After the college entrance examination, my identity as a Mahayana Immortal Venerable could no longer

The dark red seawater churned at my feet.

Lu Yuan hovered above the silt three thousand meters deep in the ocean.

The rusty iron chain extended from the depths of the seabed rock wall, its other end piercing directly through the collarbone of a gaunt old man.

The old man's eyes were closed, his clothes long since corroded to shreds by the extremely high pressure of the seawater. His skin had an unnatural grayish-white hue. With each faint rise and fall of his chest, a chilling, deathly aura was drawn from the surrounding viscous seawater.

Lu Yuan stopped in front of the old man.

This old man's body contained not a trace of a cultivator's true essence; it was entirely composed of the purest ancient martial arts internal energy from Earth. Moreover, its purity was ridiculously high, far surpassing that of Zhao Wuji, the Divine Realm Ancestor from Jiangzhou whose head he had crushed.

Peak of the Divine Realm.

A hundred years ago, the seal of the Heaven and Earth Separation Formation on Earth was much more robust than it is now. In an era of extreme spiritual depletion, to have managed to cultivate to the peak of the Divine Realm was an extremely rare and exceptional achievement.

Lu Yuan's gaze fell on the iron chain.

It feels cool to the touch. The outer layer is covered with rust from the seabed, but the inside is mixed with extremely high-purity Void Stone powder.

The people from the Sirius Starfield used materials from the cultivation world to forge magical artifacts and locked a native Earth-based Divine Realm martial artist beneath the interdimensional teleportation array.

This has a hint of being stingy and calculating.

The deathly aura emanating from the remains of a dragon at the Integration Stage was too heavy; interdimensional teleportation required the blood and qi of a living person as a buffer. This old man, locked here, was essentially a living blood and qi filter. He'd been drained of energy for a hundred years and was still alive—his life was incredibly resilient.

Lu Yuan closed his five fingers. The pure physical power of the Mahayana stage erupted in his palm.

Click!

The thick iron chain, mixed with Void Stone, was snapped in two by force.

The old man suddenly opened his eyes.

His eyeballs were completely covered by a cloudy white membrane, making it impossible to see the pupils. His withered Adam's apple bobbed up and down, making a harsh sound like sandpaper rubbing against glass.

"Outside the Territory...Evil Demon..."

The old man's internal energy surged wildly, as if going mad. His previously withered body instantly swelled up considerably, and dark blue veins bulged beneath his grayish-white skin.

He wanted to self-destruct.

Lu Yuan slapped the old man on the top of the head with his backhand.

boom!

A powerful surge of Mahayana-stage true essence forcefully crashed into the old man's meridians, instantly dispersing the opposing divine energy. The old man's swollen body deflated like a punctured balloon, and he spat out a mouthful of black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs into the seawater.

"At her age, she still has such a bad temper."

Lu Yuan grabbed the old man by the back of the neck and lifted him up like a chick.

"If I were from the Sirius Star Region, you wouldn't even be left with ashes by now. Save your energy, I'll question you when we get up there."

A white shockwave erupted beneath Lu Yuan's feet.

The azure true essence shield forcefully pushed aside the high-pressure seawater surrounding it, enough to crush a tank. He carried a living person, transforming into a streak of light rushing upwards, heading straight for the sea surface.

The East China Sea.

The enormous vortex that had once devoured everything had completely vanished. Large numbers of dead fish floated on the surface of the sea, along with the shredded metal wreckage of the Leviathan nuclear-powered submarine.

Three heavy tiltrotor aircraft bearing the logo of the Space Surveillance Bureau were circling high in the sky. Bright searchlight beams swept back and forth across the dark sea.

boom!

Without warning, a column of water tens of meters high burst open on the calm water surface.

Lu Yuan, carrying the old man, burst out of the sea without pausing for even half a second. He stepped directly into the air, creating a series of deafening sonic booms, and hurtled towards Jiangzhou.

