923: Chapter 924 The Return of Heaven's Heart

Gu Changge looked at this scene, and a trace of extremely faint satisfaction flashed across his eyes.

Xiao Ruobai's handling both gave Sect Master Liu Zhenshan Face, established his own prestige, and completely cut off Ji Linyan's retreat.

He spoke calmly, his voice not loud, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears:

"Remember what you said today."

Ji Linyan trembled all over and heavily kowtowed, "Subordinate will remember it well."

"Go."

Ji Linyan kowtowed once more, slowly got up, and dragging his sealed body, walked step by step out of the hall.

In that desolate figure, there was faintly a trace of release and firmness.

Until his figure completely disappeared outside the hall door, the atmosphere inside the main hall loosened up just a little bit.

Sect Master Liu Zhenshan withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath, turned back to Gu Changge, and bowed, "Thank you, Exalted One, for your fulfillment."

Gu Changge nodded slightly and didn't say anything more.

Sect Master Liu Zhenshan took a deep breath, turned around, facing the dozens of Elders, Peak masters, and supervisors in the hall, and spoke in a ringing voice:

"Everyone, matters have reached this point, and some things should also be made clear."

His voice was not high-pitched, yet it carried an unquestionable solemnity.

"I, Sect Master Liu Zhenshan, formally acknowledged the Exalted One as my master a few days ago.

From now on, everyone up and down the Tianyuan Sect will be an affiliated force of the Exalted One."

As soon as these words came out, the main hall instantly boiled over.

Although everyone had long guessed it, when Sect Master Liu Zhenshan admitted it personally, that kind of shock was still indescribable.

The Sect Master of a dignified Heavenly King Realm-level faction had actually acknowledged someone as his master?

Sect Master Liu Zhenshan took a deep breath, and his gaze turned to the graceful figure in white standing beside him.

There were complex emotions in his eyes, a mixture of guilt and relief.

"Qingyao, do you still remember that three years ago, your Origin was gradually drying up and you were hanging by a thread?"

Liu Qingyao was slightly startled, not understanding why her father brought up past events at this moment, but still replied truthfully:

"Daughter remembers. At that time, daughter's Spiritual Root was withered, her Meridians were atrophied, and she was unconscious.

Father once said that it was a passing worldly expert who made a move to save her, pulling daughter back from the gates of hell."

As Liu Qingyao spoke, her voice suddenly paused, and her gaze uncontrollably turned to the figure in white on the main seat.

Could the passing worldly expert mentioned by Father be the person right in front of her?

Sect Master Liu Zhenshan met his daughter's shocked gaze, nodded slowly, and said solemnly:

"That's right. The person who saved you three years ago is none other than the Exalted One."

Liu Qingyao's fingertips trembled slightly, and her eye sockets turned red uncontrollably.

She remembered that after waking up, her originally shattered Innate Spirit Source Body took on a completely new look, and its quality even faintly exceeded the scope of her cognition.

She had countless times depicted the appearance of that life-saving benefactor in her heart, imagining that he was an old man with the demeanor of an immortal, or a dignified and deep Senior.

She had never expected that he would be so young, so... handsome.

She took a deep breath, suppressed her churning emotions, tidied her clothes, slowly stepped forward, knelt on both knees, and solemnly kowtowed:

"Liu Qingyao thanks the Exalted One for saving my life.

This kindness and virtue, Qingyao will engrave in her heart and never forget for all eternity."

Gu Changge lowered his eyes to look at her, was silent for a moment, and said calmly:

"Get up."

Liu Qingyao kowtowed once more, slowly got up, and retreated to the side.

But the gaze she looked at Gu Changge with had completely changed.

It was no longer the curiosity and sizing up from before, but gratitude and awe originating from the depths of her Soul.

Looking at his daughter's appearance, Sect Master Liu Zhenshan felt a myriad of emotions in his heart, but he also knew that this was not the time for sentimentality.

He turned around, facing the dozens of Elders, Peak masters, and supervisors in the hall, and his voice was as deep as a giant bell:

"Everyone, this seat has made things clear. From today onwards, the Tianyuan Sect officially becomes an affiliated force of the Exalted One."

His gaze was like a torch, sweeping across everyone present, and his voice carried unquestionable majesty:

"Who agrees? Who opposes?"

Everyone's gazes inside the main hall first fell on that figure in white on the main seat.

He still leaned sideways on the seat, his expression calm, as if he were merely listening to a trivial matter that had nothing to do with him.

Yet it was precisely this calmness that made everyone's hearts even chillier.

