Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

The Ancient Illusion Array was left behind thousands of years ago by a powerful expert with a Life-taking Bone. Every autumn, its range expands, causing all expeditions into the Green Bone Palace to fail.

Even those possessing a Life-taking Bone died upon entry. The few with a normal Heavenly Destiny Bone who managed to escape were driven insane.

This was the extent of what Lu Chao currently knew...

Taking a deep breath, Lu Chao thought, ’I’ll take it one step at a time. First, let’s see what these so-called demons and monsters are all about.’

Of course, he now knew that the legendary demons and monsters were merely illusions generated by the array.

Suddenly... WHOOSH!

The strange wind suddenly became piercingly sharp. After several gusts, the once pitch-black world abruptly lit up. Lu Chao’s pupils constricted—he was seeing clusters of eerie, green fire.

They brought a new source of light to the suddenly darkened world.

The green flames seemed to flare into existence one after another with a series of soft POPS, making the hairs on Lu Chao’s body stand on end.

At the same time, a voice suddenly cried out in the distance, ”What is... what is this fire? Could it be... could it be...”

It was a shriek born of pure terror. The voice belonged to one of the Yan Soul Guards hidden nearby. They were so frightened they no longer cared about being discovered by Lu Chao, and had begun to scream their lungs out.

Lu Chao remained silent, his eyes fixed on the growing number of eerie green flames.

Then, a sound—CRACKLE, CLACK!

The bizarre sound echoed again, like the clattering of bones. Lu Chao quickly turned toward the nearest source of the noise.

He soon realized it didn’t just *sound* like colliding bones—it *was* the sound of bones.

Around the nearest green flame, pieces of bone had begun to emerge from out of nowhere, assembling themselves.

Finally, a skeletal figure took form.

The same was happening all around. Each green flame attracted bones, assembling them into skeletons, with the fire itself acting as a heart that pulsed with energy.

Lu Chao’s gaze was fixed, but his expression remained unchanged. Having died once before, he felt no fear toward such things.

’It’s the Illusion Array. I’m completely trapped inside it.’

Lu Chao’s voice was low, but True Qi began to radiate from his body, preparing him for whatever might come.

Suddenly...

A hand shot out from the earth beneath his feet, gripping his ankle tightly.

His pupils instantly contracted. With a reflexive BOOM, Lu Chao stomped down, shattering the hand that had appeared out of nowhere...

AWOOO!

A bloodcurdling, ghostly wail erupted from beneath his feet.

Then, with another great ROAR, the ground churned, and a terrifying monster rose from the earth.

In Lu Chao’s eyes, it was a humanoid creature whose entire body seemed to be made of mud.

”My hand... Give me back my hand...”

The hoarse, terrifying voice rasped from its mouth.

As it spoke, the humanoid monster extended its muddy arm, but its hand was missing—crushed to pieces by Lu Chao’s stomp just moments before.

Suddenly, its entire body disintegrated, spraying toward Lu Chao like a torrent of murderous mud.

Lu Chao didn’t hesitate. BOOM!

He struck the mud-like substance with a heavy palm strike. The mud instantly shattered into fragments, but just as quickly, it flowed back to re-form the humanoid monster.

”It hurts! You hurt me so much!”

”I will devour you! I want your blood! I want your flesh! I want your Heavenly Destiny Bone!”

As soon as it finished speaking, the humanoid monster charged again.

Lu Chao watched it, realizing it wasn’t particularly strong—only equivalent to the Transformation Realm.

He casually shattered it with another palm strike. But just then, voices rose up all around him, chanting, ”The Heavenly Destiny Bone... Give us the Heavenly Destiny Bone.”

The voices echoed through the darkness, seeming to emanate from the densely packed skeletons surrounding him.

The next moment... THUD. THUD. THUD.

The sound of heavy, rhythmic footsteps arose from all directions.

Hordes of skeletons began marching toward Lu Chao. Simultaneously, more and more humanoid mud monsters clawed their way out of the ground.

They all advanced on Lu Chao.

Other strange apparitions began to float into the air, and the area around him transformed into a terrifying ghostly domain.

Yet Lu Chao stood his ground. He gazed coolly at his surroundings and said softly, ”So these are the legendary demons and monsters. It’s just an Illusion Array. Nothing but tricks to scare people.”

His will remained as firm as steel. He faced the terrifying scene with complete composure.

But then... ”Aaaargh!”

A bloodcurdling scream suddenly erupted from the direction of the Yan Soul Guards. A strained voice cried out, ”My Heavenly Destiny Bone! They took my Heavenly Destiny Bone! Aaaaargh!”

Those words made Lu Chao freeze in disbelief.

At the same time, the voice of the Creation Realm Yan Soul Guard boomed out, ”Run! Run, now! Get out of this damned place!”

”Run! The legends say some people have escaped this place before, so we can too!” a second Yan Soul Guard shouted, his voice trembling with fear even as he tried to rally the others.

The one who had screamed before now began to plead, ”Don’t leave me behind! Take me with you!”

But the voices of the other Yan Soul Guards were already growing distant. The screams continued, mingled with desperate pleas.

Clearly, the other Yan Soul Guards had no intention of taking him along.

They had all fled. In the distance, Lu Chao could see them fighting their way through the monsters.

Lu Chao withdrew his gaze, his expression hardening once more. ”The Azure Flame Treasure Manual states that it’s difficult to distinguish what is real and what is fake within this Illusion Array.”

”But no matter how real they seem, they are merely constructs of the Illusion Array’s power.”

”It’s simply a power that I don’t yet understand. Just as the Fire Phoenix Divine Emperor allowed me to be reborn from flames—a terrifying power that many people, not even Mo Jing, could comprehend or believe...”

As he spoke, Lu Chao saw the various strange creatures closing in around him...

With a single flash of movement, he broke through the encirclement of bizarre creatures. None of them possessed power beyond the Transformation Realm, and Lu Chao dispatched them with ease.

He moved swiftly in the direction of the screams, wanting to see what had become of that Yan Soul Guard.

’With that Yan Soul Guard’s strength, his Heavenly Destiny Bone shouldn’t have been so easily taken.’

Soon, Lu Chao drew near the guard and witnessed a horrifying scene. Countless strange creatures had surrounded the Yan Soul Guard, and his Heavenly Destiny Bone was floating in the air above them.

The bizarre creatures were siphoning the power from the guard’s Heavenly Destiny Bone.

Before long, the Heavenly Destiny Bone was riddled with holes and had turned a morbid, pitch-black color.

Suddenly... WHOOSH!

The Heavenly Destiny Bone flew back into the Yan Soul Guard’s body. The surrounding creatures slowly dispersed, paying him no further attention.

The Yan Soul Guard wasn’t dead. He slowly climbed back to his feet.

”I’m alive... I’m actually still alive... Lu Chao, I’m going to kill you!”

Hearing this, Lu Chao prepared for a fight.

But the next scene was beyond Lu Chao’s belief. The Yan Soul Guard, who had been so lucky to survive, suddenly turned toward a large tree and began screaming, ”Kill! Kill! Kill!”