Heavy snow, a warm stove.
Chen Baiqing called everyone she could summon, and she brewed tea with gentle care.
Ning Qianqian's cultivation was still at Qi Condensation Layer 2, so she wore the thickest clothes for this winter day, and was also put in charge of the barbecue to feed a certain gluttonous flood dragon.
Cui Hao looked completely at ease—having reached Foundation Establishment, he could already ignore basic heat and cold, yet he still reached out to warm his hands by the stove.
Qing He gnawed on a chicken leg, looking at Cui Hao with puzzlement:
"Even at Foundation Establishment, you still feel cold? Or is your cultivation lacking, and you've cultivated a useless Foundation Establishment?"
Cui Hao narrowed his brows slightly, watching the oil still dripping from Qing He's mouth.
After gently shaking his head, he spoke in a leisurely tone:
"This is called atmosphere."
Qing He snorted lightly: "This is called putting on airs."
"If you say so, then so be it."
Cui Hao moved his warming hand about, then slowly picked up the tea Chen Baiqing had brewed and took a light sip.
His master truly understood how to enjoy life...
He was still far behind his master in every aspect.
Chu Xingchen didn't mind—everyone present knew each other, and there were no outsiders.
He was currently holding an ancient text Qing He had brought, flipping through its contents.
This ancient text was written in an extremely plain style, its contents concise to the extreme, looking more like a table of contents.
[Sixth Yao Year Jia: Strange demonic beasts first appeared in West Niu He Continent, varying in form and ability. Some could shake mountains, others could bewitch hearts. Abilities were diverse, numbers incalculable.]
[Eighth Yao Year Yi: West Niu He Continent, strange demonic beasts attacked people. Immortal gates assembled, exterminated over three thousand seven hundred demonic beasts.]
[Eighth Yao Year Ding: West Niu He Continent, strange demonic beasts attacked a city. The city fell. Immortal gates retreated a hundred li.]
[Ninth Yao Year Jia: West Niu He Continent, strange demonic beasts grew powerful, sweeping across West Niu He Continent. Five local immortal gates gathered for joint encirclement.]
[Ninth Yao Year Bing: Central State, West Niu He Continent, humanity suffered great defeat.]
[Strange demonic beasts differed from ordinary demonic beasts. Black-red spiritual energy surrounded them, fierce and abnormal in nature—some driven by extreme rage, others extremely cunning.]
[First Year of the Great Tribulation: The strange demonic beasts were collectively named—Demons.]
[Third Year of the Great Tribulation: West Niu He Continent completely lost, people suffered greatly.]
[Tenth Year of the Great Tribulation: East Sheng Shen Continent half fallen. Divine dragon answered the tribulation and emerged.]
[Twenty-seventh Year of the Great Tribulation: East Sheng Shen Continent completely fallen, a living hell on earth.]
[Thirty-sixth Year of the Great Tribulation: Cultivators lost nearly half, mortals bones filled hundreds of li, no roosters crowed for thousands of li.]
[Forty-third Year of the Great Tribulation: Divine dragon answered the tribulation, obtained most of the world's fortune, pushed back half of East Sheng Shen Continent.]
[Fifty-sixth Year of the Great Tribulation: Divine dragon's counterattack on West Niu He Continent ended in great defeat.]
[Sixty-first Year of the Great Tribulation: Divine dragon perished at the border of South Zhan Bu Continent and West Niu He Continent, fortune scattered.]
[Sixty-second Year of the Great Tribulation: East Sheng Shen Continent half fallen.]
[Sixty-fifth Year of the Great Tribulation: East Sheng Shen Continent completely fallen.]
[Seventieth Year of the Great Tribulation: Humanity actively answered the tribulation, sought to recover the scattered fortune.]
[Seventy-third Year of the Great Tribulation: Humanity answered the tribulation—survival or extinction hung in the balance, all depended on themselves.]
[Seventy-fourth Year of the Great Tribulation: Counterattack on East Sheng Shen Continent failed.]
[Seventy-seventh Year of the Great Tribulation: Counterattack on East Sheng Shen Continent ended in great defeat.]
[Eighty-sixth Year of the Great Tribulation: Half of East Sheng Shen Continent recovered.]
[Ninety-seventh Year of the Great Tribulation: All of East Sheng Shen Continent recovered.]
[Hundred thirty-seventh Year of the Great Tribulation: Counterattack on West Niu He Continent.]
[Hundred sixtieth Year of the Great Tribulation: Half of West Niu He Continent recovered.]
[Two hundred thirtieth Year of the Great Tribulation: All of West Niu He Continent liberated.]
[Two hundred thirty-third Year of the Great Tribulation: Great Tribulation ended. Of the five continents of Futu, less than one in ten cultivators survived, all prodigies fell, recovered fortune nearly completely scattered.]
[First Year of New Calendar: Humanity successfully answered the tribulation, prosperity should follow.]
Chu Xingchen's gaze swept across, then he also sighed lightly.
Sometimes a single light stroke of the pen represented countless people throwing themselves forward one after another.
