Chapter 323: The Awakening at Golden Light Peak

Qianyuan Divine Sect.

Golden Light Peak.

Across the entire Grand Plaza, as the searing heat of the Yulian fire subsides, a cold chill returns in tidal waves, blanketing everything in relentless frost. Snowflakes falling from the sky scatter continuously over the mortal world.

Yet the atmosphere on the Grand Plaza remains intensely fervent. Not even the surging cold tide can quench this passion. The booming voice of Master Lü Taibai resounded through the Divine Sect like a great bell.

The disciples, already drawn by the spectacle atop Golden Light Peak, showed unsurpassed astonishment in their eyes, quickly giving way to delight and awe.

At six years old… breaking through the Divine Vision!

Moreover, the Divine Vision he consolidated was of the Three Pure Ones rank. The higher the level of the Divine Essence Technique, the tougher the challenge; the need to accumulate divine energy and talent becomes terrifyingly extreme.

That is why the Divine Vision Techniques of the Three Pure Ones and the Four Emperors must generally be personally taught by the Elders. For disciples with insufficient talent, forcefully pursuing such techniques would only ruin their future cultivation and block their ascension.

They would be unable to fully harness their innate talent.

The Divine Essence Techniques of the Three Pure Ones and Four Emperors are prepared only for prodigies radiating boundless energy, a level far beyond ordinary Divine Vision. Without the proper foundation, don’t attempt the impossible.

Spending precious foundational time on elusive techniques would be a grave misstep, wasting a future and dooming one’s destiny—a fate utterly unacceptable by the sect.

The resources the sect invests in you aren’t meant for you to stubbornly waste them on an unfeasible Divine Essence Technique. Countless disciples could only feel the gap between each other widening.

Even Chikuang, ranked first on the Authentic Transmission Ledger, his burly figure and flying purple hair couldn’t help but show a trace of admiration. Even his talent at six made breaking through Divine Vision look distant.

And within the inner transmission, Wei He, whose name ranked eighth on the Authentic Transmission Ledger when he once guided and sheltered the people of Jingguang Prefecture into Daocheng, now wore a gaze filled solely with endless complexity.

He seemed momentarily dazed; the death of Huanghe Mountain left him, as a disciple, suddenly bereft of his support.

Recalling that little girl’s first entry into Daocheng, when he represented Huanghe Mountain in hopes of making XiXi his junior sister, he now thought how truly foolish he had been.

What a ridiculous act this was. “Congratulations! For our Young Daoist Master, congratulations!”

Wei He stood in the heavy snow, clenching his fists and shouting loudly.

Thunderous cheers erupted from all corners of Qianyuan Divine Sect. “Congratulations!”

“For our Young Daoist Master!”

The cheers roared like thunder, shattering the falling snow. The entire sect was engulfed in a fervor.

On the Grand Plaza.

XiXi blinked her eyes. Hearing the cheers directed at her, she instantly beamed, placing her hands on her hips and proudly puffing out her little belly. The sea of jubilant shouts flushed her cheeks a bright red.

This was the hallmark of the great empress XiXi!

“These past few days spent in seclusion atop Golden Light Peak were for the purpose of refining the feedback from the Divine Essence of our vision to fortify and purify the body.”

“Soon, we’ll head to Divine Capital. Only if you break through to the Grandmaster realm before the Peach Banquet will you stand a chance there. After all, in the Dragon Hatchery, your opponents won’t merely rely on Divine Vision—they’ll possess a far greater cultivation.”

Master Lü Taibai said with a smile.

XiXi’s voice suddenly shattered the calm like a bolt from the blue. “Ah?! XiXi isn’t allowed a break yet?”

She felt as if all her strength had been drained. Lü Taibai looked at her with gentle warmth and smiled.

“XiXi, weren’t you the one who clamored to win a longevity-bestowing peach for your mother at the Peach Banquet? You wouldn’t want that peach to fall into another prodigy’s hands, would you?”

Lü Taibai continued with his characteristic motivating words. XiXi felt as though she were being struck by lightning once again!

“No way, no way! I must bring that peach to my mother!” XiXi’s determination flared instantly.

