Booming excitement swept across the entire Desolate Heaven Empire like a wildfire.
From the icy peaks of the North to the scorched plains of the South, cultivators, sects, rogue wanderers, powerful clans, and ambitious upstarts—everyone had their eyes set on a single place:
The Ancient Ruins!
Today was the day its barrier would finally be opened for the world to see.
Almost everyone knew about it.
Several cultivators had even tried to break through on their own, believing they were the chosen ones, only to be seriously injured by the backlash of the barrier.
Cities buzzed. Markets emptied. Mountains trembled under the thunder of stampeding cultivators.
Flying swords and spirit beasts streaked across the skies like meteors.
Even the clans that hadn’t stepped foot out of seclusion in decades were suddenly on the move.
From the Heaven Sword Sect, Azure Sun Holy Sect, Celestial Jade Hall, Crimson Thunder Palace, to the powerful Demonic Sect—all forces were converging toward one destination.
No matter how wanted the cultivators were, they showed up anyway.
They knew the Royal Family and righteous would be too busy competing with each other to deal with fugitives when thousands of people were flooding in.
Even the Royal Family and righteous cultivators understood that the opportunity in the Ruins was far more precious than catching a few criminals.
The Bai Clan also came in tow, bringing their elders and participants, led by Bai Zihan.
When they arrived, tens of thousands of cultivators were already gathered, and more were pouring in by the minute.
Bai Tianheng looked around, and when he spotted Chu Xing, he descended near him.
The moment Chu Xing saw Bai Tianheng descending from the sky, his eyes narrowed slightly before he offered a polite nod.
“Patriarch Bai!”
He greeted warmly.
“Patriarch Chu!”
Bai Tianheng returned the nod with equal politeness.
He looked around and asked, “Ziyan’er didn’t come?”
Chu Xing snorted.
“Same as your daughter. She decided to stick with the Heaven Sword Sect and said she’d be going with Xueqing’er.”
Bai Tianheng sighed.
He didn’t think there was anything wrong with Bai Xueqing going with the Heaven Sword Sect, but he would’ve preferred her to lead the Bai Clan delegation.
He had even considered calling her over to protect Bai Zihan—if he was going. But after seeing Bai Zihan’s strength, he no longer felt it was necessary.
“Where’s the Heaven Sword Sect?”
“There!”
Chu Xing said, pointing.
Bai Tianheng followed his gaze and spotted the Heaven Sword Sect’s group led by Tian Yuheng.
There, Bai Xueqing and Chu Ziyan stood together, and when they saw Bai Tianheng, Chu Ziyan instantly grabbed Bai Xueqing and dragged her along to greet him.
Bai Tianheng folded his arms behind his back as he watched the two girls approach, a faint smile rising to his face.
Despite his usual stoicism, a trace of warmth appeared in his eyes as Bai Xueqing and Chu Ziyan made their way over.
As two famous prodigies of the Heaven Sword Sect—and beauties known across the empire—they drew gazes wherever they went.
Chu Ziyan was the first to speak, her voice crisp and respectful.
“Uncle Bai!”
She bowed politely.
Bai Xueqing followed with a light bow.
“Father!”
Bai Tianheng looked them up and down, nodding slightly.
“It seems like in the short time I haven’t seen you, the two of you have made significant progress—especially Ziyan’er.”
“It’s all thanks to my husband!”
Chu Ziyan replied with a playful wink at Bai Zihan.
Indeed, after being gifted an Earth-Grade Cultivation Technique by Bai Zihan—which he didn’t even consider valuable—her cultivation had almost increased by fifty percent.
And if she cultivated at night… it more than doubled.
Bai Zihan ignored her completely, like she didn’t even exist. Same for his sister.
He has something more important to do at the moment which is to find the Protagonist which he believes should be here as something as grand as Ancient Ruin should definitely be reserved for one of them.
He could see Bai Xinyue who is with the Heaven Sword Sect. But Bai Zihan didn’t think that this opportunity should be for someone like her, perhaps it was but he didn’t.
Han Zhenwu was also there and he gave Bai Zihan a knowing smile.
Bai Zihan didn’t think much about it but it was clear that he was planning to do something stupid to Bai XInyue in the Ancient Ruins.
He can only pity him or those lackeys who should be making a move on her.
“Zihan’er, come over here! Greet your future father-in-law—and your fiancée while you’re at it.”
Bai Tianheng said.
“Tsk!”
Though clearly annoyed, he still came over and offered a proper greeting.
“Hello, Uncle Chu.”
Compared to how he treated fellow elders of his own clan, this was downright polite.
“Haha… Zihan’er, you came too?”
Chu Xing smiled in surprise.
He hadn’t expected Bai Tianheng to let Zihan attend, especially given how dangerous this place was going to be.
Still, he saw nothing wrong with it—this was a trial every young genius had to go through.
Cultivators are those people who have to risk their life to pursue a higher cultivation level.
Besides, the rumors about Bai Zihan’s insane transformation—from a waste to Late Golden Core Stage—had already reached his ears.
That level of talent was almost comparable to his own daughter, and for the first time, Chu Xing felt maybe Chu Ziyan hadn’t made a mistake in deciding to marry Bai Zihan.
At the very least, his future son-in-law wasn’t the trash people once made him out to be.
Bai Zihan just gave a short nod and stayed silent.
No greeting to his fiancée. No glance toward his sister.
Normally, Bai Xueqing wouldn’t care much about Bai Zihan. But lately… she wasn’t sure what to think.
First, she had been stunned when Bai Zihan flipped the situation and crippled Shen Liang. Though that kind of scheming was expected from him.
What she didn’t expect, though, was the news that came just days later.
Not only did he destroy the Mei Clan, but he also reached the Late Golden Core Stage.
While that realm wasn’t particularly shocking—she herself had reached the Nascent Soul Realm at that age—but the speed at which he advanced was frightening.
After all, when he first entered the sect, her Master Qinglan had confirmed he was only at Core Condensation.
In just a couple of months, he’d reached Late Golden Core?
Even she didn’t have that kind of Cultivation speed.
“Aie, my husband is ignoring me!”
Chu Ziyan pouted playfully.
Bai Xueqing felt a chill run down her spine.
It was just… creepy.
Not the best feeling when your best friend is engaged to your younger brother.
But Chu Ziyan wasn’t stopping.
“Hubby, did you miss your wife?”
She cooed as she approached Bai Zihan.
Bai Zihan pressed his fingers to his forehead, already feeling a headache forming—and he hadn’t even spotted the Heaven’s Chosen he was looking for yet.
“Yeah, yeah. Now can you shut your mouth?”
Bai Zihan replied.
But Chu Ziyan didn’t stop and kept teasing Bai Zihan playfully.
To everyone else watching, they looked like a sweet, loving couple—and that pissed people off.
“Are we not here for a life-and-death opportunity?”
“Why the hell are they flirting like they’re on a honeymoon?!”
The single cultivators in the crowd were silently crying.
Can’t they consider our feelings, these damned lovebirds?!