291: Chapter 285 Emerging from Seclusion

The bronze ancient palace was silent.

This magnificent structure, which had been floating in the Void Realm for sixty thousand years, was like a sleeping giant beast, quietly waiting for the moment of awakening in the long river of time.

In the center of the main hall, Chen Zhiwen sat cross-legged.

This sitting lasted for an entire year.

If one looked closely, they would find that his body was already covered in a thick layer of dust.

However, beneath this dust, golden streams of light faintly wandered across the surface of his skin, like living golden snakes, outlining mysterious and unfathomable Dao diagrams.

That was the manifestation of the "Indestructible Golden Body Art" running to its extreme.

Suddenly.

Thump!

A dull heartbeat sounded in the silent hall.

At first, the sound was very light, like drumbeats from afar.

Immediately after.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The heartbeat grew louder and more rapid, eventually sounding like the thunderous beating of war drums, causing the entire hall to tremble slightly.

With every beat, the Spiritual Qi, which was so dense it had formed a mist, would create a vortex and flow madly into Chen Zhiwen's body.

Boom!

A terrifying aura finally erupted from Chen Zhiwen's seemingly thin body.

This aura was not only vast but also carried a domineering quality of being extremely rigid, extremely yang, and impervious to all techniques.

The dust that had originally covered his body was instantly shaken into nothingness by this wave of energy.

Chen Zhiwen suddenly opened his eyes.

Swish!

Two tangible golden lights shot out from his eyes, directly piercing the Void Realm several feet in front of him, leaving two golden marks that lingered for a long time.

"Mid Nascent Soul Stage, it is done."

Chen Zhiwen slowly stood up and stretched his slightly stiff joints.

Crackle, pop.

His entire body's bones let out a series of crisp, bean-popping sounds, each accompanied by a thunderous tremor.

He looked down at his hands and saw that his originally fair skin was now crystalline and translucent, resembling top-quality mutton-fat jade.

But the moment he clenched his fist with a little force.

A layer of golden radiance instantly emerged, and fine, golden, scale-like patterns faintly appeared on the surface of his skin.

This was the mark of the initial success of the "Indestructible Golden Body Art" — Golden Skin and Jade Bones!

"Is this the first step to becoming a saint through the Physical Body..."

Chen Zhiwen casually threw a punch toward the Void Realm.

There was no fluctuation of Spiritual Qi; it was pure power of the Physical Body.

Bang!

The space in front was actually struck into a visible depression, and the air was instantly compressed to the extreme, emitting a harsh sonic boom.

If this punch were to hit an ordinary early Nascent Soul stage cultivator, it would likely blast them directly into a pulp of flesh!

"Now, if I were to face that old devil Daoist Tian Xuan again, I wouldn't even need to use the Sword Dao."

"With just this Physical Body, I could beat him to death within three punches!"

A glimmer of confidence flashed in Chen Zhiwen's eyes.

The year of arduous cultivation had brought not just a Breakthrough in cultivation level, but an all-around transformation.

Although he was now only at the Mid Nascent Soul Stage, whether it was the thickness of his Spiritual Qi or the strength of his Physical Body, he was already enough to crush those of the same rank, and could even challenge a great Cultivator at the Late Nascent Soul Stage!

"It is time to go."

Chen Zhiwen took a deep breath, calming his excited mood.

He had not forgotten the entrustment of Great Master Juexin.

This Longevity Hall was now an ownerless object.

Chen Zhiwen moved his Divine Thought, and his vast Divine Sense instantly covered the entire palace.

"Receive!"

With a low shout.

The magnificent palace, standing a thousand feet tall, began to shake violently, then rapidly shrank.

In the blink of an eye, the towering sacred mountain disappeared.

Replacing it was an exquisite, small bronze palace model, quietly floating in Chen Zhiwen's palm.

He turned his hand and stored the Longevity Hall into his Dantian; with the Chaos Qi there to nourish it, it was the best place for it.

After finishing all this, Chen Zhiwen looked up at the exit above.

That was the passage to the outside world, and also the road to that precarious reality.

"It has been a year, I wonder how the Ancient Spirit Clan is doing now."

Thinking of the stubborn Gu Feng, and the Clan Chief Gu Shan who gave his all for the clan, a trace of concern could not help but rise in Chen Zhiwen's heart.

Whoosh!

A golden light tore through the darkness, and Chen Zhiwen's figure soared into the sky, instantly disappearing into the passage.

...

Returning to the Netherworld Forbidden Zone again, that oppressive feeling still existed.

The surroundings were filled with grey miasma, with visibility less than ten feet.

There was also the terrifyingly fearsome extinguishing gale, which blew from the shadows from time to time, enough to corrode a Cultivator's Divine Soul.

If it were before, Chen Zhiwen would have to be very careful, erecting a shield before he could move forward.

But now...

Whoosh—

A gust of gale blew past, rolling directly toward Chen Zhiwen's face.

Chen Zhiwen didn't even blink, letting the gale blow against his face.

Sizzle, sizzle.

The gale, which was enough to dissolve metal and stone, made a sound like water droplets falling onto a red-hot iron plate the moment it touched his skin.

Immediately after, the gale dissipated on its own.

And on Chen Zhiwen's skin, not even a white mark was left.

