I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

Qin Yuan's lips curved slightly, but he did not answer.

Morning in the Eternal Heaven, behind the Guixu Palace.

Yan Yue stood by the taro field, leaning on her wooden cane, watching Qin Yuan squat on the edge of the field studying the growth of the new crop of taro. Her left leg was completely healed and she no longer needed a cane, but she still habitually used that smooth wooden cane—a stick that Qin Yuan had casually chopped off on the battlefield of Chiyan Pass, which she had kept all this time.

"The south-facing room is all tidied up." Yan Yue tapped the ground with her wooden cane. "The bamboo outside the window has grown like crazy, do you want to go take a look?"

Qin Yuan stood up and patted the dirt off his hands.

"Have some porridge first," he said.

In the courtyard of Guixu Palace, Su Yao had already cooked taro porridge. Yan Lingji was trying to add chili peppers to the pot when Su Yao wasn't looking when Mu Hongyi tapped her hand with a sword sheath. Yue Yao was carrying a large bunch of freshly picked wildflowers, filling every vase in the main hall of Guixu Palace. Bing Ji sat quietly by the cold pool, while Hong Yue practiced her spear, the wind from the spear rustling the bamboo leaves. Jian Wushuang was polishing her sword; in the moonlight, the blade was like a mirror, reflecting her focused profile.

Qin Yuan sat down at the stone table, picked up the first bowl of porridge that Su Yao handed him, and took a sip.

The aroma of taro, the spiciness of chili peppers, the warmth of tea, the distant sound of bamboo groves. And there's that colossal eye that blots out the sky, the silhouette of that nameless guardian, the Seven Star Tower that has slumbered for a hundred thousand years, and the chaotic outer sea of ​​consciousness that he shattered.

Everything is in this bowl of porridge.

Seven days after the storm in the Chaos Sea subsided, Ye Wuji sent back a message from the Void.

The message was brief, consisting of only three sentences: The seventy-two Holy Dynasties of Taixu jointly issued an invitation to Qin Yuan to attend the "Chaos Assembly." The location was in the Myriad Manifestations Ancient Realm, and the date was the seventh day of next month. The invitation was stamped with the jade seals of the seventy-two Holy Dynasties, the Dharma seals of the thirty-six Daoist sects, and the ancestral symbols of the nine ancient clans. Every reputable force in Taixu was represented.

After reading the message, Qin Yuan placed the communication token on the stone table and continued drinking his porridge.

"Aren't you going to reply to him?" Yan Lingji sat opposite her, half a bowl of taro porridge with chili peppers that she had secretly added was still left, and it was so spicy that she kept gasping for breath.

"Return to what?"

"Are you going or not?"

Qin Yuan put down his bowl and glanced at her. Yan Lingji felt a little guilty under that glance—she knew Qin Yuan hated this kind of thing the most. Back in the Eternal Heaven Domain, the Great Yan Dynasty offered him the title of Duke of Zhenguo, but he didn't attend. He had Jian Chi attend the victory banquet for the ranking battle of the Thirty-Six Holy Lands in his place. Even the victory banquet of the Wuji Dao Court after winning the Heavenly Pride Battle was blocked by Ye Wuji for him. When it comes to attending meetings, the Lord of Guixu Palace is the number one king of taking leave in all the realms.

"I'm not going," Qin Yuan said as expected.

Su Yao poked her head out from the kitchen, still holding the spatula: "There's more to Ye Wuji's news. He said the Supreme Elder of the Wuji Dao Court personally spoke up, and if you ask for leave again this time, he will personally come to the Guixu Palace to invite you."

Qin Yuan paused for a moment. According to Ye Wuji, the Supreme Elder of the Wuji Dao Court had been in seclusion for three thousand years, barely bothering with the court's internal affairs. In the last ten thousand years, only two events in the Taixu Realm had required his personal attention. The first was the destruction of the Chaos Holy Dynasty, and the second was the invasion from the outer realms. For him to personally come to the Guixu Palace for a meeting—either the old man had lost his mind from too long in seclusion, or this "Chaos Conference" was far more complex than a simple meeting.

