"Oh dear, I accidentally let that slip… but it doesn't matter. After all, the dead are the best at keeping secrets."
Goku's faint smile hung in the air as the black-clad man's body began to vanish—fading from the feet upward, slowly erased from existence.
For the sovereign of this realm, life and death themselves were under his control. A single thought could give birth, or extinguish forever. One thought to erase, and the target would cease to exist within this world. This was the authority of the absolute Sovereign.
Watching the man dissolve into nothingness, Dan Chen and Cao Ying's eyes went wide with shock. Their expressions—half terror, half awe—looked almost adorably stunned.
"Heh… now then, how should I deal with the two of you?" Goku turned, smiling at them.
That smile, however, sent both their hearts racing. They vividly remembered his earlier words: 'Only the dead can keep secrets.' And they had just learned his secret. Did he mean… to erase them too?
"You… you're not going to erase us from this world too… are you?" Cao Ying stammered, her voice trembling. The very idea seemed absurd, yet moments ago she had seen him annihilate a Dou Venerate with a single thought. That kind of terrifying power was beyond comprehension! And yet this man was here, casually taking part in something as mundane as the Pill Gathering? It was unthinkable!
"What a dilemma… what should I do?" Goku pretended to ponder seriously, heightening their tension until their hearts were lodged in their throats. Then, at last, he smiled faintly. "Forget it. Since we're acquainted, I'll let you go."
Both girls exhaled in visible relief.
"But…"
Their hearts leapt back into their throats as they turned toward him nervously.
"Remember this—your lives now belong to me. From now on, whatever I say goes."
"You—! Don't push your luck!" Cao Ying snapped, like a furious wildcat. Dan Chen, on the other hand, turned red with embarrassment. She remembered their first meeting, and now he had saved her life again. As his gaze fell on Cao Ying, the way he seemed to see straight through her made her flustered all over again. Her cheeks flushed crimson, her allure growing only more striking under the heat of his stare.
At that moment, fierce shockwaves rumbled through the air in the distance. The ground trembled violently beneath them.
Looking up, they saw several elders of the Pill Tower locked in combat with a colossal beast, dozens of meters tall. The shockwaves of the battle warped the very air.
"It's… it's that beast! The Pill Tower has arrived…"
Cao Ying let out a breath of relief. She and Dan Chen had both encountered the terrifying monster earlier, and the memory still shook them. It was a ninth-rank magical beast, a creature on par with a Dou Saint!
"Ah, who would have thought that a little moment of fun would trigger such a massacre? Truly, what a sin…" Goku said with mock solemnity, sparing not a shred of sincerity for the devastation he had caused.
"You… do you mean to say… that you stole those herbs? You woke the beast?" Cao Ying, quick-witted as ever, immediately caught the implication in his words.
"Mm. I've had my fun. Seems it's time to wrap this up."
In the blink of an eye, Goku's figure appeared above the battlefield. The giant ape-like beast roared, its massive palm crashing down toward him in fury.
With a mere thought, the Sky Demon Ape froze mid-motion, its colossal body locked in place. Goku glanced at the carnage littering the ground—the shattered limbs, the mangled corpses—and frowned slightly. Hard to believe that his careless act had caused such tragedy.
His gaze returned to the beast, whose eyes now reflected raw terror. Calm words carried across the sky:
"Cruel, bloodthirsty, born to slaughter… a beast like you should not exist in this world."
As his voice faded, a beam of rule-force descended from the heavens, enveloping the monster's towering frame. Amidst its terrified howls, the ninth-rank magical beast—strong enough to rival a Dou Saint—dissolved into nothingness under countless stunned gazes, erased entirely from existence.
The three giants of the Pill Tower stared in disbelief at the lone figure standing serenely in the air. A creature equal to a Dou Saint—gone, just like that?
For a moment, their minds blurred. It was as if they saw once again that peerless man, the one who had summoned forth the Sovereign of the Realm before vanishing.
"Could it be… him?!" Recognition struck them like lightning, their eyes widening in shock.
"This disaster was caused by me. Naturally, it must end with me. By the authority of this realm's Sovereign, I grant you all… life anew."
His majestic voice thundered across the Sky as beams of life's rule-force rained down.
The fallen alchemists—their broken bodies mangled beyond recognition—were restored before countless stunned eyes, their wounds vanishing as they returned whole. One by one, they stood again, bewildered but alive.
