Chapter 64: Supreme Power, Unrivaled in the World

After leaving the Dragon Palace, Guo Xiaoshan returned to Baohua Isle after sixteen long years.

When he had left, he was still an honest and unassuming youth. Now, upon his return, everything was changed, nothing as it once was.

“Green grass stretches far, sky vast and blue, a single red flower clings to a distant bough...”

A soft, lilting tune drifted through the air, melodious and gentle.

Guo Xiaoshan stood quietly outside the gates of the Chen family’s old manor, listening. The estate had long since fallen into ruin—the main gate was battered, much of the outer wall had collapsed, and weeds and cobwebs choked every corner.

From outside the wall, one could see that the entire manor was inhabited only by a single girl in a pale yellow dress, swinging her legs and singing that familiar tune.

“Xi Chen,” he called softly.

The girl turned, her skin fair and hair neatly combed. She was beautiful, but a hideous scar ran from her left eye down her cheek, as though splitting her face in two—a sight chilling and shocking at first glance.

“Brother Guo, you’ve finally come for me,” she said.

Just as Guo Xiaoshan recognized her at once, Zhao Xi Chen, too, instantly knew him. The scar was fierce, but her smile, sincere and radiant, made Guo Xiaoshan’s heart ache.

He did not ask what had happened. Swallowing his sorrow, he simply smiled and nodded in response.

“Yes, I’ve come to take you away.”

Her smile grew even brighter, softening the cruel line of her scar. She leapt lightly from the broken stone, ran to Guo Xiaoshan’s side, and as she had in childhood, climbed onto his back, whispering, “I hate this place. Brother Guo, let’s go.”

“Alright,” he replied, shouldering her and striding away.

As he walked, the celestial energy of the Heavenly River transformed into wisps of primordial true water, and the once-dark red scar slowly faded to rose, then began to flake away.

Lying on his back, Zhao Xi Chen felt nothing—she simply slept, peaceful and sound, her breathing soft and even.

Guo Xiaoshan walked on, and even without any special techniques, his cultivation allowed him to cover great distances. By dawn of the second day, he had crossed the mountain range and arrived at the very peak where he had once met his master.

Influenced by Chen Yang’s years of cultivation here, the place had grown even more spiritual and wondrous. The ancient tree that had sheltered Chen Yang from wind and rain had become more extraordinary still—when Guo Xiaoshan drew near, its branches began to sway of their own accord as if welcoming him home.

But unlike before, someone had already taken possession of the place. It seemed a whole clan had moved in—houses and courtyards dotted the mountain, and many of the spiritual herbs, born of Chen Yang’s cultivation, were now fenced off.

As Guo Xiaoshan approached, seven or eight cultivators fixed wary eyes on him.

Although the demon calamity had wiped out nearly eighty percent of Baohua Isle’s cultivators, their numbers had been so great that even after such loss, there were still nearly ten million left.

This was a Jindan cultivation clan. In the past, such a clan might have been unremarkable, but after the demon calamity, the lower-ranked cultivators, if they succumbed to madness, suffered only the loss of their powers and returned to mortal life. The higher their cultivation, the more deadly the tribulation. Some, already nearing the end of their lives, perished almost instantly, their souls dragged away by true demons, with no hope of release.

Most Nascent Soul elders now secluded themselves, hoping to weather the storm. Jindan and Purple Mansion cultivators, their level neither high nor low, had survived the first tribulation and now formed the new elite of Baohua Isle.

Seeing Guo Xiaoshan continue forward, a Purple Mansion cultivator came to block his path, bowing with cupped hands. “This is the land of the Xu family of Golden Ao. Please, fellow cultivator, would you take another route?”

“Golden Ao?” Guo Xiaoshan was puzzled at first, then suddenly understood. Years ago, Chen Yang’s alchemy at the mountain peak had drawn down the celestial and earthly energies, refining the very summit into gleaming gold—shaped like the head of a giant golden turtle.

