Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

"Senior Brother Yu, today we will head to the Imperial City and avenge you!" Yan Qibing of Xichuan Sword Pavilion clenched his fists, his eyes filled with hatred and anticipation.

This time, he followed Elder Songhe through the black mist to the Wulong Continent. Many of the Martial Emperor cultivators in the group died at the hands of the Ghost Clan. Only he survived by chance, and his obsession with revenge had long been deeply rooted in his heart.

At noon, the group arrived outside the Great Qian Imperial City. Instead of rashly attacking the palace, they landed discreetly and entered the city on foot through the north gate, intending to first investigate the events that had transpired within the city over the past month before planning their next move.

After some investigation, a shocking piece of news reached everyone's ears: a few days ago, a level nine fire phoenix descended upon the sky above the imperial city and fought a fierce battle with the retired emperor Su Mu in the air. In the end, the fire phoenix was seriously injured and fled.

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, their hearts filled with shock and disbelief.

"As expected, there really are ancient monsters that survived from ten thousand years ago!" Elder Songhe said in a deep voice.

Lai Chunshan felt a wave of lingering fear and secretly rejoiced: "Fortunately, we didn't directly storm the palace. The Fire Phoenix is ​​a top-tier divine bird, and even at the early stage of the ninth level, its combat power is overwhelming. This person was able to repel the Fire Phoenix, so his strength is far more terrifying than we estimated."

"How is this possible..." Yan Qibing's face was full of disbelief, unable to accept that his former defeated opponent had become so powerful.

"His strength has increased dramatically in a short period of time." Elder Songhe's expression was solemn. "A month ago, he definitely did not have the combat power to repel a level nine divine bird. If we had attacked the palace at that time, we would have been wiped out by now."

The group continued to delve into the details and quickly figured out the complete battle situation: Su Mu had only condensed his Martial Aspect twenty days ago; the opponent he was fighting was not a level nine early-stage Fire Phoenix, but a real level nine mid-stage Divine Fire Divine Bird; Su Mu relied on a spatial divine talisman to imprison his opponent, which forced the Fire Phoenix to burn its essence blood and flee for its life.

Lai Chunshan's gaze was deep as he calmly analyzed, "Even with the help of external talismans, his own attack power is enough to threaten a mid-stage level nine divine bird. If he cannot break through the Fire Phoenix's defense, the Fire Phoenix will not need to flee; it can simply withstand the attack on the spot."

He then pointed out his most critical concern: "The biggest variable now is whether that spatial talisman has any remaining uses and whether it can be activated again. If the talisman fails, I am confident I can fight; but if the talisman is still usable, rashly attacking will only lead to certain death. I cannot gamble with my life."

Song He and his group remained silent, none daring to utter a word. Even a Martial Emperor was wary; for them, a group of Martial King cultivators, to step forward would be tantamount to suicide.

After a moment, Lai Chunshan made a decision: "First, we need to find the defeated and escaped level nine fire phoenix, ask Su Mu about his true combat strength and trump card details, and at the same time, explore the possibility of joining forces and confirm whether the specially made talisman is in the fire phoenix's hands."

"I will follow your instructions, senior!" Songhe immediately replied.

The group quickly left the capital, unnoticed by anyone. This caution directly saved their lives. Had they launched a full-scale attack on the palace at that moment, utter annihilation would have been their only fate.

At this moment, in the courtyard of the library, Su Mu had completely refined all of the Fire Phoenix's essence blood, and his divine body experienced another surge in power. Compared to his previous life-or-death battle with the Fire Phoenix, his physical strength and defense had increased many times over.

Within the palace, life remained peaceful and uneventful. Su Mu spent his days stabilizing his divine body, absorbing the imperial energy, and regularly taking the Mysterious Pill to nourish his soul and the Mysterious Dew Spirit-Nourishing Pill to refine his profound spiritual power. Chai Min and the other three each took Enlightenment Pills to comprehend the Great Dao and elevate their divine soul realms. Xiao Yunshang, relying on dual cultivation of her soul with Su Mu, comprehended the Great Dao of Thunder, her cultivation and divine soul steadily progressing in sync, requiring no further elixirs.

Time passed, until July 9th.