Though part of her longed to rush into her mother’s embrace for a cuddle,

she also knew that completing the body’s purification through the Divine Essence of vision was crucial.

After all, XiXi was still very young. While her physical development was rapid and her martial skills advancing steadily, biological limits meant that breaking into the Grandmaster realm still eluded her. Perhaps, with the aid of her Divine Vision, this breakthrough was within reach!

XiXi also knew that the Peach Banquet was the grandest event of the Great Jing Court, attracting countless prodigies. Some powerful families, whose heirs faced imminent demise, would send forth their disciples to snatch the peaches needed to prolong their lives.

In fact, the Dragon Hatchery might be the fiercest competition of all.

After all, among children, the cultivation gap wasn’t vast. Any slight difference could be quickly overcome. The thought of her peach being snatched by another prodigy filled XiXi with a cold fury.

Absolutely unacceptable! XiXi’s resolve solidified.

Lü Taibai chuckled as Fang Han Shu stepped in to take charge of the situation.

Monitor Hong Shifo, with a sweep of his long sleeves, clasped his fists and respectfully bowed, “Congratulations to Master Taibai on his personal transmission—achieving the six-year-old Divine Vision atop Lingnan Path, a feat unparalleled in millennia!” Indeed, among the talented prodigies favored by ancient noble resources in Divine Capital, there were very few who had managed to consolidate Divine Vision at the age of six.

But XiXi was different. Her origins were humble—not from an ancient noble family, not even from a well-known clan, merely a peasant’s daughter. Even a towering deity like Hong Shifo couldn’t help but express both admiration and astonishment.

Lü Taibai cast a glance at Hong Shifo as he revealed that the divination he just performed for XiXi had uncovered an ominous sign. His heart grew heavy, for the divination of the Imperial Watch was indeed formidable.

Hong Shifo had truly foreseen it.

Although the outer world knew nothing of what transpired in the Yulian Cavern, Lü Taibai was well aware that XiXi had faced a catastrophic event. In fact, it was not even he who had rescued her but Li… a father willing to sacrifice his life for his daughter succeeded in saving her.

Just as Hong Shifo was about to speak to Lü Taibai, eager to ask what had truly transpired within the space engulfed by the Yulian fire,

Hong Shifo’s expression shifted subtly.

It wasn’t only Hong Shifo; nearly every top-tier expert present showed signs of alarm as, atop a peak of Qianyuan Divine Sect,

a majestic Buddhist light suddenly burst into the sky, revealing seven sacred Shеli pearls. The light swirling over the pearls carried not a trace of warmth, only an endless chill. Five of the pearls transformed into seven Buddha statues, each with a different countenance.

The Buddhas loomed large in the skies above Qianyuan Divine Sect, gazing down upon the sect. “This is…”

Hong Shifo’s eyes revealed a strange hue. “That… is the Seven-Treasure Shеli Ruyi Heavenly King Tower?!”

Hong Shifo never expected that the bizarre temple, long suppressed for ages by Qianyuan Divine Sect, would suddenly stir! Fang Han Shu, Feng Zhiqi, and Yue Huanglong—who had already fled back to the Dao Master Residence—also looked visibly shaken.

Yet Lü Taibai’s gaze remained steady, as if he had foreseen it all.

Fang Han Shu frowned. Seeing Lü Taibai’s countenance, he immediately realized that XiXi’s breakthrough in Divine Vision and the unleashing of Yulian’s power were likely connected to the Seven-Treasure Shеli Ruyi Heavenly King Tower. After all, the Jingguang Branch of Qianyuan Divine Sect possessed exactly such a temple treasure tower!

“Buddhism…”

Lü Taibai raised his hand as swordlight raged with a brilliant silver gleam. However,

he had yet to strike.

At the Qianyuan Divine Sect Mountain Gate, the Qiankun Plaque suddenly trembled, shattering as brilliant white light radiated outward.

Almost instantly, the seven Buddhas exploded in a burst of prismatic light, scattering fragments everywhere. “Ancestral Patriarch!”

