On the second floor of Demon Wood Cliff, within the Heaven's Will Alliance. A terrifying demonic might rolled over the heavens and earth. This was a forbidden ground for life.

This was the place where many high-tier immortal sects had suffered crushing defeats. This was the very first step the Sole Heavenly Emperor took to conquer the land. And today, this place was being besieged by an old man and a young man right at their doorstep.

And what were those words the young man spoke? That Ren Du owed him a debt: one hundred beast-grade spirit beasts, and one thousand mid-grade spirit stones! How could the Sole Heavenly Emperor possibly owe anyone?

This was clearly an act of mockery. The guards, enraged, charged forward, but the young man in green robes didn't even move; merely emitting his aura was enough to render them utterly immobile! A dragon's presence emerged!

"Quick, report to the higher-ups!" "Summon Venerable Nanhai, Lord Qiao Feidu, to come see! Lord Qiao Feidu possesses nearly the strength of a dragon!" "Better yet, invite Old Man Tianchou!" Several guards immediately rushed to summon Old Man Tianchou. Both of these individuals possessed nearly dragon-level power, and surely they would be enough to handle the person before them.

None dared to invite Jing Huanzhen—that was the Dark Demon Emperor, whose aura was cold and utterly merciless. Qiao Feidu was in seclusion, so Old Man Tianchou arrived instead. But the moment Old Man Tianchou saw the young man in green robes standing before Demon Wood Cliff, he immediately felt he had come to the wrong place—that he had made a terrible mistake, a catastrophic one!

Damn it! Why wasn't he in seclusion? Why did he have to meddle and come here?

He should have been hiding from this harbinger of disaster, so why on earth did he show up? Old Man Tianchou thought of the defeat at Mount Hua and felt an inexplicable chill. Moreover, the combat power Lu Yuan had displayed during the Southern Territory assessment was clearly even greater than what he showed at Mount Hua.

He had meddled; he had been wrong! Well, thankfully, he hadn't shown his face yet. Old Man Tianchou glanced once at the green-robed man, not even looking at anything else beside him, then turned and fled deep into the recesses of Demon Wood Cliff to summon Old Man Tianchou's help.

The guards who had been sent felt incredibly strange; why did Old Man Tianchou leave in such a hurry? What exactly was happening, and how were they supposed to handle this? Old Man Tianchou now feared being associated with this matter: "I feel my true qi is unstable; I must immediately enter seclusion." "Let's see which fellow dares to come to this Sovereign's gate to demand a debt." Ren Du, having just emerged from seclusion, heard someone reciting poetry demanding payment at his door, while all his top generals were absent.

He felt a surge of anger in his heart. He prided himself that, in the entire Jin Kingdom, no one dared to demand a debt from him; not even Song Qingqiao could. And the only person who might have been capable was always stationed on Mount Hua and never came out.

A man wounded by love, only hiding on Mount Hua—how could he possibly impede his grand scheme? Ren Du stepped out with a dragon-like gait and tiger-like steps. He had barely bellowed that one line before he froze instantly.

The young man in green robes was nothing much; Ren Du could defeat him within five moves, perhaps even two or three. But that old man in white hair and white robes—what was going on here? He hadn't believed that this psychologically crippled man, wounded by love, would only stay on Mount Hua, never to emerge unless Mount Hua itself was destroyed.

Why was he out now? Ren Du was so shocked that he almost fell right out of the sky above Demon Wood Cliff. He circulated the magic power within his body before stabilizing his flight.

The Lord Sole Heavenly Emperor had finally arrived. The masses of demons and cultivators at Demon Wood Cliff roared out, "Lord Sole Heavenly Emperor has come! Why haven't these troublemakers been annihilated instantly?

How dare they demand debts here! They truly have guts! They will die, and they will die horribly, for daring to provoke Lord Sole Heavenly Emperor!" The spectacle that should follow was watching the Sole Heavenly Emperor obliterate these two.

Then, the young man in green robes asked, "Alright, Ren Du, you're here. It's time to pay the debt. You owe me a total of one hundred beast-grade spirit beasts and one thousand mid-grade spirit stones.

No problem with that, right?" Ren Du was like a mute man eating a bitter herb—he had to suffer in silence. This was clearly nonsense; this was plainly shaking him down for money. When had he ever owed a debt?

He had owed debts in the past, certainly, but he had killed everyone he owed afterwards. However, even if Zhou Qingxuan and Lu Yuan were just trying to fleece him, they dared to do so. At full strength, he couldn't defeat Zhou Qingxuan back then, and in his current weakened state, he was even less capable.

Endure! Endure! Endure!

Ren Du currently had no choice but to tolerate it! If he didn't endure, his thousand-year grand plan would be ruined in a single move! "One hundred beast-grade spirit beasts and one thousand mid-grade spirit stones—that's too much.

Impossible to produce, considering the Heaven's Will Alliance has only expanded for these few years. How about this: this Sovereign can offer fifty beast-grade spirit beasts and five hundred mid-grade spirit stones?" Ren Du haggled for a better price. Bang!

Those waiting nearby for the Sole Heavenly Emperor to unleash his mighty power all stumbled downwards. They had eagerly anticipated Lord Sole Heavenly Emperor's demonic display, but instead... instead...

he conceded, allowing these two to extort him. How could anyone bear this? Tears flowed silently down countless faces.

"No deals. It's one hundred beast-grade spirit beasts and one thousand mid-grade spirit stones," Lu Yuan stated decisively. "Seventy beast-grade spirit beasts, seven hundred mid-grade spirit stones," Ren Du tried again.

