The journey back to the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect was less of a travel montage and more of a psychological exercise for the four beasts pulling the chariot. These beasts, possessing the diluted bloodline of noble beasts and accustomed to the deferential fear of high-level cultivators, spent the entire flight trembling. They could feel it—the thrumming, alien predatory aura radiating from the driver's seat.
As the massive bronze chariot of the Nine Saint Demon Gate broke through the cloud layer above the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, it cast a shadow that swallowed the main plaza whole.
The atmosphere below shifted instantly from peaceful stagnation to apocalyptic panic.
The pressure released by the noble beasts was suffocating. It rolled over the sect's weak defensive arrays like a tsunami over a sandcastle, causing the protective barriers to whine and shimmer dangerously.
Disciples poured out of their dormitories, their faces pale, looking up at the bronze monstrosity descending from the firmament.
"Enemy attack!" a disciple screamed, tripping over his own robes. "It's the Nine Saint Demon Gate! They've come to finish what they started ten thousand years ago!"
"Run! The barrier won't hold!"
"It's the end! The Patriarch can't save us now!"
Inside the Ancestral Hall, the commotion shattered the heavy silence. The Six Elders rushed out, their weapons drawn, their expressions grim.
Even First Elder Gu Tieshou, a man who had weathered centuries of the sect's decline, felt his heart hammer against his ribs. His grip on his sword tightened, his knuckles turning white. If the Demon King Lun Ri had come personally to wage war, the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect—a withered husk of Immortal Emperor Min Ren's legacy—would be erased from the Grand Middle Territory before sunset.
BOOM!
The chariot slammed onto the paved jade of the main plaza. The impact was heavy, deliberate. Stone cracked and spiderwebbed outward under the bronze wheels. Dust billowed up in a choking gray cloud, obscuring the terrifying beasts that snorted smoke and restless sparks.
The hiss of the hydraulic-like seal breaking on the chariot door cut through the whimpering of the disciples.
Gu Tieshou stepped forward, circulating his Longevity Blood, prepared to die for the sect's honor. "Disciples, behind me! Prepare for—"
The mist cleared.
It wasn't a legion of demon soldiers that stepped out. It wasn't the towering figure of Demon King Lun Ri.
It was a young man in gray robes, stretching his arms high above his head until his back cracked with a satisfyiing pop. He looked around the dilapidated, panic-stricken plaza with the casual scrutiny of a real estate developer inspecting a fixer-upper.
"Home sweet home, I guess," Ling Feng drawled, his voice cutting through the tension with jarring informality. He kicked a loose piece of rubble across the plaza. "Man, the feng shui here is terrible. We really need to renovate. Maybe put in a pool. Or some nice trees. Ideally both."
The disciples froze. The Elders froze.
"L-Ling Feng?" Nan Huairen's voice squeaked from behind the chariot as he scrambled out, looking like he had aged ten years in a single afternoon.
Protector Mo followed, looking equally haggard, bowing deeply to the stunned Elders.
But the shock hadn't peaked yet.
Behind Ling Feng, a figure descended that sucked the air out of the plaza.
Li Shuangyan.
She was a vision composed of moonlight and glacial ice. Her white robes flowed around her like liquid mercury, and her presence—the aura of a prime genius possessing the Pure Jade Physique—naturally suppressed the breathing of every male disciple in the vicinity. She stood behind Ling Feng, her expression unreadable, her hand resting lightly on the hilt of her sword.
She stood not as a conqueror, but as... a shadow?
"Protector Mo!" Elder Cao Xiong, the Second Elder, stepped forward, his shock quickly morphing into a sneer. His eyes darted between Ling Feng and the terrifying Li Shuangyan. "Explain this! Why is the Prime Disciple of the Demon Gate here? Did this Ling Feng offend them so gravely that they came to demand his head personally?"
Cao Xiong's voice carried a venomous hope. If the Demon Gate demanded Ling Feng's life, it would be the perfect end to the thorn in his side.
Ling Feng laughed. It wasn't the polite chuckle of a junior; it was a dry, rasping sound that scraped against the nerves. He had been waiting for Cao Xiong. The man was like a scripted villain from a B-movie—predictable, petty, and begging to be crushed.
Ling Feng didn't turn to face him immediately. He kept his back to the Elders, looking up at the statue of Immortal Emperor Min Ren.