“It’s the power of the Dao within Qianyuan Divine Sect!” Various experts exchanged looks of disbelief.

Monitor Hong Shifo’s eyes flickered incessantly as he almost raised a hand to calculate, desperate to determine whether the sect’s Ancestral Patriarch

had truly perished in the depths of the Bizarre Temple.

However, Lü Taibai’s sharp, almost sword-like gaze forced Hong Shifo to reluctantly lower his calculating hand and scratch his head. Instead, he gazed upward at the hovering Qiankun Plaque and exhaled slowly.

“An Ancestral Patriarch who once founded the sect…”

“Is he truly dead?”

Snowflakes, falling from the Heavenly Dome, evaporated before they could settle, disappearing completely.

It was as if a kaleidoscope of colors—like a dream projected on glass under the sun—was dancing around Li Che as golden light flowed, transforming into shifting, ethereal hints.

[Dao Fruit: Dream Celestial Dao Fruit (lv3 0%)]

[Dao Fruit lv3 – Upon shedding, emerges the Nascent Divine Power “Dream Celestial – Dream Butterfly”] Li Che breathed slowly.

He did not immediately return to Golden Light Peak because he knew that XiXi, having returned from the shattered Yulian Cavern, was relatively safe. Not to mention, even Elder Fang Han Shu possessed mysterious strength that Li Che could not fathom.

Thus, Li Che safely returned to the Private Workshop Courtyard.

Moreover, his gains in the Yulian Cavern were substantial.

Also, the Dream Celestial Dao Fruit, nourished by the dream test set up by the Third Prince, seemed to be absorbing dream power—the fruit’s maturity surged dramatically.

It even leaped to lv3 directly!

For a lv3 Dao Fruit, a single shedding would trigger a transformation, giving rise to a new Nascent Divine Power! Li Che was pleasantly surprised by the rapid progress.

This was, by far, the fastest transformation among all the Dao Fruits he had obtained—though it wasn’t unexpected given the external boost.

Nascent Divine Power… Dream Celestial – Dream Butterfly! Dream Butterfly?

Li Che was momentarily stunned. Gazing at the prompt, his eyes flickered with doubt. After the schemes of the Temple Spirit and the Heavenly King Tower, which nearly endangered XiXi,

Li Che became especially sensitive about what XiXi acquired in the Golden Divine Hall’s Divine Sanctuary. For instance,

the butterfly.

XiXi had truly obtained a butterfly in the Golden Divine Hall’s Divine Sanctuary—a creature once identified as a spirited divine beast by Nan Lihuo and others.

But now, it seemed that this butterfly might be part of the Heavenly King Tower’s design! Though that possibility didn’t seem too high.

Li Che narrowed his eyes as his heart stirred. Could this butterfly somehow be connected to the Dream Butterfly?

Soon, Li Che dismissed the thought as absurd. What could a butterfly possibly have to do with the Nascent Divine Power his Dao Fruit had spawned? Did it perhaps come from another time, thrown near XiXi?

Li Che shook his head with a smile, feeling a tinge of paranoia as his heart skipped a beat.

Inside his chest, the Dream Celestial Dao Fruit pounded rhythmically. With every beat, it was as if a butterfly flapped its wings! [Nascent Divine Power (Dream Celestial – Dream Butterfly): With a single dream, who can tell? As the Dao Fruit sheds, it traverses through time and dreams.]

A line of golden text unfurled before Li Che’s eyes.

Almost every appearance of a Nascent Divine Power comes with an introduction that hints at its abilities.

In truth, a Nascent Divine Power is derived from the Dao Fruit and is intrinsically linked to it.

But the fundamental ability of the Dream Celestial Dao Fruit is to craft dreams, connect with other Dao Fruits, and even send out its power as a bridge. Yet this time, the prompt of this Nascent Divine Power left Li Che utterly perplexed.

‘Dao Fruit shedding… dream-traveling through time?’

Could it be that triggering this Nascent Divine Power required the Dao Fruit to shed once more? Li Che felt a sense of strangeness…

If the Dao Fruit were to shed again, wouldn’t that awaken its divine power? Doesn’t that contradict?