"Did the invitation specify what we'd be discussing?" Qin Yuan asked.

Su Yao wiped her hands and came out of the kitchen, repeating the full version of the invitation sent by Ye Wuji: "The main topic of the Chaos Conference is only one—how to redefine the relationship between Taixu, the Eternal Heaven Domain, and the myriad worlds after the external threat is eliminated. There are three sub-topics. First, whether the Eternal Heaven Ladder should be retained; second, whether Taixu cultivators can freely enter the lower realms; and third, and most importantly—what is the position of the Guixu Palace in Taixu?"

The third point made Qin Yuan pause for a moment, his hand still holding the bowl. The positioning of the Guixu Palace. He was very familiar with this wording. Back in the Eternal Heaven Domain, the Great Yan Dynasty positioned the Zhenbei Army as a "standing border defense force" and the Tiance Mansion as a "military talent training institution." The word "positioning," to put it nicely, meant defining responsibilities; to put it bluntly, it meant demarcating territory. The Seventy-Two Holy Dynasties of Taixu wanted to demarcate territory for the Guixu Palace.

"They're scared." Mu Hongyi put down the whetstone in her hand, her cold voice coming from the corner of the courtyard.

"What are you afraid of?" Yueyao asked, puzzled.

"I'm afraid of you." Mu Hongyi looked at Qin Yuan, her eyes sharp. "That eye in the outer realm, no one in the Great Void has been able to do anything to it for ten thousand years. The guardian in the Seven Star Tower is at the peak of the Immortal Realm, and even he could only sever one of its roots. You, a Sovereign Realm cultivator who came from the lower realm, led seven Creation Realm cultivators and stormed into the outer realm to shatter its consciousness. What they fear is not your current cultivation level, but what you will become in ten thousand years."

"Ten thousand years is too long." Jian Wushuang rarely spoke, her voice as meticulous as her sword-wiping movements. "What they fear is now. You've only been back for seven days, and the Tian Shu Holy Dynasty has already changed its Holy Lord. Bai Shuang is on your side. Ye Wuji of the Wuji Dao Court is a sworn brother of you. The Immortal Temple voluntarily withdrew from the semi-finals, owing you a favor. Three of the seventy-two Holy Dynasties have openly sided with you, and the rest are watching. A word you say now is more effective than ten thousand words from any Holy Lord."

Qin Yuan placed the bowl on the stone table, the bottom of the bowl making a crisp sound as it hit the stone. The courtyard was quiet for a moment, with only the sound of Hong Yue practicing her spear in the distance and the soft rustling of cold air condensing as Bing Ji cultivated by the icy pool.

"Yan Yue," Qin Yuan looked up at the Ninth Princess, who was sitting in the sun by the taro field, "you know best about matters of the court. Tell me."

Yan Yue stood up, leaning on her wooden cane, and limped to the stone table. Her legs no longer needed the cane, but she still habitually used the smooth, worn-out tree branch—it was something Qin Yuan had casually chopped off on the battlefield of Chiyan Pass, and she had used it for so long that she couldn't bear to throw it away.

"It's not that I'm afraid of what you'll become, it's that I'm afraid you'll become nothing." Yan Yue sat down and drew a circle on the ground with her wooden staff. "The Seventy-Two Holy Dynasties of Taixu have a complex web of power, checking and balancing each other for tens of thousands of years. You suddenly appeared in this situation, not belonging to any side, not relying on any power, yet you were able to do what all of them combined couldn't. To them, a strong person without an affiliation is more terrifying than a strong person with an affiliation. Having an affiliation means having concerns, being able to negotiate, and being able to win someone over. Not having an affiliation means being uncontrollable. For an uncontrollable being, they can only do two things—either recruit you or join forces to destroy you."

"The Chaos Conference was just trying to recruit me," Qin Yuan said.