30: Risk level: 1000%

That evening, a rich aroma wafted from the dilapidated shantytown house.

Lu Deshan, his face beaming, raised his wine glass: "Son, your dad was never successful in this life, but I never thought I'd get to bask in your glory in my old age!"

His mother, Jiang Xiuzhen, smiled as she placed food on Lu Chen's plate, asking, "Son, what's your relationship with that female classmate? Why is she so good to you?"

Lu Chen's mind was entirely on the Small World, and he casually brushed her off: "Nothing, just a high school classmate."

Jiang Xiuzhen persisted: "No matter what, she helped you, so you must thank her properly."

"Got it," Lu Chen's eyes remained fixed on the Small World.

Lu Deshan frowned, putting down his wine glass: "Son, what's wrong with you lately? You've been so distracted. Did something happen?"

Lu Chen shook his head: "Nothing, you two eat. Don't mind me."

---At this moment, within the Small World, Xiao Qitian navigated through the mechanisms as if entering an uninhabited land.

He had already solved these mechanisms in the museum's labyrinth.

Xiao Qitian suddenly understood that all his previous efforts were for this moment.

Finally, he stepped into the deepest part of the mausoleum—a bizarre stone coffin suspended in mid-air, its surroundings carved with ancient runes. "Indeed, it's exactly like the one in the murals..." Xiao Qitian murmured to himself.

"Clap, clap, clap!" Crisp applause echoed in the darkness.

"I truly didn't pick the wrong person; you are the chosen one!" A figure emerged from the shadows.

He was tall and slender, dressed in a black robe, with a handsome but weathered face. Most striking was a black vortex on his brow, faintly shimmering with the power of the Heavenly Dao.

"You are Boundless?!" Xiao Qitian's pupils constricted. Though he had never seen him before, his intuition told him that the person before him was the creator of the martial soul civilization!

Boundless smiled: "That's right, it's me."

Xiao Qitian felt both reverence and hatred: "The Martial Soul Meridian Cultivation Art you created, was it intentionally designed to block the path of Ascension?"

Boundless nodded frankly: "Exactly, you're very clever."

Xiao Qitian sneered: "You deliberately led me here. What is your purpose?"

Boundless raised an eyebrow: "Oh? How do you know I set this trap for you?"

Xiao Qitian's gaze was sharp: "You outwardly invited everyone, but your true target was only me. From the moment I stepped in here, I sensed it—this trap is related to this coffin, isn't it?"

Boundless laughed heartily: "So clever! Exactly, because only you... can open it!" He pointed to the suspended stone coffin, "Inside, it contains power strong enough to resist the Heavenly Dao! Join forces with me and save this world!"

WARNING! WARNING! UNKNOWN ENERGY, UNABLE TO ANALYZE, DANGER LEVEL 1000%

What?? 1000%!!

Lu Chen's heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

He had no appetite for dinner at all.

Indeed, his guess was correct; this Boundless had intended to kill him from the very beginning.

However, Lu Chen found it strange. Why did this Boundless know about the existence of this coffin, and why did he know that this coffin could kill him?

"Dad, Mom, I'm full. You two continue eating. I'm going back to my room first."

Lu Chen rushed back to his room, afraid that the world might be destroyed if he wasn't careful.

This Boundless had plotted for a thousand years, all just to deal with him!

Xiao Qitian observed: "What exactly is this coffin...?"

Boundless's lips curved upward: "I don't know either, but I can confirm—it contains power to resist the Heavenly Dao."

Xiao Qitian sneered: "You don't even know what's inside, yet you dare to lead me here?"

Boundless calmly said: "Because only you can open it."

Xiao Qitian wasn't afraid of any trap; with Boundless's strength, he could have killed him long ago if he wanted to.

Without further hesitation, the Chaos Heavenly Tome appeared in his palm. Golden pages flipped, and countless mysterious symbols flew out from the book, aligning perfectly with the patterns on the coffin.

"Fusion! Open!!"

The coffin trembled violently, runes glowed with dazzling light, and the entire secret chamber shook!

