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

"We can only continue to wait." Lai Chunshan was unwilling to linger in Tianyuan Continent for too long, as he would have to move to the new world later. However, he was unwilling to accept that he had come here empty-handed, so he could only patiently wait for Huohuang to come to the appointment.

With no one disturbing the courtyard of the library, Sun Fang's breakthrough proceeded smoothly. Once the Fire Dragon Martial Form was complete, Sun Fang withdrew his Martial Soul and Primordial Spirit, bowing deeply to Su Mu, Xiao Yunshang, and the other protectors to express his gratitude.

[Congratulations to the host's adopted son, Sun Fang, for advancing to the early stage of the Martial Emperor realm! The system reward has been sent to the system warehouse. Please check!]

Upon hearing the notification sound in his mind, Su Mu was overjoyed and took out a batch of seventh-grade Nirvana Pills and Enlightenment Pills to reward Sun Fang.

Sun Fang knelt down and kowtowed to express his gratitude.

"Get up." Su Mu raised his hand from a distance to help him up, and instructed him, "From now on, stay in the palace and cultivate in peace. You don't need to pass on messages to Elder Songhe anymore. That old man's life is nearing its end, and he can't cause any more trouble."

"Your son will obey your orders, Godfather." Sun Fang rose and followed Li Lianqing to the gatehouse, after which he moved into the Yangxin Palace. The Imperial Palace now boasts another Martial Emperor.

Su Mu returned to his bedroom on the second floor alone and opened the system inventory to check the rewards for this breakthrough. Previously, when Li Sheng broke through to Martial Emperor, the system gifted him a Heaven-Rank Supreme Imperial Embroidered Dragon Robe; this time, the rewards also included two Heaven-Rank Supreme Treasures.

The first magical artifact is called the Imperial Boots, which primarily enhance speed, greatly increasing flight and movement speed. Su Mu, having cultivated the Imperial Divine Embryo, could barely activate these top-grade Heaven-rank boots, though he couldn't unleash their full power; even so, it was still a significant boost.

"The system intends to collect the entire set of Imperial Treasures. I wonder if collecting the whole set will unlock hidden special effects," Su Mu pondered to himself.

The second item is a top-grade Heaven-rank talisman for warding off evil. Su Mu had obtained a top-grade Earth-rank talisman for warding off evil in his early years, but had never had a suitable time to use it.

The Earth-rank top-grade talisman is only strong enough to suppress all evil spirits in the late stage of the Martial Emperor realm, including the strange creatures in the black mist.

The Heavenly-Rank Top-Grade Evil-Repelling Talisman rewarded by the system this time has its power increasing exponentially. It can steadily control and annihilate even when facing the Ghost Clan in the late stage of Martial Emperor Realm and various evil demons.

Su Mu traced the ancient rune with his fingertips, pondering to himself: Deep within the black mist of the Tianyuan Continent, there must be a powerful member of the Ghost Clan at the Martial Emperor level lurking. Otherwise, the continent's own forces would be sufficient to quell the chaos; there would be no need for a Martial God level expert to personally intervene.

This high-level talisman will definitely play a crucial role when the Black Mist War breaks out in the future.

Collecting his thoughts, Su Mu continued to take stock of all the system rewards brought about by his adopted son Sun Fang's breakthrough.

All kinds of top-grade Heavenly Rank pills are readily available, with ample reserves of Enlightenment Pills, Ninth-Rank Nirvana Pills, and Ninth-Rank Dragon Essence Pills; mid-grade Heavenly Rank pills are also supplied in large quantities, including Eighth-Rank Nirvana Pills, Eighth-Rank Dragon Essence Pills, and Qianxu Divine Soul Pills.

In addition, this reward unlocks a brand new pill that has never appeared before—the Heavenly Rank Low-Grade Qianling Xuanhuo Pill.

This pill is exclusively for fire-type cultivators, with two distinct core effects: it can completely transform a martial artist's own mortal fire into true fire, advancing it to a true profound fire; it can also solidify the foundation of their existing profound fire, significantly enhancing its destructive power. For cultivators stuck at the early stage of Martial Emperor and preparing to break through to the middle stage, this pill is an irreplaceable treasure for breaking through to the next level.

Besides a massive amount of elixirs, this reward also includes two practical protective and combat treasures: a mid-grade Heavenly Rank clone talisman and a high-grade Heavenly Rank Qianjin puppet.

