"We relinquish our claims to the two provinces. We only ask that the Immortal Sect refrain from kicking us while we're down."
"Huh?"
"Uh... agreed."
Watching the three frantic individuals, Su Min's eyebrow twitched involuntarily. The entire exchange was being recorded by memory crystals—if they dared act recklessly now, Su Min would have legitimate grounds to exterminate their entire sect.
Since her objective was achieved, that was enough. After all, the opposing party was still a super sect with an Emperor's Artifact. An all-out fight would be difficult to contain.
When Su Min had destroyed Future Maitreya Mountain, she'd made extensive preparations to minimize collateral damage. Her initial calculations suggested that the clash of Emperor's Artifacts could devastate one-tenth of the entire continent—especially since it wouldn't be the Golden Crow Emperor wielding the Eastern Emperor Bell, but the Little Golden Crow. Su Min might have needed to activate two Emperor's Artifacts simultaneously.
At that time, the adult Golden Crow was the only one available—the other had still been in its "infancy."
More importantly, observing their expressions, Su Min had guessed something more sinister at play.
"That organization should have awakened by now. They're the only ones who'd dare attack major sects and clans like this."
Previously, all Fallen Ones had operated independently. Even when they collaborated, they maintained distance. But now, the timing suggested the game was entering its final arc.
Black Seal.
A terrifying organization akin to the Akatsuki, with few members but overwhelming power. Their leader was the final boss in the game's storyline.
This marked the game's concluding chapter—the rise of the Fallen Ones' unified faction. They would launch a purge against all sects across the continent, having prepared to face every superpower.
As expected, news arrived the next day.
The Yao Clan had suffered heavy losses—seven or eight Divine Transformation cultivators dead, along with numerous Nascent Soul and Golden Core experts. Lower-level casualties went unreported. The attackers' motives were simple: cultivator flesh far surpassed that of mortals. These predators exclusively targeted cultivators.
"So they've arrived," Su Min murmured internally before falling silent. Striking while the enemy's leadership was away negotiating—bold indeed.
"Pass down my orders: connect these regions via spatial channels."
"Eh?"
Her command drew puzzled looks, but no objections. The adjacent provinces wouldn't require excessive energy to link.
Su Min's reasoning was straightforward—consolidate their defenses.
"After devouring so many cultivators, at least a few Fallen Ones must have recovered to the Dao Comprehension stage."
This was her greatest concern. If their peak members were Mahayana experts, the situation would turn dire. Remembering her battle with the Bloodfiend Patriarch demonstrated how formidable former Mahayana cultivators could be.
A single opponent at her level had nearly killed her. Interconnecting their territories would enable rapid reinforcement.
"You seem to know something?"
"Yeah. I need to consult Yao Xian'er."
Xie Yingying had noticed Su Min's reaction.
"You probably won't find her."
"Huh?"
"Senior Jiang Xi told me she left Heavenly Continent with the Grand Thunder Temple's patriarch."
"Tch."
Su Min massaged her temples. The two strongest experts had just... left?
With these attackers emerging, Su Min worried about other unknown threats lurking.
"How far has Jiang Xi recovered?"
"Nascent Soul stage. Having lost her Lunar Sovereign Physique, her cultivation speed remains decent but the path is rougher now."
"I see. Then there's nothing more to discuss. Instruct our cultivators to avoid large gatherings outside Eastern Mulberry Province. Those monsters don't fear so-called super sects."
With that, Su Min stood to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"The core of Eastern Mulberry Province. Dragon Princess Ao Xue is already there."
"Oh?"
Xie Yingying's eyebrow arched slightly before she nodded silently.
Upon arriving at the rendezvous point, Su Min overheard:
"Hey, Xiao Yu. Hurry up—I'm about to breakthrough to the Unity stage while you're still dawdling in Dao Comprehension."
"What's there to boast about? If not for my bloodline defect requiring adjustments—though it's stronger now, the changes forced me to relearn everything. And who are you calling 'Xiao Yu'? Want a beating, Big-Chested Woman?"
Donghuang Taiyu was the Little Golden Crow's true name. While dragons used "Ao" as their surname, the Golden Crow Clan adopted "Donghuang." (Eastern Emperor)
"Enough bickering. I summoned you both for something important."
Su Min intervened before their spat escalated. Her current dilemma outweighed even the Black Seal threat.
"What is it?"
The two glared at each other but settled down. Much like how the Immortal Sect's influence waned in Su Min's absence, only she could make these prideful divine beasts negotiate peacefully.
"This."
Su Min produced a jet-black egg. Instantly, the quarreling pair's eyes bulged.
"Ink Kirin?"
"Here's the situation—the Central Wutu Divine Earth is hidden within the Kirin Vault. To obtain it, I must hatch this egg, but I don't know how. I even bought an incubator—look."