10%... 50%... 100%!!

"Boom—!!"

The coffin didn't open; instead, the shadowy figure entwined around it absorbed Xiao Qitian's energy, gradually coalescing into a humanoid form.

"Finally, you fell for it! Hahahaha!"

Xiao Qitian looked at the blurry figure before him, suddenly realizing: "I didn't open the coffin, but the Seal on it! Damn it! Boundless, you tricked me! Who is he!"

The blurry figure laughed maniacally with a twisted expression: "That's right, of course you can't open the coffin. Only the Heavenly Dao can open this coffin, and I am the previous Heavenly Dao!!"

Xiao Qitian's pupils widened in shock: "You are... the previous Heavenly Dao?!"

The blurry figure sneered: "Indeed! My name is No Heaven. I was the fourth host of the Heavenly Dao, and I once Cultivated to the God King Realm. Unfortunately, I became overconfident and went to a higher world, where I was bitten to death by a dog guarding the gate!"

No Heaven's voice was hoarse: "But before my Ascension, I left a contingency—I split off a remnant soul and Sealed it on this coffin. This coffin was built by the first Heavenly Dao and can evade the Heavenly Dao's observation."

Lu Chen understood. This No Heaven was hiding on the coffin lid, constantly stealing civilization energy.

It was very likely that originally, Lu Chen would harvest 200 energy from a civilization, but half of it was stolen by No Heaven!!

You old scoundrel!

Even after death, you still want to take advantage of me!!

Die for me!!

Lu Chen no longer hesitated, directly slamming his fist towards No Heaven.

Rumble!

A huge rift tore open in the Martial Soul World, and a fist, occupying most of the sky, crashed down.

The Cultivators of the Martial Soul Continent looked up at the sky-obscuring fist, their eyes nearly popping out.

"What is that thing!! How is it a person's fist!!"

The firmament twisted into a vortex amidst the roar, and dark red clouds churned like boiling blood waves.

At the northernmost tip of the Martial Soul Continent, the Xuanyin Sect's millennia-old ice peaks exploded under the impact of the Qi wave. A thousand white-robed Disciples were crushed into powder by the invisible fist pressure before they could even summon their Flying Swords.

"This is... Heavenly Dao punishment?!" The Martial Soul Hall Master, overseeing the Central Plains, watched his pupils contract. His fully activated ninth-tier supreme treasure, the "Demon Suppressing Seal," shattered instantly under the fist wind, and the entire Martial Soul Hall was pulverized.

In the Southern Hundred Thousand Mountains, Sword Cultivators in seclusion flew out of their caves.

They summoned their Martial Souls to resist with all their might, but were horrified to find their spiritual Qi forcibly drained by the fist pressure.

A Sword Emperor roared, unleashing the strongest sword strike of his life, but the sword light, upon touching the fist's surface, strangely twisted into a spiral and was sucked into the fist's cracks. Even he himself was shredded into a bloody mist by the power of Law amidst his screams.

"Why has the World-Ending Heavenly Tribulation descended early?!"

"Didn't they say it only happens when an Ascender angers the Heavenly Dao... Ah!"

When the fist fully descended, the entire continent let out a dying wail.

Those once invincible Sect formations didn't even cause a ripple under the crushing power of the fist.

Lu Chen looked at the creatures scurrying like ants below, yet felt no pity. He now had only one thought: quickly destroy this civilization!

Quickly kill this old thing, No Heaven!!

The fist crashed into the Chaos Sea. The power of the Heavenly Dao, which should have been overwhelming, was like a clay ox entering the sea. The moment the fist touched the dark coffin, it was numbed by some invisible barrier.

Damn it! Lu Chen looked at the coffin in disbelief. He, for the first time, felt pain!!

No Heaven defiantly looked up, his eyes seeming to pierce through the Void Realm, looking towards Lu Chen.

"Fifth Heavenly Dao, don't waste your energy. There's a barrier from the first Heavenly Dao here. You can't kill me! Hahahaha!"