"One hundred and twenty beast-grade spirit beasts, one thousand two hundred mid-grade spirit stones..." Lu Yuan immediately raised his counteroffer. The logic was simple: If you try to haggle down the price, I will raise it. You must pay anyway, or do you want your Demon Wood Cliff to cease existing?

Clearly, the two of them didn't mind destroying Demon Wood Cliff if necessary. Ren Du felt the urge to weep profusely, but ultimately, he was a man set on achieving great things: "Fine." Success... Extortion successful!

Shakedown successful! Beside him, countless demons and demonic cultivators watched their idol shatter. The mighty Sole Heavenly Emperor was actually being strong-armed like this.

Finally, one hundred and twenty beast-grade spirit beasts and one thousand two hundred mid-grade spirit stones landed in Lu Yuan's hands, netting him a massive profit. A typical Great Dao Realm second or third-tier cultivator possessed ten beast-grade spirit beasts. A cultivator at the fourth or fifth tier of the Great Dao Realm usually possessed about twenty-odd beast-grade spirit beasts.

Lu Yuan, in this single haul, instantly acquired five times the wealth of someone of equivalent magical power. This shakedown was ruthless indeed—Lu Yuan was extremely satisfied. As for Ren Du, he was so angry he nearly spat blood.

One hundred and twenty beast-grade spirit beasts! That was one hundred and twenty! Ren Du felt as if half the assets of his Heaven's Will Alliance had been emptied; spitting blood felt like a light consequence.

After finishing the shakedown at Demon Wood Cliff, Lu Yuan said, "Martial Uncle-Ancestor, shouldn't we pay a visit to the Great Yuan Kingdom next? Let's see if we can shake them down there too. The Yuan Kingdom has been fighting our Jin Kingdom for so many years; failing to look in on them feels like we'd be doing them a disservice." Zhou Qingxuan smiled, hands clasped behind his back: "That sounds good." The Mystic Sect's Grandmaster Tian Yuan had been burying his head in shame lately.

He was one of the three Grandmasters of the Great Yuan Kingdom, and seldom did anything in this region manage to stump him. Yet, not long ago, he had been extorted by someone! Heavens—he was a dignified Grandmaster, yet he had been forced to endure a shakedown.

Zhou Qingxuan and Lu Yuan. Grandmaster Tian Yuan was helpless; he dared not refuse these two when they came calling for tribute. Zhou Qingxuan was too powerful.

Grandmaster Tian Yuan knew perfectly well that if he truly fought Ren Du, he would be no match for him; since Ren Du was defeated, how could he possibly win? He had initially rejoiced upon hearing that Zhou Qingxuan and Lu Yuan had shaken down Ren Du, but he never expected the shakedown to land upon his own doorstep. It was utterly despairing; the face of a generation's Grandmaster was utterly disgraced.

"Your Mystic Sect has been established for several thousand years; you cannot lose face. You certainly cannot be outdone by the Heaven's Will Alliance. Give me one hundred spirit beasts and one thousand mid-grade spirit stones," were Lu Yuan's exact words back then.

Grandmaster Tian Yuan wanted to bury his head in the earth. While sects needed to maintain their prestige, he never imagined they would compete for prestige in such a manner! He had never heard of an extortion racket where the greater the amount extorted, the greater the prestige gained.

However, Grandmaster Tian Yuan dared not haggle. He had heard that when Ren Du tried to bargain, the demands immediately jumped to one hundred and twenty spirit beasts and one thousand two hundred mid-grade spirit stones. In truth, Grandmaster Tian Yuan didn't know that Lu Yuan was waiting for him to haggle.

If he had bargained, the demand would have instantly escalated to one hundred and fifty spirit beasts and one thousand five hundred mid-grade spirit stones. It was a pity the Grandmaster didn't argue, leaving Lu Yuan sighing—why didn't he at least try to negotiate? The shakedowns did not continue, because Zhou Qingxuan felt enough was enough.

Lu Yuan now possessed a total of two hundred and twenty beast-grade spirit beasts, added to his original two hundred and thirty, bringing his total to approximately ten times the amount possessed by an average Great Dao Realm fourth or fifth-tier cultivator. This provided more than enough magical power. Zhou Qingxuan was also concerned that providing too much power might destabilize Lu Yuan's foundation.

And now, Lu Yuan was deep in the territory of the Yuan Kingdom, attempting a breakthrough. Two hundred and thirty beast-grade spirit beasts provided surging primal energy, circulating through his body: Cloud Sword Dragon, Cloud Tyrant Dragon, Cloud Great Wing Dragon, Cloud Sword Armored Dragon—every single one provided immense magical power, supplying Lu Yuan with an unending stream of energy. Lu Yuan sat there, absorbing this vast amount of magical power, which continuously gathered above his head.

This immense surge of vital energy gradually coalesced into a phantom above his head—this was the condensation of the Nascent Soul. Legend said the Nascent Soul would be a miniature version of the self, but unfortunately, he was currently in the midst of breakthrough and couldn't see what his Nascent Soul looked like. Lu Yuan temporarily cast this thought aside, focusing solely on the breakthrough as the unending vital energy poured into the crown of his head.

It seemed something was faintly coalescing above his head. Crack! In an instant, Lu Yuan felt something form above his head—the Nascent Soul had successfully condensed!

He had finally reached the realm of Nascent Soul Manifestation in the fifth layer of the Great Dao Realm! Advancing one whole level in magical power was not easy. Lu Yuan now felt that his magical power and the overall strength of his body had achieved a substantial increase.

Surging power rushed through him, and his muscle tissue reached a new level of invulnerability. Concurrently, with the formation of the Nascent Soul, his perception of the outside world became far more acute. Right, he still hadn't seen what his Nascent Soul looked like.

He was quite curious about its appearance.