Chapter 516: Monsters and Demons, Only One Immortal

Old Jìjiǔ opened his eyes in shock and uncertainty, only to discover to his astonishment that the Small World had stabilized.

Not only had it stabilized, but the layer of gray World Barrier around them had actually become transparent.

Through the World Barrier, he saw the scene of the outside world.

The dark red sky, the cracked earth, and that ubiquitous black Devilish Qi…

They had returned to the Tianxuan Continent!

"This… this is…" Old Jìjiǔ was completely bewildered.

Who possessed such heaven-defying methods to reconnect a Small World that had been stripped from the Main World? Such great power was unheard of and unseen!

With trembling hands, he pinched his fingers to calculate the heavenly secrets, but he only felt that the secrets were a mass of Chaos, and he could calculate nothing.

Filled with shock and unease, Old Jìjiǔ took a step forward, passing through the now-thin World Barrier and arriving outside.

At a glance, he saw a young man standing quietly not far from the entrance of the Small World.

The man wore a simple green robe and had his back turned to him. His figure was tall and straight, with black hair falling over his shoulders. His aura was restrained to the extreme, just like a Mortal who had never practiced Cultivation.

Yet, at this moment, Old Jìjiǔ's heart began to pound wildly.

Instinct told him that the earth-shaking change just now was related to this seemingly ordinary young man before him.

What great power had descended?

He cautiously released his Divine Sense, wanting to probe the other party's background.

His Divine Sense was like a clay ox entering the sea, failing to stir even a single ripple.

The other's body was like a bottomless black hole, unfathomable.

Old Jìjiǔ felt increasingly reverent. He straightened his robes and respectfully stepped forward, preparing to bow in greeting.

"This Junior, the Jixia Academy Libationer, pays respects to Senior. May I know Senior's esteemed name? Thank you, Senior, for your assistance in bringing my Jixia Academy back to our homeland."

The young man did not respond immediately.

He just stood there quietly, as if looking at the distant scenery.

Just as Old Jìjiǔ was feeling uneasy, thinking he had been too abrupt with the master, the young man slowly turned around.

A handsome and familiar face came into Old Jìjiǔ's view.

On that face was a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

"Old Jìjiǔ, it has been a hundred years. I hope you have been well."

Boom!

Seeing this face and hearing this voice, Old Jìjiǔ's mind felt as if it had been struck by a bolt of Nine Heavens divine lightning, instantly going blank.

His eyes widened, his mouth hung open unconsciously, and he pointed at the young man before him, his fingers trembling violently as if he had seen something most incredible.

This face…

This voice…

Although he looked much more mature than a hundred years ago and his temperament had undergone a world-shaking transformation, he would never mistake him!

"周… 周辰?!"

Old Jìjiǔ's voice was dry and hoarse, filled with unbelievable shock.

"You… didn't you go to the Upper Realm… how could you…"

He was incoherent, his mind having suffered an unprecedented shock.

Zhou Chen, the peerless Genius who had left Jixia Academy a hundred years ago, had actually returned?

Moreover, that world-changing great power just now… could it be…"

An absurd yet bold thought grew wildly in Old Jìjiǔ's heart.

In fact, reconnecting a Small World was not something a True Immortal Realm could achieve; it required at least a cultivation level above the Immortal King Realm, but Old Jìjiǔ simply didn't know that.

If Zhou Chen had returned when he was a True Immortal, he might have only been able to stare helplessly.

Old Jìjiǔ stared fixedly at Zhou Chen, sensing him carefully. In those cloudy old eyes, the look of shock grew more intense, finally turning into utter horror.

"You… you've achieved Immortal Ascension?!"

Old Jìjiǔ's voice trembled violently as he struggled to squeeze out those few words.

Although he couldn't see through Zhou Chen's depth, he could feel an otherworldly aura from him—a detachment that viewed all things in heaven and earth as insignificant—which was definitely not something a Mortal being could possess.

This was an Immortal!

A True Immortal!

Over a hundred years!

In just over a hundred years, the youth who once needed his protection to grow had actually attained the legendary realm of an Immortal and possessed such unfathomable power!

This… how is this possible?!

Old Jìjiǔ had lived for thousands of years and considered himself well-informed, but everything happening before him had completely overturned his understanding.

Looking at Old Jìjiǔ's shattered worldview, Zhou Chen only gave a faint smile.

"It was just luck."

Luck?

Old Jìjiǔ's mouth twitched. If this was luck, then what were the billions of Cultivators in the world who struggled and searched bitterly?

He opened his mouth, wanting to ask a thousand things, but didn't know where to start.

Zhou Chen's return, Zhou Chen's Immortal Ascension—all of it felt like an unreal dream.

Just then.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

From the distant horizon, a series of violent sounds of breaking through the air suddenly rang out.

Dozens of streaks of light pierced through the dark red sky, galloping from all directions and finally stopping above the Jixia Academy's Small World.

As each streak of light dissipated, a figure with a powerful aura was revealed.

Leading them was the master of the White Bone Demon Hall, the Tenth Layer Immortal King Realm Demon Lord Moluo. He was tall, his black robe fluttering without wind, and Devilish Qi surged around him, forming hideous ghost faces that let out silent roars.

Behind him stood hundreds of Demon Marshals with equally fierce auras, the weakest of whom were comparable to the former top experts of the Tianxuan Continent.

On the other side were the collaborators led by several academies, including Chaos Academy and Taixu Academy.

Their Libationers had also come, but now they followed behind Demon Lord Moluo, each with downcast eyes and flattering expressions, long since having lost the integrity of teachers.

"Jie jie jie… Jixia Old Ghost, you shrinking turtle, you finally decided to come out?"

Demon Lord Moluo let out a piercing, strange laugh, his gaze falling on Old Jìjiǔ, filled with playfulness and cruelty.

"This seat thought you were going to hide in that broken turtle shell of yours for the rest of your life."

The sudden return of Jixia Academy naturally could not be hidden from these top beings of the continent.

They rushed over immediately, preparing to thoroughly eliminate this last stumbling block and, in passing, kill the chicken to warn the monkeys as a warning to others.

Old Jìjiǔ's face turned pale, and he subconsciously shielded Zhou Chen behind him, staring warily at the crowd of demons in the sky.

"Moluo! You demonic lackeys, do not be so arrogant!"

"Arrogant?"

Moluo laughed as if he had heard a huge joke, doubling over: "Old thing, it seems you've hidden for too long and your brain has gone soft. Now, on this Tianxuan Continent, the Demon Race calls the shots! Your mere Jixia Academy can be destroyed by this seat with a flip of a hand!"

The Libationers of several academies behind him also spoke up in agreement.

"Jixia, those who recognize the circumstances are wise. Lord Demon Lord's Divine Might is peerless, and unifying the continent is the mandate of heaven. Why must you overreach yourself like a mantis blocking a chariot, seeking your own death?"

"Exactly! Quickly open your Small World and surrender all your Disciples, and Lord Demon Lord might spare your life!"

Hearing these shameless remarks from his former peers, Old Jìjiǔ trembled with rage, almost spitting out a mouthful of old blood.

"You… you bunch of scum! Utterly shameless!"