300: Fame resounds throughout the world, and its aftershocks have yet to subside.

Shen Yuanmo's figure vanished from the skies above the Qiantian Divine Capital, like a stone dropped into a lake, the ripples only just beginning to spread.

He himself was completely unaware of the massive storm about to erupt behind him, nor did he care.

But the entire Tianyuan Continent, from the supremely prosperous Central Prefecture Divine Capital to the barren and remote Four Corners Borderlands, was completely set ablaze because of him alone.

The first to publicize the monumental stone dropped into the center of the lake was the mysterious and omnipresent Heavenly Secret Pavilion.

On the morning of the second day after the Secret Realm closed, the first ray of dawn had yet to pierce the clouds.

In the top Cultivator markets across the continent's major Prefectures and Counties, brand new Jade Slips were silently hung in front of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's ancient, unchanging structure.

The Jade Slips were entirely black, inscribed only with five blood-red characters in cinnabar—"The Prodigy Register."

Countless early-rising Cultivators merely glanced at them out of habit, but the next moment, they were struck as if by lightning, frozen in place.

“Look quickly! Heavenly Secret Pavilion has released a new ranking!”

A cry of surprise shattered the market's tranquility.

In an instant, the crowd surged forward like water.

When their Divine Sense penetrated the Jade Slips, the entire world instantly fell silent.

The content of the Jade Slip was extremely concise, yet every word was devastating.

“Great Qian Immortal Dynasty, Qianyuan Calendar, Year 3492, the Heaven-Reaching Secret Realm opens. Seventh Prince Ji Wushuang, Heir of the Marquis of Swords Ye Wuchen, Young Lord of Heavenly Demon Valley Huang Jiutian... and 372 other peerless Prodigies entered.”

“The ultimate fortune [spirit realm law fragment] belongs to the God General Who Suppresses the South of the Southern Border, Shen Yuanmo.”

“Process: Unknown.”

“Result: Huang Jiutian burned his blood essence to reach Soul Transformation, was critically wounded and near death by a single move; Seventh Prince Ji Wushuang's Dao Heart was damaged; Ye Wuchen admitted his inferiority. The rest were merely supporting characters.”

There were no flowery phrases, no embellished descriptions.

But every single word was like a heavy hammer, smashing fiercely into the hearts of all the Cultivators who saw the Jade Slip!

Unknown?

These two words were more chilling than any detailed description!

What kind of place was the Heavenly Secret Pavilion? They claimed to calculate all heavenly secrets and know everything!

Yet this time, they only used the two words "Unknown" to describe the process of the battle within the Secret Realm.

This could only mean one thing.

The battle there had exceeded the limits of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's investigation.

Or perhaps, the person named Shen Yuanmo was a mist that even the Heavenly Secret Pavilion could not peer into, record, or describe!

Immediately afterward, while the crowd was still immersed in this shock, another piece of news, even more subversive to common understanding, quietly spread like a plague within the circles of the imperial relatives and nobles in the Divine Capital.

At an extremely extravagant banquet, a certain Prince of the First Rank, after getting drunk, let slip a heavenly secret.

“Did you hear? Yesterday, His Majesty the Immortal Emperor summoned that Shen Yuanmo alone in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, intending to follow the example of the Founding Ancestor and confer upon him the title of 'one-word co-regent king'!”

“What?! A one-word king who is equal to the imperial Family and doesn't bow to the sovereign? This... this is impossible! In the three thousand years since the founding of the Great Qian, there has never been a precedent for granting a king title to someone outside the imperial surname, save for the few Saints who followed the Founding Ancestor to conquer the world!”

“The news is confirmed! I heard it with my own ears! But... but the truly outrageous part is yet to come! That Shen Yuanmo... he... he refused, right in front of His Majesty!”

“He's crazy?!”

“Clang!”

The crisp sound of a Jade Cup shattering on the floor was particularly jarring in the dead silent banquet hall.

If winning first place in the Secret Realm proved his talent and strength.

Then refusing the conferment of the one-word co-regent king title completely exposed this person's Heart-Nature and ambition!

Mortal authority was like dust to him.

For a time, the three words "Shen Yuanmo" became a weighty, even somewhat taboo topic among the highest circles of the entire Tianyuan Continent... Southern Border, Qingzhou Prefecture City.

Shen Family Main Residence, Discussion Hall.

Shen Qiming and Shen Zongdao held an imperial gazette report delivered by the Imperial Gazette Office via the highest-Rank Eight Hundred Li Express Spiritual Bird, and their hands, which had weathered countless storms, were now shaking uncontrollably.

That report, woven from Gold Thread Cloud Brocade, felt heavy as a thousand jun in their hands.

Inscribed on the report, in the largest vermillion gold characters, were the results of the Heaven-Reaching Secret Realm and the Immortal Emperor's personal praise.

“Good! What a God General Who Suppresses the South! What a Shen Yuanmo!”

Shen Qiming stroked the line of text repeatedly, his eyes instantly turning red, and hot tears streamed uncontrollably, dropping onto the Gold Thread Cloud Brocade.

He recalled over a decade ago when the Family was precarious, their only Foundation Establishment Old Ancestor was critically wounded and dying, and he, as the Family Head, suffered sleepless nights, his temples turning gray, having prepared in despair to lead the entire Family in a bloody fight to the end and die for the clan.

But now?

His son had become an existence whom even the Immortal Emperor personally praised and wished to confer a princely title upon!

His Shen Family had become an existence that even the top Families in Central Prefecture, with their ten-thousand-year Legacies, had to look up to!

“Old Ancestor... am I... am I dreaming?”

Shen Qiming's voice was hoarse, tinged with uncontrollable sobs; he was afraid that if he blinked, everything before his eyes would vanish like a bubble.

“Slap!”

