404: Chapter 404 Elder Su Qi: Divine Child, you've worked hard to expand the family's lineage!

Su Chen stepped onto the deck, his legs still a bit shaky. The two girls, Spring Flower and Autumn Moon, immediately rushed over as if they had seen their savior, their small faces filled with worry.

Spring Flower held a bowl of pitch-black herbal medicine in her hands. It was steaming hot, and the medicinal fragrance was so thick it was choking—clearly a potent concoction made with expensive ingredients.

"Your Highness, are... are you alright?" Spring Flower asked, her voice trembling with a hint of tears as she looked at Su Chen's pale face and unsteady steps.

"Following your orders, this servant stewed the best Ten-Thousand-Year Fleeceflower Root and Thousand-Year Blood Lingzhi from the treasury. Please drink it while it's hot to nourish yourself!"

Su Chen stared at the bubbling black liquid, his eyelids twitching wildly.

[Damn, this thing looks scarier than poison. Is it a tonic or a death warrant?]

[Whatever, I'll treat a dead horse as if it were alive. These two girls wouldn't harm me.]

He snatched the bowl and, ignoring the heat, downed it in several large gulps.

Believe it or not, although the soup looked like something brewed by Granny Meng herself, the effects were immediate.

A majestic warm current instantly exploded from his Dantian, as if giving his kidneys a full-health buff. His originally weak and aching limbs regained some strength, and a hint of color returned to his face.

"Phew..." Su Chen let out a long breath of turbid air scented with medicine, feeling like he had come back to life.

Beside him, Elder Su Qi watched Su Chen's "survivor" appearance. Instead of showing any worry, he stroked his beard, his old face blooming with a smile of pure satisfaction.

"His Highness the Divine Son, thank you for your hard work!" Elder Su Qi's tone was filled with admiration.

"For the future of our Su Family, for the sake of the Family's Bloodline Legacy, you have truly given your all until the very end!"

"This old man is impressed! I prostrate myself in admiration!"

Su Chen felt his stomach churn. He almost spat out the tonic he had just drunk. He rolled his eyes in annoyance.

[Giving my all? Expanding the lineage my foot! I was nearly worked to death!]

[This old man, it's easy for him to talk when he's not the one doing it, right? If you're so capable, why don't you try? Let's see if you can still smile so slyly then!]

Su Chen vented wildly in his mind, but he didn't even bother to argue a single word with the old man.

Right now, he just wanted to leave this troublesome place that made his kidneys feel cold at light speed.

Using his last ounce of strength, he gave a weak but resolute command to Su Qi:

"Go!"

"Now! Immediately! To the Ascension Gate!"

"If we don't leave now, I'm afraid I'll really kick the bucket here!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Elder Su Qi responded with vigor, his spirit bolstered.

He turned and rushed to the core of the Divine Ship, briskly slapping in a Top-Grade Spirit Stone.

"Buzz—!"

The nine heavens vessel let out a soft hum and glowed brilliantly, turning into a streak of light that tore through the sky, vanishing from above the Great Xia Imperial Capital in the blink of an eye.

That speed was more than ten times faster than when they arrived, perfectly illustrating the phrase "fleeing in panic."

...

Inside the Divine Ship.

Su Chen slumped on the throne, feeling like a salted fish with its tendons pulled out. He closed his eyes, not wanting to say a single word.

However, the look Ji Hongxue gave him at the end kept involuntarily surfacing in his mind.

In that gaze, there was reluctance, pride, worry, and a hint of... expectation that saw through everything.

[That enchantress...] Su Chen sighed for no reason in his heart.

[Just you wait.]

[Once I've settled everything, I'll come back...]

[When that time comes, we'll settle this score properly!]

...

The nine heavens vessel hurtled through the clouds at an unreasonable speed, covering ten thousand miles in an instant.

In less than an hour, it had crossed more than half of the Xuanyuan Continent and arrived at Heavenly Pillar Mountain.

At this moment.

In front of the Ascension Gate personally crafted by Miss Feng, there was already a sea of people, with flags fluttering in the wind.

Looking out, a dense crowd of young Prodigies from various Holy Lands and prestigious families filled the area. Each exuded a powerful aura, their eyes burning with fervor as they stared fixedly at the giant bronze gate radiating endless celestial light.

That was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity to ascend to the heavens!

When the sky-blotting silhouette of the nine heavens vessel appeared, the crowd below instantly erupted.

"It's the Divine Son of the Su Family!"

"His Highness the Divine Son is finally here!"

"I knew it! This Ascension Gate is indeed related to His Highness the Divine Son!"

Countless gazes of awe, worship, and fanaticism focused simultaneously on the slowly descending Divine Ship.

Supported by Spring Flower and Autumn Moon, Su Chen stood up unsteadily. He walked to the bow and looked down at the dense crowd, his brow furrowing slightly.

[Why are there so many people?]

[Good grief, it's like the mad scramble for tickets during the Spring Festival travel rush.]

He was about to tell Su Qi to find some remote corner to land when his gaze was drawn to an exceptionally eye-catching group of "oddballs" in the crowd.

In the best position right before the Ascension Gate, a group of people with a peculiar style were boldly occupying the space.

They were completely out of place among the tense and serious Cultivators surrounding them. Some wore strange clothes, some behaved flippantly, and some were even laughing and chatting loudly as if no one else were around—it was a total scene of social death.

Su Chen looked closely, and the corner of his eye began to twitch uncontrollably again.