"Yo, Cao Xiong," Ling Feng said, not bothering with titles. "Your blood pressure sounds high. You might want to get that checked before you pop a vessel."
"You.." Cao Xiong frowned, his Named Hero aura flaring slightly. It was instinct; such blatant disrespect was practically unheard of from him.
But just as Cao Xing recalled how terrifying Ling Feng can be, his slight aura flare vanished.
It didn't just fail; it was devoured.
Ling Feng turned slowly. His eyes, usually dark, flashed with a momentary crimson light. He didn't release a cultivation aura. He didn't summon a Fate Palace. He simply... existed. But in that existence, he projected a focused beam of [Chaos Control: Intimidation].
It was a specific frequency of the Chaos Force, tuned directly to the fear centers of the brain.
To everyone else, nothing happened. To Cao Xiong, the world momentarily turned into a kaleidoscope of nightmare static. The Elder stumbled back, his face draining of blood, gasping as if a hand had crushed his windpipe.
"I said," Ling Feng whispered, yet his voice echoed inside Cao Xiong's skull like a thunderclap, "shut your mouth."
Ling Feng walked past the trembling Elder, effectively stepping over him socially and spiritually. He stopped in the center of the plaza, addressing the sea of confused disciples.
"Listen up, people!" Ling Feng raised a hand. He pulsed a fraction of Chaos Energy, amplifying his voice so it resonated in every ear, clear and crisp, like a high-quality broadcast. "We've got a status update. The engagement? It's on. The Nine Saint Demon Gate is now our... let's call them 'strategic partners.' They're sending resources, they're sending protection, and..."
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the ice-cold beauty standing silently behind him.
"...they sent Li Shuangyan to be my personal sword follower."
The silence that followed was absolute. It was the silence of brains short-circuiting.
Li Shuangyan, the Goddess of the Grand Middle Territory?
The dream woman of every Young Master and genius in the world?
A sword follower?
For a disciple with a Phony Fate Wheel?
Li Shuangyan's perfectly sculpted eyebrow twitched at the term "follower." It was a demotion from "fiancée," but she remembered the Demon King's terrified instructions. She also remembered the red lightning that ignored the Merit Laws.
She stepped forward. Her voice was like bells chiming in a winter wind—beautiful, cold, and undeniable.
"I am Li Shuangyan," she announced, her gaze sweeping over the crowd, daring anyone to question her. "I am here to... observe and assist Noble Ling Feng. His will is the will of the Nine Saint Demon Gate. Any disrespect shown to him will be considered disrespect against my sect."
Chaos erupted.
"He did it? The madman actually did it?"
"He tamed the Goddess? How? Did he drug her?"
"Is he the illegitimate son of an Immortal Emperor? Or maybe a reincarnated Old Monster?"
Ling Feng ignored the chatter. He was bored with the fame already. His eyes scanned the outer periphery of the crowd, looking for a specific silhouette. He ignored the inner sect disciples, the elites, and the bootlickers.
Finally, he found her.
Hiding near the back, clutching a bamboo broom like a lifeline, was Xu Pei. She looked terrified, trying to make herself invisible, her knuckles white against the wood.
"You!" Ling Feng pointed a finger directly at her.
Xu Pei squeaked, the sound akin to a frightened mouse. She dropped the broom, the clatter echoing loudly. "M-Me?"
"Yeah, you. The one with the broom. Front and center."
The crowd parted like the Red Sea before Moses. Disciples scrambled out of the way, leaving a clear path between the confident, roguish "Young Noble" and the trembling servant girl.
Xu Pei walked forward, her legs shaking so badly she looked like she was walking on stilts. She stopped five paces from him and bowed so low her forehead nearly grazed the dust.
"Senior Brother Ling... I... I didn't do anything..."
Ling Feng stepped into her space. He reached out and, with a gentleness that belied his earlier arrogance, hooked a finger under her chin and lifted her face.
"Stop bowing," he said softly, a warm smile breaking through his tough facade. "It's bad for your posture, and I don't like looking at the top of your head."
Xu Pei stared up at him, her eyes wide and watery. His touch sent a strange, electric warmth zinging through her meridian channels.
"Pack your bags, Pei-Pei," Ling Feng said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial level that felt intimate, ignoring the hundreds of eyes watching. "From today on, you're done sweeping floors. You're moving to my peak. You're gonna be my personal maid."
