Chapter 499: The Legend of the Exploding Heavens Faction, The Heaven-Reaching Path Opens

"Nine-colored tribulation clouds… someone is about to become an Immortal Emperor!"

"Could it be Grand Elder Ling, who went missing ten thousand years ago from our Sect?"

Everyone turned their gaze toward the Forbidden Land in the back mountain.

Deep within the Forbidden Land.

Zhou Chen looked up at the tribulation clouds that had locked onto him even through the rock layers, his mouth twitching.

"I played it too big this time."

"If this strikes down, forget whether I can withstand it, half of Xuantian Sect will probably be gone."

He now faced two choices.

Either face it head-on, but the commotion would definitely draw out the old monsters from the entire Spirit Realm, including the Eternal Night Demon Palace and various ancient clans. By then, having used all his trump cards, his identity would surely be exposed.

Or…

"System! Is there a way to shield the heavenly secrets and delay the Lightning Tribulation?"

[Ding! Detected that the Host is on the verge of a Breakthrough.]

[Option 1: Use the Heaven-Deceiving Array Pattern (requires 200 System Energy points). It can temporarily shield the Heavenly Dao's perception and delay the Lightning Tribulation until the next Breakthrough Opportunity. However, the power of the next Lightning Tribulation will be doubled.]

[Option 2: Face it head-on. The System can provide a 'Lightning Rod' service (requires 500 Energy points) to guide the Lightning Tribulation to a specified target (such as a hostile force).]

Zhou Chen pondered for a moment.

Guide the Lightning Tribulation?

That sounded quite exciting.

But he looked at the map; the surroundings were filled with people from the Xuantian Sect.

Although he came to 'borrow' things, this Sect had treated him quite well. It would be a bit unscrupulous to wipe out the Xuantian Sect with lightning.

"Choose Option 1! Shield the heavenly secrets!"

Zhou Chen grit his teeth and made his decision.

As long as the green hills remain, there's no fear of lacking firewood.

Now was not the time to be exposed.

[Deducting 200 Energy points, Heaven-Deceiving Array Pattern activated.]

An invisible ripple spread out from Zhou Chen's body, instantly enveloping him and the chaos bell.

The tribulation clouds, which had been churning frantically, suddenly seemed to lose their target and froze in place.

They circled in the sky a few times, letting out several unwilling rumbles of thunder, before finally dispersing slowly.

Heaven and earth returned to tranquility.

"Phew…"

Zhou Chen sat on the ground with a thud, wiping away cold sweat.

"That was close."

Although the Lightning Tribulation had dispersed, the power within his body was real.

Half-step Immortal Emperor!

Currently, although his Realm was still at the Tenth Layer Immortal King, his Physical Body, Divine Soul, and comprehension of Laws had all touched the legendary threshold of the Immortal Emperor.

He only needed to undergo Mortal World Heart Refining to undo the Seal, draw the Lightning Tribulation, and become an Emperor on the spot.

"It's about time to leave."

Zhou Chen put away the chaos bell.

The chaos bell had undergone a massive transformation.

The body of the bell had turned dark gold, with patterns of mountains, rivers, plants, sun, moon, and stars appearing on it. The four ancient characters of Qian, Kun, Xun, and Zhen occupied the four directions, respectively, flowing with a terrifying dao charm.

He stood up and swept his Divine Sense across the map.

The outside was already surrounded so tightly that not even water could leak through.

Sect Master Ling Tian, the Grand Elder, and those two old fossils who had just emerged from the ground were all guarding the entrance of the Myriad Thunder Prison, waiting solemnly for the 'Old Ancestor' to emerge from seclusion.

"This is a bit tricky now."

Zhou Chen scratched his head.

If he walked straight out, he would definitely be treated like a lab rat and sliced for research.

"I have to find a way to sneak out."

Zhou Chen once again circulated the Divine Concealment Art and spatial dao principles, and his figure began to gradually fade.

Just as he was about to disappear, he suddenly remembered something.

"Right, I have to leave something behind, otherwise this play can't go on."

