Amidst the blowing snow filling the sky, a handsome and dashing young man stood on the terrace.
A hint of impatience lingered in his expression, and his fine brows were tightly furrowed.
Right now, the only thing he wanted to do in his heart was curse aloud: which mentally impaired person in the Human Race Heavenly Dao Administration had chosen Xia Mengxue to be the "Human Race Proponent"?
This woman came with her own system, possessed great fortune, and was shrouded in dense merit.
With conditions like these, instead of becoming the leader of the righteous path and guiding the cultivation world to resist the Demon Race, she spent all her time chasing men and running a harem, completely neglecting proper business!
Running a harem was one thing; after all, in the beginning, it was a matter of willing fools getting together.
The most damnably humiliating part was being played for a fool and spun around in circles by the "Demon Race Proponent".
Even that could be overlooked—in the end, whether it was her or the Demon Race Proponent, both had been hunted down by Yan Jiuzhi until they fled in panic.
That brat Yan Jiuzhi was truly ruthless; the righteous path, the unorthodox path, and the demonic path were all thrown into turmoil by his killings.
Without meeting the conditions, the Realm Gate of the Demon Race couldn't even be opened.
Regardless of the process, the result was indeed the successful prevention of the Demon Race from encroaching upon and occupying this world.
The only cost consumed was merely those so-called proud sons of heaven and rising stars of the righteous path.
However, "proud sons of heaven" who could be easily tempted were worthless; if they fell, they fell. Who told them to lack firm resolve and seek their own destruction?
Leeks grew crop after crop; once this batch died, there would still be the next.
The cabbaages of the next batch were even more tender and lush.
Who could have anticipated the outcome? Damn it, right at the very end, Xia Mengxue actually pulled off a heaven-defying stunt like reversing time!
Now look at this: the boundary wall had a tear, and the rules of time were disordered for a split second, resulting in an extra time-traveler appearing.
It was still unclear whether there were any other time-travelers or reincarnators.
They had underestimated her after all, assuming her golden finger was just an ordinary nation-strengthening merit system.
They never expected she could actually pull out such a divine artifact.
Indeed, you don't fear stupid people; you only fear when stupid people have divine artifacts!
The more he thought about it, the more vexing it became!
Fool! Moron! Useless trash...
Patriarch Chengyuan cursed Xia Mengxue roundly in his heart; she had really screwed him over to the bitter end.
He had retired for so many years, only to be hauled back to this world to clean up this messy situation.
Because he had previously stayed in this world and had a ready-made identity and body, he was the most suitable person in the entire Administration to come.
Yet the restrictions placed upon him were extremely heavy; he couldn't even mobilize a shred of Spiritual Power.
At most, he could only use his Divine Sense to admire the scenery, and he was strictly forbidden from giving any hints to the people of this world.
Correspondingly, however, the demons were likewise unable to interfere with this world.
Now, everything depended on the people of the Xuancang Realm to perform.
Still nursing his lingering anger, Chengyuan strode into the grand hall and angrily seated himself on the luxurious chair at the head.
Looking at the empty hall before him, how on earth was it that not a single person had come?
What? It had only been fifteen hundred years since he last appeared, and already people had turned their backs and left him out in the cold?
Meanwhile, braving the biting wind and flying snow, a group of people were making their way upward against the gale, arriving one after another at the summit of the snowy mountain. After straightening their attire outside the hall, they entered together.
Seeing Patriarch Chengyuan sitting at the head with an unfathomable and gloomy gaze, no one dared to draw a full breath, and they collectively offered a respectful bow.
"Unaware of Patriarch's emergence from seclusion, we failed to come and welcome you. We beg Patriarch to forgive our transgression."
Chengyuan's lips curled into a crooked, ambiguous smile. "Forgive you? Of course I forgive you. After all, I'm just an empty-nested old man whom nobody cares about."
"We would never dare! We ask Patriarch to calm his anger."
Aside from the sect master, everyone else in the crowd below was a Tribulation Transcending stage patriarch of the Taixian Sect.
Now, they could only obediently admit their faults, lowering their heads even further, not daring to utter a single superfluous word.
Patriarch Cangmin had cold sweat beading on his forehead; his master had ordered him upon emerging from seclusion to summon every single Tribulation Transcending expert.
Even those in closed death seclusion had been dragged out by his urgent restriction-breaking decree.
"Master, has some major upheaval occurred in the Xuancang Realm?" Surely the Demon Race wasn't about to invade again?
"Hah, it's nothing major, really—just that the Heavenly Dao's underpants are leaking a draft."
Chengyuan lounged lazily against the back of his chair, his tone utterly nonchalant.
Cangmin: "..."
This was truly his master in the flesh; his speech was always so passive-aggressive and sarcastic.
But what on earth was meant by the Heavenly Dao's underpants leaking a draft?
Leaking... leaking a draft?!
Could the heavens have cracked?
The group of people exchanged bewildered glances.
"May I ask Master, where... is it leaking?" The others didn't dare speak, leaving only his disciple to bite the bullet and step forward.
"If you have something to say, Chengyuan, just spit it out. Who are you putting on that sarcastic act for?"
A crisp and melodious female voice rang out, and Venerable Dikong, clad in a flamboyant crimson palace dress, flashed into the grand hall.
