Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

This Yan Soul Guard stabbed the large tree before him again and again, muttering...

”Lu Chao, you little brat! You’re dead! I’ve sliced you into a thousand pieces!”

”Ha! Hahahaha...”

The Yan Soul Guard roared with laughter, ecstatic that he had slain Lu Chao. But the real Lu Chao was standing right behind him.

Seeing this, Lu Chao couldn’t help but murmur, ”He’s... already gone mad.”

The Yan Soul Guard was treating a large tree as Lu Chao and hacking at it wildly, laughing in excitement. ’If that’s not madness, what is?’

’Either mad or completely crazed. Their Heavenly Destiny Bone turns black and becomes riddled with holes. The old prince of the Great Wu Empire was just like this a hundred years ago,’ Lu Chao muttered to himself. Just then, the Yan Soul Guard walked away, still roaring with laughter.

He carried a tree trunk on his shoulder, walking step by step into the darkness. The strange things around him paid him no mind.

As the Yan Soul Guard walked, he continued to laugh maniacally...

”Lord Mo Jing, I’ve completed the mission!”

”I’m about to report back with Lu Chao’s corpse! You have to reward me handsomely! This is so thrilling! Lu Chao died by my hand! I have Lu Chao’s body right here!”

Amidst his crazed laughter, he patted the tree trunk on his shoulder and asked, ”Lu Chao, you little brat, did you ever imagine you would die by my hand?”

He was treating the freshly-hewn tree trunk as Lu Chao’s corpse.

Gradually...

The laughter grew more and more distant, and the crazed Yan Soul Guard vanished completely into the darkness, his destination unknown.

Lu Chao slowly withdrew his gaze.

’The direction he’s headed isn’t the way out of the Nether Spring Mountain Range. He’s just wandering aimlessly.’

’So, most who enter this Illusion Array can survive the attacks of these strange things, but they all go mad and just wander off in a random direction. The lucky ones manage to find their way out of the array, like the old prince of the Great Wu Empire.’

’They’re the ones who spread the legends of Nether Spring to the outside world.’

’But most go mad and can’t find their way, wandering aimlessly in the Illusion Array until they finally die here.’

Lu Chao analyzed the situation, combining the legends he knew and the records of the Azure Flame Sect with what he had just witnessed.

The strange creatures would dig out a person’s Heavenly Destiny Bone, absorb something from it until it was riddled with holes, and then return it. The victim would then go completely insane.

A few managed to escape in their madness, giving rise to the legends in the outside world, but most of them died here.

Even those who escaped, either mad or crazed, generally didn’t live for long...

’But with a Yan Soul Guard’s level of cultivation, how was he subdued and had his bone carved out by these strange things?’ Lu Chao muttered to himself. As he spoke, he swatted away the bizarre creatures swarming him.

While he was observing the Yan Soul Guard, all sorts of creatures had been constantly attacking him, but he had neutralized them with ease.

That was why Lu Chao found it so strange. How had the Yan Soul Guard fallen victim to them?

And just as he was puzzling over it... WHOOSH!

A strange crimson glow suddenly shot out. The light formed into a rope, instantly binding Lu Chao.

Lu Chao’s face instantly contorted in shock.

He was bound tight. A bizarre voice immediately echoed, ”Dig out your Heavenly Destiny Bone. Dig it out of you.”

In that instant, the horde of so-called ghosts and monsters swarmed forward, pouncing on Lu Chao.

Lu Chao’s whole body shuddered. ”So that’s how the crazed Yan Soul Guard was captured,” he said in a low voice. ”There’s another power in this Illusion Array that can restrain intruders... Break!”

Watching the so-called ghosts and monsters swarm him, Lu Chao erupted with True Qi, sending a shockwave through his body and into the crimson bonds.

CRACK! He shattered the crimson light with sheer force.

Freed from his restraints, Lu Chao immediately lashed out at the strange creatures pouncing on him, blasting them all away. He then flashed out of the encirclement, a look of bewilderment on his face.

”I shattered that crimson light so easily. Why?” Lu Chao said softly.

The words had barely left his mouth... WHOOSH!

More beams of crimson light flashed out, binding Lu Chao once again.

Lu Chao, of course, tried to shatter the crimson light again, but this time he couldn’t. The power within the light was overwhelming.

It was far beyond what someone at his cultivation level could hope to break.

Lu Chao’s expression changed again. ’I shattered the first crimson beam, so a stronger one appeared? And more than one?’

’If I can’t break these, I’m dead.’

However, before Lu Chao could react, the crimson bonds binding him yanked him violently, dragging him away.

All Lu Chao could feel was the world blurring into dark phantoms. He thought he saw all sorts of so-called ghosts and monsters as he was dragged away at a terrifying speed, completely unable to make out his surroundings.

’What’s happening now?’ Lu Chao was completely baffled. He had no idea what these crimson beams wanted.

He didn’t know how long or how far he was dragged.

Lu Chao knew he couldn’t break the crimson bonds. He could only grit his teeth and say in a low voice, ”No matter what, I absolutely cannot die. Xiao Su’er is still waiting for me. Whatever lies ahead, I must overcome it.”

He clenched his jaw, letting the crimson light drag him onward while he continued to absorb the remaining medicinal power of the Blue Dew Fruit in his body.

But he didn’t let his consciousness enter his Bone Inner World. He had to stay focused to deal with whatever came next.

He still didn’t know how much time had passed... THUD!

Lu Chao was slammed onto the ground. The crimson light vanished in an instant, no longer binding him.

He scrambled to his feet...

Still dazed but focused, Lu Chao looked around and quietly asked himself, ”Where... have I been brought?”

The words had barely left his lips when he saw it: a Demon Beast the size of a small mountain stood before him.

His eyes shot wide. ”What kind of Demon Beast is this?” he said in a low voice. ”What level is it?”

Lu Chao didn’t recognize the Demon Beast before him at all.

And like the Little Sword-Winged Ice Wolf from before, this Demon Beast was prostrate on the ground, trembling, showing no intention of attacking Lu Chao.

A tremor ran through Lu Chao. ’Whatever this Demon Beast is, it must be a terrifying existence Above the Creation Realm.’

’I’m afraid I’ve been dragged even deeper into the Nether Spring Mountain Range.’

The presence of such a Demon Beast could only mean he had arrived in the deepest parts of the Nether Spring Mountain Range.

After a moment of thought, Lu Chao mused internally, ’I shattered the first crimson beam, so I passed the first test? And now I’ve been brought deeper to be forced through a second one?’

It seemed to be the only explanation.

Suddenly... THUD THUD THUD!

Heavy footsteps began to sound from all directions, and Lu Chao quickly looked toward them.

His pupils contracted violently once more.

From the surrounding darkness emerged figures—or rather, walking corpses. They were all dressed differently: men and women, old and young.

”Give me your Heavenly Destiny Bone! I want to rise from the dead! I want to defy the heavens and change my destiny!”

”I refuse to accept this! I can’t die here!”

”Give me your Heavenly Destiny Bone! I’ll grant you glory, splendor, and countless treasures!”

The voices rose from the walking corpses. In the next instant... ROAR!

They let out terrifying, ghostly shrieks as each one of them erupted with True Qi and charged at Lu Chao.

At a glance, there were at least several hundred of them, and each one was far stronger than the so-called ghosts and monsters he had faced before.

’They’re all at the Peak and Creation Peak realms. Is this another test, or are they really trying to kill me?’