Chapter 449: Lan’er, Is That You?
Using the teleportation array, Shen Tian and Qi Zhan quickly rushed back to Jixia Academy.
When they returned to the academy, what they heard the most was their feat in East Sea City!
The incident in East Sea City had become a hot topic. There was no one who didn’t know about it, and the reports were getting more and more exaggerated and bizarre.
The two of them looked at each other, not knowing how to explain.
“Boss, what should we do?”
Qi Zhan scratched his head in confusion. He didn’t think that the rumors would be so terrifying. What was even more ridiculous was that this rumor was actually true!
As Qi Zhan’s cultivation broke through to the Third Tribulation Sage, his strength increased greatly. He could indeed now fight with a Great Sage.
This completely corresponded to the rumors.
The corners of Shen Tian’s mouth twitched as he was dumbfounded.
Did these people install cameras on me?
How did they know about what had happened in the void?
Could it be that someone had activated the Heavenly Eye and was hiding at the side to peep at me?
What truth are these people blindly speaking!?
Seriously, this is ridiculous!
“Forget it. Let nature take its course!”
Shen Tian shook his head and didn’t intend to explain himself. He was bent on keeping a low profile, but the situation didn’t allow for it from the looks of it.
At this moment, it was even worse for him to explain. The more he explained, the more troublesome it would be.
Therefore, the two of them did not bother with the rumors outside and directly returned to their residences to enter seclusion.
As the rumors spread further and further, all the Jixia Academy students believed that both of them had the strength of a Great Sage!
For a time, the two of them were in the limelight!
At the same time, in the Country of Fire...
A figure was rushing toward the capital. It was a bald monk dressed in Buddhist robes. His entire body emitted a holy Buddhist Dharmic intent. However, this Buddha Dharmic intent was unstable, appearing and disappearing from time to time.
After it disappeared, it was replaced by a mournful demonic will. He was like a Holy Monk of Buddhism for a moment and a peerless Demon King in the next.
This person was one of the four great kings of the Evil Spirit Sect—the Lifeless King!
After losing two peak-grade Dao bodies in succession, Lifeless King’s strength had been greatly reduced, and he had lost 1,000 years of cultivation.
The resentment he felt toward Shen Tian was like an endless river that hung in the nine heavens.
The Lifeless King wanted to take revenge on Shen Tian, but he suffered greatly every time.
This boy was too strange—both of his Dao bodies had been destroyed because they had attacked Shen Tian!
The Lifeless King finally gave up on attacking Shen Tian head-on after learning from his lessons. He had decided to attack Shen Tian’s family instead.
After this period of bitter cultivation, the Lifeless King had finally condensed his other two Dao bodies.
After all the preparations were done, the Lifeless King could not suppress the killing intent in his heart. He immediately set off and rushed to the Country of Fire. He wanted to kill the Country of Fire’s king, Shen Xiao, in order to seek revenge against Shen Tian.
The Lifeless King laughed sinisterly. “Shen Tian, I will destroy your family!”
He slowly walked toward the royal palace. Nonetheless, his speed was extremely fast, as if he was as fast as lightning. His body seemed to have become one with the void.
Even if he appeared beside others, no one would notice him at all.
...
Lan Feiling—this was Concubine Lan’s tomb.
After Concubine Lan had passed away, Shen Xiao had personally built a cemetery just meant for her.
This place was very quiet. Only Shen Xiao would occasionally come over. Other people were not allowed to enter.
Shen Xiao held the white flower in his hand and looked at the tombstone in front of him. His eyes were filled with longing and nostalgia.
He offered the white flower and offered a few incense sticks.
Shen Xiao fixed his gaze on the Lan Feiling’s tombstone and softly muttered, “Lan’er, do you know?
“Tian’er has grown up now. He has successfully joined a sacred ground, and his achievements are unprecedented!
“I heard that even among all the sacred grounds, Tian’er is one of the top geniuses.
“If your spirit in heaven knew about this, you would be smiling in the underworld!”
...
At that moment, the void behind Shen Xiao distorted, and the Lifeless King appeared.
