brewing in Chen Xu’s mind.
【Ding!】
【Detected that the Host has completed an epic achievement: Pacified the Demonic Path and unified the Central Continent! The Family has achieved epic development!】
…【Ding! Congratulations to the Host’s Family for breaking through the critical point of Luck value!】
【Current title “Lord of a Prefecture” has been automatically promoted!】
【Acquired new title: Lord of a Realm (Pseudo)!】
Boom!
The moment the new title was generated, Chen Xu felt a mysterious and profound aura.
Descending upon him out of thin air.
It was not spiritual energy, nor Divine Sense.
But something akin to authority.
Chen Xu felt his senses infinitely magnified at this moment, establishing a mysterious connection with the earth beneath his feet and the sky above his head.
He could see the vitality of a tender sprout breaking through the soil thousands of miles away;
He could hear the rhythm of magma surging deep underground;
He could even vaguely sense the breathing of this world’s will.
Although this title had a “Pseudo” appended to it, indicating that he had not truly taken control of this world, or rather, that this broken world itself was incomplete.
But the Luck bestowed upon him was real.
Chen Xu suppressed the surging power within him.
After the cheers subsided slightly, he raised his hand again and pressed down lightly.
The scene instantly quieted down.
In everyone’s minds, this command might be to establish a new Cultivation Dynasty, or to delineate the spheres of influence of the various Sects, or perhaps to select a site to build an Alliance Leader’s palace that would shock the ages.
After all, carrying the prestige of a great victory and possessing the world, this was a temptation that no superior could refuse.
However.
Chen Xu’s next words stunned everyone.
“The war in the Central Continent is over. Everyone, return to your Sects to rest and rebuild your mountain gates.”
Chen Xu said indifferently, without a hint of reluctance in his tone.
“I, too, will depart today.”
“Returning to the Chen Family in South Spirit Prefecture.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire audience erupted in an uproar.
The originally solemn formation instantly became agitated, and everyone looked at each other in dismay.
“Return… return to South Spirit Prefecture?”
The Sect Master of the Hegemon Blade Sect, standing below the high platform, disregarded etiquette, stepped forward, and urgently said:
"Alliance Leader! What... what is the meaning of this?"
"Now that Central Prefecture is unified and everything is awaiting revival, this is the perfect opportunity for you to rise up and establish an eternal foundation!"
"Yes, Alliance Leader!"
Liu Ruyan, standing nearby, was also full of confusion, her beautiful eyes filled with anxiety:
"Central Prefecture is the heart of the Cultivation World, where Spiritual Veins converge and resources are countless. If you leave, who will rule this vast Central Prefecture?"
"How can a barren and remote place like South Spirit Prefecture be worthy of your current status?"
The Valley Master of Ten Thousand Beasts Valley and the heads of the great families who had just pledged allegiance all spoke up to persuade him.
In their understanding, people strive for higher ground, just as water flows downward.
Chen Xu was now a man standing at the apex of the Cultivation World; he should rightfully preside over the most prosperous Spiritual Vein in Central Prefecture and enjoy the glory of myriad Sects paying tribute.
Returning to that desolate South Spirit Prefecture?
This was like a newly enthroned emperor refusing to live in his magnificent palace, insisting instead on returning to his hometown to farm
—it was completely incomprehensible.
Looking at their anxious, confused, and even somewhat fearful expressions, Chen Xu smiled.
"Prosperity?"
Chen Xu gently shook his head, his gaze cast toward the southern horizon, where his Family and his concerns lay.
"Just as I said before, in my eyes, there is no distinction in this world."
"As for the so-called center..."
He withdrew his gaze, his tone calm yet utterly domineering:
"Wherever I am, that is the center of the world."
"Wherever my home resides, that is the Holy Land of the Cultivation World."
All voices of protest ceased abruptly at that moment.
Scope!
This was true scope!
While they were still focused on the meager resources of Central Prefecture and the so-called "geographical advantage."
Chen Xu had long since leaped out of that framework.
Indeed, with Chen Xu's current strength and prestige, even if he lived on a deserted island, that island would instantly become the most bustling Holy Land in the Cultivation World.
Myriad Sects paying tribute relied not on the place, but on the person!