At this point, Su Mu possessed a total of two mid-grade Heaven-rank clone talismans, one mid-grade Heaven-rank Qianjin puppet, and one high-grade Heaven-rank Qianjin puppet.

The difference between the two is obvious: the Heavenly Rank High-Grade Qianjin Puppet has a wisp of primordial divine fire embedded within its body. Divine fire is a power that only mid-stage Martial Emperor cultivators can control. With the blessing of this wisp of divine fire, this puppet has the power to fight against mid-stage Martial Emperor experts and mid-stage level nine demonic beasts head-on.

It must be said that Sun Fang's breakthrough to the early stage of Martial Emperor brought substantial benefits to Su Mu.

Su Mu stepped out of the bedroom, leaped from the second-floor balcony into the courtyard, and simultaneously released his divine sense to summon Chai Min and her group to the courtyard.

Each person was given a Qianling Xuanhuo Pill, tailored to their cultivation level.

Chang Wei, Li Sheng, and Sun Fang are all newly promoted Martial Emperors in their early stages, possessing only basic True Fire within their bodies. This pill can help them complete the crucial transformation from True Fire to Profound Fire. Chai Min and Ding Chao have already condensed Profound Fire, but its grade is weak and its power insufficient. This pill can strengthen their fire-based foundation.

As for Su Mu and Xiao Yunshang, the pill was useless. Su Mu's Purple-Gold Imperial Dao Profound Fire was of a much higher grade than ordinary Profound Fire, so a low-grade Heaven-rank pill could not amplify it; Xiao Yunshang had previously absorbed the complete source of a low-grade Heaven-rank fire crystal, and her own Profound Fire foundation was strong enough, so she also did not need such a pill to enhance it.

"Thank you so much, Godfather, for your generous gift!"

The five people bowed in unison, their tone respectful and orderly.

"Go back and cultivate in peace." Su Mu waved his hand gently, dismissing everyone.

After seeing everyone off, Su Mu felt a new sense of anticipation. Li Sheng and Sun Fang had just broken through to the next realm, and their foundations were still shallow, so they couldn't reach the mid-stage of Martial Emperor in the short term. However, Chang Wei had been at the early stage of Martial Emperor for nearly three months, and with Su Mu's continuous feeding of high-level resources, his foundation had already been fully built up, and he was very close to the mid-stage of Martial Emperor. The next system reward was already within reach.

Night completely enveloped the earth.

In the southern part of the East China Sea, in a secluded bay adjacent to Wanjiang Yusu, the level nine Fire Phoenix Chihuang finally found its old partner who had been sleeping for ten thousand years—the level nine Xuanjia Sea Turtle—deep in the mountains of a lonely island.

The giant tortoise lay dormant in a massive cavern beneath the island, having slumbered for millennia. The protective array erected within the cavern years ago had long since exhausted its spiritual energy and become completely ineffective. Even if the Fire Phoenix did not awaken it, as the black mist continued to expand and erode the area, this ancient tortoise would eventually awaken on its own.

Boom—

An overwhelming, savage aura suddenly erupted from the ground, causing the cave's rock layers to crumble and collapse inch by inch. Sensing the familiar yet domineering fire-attribute aura above its head, the giant sea turtle slowly opened its murky, heavy eyes, its massive, mountain-like body soaring into the air before landing on the island's surface a moment later.

The tortoise, its body as thick as a small mountain, stood on the earth, its black shell hard and gleaming with a dark, flowing light. The tortoise spoke in a deep, resonant voice that made the air tremble: "Red Feather, it is extremely impolite of you to disturb my millennia-long cultivation without cause."

Chi Yu spread his enormous fiery wings, scattering sparks across the sea, and said casually, "Dai Jian, you have been asleep for nearly ten thousand years. Your slumber is long enough, and it's time to come out of seclusion and stretch your muscles."

"That makes sense." Xuanjia Sea Turtle Dai Jian nodded slightly, then got straight to the point, "You came all this way to wake me up, you must have something to ask of me."

"That's right, I have an unparalleled opportunity in a secret realm, and I plan to join forces with you to share it," said Fire Phoenix Crimson Feather solemnly.

Dai Jian raised his heavy eyelids, his face full of disbelief: "You are selfish and possessive by nature. We are not close friends. Why would you take away my opportunity for no reason? Just say what you want. There's no need to beat around the bush."