A miracle. A god's miracle.
---
What had threatened to become a calamity that shook the entire Pill Tower vanished without a trace.
Though the Pill Tower was one of the greatest powers in the Central Plains, even they could not have endured the fury of the great clans had every prodigy here perished. Yet now, every life lost had been restored.
The three giants of the Pill Tower gazed upon the man standing calmly in the air. Their eyes were filled not only with gratitude but also with reverence and fear. To see the dead rise again—such a thing was beyond imagination.
"He… he said… the Sovereign of the Realm?" The only woman among the three, a graceful matron, stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
"He became… the Sovereign of the Realm? How… how is that possible…?"
Their hearts were in turmoil. They had seen Goku before—on that day when he annihilated the Soul Pill Emperor in an instant, they had watched from afar. They had recognized his face during the Pill Gathering, but dismissed the thought as absurd. How could such a peerless figure lower himself to join such a trivial contest?
And yet, the truth stood undeniable before them. This man was indeed that mythical figure.
Now he was the Sovereign of the Realm. Did he inherit the mantle? Did he defeat the former Ruler? Either way, he was a being beyond comprehension.
Silence fell, then fervor spread. All around, people stared at him with burning eyes before dropping to their knees in reverence. Like believers before a god, they bowed in worship.
"Greetings, my lord!" Even the three giants of the Pill Tower descended, kneeling in awe. For the Sovereign of the Realm—the Ruler of this world, supreme above all—could erase them with a single thought. Such a being demanded absolute respect.
"Rise," Goku said lightly, glancing at them. Yet within, he sighed. With his identity exposed, he could no longer live as an ordinary man. The Pill Gathering, too, was no longer his to attend.
"Thank you, my lord!" They rose slowly, only to find him standing beside them.
"I have a request. May I entrust it to you?"
"My lord, speak! If it can be done, we will see it done!"
"I know a girl named Xin Lan. She doesn't know my true identity. She asked me to participate in the Pill Gathering to help her Ye family secure an elder's seat. But now that I can't remain in this competition, I ask that you watch over the Ye family in my stead."
"My lord, rest assured. From this day forth, the Ye family and the Pill Tower shall stand as one!" Without hesitation, the three giants pledged to alter the Ye family's fate. If the Ye family had ties to this supreme being, the Pill Tower would seize the chance to bind themselves closer to him.
"Then I'll leave it to you." Goku smiled faintly, and his figure vanished.
The three giants stared at the empty space where he had stood, still feeling as though they were dreaming.
---
"Hey, what are you two dazing off for?"
Goku reappeared in the forest, smiling at the still-stunned Dan Chen and Cao Ying.
"Ah—Goku?! No… The Great Sovereign?! Or… Goku the Great…" The two stammered nervously, unable to reconcile the cheerful man before them with the supreme master of existence.
To confirm, Cao Ying pinched Dan Chen's arm hard.
"Ah! Why'd you pinch me?!" Dan Chen yelped, blushing, lowering her head in embarrassment.
"It hurt… so it's not a dream…" Cao Ying muttered, staring at Goku in a daze.
"Stop daydreaming! Come—I'll show you the real world beyond this one." With a smile, Goku wrapped an arm around each of their waists and soared into the sky, carrying them toward the Pill Realm's exit.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! We're still in the middle of the competition! Put us down!" Cao Ying panicked at the sudden intimacy, her struggles pressing her soft curves against his arm. The sensation made her tremble, her face reddening further as she dared not move again.
Dan Chen, meanwhile, was flushed scarlet, her heart racing wildly. The shy girl had no words, no courage—only the thunderous pounding of her heartbeat.
"Be quiet. I already spoke with the three giants of the Pill Tower. The competition no longer matters."
"That's your business! Why drag us with you?" Cao Ying snapped, regaining some composure. Her shock at his identity was fading, replaced with irritation.
"You're right—I forgot to ask your opinion." With a sheepish smile, Goku blinked once, and the three of them appeared beside a wide, flowing river.
Dan Chen blinked in surprise. "This is… the Clear Spring River of the Pill Domain!"
"What?! Clear Spring River? Then… that means we're already out of the Pill Realm?" Cao Ying's eyes blazed as she glared at him. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
Her enchanting eyes narrowed, shimmering with dangerous allure.
__
T/N:
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