The Ancestral Hall of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect was a place of suffocating gravity.
Usually, it was a sanctuary of silence, where dust motes danced in the shafts of light falling upon the portrait of the Patriarch, Immortal Emperor Min Ren. But today, the atmosphere was thick enough to crush the bones of a mortal. The air itself seemed to be boiling, distorted by waves of invisible heat that rippled outward from the center of the room.
Su Yonghuang stood with her back to the heavy ironwood entrance, her gaze fixed intently on the painted eyes of the Patriarch.
She wore a golden dress embroidered with intricate sun patterns that seemed to shimmer with their own internal light. Her long, ink-black hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall of midnight silk, a stark contrast to the radiance she emitted. Even standing perfectly still, she felt like a dormant volcano—majestic, terrifying, and on the brink of eruption.
She was the descendant of the Su Clan, the lineage of the legendary War God Su Ru, who had once swept through the Nine Worlds beneath the banner of Immortal Emperor Min Ren. She possessed the Solar Immortal Physique—one of the twelve supreme physiques, a constitution of Extreme Yang that rivaled the sun itself.
"First Elder," her voice was melodious, like a zither played in a royal court, yet it carried an unquestionable, heavy authority that made the air vibrate. "Explain this to me one more time. You claim this disciple... this Ling Feng... killed War Noble Lie? And he crippled the Violet Mountain Noble?"
Gu Tieshou, the First Elder of the sect and a man who had weathered centuries of decline, was currently kneeling behind her, sweat beading on his forehead. It wasn't just the heat; it was the sheer pressure of her presence.
"Yes, Sect Master," Gu Tieshou replied, his voice strained. "With a single strike. He... he possesses a power we cannot comprehend. He does not use the standard Dao Laws. He calls it 'Chaos'."
Su Yonghuang turned around slowly.
Her face was breathtaking—a peerless beauty with sharp, noble features and eyes that burned like molten gold. She was a woman who demanded worship, a goddess of fire who looked down upon the mortal coil. But right now, those golden eyes were filled with a mixture of disbelief and profound suspicion.
"And you allowed him to execute Elder Cao?" she asked, her voice dropping a few degrees, paradoxically making the heat feel more intense. "You allowed a junior disciple to rewrite the foundational merit laws of our ancestors?"
"The merit laws he changed... they are superior, Sect Master," Gu Tieshou argued, finding a sliver of courage in his conviction. He raised his head slightly. "The disciples have improved more in one month than in the last ten years. The stagnation of our sect has been broken. He... he might be the hope we have been waiting for since the decline."
"Or the disaster that finally ends us," Su Yonghuang countered coldly. "The Heavenly Jewel Kingdom is quiet only because they are terrified of the unknown. They are reassessing. But behind them stands the Azure Mysterious Ancient Kingdom, a behemoth that has stood for countless eras. When they realize he is just a loose cannon with no backing, they will descend. We are sitting on a volcano, Elder."
BANG!
The heavy, reinforced doors of the Ancestral Hall didn't just open; they exploded inward.
They weren't pushed by a respectful hand or opened by a mechanism. They were kicked. Hard.
Wood splintered and groaned as the doors slammed against the inner walls, echoing like a thunderclap throughout the sacred hall.
"Yo. Did someone mention volcanoes?"
Ling Feng strolled in, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his robes. He looked around the sacred hall with the casual, detached interest of a tourist visiting a museum that he found slightly boring.
Li Shuangyan followed a step behind him, her hand resting lightly on the hilt of her sword. Her expression was neutral, but her eyes scanned the room with the sharpness of a hawk.
Su Yonghuang's eyes narrowed instantly. The ambient temperature in the room spiked, scorching the wooden pillars.
"You are Ling Feng?" she asked.
She had expected a bloodthirsty demon, a muscle-bound brute, or perhaps an arrogant young master with his nose in the air. She did not expect... this.
He was a young man with a lazy, lopsided smirk plastered on his face. He wore the sect's robes, but he wore them with such flagrant disregard for protocol—loose at the collar, sash tied haphazardly—that it looked more like modern streetwear than a cultivator's uniform.
But what unsettled her most was his aura. Or rather, the lack of it. It wasn't Qi. It wasn't the Grand Dao. It was just... empty space. A void where a person should be.
"In the flesh," Ling Feng replied, stopping a few meters from her. He looked her up and down, his eyes sweeping over her figure with zero effort to hide his appreciation. He nodded approvingly. "And wow. I must say, the rumors were underselling it, Sect Master."