The Lifeless King said with a sinister expression upon seeing Shen Xiao, “So you were hiding here. I’ll kill you today and let that brat Shen Tian have a taste of losing his closest kin!
“Ant-like existence, die!”
Even though the Lifeless King was right in front of him, Shen Xiao did not notice anything. After all, the Lifeless King was an existence above a Great Sage. Given Shen Xiao’s cultivation, he could not sense him at all!
The Lifeless King stretched out his hand, and terrifying Dharmic powers condensed into a monstrous demonic claw as though he wanted to smash Shen Xiao into minced meat.
At that moment, a purple wave of energy surged out of the void—the aura boundless and immeasurable.
Strands of purple energy descended from the void as if it was the Milky Way of the nine heavens, vast and endless.
However, there was a majestic power contained within it. It carried all the laws of heaven and earth and formed a huge purple hand that slapped toward the Lifeless King!
“What? How can this be!?
The Lifeless King felt a terrifying force that caused his heart to tremble and his guts to burst. This power was like a myriad of laws descending, unstoppable!
“Run!”
Lifeless King’s only thought currently was to turn around and escape.
That power was too terrifying. He would die if he touched it. He could not resist at all.
He could not imagine that a mere Country of Fire actually hid such a terrifying power!
Could it be that Shen Tian had already guessed his plan and made preparations in advance?
Impossible, how could a mere youth have such means?
The Lifeless King could not believe it, but now was not the time for him to be suspicious.
He suddenly tore open the void behind him, wanting to escape.
However, before the Lifeless King could move, the purple hand grabbed him.
Even someone as strong as the Lifeless King was lifted up like a chick in front of the purple hand.
No matter how he resisted, he could not break free at all!
“Who exactly are you?”
The Lifeless King was terrified. He had never felt such terrifying power before. It was as if it could easily wipe out his life.
However, no one responded!
The purple hand gently pinched, and invisible waves rippled in the void.
Bam!
The sound of flesh exploding rang out.
An Evil Spirit Sect’s king was crushed into a bloody mist just like that.
Shen Xiao seemed to have sensed something. He suddenly turned around and looked at the distorted space, his voice hoarse.
“Lan, Lan’er, is that you?”
...
At the same time, in Middle Ground’s Lifeless Temple that was billions of miles away...
Two figures sat cross-legged. One was filled with extreme Buddhist Dharmic intent, while the other was filled with extreme fiendish intent.
These two figures were the Lifeless King’s newly formed Dao bodies.
Previously, he had been afraid that an accident would happen, so he had spent a lot of effort and resources to reconstruct these two Dao bodies.
This was a life-saving technique. As long as a Dao body still existed, the Lifeless King would not be considered dead.
However, at this moment, the pupils of the two Dao bodies widened, their eyes filled with fear!
“What kind of power is that?”
“The true body was killed instantly?”
The Lifeless King’s past-self Dao body roared.
The three Dao bodies that he had spent thousands of years nurturing had all been destroyed!
These newly formed Dao bodies of his carried less than 1/10 of his original strength!
It could be said that the Lifeless King had returned directly to his strength before his liberation and had wasted thousands of years of bitter cultivation!
“Shen Tian, it’s all because of you!”
“I will kill you!”
The Lifeless King’s future-self Dao body was also roaring!
But soon, the two Dao bodies cried out in horror, “What the hell?”
Shock suddenly appeared on their faces as their bodies exploded one after another, turning into ashes.
Only a trace of purple energy leaked out of the void.
No one noticed anything!
...
In a certain dark void devil cave, there were all kinds of indescribably terrifying devil god statues.
Each and every one of them was filled with a demonic aura. Dark light flickered, and their auras were extremely shocking.
If an ordinary person were to look at it, they would instantly fall into the abyss and be controlled by the demonic will, becoming a demon that only knew how to kill.
This place was too terrifying as if it was the power of a devil origin. It was definitely a place no ordinary person could enter.
In the middle of the void devil cave was a huge table. It was refined from the body of a Great Sage Tree Demon.
The scale of its size was unimaginable!
At this moment, the void in the demonic cave surged, and several figures appeared.
