Even the King of Hell Would Say It's Hellish

　　Chen Xia slapped himself.

　　Not too hard, not too light—just enough to wake himself up.

　　He had just fallen asleep without realizing it. For someone at the Sea Inversion realm, this was indeed unacceptable, indicating he hadn't controlled his divine consciousness properly.

　　The content of the dream wasn't pleasant either.

　　He dreamed that he returned to the Azure Heaven Sword Sea, but the ending was far from good.

　　Because he killed all the cultivators in the Azure Heaven Sword Sea, including all the probationary disciples, lesser elders, the fourteen sons of Azure Heaven, and even crushed the divine souls of the Grand Elders.

　　Finally, he beheaded the old fisherman.

　　Even the big yellow dog died by his hand.

　　This was a dream Chen Xia couldn't accept, filled with eerie elements.

　　Given his cultivation at the Sea Inversion realm, having such a dream for no reason could only mean one thing:

　　Something was wrong with him.

　　Chen Xia began to frown in thought.

　　Could it be that living too long finally took its toll on his mind?

　　But that didn't make sense either; Zhang Daoming was older than him and showed no signs of problems.

　　Was it because of his realm or a temporal anomaly, perhaps being transported to another timeline?

　　Chen Xia pondered many possibilities but couldn't confirm any, so he let it go.

　　Hopefully, it wasn't due to his mind deteriorating.

　　Thinking this, Chen Xia slowly walked out of the house.

　　The big yellow dog was still sleeping, occasionally twitching and acting strangely, showing no signs of improvement and instead worsening. Occasionally, it would suddenly howl or loudly chant,

　　"I am Vast Desolation, severing the two realms, stepping into the Great Emperor realm!"

　　If heard by outsiders, they might think someone was raving mad.

　　But it wasn't far off.

　　Zhang Daoming was tending to the medicinal fields he planted while also caring about the big yellow dog's mental state.

　　"Is alchemy really safe? What if Zhen Hu..."

　　Zhang Daoming didn't say it outright, but the meaning was clear: concerns about betrayal and ingratitude.

　　"No worries, Zhen Hu won't dare have ulterior motives. The Starry Sky Alchemy Sect doesn't have the qualifications," Chen Xia shook his head.

　　Zhang Daoming was still worried, "What if Zhen Hu colludes with other sects, or even the Upper Inner Realm?"

　　Chen Xia shook his head again, "I'm more important than the entire Starry Sky Alchemy Sect. If I can refine great medicines, then I'll be more valuable than the medicine itself. There's no reason for them to offend me over a single great medicine."

　　Zhang Daoming nodded, "That should be the case. When the gathering of ten thousand sects comes, if you encounter difficulties, remember to tell me. I still have some favors in the Inner Realm."

　　These were old stories Zhang Daoming never mentioned before.

　　Chen Xia laughed lightly, "Can you still call for help?"

　　"These are former brothers from my original sect, we haven't been in touch for a long time, and our relationship wasn't particularly close. But if I put aside my pride, they wouldn't refuse to help."

　　Zhang Daoming shook his head slightly, reminiscing but not happily.

　　Regarding the matters of his original sect in the Inner Realm, Zhang Daoming rarely spoke, only mentioning them a few times and vaguely at that.

　　"You don't need to put aside your pride," Chen Xia smiled and shook his head. "At your age, don't end up disgraced in your twilight years, unable to rest peacefully even in your coffin. Then I'd have to worry about your corpse transforming."

　　"There's no such thing as corpse transformation, it's just a scare tactic for children. Dead is dead," Zhang Daoming laughed and shook his head, then asked,

　　"How much longer until the gathering of ten thousand sects? I'll prepare well to see you off."

　　Chen Xia thought for a moment, "According to Zhen Hu, there should be about eighty years left."

　　For cultivators, this wasn't too long.

　　Zhang Daoming nodded, revealing a weathered smile, "Good, prepare well and strive to return victorious."

　　"Sure," Chen Xia nodded lightly.

　　There were things he hadn't told Zhang Daoming.

　　Like the matter with Qin Guan and Triumph Mountain, it wasn't necessary to mention and didn't need to worry Zhang Daoming.

　　And after so long, Triumph Mountain hadn't sent any news or approached Chen Xia, as if they had forgotten the incident.

　　But Qin Guan's soul lamp was firmly in Chen Xia's hands.

　　Would Triumph Mountain truly bear it?

　　Chen Xia doubted it.

　　Someone would surely act, maybe not now, but possibly already planning how to proceed.

　　Meanwhile, Chen Xia's reputation spread throughout the Inner Realm.

　　Just because he dared to publicly force Qin Guan to kneel!

　　And the Starry Sky Alchemy Sect supported him, implying that this new Grand Elder was far more important than Qin Guan from Triumph Mountain!

　　This raised many questions.

　　A previously unheard-of cultivator suddenly became a Grand Elder of Triumph Mountain and forced Qin Guan to kneel—a story too fantastical to believe.

　　These sects were well-informed and quickly found Chen Xia's residence, quietly probing for information.

　　Initially, Chen Xia ignored them, too lazy to care. But eventually, it became annoying. Whenever he caught them, he would slap them and send them packing, warning that next time it wouldn't just be a slap.

　　Some people didn't believe it and came back a second time.

　　Then they were hung outside Chen Xia's door, pointing inside and saying,

　　"Look, you want to watch? Now you can watch all you want."

　　Chen Xia didn't use any other methods, nor did he beat them. He simply hung them up, calling it biological surveillance.

　　And those who didn't believe it weren't just one or two.

　　So Chen Xia's biological surveillance formed a row.

　　A row of Greater Multiplication and Mountain Moving realm cultivators hung outside the door, powerless, occasionally staring at each other and begging for mercy.

　　But Chen Xia paid no attention, letting them watch their fill, hanging for decades.

　　Over time, these cultivators got acquainted, chatting and laughing.

　　"You're at the initial stage of Mountain Moving? Coincidentally, so am I. I'm from White Screen Mountain, what about you?"

　　"I'm from the Illusion Sect. Though I'm at the Mountain Moving realm, it's not ordinary. Look, I'm hanging higher than you, which shows my usual foundation."

　　"Heh, true!"

　　The row of hanging cultivators chatted happily, discussing all kinds of gossip from the Inner Realm.

　　Occasionally, Chen Xia would listen, passing the time.

　　Fiftieth year.

　　Zhen Hu visited once, standing at the door, looking at the row of hanging cultivators on the wall, falling silent.

　　Seeing Zhen Hu arrive, the hanging cultivators greeted enthusiastically,

　　"Master Zhen has come, welcome!"

　　"Master Zhen has come, Lord Chen, Master Zhen has come!"

　　"Lord Chen, we have guests, Lord Chen!"

　　Only then did Chen Xia slowly walk out, stopping at the door, leaning against the wall, and smiling,

　　"Biological doorbell, pretty fancy, right?"

　　Zhen Hu opened his mouth but couldn't find the words to respond, nodding after a while.

　　"Quite inventive."

　　It was so eerie that even Yama would call it hellish.