“This place is where my master attained enlightenment, and by his command, I am to establish our lineage here. So... I must ask you all to move out by today.”

Though Guo Xiaoshan’s tone was courteous, his words brooked no refusal. The Xu clansman’s face turned crimson with anger. “Such arrogance! This mountain belongs to the world, not any single family! We have lived here for years. Just because your master once cultivated here, you demand we give up our home? Whether your claim is true or not, isn’t this going too far?”

Guo Xiaoshan sighed and nodded. “I know it is much to ask. But my sister and I have nowhere else to go. This mountain is where my master accepted me as his disciple. It means everything to me. I hope you’ll let us have it.” He bowed deeply as he spoke.

The man was unmoved, his anger only growing. Just then, an elderly man with golden hair arrived with several others, just in time to hear Guo Xiaoshan’s last words. He shouted, “Such insolence! We will not leave. If you have the ability, move the entire mountain yourself!”

The Golden Ao Mountain rose over a thousand zhang, spanning several miles. Not huge, but not small either. Destroying it would not be difficult for a group of Jindan cultivators, but to move it was impossible—pure fantasy.

But to their shock, Guo Xiaoshan’s eyes brightened. “Are you serious?”

“Of course I am,” the Xu patriarch replied, judging Guo Xiaoshan by his appearance and aura, which seemed similar to a Jindan. He did not think him capable of such a feat.

Zhao Xi Chen had awoken long before but remained silent, quietly readying a treasure she had inherited from the Daoist Master of Flowing Clouds, prepared to teach the old man a lesson if needed.

But Guo Xiaoshan noticed her little movement. He spoke softly, “Xi Chen, this will be our home from now on. Let me show you the way home.”

“Alright.”

Guo Xiaoshan threw back his head in laughter, his shoulders shook, and with a sweep of his arms, a mighty Heavenly River surged forth from behind him, stretching dozens of miles like a silver ribbon, coiling around the entire Golden Ao Mountain.

“Rise!”

With a great shout, the earth quaked and the mountain shuddered. The entire Golden Ao Mountain was ripped from the land and lifted into the sky.

“What—”

“Patriarch—”

The Xu family cultivators were dumbfounded, even their patriarch left speechless, stunned beyond words.

The True Law of the Heavenly River—breaking the dams of the four seas, drawing the stars into the river, its might boundless.

This was the supreme law that Chen Yang had created after much effort. At its height, it could open up a cosmos of its own. Though Guo Xiaoshan was only at the Jindan stage, the power of this world-shaping art was already beginning to show.

“Thank you all for your understanding. Now, I’ll take my leave.”

With a flick, Guo Xiaoshan shook the Golden Ao Mountain, tossing all the remaining Xu family members off, their houses and courtyards swept away by the river’s force, leaving only the spiritual herbs and ley lines nurtured by Chen Yang’s cultivation.

Carrying the mountain on his back and his sister as well, Guo Xiaoshan strode away, leaving the Xu family stunned and silent. After a long while, someone finally broke out in a cold sweat and whispered, “It seems he’s not unreasonable after all.”

Except for the patriarch, whose face was ashen, the others all nodded in agreement.

Bearing the Golden Ao Mountain and carrying Zhao Xi Chen, Guo Xiaoshan came at last to the mountain lake where the Blood Lotus Old Demon had once emerged. He set the Golden Ao Mountain down in the middle of the lake, where it rested like a giant golden turtle atop the water.

“We’ll call you Golden Ao Island.”

He placed the mountain, then took Zhao Xi Chen to the lakebed, moved the immortal mansion to the island, and renamed it the Hall of Heaven’s Ascent.

Though he had never seen the Heavenly River or the Milky Way, years of cultivating the True Law of the Heavenly River had allowed Guo Xiaoshan to gradually comprehend his master’s expectations—for the law, and for him.

A cultivator should possess a spirit of supremacy, of being second to none and yielding to no one.