Those figures were slightly illusory, but they emitted a terrifying aura. They were the projections of top-notch experts!
This place was the lair of the Evil Spirit Sect!
These projections were the top experts of the Evil Spirit Sect.
Three figures sat at the bottom of the table. They were the three kings of the Evil Spirit Sect, the Hell Protector King, the Heaven’s Net King, and the Purple Lightning King.
The Evil Spirit Sect had a total of four kings. Each of them was extremely powerful and controlled most of the resources of the Evil Spirit Sect.
Setting aside the Lifeless King, the three kings could only sit at the lower position.
Two other figures were sitting in the main seats. Their auras were far more terrifying than the three kings. Even the three kings were respectful when they saw these two people!
These two people were the two Vice Sect Masters of the Evil Spirit Sect—Evil Lord Qianhuan and Evil Lord Lao Qing.
They were the most powerful existences apart from the Evil Spirit Sect Sect Master and were in charge of all the affairs of the Evil Spirit Sect.
Today was the Evil Spirit Sect’s upper echelons’ meeting. The Evil Spirit Sect’s Vice Sect Masters had already informed all the upper echelons to participate.
Seeing that there were still empty seats, Evil Lord Qian Huan said indifferently, “Why is the Lifeless King still not here?”
This was the meeting of the upper echelons of the Evil Spirit Sect. As one of the four kings, the Lifeless King was actually absent. This made Evil Lord Qian Huan very displeased.
The Heaven’s Net King said, “The Lifeless King should be in seclusion. He lost two of his Dao bodies earlier, causing his strength to be damaged. I will contact him now!”
The Heaven’s Net King had a good relationship with the Lifeless King and quickly explained.
Unexpectedly, there was no response when he sent a message to the Lifeless King.
“What’s going on? The Lifeless King’s communication line can’t be connected?”
Heaven’s Net King was puzzled. As the top experts of the Evil Spirit Sect, they knew the importance of the matter. How could the Lifeless King miss such an important matter like the conference?
Evil Lord Qian Huan snorted. “I want to see what he’s doing.”
He activated his secret technique and sensed the Lifeless King’s location.
Next, his expression changed, turning grave. “The Lifeless King’s Soul Lamp is gone?”
“What!?”
Everyone was shocked!
The Soul Lamp was connected to a person’s True Spirit. Once the Soul Lamp was extinguished, it meant that both the body and soul of the person were destroyed and that they were completely dead!
The Lifeless King’s extinguished Soul Lamp meant that he had already died. This was unbelievable!
Although the Lifeless King was the weakest among the four kings of the Evil Spirit Sect, that was because he did not merge his three incarnations.
If the Lifeless King had merged his three incarnations together, his strength would definitely increase greatly and become a top existence among the four kings.
Furthermore, relying on the unique effects of the Three Lives Body, the Lifeless King’s life-preservation abilities were also extremely powerful.
Unless one destroyed all three of his bodies at once, there was no way to kill him.
The Lifeless King had always been cautious. His three incarnations would not move out at the same time.
It was as difficult as ascending to the heavens to kill the Lifeless King!
However, this type of existence had actually been killed, with his body and spirit erased from this world. This was just too terrifying.
“Who killed the Lifeless King?”
“Could it be that Huang Shi has invaded the Lifeless Temple?”
Some people raised their doubts. They could not imagine how the Lifeless King had died.
Probably only Huang Shi could do it in the five regions. He was the strongest of the five regions, an existence that even the Evil Spirit Sect feared!
“Impossible. If Huang Shi took action, there is no way we wouldn’t know!”
Evil Lord Qian Huan shook his head. “The Great Wilderness Celestial Dynasty has a great enmity with our Evil Spirit Sect, so we naturally pay close attention to it!”
Although Huang Shi was powerful, it was impossible for him to avoid the Evil Spirit Sect’s line of sight and kill the Lifeless King silently.
Moreover, the Lifeless King had hidden himself very well. No one knew his exact location.
If Huang Shi really had that strength, the Evil Spirit Sect’s upper echelons would have long been slaughtered.
