Published at 12th of September 2026 7:16 am

Chapter 1954 The Four Direction Expedition III

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Wu Hong stood at the helm of a golden Time Boat, with an enormous fleet behind her. She did not pay attention to the towering pagoda that reached the clouds — which was, in fact, the Five Element Harmony Holy Land. Instead, she took in the sight around her. The world had been artificially modified to fit the rules of the Five Elements, with six continents, each representing an element and the central one the manifestation of everything combined.

"This place would make a great environment for profession and body refining to thrive," Wu Hong thought. Although the counterattack against the Red Cloud was imminent, there was still time to utilize all the territory that the court was about to conquer.

The pagoda trembled slightly, revealing a portal. Cui Yun and a group of elders walked out, facing the court's legion.

"Your Majesty," Cui Yan started, bowing deeply. Then, with a calm and composed voice, she asked, "Is there a reason you have invaded our territory?"

Wu Hong glanced at something in the distance before directing her gaze at Cui Yun: "Is this your tactic? Trying to label us as warmongers and ruin our reputation? If it is, I will be disappointed."

Such a tactic might work on Long Aojing—who relies on his reputation to maintain power—or on the old Emperor Dao Holy Land, which needed a good reputation to maintain its crumbling Qi Luck. However, after the previous revival, the culture has shifted. Emperor cultivators are now arrogant, prideful, warlike, and domineering; they see acts like conquest as god-given rights and displays of their might.

"I'm just trying to discern your intention."

Wu Hong did not answer; she pointed to the void and released a terrifying force that tore everything apart, revealing a purple cloud gathering dark lightning. All the people following her immediately raised their guards; the lightning was truly terrifying — just the aura caused heart palpitations among even the Quasi-Saint Realms.

"The power of punishment?" Wu Hong commented, observing the cloud intently. "This should be a piece of Grand Dao's Heavenly Tribulation System. Is this your plan? Admit the invasion so you can use causality to place a 'sinner' label on me and activate this power?"

"I don't need you to admit it. Your actions violate our sovereignty. You are a sinner," Cui Yun sneered. Although it would be better if she had admitted it, the admission would only intensify the punishment. "Do it." A few elders behind her immediately began chanting an incantation, mobilizing the clouds' power.

"Your Majesty, watch out," the Battle Peak Master said, standing in front of Wu Hong.

"Stay behind me."

"But —"

"Don't make me repeat myself."

"Yes, ma'am."

Wu Hong ignored him and pointed at the cloud, instantly dissipating its power.

Cui Yun's face twisted. "What did you do?"

Wu Hong sighed deeply. "You have no idea how much your civilization has regressed due to its loss of knowledge. If not, you would know that Heaven and Earth treat all life as ants. In the Mortal Stage of cultivation, karma and sin matter. In the Immortal Stage, Heavenly Dao stops caring about your actions; punishment is only used for cultivation."

With the Grand Dao collapsed, this world didn't have Heavenly Tribulation—they had Dao Heart-related ones, but nothing directly from Heaven and Earth. Normally, without the Grand Dao's balance mechanism, this cultivation population would have ballooned, but unfortunately, the Red Cloud existed.

"That reminded me: it may not be a bad idea to rebuild Heavenly Tribulation," Wu Hong commented. Cui Yun and the holy land elders sensed something and acted swiftly. Unfortunately, it was too late. An unknown consciousness descended on this world and took the purple cloud away.

Wu Hong looked at Cui Yun, who swiftly controlled her emotions. "Not bad," she thought. Although Cui Yun was young and had just taken over, she still displayed some leadership skills.

"I will give you three choices," Wu Hong said. "First, resist and be annihilated. Second, let me seal your holy land. You'll lose your territory, but you can continue surviving. Third, join me. I —"

"Don't even think about it."

"Why don't you let me finish first?" Wu Hong waved his hand, and Han Guo summoned a regular-looking cultivator. All eyes were on this young-looking Qi Paragon whose aura was intermittently leaking, a sign that he had just stabilized his Genesis Qi Space.

