Soon, Chu Kuangren and both elders had arrived back in the Black Heaven Sect.

The elders immediately returned to their cottages upon arrival, ignoring the mountainous administrative tasks that awaited.

They had happily entrusted these tasks for Chu Kuangren to handle.

'Retirement looks fun. Perhaps I should tough this job out for a couple of millennials before finding some excuses to retire too,' Chu Kuangren thought.

Most Sect Leaders retired after they had successfully ascended into the Sage Realm, so by that observation, it would not take long before Chu Kuangren could retire too.

After all, it was just an ascension. How hard could it be?

Chu Kuangren pondered as he arrived at the Longevity Hall.

“Greetings, Sect Leader.”

Elder Ruyan greeted Chu Kuangren politely.

“Eh, Elder Ruyan, it looks like you're in a good mood today.”

Chu Kuangren noticed the bright smile across Elder Ruyan's face.

“Elder Ruyan does seem to be in a good mood for the past few days. Perhaps she's found a handsome partner of her own.”

Another elder at the side smiled and said.

Chu Kuangren was slightly astonished. Could it be that this thousand-year-old virgin was finally getting some action?!

“p.i.s.s off. By the way, Sect Leader, in the past few days, the Daoist School of Dedication and the Thunder Falcon Tribe have delivered their soulstones over. However, they've used some collateral to replace parts of the soulstones amount. This is the acknowledgment list.” Elder Ruyan rolled her eyes before pa.s.sing a scroll to Chu Kuangren.

Chu Kuangren received the scroll and took a quick glimpse. “Hmm, not bad. I'll leave this matter in your good hands. You can call the shots.”

“Alright.”

“I'll be meditating behind closed doors for the next few days to prepare for my breakthrough into the Supreme Honorable Realm. Please avoid bothering me if there are no big issues.”

“Eh? You're ready to break into the Supreme Honorable Realm?”

“That's right.”

Chu Kuangren nodded and sighed, “Most Sect Leaders from other sage orthodoxies are Supreme Honorables, yet I remain only an Honorable. If I don't do this soon, I'll be a laughing stock for others.”

Upon hearing that, other elders had to hold back their reactions.

'Sect Leader, are you kidding me?'

'You may be an Honorable, but you've slain your fair amount of Sages. Who in their right mind will see you as an average Honorable?!'

'Isn't battling Supreme Honorables just a warm-up session for you now?'

“I can't wait anymore. Once I become a Supreme Honorable, I'll then proceed to ascension and I can finally retire,” said Chu Kuangren.

The elders were nervous now.

“Hold on, Sect Leader, there's no need to rush the ascension.”

“I think you're doing a great job as the Sect Leader.”

“Indeed. Why the rush to retire only after a few years in this position? Other Sect Leaders have served for at least hundreds of years before retiring.”

The elders were pleased with Chu Kuangren's performance as the Sect Leader.

Having served merely more than a year in this position, Chu Kuangren had lifted the capabilities and reputation of the Black Heaven Sect to a whole new level.

Just the soulstones that he had won from the recent Sky Pride Champions.h.i.+p was enough to finance the orthodoxy's operation for several decades.

Perhaps with a few more years, the Black Heaven Sect would surely be unmatched!

“You cunning old people, it seems like you're keen on gluing me to this seat for as long as you can.”

“Don't worry. Without a suitable successor, I won't retire so easily,” said Chu Kuangren helplessly.

It seemed like retirement was still a long way to go.

Chu Kuangren would have to at least wait until Nangong Huang and the other disciples become mature enough to handle huge responsibilities, which could easily take centuries before they would be ready.

After a brief discussion with Elder Ruyan and the other elders, Chu Kuangren then retreated into his closed-door meditation in the Towering Heaven Palace.

Before his closed-door meditation, Chu Kuangren first retrieved several items that he had gotten from the unnamed island, such as the Headless Lady's head, the corpse of the white-haired man, a bronze mirror, and a wooden box.

The bronze mirror was supposed to be an Emperor Weapon. However, since it was in a damaged state, it was probably much less powerful than a Boundary Emperor Weapon.