"M-Maid?" Xu Pei stammered, her face turning the color of a ripe tomato. In the cultivation world, a "personal maid" to a Young Noble was rarely just about cleaning. It usually implied... warming the bed.
"Relax," Ling Feng winked, leaning in closer. "I just need someone around who isn't a stiff old man or a block of ice. I need good company. Plus..." His eyes narrowed slightly, seeing something in her that no one else—not even the Elders—could see. "I see potential in you. We're going to fix that cultivation of yours."
He straightened up and turned to Gu Tieshou, who was still trying to process the shift in power dynamics.
"First Elder," Ling Feng called out, his tone shifting back to business. "I'm commandeering Lonely Peak. You know, the one in the back that nobody uses because it's 'haunted' or whatever? Yeah, that one. Have it cleaned up. Send the resources there. I don't want to be disturbed unless it's important."
Gu Tieshou, the acting leader of the sect, found himself nodding automatically. The boy's command was so natural, so absolute, that refusing felt like disobeying a law of nature. "I... yes. We will arrange it immediately."
"Great." Ling Feng snapped his fingers. "Let's go, ladies."
As Ling Feng walked away, leading a stunned Xu Pei and a stoic Li Shuangyan toward the mountains, Cao Xiong watched his retreating back. His fingernails dug into his palms until blood dripped onto the jade pavement.
'This brat...' A venomous snake uncoiled in Cao Xiong's heart. 'He has actually united with the Demon Gate. If he rises, my faction is dead. The position of Sect Master will be forever out of my reach.'
He looked at the terrified reverence in the eyes of the other disciples. Ling Feng was becoming a legend.
'I need to act,' Cao Xiong thought, his eyes narrowing into slits. 'I cannot touch him myself... but there are those who can. I need... outside help.'
...
Lonely Peak – Nightfall
The Lonely Peak lived up to its name. It was secluded, wreathed in mist, and overgrown with centuries of neglect. But to Ling Feng, it was perfect. No prying eyes. No annoying politics. Just him and the moon.
He sat on a stone bench in the overgrown courtyard, the silence of the night only broken by the chirping of crickets.
Ling Feng closed his eyes, turning his vision inward to the Inner Void.
Instead of the traditional Fate Palaces floating in a sea of mud, his inner world was a vast, starry expanse. Two brilliant gemstones hovered there, pulsating with ancient, cosmic rhythm.
The Green Chaos Emerald. Mastery: Space Control. The Red Chaos Emerald. Mastery: Power/Absolute Force.
They were beautiful, but Ling Feng frowned.
"Two is a rookie number," he muttered to himself. "I need to pump those numbers up."
He checked his Ring Count. Zero.
'Tch. I need Golden Rings,' he thought, analyzing the Archie-based system integrated into his soul. 'Rings are life. Literally. They act as a buffer against fatal damage, and they can be burned to fuel the condensation of the next Emeralds. Relying on natural absorption of Worldly Energy is too slow. I'm not gonna sit here meditating for fifty years like these other losers.'
"Noble Ling?"
The voice broke his concentration. He opened his eyes to see Li Shuangyan standing at the entrance of the courtyard. She had changed into a simpler moon-white robe, though on her, it looked like a celestial treasure. The moonlight caught the sharp angles of her face, making her look like a sculpture carved from ice.
She looked around the weed-choked garden with disdain. "What is this place? The Worldly Energy here is incredibly thin. It is the worst peak in the sect. How do you expect to cultivate here?"
"I don't cultivate Worldly Energy, my dear. I cultivate vibes," Ling Feng joked, patting the empty space on the bench next to him. "Take a load off. Sit."
Li Shuangyan hesitated. Propriety dictated she stand. But curiosity—and the orders of her Patriarch—forced her to sit. She kept a respectable distance, her back straight as a sword.
"You are a mystery," she said, her gaze intense. "I have observed you. You have no Fate Palaces opening above your head. Your Life Wheel is... strange. I cannot sense your blood energy. Yet, you suppress me. You suppress that Elder. What is your Dao?"
"It's called 'Built Different,'" Ling Feng said with a grin. He leaned back, resting his hands behind his head. "Look, Shuangyan. In this world, everyone is obsessed with the Heavens. The 'Villainous Heavens.' The Grand Dao. You guys are like hamsters running in a wheel built by some dead guys millions of years ago. You borrow power. You beg the universe for scraps."
