Chapter 1: When the father suffers humiliation, the son must avenge him

  "Devilish power!" Xiao Chen's expression changed, this Wu Wanli was clearly using a demon cultivator's demonic transformation, which was why his strength had surged so rapidly in such a short time.

  At this moment, Swallowing Heaven One Finger came howling!

  The moon, transformed into a demon, had lost most of its divine wisdom, but the instinctual crisis made it let out a low growl, and suddenly a black mist burst forth from its body, enveloping it tightly inside, like a thick barrier.

  Silent and soundless, it swallowed the sky with one finger, landing on the black fog in an instant. In the demon's frightened eyes, the black fog trembled violently, only to be devoured by the finger. After devouring the black fog, the originally crystal-clear finger suddenly turned pitch-black, emitting a vast and majestic demonic aura, its power even more overwhelming.

  Boom!

  A loud noise had just passed, and a large amount of debris dust suddenly rose inside the Yuandao, blocking Xiao Chen's line of sight. However, with a sweep of his divine sense, he had already seen through the situation in the field. Originally smooth and flat, the Yuandao now had a deep pit about half a meter in size and one square meter in diameter. Wu Wanli was no longer in a demonic state, his body covered in wounds, and he had long since fainted from blood loss. However, it was precisely because of his last resort to use demonic transformation that he was able to survive under the Devouring Heaven Finger.

  When the dust settled, Xiao Chen walked slowly to the front of the cave, waved his hand and caught it in his palm, closed his eyes and forcibly entered the other's mind with the Soul Searching Technique. Half a breath later, Xiao Chen slowly opened his eyes, where a strange color flashed through.

  But Wu Wanli had just been on his last breath and was subjected to Xiao Chen's forced soul search, and he had already thoroughly died.

  He took down the storage bag from his waist, casually threw the body into the cave, Xiao Chen sank into thought for a moment, and then a few cold smiles appeared on his face as he stepped forward.

  From a distance, a deep and muffled groan echoed. A moment later, an enchanting and charming laughter sounded: "This time, it's actually a fun little guy who killed my one-life magic slave, so use your little life to repay me, hehehe..." The laughter was warm and moving, yet carried endless cold-blooded killing intent.

  In the garden, Chu Kuang's face suddenly turned dark and gloomy. Just a moment ago, he had lost all sense of Wu Wanli's presence, and there was only one explanation for this: he had been killed by someone.

  "How is it possible that even if those two puppets killed Liúyún, with Wú Wànlǐ's strength, he should have been able to retreat safely without a scratch? How could he possibly fall?" Chǔ Kuáng felt a few strands of bad premonition in his heart, his eyes gloomy, and an icy killing intent emanating from his body.

  "What's going on, Young Master Chu?" The Di brothers exchanged a glance, both seeing the flicker in each other's eyes.

  Chu Kuang smiled coldly in his heart and immediately returned with an expressionless face: "Nothing's wrong, let's speed up and continue to break the seal."

  "A magnificent, ferocious and strange creature, over twenty feet in length, more than twice the size of a mature Millipede Beast as recorded. It must have undergone some sort of mutation." At this moment, the beast that Xiao Chen and others had seen before, with its belly full of sharp, hook-like claws, was emitting low, muffled roars, its massive body coiled together like a snake.

  At this moment, three people were standing around it, one of whom was a bony old man with green eyes gleaming like a zombie, who was now staring at the thousand-legged monster with a fiery face as if he was looking at his beloved.

  A middle-aged man with a ruddy complexion and slightly plump build, similar to that of a common merchant, had a face full of kind smiles, but his eyes were icy cold without any warmth.

  The last one was an old woman with white hair and a gloomy face, as if the whole world owed her a lot.

  And from the powerful aura emanating from their bodies, it turned out that all three of them were Golden Core cultivators!

  "We haven't even entered the depths of the mountains, yet such a strange beast appears. And all along the way, various monsters keep popping up. Is there some kind of secret hidden within?" The slightly chubby middle-aged man's eyebrows were slightly furrowed, but his face still wore a warm smile as he spoke slowly.

  "Wait a minute, the three of us will go and investigate later. For now, help me get rid of this thousand feet first. I thought we had to go deep into the interior of the Ten Thousand Wilderness Mountains to gain something, but it seems we're lucky this time." The thin, corpse-like old man licked his mouth corner, a green light flashing in his eyes, and a cold aura emanating from his body.

  The old woman slightly frowned, her face showing a few points of impatience. "Ling Shi, put away the stench on your body and quickly take care of this evil beast."

  This lean old man was actually a corpse that had been refined through spiritual practice, and upon hearing this, he didn't get angry. Instead, his body burst forth with a wave of pure corpse energy, which enveloped the thousand-legged creature from above.

  The howling shook the sky, and the corpse energy was rampant. In a short period of time, this mountain forest seemed to have turned into a gloomy ghostly lair.

  A moment later, the corpse-like person with a joyful expression placed his hand on the head of the thousand-legged demon beast. A burst of dark light flashed on his hand, and the massive body of the thousand-legged demon beast rapidly withered away before one's very eyes. Drop by drop, the emerald-green essence was absorbed into a jade bottle in his hand.

  Bang!

  The thousand-legged demon's physical body turned into flying ash, and the corpse above looked at the bottle full of essence blood in its hand, couldn't help but let out a few gloating laughs, the sound was extremely piercing.

  "Let's go, I always feel that this place is a bit strange, go ahead and scout it out, maybe we can get some extra gains."