Li Sheng entered the palace specifically to pay his respects to his godfather, Su Mu. He had already broken through to the late stage of Martial King in May, and with Su Mu's continuous support and cultivation, his foundation was now complete, and he was qualified to challenge for the Martial Emperor realm and condense his Martial Aspect.

Breaking through to the Martial Emperor realm from the outside world makes one vulnerable to attacks from inner demons and powerful enemies, fraught with danger. Therefore, he made a special trip to the library to ask Su Mu to protect him.

Su Mu looked at his ambitious and sensible adopted son and smiled, reassuring him in a loud voice: "Stay here and focus on cultivating your martial spirit. With me here, even if a powerful enemy attacks, they won't be able to harm you in the slightest."

He was also filled with anticipation; if his adopted son made another breakthrough, the system would surely distribute generous rewards once again.

Li Shengtian's talent was not as extraordinary as Xiao Yunshang's, but he was still a rare innate spiritual body and came from the Li family, a martial arts clan with a long history.

However, the Li clan had long since fallen into complete decline on the Wulong Continent. When the entire clan migrated into the Black Mist, all the clan members risked their lives to protect them, and in the end, only Li Sheng survived. The family was unable to provide top-tier cultivation resources, which delayed his cultivation progress considerably. Now, nearing fifty, he has only reached the peak of the Martial King realm.

However, Li Sheng was resilient and diligent in his cultivation. He built an incredibly solid foundation in martial arts through his own efforts, and with the continuous support of Su Mu's resources, he was able to overcome his bottleneck and break through to the Martial Emperor realm in a short period of time.

Without any further preparation, as night fell, Li Sheng released his primordial spirit and martial soul in the courtyard of the library, officially beginning the condensation of his martial aura.

As a born wood spirit, his spirit body has already advanced to the Xuan body. His martial soul is a hundred-foot green vine, which is thick and strong, winding and coiling like a green dragon, or a divine whip, with wood-type vitality sweeping across the entire courtyard.

With Su Mu and Xiao Yunshang protecting him, no external enemies dared to disturb the palace. In addition, with his own strong foundation, Li Sheng's process of condensing his martial image went smoothly without any backlash from mental demons.

At midnight, a thunderous roar as a martial spirit took shape echoed through the courtyard.

[Congratulations to Master's adopted son, Li Sheng, on successfully breaking through to the early stage of the Martial Emperor realm and condensing the Wooden Vine Martial Form. The system reward has been automatically sent to your inventory. Please check it yourself.]

The familiar system notification sounded in Su Mu's mind right on time.

Li Sheng withdrew his Azure Vine Martial Aura, looked up at Su Mu and Xiao Yunshang on the second-floor balcony, bowed deeply, and said respectfully and sincerely, "Thank you for protecting me all night, Godfather and Godmother."

"From now on, you can stay in the Imperial Palace's Yangxin Palace to cultivate." Su Mu waved his hand, and a storage bag landed in Li Sheng's hand in mid-air. The bag was filled with a large amount of high-level resources such as Enlightenment Pills and seventh-grade Nirvana Pills. "Take these rewards to help with your future cultivation."

Holding the storage bag, Li Sheng immediately knelt down and kowtowed deeply in gratitude: "Thank you so much for your generous reward, Godfather!"

"No need for formalities among family members, please rise." With a thought, Su Mu mobilized the power of nature to help Li Sheng up from a distance.

Li Lianqing then stepped forward and led Li Sheng to the Yangxin Palace to arrange their accommodations. Thus, Chai Min, Ding Chao, Chang Wei, and Li Sheng all resided in the Yangxin Palace, further expanding the Imperial Palace's military strength.

Inside the bedroom, Xiao Yunshang looked at Su Mu, her heart still filled with doubt. Finally, she couldn't help but speak up: "You've been taking in so many adopted sons and daughters, and you've spared no effort in cultivating them with vast amounts of high-level resources. I still can't understand why. With your strength, you don't need their help at all. Why waste your energy like this?"

She had previously suspected that Su Mu possessed an ancient martial arts treasure trove, but after spending a long time with him, she realized that Su Mu's resources were inexhaustible and that he shared them with others without reservation, which was not in line with the mentality of ordinary martial artists guarding their treasures.