He held up his right hand.
Buzz.
A spark of green energy manifested above his palm. It didn't glow like Spirit Energy; it distorted the air around it. It was a glitch in reality.
"My power doesn't ask permission," Ling Feng said, his voice dropping an octave. "It commands. It's a Chaotic Force. It's older than your Heavens."
Li Shuangyan stared at the green spark, mesmerized. Her Pure Jade Physique—a constitution that was sensitive to the truths of the world—was screaming. It wasn't screaming in recognition; it was screaming in submission.
"Is that... an Immortal Emperor Life Treasure?" she whispered.
"Better. It's a lifestyle," Ling Feng clenched his fist, snuffing out the spark. "Anyway, enough shop talk. Where's Pei-Pei?"
"The girl is inside, attempting to clean," Li Shuangyan said, a hint of frustration in her voice. "She is... terrified of me. She trembles every time I look at her. She seems to think I will execute her for breathing the same air as you."
"Typical," Ling Feng shook his head. He turned toward the dilapidated manor. "Hey, Pei-Pei! Get out here!"
A moment later, Xu Pei came sprinting out, holding a tray with a teapot and three cups. "Yes! Yes, Young Noble! I brought tea!"
She was rushing so fast, desperate to please, that her foot caught on a loose paving stone.
"Ah!"
She pitched forward. The tray went flying. The teapot, filled with scalding water, arced through the air, destined to shatter and burn her.
Xu Pei squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the crash, the pain, and the inevitable scolding that would confirm she was useless trash.
It never came.
Ling Feng didn't move from the bench. He didn't even blink. He just snapped his fingers.
[Chaos Control: Levitate]
Hummmm.
The world turned green for a microsecond.
Gravity simply ceased to apply to the tea set. The tray, the teapot, the cups, and every single individual droplet of hot water froze in mid-air, inches from the muddy ground.
Li Shuangyan's eyes widened. She sensed no fluctuation of Spirit Energy. No telekinesis technique she knew worked like this. This wasn't moving objects with wind; this was freezing the spacetime coordinates of the objects.
Ling Feng flicked his wrist upward.
The items floated back up, reassembling themselves perfectly. The water flowed back into the pot. The cups settled on the tray. The tray drifted gently into Xu Pei's frozen, outstretched hands.
Xu Pei opened her eyes, gasping. She looked at the floating tray, then at Ling Feng. "H-How..."
Ling Feng stood up and walked over to her. He took the tray from her shaking hands and set it aside on a rock. Then, he took her hands in his. They were rough, calloused from years of menial labor, stained with dirt.
"You're clumsy," Ling Feng said softly. "But that's not your fault. Your body is out of sync with your spirit. You have a good soul, Xu Pei. A strong will. But your meridians are clogged with trash impurities."
"I... I have Mortal Aptitude, Young Noble," Xu Pei whispered, tears welling up in her eyes again. She tried to pull her hands away, ashamed of their roughness compared to his smooth skin. "I will always be trash. I am not worthy to serve you."
"Hey." Ling Feng's voice hardened slightly, demanding her attention. "Don't use that word. In my hometown, we have a saying: 'One man's trash is another man's treasure.' But you're not trash. You just got dealt a bad hand of cards."
He looked over at Li Shuangyan. "Watch the gate, please. I'm going to give her a tune-up."
"Tune-up?" Li Shuangyan frowned, standing up. "You mean Marrow Washing? You would waste your precious energy on a servant with Mortal Aptitude? Even an Alchemy Saint would say it is a waste of medicine."
"She's not a servant. She's going to be another outstanding woman at my side," Ling Feng said. His tone held a possessiveness that made Xu Pei's heart skip a beat. It wasn't the possessiveness of an owner, but of a protector.
Ling Feng placed a hand on top of Xu Pei's head.
"Close your eyes, Pei-Pei. This is gonna feel like drinking five Red Bulls while getting electrocuted. Just ride the wave."
"R-Red Bulls?"
"Just trust me."
Ling Feng didn't use gentle Spirit Energy. He tapped into the Chaos Force.
[Chaos Drive: Transfer]
A large, translucent Golden Ring materialized around Xu Pei's body, spinning rapidly. It emitted a humming noise like a high-powered turbine.
