Chapter 168: Arena

She opened her mouth, then closed it again, feeling that perhaps she had been injured for too long and her brain hadn't fully recovered.

Chu Yuan merely waved his hand: "Alright, what's the big deal? Since your injuries have recovered, do you want to go out and take a look? Things are very different now compared to your era."

Shuo Leng turned her head to look at him, then glanced at Chu Qiyao behind him, and finally shook her head, casting those complex emotions out of her mind: "Very well. Since I've recovered to the six-star Peak in one go, I naturally must go out and take a look."

She raised her hand, and a large cauldron with a dark green body flew out from her palm. Ancient God Power surged into it, and the cauldron instantly grew to ten thousand zhang in size, suspending in the Void Realm.

The mouth of the cauldron opened wide, and a massive suction force surged from it, causing endless streams of Chaos Qi to continuously rush into the cauldron.

"With this cauldron, even if I am not within this chaos bead, I can constantly collect infinite Chaos Qi."

Shuo Leng turned to look at Chu Yuan.

"At that time, you can just take me back inside."

Chu Yuan took a look at the large cauldron and said with some surprise: "You actually have such a treasure."

Shuo Leng chuckled, crossed her arms, and said with a hint of pride in her tone: "That goes without saying. I am proficient in Artifact Refining, Restrictions, and Formations. This cauldron was personally crafted by me before I was injured. It is called the Heaven-Swallowing Cauldron. After all these years, it has finally come in handy again."

Hearing this, the corners of Chu Yuan's mouth lifted slightly: "That's great. In the future, if I have any Artifact Refining needs, I'll just have you do it. It will save me from having to search everywhere."

Shuo Leng's face fell. She crossed her arms and glared at him: "What? You actually want to make me do manual labor? Don't think that just because you saved me, you can order me around as you please!"

Chu Yuan just smiled and didn't respond.

He turned around, about to leave, but paused his steps, his tone becoming a bit more serious: "After we go out, remember not to mention the matter of the chaos bead."

Shuo Leng waved her hand, her expression relaxed but not lacking in solemnity: "Rest assured, I know how to handle this. I am not someone who doesn't know the gravity of the situation."

Chu Yuan nodded, then looked at Chu Qiyao beside him: "Qiyao, remember to hide yourself well when we are outside. Although you have taken a human form, your aura is ultimately too unique. If it is noticed by someone with ill intentions, it will inevitably cause trouble."

Chu Qiyao nodded slightly: "Yes, Master. I will conceal my aura, and no one will be able to tell."

After giving all the instructions, Chu Yuan said no more. He raised his hand and waved it. The grey Chaos Qi swirled around the three of them for a moment before dissipating.

The figures of the three simultaneously disappeared from the chaos bead.

Outside, in that quiet palace of the Thunder Immortal Hall, Chu Yuan's figure appeared out of thin air in the center of the main hall. Beside him, Shuo Leng and Chu Qiyao appeared simultaneously.

Shuo Leng looked around, her gaze sweeping over the furnishings in the hall, and her brows raised slightly.

"The aura here is similar to the Immortal Realm. Is this place the Immortal Realm?"

In her era, the Immortal Realm was one of the hegemonic powers she knew of, dominating ten thousand domains and looking down upon all living beings.

The rhythm of the Spiritual Qi circulation here and the layout of the Restrictions were quite similar to the Immortal Realm in her memory. Although the scale was much smaller, the essence was correct.

Chu Yuan shook his head: "This is not the Immortal Realm. The true Immortal Realm long ago vanished in the long river of history. It was destroyed in the ancient era."

"What?"

"The Immortal Realm was destroyed?"

Shuo Leng was slightly surprised.

Chu Yuan's tone was flat: "There is nothing to be surprised about. This world is just like that; the rise and fall of powers is very common. Even the most powerful force will eventually have stronger entities appear than it."

He paused, his gaze falling on Shuo Leng.