Su Yonghuang froze, her majestic aura stuttering for a heartbeat. "Excuse me?"
"Simply put, you're a perfect ten," Ling Feng clarified. The term was gibberish to the inhabitants of the Mortal Emperor World, but the tone was unmistakably flirtatious. "I mean, seriously. High-tier aesthetics. But I guess a friendly chat and a date aren't the reasons you stormed back here, right?"
"You have quite the mouth." Su Yonghuang's eyes grew cold, the golden flames within them intensifying. Her voice resonated with the weight of a descending mountain. "Ling Feng. You killed Elder Cao Xing. You crippled the Violet Mountain Noble. You have practically declared war on the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom. Do you know the gravity of your sins?"
"Gravity of my sins?" Ling Feng raised a brow, a flicker of amusement dancing in his eyes.
Internally, his mind was racing, comparing this reality to the novel he knew. In the original Emperor's Domination, Su Yonghuang was skeptical of Li Qiye, but Li Qiye had used the Dark Crow's ancient secrets to instantly subdue her. Ling Feng didn't have the Dark Crow's memories. He had something more volatile.
This Su Yonghuang was noticeably more aggressive. It made sense. Li Qiye had been ruthless, but calculated. Ling Feng? He had been crushing people like bugs simply because they annoyed him.
He held a faint smile as he met her burning gaze. "Sins? Nah. You've got it twisted. Cao Xing was a traitor plotting with the enemy to sell out the sect. I just took out the trash. That so-called War Noble? Just a loud fly with a bunch of minions. And the Violet Mountain Noble? The guy was acting like he owned the place, strutting around my turf. I just humbled him. Honestly, you should be thanking me. I saved you a mountain of paperwork."
Such casual arrogance was like metal screeching against glass for Su Yonghuang. Behind Ling Feng, Li Shuangyan let out a barely audible sigh, already sensing where this was going.
"Presumptuous!" Su Yonghuang slammed her hand on the heavy stone armrest of her chair.
BOOM!
A terrifying aura erupted from her body.
It was the pressure of the Solar Immortal Physique. Even though it was incomplete, even though she couldn't fully control it, the heat was intense enough to melt steel instantly. The Grand Dao laws in the room screamed and twisted as the temperature skyrocketed to infernal levels.
Gu Tieshou gasped, his face turning red. He desperately circulated his merit laws to resist the pressure, retreating several steps until his back hit the wall. The air shimmered, turning the room into a blast furnace.
But Ling Feng just stood there.
The heat washed over him like a tidal wave of fire, and then... it vanished.
Inside his Inner Void, the Yellow Chaos Emerald hummed.
Mastery: Energy Manipulation.
To Ling Feng, this terrifying Solar heat wasn't a threat; it was just data. It was just energy. His body acted like a black hole for the thermal energy, absorbing the excess heat like a sponge soaking up water and converting it into a harmless, warm breeze that ruffled his hair.
He didn't even blink.
"Relax, will you?" Ling Feng waved a hand dismissively, as if swatting away a bit of smoke. "You guys are way too serious, I swear. It's bad for the skin. I get it, you're worried about the consequences, but it's been weeks since I whipped those assholes. Have they responded? No. Because they're scared."
"You..." Su Yonghuang opened her mouth to retort, but the words caught in her throat.
Her eyes widened in genuine shock. Her pressure—her Solar dominance—had been nullified completely. He hadn't blocked it; he had eaten it.
"The Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect is thriving," Ling Feng continued, stepping closer, invading her personal space. "More than it has in years. And there hasn't been a single peep from the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom or the Heavenly God Sect. Why? Because I'm here."
He was right. But that casual, infuriating attitude made Su Yonghuang reluctant to agree. She was the Sect Master; she demanded respect, yet this boy looked at her like she was a neighbor he had just met at a convenience store.
Ling Feng watched her face change—from anger to confusion to guarded curiosity. He internally sighed.
He remembered her history. The Su Clan. General Su Ru.
Su Ru was a woman any man would die to have—beautiful, talented, loyal. A woman who would ruin all other women for you. Yet, Min Ren had been wholeheartedly devoted to another, never once considering Su Ru romantically.
And the worst part? The woman Min Ren loved didn't even love him back. She was the lover of the Virtuous Monarch Jiangzuo. It was a mess. A tragic, tangled web of unrequited love.
Things had gotten even messier when Li Qiye, as the Dark Crow, had taken control of Min Ren's body during a period of spirit separation to... be intimate with Su Ru.