Li Che frowned. Yet,

in the next moment, every hair on his body stood on end.

With his current body refined by the Dragon Elephant Vajra Dao Fruit to its utmost potential, in this instant he could not fend off an intense, piercing cold! It was as if an unseen deity had reached through time and space to cast an infinite, frigid gaze upon him.

It was an…

an utterly cruel, emotionless stare—cold to the core, freezing his very soul! Li Che felt his spirit solidify entirely. Suddenly,

Li Che saw radiant, prismatic light shimmering above. Under the influence of the Cosmic Chessboard, he perceived…

a seven-colored butterfly slowly alighting above him as he meditated in the Courtyard, its wings gently flapping. With each beat, specks of colorful dust rained down.

Everything before his eyes began to blur. It seemed as though…

he had fallen asleep.

Every breath remained evenly measured.

As the butterfly flapped its wings, ripples of time emerged on the other side, reflecting unseen lives—a myriad of ripples gently caressing the sleeping form of Li Che.

…

The clouds tore apart as lingering smoke slowly dispersed.

The butterfly continued its vigorous flight, its wings generating a gust that lifted its tiny frame up and down. Yet as the vision cleared, the scene remained steady, devoid of any vertical sway. Li Che, now transformed into a graceful butterfly, could only observe with his eyes.

The butterfly fluttered over vast seas and starry rivers, scattering prismatic dust as it sped along, merging with the flowing fabric of time.

Finally, Li Che could see a golden ancient temple rising from the earth. It stretched across the horizon like a majestic bridge between sky and land, bathed in endless Buddhist light, as if countless suns were rising!

And amid the boundless, radiant golden light,

there was a streak of profound darkness. That darkness stood out starkly against the glittering radiance. From Li Che’s butterfly perspective, as his wings beat faster, he drew ever nearer.

The closer he got, the more clearly he saw that dark silhouette.

It was a lithe figure with jet-black hair flowing like a waterfall down to her thighs, almost like a draping cloak gently billowing in the breeze.

She wore a flowing ebony dress that whispered like a dark lotus blossoming in a realm of shadows, with flickering flames that twisted the surrounding void into cracking fissures, swallowing the Buddha light and plunging the area into utter blackness!

The woman raised her hand with an icy calm, her pallid, almost luminescent skin reflecting a feeble glow, as she gripped a sword as black as ink. “Witch!”

Her voice thundered like rolling spring thunder, reminiscent of countless ancient Buddhas chanting in unison—a sound like the heavens themselves exploding.

Atop the ancient temple, thousands of Buddha niches had been carved, each containing a Buddha statue with a unique posture. Their furious stares bore down on the encroaching darkness.

Yet from Li Che’s butterfly perspective, he saw that those Buddhas harbored a quiet, almost fearful trepidation. The woman slowly tilted her head; her obsidian eyes were deep and expressionless as she swept her gaze over the assembled Buddhas and then slowly raised the sword in her hand. With graceful, elongated steps, it seemed as though the dark void itself moved with her. The radiance of the Buddha light could not suppress her in the slightest.

She ascended the first step of the ancient temple, and as she did, the temple began to bleed—Buddha’s blood streaming down, staining the steps in red. Li Che, in his butterfly form, fluttered along, following her closely.

She was too domineering, effortlessly storming to the apex of the ancient temple as if taking a leisurely stroll. One after another, countless Buddhas attacked with sweeping dragon strikes, massive Buddha palms, and incessant Buddha chants… but before her, they were all reduced to nothing by a single stroke.

Blood flowed, staining the golden steps of the temple. Every Buddha in the niche was cut down, their lives extinguished under the onslaught of her sword. Through his butterfly’s eyes, Li Che witnessed the fall of a sacred Buddha land.

At the end, the remaining Buddhas began to flee in panic, abandoning the fight as the witch ravaged their sanctified ground. Her long, sleek hair flowed like a dark cloak in the wind.

The woman reached the pinnacle of the ancient temple.