"Even the Ancient God race has now almost completely died out. As far as I know, there are not many Ancient Gods left alive today."

"What!"

Shuo Leng's voice finally carried genuine shock.

She froze on the spot, the light in her golden pupils flickering, like a deep pool into which a stone had been thrown, the ripples not dispersing for a long time.

"Impossible! How could the might of my Ancient God race be compared to those weak tribes?"

Chu Yuan did not argue with her, just said indifferently: "You will know in the future."

Shuo Leng fell silent, her gaze lowered, complex emotions surging in her golden pupils.

She gritted her teeth, her fists slowly clenching at her sides, but ultimately she did nothing.

She knew Chu Yuan would not lie to her.

After a long while, she slowly loosened her fists, her voice becoming low: "One day, I will find out the truth of the matter."

Chu Yuan looked at her, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly with a faint smile: "That is natural. Very good."

Chu Yuan vaguely remembered that within the Luo Tian Star Domain, there seemed to be another female Ancient God.

Then there was Tuo Sen.

Tuo Sen's strength was that of a genuine Eight-Star Ancient God. However, Chu Yuan no longer cared about the threat of Tuo Sen. With his current growth rate, by the time Tuo Sen broke his seal, he would be unable to pose the slightest threat to him.

"Alright, let's go. I will take you outside to take a look."

Chu Yuan was no longer prepared to wait another year to return to the Alliance Star Domain with the Thunder Immortal Hall.

Now that he had Chu Qiyao, with her Third Step strength, she could completely tear open the barriers between the two realms on her own, and they could very well return to the Alliance Star Domain right now.

There was an essential difference between the Third Step and the Second Step. Third Step powerhouses were completely unrestricted by Star Domain barriers and could freely travel between major Star Domains.

He closed his eyes slightly and sensed Hong Die's location.

He withdrew his focus and led Shuo Leng and Chu Qiyao out of the palace gate.

The three followed the corridor, passing through layers of halls, and flew towards the deeper parts of the Thunder Immortal Hall.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the Thunder Immortal Hall.

An arena built of green jade was suspended in mid-air, surrounded by a layer of pale golden Restriction, isolating the residual Spiritual Qi waves inside.

Many Cultivators had gathered under the stage. Some were dressed in the standard silver robes of the Thunder Immortal Hall, while others wore different clothes, clearly visitors from other powers.

They either stood with arms crossed or discussed in low voices, their gazes all fixed on the arena.

Two figures were clashing on the stage.

One of the figures appeared quite relaxed, hardly moving their feet, only occasionally raising their hand, and five giant beasts suppressed the opponent, making them unable to lift their head.

The Gold Spirit was like a mountain, the Wood Spirit like a forest, the Water Spirit like a tide, the Fire Spirit like a sea, and the Earth Spirit like a Peak. The Five Spirits coordinated tacitly, combining offense and defense, forcing the Thunder Immortal Temple Envoy opposite them to retreat repeatedly, without even a chance to fight back.

"The Prodigies in your Thunder Immortal Hall aren't anything special."

Hong Die yawned, her tone lazy.

"Is there anyone more capable?"

As she spoke, she waved her hand casually, and the Fire Spirit swept out its tail, blasting that person off the edge of the arena.

That person stumbled as they landed, their face turning pale, but ultimately they said nothing, just cupped their hands and retreated.

Bored, Hong Die retracted the Five Spirits, stood in the center of the arena, crossed her arms, and swept her gaze over the crowd below the stage.

She had been wandering around the Thunder Immortal Hall earlier, and when she passed by here and saw the sparring on the arena, she joined in on a whim.

She had thought that since the Thunder Immortal Hall was the number one Sect in the Luo Tian Star Domain, there should be a few capable fighters among their peers, but after more than a dozen matches, the strength of the opponents was, in her opinion, somewhat unsatisfactory.

Throughout the entire process, she hadn't even moved her feet much, relying only on the Five Spirits to suppress the opponent, leaving them with absolutely no power to fight back.