401: Chapter 401 The Withered Vein Immortal Arrives in Person! The Test and Fear of a Tribulation Transcending Stage Powerful Being

The Teleportation Array continued to operate.

Tu Lie was the third to arrive. Upon landing, he first glanced at Su Changge, and after confirming it was safe, he gestured to his subordinates who were being teleported over one after another.

Halberd Demon Elder arrived in the fourth batch.

The White-Robed Old Woman arrived in the fifth batch.

Liu Can was the last.

The moment he stepped out of the Teleportation Array, his gaze bypassed everyone and landed directly on the flowing formation patterns on the ground.

He stared for three breaths of time.

His pupils contracted.

"The... original body of the Nine-Lock Dragon Suppressing Array." His voice squeezed out of his throat.

Su Changge was standing in the north-central position of the space and did not hear Liu Can's murmur. He was looking in another direction.

On the north side of this massive underground space, there was a giant crack.

The crack plunged vertically downward, bottomless. Looking in from the edge of the crack, one could see layer upon layer of overlapping formation patterns sealing it. After reaching a certain depth, nothing could be seen but darkness.

That crack was where the Seal was located.

Su Changge walked to the edge of the crack and looked down.

Information from the Great Dao Scripture Pavilion surged up.

The core Seal of the Nine-Lock Dragon Suppressing Array is five hundred zhang below the crack. The Seal's body is a nine-layered nested interlocking structure, with each layer of buckle corresponding to a chain. The chains are condensed from dragon vein spiritual power, and what they suppress is—

The information cut off here.

It wasn't that the Scripture Pavilion didn't have it.

It was that information regarding the sealed object required a closer observation to be matched.

Su Changge looked up and organized the current situation in his mind.

The four factions had all arrived, the Seal was beneath their feet, Liu Can's Withered Vein Old Pill offering needed to be performed at the Seal, and Tu Lie and the others also had their own goals—

He needed to figure out exactly what everyone wanted to get from this Seal.

But he wouldn't ask directly.

A Master doesn't ask.

A Master waits for others to speak.

He turned around and looked at Tu Lie.

Tu Lie stepped forward a few paces, stood at the edge of the crack, glanced down, and then withdrew his gaze with a solemn expression.

"Mr. Su, the Seal is right below."

Su Changge didn't respond, only giving a slight nod.

Tu Lie continued.

"As per our original agreement, Mr. Su is responsible for evaluating the state of the Seal and deciding how to handle it. Each party will provide manpower and effort to cooperate. Once the task is complete, the remaining dragon vein spiritual power within the Seal—"

"We'll talk about that later," Su Changge interrupted him.

Tu Lie shut his mouth.

Su Changge's gaze shifted to Liu Can.

Liu Can stood ten zhang away from the crack, followed by his four people, with the Cultivator in Plain Robes standing closest to him.

Su Changge and Liu Can's gazes met.

In Liu Can's grayish-white pupils, many things had vanished.

The initial wariness was gone.

The scrutiny was gone.

Disbelief had long since disappeared.

Now, only one thing remained in his eyes—fear.

Pure, undisguisable fear that seeped out from the very marrow of his bones.

Su Changge locked eyes with him for two breaths, then withdrew his gaze.

[The way this old man looks at me... why is he getting more and more afraid?]

[Does he know something I don't?]

[Forget it, it's a good thing he's afraid. If he's afraid of me, he won't mess with me.]

Liu Can saw Su Changge withdraw his gaze.

Those two breaths of eye contact, in his perception, felt like someone had used an invisible knife to slash his heart twice.

It wasn't killing intent.

It was more terrifying than killing intent.

It was scrutiny.

A high-and-mighty scrutiny, like looking at an ant.

A faint sound came from his throat.

Then he did something that no one expected.

He stepped forward.

He took three steps forward, stopping five zhang away from Su Changge.

Then he spoke.

"Mr. Su."

His voice was hoarse, like tree bark cracking in the wind.

Su Changge glanced at him.

Liu Can's lips moved twice, as if he were choosing his words, then he abandoned the phrasing and asked directly.

"Just now, this old man used Bone-Eroding Truth-Peering to probe your Origin, Sir—and it cost me three hundred years of my lifespan."

Once these words were spoken, the face of the Cultivator in Plain Robes behind him changed drastically.

Tu Lie's eyebrows jumped.

Halberd Demon Elder's cane tapped the ground once.

Ye Qingyao, standing by Su Changge's side, her gaze turned a degree colder.

Liu Can continued, his voice even lower.

"The result this old man glimpsed..."

He paused.

"Qi Refining First Layer."

When those words were squeezed out of his mouth, the breathing of everyone present stopped simultaneously.

The air froze for a breath.

Then Liu Can spoke the second half of the sentence.

"Such a Realm is beyond the reach of any Mortal. It is a Return to Simplicity, where All Techniques Converge into One."

He bowed slightly, the movement extremely small, but given his status as a Tribulation Crossing Late Stage expert, the meaning of this gesture was heavier than a thousand catties.

"Sir's cultivation has already exceeded this old man's understanding. This old man... is ashamed."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Tu Lie's twelve subordinates looked at each other, the same thing in everyone's eyes—shock.

Halberd Demon Elder sat on that rock, his grip on his cane turning his knuckles white.

The White-Robed Old Woman took a step back.

Ye Qingyao stood by Su Changge's side, her expression unchanged.

But her hand clenched inside her sleeve.

Su Changge stood where he was.

On the surface, his expression was normal, perhaps even a bit calmer than usual.

Inner thoughts.

[He said the result of the Bone-Eroding Truth-Peering out loud????]

[He said he detected the Qi Refining First Layer????]

[It's over, it's over, it's over, it's over—]

[Wait a minute.]

[What he said was... Return to Simplicity? All Techniques Converge into One?]

[He interpreted the Qi Refining First Layer as Return to Simplicity himself???]

[He thinks I'm not at the Qi Refining First Layer because it's too low, but because my cultivation is so high it looks like the Qi Refining First Layer???]

[Good heavens.]

He suppressed all the world-shaking waves in his heart.

His expression remained unchanged.

He looked at Liu Can and remained silent for three breaths.

After three breaths, he spoke.

"You shouldn't peer."

Three words.

Liu Can's body swayed.