The Heaven’s Net King then asked, “Other than Huang Shi, who else can kill the Lifeless King?”
They had no idea who it was that had attacked them. This was simply ridiculous.
“To be able to kill the Lifeless King, they must be extraordinary!”
“It seems that there are mysterious experts hidden in the five regions.”
“First, it was Great Sage Evil Fire, and now it’s the Lifeless King. The situation in the five regions is getting more chaotic!”
All the kings had solemn expressions. This situation was not good for them!
It had only been a short period, yet they had already lost two powerful Great Sage combatants. They had even lost the Lifeless King, whose potential was extremely high.
His death had even damaged the foundations of the Evil Spirit Sect.
All the high-ranking Evil Spirit members felt uneasy!
At that moment, a terrifying cold voice came from the void, as though it was the low voice of a Demon God. “Increase the speed of progress and prepare to welcome the descent of the Godfiend from the outer realm.
“When the Evil Spirit Army descends, the Evil Spirit Sect will rule the world!”
The bodies of everyone present trembled as they said respectfully, “Yes, Sect Master!”
In Jixia Academy...
It had been some time since Shen Tian and Qi Zhan had returned.
The rumors in East Sea City had once been extremely prevalent, but because Shen Tian and Qi Zhan hadn’t come out to explain, the matter had been left unsettled.
Jixia Academy had recently become restless again because everyone was attracted by something else!
“Have you heard? The Kunlun Mountain Range is emitting a peerless immortal sound!”
“Many people comprehended the Dao on the spot and achieved a breakthrough in their cultivation, including many Sages!”
A group of prodigies was discussing what had happened recently. The message spread like wildfire across Middle Ground, and almost all of Jixia Academy’s prodigies were excited.
The sound of the grand Dao rumbled through the Kunlun Mountains. Those who heard it fell into a state of deep comprehension and started to comprehend the grand Dao of heaven and earth!
Even Sages had benefited greatly from it.
Cultivators with lower cultivation bases were sitting on the ground and comprehending the Dao. Their cultivation levels increased tremendously, and they even found their own Dao!
...
Countless people were sighing at the appearance of such an event.
Only the strongest knew that the sound of the grand Dao came from the Supreme Sky Tree in the Kunlun mountain range.
The Kunlun Mountain Range had always been incomparably mysterious. It was rumored that this place was the remains of an immortal realm.
During the ancient era, hundreds of the most powerful individuals had emerged from there.
There were even rumors that this was the stairway to the Celestial World!
The Kunlun Mountain Range was filled with all sorts of mysteries!
As for the Supreme Sky Tree, it was an ancient tree that reached the heavens within Mount Kunlun. It had been there since ancient times, and no one knew how long its history was.
Not only was it a towering ancient tree, but it also contained great fortuitous opportunities. It was considered a blessed land bestowed by the heavens.
The Supreme Sky Tree contained the truths of the grand Dao. When the wind blew past the branches and leaves of the tree, sounds of enlightenment would appear.
This was the purest sound of the Dao in the world. It could allow one to comprehend the grand Dao of the world and be close to the myriad of laws of the world.
However, the Supreme Sky Tree was hidden in the endless void and would only appear once every 8,000 years.
Many cultivators would not have the chance to chance upon it even if they waited their entire lives.
In the past, there had been powers that had wanted to take this ancient tree for themselves. However, they had all been killed forcefully in the end. Even quasi-Immortals had not been spared!
After that, no one had dared to snatch the Supreme Sky Tree anymore!
...
And this wasn’t even the greatest opportunity of the Supreme Sky Tree!
A Small World existed within the Supreme Sky Tree—the Supreme Sky Tree World!
Any cultivator under the age of 3,000 could attempt to enter.
It was said that one could sense the laws of the Celestial World in the Supreme Sky Tree World, which greatly increased the efficiency of one’s comprehension of the Dao. This effect could last for at most 100 years.
Those who possessed peerless talent could even comprehend peerless divine abilities and battle techniques of the Celestial World from the inside.
It was rumored that in the past, Huang Shi had once comprehended the Dao for 100 years under the Supreme Sky Tree, deducing everything he had learned to the extreme.
