A squeaking sound was heard.

As the door of that room opened, a familiar person walked out.

The person was dressed in white with long black hair, handsome, and had an otherworldly demeanor!

A weird aura instantly emanated across the realm. For a moment, the winds stopped blowing, clouds stopped rolling, and everything else stopped moving. A hush fell over the realm!

This person's appearance had seemingly sunk the heavens and earth.

“Master…”

“Sect Leader!”

Lan Yu, Jun Yi, and the others could not hold back their delight.

The weather that day was clear.

Chu Kuangren had come out from his closed-door meditation!

“So that's Chu Kuangren!” Liu Yiqing was shocked yet surprised upon seeing Chu Kuangren's appearance.

Although the person standing before him indeed possessed an otherworldly demeanor, Liu Yiqing still could not detect the slightest hint of spiritual power in him.

'That person is just like an ordinary man with no cultivation base. But if he truly is a normal person, then how can we explain the great runic sword earlier?'

'What is going on with this guy?!'

'Has he unlocked his Heavenly Punishment Seal?'

Meanwhile, Chu Kuangren did not seem bothered with the current situation in his Daoist Palace. He simply walked towards the Descendant Self Sword, picked it up, and stroked two fingers on the sword body. The sword began to tremble slightly and let out a clear sword chant which reverberated through the skies.

“Thank you for standing guard for me by my side all these years.”

Chu Kuangren chuckled.

He then tied the Descendant Self Sword to his waist and walked out of the Daoist Palace.

Lan Yu and the others quickly came up and greeted him.

“It's been a while, everyone.”

Chu Kuangren greeted everyone before he looked at Liu Yiqing and Yin Li, whom he asked, “Tell me, what's the reason for your visit?”

“To challenge you, of course!”

Liu Yiqing took a deep breath and replied coldly.

Chu Kuangren froze for a second upon hearing that. However, he then let out a chuckle. “Challenge me? Oh, it's been quite some time since I last heard something like that.”

It was as if he was reminiscing about the past.

After all, it had been quite a long time since he was challenged to a fight.

Whoosh…

While Chu Kuangren reminisced, Liu Yiqing took the opportunity and rushed towards him, blasting a surge of horrifying energy from his palm.

Sensing his actions, Chu Kuangren turned his head and glanced at him.

That glance alone made Liu Yiqing's expression sink as an incredibly overpowering and terrifying aura instantly weighed down upon him.

That aura was not something a normal cultivator had.

'This is… the Heavenly Dao Aura!'

At that moment, it was as if the handsome Chu Kuangren before him had transformed into the almighty supreme Heavenly Dao, whose aura could suppress every living being in the realm!

How was this possible?

How could the Heavenly Dao Aura appear from a mere human?!

Before Liu Yiqing's palm qi could get near Chu Kuangren, it dispersed on the spot due to the intimidation he felt from the menacing aura in his opponent's glance.

His legs turned soft, and he fell to his knees on the ground.

He had lost the fight before he could even attack!

How could he possibly compete with the heavens itself?

“Oh, he already kneeled.” Chu Kuangren chuckled.

“Chu Kuangren, did you really unlock the Heavenly Punishment Seal?”

Liu Yiqing asked with a pale face.

“Nope. But for me to defeat you, it doesn't really matter.”

Chu Kuangren lifted his arm as he replied. An invisible ripple appeared in the skies, and suddenly, multiple runes gathered in the void, merging to form a halo around both Liu Yiqing and Yin Li's bodies.

Despite how they urged their spiritual power to resist, it was futile.

Lan Yu and the others were incredibly surprised to see that move.

That was because all this while, they had not sensed any sign of spiritual power surging from Chu Kuangren's body at all. If so, then how could he cast the runes?

“Lock these two up for now.”

Not long after, Elder Ruyan, Fairfrost Sage, and others rushed to the Heavenly Towering Palace once they received news that Chu Kuangren had come out from his closed-door meditation.

“Sect Leader, did you manage to unlock the Heavenly Punishment Seal?”

Elder Ruyan asked curiously.

“Not yet.”

Everyone was disappointed to hear that.

However, they were not surprised as well.

