141: Chapter 141 Returning to the Capital!

The wind seemed to have stilled at this moment.

Between heaven and earth, there was a vast and desolate silence, with only the lingering wisps of killing intent in the shattered Void Realm silently recounting the earth-shattering battle that had just taken place.

Chen Zhiwen's state of mind was like a lake into which a giant boulder had been thrown, stirring up ten thousand zhang of waves, yet it slowly returned to a profound stillness under the Old Ancestor's words.

For the first time, he examined the land beneath his feet, this world known as Huangzhou, from a completely new perspective.

The Human Race was not the only one.

The Imperial Dynasty was not the end.

Beneath these seemingly peaceful years, undercurrents were surging, hiding crises capable of overturning everything.

The North Sea Demon Clan, the Qinghua Mountain Remnant Clan... these names pressed upon his heart like heavy mountains.

"Pfft..." A very soft, stifled grunt interrupted Chen Zhiwen's thoughts.

He turned his head abruptly, his pupils suddenly constricting.

He saw Chen Heng beside him; that spine, which had been held straight under immense heroic spirit, was now slightly hunched.

His complexion turned paper-white in an instant, and a strand of striking crimson slowly overflowed from the corner of his mouth, dripping onto his pale blue robes like a desolate, beautiful plum blossom.

That immense heroic spirit receded like a tide, revealing a weakness like a candle in the wind.

An indescribable sorrow, like the cold wind of late autumn, instantly swept through Chen Zhiwen's entire mind.

It was not that he hadn't noticed.

The last time he met the Old Ancestor deep in the imperial palace, he had already seen that the Old Ancestor's flame of life had become dim under the erosion of time.

That was the twilight of someone reaching the end of their life, which could not be made up for by any Medicinal Pill or spiritual item.

And just now, the Old Ancestor, by his own strength, activated the Four Symbols Great Array to hard-clash with three Great Grandmasters of the same rank; it seemed filled with heroic spirit, but in reality, he was burning his remaining Lifespan.

This battle seemed to be a complete victory for the Great Xuan Dynasty, but the price paid was that the pillar supporting the Great Xuan Dynasty was about to collapse.

Chen Zhiwen reached out his hand, wanting to support him, but found his fingertips trembling slightly.

He opened his mouth, his throat feeling as if it were blocked by a branding iron; a thousand words eventually condensed into only two dry, hoarse words.

"Old Ancestor..."

"Hehe, it is no matter." Chen Heng waved his hand, smiling to stop him.

He used his sleeve to casually wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, his turbid yet still deep eyes looking at Chen Zhiwen, filled with an unprecedented brightness.

In that brightness, there was gratification, relief, and even more, a deep attachment and reluctance to part with this world and the future of the Human Race.

"To be able to see my Chen family produce a Qilin like you, and to see the future of my Great Xuan Dynasty have real hope, old man... even if I close my eyes now, I am satisfied."

He laughed frankly and freely, "A person lives for a lifetime, just as grass and trees live for an autumn; there is always an end.

Old man has lived long enough, seen too much, and carried too much.

Now, this burden should be handed over to you."

"This battle can be considered a flag-raising ceremony for your rise.

I estimate that in the remaining time, I can still... watch the gate for you for another year or so.

It is enough, it is enough."

Chen Heng's voice was very soft, but it was like a heavy hammer, striking Chen Zhiwen's heart fiercely.

Less than a year...

Chen Zhiwen silently withdrew his hand, his fingernails digging deep into his palms.

He didn't say anything else, but deep within those cold and ruthless eyes, there was an extra flicker of flame that no outsider could perceive.

He nodded, his voice low and firm: "Old Ancestor, rest assured.

As long as Zhiwen is here, the Great Xuan Dynasty... will be here."

"Good, good, good!" Chen Heng said 'good' three times in a row, the light in his eyes becoming even more brilliant.

He did not say anything more, but turned around, looking in the direction of the Great Xuan Capital City.

His aged figure was stretched very, very long under the afterglow of the setting sun, carrying an indescribable desolation and loneliness.

The group did not linger here any longer, turning into several streaks of light and speeding towards the direction of the Great Xuan Dynasty.

...

Just as Chen Zhiwen and his group were on their way back, an unprecedented storm was sweeping across the entire Huangzhou at a speed beyond imagination.

The news, whether it spread from the mouth of the Great Grandmaster who fled with a severed arm, or leaked from the two, Chu Chaosheng and the other who were fleeing for their lives, or perhaps there was a third party hidden in the shadows who witnessed the entire process of that world-shocking battle.

In any case, this news was like a star thrown into a calm lake, stirring up monstrous waves!

"Extra! Extra!

The Fifth Prince of the Great Xuan Dynasty, Chen Zhiwen, outside the Qinghua Mountain range, fought alone against three Old Ancestor-level Great Grandmasters from the Xuan Yin Valley, the Tianluo Sect, and the Wan Fa Sect with his own strength!"

"What? Chen Zhiwen? That Prodigy who was rumored to have just entered the Grandmaster Realm?"

"Grandmaster Realm? Wrong! Dead wrong!

According to reliable sources, Chen Zhiwen has long since entered the Great Grandmaster Realm!

His cultivation is unfathomable!"

"Fought three Great Grandmasters? What was the result?"

"The result... two dead, one severely injured!

The old woman from Xuan Yin Valley and the Old Ancestor of the Wan Fa Sect were beheaded on the spot!

The Ancestor of the Tianluo Sect fled with a severed arm, his life or death unknown!"

"Hiss—!"

Similar conversations were crazily playing out in every corner of the Huangzhou land, in every city, and in the teahouses and taverns of every Sect.

At first, no one believed it.

This was too unbelievable, too shocking!

Who is Chen Zhiwen?

A young man only twenty-something years old!

What is a Great Grandmaster?

That is an existence standing at the pinnacle of hundreds of millions of Cultivators, like a god!

Each one is favored by the Luck of an era, the Foundation and basis of major Imperial Dynasties and Sects.

A twenty-something-year-old Great Grandmaster?

This has already broken all records in the history of Huangzhou, worthy of being called a myth!

Moreover, it was one against three, killing two and injuring one?

This is simply a fantasy!

However, when more and more details were disclosed, and when the news that the Old Ancestors of the Great Chu Dynasty and the Great Yan Dynasty, Chu Chaosheng and Fang Tao, had fled back to their respective Imperial Dynasties in a sorry state and were refusing to see anyone was confirmed, the entire Huangzhou fell completely silent.

That was not a rumor, but a fact!

A fact even more bizarre than a myth, and more terrifying than a legend!

The entire Huangzhou was completely boiling!

Countless Cultivators, at the moment they heard this news, had their minds go blank, with only endless shock and awe in their hearts.

They repeatedly muttered the name "Chen Zhiwen", as if the name itself contained some kind of incredible magic.