470: Shen Yuanmo emerged from seclusion, and the city lord bowed in submission.

Outside the Nine Heavens Pagoda, a deathly silence hung between heaven and earth.

The terrifying phenomenon of ten thousand Daos submitting and Laws bowing their heads had already dissipated.

However, the trembling branded deep within the Divine Souls of the hundreds of millions of living beings in South Heaven Immortal City only grew deeper.

Everyone, whether they were Cultivators kneeling on the ground or Mortals shivering in fear, remained silent, subconciously holding their breath.

The entire Immortal City was so quiet that one could hear their own heartbeat.

Amidst this extreme oppression, a figure appeared at the top of the Nine Heavens Pagoda without warning.

He wore white robes, his black hair fell to his shoulders, and his aura was restrained to the limit, as if he had merged into one with heaven and earth.

He stood there quietly, without joy or sorrow, untainted by dust or grime, looking just like a mundane scholar who had never practiced cultivation.

Returning to one's true self.

If they hadn't witnessed the series of world-destroying phenomena earlier with their own eyes...

No one would be able to connect the ordinary young man before them with that supreme existence who seemed to dominate the ten thousand Daos and whose words were Law.

“Welcome back from seclusion, Senior!”

The moment Shen Yuanmo appeared, City Lord Nangong Bo, who had been waiting a hundred miles away, immediately turned into a streak of light and shot toward him.

He didn't even dare to fly directly to the top of the pagoda, instead stopping in mid-air a hundred zhang away from the Nine Heavens Pagoda.

Then, under the gaze of countless horrified eyes...

This deeply majestic Half-step Mahayana powerhouse, who had ruled South Heaven Immortal City for over a hundred thousand years, straightened his clothes and assumed an extremely solemn expression.

He performed a full prostration toward Shen Yuanmo at the top of the pagoda.

This bow was an act of awe and submission from the depths of his Soul.

Shen Yuanmo's gaze fell calmly upon Nangong Bo.

Under his Divine Sense perception, which was comparable to the Early Stage of the Mahayana realm...

Everything about Nangong Bo—his cultivation, his Cultivation Technique, and even the Dao wounds deep within his Divine Soul—had nowhere to hide.

“Your Dao is cluttered and impure, greedy for more and seeking Perfection in everything, to the point of going astray.”

Shen Yuanmo spoke flatly; his voice wasn't loud, but it reached Nangong Bo's ears clearly, like a morning bell or an evening drum.

“Sever the three thousand threads of worry and leave only one path to heaven; only then will there be a glimmer of hope for survival.”

Boom!

Two simple sentences landed in Nangong Bo's Sea of Consciousness, yet they were no different from a bolt of Chaos Divine Thunder exploding overhead!

He felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his whole body shaking violently.

Cluttered and impure!

Greedy for more and seeking Perfection!

These eight words were like eight incredibly sharp daggers, instantly piercing through all his disguises and pride, precisely dissecting the greatest crux of his cultivation path.

Nangong Bo had cultivated for nearly two hundred thousand years and possessed extraordinary talent.

He was once hailed as the Genius with the most hope of ascending to the Mahayana realm in a million years within South Heaven Immortal City.

To achieve a Breakthrough, he had cultivated the Great Dao of Flames, comprehended the Space Law, and even dabbled in the rare Dao of Life... He thought that breadth meant strength.

He didn't realize that it was precisely this greed that made his Dao techniques a jumbled mess, hindering each other.

Ultimately, he had wasted a full hundred thousand years at the Bottleneck of the Half-step Mahayana realm without making any further progress.

Now, Shen Yuanmo had exposed it with a single word.

The mist that had troubled him for a hundred thousand years, that indestructible Mahayana Bottleneck...

At this moment, it miraculously showed signs of loosening.

Thud!

Nangong Bo could no longer maintain his posture; having previously only bowed in the Void Realm...

He now knelt directly from mid-air toward the ground, kowtowing heavily three times in the direction of the Nine Heavens Pagoda.

Each kowtow caused the ground to let out a dull thud.

“Senior's single word is worth a hundred thousand years of this Junior's bitter cultivation!”

He looked up, tears streaming down his aged face, his excitement beyond words.

“The grace of this rebirth is something Nangong Bo will never forget!”

This wasn't flattery, but heartfelt gratitude.

This bit of guidance was more precious than any Heaven And Earth Treasure or any supreme Legacy.

Shen Yuanmo remained non-committal toward Nangong Bo's excitement, his expression not changing in the slightest.

To him, it was merely a casual remark.

He turned his head, looked at the Immortal City bathed in sunlight, and asked, “How long have I been in seclusion?”

Nangong Bo quickly composed himself, suppressing the wild joy and excitement in his heart, and answered respectfully.

