396: Submerged and ascending!

Lu Chen did not even glance at them. With a flick of his wrist, the dragon fiend spear casually drew two cold lights—

Poof! Poof!

Two heads soared into the sky, but before the blood could spray, the corpses had already turned into flying ash.

The two guards did not even have time to scream before their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering. Until their deaths, they failed to understand why, despite both being True Immortals, the gap between them was so immense.

Lu Chen stepped onto the center of the Ascension Platform and immediately activated the Ascension ceremony!

Buzz—!

In that instant, the sky cracked open, and a boundless Heavenly Dao light curtain descended from the Nine Heavens, radiating golden light and auspicious energy.

The entire Lingxiao Heaven violently trembled. Thunderclouds in the Nine Heavens surged and gathered, and the Laws of heaven and earth resonated—the Tribulation of Ascension had officially begun!

RUMBLE—!!!

Thunder rolled and purple lightning flashed like Dragons. Over a thousand Ascension Platform guards flew in from all directions, and upon seeing this, they were furious:

"Who is that?! How dare he activate the Ascension Platform without permission?!"

"Arrogant brat! You, a mere True Immortal, dare to attempt Ascension? Do you know the Immortal Court's rule for the past hundred thousand years? Those who have not reached the Saint Immortal realm and attempt forced Ascension will surely die! Even Saint Immortals have a thirty percent chance of perishing beneath the Lightning Tribulation! Just wait to be blasted into dust!"

Everyone watched coldly, waiting to see this ignorant fellow pulverized by the heavenly lightning.

However—

Just as the first strike of Nine Heavens Divine Lightning, as thick as a water bucket, was about to descend, the lightning suddenly paused mid-air!

As if... it recognized the person below.

The next moment, a jaw-dropping scene occurred—

That Divine Lightning, powerful enough to obliterate a Saint Immortal, actually made a 360-degree sharp turn in the sky and fled!

Following closely, the second, third... all the gathered Lightning Tribulations scattered as if seeing a ghost, turning into specks of electric light and frantically retreating back into the depths of the clouds!

That's right—the Lightning Tribulation actually ran away!

The entire Lingxiao Heaven fell into dead silence.

The thousand-plus guards were dumbfounded, their mouths gaping wide enough to fit a fist.

"What... what is happening?!"

"Did the Ascension Platform malfunction?"

"In a hundred thousand years, there has never been a precedent of a Lightning Tribulation fleeing mid-battle!"

Some rubbed their eyes, wondering if they had gone mad;

While a well-informed Elder muttered to himself: "Could it be... this person is not 'Ascending' at all, but... returning to his position?"

On the Ascension Platform, Lu Chen stood with his hands behind his back, his robes fluttering, the faint smirk still hanging on his face.

At this moment, Emperor Qin and the other two rushed like shooting stars, arriving before the Ascension Platform in Lingxiao Heaven.

"Stop!" A guard commander roared sternly, "This is the Immortal Court's Ascension Platform. Outsiders are forbidden entry! Violators will be killed without mercy!"

The thousand-plus Ascension Platform guards uniformly raised their weapons. The cold light illuminated the Nine Heavens, and Killing Intent surged into the sky.

"All of you, step aside!" A majestic roar came from the horizon—the White Emperor, Emperor Yan, Emperor Huang, Dark Emperor, and Emperor Qing, the Five Great Emperors, had finally arrived! The five men wore tattered armor and had not recovered their Divine Power, yet their might was still overwhelming.

The guards immediately knelt on one knee and shouted in unison: "Greetings, Emperors!!"

Emperor Qin and the other two had no time to pay attention. As soon as they landed, they furiously attacked the Heavenly Dao light curtain surrounding the Ascension Platform, which was flowing with golden light!

The heaven opening axe chopped, the Martial Soul seal smashed, the God-Slaying Blade slashed... yet all their attacks landed on the light curtain like a clay ox entering the sea, failing to even cause a ripple!

"Damn it!" Emperor Qin gritted his teeth. "This light curtain... it hasn't budged!"

The White Emperor's expression was solemn. He immediately summoned the Ascension Platform steward: "How can we stop this Ascension?!"

The steward was an old man with white hair and beard. He stammered: "Reporting to the Emperor... once the Ascension ceremony begins, it cannot be interrupted or reversed! The Ascender is protected by the Heavenly Dao, and external forces cannot interfere! Even if the Immortal Emperor came in person, he would have no right to forcibly terminate it!"