There, she beheld a lotus pond. Within the pond, countless golden flames danced incessantly, forming chains that encircled a solitary, black lotus. The woman reached out and plucked the black lotus from the pond,

and casually gathered a few dark, ebony lotus roots along with it.

She patted the lotus roots, one hand gripping her sword, the other clutching the ebony roots and the blazing black lotus. Finally, at the pinnacle of the fallen temple, she turned around.

Majestic Buddha chants filled the golden skies as a giant Buddha slowly materialized.

Beneath the ancient temple, countless souls – from elegantly dressed nobles to ragged beggars, pregnant women, and trembling old ladies – knelt in profuse numbers, pleading for the woman to relinquish the black lotus and ebony roots. A colossal golden Buddha, as if gazing from beyond the mortal realm, gradually opened his slender eyes.

Atop the ruined temple, the woman’s impassive face finally betrayed a trace of emotion. Her glance swept over the kneeling masses as a wry smile curled at the corner of her lips.

A butterfly landed on the shoulder of the woman in the swirling black dress.

Soon, Li Che saw the woman slowly extend her sword. Everything shattered.

The celestial golden Buddha outside the temple was torn asunder by her sword, scattering into fragments—like a burst of golden fireworks in midair.

Outside the temple, an endless circle of people, stretching to the horizon, was swept away by her swordlight, exploding into a shower of bloody blossoms against the golden world—a macabre display of blood and ruin.

The entire world was left in devastation and eerie silence, a sea of corpses and blood, death looming everywhere.

The woman stood atop the ancient temple’s peak, a scene of carnage and stormy bloodshed all around her. The wind ruffled her black skirt as though she were a lotus from hell. She murmured softly while clutching the black lotus and ebony roots.

The butterfly resting on her shoulder seemed to have heard her whispers. “Do you seek the Buddha, or do you seek me?”

“You seek me…”

“Whom else could I seek?”

Without even glancing at the sea of corpses and blood below.

She folded the black lotus and ebony roots, rubbed her little belly, and said, “I’m hungry.”

aa88a8 aasBa – Humm——!!! A low, droning hum filled the air.

Li Che suddenly opened his eyes wide; in his pupils swirled a chaotic sensation. A thick blanket of white snow cascaded off him like a shroud.

He found himself buried under heaps of snow, resembling a snowman.

As consciousness slowly returned and he stirred, the snow around him burst apart. Li Che stood up from the ground, his dark robe flapping in the wind, his jet-black hair lashing like bolts of lightning.

“That is…”

A hint of confusion gleamed in his eyes.

Recalling the earlier scenes, he exhaled slowly, “XiXi?”

Wasn’t the girl with silky, jet-black hair cascading to her thighs the one the Boss had dreamt of—a woman who came to enjoy a bowl of noodles with extra eggs? Could that be… XiXi, now grown up?!

A heavy gloom settled over Li Che’s heart.

Without expression, exuding a cold and detached aura as if shielding himself with an impenetrable frost, he could only reveal a slight tenderness when he casually spoke—forming a stark contrast to the current cheerful XiXi.

Perhaps, the only constant was an affinity for setting off fireworks.

“Dream Butterfly, wings flapping, dream-traveling through time… Could it mean I might see the grown-up XiXi from another world? Or is she truly from another reality?”

“Or… could it be that she is from the future?”

Li Che furrowed his brow. The unmistakable bond implicated that the woman was indeed XiXi… but if that were so, where was Li Che himself?

What calamity had XiXi met to wrap herself so tightly, resisting and ignoring the world? A surge of anxious longing flashed in Li Che’s eyes.

He yearned to continue dream-traveling through time, to flap his wings and catch a glimpse of his daughter in that time. However, Li Che gradually calmed down.

‘Dao Fruit shedding… dream-traveling through time…’

In other words, to see his grown-up daughter again, perhaps the Dream Celestial Dao Fruit needed to shed once more and transform!

Quieting his racing thoughts, Li Che crossed the courtyard and sat beneath the eaves.

The north wind howled and heavy snow swirled.

Under the eaves, Li Che’s eyes gradually darkened with resolve.