Shen Zongdao slapped himself hard across the face.

The stinging pain instantly spread across his old face, yet he grinned, revealing his yellowed teeth, laughing like a three-hundred-jin child.

“It hurts! It's real! Qiming, all of this is real!”

Shen Zongdao also wept, tears streaming down his face, and he snatched the report, pointing at the three seemingly luminous characters on it, and roared with all his might toward the outside of the hall.

“Someone! Pass on my order! Set up flowing feasts throughout the entire Prefecture City for three days! Supply all Spiritual Rice and Spiritual Wine openly! Open the ancestral hall and offer sacrifices to the ancestors!”

“Go tell the ancestors of our Shen Family! My Shen Family has produced a true Dragon!!”

On this day, the entire Qingzhou Prefecture City turned into an ocean of joy.

Countless Cultivators and Mortals poured into the streets, sharing this supreme glory that had descended from the heavens.

The Shen Family's prestige in the Southern Border reached its zenith at this moment, soaring high like the midday sun!

...Central Prefecture, various top-tier Noble Families.

Inside the deep, silent secret chambers, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt tangible.

The Family Heads, who were usually high and mighty, were currently holding talks with their most outstanding successors—conversations that could determine the fate of their Families for the next thousand years.

“Starting today, list 'Shen Yuanmo' and the 'Shen Family of Qingzhou' as the highest-Rank targets of concern for our clan, bar none! Their priority even surpasses Immortal Emperor Ji Cangxuan!”

“All clan members traveling outside must treat any member of the Shen Family with respect! If a conflict arises, regardless of who is right or wrong, retreat three paces first! Anyone who dares to violate this will have their cultivation abolished and be expelled from the Family!”

“Furthermore, immediately go to the treasury, retrieve the thirty-thousand-year-old 'Nine Apertures Connecting to the Gods Lotus,' and personally lead a team to Qingzhou. Adopt a humble posture, and say... we wish to form a permanent bond of kinship with the Shen Family!”

“Father, is this necessary? The Nine Apertures Connecting to the Gods Lotus is one of our clan's foundations! He's just someone from the Southern Border...”

A young and spirited successor finally couldn't help but question this, his face filled with confusion and reluctance.

“Silence!” The Family Head slapped him, his gaze as cold as ten-thousand-year-old profound ice. “What do you know! This person dared to refuse even the 'one-word co-regent king' title, proving that secular authority, wealth, and beauty cannot move him!”

“The magnitude of this person's heart and the loftiness of his ambition are beyond our ability to fathom! Tell me, what will you use to befriend him, and what will you use to oppose him?”

“With a person like this, you either befriend him at all costs before he fully matures! Or, you wait for the day he settles accounts, and our clan will be the first to be crushed!”

...Compared to the turbulent waves outside, the Seventh Prince's manor was utterly silent.

Inside Seventh Prince Ji Wushuang's bedchamber, the scent of precious Medicinal Pills mixed with a thick, lingering smell of blood, causing nausea.

This Prince, who was once brilliant and hailed as the most powerful contender for the great succession.

Now, he was slumped on the luxurious bed, pale-faced and disheveled, his eyes hollow, staring fixedly at the ceiling, muttering repeatedly.

“Impossible... Why me... Why...”

That casual, indifferent demeanor at the Dao Discussion Assembly.

That figure on the Secret Realm Divine Mountain who treated the Heavenly Ladder like flat ground.

And that Chaos great hand that, with a casual wave, shattered the pride of his entire life... Scene after scene, they transformed into inescapable nightmares, repeatedly playing out in his fragmented Sea of Consciousness.

His Dao Heart, and his supreme pride as a Prince, were thoroughly ground into dust by that man with a casual gesture.

“Pfft!”

Under the intense agitation of his mind, a mouthful of black rebellious blood spurted out again, and the already chaotic Dharma power within his body instantly lost control, rushing into the wrong channels like a wild horse running astray!

Qi Deviation.

This former Son of Heaven, in the endless shadow left by Shen Yuanmo, had his path to immortality severed.

Meanwhile, at the First Rank Marquis of Swords Manor.

After Ye Wuchen returned, he met no one and walked straight into the Family Forbidden Ground—the Ten Thousand Swords Tomb.

This place buried the treasured swords of the Ye Family's ancestors generation after generation. The Sword Intent soared to the heavens, and an ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivator would be shredded by the Sword Qi if they took even half a step inside.

He respectfully kowtowed three times toward the ancestral hall.

Then, he sat cross-legged before a broken sword that was covered in rust but still emitted indomitable Sword Intent, and slowly closed his eyes.

“My Dao is inferior to Shen Yuanmo's.”

“Starting today, I, Ye Wuchen, enter secluded death cultivation.”

“If I do not reach Soul Transformation, if I do not prove my Dao, I swear I will not exit seclusion!”

He regarded Shen Yuanmo as the only chasm he needed to catch up to and surpass in this lifetime!

Shen Yuanmo, by himself, stirred up the winds and clouds of the entire Tianyuan Continent.

He caused a Prince's Dao Heart to shatter, forced a Prodigy into secluded self-reflection, made countless Noble Families bow their heads, and caused the major powers to reshuffle.

He himself, however, knew nothing of this.

At this moment, his figure had already traversed countless miles of mountains and rivers, standing upon a vast, harsh land.

The biting cold wind, mixed with knife-like ice flakes, scraped against his face, bringing a subtle stinging pain.

The Spiritual Qi in the air was negligible.

Instead, there was a strange, eerie aura—cold, chaotic, and deathly silent—that made the Divine Soul feel intensely uncomfortable, as if it were about to be frozen and contaminated.

This aura was completely different from Spiritual Qi, filled with the meaning of destruction and ending.

The Northern Plains had been reached.