Subsequently, everyone's gazes unanimously turned to Xiao Hei standing quietly to the side.

That Celestial Venerable Realm expert in black who crippled a Heavenly King Realm fifth-layer Peak expert with a wave of his hand was now quietly standing beside Gu Changge, like a dutiful guard.

A Celestial Venerable Realm expert called someone master, and a Sect Master bowed his head.

Facing such an existence, what qualifications did they have to oppose?

The Grand Elder took the lead in stepping forward, bowing with cupped fists:

"This old man agrees. The Exalted One's Divine Ability is peerless, and being able to protect the Tianyuan Sect is Tianyuan's blessing."

Ziyang Peak Master, Biluo Peak Master, and Tianjian Peak Master followed closely behind, saying in ringing voices:

"We are willing to follow the Sect Master and be loyal to the Exalted One!"

Sect Master Liu Zhenshan nodded with satisfaction, turned back, and bowed toward Gu Changge:

"Exalted One, everyone up and down the Tianyuan Sect will be your affiliates from today onwards."

As he spoke, Sect Master Liu Zhenshan seemed to think of something, and his tone shifted:

"Since Xiao Ruobai and the others are training in the Tianyuan Sect, how about the Exalted One permanently stationed in the Tianyuan Sect so that you can often guide Xiao Ruobai and them?"

Sect Master Liu Zhenshan's tone was sincere, "Although the Tianyuan Sect cannot compare to those Celestial Venerable Realm orthodoxies, it can still be considered abundant in Spiritual Qi and decent in resources.

If the Exalted One is willing to stay, everyone up and down the Tianyuan Sect will definitely do their utmost to serve by your side."

As soon as these words came out, the nearby Grand Elder also hurriedly echoed:

"That's right, Exalted One! If you are willing to stay in the Tianyuan Sect, this old man is willing to vacate the best Immortal Cave on the main Peak for the Exalted One's cultivation use!"

Jokes aside, this was a supreme existence that even a Celestial Venerable Realm expert had to call master!

If such a great deity could be kept in the Tianyuan Sect, would there be any need to worry about the Tianyuan Sect's status in the Desolate Domain in the future?

Gu Changge was silent for a moment, his gaze swept across the crowd in the hall, and finally landed on Sect Master Liu Zhenshan.

"Very well."

His gaze shifted slightly, looking through the open doors and windows of the main hall toward the cloud-shrouded solitary Peak in the southwest direction.

"What is the name of that mountain Peak?"

Sect Master Liu Zhenshan looked along his gaze and was slightly startled:

"That Peak is called Guyun Peak. Because the terrain is remote, uninhabited all year round, and has no development value, it has always been abandoned."

"Guyun Peak..." Gu Changge repeated the name and nodded slightly.

"Let it be this one."

Sect Master Liu Zhenshan hurriedly bowed, "Yes! This subordinate will immediately send people to renovate it, set up Formations, and lay down Spiritual Veins—"

"There is no need." Gu Changge waved his hand,

"As for this mountain, this seat has its own arrangements."

Gu Changge stood up, his gaze swept across the higher-ups of Tianyuan Sect in the hall, and his fingertips gently flipped,

and a Jade Slip appeared out of thin air in his palm, crystal-white throughout.

The surface circulated with faint golden dao patterns, emitting an abstruse and distant fluctuation.

He tossed the Jade Slip toward Sect Master Liu Zhenshan.

Sect Master Liu Zhenshan instinctively caught it, looked down, and his pupils shrank abruptly.

Carved on the Jade Slip were four archaic characters— 《Zixiao Dao Classic》.

Merely holding this Jade Slip, he could feel a vast and majestic Dao Rhyme surging into his body along his palm.

Making the Bottleneck that had trapped him at the sixth layer of the Heavenly King Realm for many years vaguely show signs of loosening.

"This... This is..."

"A Dao Classic pointing directly to the Celestial Venerable Realm."

Gu Changge's tone was calm, as if he had just casually thrown out an ordinary introductory Cultivation Technique.

"The foundation of the Tianyuan Sect is too shallow; it doesn't even have a single decent Legacy Cultivation Technique.

No wonder you all have remained trapped in the Heavenly King Realm for so many years, hovering and failing to advance."

As soon as these words came out, everyone's breathing in the main hall choked for a moment.

A Dao Classic pointing directly to the Celestial Venerable Realm?!

Throughout the entire Desolate Domain, the factions possessing the Celestial Venerable Realm's Legacy could be counted on one's fingers, and every single one was a sect-guarding treasure, absolutely never taught to non-direct core members.

Yet this Exalted One just casually threw it out like that?