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

A few breaths later, his feet touched solid ground again, and Su Mu appeared in the sky above the Black Stone Islands in the East China Sea.

As far as the eye could see, a thick black mist shrouded the entire archipelago. The malevolent aura of the Ghost Clan blotted out the sun, and countless Ghost Clan soldiers occupied various parts of the islands, numbering in the thousands. Among them, three particularly powerful and sinister auras pierced through the black mist, revealing three Ghost Clan experts at the Martial Emperor realm.

The spatial fluctuations startled everyone present, and all the Gui Clan members instantly looked up, staring intently at Su Mu in the air.

"Human cultivators!"

The three Martial Emperors of the Ghost Clan roared fiercely, leading all the Ghost Clan members within the entire black mist to swarm and attack Su Mu.

Su Mu's gaze remained calm, showing no intention of continuing the fight. The black Dao Fire had not yet fully merged with his own divine fire; a hasty battle would easily lead to a backlash from the flames, damaging the very source of his divine fire.

The next moment, the Imperial Boots activated at full speed, and the Thunder Flash Movement Technique burst forth instantly. A streak of purple-black light streaked across the sky, heading straight for the western land at full speed to retreat.

Now, Su Mu's physical body, movement techniques, and divine fire have all reached the ceiling level of the Tianyuan Continent. Nothing below the god level can stop him even a step. Without using the Great Teleportation Token or activating the Evil-Repelling Talisman, he can easily escape the encirclement with just his own speed.

The group of monsters pursued them frantically from behind, but the boundary of the Black Mist Sea was bound by natural rules, preventing the monsters from escaping the Black Mist for long. They were forced to stop at the edge of the sea and could only watch helplessly as Su Mu drove away.

After crossing the sea to the west, Su Mu successfully returned to the land of Tianyuan Continent and continued his journey without stopping.

As night fell completely and the stars and moon hung in the sky, a streak of purplish-black firelight pierced the night sky above the imperial city and landed steadily in the courtyard of the Great Qian Imperial Palace Library.

Everyone in the courtyard looked up at the sound, their faces filled with astonishment.

Xiao Yunshang immediately leaped down from the second-floor balcony and quickly walked to Su Mu's side. Her gaze fell on the eerie black flames swirling around his body, her brows furrowed with worry: "What is this layer of black flames on your body? Did you encounter any fatal danger during your trip to the secret realm?"

"It's alright, it's just an extraterrestrial Dao fire. I'm slowly fusing it with my own divine fire." Su Mu calmly withdrew most of the black fire from his body. "This trip to the secret realm was full of twists and turns. We encountered two extraterrestrial Martial Emperors and two level-nine demonic beasts joining forces to kill us, but in the end, we escaped unscathed and gained far more than expected."

Hearing that Su Mu was safe and sound, Xiao Yunshang was completely relieved and then inquired about the whereabouts of the powerful companions.

"All those who traveled with us perished in the secret realm."

Su Mu didn't hide anything, stating the results simply and directly. He then picked out the key plot points, explaining in detail the secret realm traps, the alien martial god's schemes, and the cosmic war situation involving the Black Mist Ghost Clan. This satisfied Xiao Yunshang's doubts on one hand, and on the other hand, allowed her to clearly understand the extraterrestrial crisis and the true threat posed by the Ghost Clan.

Xiao Yunshang listened quietly, her expression changing rapidly, her heart filled with lingering fear. She knew that if any other Martial Emperor cultivator had stepped into that thousand-year-old trap, there would have been absolutely no chance of survival.

"The crises will only increase in the future. Extraterrestrial powerhouses, cosmic races, and the main force of the Ghost Race may descend upon Tianyuan Star at any time. We cannot afford to be complacent for a moment." Su Mu said solemnly. "The local Ghost Race's combat strength is still sufficient to cope, but if high-level Ghost Race powerhouses from beyond the realm rush here, the entire continent will face annihilation."

Xiao Yunshang nodded slightly, powerless to change the course of the universe, and could only place her hopes on Su Mu.

"I need to go into seclusion for half a month to completely integrate the black Dao Fire within my body. During this time, you can continue to handle the affairs of the court as usual."

After Su Mu finished speaking, he leaped onto the second-floor balcony, returned to their bedroom, and prepared to go into seclusion to take stock of their spoils.

The door closed, isolating it from outside noise. Su Mu immediately took out the storage ring left behind by Moen and infused it with his divine soul power to open the space.

The moment Su Mu saw the contents of the ring, even though he was used to seeing rare and precious treasures, a look of amazement flashed across his eyes.

The entire space was filled with a massive amount of god-level resources, truly enabling one to become rich overnight.

