156: Chapter 156 Stealing the Sky and Changing the Sun

[ East Sea. ]

[ You are alone, riding your sword across ten thousand miles. ]

[ Three days ago, you received intelligence on the outer perimeter of the Ruins of Return from Xing Haotian at Flame Valley. Three keywords: seal, key, ship. ]

[ The key is the bloodline within you. ]

[ The seal is handled by the Array Spirit Hub. ]

[ Besides this, you also need to obtain one more thing. ]

[ The sea-fixing divine pearl! According to the intelligence, the laws in the outer perimeter of the Ruins of Return are chaotic. You need the dragon race's supreme treasure, the "sea-fixing divine pearl," to stabilize the sea area before you can pass through safely. ]

[ This bead is a supreme treasure of the ancient dragon race. Three thousand years ago, it disappeared into the Endless Sea Eye along with a Dragon Cultivator at the Body Integration Stage, and its whereabouts have been unknown ever since. ]

[ The Endless Sea Eye is a massive whirlpool spanning a hundred miles, suspended in the deepest part of the East Sea. Lightning silently weaves through it, and even light is distorted within. ]

[ You stop above the whirlpool. ]

[ Your divine sense probes downward, but is immediately rebounded by a tearing force. ]

[ This whirlpool is not an ordinary one; it is a law-level killing machine. ]

[ You do not rush to go down. ]

[ You open the eyes of the Array Master, and the entire whirlpool transforms into countless flowing runes within your vision. ]

[ You watch for a full hour. ]

[ Then you smile. ]

[ No matter how violent a whirlpool is, it has a rhythm of breathing. ]

[ A gap every three breaths. ]

[ You nod slightly. ]

[ This is the dimensionality reduction strike of the Array Master. Others see the might of heaven; you see the underlying laws. ]

[ Calculating the timing of the gap, you shift your body, and like a drop of water, you merge into the whirlpool, plummeting straight to the seabed. ]

[ On the seabed, a white jade coral palace stands quietly. ]

[ Above the palace, a blue bead the size of a fist floats on a high platform, and the laws of the entire sea area rotate around it. ]

[ The sea-fixing divine pearl. ]

[ Below the platform, four guards at the Deity Transformation Stage stand holding halberds, and behind the platform, a leader at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage wearing scale armor sits cross-legged in cultivation. ]

[ You do not make a move. ]

[ You drift in the shadows, your divine sense wrapping around the divine bead like silk threads, taking two quarter-hours. ]

[ You discern every single one of its energy fluctuations. ]

[ Then you do something that makes even you unable to help but curse. ]

[ You "copy" one out of thin air. ]

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit."

Chen Yuan curses three times in a row.

The Array Master's "Forming an Array with a Single Thought" can actually imitate the energy fluctuations of the divine bead?

This is no longer stealing; this is forgery at the level of laws.

[ The replica floats beside the original bead. ]

[ The aura of the two beads is identical; even the dragon guards cannot perceive any difference. ]

[ With a flick of your fingertip, an extremely thin array pattern cuts into the high platform. ]

[ The real bead enters your sleeve. ]

[ The fake bead drops down. ]

[ The entire process takes less than three breaths. ]

[ The four Deity Transformation guards remain motionless. ]

[ The leader at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage does not even lift his eyelids. ]

[ Like a wisp of smoke, you retreat from the palace the same way you came. ]

[ Three thousand miles away, you stop. ]

[ You shake your sleeve, and the real bead flashes blue light in your palm, feeling as heavy as if you are holding half an ocean. ]

[ Meanwhile, at the underwater palace. ]

[ The fake bead shatters with a "pop." ]

[ The leader at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage opens his eyes abruptly, his expression changing drastically. ]

"What is going on? The divine bead... has been stolen?!"

[ The four guards freeze in place, only then realizing that the bead on the high platform is fake. ]

[ The leader grabs a communication scale, his voice trembling. ]

"Reporting to Your Majesty the Dragon Emperor—the sea-fixing divine pearl has been stolen. The thief's methods... it was an array! It was an array at the level of an Array Master!"