To demonstrate, Su Min placed a chicken egg inside the device. With localized time acceleration, a chick soon emerged.
Ao Xue and Donghuang Taiyu finally lost composure.
"Pfft—HAHAHA!"
"A divine beast incubated like a chicken? I can't—HAHAHA!"
"Uh..."
Watching Ao Xue's chest heave with laughter and the equally amused Golden Crow, Su Min felt perplexed.
Meanwhile, an indignant pulse emanated from the Ink Kirin egg.
"So... do you know how to hatch it properly?"
Though missing the humor, Su Min produced a Fire Kirin egg from the incubator.
The Ink Kirin egg possessed spirituality but remained underdeveloped, only conveying fragmented thoughts.
"We can. But to think they were stolen from their ancestral grounds and nearly exterminated—pfft, how pathetic."
"Enough laughing."
Su Min rolled her eyes. Divine beasts inherited memories through bloodlines. Though these two were newly born, their knowledge banks were extensive.
As expected, they soon composed themselves to explain.
Several minutes later...
"Kirin require a special Five Elements environment to hatch? This Five Elements Formation will suffice?"
Examining the formation jade, Su Min frowned.
"Correct. Maintenance is tedious, but with your status, a single command suffices. Might as well hatch a whole batch while at it."
"Fine."
Su Min grasped their meaning—leveraging the Immortal Sect's resources. She'd founded the sect precisely to handle such chores, and her absolute authority ensured smooth execution.
"Though their rapid growth will pose challenges. Divine beasts need massive energy—but for you, it's just tedious."
"Damn it!!!"
Su Min immediately understood the simplest solution: Pills.
Without ancestral resources, elixirs were the perfect substitute.
She'd be reduced to a pill-churning machine. Rubbing her forehead, she sighed.
"You two carry on. I need to enter seclusion. The Black Seal has emerged—true bloodshed approaches."
"Black Seal?"
"An organization of Fallen Ones with minimum peak strength at the Unity stage. Any sect without Dao Comprehension guardians becomes their prey. Even that might not suffice—Emperor's Artifacts are necessary."
"!!!"
The duo paled, but Su Min withheld further details.
"Skeleton Emperor."
Her eyes narrowed. Ascension-stage experts couldn't be sealed, no matter how they suppressed themselves—yet he was the exception. The game's final boss.
Their climactic battle awaited. Though aware of his existence, Su Min couldn't locate him. The game only revealed his background, not recovery methods.
Preemptive strikes were impossible. Worse, she wasn't confident in defeating him unless her Five Elements Saint Physique achieved true Mahayana perfection. Others faced similar limitations.
A week later, preparations concluded.
"So many pill requests... including ingredients I can't refuse."
Scanning the list, Su Min noted materials for an eighth-grade Unity Pill—an irresistible offer with stringent requirements.
"Seventh-grade high-level pills—their sect's treasured recipes? Though ingredients are incomplete, I can supplement them. Let's begin... ugh."
Massaging her temples, Su Min acknowledged being the only known seventh-grade alchemist. The runner-up from the sect tournament had reportedly reached sixth-grade high-level, but seventh-grade remained uncertain.
Her own sect's top alchemist, despite inheriting her knowledge, was only sixth-grade low-level.
With her return, gifts flooded in. She accepted all requests—otherwise, she'd accomplish nothing else.
"Six pills total. After completion, I can focus on seclusion."
Her foundations were solid—time to advance. The Black Seal's emergence signaled the game's final act.
Strength took priority.
The game had featured a bad ending: "The Silent World."
"Been ages since I refined pills—didn't practice properly on that planet."
Staring at the furnace, Su Min suddenly remembered:
"Ah! This sword—a Heaven-tier high-grade artifact I can't even use."
While inspecting equipment, she recalled the weapon stored in her cauldron—a trump card from the Mahayana expert.
Heaven-tier artifacts required specific cultivation methods to operate. Earth-tier weapons had become practically useless to her now.
Contemplating the greatsword wedged between her thighs, Su Min had an epiphany—though her expression turned peculiar.
Could she melt it down to empower her own weapon? But Heaven-tier high-grade artifacts weren't easily smelted—certainly beyond her current capabilities.
"Perhaps consult the Little Golden Crow later. Pills first."
Storing the sword, Su Min considered combining her enhanced Nanming Lihuo with the Golden Crow's Solar True Flame—they might just melt the artifact.
Her weapon's unique trait was material indiscrimination—it could consume any substance. Forced assimilation might elevate it to Heaven-tier.
"Pills first. Honor my commitments. Besides, scarcity marketing boosts my value."
Red light shimmered as time accelerated within the chamber.
Meanwhile, the Immortal Sect erected a massive formation housing dozens of Kirin eggs. Hundreds of Golden Core to Nascent Soul cultivators maintained it round-the-clock.
No one asked why—Su Min's directive sufficed.