This ancient text contained not a single person's name—presumably those who answered the tribulation were humanity itself, not individuals.
However, this writing style made it somewhat difficult to investigate exactly what the specific situation had been back then.
Could it be that they only knew a large number of people died?
The Tianyan Sect might have more detailed records from back then, but presumably Bai Xuanling felt the time wasn't right yet.
This ancient text was not thin, though the latter portion was all illustrations and descriptions of demons.
Compared to the extreme brevity of the preface, the illustrated text about demons in the latter part was quite detailed.
It not only depicted their forms, but even included anatomical diagrams where possible, noting the height, shape, abilities, and temperament of the demons.
It even recorded what they liked and what they hated, if known.
But most detailed of all were the weaknesses of these demons.
This book contained no speculation—what was known was written in extreme detail, and what wasn't known had only two words: Unknown.
There were no vague descriptions whatsoever, showing just how dangerous things had become back then.
Chu Xingchen reviewed these contents himself first, checking whether there was anything that shouldn't be shown to his disciples.
If there was information that was relatively secret and needed to be hidden, he would skip over it for now.
After all, giving his disciples premature anxiety wasn't a good thing either.
Everyone chatted and laughed among themselves, though they were all tactful enough not to disturb Chu Xingchen, who was reading the book without saying a word.
Even Cui Hao didn't say much.
His master was hardly someone who loved reading, so if he was this absorbed in a book, naturally there was important business.
His master wouldn't possibly be reading inappropriate books right in front of his disciples, would he?
The winter tea gathering unknowingly drew toward its end.
Ning Qianqian understood Qing He's appetite and had specially brought much more food in her spatial ring.
But after today's meal, Ning Qianqian understood one thing—she had still underestimated Qing He.
Qing He contentedly rubbed her belly and lazily reclined on a lounge chair.
Chen Baiqing lightly sipped her tea, her gaze directed at the heavy snow outside.
Cui Hao closed his eyes, lying on a rocking chair as if asleep.
Lin Luoyu and Zhang Miaoyu chatted casually about various things.
After a while, Chu Xingchen finally stood up:
"When your Eldest Senior Sister and Second Senior Brother come out, tell them I've gone to the Tianyan Sect. If there's anything, they can come find me there directly."
"If they want to go elsewhere for training, there's no need to notify me—they can go if they wish."
Cui Hao opened his eyes and propped himself up to look at Chu Xingchen.
As Chu Xingchen spoke, he gently placed over a dozen talismans from his spatial ring onto the table:
"Distribute these talismans among yourselves. If anything happens, I'll use these to summon you."
"If you receive the message, unless it's an extremely urgent matter, all of you should quickly come to the Tianyan Sect."
Chen Baiqing instinctively reached out and held Chu Xingchen's sleeve.
After a moment, she could only softly call out:
"Master..."
Chu Xingchen patted the head of the now taller Chen Baiqing:
"What's this? Master is just going to check some information. If you miss Master, can't you come find me? Must Master come find you?"
A slight cunning smile appeared on Chen Baiqing's face:
"Then why don't I go to the Tianyan Sect with Master?"
Chu Xingchen pinched Chen Baiqing's cheek:
"Your Eldest Senior Sister and Second Senior Brother are both in closed cultivation. If you, a Golden Core Third Senior Sister, run off with Master, who do you want to leave the sect to? Your Foundation Establishment junior siblings?"
Chen Baiqing understood this—you're leaving, who's going to watch Cui Hao?
Moreover, aside from Eldest Senior Sister and Second Senior Brother, she was now the only Golden Core cultivator left in the sect.
As for Zhang Miaoyu, in Chen Baiqing's eyes, she was somewhat of a dubious Golden Core.
Her actual combat strength might not even be able to defeat Lin Luoyu.
After all, this Fourth Junior Sister truly knew divine abilities.
Chen Baiqing's expression remained unchanged, her smile still gentle:
"Then I'll wait until Eldest Senior Sister emerges from closed cultivation before going to find Master."
She knew that perhaps showing a bit of vulnerability right now would earn more of Master's affection, but Chen Baiqing didn't want Master to feel guilty toward her.
Moreover, the sect truly did need her to hold the fort now—resolving Master's worries was also what Chen Baiqing should do.
Chu Xingchen knew Chen Baiqing might be feeling somewhat aggrieved, but at this moment he didn't have the mood to say a few more sentences.
The severity of the situation might far exceed what Bai Xuanling had imagined.
Because the system had actually categorized this thing into the main mission.
After he finished reading this damned book, the system actually issued a main mission other than taking disciples.
[Main Mission]
[The Great Tribulation Approaches]
[
Want more chapters? Now you can get **30 advanced chapters instantly** for the same price as the old 20-chapter tier.
Joining Patreon also gets you:
- Ongoing monthly chapter releases
- Bonus content and extra drops
patreon.com/Alex_Cruise
I won't sugarcoat it—I'm struggling financially right now, and your support directly determines whether I can keep writing consistently. If this story has hooked you even once, consider backing it. Every bit helps.
Thanks for reading.
]