On this day, the people in the Imperial Capital wailed…

The court officials carried Lin Tianyuan's coffin and sent him into his final destination—the Imperial Cemetery.

Lin Tianyuan and Emperor Yuan weren't buried too far away.

After all, they were father and son that shared the same roots.

Lin Jiufeng didn't attend his funeral, however, he watched from a distance as Lin Tianyuan was buried beside Emperor Yuan.

The surroundings were filled with sorrow, tears, and the tolling of bells.

The atmosphere truly was depressing.

Lin Jiufeng couldn't help but take out the Fate Changing Technique that he received from signing in.

"I need to study this cultivation technique carefully and then become even stronger. When I have the chance in the future, I will change both of your fates," Lin Jiufeng said firmly.

He returned to the Cold Palace.

Now that everything was settled, he didn't want to stay in the Imperial Cemetery any longer.

Returning to the Cold Palace to continue his goal of becoming even stronger was what Lin Jiufeng should do.

As for the changes in the new dynasty, Lin Jiufeng didn't care about it at all.

He had no feelings for the Crown Prince. If he were to encounter trouble in the future, it would be the Empress who would come and ask for his hand in help.

…

When Lin Jiufeng returned to the Cold Palace, he encountered Monk Qingyun.

Monk Qingyun brought with him various information about the previous era that the Holy Maiden had agreed to give to Lin Jiufeng.

As well as a bunch of books…

The Holy Maiden probably knew that Lin Jiufeng wasn't easy to deceive, so she prepared all of these with diligence to obtain his true forgiveness.

Lin Jiufeng put away the books, then he drove Monk Qingyun away.

"Tell your Holy Maiden that the grudges between us are written off," Lin Jiufeng told the monk.

"Thank you, Benefactor." The monk thanked him.

He didn't want to stay for a moment longer, so he turned around and left.

Lin Jiufeng returned to the Cold Palace with a large pile of books.

Then, he browsed through them with the white cat.

What was the difference between the previous era and this era?

Lin Jiufeng didn't understand much in the past, but after reading these books, he finally understood their differences.

The world also had its own ups and downs.

The common people wouldn't be able to see these ups and downs, but they would be able to experience them through the changes in the world's spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy in each era would continue to improve.

When it reached its peak and lasted for a period of time, it would decline.

Upon reaching its peak, it would stay there for a long period of time.

Afterwards, it would go into a decline.

As the world's spiritual energy declined in quality and quantity, the powerhouses of the world would also slowly disappear.

Some of them would die, some would seal themselves, their choices varied.

The end of the previous era was 1,500 years ago.

At that time, Human God Realm cultivators were the strongest.

People like the Demon Lord were also affected by the decline of the world's spiritual energy.

If not for this, then he would've been able to make a breakthrough into the Grotto-Heaven Realm and into other higher realms.

The spiritual energy in the world continued its decline, hundreds of years ago, even Martial Sages disappeared. Only Great Grandmasters remained.

It was only after Lin Jiufeng arrived in this world that the world's spiritual energy started its slow recovery.

Its recovery signaled the start of a new era.

Lin Jiufeng was fortunate to advance by leaps and bounds in his cultivation right at the start of the new era. Right now, he stood at the Grotto-Heaven Realm.

All of this was the result of luck, and ample opportunities combined.

"According to this book, the Grotto-heaven Realm requires one to form ten grotto-heavens. How many have you formed by now?" The white cat asked curiously.

"One," Lin Jiufeng replied.

"Then, you still have to condense nine grotto-heavens," the white cat said.

"No, I'm not forming another nine grotto-heavens." Lin Jiufeng shook his head.

"Why?" The white cat asked curiously.

"The Grotto-Heaven Realm allows one to form ten grotto-heavens. When stacked together, their combined might will surely be powerful."

"But there is more than one path on the Grotto-Heaven Realm. There are many choices."

"I am planning to cultivate a single grotto-heaven. Then, I will use the remaining nine chances to improve this single grotto-heaven. I'm sure that at the end of this road, this lone grotto-heaven will become tremendously powerful…"

"This path is also the most suitable for me." Lin Jiufeng explained.

He originally wanted to form ten grotto-heavens, but after reading the Grotto-Heaven Analysis Book that he obtained from signing in, he realized that he had understood a lot of things.

