The mountain winds howled across Cloud-Peak Mountain, carrying the scent of melted gold, burnt silk, and defeated arrogance.
Behind Lin Mo, the grand banquet hall of the Jade-Clear Immortal Sect had collapsed into complete chaos. Disciples were shouting in panic while allied sect leaders demanded full refunds on their banquet gifts. Nearby, Great Elder Xu remained pinned to his chair by Chu Lingxiao’s sword-beam, his face pale with humiliation and cold fury.
Down in the muddy driveway, Ye Chen lay groaning, his face swollen like a bruised purple melon, his Golden Core shattered beyond repair. Bai Lian lay beside the carriage tracks, weeping as she clutched her broken ribs. Not a single sect disciple offered them a sip of water or a clean blanket.
“Chairman Lin, boarding ramp secured,” Master Lu Jian called out from the upper deck of the Taichu Golden Sky-Cruiser.
Two thousand newly liberated servants, maids, and outer disciples filed up the golden gangway. They wore their new warm coats, clutching their pouches of twenty million Supreme Spirit Stones with tearful devotion. Their eyes shone with hope and disbelief.
Mu Qing walked at their head, her crimson phoenix robes trailing behind her, her 9-Turn Golden Core humming with majestic, sovereign life.