The radar screen in the gyroplane cockpit flashed a blinding red light. A piercing alarm drowned out the roar of the propellers.

"Report! Radar has detected an extremely high-energy reaction! Speed... speed exceeding Mach 3! And it's still accelerating!"

The operator's voice cracked.

"No need to chase after them."

Lin Zhen's extremely exhausted voice came through the encrypted communication channel.

"Apart from that guy, no one on Earth can treat physics like a fart. Send the safe coordinates back to headquarters, and everyone retreat."

Jiangzhou. Panlongshan Villa District.

The downpour had stopped. The air was filled with a strong smell of blood and the earthy stench of mud washed away by the rain.

Lin Zhen, gripping a chipped, high-frequency vibrating knife, led a dozen wounded special agents from the Sky Surveillance Bureau, holding a tight guard outside the villa's dilapidated iron gate. The mutated beast carcasses along the mountain road had piled up into a two-meter-high wall of flesh.

A gust of wind descended from the sky and crashed heavily onto the bluestone slabs in the courtyard.

Large areas of bluestone slabs were shattered into dust.

"Mr. Lu! You're back. Over in the East China Sea..."

Lu Yuan casually tossed the old man he was carrying into the muddy water.

"Get a few people to wake him up. Give him some warm water. Don't let him die."

Lin Zhen looked down at the naked, emaciated, blind old man on the ground, and his eyelids twitched violently.

He had sharp eyes. He immediately noticed a strange birthmark on the old man's right chest. It was a dark red spot arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper.

Lin Zhen's back straightened abruptly. His previously steady breathing instantly became thin and broken.

"Master Qin...Master Qin?"

Lin Zhen's voice trembled uncontrollably. His legs went weak, and he almost knelt directly in the mud.

Lu Yuan stopped in his tracks.

"Do you know him?"

"The highest-level file, File 0, of the Bureau of Extraordinary Immortals contains records of..."

Lin Zhen swallowed hard, forcibly trying to steady his trembling legs.

"A hundred years ago, there was a national martial arts god in the Chinese martial arts world who was halfway to the Divine Realm, named Qin Changkong. He was Elder Li's mentor in his youth and also the core combat force that led the encirclement and suppression of the extraterrestrial invaders. The top-secret files say that he was shattered to pieces in that nuclear war, and not even a fragment of his bone could be found..."

Lu Yuan glanced at the old man on the ground.

It turns out they were survivors of that mess from a century ago.

Those who descended upon Earth back then weren't powerful figures from the Sirius Star Region at all; they were at most Foundation Establishment stage cannon fodder sent to explore. Even so, they forced Earth's martial arts world to unleash its full potential, even resorting to nuclear weapons.

Qin Changkong didn't die in the nuclear explosion. Instead, he was secretly locked at the bottom of the Guixu Sea by people who later infiltrated the Sirius Star Region and used as a water pump for a hundred years.

"Find him some clothes to put on. When he wakes up, have Old Li come over and recognize him."

Lu Yuan had no interest in hearing the tragic stories of Earth's martial arts world. He had more important matters to attend to.

He stepped directly over the deformed threshold, entered the villa, and went to the quiet room on the second floor.

Lu Qingxue remained lying in bed. Although the extreme heat and extreme cold forces within her were forcibly suppressed in her dantian by Lu Yuan's pure yang essence blood, they had not truly merged.

The meridians of mortals are too fragile. Even with the protection of the essence and blood of a Mahayana cultivator, it won't last long. If it's not cleared up as soon as possible, this girl will eventually be burst by the two forces.

Lu Yuan walked to the bedside. He flipped his hand and took out the inner core of the Nascent Soul stage dragon, which emitted a soft golden light, from his storage ring.

If this thing were in the cultivation world, it would be enough to cause a frenzy of fighting among Nascent Soul stage monsters and even Nascent Soul stage experts.

Using it to cleanse and refine the marrow of a mortal girl who hasn't even reached the Foundation Establishment stage is truly a waste of resources.