With a casual wave of his hand, he left a line of words on the altar.

The handwriting was condensed from the power of thunder, exuding an aura of wild arrogance and unbridled freedom.

Having done all this, Zhou Chen completely vanished.

A moment later.

The high-level members of the Xuantian Sect finally couldn't hold back anymore. They joined forces to break the Restriction of the Myriad Thunder Prison and rushed in.

However.

All they saw was the shredded meat of thunder beasts on the ground and an empty altar.

The rumble inscription was gone.

"Who?! Who did this?!"

The Grand Elder was so angry his beard was shaking.

Just then, Ling Tian saw the line of words on the altar.

It read:

"This item is fated with me, so I'll borrow it for a while. As compensation, I've cleared the guard dogs for you. No need to thank me. — Exploding Heavens Faction, Gu Ming."

“Pfft—”

Ling Tian spat out a mouthful of old blood.

"Impossible! Who is this Gu Ming? How could he possibly kill a thunder beast?!"

"Search! Search for me! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find him!"

The forbidden zone, which was usually filled with the roar of thunder and off-limits to outsiders, was now eerily quiet.

Several Grand Elders stood before the empty altar, their faces twitching as if they had facial paralysis.

The Grand Elder's hands were shaking as he pointed at the line of words, unable to squeeze out a complete sentence for a long time.

The Elders behind him were even more awkward, wanting to laugh but not daring to, their faces flushed red from holding it in.

"The Gu family… they have gone too far!"

The Grand Elder finally roared, his voice causing the surrounding rubble to fall, "To steal our things and leave a name to humiliate us, do they really think my Xuantian Sect is made of clay! Send the order immediately to contact the Gu family and demand an explanation! Otherwise, even if I have to sacrifice this old life, I will take a trip to the Gu family's ancestral land!"

In reality, the Grand Elder, Immortal Master Kumu, felt uncertain in his heart.

The rumble inscription was a treasure even he didn't dare touch easily, yet that person named 'Gu Ming' could take it away silently and even kill that Tenth Layer Immortal King Realm primordial thunder beast in passing.

Such strength was terrifying to think about.

At this moment, the culprit, Zhou Chen, was sitting in his Immortal Cave on Qingyun Peak, holding a cup of freshly brewed Enlightenment Tea. Steam curled up, carrying a refreshing fragrance.

Opposite him sat a dazed Xing Chen.

"Brother Lin…"

Xing Chen swallowed his saliva, watching Zhou Chen blow on the tea foam as if nothing had happened. "The outside world is in an uproar. They say Gu Ming of the Gu Clan stole the Sect's supreme treasure and even left… cough, left some words in the Forbidden Land. This matter has caused such a stir that even the Old Ancestor in seclusion was angered into coming out."

Zhou Chen took a sip of tea and didn't even look up. "Oh? Is that so? Then that Gu Ming really is a doer of evil, completely devoid of conscience."

Xing Chen's mouth twitched.

Although he didn't know exactly what happened, his intuition told him that this matter was inextricably linked to the person in front of him.

After all, the timing of Zhou Chen's disappearance these past few days coincided too perfectly with the incident in the Forbidden Land.

Zhou Chen set down his teacup, his fingertips lightly tapping on the stone table with a rhythmic 'da-da' sound. "Anything new lately?"

Hearing this, Xing Chen's expression immediately became serious, and he sat up straight. "Brother Lin, there actually is. This time, the eight primordial Immortal Emperor Clans are leading the way, saying that to deal with the threat of the Eternal Night Demon Palace, they have decided to reopen the Heaven-Reaching Immortal Path. That is a trial ground from ancient times used to select prodigies to prove their Dao as Immortal Emperors; it contains countless opportunities."

"Countless opportunities are useless if you don't have the life to take them."

Zhou Chen stood up and walked to the entrance of the Immortal Cave.

The sky outside presented an oppressive grayish-white color. According to the Sect Master, this was a sign of the approaching great tribulation.

Although the Xuantian Sect's Sect-Protecting Formation had been repaired, the atmosphere of panic among the people could not be hidden.