Firefly Realm, Northern Border, Tabat Frontier Kingdom.

Boom!

The cloudless azure sky was suddenly cleaved by a stroke of purple lightning, crashing down on a mountain peak like a thunderous dragon!

Rock fragments flew out in an instant and arcs of electricity scattered, revealing a slender figure out of thin air.

This was a youth around twenty years old, with sword-like eyebrows and sparkling eyes. He was extraordinarily handsome, but an intense unwillingness was etched on his handsome face.

"Father! I will prove you wrong someday. Challenging the dignity of the divine race must be paid for in blood! When I return to the divine world, it will be the day when the Blood Hell realm gets annihilated!"

The young man's face was slightly pale, but his words were powerful. The coldness in his eyes resembled the icy edges of a deep abyss!

This young man was named Emperor Hong. He was originally the eldest legitimate son of the divine king in the divine world, the Thunder Emperor who defied the world, and the first successor to the divine king by order. However, on the day before his coronation, he was stripped of his divine bloodline and sealed into the rank of an emperor, banished to the Firefly Realm, one of the nine realms in the mortal world.

Looking around, the mountain peak had already been shattered by this purple lightning. The black mark under his feet was as if the imprints of a god.

Emperor Hong looked out at his surroundings. The place was remote, and it seemed that no one noticed his arrival. He dusted himself off, squinted his eyes, and murmured to himself: "Firefly Realm, huh? The feeling is familiar, I didn't expect to be back here after tens of thousands of years... "

"Eh--" Emperor Hong glanced to his side, and a beautiful woman in a green dress, her face veiled, appeared beside him.

Although her face was veiled, her body was curvy. Her icy blue eyes, as if speaking, signified that she must be of unparalleled beauty that could overthrow nations.

"Keep looking and I'll gouge your eyes out! What would be the punishment for disturbing my cultivation?"

The lady in the green dress finally could not bear Emperor Hong's unabashed ogling and growled quietly.

Emperor Hong's mouth curled up slightly, but he did not respond. Looking at the ice-blue eyes of the woman in green, he calmly said: "What place is this? Who now bears the Heavenly Dao?"

The woman in the green robe paused for a moment, gazing into Emperor Hong's indifferent eyes, which gave the impression of an unbeatable powerhouse. The questions she had wanted to ask about how he had appeared here were swallowed back down. Subconsciously, she said, "This is within the territory of Yu Tabo Chie and within the sphere of influence of the Palace of Thunder at the Nine Heavens. Today, there is a deficit in Heaven's Path, and for tens of thousands of years, no one has assumed Heaven's Path."

"There's a deficit in Heaven's Path, and no one's taking up Heaven's Path?" Emperor Hong's eyes narrowed, giving off an aura as if millions of years were fleeting by.

"Where is Saint Void?"

"He exhausted his life span ninety thousand years ago and settled in the Void's Cache."

"What about Saint Immortal?"

"He entered the Dead Lands of Oblivion fifty thousand years ago, and has been missing since, with no sign of return. No one knows whether he is dead or alive."

"What about the Golden Thunder Saint from your Palace of Thunder at the Nine Heavens?"

The woman's figure slightly trembled, her eyes filled with reverence, "It is said that he passed the Thunder Tribulation and stepped into the void..."

Emperor Hong frowned deeply. It seemed that during his tens of thousands of years in the divine realm, things had changed and people had moved on.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

Blue sparks flashed around her, the strong pressure making the surrounding air thin. Her momentum was completely suppressed by an ordinary person, which angered her!

"My name is Emperor Hong. As for why I'm here..." Emperor Hong smiled leisurely, "You don't need to know."

The woman in the green robe gritted her teeth in anger, it had been a long time since anyone dared to speak to her this way!

The young man in front of her didn't possess any true energy at all, he was merely a mortal! But how could an ordinary mortal be so calm and composed in the face of a cultivator?

While the woman in the green robe was lost in thought, Emperor Hong asked, "What's your name? You said this is the territory of the Palace of Thunder at the Nine Heavens, so you must be one of them, correct?"