“In response to Senior, you have been in seclusion for a total of three months and two days.”

He paused, adding in an even more reverent tone.

“During these three months, Senior has successively triggered two great miracles: the Resonance of the Great Dao and the Falling of Golden Lotuses from the sky, blessing the entire city.”

“Now, the Cultivators in the city, regardless of their cultivation level, have all had Breakthroughs. The city's strength has increased by more than thirty percent out of thin air.”

“Currently, all Cultivators in South Heaven Immortal City honor you as the Living Ancestor of the Dao.”

Regarding this, Shen Yuanmo's face remained as calm as ever, as if those miracles worthy of being recorded in history had nothing to do with him.

He had digested the million-year-old accumulation of the Li Family, his cultivation had broken through, and his Foundation was now at Perfection; it was only normal to trigger some phenomena.

His focus was clearly elsewhere.

“The Li Family,” Shen Yuanmo's voice was still flat, but it made Nangong Bo's heart leap into his throat.

“Do they have any backers in the Central Continent Divine Land?”

Here it comes!

Nangong Bo's mind shuddered, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

He knew this was what the Senior was truly concerned about.

A top-tier Family that had stood for a million years couldn't be uprooted without consequences.

He didn't dare hide anything and quickly revealed everything he knew.

“In response to Senior, the Li Family... their main branch is indeed just a power within South Heaven City.”

“But among their ancestors, there was once a Prodigy who joined the top-tier power of the Central Continent Divine Land, the Zixiao Holy Land.”

“Although he is only an outer Sect deacon, the Li Family became one of the subsidiary families of the Zixiao Holy Land because of him.”

“Their main responsibility is to scour for various cultivation resources and talented Disciples for the Holy Land.”

Zixiao Holy Land!

When these four words came out of Nangong Bo's mouth, he could clearly feel the surroundings becoming suffocatingly oppressive.

That was a behemoth entrenched in the central region of the Central Continent Divine Land, with a true Mahayana Saint Monarch presiding over the Sect.

With prestige that weighed down upon hundreds of millions of miles of mountains and rivers, they were the true leaders of this world.

Compared to them, his South Heaven Immortal City wasn't even worth a speck of dust.

After finishing, Nangong Bo nervously observed Shen Yuanmo's expression.

He tried to see even the slightest emotional fluctuation on that calm face.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed.

Shen Yuanmo's expression hadn't changed at all from beginning to end.

It was as if what he heard wasn't about a behemoth that could easily crush South Heaven Immortal City, but an insignificant small Sect.

Just as Nangong Bo's heart was becoming increasingly uneasy, he gritted his teeth and made a crazy decision.

He suddenly took out a jade seal from his robes, surrounded by purple light and engraved with the ancient characters for 'South Heaven'.

It was the City Lord's Seal of South Heaven Immortal City.

He held the seal high with both hands and knelt on the ground once more, his voice incredibly earnest.

“Senior! The Karma of the Li Family matter all lies with South Heaven City! If the Zixiao Holy Land comes to investigate, this Junior is willing to take full responsibility!”

“This is the City Lord's Seal of South Heaven Immortal City. This Junior is willing to offer this city, along with the ten-thousand-year Foundation of my Nangong Family, to Senior!”

“I only ask... only ask to follow by Senior's side, to serve you in any way possible, and to listen to the true words of the Great Dao!”

This was a massive gamble for him.

Using an Immortal City and the future of a Family to bet on a chance to follow this unfathomable existence.

However, Shen Yuanmo only gave a faint glance at the City Lord's Seal that represented supreme power and waved his hand.

“No need.”

There wasn't a hint of interest in his tone.

“It's just a city; it's useless to me.”

Hearing this, an indescribable sense of loss welled up in Nangong Bo's heart.

But even more so, he was shocked by Shen Yuanmo's transcendent state of mind that viewed power as nothing.

“I will stay here for a few more days,” Shen Yuanmo continued.

“Go and prepare the most detailed information about the Central Continent Divine Land for me, the more detailed the better.”

“Yes! This Junior obeys!”

Nangong Bo felt as if he had been granted a great pardon and quickly responded.

Although he failed to offer the city, the Senior was willing to stay.

Giving him a task was itself a positive signal.

Shen Yuanmo said no more; his figure flickered and disappeared from the top of the pagoda, returning to the quiet room on the ninth floor.

Leaving Nangong Bo alone, standing respectfully in place for a long time.

Only then did he dare to straighten up and wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, his eyes flashing with the feeling of having survived a disaster and extreme fanaticism.

Inside the quiet room, Shen Yuanmo sat cross-legged, his fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on his knee.

“Zixiao Holy Land...”