[ But it does not matter; by the time the dragon race reacts, you will have already run ten thousand miles with the bead. ]

[ You do not return to Tiannan City immediately. ]

[ You find an uninhabited island and sit cross-legged to refine the divine bead. ]

[ The divine bead's resistance to you is minimal—it was originally a supreme treasure of the ancient dragon race, and you possess a trace of lingering dragon karma. ]

[ Three days later. ]

[ The divine bead has been claimed by you through a drop of blood. ]

[ You put the bead away in your sleeve and ride your sword northward. ]

[ Returning to Tiannan City, you go straight to Xing Haotian's place. ]

[ Flame Valley, Burning Heart Hall. ]

[ Seeing you enter, Xing Haotian casually tosses a roasted beast leg to you. ]

"So fast?"

[ You nod and tell him about the sea-fixing divine pearl. ]

[ After hearing it, Xing Haotian grins. ]

"Good lad. Those old turtles in the Dragon Palace have been stifled for ten thousand years; they finally got to feel stifled themselves for once."

"But with the commotion you've caused, the Dragon Emperor will sooner or later trace it back to you."

"I need a team, as soon as possible."

Xing Haotian: "Who are your candidates?"

You: "Yang Cong, Guan Qingqing. I cannot trust anyone else."

[ Xing Haotian nods. ]

"From the Heavenly Demon Hall, I will assign two people to provide logistics for you. One artifact refiner and one beast tamer. Both are my loyal subordinates; they will not leak any information."

[ You cup your hands: "I appreciate it." ]

[ Xing Haotian waves his hand: "Go. The Dragon Emperor's pursuers will arrive in ten days at most; you must leave the Southern Region before then." ]

[ You turn and leave the hall. ]

[ Outside the hall, Guan Qingqing is already waiting there. ]

[ Seeing you, she immediately trots over: "Master." ]

[ You pat her head. ]

"Pack your things, we are going to the East Sea."

"To... the Ruins of Return."

[ A flash of complex emotion crosses Guan Qingqing's eyes, but she does not ask further, only nodding firmly. ]

[ Three days later. ]

[ Tiannan City port. ]

[ A black, streamlined flying ship is docked in the deep water area. ]

[ Yang Cong stands at the bow, the roaring aura of his Giant Flood Dragon bloodline faintly leaking out. Seeing Chen Yuan, he grins: "Boss, I've tested this ship; it can run and it can dive." ]

[ This ship is called the "hidden dragon shuttle," an heirloom of Yang Cong's Giant Flood Dragon Clan ancestors. Once the bloodline is activated, no one can catch it. ]

[ Guan Qingqing boards the ship. ]

[ The two logistics personnel from the Heavenly Demon Hall board the ship. ]

[ Finally, you board. ]

[ You turn back to look at Tiannan City, the city where you laid low for three months, and the old man on the top floor of the City Lord's Mansion who is watching you. ]

[ The Tiannan Immortal King bows slightly to you. ]

[ You return the salute. ]

[ Then you board the ship. ]

[ The hidden dragon shuttle silently sinks into the deep sea. ]

[ The direction of the bow—East. ]

[ The Ruins of Return. ]

[ The hidden dragon shuttle breaks through the deep waters of the East Sea, heading east all the way. ]

[ The first day, the wind and waves are calm. ]

[ The second day, the color of the seawater begins to deepen. ]

[ The third day, a layer of unmoving gray fog rises on the horizon ahead. ]

[ The Foggy Sea. ]

[ Yang Cong frowns at the bow: "Boss, this fog is not right." ]

[ You walk to the bow and look into the fog. ]

[ Inside the fog, there is something. ]

[ A huge, dilapidated silhouette of an ancient ship, covered in rotten wood grain, is floating quietly deep within the gray fog. ]

[ Silent, sailless, and unmanned. ]

[ Yet a stench left over from an ancient battlefield slowly seeps out from the fog. ]

Chen Yuan's pupils constrict.

This thing, he had seen it in his last simulation.

But that time, he had bypassed it.

This time...

"Let's try it out."

Chen Yuan says in a low voice.

The Array Master's desire for exploration should also come in handy now.

[ You wave your hand, and the hidden dragon shuttle approaches the ghost ship. ]