"This Indestructible Golden Body is truly domineering."

Chen Zhiwen's mouth curled up slightly.

In this forbidden zone that made people turn pale at the mere mention of its name, he was currently walking as leisurely as if he were in his own back garden.

Even the high-level Yao Beasts that had originally eyed him covetously, after sensing the terrifying aura radiating from him, were all scared into retreating back to their caves, trembling in fear.

The path was unobstructed.

It only took half a day for Chen Zhiwen to pass through the outer area that had once brought him to the brink of death.

Just at the moment he was about to step out of the forbidden zone.

Rumble!

A violent fluctuation of Spiritual Qi, accompanied by heaven-shaking shouts of killing, came from far away.

Chen Zhiwen frowned slightly; that direction... was exactly the settlement of the Ancient Spirit Clan!

"It seems I have returned at just the right time."

His eyes instantly turned cold, and a biting killing intent surged in his chest.

The next moment.

Boom!

The ground beneath his feet exploded.

Chen Zhiwen turned into a golden meteor, tearing through the sky and rushing toward the direction of the Ancient Spirit Clan at an astonishing speed.

...

At this very moment, the Ancient Spirit Clan's settlement was already a scene of purgatory.

The clan-protecting formation had long been shattered, and there were broken walls and ruins everywhere.

Flames soared into the sky, and thick smoke rolled.

The originally quiet and peaceful valley was now filled with desperate roars and painful wails.

In the sky, dozens of figures exuding powerful auras stood in the air, watching the slaughter below indifferently, as if watching a play.

That was the coalition army from the four surrounding alien races.

The Black Scorpion Clan, the Blood Wolf Tribe, the Ghost Vine Forest, and the most powerful Golden Eagle Clan.

The four major races had joined forces; this time, they were determined to completely wipe out the Ancient Spirit Clan!

"Gu Shan, do you still intend to put up a desperate struggle?"

In the sky, a middle-aged man wearing golden feather robes spoke with a cold laugh.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes as sharp as an eagle's, and his entire body exuded the terrifying pressure of the Late Nascent Soul Stage.

It was none other than the Clan Chief of the Golden Eagle Clan, Jin Zhanpeng.

Beside him, the Clan Chief of the Black Scorpion Clan, Tie Muzhen, the Wolf King of the Blood Wolf Tribe, and the old hag of the Ghost Vine Forest, all had cultivation levels of the Mid Nascent Soul Stage.

With four Nascent Soul experts holding the line, such a lineup was enough to sweep across all forces within a radius of ten thousand miles.

Below.

In front of the Ancient Spirit Clan's main hall, the last batch of clansmen were making their final resistance like trapped beasts.

Gu Shan was covered in blood, his aura withered to the extreme.

His chest had collapsed by a large chunk, clearly having suffered extremely heavy internal injuries.

But he still leaned on a broken crutch, blocking the entrance of the main hall firmly.

Behind him were hundreds of elderly, weak, women, and children, as well as Gu Feng, who had already lost an arm but was still gritting his teeth and holding his sword.

"Jin Zhanpeng!"

Gu Shan coughed up a mouthful of blood containing fragments of internal organs, his voice hoarse and filled with grief and indignation:

"You are acting so ruthlessly; are you not afraid of divine retribution?!"

"My Ancient Spirit Clan has no grievances with you; why must you go to such lengths!"

"Divine retribution?"

Jin Zhanpeng seemed to have heard a joke and laughed up at the sky.

"In this cultivation world, the weak are prey to the strong; that is the greatest natural law!"

"If you want to blame someone, blame your Ancient Spirit Clan for occupying such a good geomantic treasure land without having enough strength to protect it!"

"And even more so, blame..."

Jin Zhanpeng's eyes turned cold, and his tone carried a trace of mockery.

"Blame that so-called Elder Chen of yours for being too good at causing trouble, and also for being too short-lived!"

"A year ago, he killed Daoist Tian Xuan; that was indeed impressive."

"But what about now? He died in that forbidden zone and didn't even leave a whole corpse behind!"

"Without that scourge, your Ancient Spirit Clan is just a piece of fat on the chopping block; who wouldn't want to come and take a bite?"

These words were like salt sprinkled on the wounds of the Ancient Spirit Clan members.

Despair.

Utter despair.

Gu Shan gave a miserable laugh, and two lines of bloody tears flowed from his cloudy old eyes.

"Elder Chen..."

"It is I, Gu Shan, who is incompetent, unable to protect my clansmen!"

He suddenly raised his head, a flash of crazy determination in his eyes.

"Since that is the case, then let us all die together!"

Boom!

The Nascent Soul inside Gu Shan's body, which had originally dried up, suddenly began to burn violently.

A violent and destructive aura instantly erupted.

He was going to self-detonate his Nascent Soul!

To take a few down with him and win the last chance of escape for the seeds of the clan!

"Want to self-detonate? Dream on!"

The old hag from the Ghost Vine Forest on the side gave a sinister laugh.

Seeing her point her finger, countless pitch-black vines instantly burst out of the ground, like countless venomous snakes, instantly wrapping around Gu Shan's limbs and body.

Those vines carried highly toxic thorns, which pierced deeply into Gu Shan's flesh, madly devouring his Spiritual Qi.

"Ah—"