She possessed a breathtaking and peerless appearance, her every movement radiating grace and luxury, and her words and actions were imbued with a grand, imposing demeanor.
"Greetings, Patriarch Dikong." The crowd bowed respectfully once more.
"Oh, if it isn't Kongkong! Come, come, the two of us haven't reminisced in ages."
Chengyuan wore a cheeky grin, waving Venerable Dikong over to take a seat.
His smile carried a hint of untamed rebelliousness, along with a dashing, unrestrained air seemingly carved into his very bones; his greeting felt just like he was flirting.
Venerable Dikong's forehead was covered in dark lines.
This unserious man, several thousand years old, still maintained this deadbeat playboy attitude. Her phoenix eyes glared slightly as she prepared to let loose a torrent of abuse.
"Actually, it's no big deal—just that a crack has torn open in the boundary wall, and I've come to summon you lot to go patch it up."
Chengyuan lazily leaned back into his chair again, his tone carrying a trace of dismissive indifference.
What does he mean by no big deal?!
The boundary wall has split open, and you call that no big deal?!
No wonder he said the Heavenly Dao's underpants were leaking a draft... this was indeed leaking!
"Why did the boundary wall break? When did it break?"
Venerable Dikong's expression also darkened; such a monumental matter could easily trigger unimaginable accidents.
"How should I know? Not long ago, I suppose."
Seeing this fellow's flippant attitude immediately rubbed Venerable Dikong the wrong way.
Say he was unreliable, yet everything he ultimately accomplished turned out remarkably reliable.
Say he was reliable, yet every single time he managed to be this infuriating.
She was the spirit of the quasi-immortal artifact, the Dikong Mirror. Fifteen hundred years ago, this fellow had unilaterally severed his contract with her and vanished without a trace.
She had thought he was dead, but now he had actually popped back out just to piss people off!
Seeing Venerable Dikong raise her fist, Chengyuan's expression shifted, and he hastily blurted out:
"Look at that temper of yours, ready to throw hands over the slightest disagreement. You're a quasi-immortal artifact, aren't you supposed to be free of worldly desires and passions?"
With a resounding "boom", the chair Chengyuan had just been sitting on was smashed into splinters, wood chips flying everywhere across the floor.
The crowd: That was made of incredibly tough ten-thousand-year-old mysterious iron wood!
The sect master, who had been cowering in the back playing invisible, felt his heart wrench painfully at the sight.
This was good stuff that couldn't be bought with any amount of spirit stones!
The patriarch was truly profligate—if you're going to smash things, at least aim properly!
Fortunately, though Chengyuan lacked spiritual power, his movement techniques remained intact, and he dodged aside in the nick of time.
With no spiritual power to protect his body right now, if he were actually beaten flat to the ground, he would lose his several-thousand-year-old face entirely.
Dikong, that woman, had far too violent a temper!
He glanced sideways at the debris on the ground and stiffened his neck. "Wasn't I just thinking of a solution?"
He turned his gaze back to the people below, his face full of disdain. "Tsk—only four people here? How are we supposed to patch it with this?
Who is the current sect master?
Send word to the others among the Ten Great Sects and tell their old fogies to all get over here and patch it."
Sect Master Realized Person Hengyu bowed in compliance, not daring to mention that the total number of patriarchs present, including Patriarch Chengyuan, was actually five.
He immediately began sending out messages. This was a critical matter concerning the safety of the Xuancang Realm!
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you all: for now, I cannot mobilize my spiritual power, otherwise I'll have to undergo a heavenly tribulation right on the spot.
As for the work of patching the boundary wall, you lot had better work hard; I will be supervising you very well."
The people in the hall lowered their heads even further. Ah, the shoes they were wearing today looked rather nice.
It was as if nobody had just witnessed Patriarch Dikong's display of terrifying feminine fury.
"Pass down my words: whichever sect's old fogie dares not to show up, or arrives even a bit too late, this lord will go blow up fireworks at their sect!"
Patriarch Chengyuan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his low, lazy voice carrying a playful and irreverent lilt, yet every single word was laden with threat.
Blow up fireworks? That was out of the question; right now, he was genuinely a weak, helpless, and pitiful person.
If anyone truly lacked discernment, he would just have his disciple go blow one up for them.
Realized Person Hengyu broke out in a cold sweat... How was he supposed to accurately convey Patriarch Chengyuan's meaning using euphemistic phrasing?
His heart was filled with bitterness—above him sat a tyrannical patriarch, and below him were unreliable fellow junior patriarchs.
He simply had to cultivate a successor as quickly as possible; whoever wanted to be sect master could take the damn job!
The leaders of the other sects who received the message were equally bitter in their hearts, and the expressions of the patriarchs dragged out of seclusion were uglier than the last.
The various Tribulation Transcending powerhouses gritted their teeth as they joined the work of repairing the boundary wall.
This was definitely not out of fear of that scoundrel Chengyuan's threats.
Rather, repairing the boundary wall was exceptionally beneficial to them, the Tribulation Transcending experts, as the Heavenly Dao would feed back merits in return.
It was just that seeing Chengyuan's idle, overseer-like attitude made them feel that this fellow was truly quite detestable!