The Immortal Realm.
Above the clouds, jade platforms floated in midair, connected by luminous stairways.
This was meant to be a place of eternal stillness.
Today, it was anything but quiet.
"Confirm it again," a white-robed immortal official said coldly, standing before the Star Disc."Is the source of fortune still rooted in the mortal imperial dynasty?"
The Star Disc rotated slowly.
The star representing the mortal realm should have been dim—stable, declining, predictable.
Instead—
It blazed with an eye-searing brilliance.
"Confirmed," another official replied in a low voice."And… the mortal identity has not been severed."
Silence fell across the jade platform.
"Absurd," someone sneered."When mortals cultivate and ascend, they sever worldly ties."
"He still sits on a dragon throne? Still governs, sells pills, strengthens armies?""Is this a provocation against the order of immortality?"
One figure beside the Star Disc had remained silent until now.
At last, he spoke.
"This is not provocation."
All eyes turned to him.
"It is a flaw."
The figure raised a hand and pointed at the Star Disc.
"Look carefully. He is not borrowing the Immortal Realm's fortune."
"He is building his own closed loop of destiny."
The jade platform went completely silent.
A self-sustaining fortune loop.
What did that mean?
It meant—
No Immortal Realm approval.No ascension registry.No reliance on sects or heavens.
A path that had never existed before.
"Then… what about the Empress?" someone asked suddenly.
The Star Disc shifted again.
Another light point appeared—subtler, deeper.
Stable to an unsettling degree.
Almost incompatible with the system itself.
"Detection failure?" an official frowned.
"No," the white-robed immortal said slowly."She hasn't been incorporated into the system at all."
For the first time—
Fear appeared.
Meanwhile · Azure Nether Cultivation Forest
The wind turned cold.
Space rippled.
A figure stepped out—not fully corporeal, more like a projection layered over reality.
An Immortal Realm Overseer.
His gaze locked onto Xiao Xuanyin, sharp and judging.
"Mortal Emperor," the Overseer said, voice carrying heavenly authority."Do you know you have crossed the boundary?"
This sentence was meant to crush wills.
Xiao Xuanyin merely looked at him calmly.
"Where is the boundary?" he asked.
The Overseer paused.
"You bear mortal fortune, yet pursue ascension," he said sternly."By regulation, you should have already relinquished the throne."
Xiao Xuanyin smiled.
Not mockingly.
But knowingly.
"So," he said, "you also follow rules."
The Overseer's eyes hardened.
"The rules are written by the Immortal Realm."
At that moment—
A voice came from behind him.
"Funny thing."
"We have rules too."
Su Wan stepped out from the shadows of the forest.
Plain clothes.Ordinary presence.Like a completely normal mortal woman.
Yet the Overseer instinctively took half a step back the moment he saw her.
"You're… logistics?" Su Wan tilted her head curiously.
The Overseer: "?"
The next instant—
She lowered her gaze and tapped her phone.
[Authority Interference Activated][Target: Temporary Projection][Execution: Delay / Blur / Feedback Contamination]
The Overseer's vision warped violently.
Reality stuttered.
"What did you do?!" he shouted.
Su Wan looked up, utterly innocent.
"Bad signal," she said."The Immortal Realm's network might need an upgrade."
Fury twisted the Overseer's face.
But he suddenly realized—
His projection was destabilizing.
Breaking apart.
"Mortal Emperor!" he roared."You dare challenge the Immortal Realm?!"
Xiao Xuanyin stepped forward.
Fortune surged around him like a living tide.
"This is not a challenge," he said calmly.
"It's a notification."
The projection shattered.
The forest fell silent.
Su Wan glanced down at her phone.
A new alert had appeared.
[Marked by High-Tier System][Note: Continued Concealment Not Recommended]
She looked up and smiled at Xiao Xuanyin.
"Bad news," she said lightly."They've noticed me."
Xiao Xuanyin met her gaze.
His voice was steady.
"Then don't hide."
Far away in the Immortal Realm—
The Star Disc shook violently.
The red light marking Anomalous Variables flared at full intensity for the first time.
And every immortal present understood one thing:
This was no longer a question ofwhether they should deal with this emperor—
But whether they still could.