I Can Strengthen Infinitely

With those words, Shi Lin hoisted Shen You’s corpse and left the place together with Yalan.

Watching the two immortals gradually disappear at the horizon, Qin Yuesheng couldn’t help but sigh, "I’ve imagined countless times what an Immortal might look like. Turns out they’re rather approachable."

The seas surrounding the Dragon Veins of Heaven and Earth were now a bloody red, with a suffocating aura of blood rising into the sky. Qin Yuesheng glanced at the Heaven-Covering Banner planted into the island, pondered for a moment, then turned and prepared to leave, heading back to the Nine Provinces of the world.

Just then, a surge of energy struck. Qin Yuesheng didn’t even have time to react, his whole body instantly releasing the Golden Bell Shield to block the attack, origin unknown, just in time.

He looked up, only to see a Celestial Demon hammering its fists against the Golden Bell Shield, its face covered in streaming blood as it glared at Qin Yuesheng. It was none other than the Executioner that Shen You had previously subdued with the Heaven-Covering Banner. Now that Shi Lin was using the Heaven-Covering Banner to suppress the Dragon Veins, the Executioner had naturally broken free from Shen You’s control.

"Celestial Demon, since you’ve come to court death yourself, I won’t spare you," Qin Yuesheng said calmly.

The Celestial Demon race is vicious beyond measure; slaughter is all they know. Naturally, Qin Yuesheng wouldn’t leave such a threat. He swung his blade, easily decapitating the Executioner.

Having done all this, Qin Yuesheng immediately activated "A Step Away, Worlds Apart," vanishing from where he stood in an instant.

...

Across the Nine Provinces, since early morning—no one knew why—earthquakes had struck again and again. Once-verdant rivers and lands were shaken, mountains crumbled, the ground split open; an omen of disaster everywhere.

The Dragon Veins of Heaven and Earth are the heart of the mortal realm. Now, with the Dragon Soul absorbed by the Heaven-Covering Banner, it naturally caused a ripple throughout the world. Within Chang’an, public fear ran rampant; every commoner huddled in their homes worshipping every sort of Immortal, praying for divine protection.

With Shen You dead, the northern avatars of Shen You fell one by one. Without guidance, the army of roaming corpses lost power. The Great Tang’s army, previously forced to retreat step after step, suddenly managed to regain control of the situation, even stabilizing the northern front.

The Ten Major Sects of the Central Plains each dispatched disciples to the Northern Desert, hoping to lend a hand and save all living beings. With so many martial experts joining the fray, the crisis was, for the moment, successfully contained.

...

On the far eastern verge of the Central Plains, just by the East Sea, lay East Sea Bay.

"Wow! So many fish, so many!"

A small fishing boat rested upon the water; two fishermen, old and young, both wearing bamboo hats, stood atop it, pulling at their net to haul it in. As the net rose from the sea, it revealed a catch brimming with fish—large and small, familiar and strange species all mixed together, astonishingly abundant.

The two fishermen were instantly overjoyed—they had never caught this many fish so close to shore before.

"Grandpa, there are so many fish I’ve never seen! Sea Dragon King’s grace is wondrous today," the child laughed, hugging a fish as long as his whole arm.

The old fisherman, however, gazed into the deep sea, his face showing deep suspicion and worry. "Something’s wrong, something’s not right. The sea has its own laws; fish stay where they’re meant to be. That one you’re hugging, called Eyeless Fish, is a deep-sea species. How could it appear here in the shallows?"

The child quickly looked at the big fish in his arms, and sure enough, there were truly no eyeballs in its sockets. It really was a Five-Word Fish.

"Grandpa, why is this happening?"

"I don’t know either, but something major must’ve happened in the sea. Looks like the times are about to change." Stroking his white beard, the old fisherman spoke with worry clouding his face.

Whenever calamity strikes the world, the powerless are always folks like them—the ordinary people—and also the ones most deeply affected.

This strange sea situation felt like a huge stone pressing hard on the old fisherman’s heart.

"Hey!" The child suddenly stared at the sky in a daze, for at the distant horizon, a figure was speeding toward them. In only a few blinks, the man had already raced over the fishing boat, heading deep into the Central Plains, vanishing from the child’s sight in an instant.

"Grandpa, grandpa! Just now an Immortal flew over our heads!"

"Silly child, if it really were an Immortal, how could a mortal like you see him? Stop talking nonsense. Don’t anger the Sea Dragon King," the old fisherman replied, brushing the child’s head, eyes still lost in pondering the fish within the net.

"But I really saw! The Immortal was a man!"

Qin Yuesheng sped onward, finally arriving in Chang’an under the setting sun. This city, the only sleepless city atop the Central Plains, remained ablaze with lights even after night fell. Apparently, the recent trouble from the northern roaming corpses hadn’t disturbed it at all.

Wasting no time in the city, Qin Yuesheng slipped deep into the imperial palace to find Sanhuang.

"Master? You’re back!" The moment Sanhuang saw Qin Yuesheng, all tension drained from his face.

Qin Yuesheng’s influence upon him was overwhelming—like a towering peak. With his master present, Sanhuang felt he could conquer any hardship.

Just as Sanhuang was about to report on the present state of the Nine Provinces, Qin Yuesheng waved his hand, signaling there was no need.