164: All eight levels

Deep in the Flame Secret Realm, Ignis's Flame Demon armor was covered in bronze rust spots.

She bit her tongue in desperation, spraying her essence blood onto the lava greatsword!

"What kind of bullshit Heavenly Dao is this, that it dares to control me?"

As the Purgatory Phoenix bathed in blood and achieved Rebirth, the moment its wings burned through the bronze chains, the fire meteors falling from the dome of the Secret Realm gradually solidified!

Ignis's uncle appeared in the Secret Realm.

He looked at his niece before him and nodded slightly.

Clearly, he was very satisfied with the scene before him.

At this moment, an ice-element mage following behind Ignis's uncle seemed to possess the strength of a Grand Magister.

With a raise of his hand, he could cast Absolute Zero just like Shelley.

He even pierced through the spatial barrier of this place, building an ice bridge over the lava sea.

"Let's go!" Ignis's uncle said in a low voice.

At this moment, Ignis looked at the end of the ice bridge, clenching her fists.

She felt somewhat unwilling; she had thought she could reach the Magister level this time.

But she hadn't expected to only reach the Eighth Rank.

The moment Ignis leaped onto the ice bridge, the Secret Realm began to undergo a quantum collapse.

It was, in other words, fading into nothingness.

Everything in the Secret Realm behind her was reorganizing.

The remnant souls of Ignis's ancestors watched their descendant leave.

The leader among them sighed and said:

"Cannot escape fate? No, perhaps this time is different."

In the center of the arena's blizzard, Morning Dew's six wings had fully advanced to the Eighth Rank.

The Holy Light blizzard, carrying the text of the "Bible," tore the Arctic branch's ice crystal barrier into shreds.

Lu Chen's tianwen sword invoked the power of the Big Dipper, and his Sword Qi carved a vacuum zone in the blizzard. "Consolidate your spiritual power and absorb all the energy here!"

Lu Chen's goal was very clear.

It was to improve the strength of the girls.

Taking advantage of this opportunity was undoubtedly the best choice.

Ning Xiwei's bone puppet formed the eye of guixu Formation, with the book of the dead floating at the eye of the Formation.

"Activate the Formation!" Ning Xiwei activated the Formation. She tore off a remnant page and threw it into the Formation. The doomsday prophecy intertwined with the Undead Fire, actually dyeing the blizzard ink-black.

A Disciple on the judge's panel had his glasses shatter, and asphalt tentacles extended from his eye sockets.

The lackeys of the Heavenly Dao had finally made their move.

But this time, Lu Chen had been well prepared.

He raised his sword and took on the Incarnation of a Skeleton King, charging up to kill them.

Destroyed them with one sword strike!

When the last wisp of the blizzard dissipated, the green jade arena had been reduced to ruins.

Shelley used magic to repair the place. The ice crystal scepter in her hand burst with brilliant aurora. "In the name of the Frost Soul, rise!"

Absolute Zero spread along the ice and snow patterns, freezing the surrounding depressions into ice sculptures, then repairing them bit by bit.

Ignis suddenly appeared from the portal, dragging her lava-still-burning greatsword as she leaped back into the arena. star sand seeped from the brand on her forehead, leaving a scorched mark.

She looked at everything around her, somewhat puzzled.

She tilted her head and looked at Lu Chen, asking, "Little Skeleton, I only disappeared for a moment, what happened here?"

Lu Chen didn't answer. Instead, he walked to the previous spectator area, picked up a bronze Medicinal Pill from the ground, and gently pried open the wax seal with the tip of his sword.

"Morning Dew, come over and scan this."

"Alright, coming."

Morning Dew's Holy Light scanned it, and the liquid star sand at the core of the Medicinal Pill suddenly condensed into a miniature vertical pupil, with the phantom of the Heavenly Dao reflected in the pupil.

Sun Feifei ran over, holding the analyzed Formation.

"Lu Chen, every Spiritual Vein node here is pulsing with light spots like the eye of guixu... You guessed right. The polar region has always been the base where the Heavenly Dao intended to bury pollution. Now, we've caught it in its schemes!"

Sun Feifei's words made the corners of Lu Chen's mouth curl up slightly.

Fighting against the heavens is endless joy.

After returning to Kunlun Academy.

Lu Chen went to find the Grand Elder.

He dumped all the intelligence from this Arctic trip onto the Grand Elder at once.

After reading it, the Grand Elder frowned slightly.

Then the Grand Elder said bluntly:

"With just these things, let alone you catching it, even if you really discovered it, Mr. Lu, forgive my bluntness, but it doesn't actually mean much. Even if you wanted to blow up the Arctic, you couldn't do it, because once the Arctic is affected, the entire Earth will suffer—this is the overt scheme of the Heavenly Dao!"

"I know."

Lu Chen nodded lightly. He didn't feel there was anything wrong with what the Grand Elder said, and he wasn't even the slightest bit surprised.

"Ah? Then..."

This actually surprised the Grand Elder. Lu Chen wasn't surprised, but the Grand Elder was caught off guard.

After all, you know it can't be done and the impact would be huge. Why are you still planning to blow it up?

At this moment, the Grand Elder was a bit confused. "Then, what does Mr. Lu mean?"

Lu Chen smiled calmly, walked to the side, picked up the teapot on the table, poured himself a cup of fine hot tea, picked up the cup, took a sip to moisten his throat, and then looked unhurriedly at the white-haired elder, whose eyes were full of impatience, and explained:

"Grand Elder, you are over three hundred years old, yet you are still so impatient? We are dealing with the Heavenly Dao, so naturally, we cannot follow common sense. What is the Heavenly Dao? It is the Heavens! To go against the Heavens, we must be one step ahead of it. Those who are one step ahead of the gods are the Heavens, so what is one step ahead of the Heavens—?"

"Mr. Lu, please speak plainly; this old one is dull."

"Haha, it's not that the Grand Elder is dull, but that people like you are all too smart. You are almost forgetting that the most complex problems often just need a simple solution. We are not blowing up the Arctic ice sheet, but blowing a hole from the bottom. Don't forget, we are all Cultivators. In that deep sea, we can naturally ensure everything is safe. This is the point everyone has forgotten: we ourselves are extraordinary!"

Once these words were spoken, the Grand Elder immediately understood.

Deep down, it was filled with admiration.

It never imagined it could be done like this.

After all, according to its understanding, if one wanted to use a destructive force like a nuclear bomb in the Arctic...

...then it would naturally have to be destroyed directly from above.

But Lu Chen's meaning was to pull the firewood from under the cauldron!

Thinking of this, the Grand Elder couldn't help but reveal a smile.

Indeed, if this could be done, it would be wonderful.

Speaking of which, it hadn't been to the seaside for a long time.

Looking at the now-relaxed Grand Elder, Lu Chen smiled and said:

"Then that's settled. Grand Elder, you should come with me. The recent competitions between the major academies can be left for Xiwei and the others to watch over. This time, you and I, plus Shelley—that should be enough, don't you think?"

"Everything is up to Mr. Lu. This old one is willing to offer its humble services."

After finishing, the elder bowed to Lu Chen.

And cupped its hands in a salute.

Performed a cupped-fist salute.

That was simply admiration and respect for Lu Chen from the bottom of its heart.

Seeing the elder so serious.

Lu Chen waved his hand dismissively.

Extremely helpless; these people were just too polite and too reserved.