Combining the classification of cosmic magical artifacts in Moen's memory, Su Mu quickly clarified the grade division: Martial Emperor corresponds to Quasi-God Realm, Martial God corresponds to True God Realm; Martial God uses low-grade God-rank magical artifacts, Great God Realm uses mid-grade God-rank magical artifacts, Heavenly God Realm uses high-grade God-rank magical artifacts, and God King Realm wields top-grade God-rank magical artifacts.

As a late-stage True God of War with outstanding combat power, Moen possessed three low-grade divine-level offensive magic weapons and two mid-grade divine-level supreme treasures in his storage ring.

However, the minimum threshold for activating any divine-grade magic weapon is the nurturing of a deity within the body. Even though Su Mu's Imperial Divine Embryo is unparalleled among its peers, without the blessing of a deity, he cannot budge it in the slightest. Of the five divine treasures, four offensive and defensive magic weapons can only be temporarily stored in the system's warehouse.

Only one supreme treasure for soul defense is exempt from this restriction.

Su Mu took out a warm and white round bead. The bead had a gentle light flowing inside and a peaceful aura that could calm the soul. It was called the Heavenly Soul Bead, a mid-grade divine-level soul defense magic treasure. It was a protective treasure that the Three-Eyed Clan God King had personally bestowed upon Moen.

Su Mu immediately performed a blood oath, and the Heavenly Soul Pearl automatically transformed into a beam of white light, flying into his sea of ​​consciousness and hovering steadily above Wu Xiang's head. It continuously released its divine soul aura, protecting the entire sea of ​​consciousness. From this day forward, even facing a divine soul attack from a Great God Realm expert, Su Mu would be fearless.

In addition, there is a mid-grade divine-level Void Escape Talisman inside the ring, which still has two uses remaining.

This talisman far surpasses the Great Teleportation Token. The Great Teleportation Token only allows for short-distance spatial teleportation, while the Void Escape Talisman enables true space travel across star systems. Its only drawback is the extremely high spatial pressure during the journey, which is difficult for ordinary divine bodies to withstand. Even so, this talisman still significantly enhances Su Mu's ability to survive.

The remaining supplies include a massive amount of low-grade divine pills, offensive and defensive divine talismans, and pure low-grade divine stones, all of which are high-end cultivation resources universally applicable throughout the universe. The only regret is the lack of divine-grade rare and precious materials. Moen has been fighting on the battlefields of the Ghost Clan for many years and only carries practical survival supplies with him, not the burden of carrying rare spiritual herbs.

Even so, the value of these relics is still immeasurable. In the past, a single divine-grade resource reward from the system would make Su Mu overjoyed for a long time, but now, possessing a large number of divine-grade treasures at once, his gains are truly terrifying.

Su Mu gripped the divine stone in his palm, his gaze resolute: "Once the Dao Fire is fully fused, the speed at which my divine embryo nurtures a divine spirit will greatly accelerate. At the same time, we cannot allow the black mist of the Ghost Clan to continue to expand. The imperial aura of the Human Race is of paramount importance. If the Human Race suffers too many casualties, my cultivation opportunities will also be greatly damaged."

The aura of the Emperor is related to one's cultivation speed and the growth of the Overlord Body. Su Mu must not sit idly by and wait for the black mist of the Ghost Clan to continue to erode the territory of the human race.

Currently, the black mist is expanding slowly, giving him ample time to retreat and strengthen himself. All forces on the Tianyuan Continent are wary of Su Mu's combat prowess. Even though the barbarians, witches, and various demon beast clans have been forced into human territory, they dare not cause trouble recklessly, and the entire continent maintains a semblance of peace.

All the races on the continent now place their sole hope of resisting the Ghost Clan on Su Mu, the Supreme Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty.

The alien races had extremely complex feelings: they both hoped that Su Mu would sweep away the Ghost Race and protect the entire Tianyuan Continent; and they also feared that after Su Mu quelled the external threats, he would turn around and purge all the races, allowing the human race to become completely dominant and squeezing out the living space of all the alien races.

News of Su Mu's journey to the secret realm and his solo battles against multiple powerful figures spread throughout the imperial city early on. The image of him returning alone ahead of schedule and entering the imperial palace surrounded by black flames was also witnessed by countless cultivators in the imperial city.

The issue immediately sparked heated discussions across the government and the public.

"The Emperor Emeritus has only been in the secret realm for half a day, why has he returned alone? Where have the other powerful companions gone?"

"Could it be that something major has happened within the secret realm, forcing the Emperor Emeritus to evacuate prematurely?"

Amidst the rumors, an official announcement from the imperial palace was issued: the two level-nine demon beasts and the two extraterrestrial martial emperors who were traveling together had all been killed by the retired emperor, with none surviving.