"We... have been enlightened!"
An elderly Nascent Soul Loose Cultivator tremblingly bowed deeply to Chen Xu: "The Alliance Leader's breadth of mind truly belongs to an Immortal!"
Liu Ruyan looked at the man standing on the platform with his hands clasped behind his back.
The reverence in her heart transformed into profound adoration.
This was a true man.
Unmoved by power, and unblinded by superficial glamor.
"Pass down the order."
Chen Xu said no more, turning to walk toward the massive Flagship suspended in the air.
"Set sail, we are going home."
... Half an hour later.
"Woo—"
A desolate horn blast echoed across the sky.
Led by the thousand-zhang long Azure Dragon Flagship, dozens of warships laden with spoils slowly ascended, blotting out the sky and sun.
At this moment, on the ground below.
Whether they were Sect Masters and Elders of the great Sects, or ordinary Foundation Establishment Stage Disciples.
Everyone, without prior agreement, bowed deeply toward the gradually departing fleet, performing a great ceremony.
"Respectfully seeing off the Alliance Leader!!!"
"Respectfully seeing off the Alliance Leader!!!"
The sound waves were overwhelming, shaking the Nine Heavens.
The grandeur and magnificence of the scene were enough for any eyewitness to remember for a lifetime, and worthy of being recorded in the historical annals of Central Prefecture's Cultivation World.
Aboard the Azure Dragon Flagship's deck.
Chen Xu stood against the wind, his robes fluttering.
Murong Zhuyun stood quietly half a step behind him, her beautiful eyes watching the increasingly small crowd below, listening to the deafening farewell shouts, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
She turned her head to look at Chen Xu's profile.
Sunlight shone on his face, outlining resolute, chiseled features.
"Sir."
Murong Zhuyun called softly: "Did we... truly win?"
Although the Demonic Path was destroyed, and the masses had submitted.
She could sense that ever since he returned from the depths of the Devil Abyss last night.
Something seemed to be hidden in Sir's heart.
The feeling was as if, despite standing in the sunlight, he could still feel the shadows closing in.
Chen Xu regained his focus.
He turned his head to look at the woman who had silently accompanied him all this time.
He reached out, gently smoothing the stray hair that the wind had tousled, a hint of tenderness flashing in his eyes.
"We won."
Chen Xu said softly, as if answering her, and also telling himself.
"As long as I am here, we will never lose."
Whether this world was a cage or not.
Whether it was a land of exile or not.
No matter how cruel the truth about the so-called "Jailer" and "sacrifices" was.
As long as he was alive, and as long as the sword in his hand remained unbroken.
He would absolutely never allow anyone, or any existence, to harm the people he cared about.
Protecting the Chen Family and protecting the people around him would always be his primary principle.
As for the so-called "Heaven"... If this Heaven wanted to suppress him, then he would pierce through it!
If this cage wanted to trap him, then he would smash this cage!
Thinking of this, the confusion in Chen Xu's eyes was completely masked.
"Let's go, home."
The Flagship roared, crashing through the clouds.
Carrying supreme glory, it sped toward South Spirit Prefecture.
South Spirit Prefecture, border.
On this day, the sky was cloudless.
Because all the clouds were instantly shattered when the Azure Dragon Flagship, large enough to obscure the sun and moon, passed through.
Before the Flagship arrived, anomalies appeared.
Above the normally calm Great Feng Capital City, the wind and clouds suddenly surged.
This was not the oppressive feeling of dark clouds descending.
Instead, it was a vast, boundless expanse of purple Qi, rolling in from the east, stretching thirty thousand miles, dyeing the entire sky above South Spirit Prefecture a noble purple-gold color.
"Roar—!"
A high-pitched Dragon roar resonated across the heavens.
The Golden Dragon coiled within the Chen Family's sea of Luck had swelled several times larger than when Chen Xu left, and it was currently tumbling and roaring through the purple Qi like a playful behemoth.
The Spiritual Qi of the entire South Spirit Prefecture seemed to answer the call of a monarch, frantically pouring toward the Great Feng Capital City.
Outside the Chen Family mansion, the area was already packed with people.