But Lu Yuan didn't even frown.

He formed a hand seal. The ancient, ethereal image of the Primordial Chaos Cauldron flowed between his fingertips.

The extremely pure Mahayana stage true essence enveloped the fist-sized inner core and began to forcibly refine it.

The golden light emanating from the Dragon Ball intensified, and the temperature so high that even the special steel walls of the quiet room began to glow red. A few minutes later, the entire inner core transformed into a drop of amber-colored, viscous liquid. It contained an immense, suffocating amount of ancient life force and demonic power.

Lu Yuan pried open Lu Qingxue's mouth and dripped the amber liquid into her mouth.

Boom!

Suddenly, without warning, a purple bolt of lightning struck down from the night sky atop Panlong Mountain.

Lu Qingxue suddenly sprang up from the bed.

The drop of Dragon Ball essence entering her dantian was like pouring a ladle of ice water into a boiling oil pan.

The dormant Nine Yin Cold Qi and Extreme Flame Dragon Marrow medicinal power instantly went berserk under the stimulation of the Dragon Pearl's immense vitality.

But this time, they didn't have the chance to tear Lu Qingxue's meridians apart.

The primordial vitality of the dragon in the fusion stage, with an extremely domineering attitude, forcibly pressed and kneaded these two extreme forces into the dantian, merging them together.

A fine layer of black grime quickly appeared on Lu Qingxue's body. This was impurities that had accumulated deep within the marrow of a mortal for over a decade.

Her meridians were expanded rapidly.

First level of Qi Refining.

The fifth level of the Qi Refining stage.

Peak of Qi Refining Stage.

Foundation Building Stage!

In less than ten minutes, Lu Qingxue's cultivation level skyrocketed like a rocket, directly crossing the most difficult threshold for cultivators: Foundation Establishment.

A unique icy blue true energy belonging to the Nine Yin Profound Meridian, mixed with a trace of extremely hot fire, circulated around her body.

Lu Yuan withdrew his hand and took half a step back.

It became.

Her Nine Yin Meridians were completely opened, imbued with the domineering fiery nature of the Extreme Flame Dragon Marrow. From now on, even without cultivation, this girl could roam freely on this Earth, where spiritual energy has just begun to recover, simply by breathing. Ordinary Divine Realm martial artists couldn't even break through her protective true energy.

The very moment Lu Qingxue stepped into the Foundation Establishment stage.

The southernmost point of the Earth. Antarctic glaciers.

30,000 meters below the ice sheet, deep within the Earth's core.

A massive black shadow, sealed tightly by the eternal ice, suddenly twitched almost imperceptibly.

From the depths of the once deathly silent ice, a deep, muffled heartbeat resounded.

thump.

This heartbeat pierced through the thick crust of the earth, triggering a faint resonance throughout the entire network of ley lines on Earth.

Lu Yuan stood in the quiet room. The steel floor beneath his feet trembled slightly.

He turned to look at the south-facing wall.

Antarctica.

It seems that Guixu is not the only mine buried on Earth in the Sirius star system.

Lu Yuan reached into his pocket. The Kunlun branch tortoise shell, which he had obtained by searching the soul of the old man with the dried corpse, was now glowing with a strange dark red array pattern.

The catalyst for awakening the ancient demon skeletons.

That cowardly sect leader of the Sirius Starfield seems to have realized that the main array eye of the Ruins of Return has been shattered. He's panicked and has immediately activated the second backup plan.

It doesn't matter.

One comes, kill one. Two come, twist their heads off and kick them like balls.

Lu Yuan put the heated tortoise shell back into his pocket and looked away.

Lu Qingxue on the bed let out a soft moan and slowly opened her eyes.

A faint, unmistakable icy blue light flashed deep within her pupils.

"elder brother......"

Lu Qingxue's voice was still somewhat weak, but her breathing rhythm had completely changed to that of a cultivator.

"I think I had a very long dream. In the dream, there was a huge black worm, and a ball of fire and a block of ice were fighting."