Grotto-heavens were divided into Low Grade, Middle Grade, High Grade, Saint Grade, and Divine Grade.

The method to form ten grotto-heavens was only suitable for cultivators with low to high grade grotto-heavens.

This was because their grotto-heavens didn't have much potential, the benefits of expanding them were far less than forming ten grotto-heavens.

But there was no need to form ten grotto-heavens for those that had saint and divine grade grotto-heavens.

They just had to focus on developing that single saint or divine grade grotto-heaven.

Then, when that grotto-heaven became a small, independent world.

It would truly become powerful.

This was the path that Lin Jiufeng ultimately chose.

The white cat listened to Lin Jiufeng talk about a lot of things, but she couldn't fully understand it.

She was only at the Human God Realm, a realm that was quite distant from the Grotto-Heaven Realm.

"Read these books properly and increase your knowledge. They will definitely be useful for cultivation." Lin Jiufeng gently stroked the white cat's soft body.

…

Five years passed in a flash.

In the past five years, Lin Jiufeng had never left the Cold Palace. Other than Dachun coming over once a month to the Cold Palace, no one else visited him.

Lin Jiufeng had no idea about the changes nor the dangers of the outside world.

What he only knew was what he heard from Dachun.

Lin Jiufeng ignored everything else.

He slowly improved and expanded his grotto-heaven.

He didn't even want to know about the matters regarding the Yuhua God Dynasty.

He only knew that the current Crown Prince ascended to the throne and changed the dynasty title to De. His title was Emperor De.

Other than that, Lin Jiufeng didn't know anything else.

He signed in quietly in the Cold Palace and visited the demon's den in the underground palace every day to defeat a demon or a Demon God.

Ever since these demons and Demon Gods saw Lin Jiufeng kill Skyfiend with brute force during that time when he was in a bad mood…

They became very obedient.

Every day, a new demon or a Demon God would automatically come out to get beaten up by Lin Jiufeng. After he was done with them, the demons would then be able to live their lives peacefully in the demon's den.

After five years, the only opinion that these demons had towards Lin Jiufeng was—he was too terrifying.

Every Demon God that fought with Lin Jiufeng said that Lin Jiufeng was becoming more and more unfathomable. He was now akin to that of a boundless ocean, bottomless.

Therefore, they became as obedient as little chicks.

They seemed to have become like animals being raised by Lin Jiufeng.

As long as they didn't cause trouble, Lin Jiufeng wouldn't bother to kill them.

Today was the day Dachun would deliver food again.

Once a month, Dachun insisted on coming over personally.

The current Dachun was already 50 years old.

His child was already married and he was even a grandpa by now.

But he was still that honest young man from back then, he didn't change at all.

He brought food and wine as usual and continued to tell Lin Jiufeng about what happened in the Imperial Capital.

Lin Jiufeng was enjoying the meal with the white cat while listening to Dachun.

"Your Royal Highness, just yesterday…"

"Emperor De formally became a disciple to a master and he conferred him the title of State Teacher," Dachun said.

"What kind of person can become the State Teacher?" Lin Jiufeng asked curiously.

All these years, the Yuhua God Dynasty remained peaceful and quiet.

It was because everyone knew that five years ago, on the night of Emperor Ming's death, a horde of demons surrounded the Yuhua God Dynasty's Imperial Capital. But they were all turned into ashes by the dynasty's guardian god.

Now…

Everyone knew that there was an old monster that had been guarding the Imperial Capital of the Yuhua God Dynasty since Emperor Yuan's time, then Emperor Ming's time, and then to Emperor De's time.

If they wanted to provoke the Yuhua God Dynasty, they had to defeat this old monster first.

These were the words that were still being passed down in the martial world.

Lin Jiufeng had heard Dachun mention the possibility of Emperor De taking in a master before.

Hence, his curiosity was piqued.

To be able to become the Yuhua God Dynasty's State Teacher, what capabilities did this person have?

"I'm not sure what kind of person he is either…"

"I only heard from others that he's the Sect Leader of a Hidden Sect. I think the name of this sect is something called Zenith Heaven Path Sect," Dachun said.

"Zenith Heaven Path!" Lin Jiufeng's eyes narrowed.

He immediately remembered that this sect was recorded in the books that the Holy Maiden gave him.

The white cat looked at Lin Jiufeng solemnly.

She had also read that book before.