After leaving the Supreme Sky Tree World, Huang Shi had broken through seven levels of heavenly tribulation in a row, becoming the strongest powerhouse in the five regions. From then on, he had opened the path of legendary invincibility.
It was not just Huang Shi. Many of the old powerhouses from the various sacred lands of the five regions had also chanced upon the sound of Dao before.
Among them, those with exceptional aptitudes had mostly ascended.
In the Supreme Sky Tree World, the more talented one was, the longer the world one could enter seclusion to gain insights.
At most, one could stay inside for 100 years until the tree disappeared.
Those with poor talent might only be able to enter seclusion for a few days. Some might not even be able to get into it.
Logically speaking, it had only been 7,000 years since the last time the Supreme Sky Tree had descended. The next time it descended would be another 1,000 years later.
The arrival of the Supreme Sky Tree caused another round of heated discussion!
It wasn’t just the Middle Ground prodigies—the entire five regions were in an uproar. Countless experts under the age of 3,000 were rushing to Kunlun. After all, cultivating there for a day might be equivalent to cultivating in the outside world for hundreds of years!
On the 2nd Spirit Mountain...
Shen Tian was cultivating in seclusion when he received a message.
It was a message from Zhang Yunxi and the others. They recounted the events of the Supreme Sky Tree and the Supreme Sky Tree World.
Huang Shi was organizing the Jixia Academy students and was planning to arrange for people to enter the Supreme Sky Tree World to cultivate!
Shen Tian’s lips curled up with interest.
“The Supreme Sky Tree World? I want to see what’s so amazing about it!”
Shen Tian’s current combat strength far surpassed his peers, but that was far from enough. He lacked time to settle down.
Compared to those old monsters who had cultivated for thousands of years, Shen Tian’s foundation was still lacking, and the gap was huge.
The great calamity of the five regions was about to arrive, so Shen Tian had to improve himself as much as possible during this period to survive.
This was no joke!
Even Huang Shi was wary of this great calamity, and thus he personally organized his students to enter the Supreme Sky Tree World to cultivate.
It was to nurture a large number of experts faster to deal with this great calamity. It so happened that the Supreme Sky Tree World was a perfect place to do so!
Not only could it strengthen one’s Dao comprehension, but it also contained numerous opportunities and treasures.
There would definitely be a lot of people entering the Supreme Sky Tree World this time. There would definitely be a lot of Children of Providence!
Shen Tian wouldn’t give up on this great opportunity to harvest leeks!
He left the 2nd Spirit Mountain and flew toward Jixia Academy.
...
When Shen Tian entered the academy, he saw a sea of people. They were all experts with powerful auras.
These were the elites of the various sacred grounds, and they were all under 3,000 years old. There were even Grand Elder-level figures present that would normally be in seclusion all year round. They had all rushed over for this trip to the Supreme Sky Tree World!
“Junior Brother!”
Zhang Yunxi and the others were excited to see Shen Tian.
Shen Tian nodded and greeted them with a smile.
“Brother Shen!”
Apart from the four Divine Firmament prodigies, Wang Shenxu, Qi Shaoxuan, various Saints, and Saintesses from the various sacred grounds were all here.
“Boss!”
Qi Zhan also rushed over with the Demon Compound geniuses.
In an instant, Shen Tian was surrounded by people, and they were all the most talented geniuses.
The older generation experts could not help but look over.
After all, the East Sea City incident had made the Divine Firmament Saint famous.
Even those older generation powerhouses who were in seclusion all year round had heard of Shen Tian’s name after coming out.
At once, everyone’s attention was focused on him.
Some were surprised, some were curious, some were in awe, and some were even infatuated with him. Not only were these people attracted by Shen Tian’s deeds, but they were also attracted by his peerless appearance!
...
Countless people exclaimed in their hearts.
The Divine Firmament Saint was just too powerful. He had become the Human Compound’s prime disciple as a newly promoted student.
He had even killed an Evil Spirit Great Sage!
Not only that, but he had also managed to befriend so many paragons!
And he was so handsome!
What a godly person!