“No matter what, a bunch of bastards daring to bully my daughter—even in my dreams—won’t be allowed!” Although XiXi had decimated that ancient temple, slaying countless Buddhas,

even obliterating an entire realm, Li Che was convinced that it was the fault of those Buddhas! “You seek me, but whom else can I seek?”

Mumbling softly the words he heard, Li Che felt his heart wrung like knife-blade, as he exhaled slowly, “My daughter…needs to rely on no one.”

“None at all.” Li Che clenched his fist.

“I must become stronger… stronger than ever. Right now, I am far from enough.”

Boom—!!! Suddenly,

Li Che looked up toward the Qianyuan Divine Sect Mountain Gate and saw a Buddhist pagoda spinning rapidly.

The Seven-Treasure Shеli Ruyi Heavenly King Tower!

It stood within the Mountain Gate of Qianyuan Divine Sect, part of the Bizarre Temple of the Five Elders—one of the three remnants of the Heavenly King Tower!

There was also another temple in Divine Capital—the one of the Four Emperors… “Why are you so enraged?”

“Angry because I shattered the Heavenly King Tower of the Jin Guang Branch and subdued it with my divine summon?”

Li Che muttered as he gazed at the shimmering pagoda, soon suppressed by the Qiankun Plaque. “Don’t be angry; your turn is coming soon.”

Sitting beneath the eaves, Li Che spoke in a calm tone, his mind stirred subtly.

He sank into the Cosmic Chessboard,

only to see a pagoda pressed down on it by an Unsullied Heart of divine energy—like shackles restraining the tower. “A temple spirit of the Six-Grade rank…”

Li Che’s primordial spirit floated with his five fingers spread wide. In the next moment…

Within the scene of the Mud Pellet,

like a heartbeat, the Divine Essence Golden Pill pulsated as if breathing, suddenly emerging onto the Cosmic Chessboard.

Inside the Golden Pill, the luminous True Primate of Fa Tian Xiang Di opened its eyes sharply, pressing itself against the pill’s wall, its face reflected—a Primate visage! Amid its roar,

with the aid of Summon the Divine, it slowly tugged at this Six-Grade pagoda, piercing through the wall of the Divine Essence Golden Pill. The pagoda, caught by the summon, was gradually and inexorably consumed by the luminous True Primate.

Creak, creak…

A spine-chilling sound echoed within the silent vastness of the Cosmic Chessboard. Dark clouds rolled, and snowflakes blazed across!

Howling winds and wild gales swept through the depths of Tinglei Alley!

Under the dim, orange-hued light, a small area shone with a mysterious glow. Snow as large as hands fell, but vanished once it reached the bounds of the Restaurant.

In front of the Restaurant, a hefty Big Black Dog lay listlessly.

The Boss, draped in white like freshly fallen snow, sat on a chair with deliberate nonchalance, meticulously rolling a long, slender Rolled Cigarette as if it were the first time he had ever made one.

“Da da da!”

He tapped his hand, then brought the cigarette to his lips and lit it with a match.

Gripping the cigarette between two fingers, he didn’t even take a puff but just held it in a daze.

Delicate, orange-hued smoke curled upward like a blurry lamplight.

A man and a dog—seemingly out of place in this world. Suddenly,

the Big Black Dog twitched its nose and its disinterested eyes bulged wide. With a jolt, it sprang from the ground, as if the entire earth trembled.

The Big Black Dog turned its head toward the Boss, its nose quivering and its dark eyes expressing disbelief. “This scent…

This scent! There’s no mistake—the mutt wouldn’t err in its detection!

The Big Black Dog became wildly excited, its tail wagging furiously, as if it could shatter the very air with its whirling barks!

The Boss’s impassive face revealed a slight smirk as his eyes brightened, and he glanced toward the dark recesses of Tinglei Alley. Someone, stepping on the snow with creaking sounds, was slowly approaching.

In a haze, it seemed like a black lotus appeared. But when the Boss looked again,

he saw none other than Li Che, dressed in a dark robe, emerging from the darkness.

The Boss’s hand, still holding his cigarette, shook slightly as ashes fell. The wind scattered them all around.