Chapter 153: Small Bell

Chu Yuan frowned slightly, straightened up, and met Master Lu's gaze.

He caught the implication in those words; Master Lu knew something, or rather, he knew that today's events were not accidental.

"Senior, do you know something?"

Chu Yuan asked in a deep voice.

"Junior believes that I have never offended this person. I truly cannot fathom why he would take action against me."

Master Lu smiled, stroked his beard, his eyes as deep as an abyss. "Hehe, who can say for sure? Some Karma is forged in this life; some Karma is planted in a past life. Just because you cannot see it, does not mean it does not exist."

Chu Yuan remained silent.

A past life—he did indeed have a past life, but that was in another world, completely unrelated to this one.

Yet, the implication in Master Lu's words clearly pointed to some past he was unaware of.

"This person is named Guichenzi."

Master Lu spoke slowly.

"Many years ago, his strength was already at the Peak of the Second Step. After being under a Seal for countless years, he has now successfully stepped into the Third Step."

He paused, his gaze falling on Chu Yuan with a hint of scrutiny.

"Being targeted by him is not a pleasant experience. Furthermore, as far as I know, this person is not far from breaking the Seal."

Chu Yuan's heart sank.

Breaking the Seal? If he breaks the Seal, with his current strength…

A powerhouse of the Third Step—with his current cultivation, facing his true body would almost certainly mean death.

That level of disparity cannot be bridged by Magic Treasures, Divine Abilities, or schemes.

"Senior, do you know how much time this Guichenzi has before he breaks the Seal?"

Chu Yuan asked.

Master Lu pondered for a moment, held up one finger, then immediately held up three.

"At the fastest, three thousand years; at the slowest, ten thousand years."

"A thousand years?"

Chu Yuan frowned, his heart tightening, but then he relaxed.

Three thousand years? Ten thousand years?

He was no longer anxious.

Three thousand years is an unreachable number for a Mortal, but for him, it is enough time to reach a brand new height.

As long as Wang Lin continues to grow, he will continue to grow as well.

By the day Guichenzi breaks the Seal, he will no longer be the person he is today.

By then, who is the prey and who is the hunter remains to be seen.

"Thank you for informing me, Senior."

Chu Yuan cupped his hands, his expression having returned to calmness.

Master Lu glanced at him, a fleeting, almost imperceptible look flashing in his eyes.

He raised his hand and took an object from his personal Immortal Treasure storage, holding it in his palm.

It was a small bell, grey-green in color, only about the size of a fist, with dense, intricate patterns carved all over its body.

The patterns were extremely shallow and fine; if one did not look closely, one would almost think they were just the natural texture of the object.

The small bell hovered in Master Lu's palm, rotating slowly. There was no spiritual light leaking out, no aura fluctuations, just like an ordinary Mortal object.

"This object originally belonged to you."

Master Lu said calmly, pushing the small bell forward.

"Today, I return it to its rightful owner. I believe it will be useful to you in the future."

Chu Yuan's gaze fell on the small bell, and he frowned slightly.

He had never seen this object before, nor had he ever sensed any aura related to it.

It was so quiet that it did not seem like a Magic Treasure, or even an object with spirit.

Yet, Master Lu's words did not seem like idle talk.

"What is this object?"

Chu Yuan looked up at Master Lu.

Master Lu did not explain, simply raising his hand to push the small bell over.

The grey-green small bell drifted slowly toward Chu Yuan.

"Just accept it."

Chu Yuan was silent for a moment, then raised his hand to take the small bell into his palm.

He then placed the small bell into his Storage Pouch without asking further questions.

Master Lu retracted his hand.

"Very well, this matter is settled. I shall take my leave now. We shall meet again."

Before his voice had even faded, his figure began to fade, like ink dropping into water, dissipating silently without a trace.

In the starry sky, only Chu Yuan remained.

He shook his head, pushing these chaotic thoughts aside, and turned to step into the chaos bead.

Inside the bead, grey mist churned endlessly.

Hong Die had long been waiting anxiously. Sensing Chu Yuan's aura, she looked up abruptly. Seeing him appear, her tense shoulders finally relaxed.

"Teacher, are you alright?"

Hong Die hurried forward, her gaze scanning him up and down, her eyes full of worry.

"I am fine."

Chu Yuan shook his head.

"I suffered some injuries, but I can recover by absorbing more Yuan energy."

He spoke lightly, but Hong Die saw clearly that her teacher's robes were stained with blood, his face was as pale as paper, and his aura was much weaker than when he had left.

She bit her lip, hating only that she was too weak to help her teacher.

Chu Yuan sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to focus.

Chaos Qi surged in from all directions, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, pouring into his body.

Those grey mists flowed along his Meridians, nourishing his damaged flesh, broken bones, and shaken internal organs.

His wounds were slowly healing, and his aura was climbing bit by bit.

Fortunately, he had already achieved a Breakthrough to the Pure Nirvana Realm and his Foundation was undamaged; as long as there was enough Heaven and Earth Yuan energy, recovery was just a matter of time.

Just as Chu Yuan was healing within the chaos bead, in a certain part of the Luo Tian Star Domain, there was a desolate space forgotten in a crevice of the Void Realm.

This space was not large, only ten thousand zhang in circumference, but its four walls were covered in dense Restrictions, layered and interlocked, sealing the entire space tightly.

The Restrictions flickered on and off, ancient and eerie.

In the center of the space, an old man with withered features and white hair sat cross-legged.

His figure was hunched, his limbs were as thin as firewood, and his skin was covered in dark brown spots—the marks left by time and the erosion of the Seal on his Physical Body.

He kept his eyes closed, his aura weak, as if he were a piece of decaying wood.

But when those eyes opened, deep within his murky pupils, a fierce light, completely different from his withered appearance, flickered.

"Yun Li…"

The old man muttered in a low voice, his voice raspy like sandpaper rubbing together, carrying deep-seated hatred.

"I did not expect that after endless years had passed, you would have become so weak."

The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward, squeezing a strange smile onto his withered face.

"Jie jie jie… My chance has come!"

He raised his head, his murky gaze piercing through the Restrictions of the Seal, looking toward the unreachable Void Realm outside this space.

Although his true body could not leave, and this Seal Restriction locked him firmly within this ten thousand zhang circumference, after countless years of erosion, he had worn down a sliver of the Restriction.

A sliver—not much, but it was enough.

"As long as I catch you, I will definitely be able to break this Seal early."

The old man licked his dry, cracked lips, his eyes full of madness.

"At that time, I will surely torture you for hundreds of millions of years to satisfy the hatred in my heart!"

He raised his hand and pointed his withered fingertip at the center of his brow.

A powerful Divine Thought surged out from the center of his brow, solid and unyielding, circling above his head like an invisible viper.

"Ha!"

The old man let out a low roar, and his aura erupted violently.

At this moment, the Seal Restrictions trembled violently, and countless runes lit up simultaneously, shining with brilliant golden light, transforming into golden chains that reached out from all directions to lock him tightly.

The chains tightened, digging into his flesh and bones, attempting to suppress him once again.

"Argh—!"

The old man screamed, his face twisted, the veins on his forehead bulging. He poured all the strength in his body into that wisp of Divine Thought, and with both hands, he violently tore open the Void Realm in front of him.

A crack appeared on the Seal Restriction.