Not only the Chen Family members, Daoist Yuqing, and Chu Xuan, but even the Great Feng Dynasty Emperor Qin Zhe, and a crowd of Cultivators from South Spirit Prefecture, were honestly standing at the front of the welcoming party, craning their necks and looking toward the northern horizon.
"They're here!"
Someone shouted.
Everyone held their breath.
They saw a suffocatingly massive warship slowly breaking through the clouds at the northern horizon.
The mottled sword and saber marks on the ship's hull, along with the intense Evil Qi that had not fully dissipated, silently spoke of the earth-shattering bloody battle it had just endured.
That was the iron-blooded warship that had conquered the entire Central Prefecture.
The warship hovered ten thousand zhang high and did not descend.
The next moment, a figure in green robes stepped out from the bow of the ship.
Chen Xu stepped on the Void Realm, descending step by step as if walking down stairs.
He walked slowly, but with every step he took, a muffled drumbeat seemed to sound between heaven and earth.
Striking the hearts of everyone present.
That was "momentum."
A supreme momentum that transcended all living beings and commanded the power of life and death over an entire realm.
"Respectfully welcoming the Imperial Preceptor's triumphant return!"
Qin Zhe straightened his dragon robes and was the first to bow deeply.
"Respectfully welcoming the Imperial Preceptor!"
Tens of thousands of people behind him bowed simultaneously, the sound surging like a tide.
Chen Xu landed.
He glanced at Qin Zhe and Daoist Yuqing, who were bowing, and gave a slight nod, but his footsteps did not pause.
At this moment of universal attention, the overlord who had just unified Central Prefecture ignored these great figures, walking straight through the crowd toward the women in the back whose eyes were already brimming with tears.
Bu Yifan, Sun Xiaoyue, Qin Rouer, and his various wives and concubines.
They stood there, some holding babies in their arms, others leading slightly older children by the hand.
But unanimously, the tears in their eyes were swirling, yet they stubbornly refused to let them fall.
They simply stared at the man walking toward them.
Chen Xu stopped, and the majesty capable of crushing the heavens instantly dissipated completely.
He was no longer an Alliance Leader, nor was he the descendant of a Jailer.
He was merely a husband who had been away from home too long, and a father.
"Why are you crying?"
Chen Xu reached out, his fingertip gently wiping Bu Yifan's eye corner, then stretched out his long arms, pulling the women and the children who rushed forward tightly into his embrace.
"I'm back."
These simple four words were worth more than a thousand.
Sun Xiaoyue couldn't hold back, burying her head in Chen Xu's chest and sobbing, getting tears and snot all over his priceless green robe.
Qin Rouer tightly gripped his sleeve, as if letting go would make him vanish again.
This scene caused the surrounding Cultivators, who had prepared a bellyful of flattering words, to wisely shut their mouths.
Daoist Yuqing stroked his beard, looking at the man surrounded by his wife and children, and Chu Xuan did the same, his eyes slightly moist.
The Family Head had truly experienced too much.
Chen Xu held his Family, feeling the real warmth in his arms, yet an unspeakable sorrow arose in his heart.
Cage.
The words of the ancient demon were rooted in his heart.
If he did not break that truth, this heartwarming scene was merely the self-amusement of birds in a cage.
If they knew that this world was nothing more than a gigantic prison, and they were the creatures being raised, how long could this smile last?
Chen Xu forcibly suppressed the gloom in his eyes.
At least for now, if the sky collapsed, he would hold it up.
Just then, the familiar mechanical voice sounded in his mind again.
[Ding!]
[Detection: Host has returned to the Family, Central Prefecture hegemony is established, and the threat of the Demonic Path is completely eliminated!]
[Current Phase Family Growth Mission concluded: Eliminate the Demonic Path and unify Central Prefecture, achieved perfectly!]
[Final settlement is underway...]
[Settlement Rating: SSS+!]
Chen Xu's arms around his wife stiffened slightly.
SSS+?
This was the highest rating the System had ever given since its appearance!
The surrounding people only felt Chen Xu's aura suddenly fluctuate; a heart-palpitating pressure flashed and vanished, scaring several Family members who wanted to step forward into nearly kneeling on the ground.
Chen Xu ignored the external reactions, his attention completely immersed in the System interface.