The young cultivator bowed to Wu Hong, then sat in the front. He summoned a Heaven Will that he directly absorbed before beginning to cultivate. The Five Elements elders were confused, but they remained quiet and observed. A few minutes later, the young man's aura began to change, and the expressions of everybody changed; the aura of Qi around him began to turn into the Grand Dao Source's aura. And soon afterward, everybody watched as his Genesis Qi Space turned into a Dao Sea.

The cultivator's realm dropped down to the Mortal Stage, but in a few short hours, his realm rose back to the Paragon Realm. Although he was no longer a Primal, he was still a Paragon, only one step away from his original peak.

"It's called the [Return to Origin Technique]," Wu Hong said. "Everything originated from the Grand Dao Source, which means everything can also return to it. The Qi Paragon Path has a high enough potential that it's easy to convert the two.

"The trend of Heaven and Earth has always been the rise and prosperity of the Emperor Path. Those traitors from the True Qi Path Holy Land rebelled against Heaven, but your holy only went with the flow; you bear no sins in this matter. Accept my offer and switch to the Emperor Path. I will welcome you into the court, and together, we can rebuild this timeline."

All eyes turned to Cui Yun.

"Don't listen to her. Forget how switching will definitely affect our holy land's luck, but if we do, we will forever be under her control."

"The weakening of your destiny is inevitable, but that's only temporary. With the arrival of the Emperor Path Golden Age, it's very easy for you to recuperate," Wu Hong stated. "As for being underneath me? That's obvious. Everything in this world will eventually be under me — there is nothing wrong with that. Anyway, aren't you guys always used to being underneath the True Qi Path Holy Land?"

"Nonsense. We are and always have been equals," an elder butted in.

"Really? Before my arrival, if you ask any random cultivators what the ranking of the Holy Land was, what would be their answer?"

No one spoke because the answer was obvious: True Qi Path Holy Land reigned supreme, followed by the Five Element Harmony Holy Land and lastly, the heavily suppressed Emperor Path.

"Everyone knew you were the True Qi Path Holy Land's lackey, always going along with their plan."

"Nonsense! We —"

"I'm sure you've deluded yourself into thinking that you were just playing them, allowing the True Qi Path Holy Land to play the bad guy and ruin their reputation; you probably thought you were playing a balancing game, ensuring none of the holy lands became too powerful over the others.

"And that may have been true in the past. Unfortunately, it's obvious to anyone that in the current generation, you guys are nothing but lackeys. Wherever the True Qi Path Holy Land tells you to bark, you ask how often and at what volume.

"Your instinct — or the fundamental way that you operate — has long changed from 'keeping the balance' to preserving yourself by always nodding yes to your master."

"Enough!" Cui Yun felt blood rushing to her brain, and it took a lot of effort to control herself. "If you think your words can dissuade us, you are mistaken. We will not surrender to anybody."

"Does she speak for all of you?"

The elders glanced at each other, quickly communicating. Ultimately, everybody nodded. Now was the worst time to disagree with the leader; division would only hasten their downfall.

"Fine. How about you accept my second offer? Accept the seal and preserve yourself."

"Absolutely not."

Wu Hong sighed. "Why be unreasonable? Why not save yourself? Don't you see the True Qi Path Holy Land didn't come to save you? They understand self–preservation quite well.

"Divine Seal Empress," Cui Yun said, enunciating every word of that title. "You haven't won this battle yet, so stop acting as if you have."

"Oh? Do you have something up your sleeve?" Wu Hong asked as Cui Yun motioned to one of the elders to step up a formation. Soon enough, a projection manifested in front of the court's legion.

"Is that the Samsara Battlefield?" The Battle Peak Master said. As the person who spent the most time in that place, he quickly recognized the Five Elements' headquarters located in the Left Battleline.

"Please don't tell me you're going to do what I think," Wu Hong said.

"That's right," Cui Yun sneered. "You want to save this world? Fine. Now choose: either stop this invasion or we will retrieve our troops. Oh, and it's not just us: the True Qi Path Holy Land will also do the same."

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