The White Emperor frowned deeply, a trace of powerlessness flashing in his eyes: "This makes things difficult... Perhaps Immortal Emperor Haotian would have a way, but unfortunately, he is already dead."

Hearing this, Emperor Qin almost went berserk: "Truly damned!! I didn't expect Lu Chen would think of coming here to escape! If he truly succeeds in Ascending to the Divine Realm, with his methods, he will definitely become a Divine Being within a hundred years! By then, we won't even have the right to resist! Let alone stop him from 'formatting' us!"

Shen Wuya's gaze was icy, his voice sharp as a blade: "Are we just giving up? Waiting for death? Impossible! Attack the barrier with all your might!! Although this light curtain is strong, it is not invincible! It is only a barrier, and as long as we combine our strength to shatter it, we can forcibly drag him down!"

"We have no choice but to fight for it!" Emperor Qin gritted his teeth and nodded, the flame of desperation igniting in his eyes.

The next moment—

The three burst forth simultaneously!

Emperor Qin raised the heaven opening axe with both hands. The blade tore through the Void Realm, summoning the soul of the ancient ancestral Dragon, and his single swing manifested the momentum of the initial separation of Chaos;

Shen Wuya summoned the wordless heavenly book. As the pages flipped, hundreds of millions of Martial Dao true words transformed into Law chains, fiercely whipping the light curtain;

Ling Tian, meanwhile, activated the Four Symbols Union. The illusory figures of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise Divine Beasts encircled his body, converging into a spiral spear aura that pierced through heaven and earth, stabbing directly at the core of the Ascension Platform!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The three overwhelming forces erupted simultaneously. The entire Lingxiao Heaven violently shook, and the sea of clouds in the Nine Heavens churned like boiling water! The Ascension Platform light curtain finally showed faint cracks, and the golden light flickered erratically!

The thousand-plus guards were thrown back by the aftermath, and the Five Great Emperors were also forced to retreat hundreds of meters, their faces filled with shock.

"Faster! Put more effort into it!" Ling Tian roared, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

(Here is a brief interlude that must be explained)

Ling Tian originally possessed three symbols. While in the Heavenly Venerable Palace, knowing that Liu Lanyan had been captured by Realm Master Ling Xiaozai, he pleaded with Taichu Heavenly Venerate to bestow Liu Lanyan upon him.

Taichu Heavenly Venerate nodded in agreement. Thus, Ling Tian obtained Liu Lanyan as he wished.

Facing his former lover, Ling Tian showed no mercy and spoke coldly: "Liu Lanyan, as long as you willingly sacrifice yourself and hand over the Vermilion Bird Divine Soul within your body, I can spare your life and even let you live out the rest of your days peacefully."

Liu Lanyan's eyes were hollow, her tears having long since dried up.

She murmured: "My child Lu Chen is dead... there is no meaning left in my life."

"If that is the case—" Killing Intent surged in Ling Tian's eyes, "Then I shall send you to meet him! Reunion on the Yellow Springs road, wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Before her death, Liu Lanyan used her last ounce of strength to stare fixedly at Ling Tian, her voice hoarse like a curse: "If there is a next life... I will personally kill you!!"

Ling Tian sneered: "Don't worry, you won't have a next life! I will refine your Physical Body and Divine Soul together into the Four Symbols Furnace, completely incinerating even your Reincarnation imprint—leaving you unable to reincarnate forever, eternally falling into the Void Realm!"

Ultimately, he used a secret technique to extract the Vermilion Bird Divine Soul from Liu Lanyan's body and forcibly integrate it into his own Origin.

Thus, with the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise Four Symbols gathered, Ling Tian finally achieved the long-desired Four Symbols Union.

"Auntie!" Lu Chen was able to sense the exact moment Liu Lanyan died.

Unfortunately, at that time Lu Chen was still in the Ninth Heaven, being taken care of by Chi Yao and recovering, making him powerless to act.

The Heavenly Dao is ruthless, not because it lacks emotions and desires, but because the Heavenly Dao can easily possess all emotions and desires! Therefore, it does not care too much!

Lu Chen was not overly saddened, because he knew that as long as he recovered his Heavenly Dao identity, he would be able to resurrect Liu Lanyan!!