Unlike the violent, bone-breaking refining of the Physique Scriptures in the cultivation world, this was... surgical. The Chaos Energy was invasive, yes, but it was adaptive. It flooded her system, hunting down the sludge and impurities clogging her meridians.
It didn't force them out; it converted them. It rewrote the atomic structure of her body.
"Ah!" Xu Pei gasped, her back arching. She didn't feel pain. She felt... euphoria. Power. Pure, unadulterated energy flooding veins that had been dry for her entire life.
The blockages in her meridians were blasted open by emerald lightning. Her skin began to glow with a faint, golden luminescence. A layer of black grime—the accumulated toxins of a mortal life—seeped out of her pores and was instantly vaporized by the heat of the Chaos Energy.
The spinning Golden Ring shattered into particles of light that absorbed into her skin.
Ling Feng pulled his hand back, exhaling a breath of steam.
Xu Pei collapsed—not from exhaustion, but from the sheer, overwhelming sensation of being light. For the first time in her life, she didn't feel heavy.
She looked at her hands. The callouses were gone. Her skin was pale, smooth, and humming with power. She took a breath, and she could feel the Worldly Energy around the peak rushing into her body, eager to fill her newly opened meridians.
"I..." Xu Pei looked up at Ling Feng, her eyes wide with absolute worship. She felt reborn. "What did you do to me?"
"Gave you a jump start," Ling Feng grinned, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. That took a bit out of him, but it was worth it. "You're brand new now, Pei-Pei. Train hard. I expect you to hit the Provisional Palace realm by next week. Don't disappoint me."
Xu Pei didn't say a word. She threw herself at his feet, wrapping her arms around his legs and burying her face in his robes. "I will! I will cultivate until I bleed! I will die for you, Young Noble!"
Ling Feng chuckled, patting her head awkwardly but affectionately. "Don't die. Dying is for chumps. Just live. Preferably with me."
Li Shuangyan watched this scene from the side, her Dao Heart trembling. She had seen Elders bestow pills with arrogance. She had seen Masters pass on arts with conditions. But she had never seen someone casually rewrite a person's destiny with a smile and a snap of their fingers.
'He is not just powerful,' Li Shuangyan realized, a strange warmth spreading in her chest that had nothing to do with cultivation. 'He is... generous. Dangerously so. He gives power as if it means nothing to him.'
Ling Feng looked at Li Shuangyan and winked. "See? Physics. Biology. It's all just suggestions if you have enough energy."
...
Meanwhile, in the shadows of the Second Elder's Estate.
The room was dark, lit only by a single flickering candle that cast long, dancing shadows against the walls.
Cao Xiong sat across from a man shrouded in darkness. It was Dong Shenglong, the Guest Advisor who had long coveted the sect's position of authority.
"The boy is a threat," Cao Xiong hissed, his voice trembling with suppressed rage. "You saw him today. He can already suppress Royal Noble. And he has the Demon Gate's backing. If he marries Li Shuangyan, the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect will become his playground, and we will be swept into the dustbin of history."
"The Demon Gate is far away," Dong Shenglong sneered, pouring a cup of wine. His eyes were like a viper's, cold and calculating. "And the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom is close."
Cao Xiong looked up sharply. "You have a contact?"
"I do," Dong Shenglong revealed a heavy iron token on the table. It was engraved with a fierce, roaring tiger. "War Noble Lie. He has been looking for an excuse to annex the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect's territory for the Kingdom for years. He is a Royal Noble of the fiery generation. A true killer, not a washed-up old man like Gu Tieshou."
Cao Xiong's eyes lit up with malicious glee. "War Noble Lie... He is vicious. If he attacks..."
"We can manipulate the narrative," Dong Shenglong grinned cruelly. "We force Ling Feng out. We claim that Ling Feng's arrogance offended the Kingdom. We say he is a criminal."
"But the Demon Gate..."
"The Demon Gate won't go to war with the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom over a dead genius," Dong Shenglong cut him off. "Once Ling Feng is a corpse, he has no value. We kill Ling Feng, hand over the territory to the Kingdom to appease them, and in exchange, you and I rule the puppet sect under the Kingdom's banner."
Cao Xiong clenched his fist, feeling the phantom pain of Ling Feng's intimidation from earlier. He wanted the boy dead. He wanted to see that arrogant smirk smashed into the dirt.
"Do it," Cao Xiong commanded, blowing out the candle. "Summon the War Noble. Let us see if this boy can survive the fires of war."