Although they had no idea how terrifying the Heavenly Punishment Seal was, they knew that it was something even the Emperors of Old could deal with. Since Chu Kuangren had only been in closed-door meditation for three years, it was quite normal that he could not unlock it.

“What's with all the long faces? Just because I said I haven't, it doesn't mean I can't unlock it.” Chu Kuangren said with a smile.

“What does that mean? Is there any difference?”

“Of course there is. If only I had more time, this Heavenly Punishment Seal would've been fully unlocked…”

During the three years of closed-door meditation, he had gained complete insights into the Nine-Layered Heavenly Punishment Seal with the help of the Dao Enlightening Tea Bush and his crazy level of cognizance. Besides that, his Universal Cauldron Physique had also refined and unlocked eight out of the nine layers of the Heavenly Punishment Seal!

Only one layer remained before he could fully unlock the seal as a whole.

However, the troubles caused by both Liu Yiqing and Yin Li gave him no choice but to come out of closed-door meditation earlier than planned.

Elder Ruyan and the others were fuming mad upon hearing Chu Kuangren's explanation. “D*mn those two b*st*rds. They will suffer for this.”

“Sect Leader, I shall dispose of those two for you right now.”

A short-tempered elder said out loud.

“Come back, now. They are just two small fries. Don't bother wasting your efforts. I may have had to come out from my closed-door meditation earlier than expected, but I did not suffer any losses. The Heavenly Punishment Seal will still be unlocked in due time.”

Chu Kuangren said.

Those words made everyone feel better.

After that, Elder Ruyan updated Chu Kuangren about the Black Heaven Sect's developments for the past three years.

Having invested large amounts of resources into nurturing every Black Heaven Sect disciple, everyone had made rapid progress in their cultivation level. A few of the Daoists had even made a name for themselves in the outside world.

Besides that, Elder Ruyan, the Seventh Forefather, and a few other elders had also succeeded in their ascension trials, reaching the level of a Boundary Sage.

“That's great. How is our resource consumption holding up?”

“We still have quite a lot remaining.”

Elder Ruyan answered.

After all, Chu Kuangren had brought back too many resources. Just the contents of the Serpent Deity's treasury alone could last the Black Heaven Sect for a long time.

Even if Elder Ruyan trained the disciples without caring about the cost in the past three years, their resources would not be exhausted that quickly.

This was the first time in Elder Ruyan's life that she felt the “pain” of having too many resources and nowhere to use them all.

“I see. Just use as much as you can as you see fit.”

Chu Kuangren said lightly.

If those words got out, there was no telling how many people would be shocked.

After all, the other orthodoxies had to carefully plan and allocate their resources, unlike Chu Kuangren, who could use as much as he wished without consideration or planning, and regardless of cost.

It was something a normal person could say out loud.

“I guess Nangong Huang and the others are still out in the world, huh? I wonder how much has changed outside.” Chu Kuangren gazed into the horizon and murmured.

He chuckled. “Why don't I go out on a journey?”

Elder Ruyan's and the others' faces dropped upon hearing what he said.

“Sect Leader, please reconsider your plans.”

“That's right, Sect Leader. Your Heavenly Punishment Seal has not been unlocked yet. If you venture out now, what can you do if your enemies come looking for trouble?”

“You can't afford to suffer any more losses.”

The elders tried to persuade him.

“Don't worry. Although my Heavenly Punishment Seal hasn't been unlocked, I still have my own ways to protect myself.”

Chu Kuangren then lifted his arm and gathered the spiritual qi from his surroundings. One by one, numerous mysterious runes appeared in the void. Soon, half the sky was filled with densely packed runes that emanated boundless surges of aura.

That very sight shocked everyone at the scene. Even the Sages were stunned to see the countless runes in the air.

Standing under the sky full of runes, Chu Kuangren's figure appeared unusually stalwart and mighty despite having no sign of spiritual power on him.

He was akin to an ancient Runic Emperor who could control everything in the heavens and earth.

“If anyone wishes to defeat me, they are free to try. Although I, Chu Kuangren, still have the Heavenly Punishment Seal on me, I can still reign undefeated in this world!”