248: Mount Everest is moving. Liu Bowen! I'm back!

At the same time.

At the Lu family living room.

Father Lu Jianguo, Mother Lu, and elder brother Lu Xiangyang also saw the news broadcast on TV, especially the Lin Rourou incident that happened at Jinan University.

All three of them simultaneously looked at the little girl who was leisurely peeling an apple.

“Xiaoya, you… tell grandma the truth,” Mother Lu said tremblingly, her voice wavering, “Was that the kind of situation you faced before?”

Lu Xiaoya popped a piece of apple into her mouth, making a crisp, pleasant crunch.

She rolled her eyes, her expression clearly saying, “You only just realized it?”

“More than that!”

“Let me tell you, my uncle is amazing! Last time at school, that fierce ghost named Lin Rourou, you saw her on the news, right? My uncle just poked her with one finger, and she exploded!”

The little girl spoke with great excitement, her face practically overflowing with pride and a sense of shared honor.

Of course, ninety-nine percent of it was exaggerated.

“Hiss—!”

The two elders of the Lu family and elder brother Lu Xiangyang all gasped in unison.

Just then, the news once again reported on the follow-up regarding the Dragon Division.

When they saw Zhao Xiaoying’s familiar face and her valiant figure soaring on her sword, the family was once again shocked.

“This… this, there are other Cultivators in this world?”

“Of course there are! Last time, uncle even fought a great Devil Head!”

“Dad,” Lu Xiangyang turned to Lu Jianguo, “Lu Yuchen, where did he go these past two days?”

“Who knows?” Lu Jianguo sighed, shaking his head helplessly, “That kid, ever since he came back, he’s been like a loach, slippery and elusive, showing his head but never his tail. Perhaps this Zhao Xiaoying is his handiwork.”

“Grandpa! Dad!”

Lu Xiaoya suddenly stood up.

“I’ve decided!”

“I don’t want to go to school anymore!”

Her voice suddenly rose.

“Currently, Jinan University is still undergoing repairs, and with the red-clothed fierce ghost incident, my identity probably can’t be kept a secret anymore.”

“Instead of wasting time in school every day, it’s better to… follow uncle and focus on Cultivating!”

“I want to become stronger! Strong enough to protect you, to protect this family!”

Lu Xiangyang looked at his daughter’s resolute eyes and remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he slowly nodded.

“Good.”

He only said one word.

But this one word seemed to contain immense power.

Times had changed.

“Yay! Long live Dad!”

Lu Xiaoya excitedly jumped up from the sofa, hugged Lu Xiangyang’s neck, and gave him a series of fierce kisses.

…

At the same time.

The capital, Dragon Division headquarters.

Inside a heavily guarded secret chamber.

Zhao Xiaoying, dressed in white, sat cross-legged.

In front of her were Xia Wanqing and five other captains, handpicked from the Dragon Division elite.

“This is the ‘Imperial Dao Luck Method’, which I obtained by chance.”

Zhao Xiaoying was now a division chief and the strongest official Cultivator, her demeanor having changed significantly. As she spoke, an air of authority made the others gasp for breath.

“This method can draw upon the Luck of the Dynasty for one’s own use, accelerating Cultivation. Its Cultivation speed is far beyond what ordinary Qi absorption methods can compare to.”

“However…”

She changed her tone, a hint of solemnity flashing in her eyes.

“Once this method is Cultivated, one’s self will be completely bound to the national Luck of Great Xia.”

“If the nation prospers, the person strengthens.”

“If the nation falls, the person perishes!”

“Have you all thought this through?”

Xia Wanqing and the other five were all deeply shaken by her words.

They exchanged glances, seeing undisguised determination in each other’s eyes.

“We, for Great Xia, are willing to die!”

The five knelt on one knee in unison, their voices like a resounding bell.

“Good.”

Zhao Xiaoying nodded, no longer hesitating, and slowly recited the cultivation method from the Jade Slip.

…

Three days later.

Inside the secret chamber, five auras soared into the sky!

Xia Wanqing and the other five, without exception, all successfully drew Qi into their bodies, stepping into the Qi Refinement realm!

Among them, Xia Wanqing, with the highest talent, even achieved Foundation Establishment in just one day! This speed made even Zhao Xiaoying look on with admiration.

…

The scene shifts.

At the summit of Mount Everest, beneath the perpetually frozen snow.

“Crack—!”

A faint, crisp sound.

A massive ice coffin, made of ten-thousand-year-old profound ice, suddenly cracked without warning.

Immediately after!

“Boom—!”

An earth-shattering roar!

The entire Mount Everest trembled violently and groaned at that moment!

The massive ice coffin exploded with a crash!

A terrifying aura, filled with endless brutality and malevolence, shot into the sky, stirring the clouds and winds within a hundred-mile radius!

A monstrous creature, nearly a zhang tall, with a green face and fangs, as if crawled out of Hell, slowly rose from the shattered ice coffin.

He roared to the sky, his voice seemingly capable of tearing a hole in the heavens!

“You Sealed me for seven hundred years! Seven hundred years!”

“Liu Bowen!”

“You damned old geezer!”

“Now, I am back!”

“You, had better still be alive!”

…

At the same time.

Deep within the core of a desolate planet, entirely yellowish-brown, long devoid of any life.

Inside a massive coffin, made of an unknown material.

A sigh, filled with endlessvicissitudes of life and helplessness, softly echoed.

…

Japan, Hokkaido.

Night fell.

“Whoosh—!”

The originally clear night sky, without any warning, began to pour with rain!

Raindrops as big as beans, mixed with biting cold, furiously lashed down.

Countless men and women still wandering the streets all cursed and ran for the nearest eaves.

No one noticed.

In the dark rain curtain, a slender figure in a red dress slowly emerged from the darkness.

She held a red oil-paper umbrella, and on her pretty face, which should have been pure and innocent, there was now a strange smile.

The slaughter began.

“Hehehe…”

A piercing shriek echoed through the sky!

Countless black shadows surged madly from behind her!

Dense and numerous, there were as many as thirty thousand!

Ghost servants!

Thirty thousand ghost servants!

Hokkaido was in chaos.

The entire Japan was in chaos!

Panic, like a plague, spread wildly!

“Ghosts! It’s ghosts!”

“Help! Help!”