“This must be the Azure Magic Mirror that's mentioned in the diary. It looks like the Headless Lady damaged it,” Chu Kuangren said in shock as he observed the cracked surface on the bronze mirror.

After all, this was an Emperor Weapon. For the Headless Lady to damage it to such an extent, it would mean that she wielded a terrifying amount of power.

What more, the Headless Lady was not at her fullest form when she damaged it as she did not have her head. It was hard to imagine just how terrorizing the Headless Lady was in her previous life. She must have been a remarkable Emperor.

However, Chu Kuangren simply stored the Azure Magic Mirror in his inventory without refining it.

He then s.h.i.+fted his attention to the wooden box.

Fearing the Headless Lady would sense it at the unnamed island, Chu Kuangren did not have the chance to discover the content within yet.

Now, he slowly opened the wooden box.

Inside it, there was… a scroll!

“Hmm, a scroll.”

Chu Kuangren's eyes glimmered with excitement because it was identical to the scroll that he had encountered at the Sky Emperor Palace.

Chu Kuangren opened the scroll only to see that it contained the teachings of an Emperor Technique too.

'Not bad at all. After learning about the Nine Grand Scrolls, I've discovered one of them so soon. I wonder what kind of Emperor Technique lays within,' Chu Kuangren thought to himself.

Like the mirror, he kept it aside and did not proceed to gain insights from it.

'Let's wait until I become a Supreme Honorable.'

Chu Kuangren thought.

He then took out some medicinal pills that he had prepared for this breakthrough. There were also the Sage-grade herbs that he had acquired from the unnamed island and some Sage's corpses that he had gotten from the Avarice Dimension. Chu Kuangren was confident that this breakthrough was going to be a success.

Even if these were not enough, Chu Kuangren still possessed a Boundary Emperor's corpse. Once he refined it, perhaps he could immediately ascend to become a Sage.

Three days flew by.

On this day, Chu Kuangren released a boundlessly powerful aura in the Towering Heaven Palace that soon spread to the entire Black Heaven Sect.

The Sword Mountain trembled slightly and emitted a stream of sword chants.

Deep within the Black Heaven Sect, Second Forefather and the others could sense the abrupt change.

“Looks like that little one has broken into the Supreme Honorable realm.”

“Hah, it won't be long before he ascends into a Sage. By then, it won't be appropriate to call him 'little one' any longer.”

“That's right.”

The Sages were pleased.

In the Towering Heaven Palace.

After Chu Kuangren had successfully broken through into a Supreme Honorable, he looked at the corpse of the white-clothed man and pondered deeply.

'Looks like I don't need to use the Boundary Emperor's body yet. Let's keep it for when I'm ascending into a Sage.'

Chu Kuangren thought to himself.

The essences that could be refined from a Boundary Emperor's body would be incredibly precious. It would allow Chu Kuangren to form a solid Sage foundation, albeit it would still be a while before he could become a Supreme Sage.

Chu Kuangren would need to ama.s.s a huge amount of varying resources before he could ascend into a Supreme Sage in one go.

“What a shame. The Gluttonous Devouring Technique is only a Sage Ruler Technique and is incapable of refining an Emperor body. Otherwise, I could've refined the Headless Lady's head and it may just allow me to instantly become a Supreme Sage.”

Chu Kuangren muttered to himself.

He then proceeded to store the white-clothed man's corpse into his Yin and Yang Ring.

After that, Chu Kuangren took out a pair of halberds.

One was black and the other was white. They were the Heaven Halberd and Trident Halberd, the latter of which Chu Kuangren had just gotten from the Scaled Tribe's Young Master.

When the halberds came in contact with one another, they radiated a pair of aura that was almost similar. It was as if the halberds once shared a common origin.

“Could it be that the Emperor Weapon of the Lou Kingdom once came from the Scaled Tribe?” Chu Kuangren contemplated deeply.

After studying the halberds further but to no avail, Chu Kuangren stored the weapons back into his Yin and Yang Ring.

He then began to decipher the Emperor Technique that was written on the scroll.