It was a dark stain on the history of the Emperor, a secret that nearly caused a falling out between the Crow and the Emperor. Su Ru had suffered the most, seeing the grief she caused Min Ren, knowing his body had been used, yet loving him all the same.
Who was right and who was wrong? Ling Feng didn't give a shit about the morality of ancient ghosts.
All he wanted was to clear up the wreckage. Even from this short exchange, he liked Su Yonghuang. She genuinely cared about the sect, despite being an outcast whom the Elders didn't trust and the disciples didn't know. She was carrying the weight of a legacy that wasn't fully hers.
Ling Feng decided right then and there. He would do things his way. He would take this fiery, majestic woman and turn her into an existence that would make even Pseudo-Immortals soil their pants in terror.
"Look, let's cut to the chase," Ling Feng said, his voice dropping the playful edge for a moment. "You're worried I'm gonna wreck the sect. You're worried about the Kingdom. Valid concerns, I guess, for a normal person. But I'm not normal."
"Clearly," Su Yonghuang said icily, regaining her composure. "You are a loose cannon. I don't care how strong you are. If you endanger this sect—"
"I saved this sect," Ling Feng interrupted, his eyes flashing with a sudden intensity. "And I know who you are. I know about the Su Clan. I know about your ties to Min Ren."
Su Yonghuang froze. The blood drained from her face. That was a secret known only to the highest echelons of her clan and the oldest ancestors. "How..."
Ling Feng didn't let up. "And I also know you're having problems with your Physique. Problems you can't solve. Problems that are slowing down your cultivation and burning you alive from the inside out."
Her breath hitched. He had struck the nail on the head.
Ling Feng smiled lightly, his confidence unwavering. "You're trying to force a square peg into a round hole. It's inefficient. It's painful. And frankly, it's a waste of your potential."
He reached into his robe and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper—a hastily scribbled note he had prepared earlier, anticipating this very meeting.
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it.
The paper flew through the air. It should have incinerated the moment it entered the lingering heat of her aura. Instead, coated in a thin layer of Green Chaos energy, it bypassed her defenses as if they didn't exist, landing gently on her lap.
Su Yonghuang looked down at the paper. It wasn't a merit law. It wasn't a challenge. It was... an invitation?
Lonely Peak. Tonight. Come alone. I'll fix your engine trouble. - LF
"You're insane," Su Yonghuang breathed, looking back up at him with wide eyes. "You ask the Sect Master to come to your quarters at night? Do you have no shame?"
"Shame is for people who follow the rules," Ling Feng chuckled, turning on his heel. "And I think we've established that I don't really vibe with rules. Come over. Or don't, and keep burning up from the inside. Your call, Sect Master."
He waved a hand over his shoulder, walking out of the Ancestral Hall with Li Shuangyan falling into step beside him.
"Later, Elder Gu! Don't have a heart attack, old man!"
Gu Tieshou stood paralyzed, looking between the retreating back of the disciple and the stunned Sect Master holding the crumpled note. He had a sinking feeling that the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect was about to undergo even more changes that would shatter the sky.
...
Night settled over the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.
While the rest of the mountain range was shrouded in darkness, Lonely Peak was alive. The atmosphere here was tranquil, bathed in a soft, otherworldly glow. It wasn't the light of lanterns, but the faint, ambient radiation of the Chaos Emeralds that Ling Feng kept cycling within his body.
Su Yonghuang arrived as a shadow.
She bypassed the patrolling disciples, her high cultivation allowing her to slip through the night unseen. She told herself she was coming to interrogate him, to demand answers about how he knew the secrets of the Su Clan. She told herself it was for the safety of the sect.
But deep down, she knew the truth. She was desperate. The fire in her blood was getting worse every year. The Solar Immortal Scripture clashed with her own bloodline, creating a dissonance that felt like swallowing razor blades made of magma.
When she landed in the courtyard of Lonely Peak, she paused.
The scene before her was... surprisingly domestic.
Li Shuangyan was sitting on a stone bench, radiating a soft, white mist—the perfected aura of her physique. She was peeling a spirit fruit with elegant precision, her movements calm and content.
Nearby, Xu Pei was practicing her sword forms. Her movements were fluid and sharp, empowered by a strange, violet energy that seemed to sing with the wind.
And Ling Feng?
He was lying on a patch of emerald grass, looking up at the stars, his hand raised towards the sky. Green sparkles of energy—alien and mesmerizing—danced between his fingers.