  Three people emitted a flash of light from their bodies and slowly flew forward.

  Xiao Chen walked out of the corridor, and in front of him was a small single-plank bridge. The bridge was three zhangs, three chi, and three cun long, with an entirely black color, its material seemingly wood but not for trade. Underneath the bridge, the river water flowed slowly, hitting the fragmented rocks at the bottom of the river, producing swirling whirlpools.

  "It's just as the Moonlit Memories recorded, people who come out from the corridor will immediately enter a secret realm. Everything in front of us is an illusion created by the seal. To break through to the next level, we need to break open the seal in front of us." Xiao Chen furrowed his brow, revealing a hint of hesitation on his face.

  His main purpose for this trip was to find a way to build a foundation, but now he has gained nothing, so even though he knows the road ahead is fraught with danger, Xiao Chen absolutely cannot give up halfway.

  His gaze swept across the small bridge and flowing water in front of him, and Xiao Chen couldn't help but let out a sigh in his heart. The ancient cultivator's sealing technique was indeed extraordinary, with not even half a flaw visible at first glance. If he hadn't known beforehand, he might have been deceived as well.

  He closed his eyes, and his consciousness slowly spread out, carefully sweeping through the entire space. Half a moment later, Xiao Chen suddenly opened his eyes, took four steps forward, left, right, and front in a row. Everything was safe and sound, the small bridge was still black, and the flowing water was still clear.

  His tense body slowly relaxed, and a layer of fine sweat had already appeared on Xiao Chen's forehead.

  "It seems I've made a correct bet, this is indeed the starting point of the seal. A hint of a smile appeared on Xiao Chen's mouth, although the seal's power was enough to annihilate everything, but with his spiritual strength comparable to that of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could only see a glimpse of it and not completely through. Xiao Chen's consecutive four steps forward were entirely a gamble with his life, if he misjudged and triggered the seal, he would likely be reduced to nothing in an instant."

  Xiao Chen raised his head, and his face gradually became serious. Although he had gambled correctly at the beginning, there were still nine steps to go before reaching the bridgehead, and these nine steps were fraught with danger in his eyes, and any slight mistake would put his life in jeopardy.

  Left foot raised, one step forward.

  In an instant, the scene changed, and what appeared before him was a deep abyss of fire, with flames raging and heat waves steaming the sky. Layer upon layer of fiery waves surged forward, about to engulf him completely in the next moment.

  A terrifying heat wave came head-on, and Xiao Chen's external spiritual shield shattered instantly. The scorching temperature made his sweat penetrate his clothes in an instant. However, a resolute glint flashed across Xiao Chen's eyes, and instead of retreating, he took two steps forward, directly stepping into the fiery abyss.

  In the blink of an eye, everything suddenly disappeared, and the raging flames seemed to have never appeared before. Xiao Chen raised his head to look around, only to find himself standing in a vast expanse of ice and snow that stretched out endlessly. A chill ran down his spine as a cold sensation suddenly rose from the depths of his heart, causing the sweat on his body to freeze instantly, even affecting the circulation of spiritual energy within him.

  Boom!

  It was as if the heavens and earth let out a loud roar, the entire snowy region began to violently tremble, Xiao Chen's eyes shone with an unusual light, gazing at the massive snow avalanche wave rushing towards him, gritting his teeth he took another step forward.

  His body was like walking into a pool of water, stirring up countless ripples. Between the trembling waves, the icy snow-covered sky slowly dissipated, and what appeared in front of Xiao Chen was a grayish space, a figure of a man wearing black clothes and holding a black sword, although illusory, but the sharp sword intent that made people feel terrified seemed to be crazily rushing forward as if it would break through the sky, making the hairs on Xiao Chen's back stand up instantly.

  Wow!

  Black-clad and black-sworded, the man suddenly raised his head. Two sword lights flashed by, and these eyes were pitch-black without a hint of impurity, as if they could absorb all things in the world.

  Raise hand, hold sword, slash down.

  The image moved extremely slowly, but in Xiao Chen's heart, an endless chill suddenly emerged, and a life-and-death crisis completely enveloped him.

  This image is false, but the sword's intention is true!

  Xiao Chen's pupils contracted violently, his feet steady and quick to take a step to the left, then retreated one step, again to the left, again to the left, finally taking three sudden steps forward, sidestepping.

  That sword intent almost touched Xiao Chen's nose tip and fell in front of him. The black-clothed man's image released a sword intent, his shadow quickly becoming illusory, and for some reason, Xiao Chen seemed to see a hint of relief in his eyes. Could it be that even the formation of an array would have its own consciousness?

  Xiao Chen's mind flashed with a hint of doubt, and the grayish space in front of him shattered into countless fragments like a broken mirror. What appeared before him was indeed that small bridge over flowing water. Everything seemed to have remained unchanged, except that he had taken several steps forward, now only two paces away from the bridgehead.

  Xiao Chen slowly raised his head, his eyes fixed intently on the spot where the sword intent had swept past in the illusion below, his pupils contracting violently.

  The black bridge body suddenly began to shake violently, the water under the bridge kept rolling up, but it was eerie that not a single sound was emitted, as if all of this was just an object in a painting, visible but not audible.

  Xiao Chen's mouth corners rose slightly, it seemed this illusion would soon be broken.

  As expected, the black bridge and flowing water became more and more illusory, eventually disappearing completely. Xiao Chen felt a dizzy spell, and then his feet landed firmly on the ground.