Lu Yuan grabbed a new blanket that hadn't been burned yet and threw it directly at her head.

"Go take a shower right now. You stink."

Lu Qingxue looked down at her body covered in black, sticky grime, screamed, and grabbed the blanket as she ran to the bathroom outside.

She had only run two steps when she suddenly stopped. She looked down, staring blankly at her feet.

She did not step on the floor of the quiet room.

She was half a foot off the ground, suspended in mid-air.

"Brother! I...I can fly!"

Lu Qingxue frantically flailed her arms and legs in the air, like a turtle turned upside down.

"Shut up. Focus, calm your mind. Don't let your mind wander to those random, distracting thoughts."

Lu Yuan leaned against the door frame of the quiet room and spoke irritably.

Following Lu Yuan's instructions, Lu Qingxue took a deep breath. The true energy within her body instantly contracted.

thump.

She lost buoyancy and fell solidly to the floor, landing on her bottom.

She didn't even bother rubbing her bottom; wrapped herself in a blanket and scrambled into the bathroom.

Lu Yuan turned and walked out of the quiet room, onto the second-floor corridor.

The military-grade encrypted communicator that had been in his pocket started vibrating wildly at that moment.

Lu Yuan pressed the answer button.

"Mr. Lu."

Chu Jianguo's voice came through the loudspeaker, filled with suppressed anger and barely concealed panic.

"A major upheaval has occurred in the capital. The five reclusive elders of the Ancient Martial Arts Alliance, together with the twelve S-class mutants sent by the Shield Consortium, forcibly tore up the secular offering contract and took over most of the capital's defenses."

Lu Yuan leaned against the railing, watching the Sky Surveillance Bureau special agents moving the mutated beast corpses downstairs, without saying a word.

"They discovered your relationship with Ye Qingcheng. This afternoon, they raided Ye Qingcheng's residence. In order to cover the retreat of our Sky Surveillance Bureau's technicians, Ye Qingcheng was seriously injured and captured alive by those five old guys."

Chu Jianguo gritted his teeth. His military boots slammed into the anti-static floor of the command post with a dull thud.

"They set up a Heavenly Thunder Formation on the martial arts arena in the capital. They announced that three days later at noon, they would publicly execute Ye Qingcheng in front of all the martial artists in the world. They also said..."

Chu Jianguo paused for a moment, seemingly considering his words.

"What else is there to say?"

Lu Yuan's tone was as calm as a stagnant pool. There wasn't the slightest fluctuation in his emotions.

"They also said that this is the secular martial arts world cleaning house and eliminating traitors. If that cultivator surnamed Lu dares to storm the execution ground, no matter what immortal methods he has, he will be ensured that he never returns."

Chu Jianguo took a deep breath, and his voice suddenly rose.

"Old Li has given the order. Heavy armored divisions from three surrounding defense zones, plus two missile brigades, have completely surrounded the Beijing Martial Arts Arena. Just give the word, and we'll blast those old bastards and the arena to smithereens with high-frequency electromagnetic cannons!"

The air was silent for two seconds.

Lu Yuan reached out and dusted off the non-existent dust from the corner of his clothes.

"Need not."

"Have all your armored divisions and missile brigades withdraw from Beijing. Retreat beyond the Fifth Ring Road."

Lu Yuan hung up the communicator.

Apply slight pressure with your fingertips.

The expensive, bulletproof military communicator turned into a fine cloud of metal powder in Lu Yuan's hand, which then splattered onto the carpet in the corridor through his fingers.

Three days later. The Capital Martial Arts Arena.

Those old fogies stuck at the peak of the Transcendent Realm, half their bodies buried in the ground. They really think that by setting up a Heavenly Thunder Formation and adding a few genetically mutated foreign trash, they can provoke the temper of a Mahayana Immortal Venerable.

Lu Yuan turned and walked down the stairs.

It's time to go to the capital and teach these ignorant frogs in a well what real heavenly thunder is all about.