"Nine Heavens Thunderous Palace, Nalan Youruo!"

"Nine Heavens Thunderous Palace, huh," Emperor Hong repeated thoughtfully, a smile spreading across his face as he mused to himself, "Who would have thought, after all this wandering, I would end up back here."

Nalan YouRuo looked at Emperor Hong with curiosity, puzzled as to why this man look merely twenty but seemed to have experienced countless years of hardship.

Her veil, fluttering from the side due to an electric arc, went unnoticed by Nalan YouRuo.

As expected, beneath the veil lay a face capable of toppling kingdoms, but a glaring dark purple mark entirely ruined its beauty, causing Emperor Hong to furrow his brows slightly.

Nalan YouRuo shrieked as if stepped on, immediately covering her veil, hiding the dark purple mark.

"If you do not dispel the thunder poison on your face soon, you'll be as good as dead," Emperor Hong stated matter-of-factly.

Nalan YouRuo's gorgeous eyes widened in surprise, blurting out, "How do you know?"

Emperor Hong found it amusing. She knew well about her condition but didn't appear to worry. How the Emperor knew was quite simple — the surrounding electric arcs told him all he needed to know, and he chuckled. After all, he had founded Nine Heavens Thunderous Palace and created the Thunder Technique. How could he not recognize his own creation?

Clearly, however, something had gone wrong with the technique as Nalan YouRuo was now channeling her internal demons.

"Try channeling your energy to the spot between your eyebrows and guide the thunder into your Qi, it should alleviate your pain," suggested Emperor Hong in a leisurely tone.

On following Emperor's Hong instructions, Nalan YouRuo was surprised to find the numbness on her face diminish considerably.

She had been tormented by the thunder poison for nearly a year, dealing not only sporadic numbness and prickling pain, but the greatest agony was the dark purple mark on her face!

Never had Nalan YouRuo expected that a mere mortal standing before her could solve her dilemma. Excitedly, she asked, "Can you help me? I am the Palace Master of Nine Heavens Thunderous Palace. If you can solve my thunder poison issue, I will fulfill any request you have!"

Emperor Hong sized up Nalan Youruo, despite his lack of power, he could still sense something. The current Nalan Youruo, let alone a saint, was not even a sage, and was the palace master of the Jiutian Thunder Extreme Palace? Has the Jiutian Thunder Extreme Palace fallen to this level?

He sighed softly. If he were in the divine realm, that would have been fine. But now that he had returned, he couldn't let the Jiutian Thunder Extreme Palace decline any further! It was a good thing that he just arrived in the firefly realm and needed a place to stay. This Jiutian Thunder Extreme Palace would become his chariot upon his return to the firefly realm!

The Emperor Hong's eyes shone bright, "If you want my help, sure! But I have a condition!"

Nalan Youruo looked at Emperor Hong in surprise and asked eagerly, "What condition? As long as I can do it, I will definitely satisfy you!"

"I want to become the chief disciple of the Jiutian Thunder Extreme Palace!"

"This……"

Nalan Youruo's willow eyebrows furrowed, seemingly a bit difficult.

However, Emperor Hong was extremely relaxed, as if it had nothing to do with him, he even continued to appreciate the enchanting figure of Nalan Youruo.

Finally, Nalan Youruo gritted her teeth as if she had made a major decision, "If you can cure my thunder toxin, what does it matter if you become the chief disciple? But let me make it clear before, if you want to become the chief disciple, you must pass the test of the elders, otherwise, even with my rights, I can't make it possible!"

Emperor Hong nodded coolly, "Alright! The position of the chief disciple, I'll take it!"

Test? Would Emperor Hong care? After thousands of years, no one could stop the return of the Thunder Emperor!

"What about my thunder toxin?"

Emperor Hong whispered something in Nalan Youruo's ear, all you could see was Nalan Youruo's face changing from pale to shock to joy.

Nalan Youruo calmed down and said, "I'll take you to the Jiutian Thunder Extreme Palace. I hope you can pass the test. If you can't, just stay with me! I will repay you for your kindness."