157: A divine eye? A blind man? (Forty-two)

The journey home was long.

After leaving that hypocritical land of the Ancient Saint Clan, You Chen fell into a deep silence.

The imperial majesty he possessed while ruling over the Northern Plains had vanished without a trace.

All that remained around him was a heart-palpitating dead silence.

He no longer rode in any carriage, instead walking step by step with his own feet along the desolate ancient road.

His eyes were dim and lusterless.

Zi Yuan's "betrayal" and the Ancient Saint Clan's schemes had completely destroyed all the convictions he had built in the past.

Jun Yun followed silently by his side, not saying a word.

He knew that at this moment, any words of comfort would be useless.

His Double Pupils had long since seen through everything happening inside You Chen's body.

The power of the Half-Saint Legacy, which he had forcibly intercepted and poured back, was now rampaging within You Chen.

It frantically battered You Chen's Meridians, undergoing a crude Fusion with his nearly exhausted You Que Divine Body and Blue Phoenix Origin.

This process was one of destruction before creation.

From the outside, You Chen's life force was constantly declining, appearing as if he might run out of steam at any moment.

But Jun Yun "saw" clearly.

Beneath those ruins of destruction, a more terrifying and profound power was struggling to coalesce into a new life.

He didn't know how long they had been walking.

When the familiar silhouettes of mountains and rivers appeared at the edge of his vision, they had reached the borders of Great You.

You Chen stopped in his tracks.

He slowly turned his head to look back toward the direction of the Ancient Saint Clan, toward that distant, invisible void.

For the first time, a flame ignited within his dim eyes.

It wasn't hope.

It was an extremely cold hatred.

He didn't say a single word.

An invisible oath was sworn in his heart.

Today's humiliation would surely be repaid a hundredfold in the future.

Ancient Saint Clan.

He would definitely go back.

Next time, he would use absolute power to trample their hypocrisy and arrogance... The Great You Imperial Palace.

When the figures of You Chen and Jun Yun appeared before everyone once again.

All the royal Old Ancestors and trusted ministers who had come to welcome them were stunned.

The high-spirited and incomparably majestic Divine Lord they remembered was gone.

The You Chen before them looked haggard, his aura weak.

"Your Majesty!"

Everyone was pale with shock and swarmed around him.

You Chen raised his hand, stopping them from approaching.

He didn't even walk up to the supreme throne of the Divine Lord; he simply stood in the center of the hall and, in a low voice, issued his first decree since his return.

"I am severely injured and must immediately enter secluded cultivation to recover."

"From this day forward, all matters of the state, large and small, will be temporarily decided by several Imperial Uncles and the Prime Minister."

Having said that, he gave no one the chance to ask further questions, turning and walking toward the secret chamber in the deepest part of the Forbidden Ground.

Jun Yun nodded slightly to the crowd and followed him inside.

Rumble.

The stone door of the secret chamber slammed shut, isolating everything from the outside world.

Pfft.

You Chen could no longer hold on; he spat out a mouthful of black blood and collapsed to one knee.

The brief balance within his body was shattered.

The violent power spiraled out of control once more.

Jun Yun walked behind him and placed a palm on his back.

A peaceful yet vast power flowed into his body, temporarily helping him stabilize his nearly shattering Meridians.

"Don't resist it; guide it."

Jun Yun spoke, his voice calm.

"That Legacy was meant to be yours. Now, take it back."

You Chen looked up, a sense of realization in his bloodshot eyes.

He said no more and sat down cross-legged, beginning to actively refine the "lost and found" Half-Saint Legacy within him.

Time lost its meaning inside the secret chamber.

Spring, summer, autumn, and winter cycled in a continuous Reincarnation.

Several years passed quietly.

During these years, You Chen endured inhuman torture.

Every Fusion of the Half-Saint power was a complete crushing and reshaping of his Physical Body and Divine Soul.

His consciousness suffered through the intense pain.

Whenever he was on the verge of giving up, the arrogant faces of the Ancient Saint Clan's prodigies and Zi Yuan's complex, "betraying" gaze would surface in his mind.

Hatred supported him, allowing him to pull his will back from the brink of his limits time and again.

Jun Yun acted as his Protector throughout.

At the same time, he was also digesting his own gains.

The fragment of the Half-Saint Law he had quietly intercepted had long since been completely absorbed by his Double Pupils.

His Realm, too, had naturally broken through its Bottleneck during these years of accumulation, reaching the Peak of the Guiyi Realm.

The power of the Double Pupils became even more unfathomable.

Finally, one day.

All the violent energy in the secret chamber was completely withdrawn.

You Chen opened his eyes.

His eyes no longer showed the sharpness of the past; they had become deep and restrained.

His aura was also completely restrained; unless one deliberately probed, he appeared no different from a Mortal who had never practiced martial arts.

Grotto-Heaven Realm... When the door of the secret chamber opened once more.

Above the court of Great You, all the civil and military officials were gathered.

They had all heard the news of the Divine Lord ending his seclusion and were waiting expectantly.

You Chen's figure appeared at the entrance of the main hall.

He did not wear the black dragon robe that symbolized supreme power, but only a simple set of green clothes.

He walked slowly; his pace wasn't fast, yet he made everyone feel an invisible pressure.

The civil and military officials discovered that their Divine Lord had changed.

Although his aura was restrained, the pressure he occasionally emitted was even more terrifying than when he had ruled over the Northern Plains years ago.

You Chen walked up to the throne of the Divine Lord.

But he did not sit down.

He simply turned calmly, his gaze sweeping over the faces of every official below.

Then, he announced a decision that caught everyone off guard.

"From this day forward, I abdicate."

"The throne is passed to my imperial brother, You Qi."

As soon as these words were spoken.

The entire hall instantly erupted into an uproar.

"Your Majesty, please reconsider!"

"The Divine Dynasty is at its Peak; it absolutely cannot be without a ruler!"

Led by the Prime Minister, the entire court of civil and military officials knelt in unison, speaking out to dissuade him.

They couldn't understand.

Why their Divine Lord would give up this supreme power at the Divine Dynasty's most glorious moment.

You Chen raised his hand, and the noisy hall instantly fell silent.

"I once thought that ruling over the Northern Plains was the Peak of the Martial Dao."

His voice was soft, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"But I was wrong."

"The trip to the Ancient Saint Clan made me realize that the position of overlord of the Northern Plains Divine Dynasty is nothing but a passing cloud to the truly strong."

"It is a glory, but also a shackle."

"My Dao lies in a broader world."

His gaze pierced through the dome of the hall, looking toward the endless sky.

Seeing the Divine Lord's resolute gaze, everyone understood.

His heart was no longer within this imperial city.

After the court session.

Inside the imperial palace study.

You Chen summoned the new Divine Lord, his imperial brother You Qi, and several key ministers entrusted with the future.

He placed a Jade Talisman into You Qi's hand.

"Keep this talisman close to you."

"If Great You ever faces the danger of national destruction in the future, crush it."

"I will return."

Finally, he found Jun Yun.

Having shed his dragon robe, You Chen was no longer an emperor at this moment, showing more of the temperament of a pure Martial Artist.

He bowed deeply to Jun Yun.

"Big Brother Jun."

"In the past, I, You Chen, was bound by imperial power, and my mind was clouded."

"From today on, I want to follow in your footsteps and see the true world."

His posture was very humble.

His eyes were full of sincerity.

Jun Yun nodded.

"Good."

"We are going to the Central Continent."

That is the true center of this continent.

Where thousands of orthodoxies gather, and prodigies run rampant.