"You actually came," Ling Feng said without looking up, a grin audible in his voice. "I owe myself five bucks. I bet you'd be too proud to show."
Su Yonghuang materialized from the shadows, removing the veil that obscured her face. Her expression was complicated as she looked at Li Shuangyan.
"The descendant of the Nine Saint Demon Gate... serving fruit?" Su Yonghuang asked, her tone incredulous. "Has the world gone mad?"
Li Shuangyan stood up, wiping her hands on a silk handkerchief. She looked at the Sect Master, not with submission or shame, but with the calm equality of a cultivator who had found her true path.
"Sect Master Su," Li Shuangyan greeted with a polite nod. "He is not making me serve. I choose to be here. There is a difference."
"Well said, Shuangyan." Ling Feng sat up, dusting off grass from his robes. He patted the empty spot on the stone bench next to him. "Have a seat, Sect Master. Or do you prefer Su Yonghuang? Yonghuang sounds prettier. Less... stiff."
Su Yonghuang hesitated, then walked over. She didn't sit next to him, choosing instead to stand a few feet away, maintaining a barrier of authority. "Straight to business, Ling Feng. You claim you can fix my cultivation."
"Business it is. I like that." Ling Feng stood up, his demeanor shifting instantly.
The playful slacker vanished. In his place stood the Master of Chaos. His eyes glowed with a faint, eerie luminescence.
He walked around her, inspecting her. To his eyes, empowered by the Green Chaos Emerald, reality was transparent. He saw the structure of her body, the meridians, the flow of Qi.
The Solar Immortal Physique was a masterpiece of the heavens, an Extreme Yang furnace capable of burning the sky. But without the corresponding complete Immortal Scripture—or rather, without the bridge to connect her specific constitution to the scripture—the Yang energy was stagnating. It was turning into poison.
In the original story, Li Qiye had advised Su Yonghuang to abandon the Solar Immortal Physique because she lacked the Minor Sky Physique to bridge the gap. Her true physique was the Complete Yang Saint Physique, which fit perfectly with the Extreme Yang Physique, but the methodology she was using was flawed.
Ling Feng didn't have the specific Ancient Merit Law to teach the Extreme Yang Physique. He didn't have the scroll.
But he had something better. He had the Chaos Force.
Just as he had treated Li Shuangyan's Pure Jade Physique by altering the spatial geometry of her Fate Palace, he would treat Su Yonghuang by rewriting the energy signature itself.
"The Solar Immortal Scripture teaches you to cycle the sun," Ling Feng explained, his voice clinical and precise. "It turns the fire into a cycle of life. Right now, you're just hoarding fire. You think your physique should go perfectly with the Solar Immortal arts, but it's simply not working, correct? It's like trying to run a supercomputer on a potato battery. The voltage is wrong."
Su Yonghuang bit her lip. He was right. Every time she circulated her energy, she felt like she was dying. "And you have a solution?"
"Don't worry," Ling Feng smiled, stepping in front of her. "I have a cheat code."
He raised his right hand.
The Yellow Chaos Emerald within his Inner Void flared to life.
Zzzzt.
Yellow lightning crackled around his fingers. It wasn't the lightning of Heavenly Tribulation. It was the lightning of the electromagnetic spectrum—the fundamental force that bound atoms together.
"Here's what I'm going to do," Ling Feng spoke casually, as if explaining a simple repair job. "I'm going to siphon the excess Yang, refine it using Chaos Energy to strip away the impurities and the clash, and then feed it back to you as pure, neutral mana. I'm essentially installing a regulator on your engine."
"That... that is impossible," Su Yonghuang argued, her eyes widening in alarm. "Cultivation cannot be transferred or modified so easily! The backlash would kill us both. The Grand Dao does not allow—"
"For normal people? Yeah, sure. Suicide." Ling Feng grinned, stepping closer until he was within arm's reach. "But for me? I'm built different. Literally."
He held out his hand, palm up.
"Trust me. Or don't. But I think you're tired of burning alone."
The night air went silent. The wind rustled the bamboo leaves.
Su Yonghuang looked at his hand. It was calloused, large, and steady. There was no shaking, no hesitation. She looked past him to Li Shuangyan. The Goddess of the Nine Saint Demon Gate gave a subtle, encouraging nod.
Trust him, her eyes seemed to say. He is the anomaly.
With a deep breath, Su Yonghuang made her choice. She reached out.
Her hand, hot enough to scorch wood, touched his.
Ling Feng's grip was warm and rough. He didn't flinch at her heat.