There are no ancestors at all; I made them all up.

Chapter 58 Taking the Stage
Lü Feng and Yin Lin'er's expressions changed drastically.

Zhou Renjing was also taken aback when he saw who it was.

"Seventh Prince?!"

Immediately, he recalled what Chen Qing had said at the Lanyue Villa, and seeing Xu Qingfeng's extraordinary demeanor, he was deeply moved.

"Could it be..."

"Your Highness has kept me waiting," Chen Qing said, bowing slightly, his gaze calm. "I have no more worries."

Xu Qingfeng said calmly, "The Heavenly Empress used the 'Zhou Tian Xing Dou Jin' as a furnace and the 'Nine Tribulations Substitute' as a catalyst to defy fate and seize destiny. Her power is already established. At this moment, the Tianyan Platform has become a forbidden zone, and even immortals and gods cannot cross it. If you regret it, you can still enjoy wealth and a good reputation by holding the pearl bestowed by the Heavenly Empress."

"Wealth, honor, and a good reputation are not what I desire." Chen Qing laughed heartily. "If I were to retreat out of fear of death, what joy would there be in living? If I can thwart their heaven-defying scheme, what does death matter?"

"Master! I'll go with you!" Yin Lin'er suddenly rushed out and grabbed Chen Qing's clothes tightly!
Chen Qing felt a warmth in his heart, but with a flick of his sleeve, he gently pushed the boy back to Lü Feng's side.

Zhou Renjing, standing to the side, was already deathly pale. The words "Empress of Heaven," "Defying Heaven," and "Extinct Domain" terrified him!

"Alright." Xu Qingfeng's eyes seemed to hold both approval and regret. "In that case, I will keep my promise and see you off." With that, he flicked his sleeves.

"Master——"

Silverscale cried out, about to pounce!
"Lin'er," Chen Qing's figure had already faded into the wind, but his voice still came clearly, "What if something were to happen to your master, and you were gone too? Wouldn't our sect's lineage be cut off? Do you know how much effort I put into this story..."

Before the words were finished, the person faded away like ink in a painting, ultimately vanishing into nothingness.

The wind rises, insects chirp, and the lamp flickers.

The three of them stood frozen in the courtyard.

On the night of the new moon, midnight is approaching.

The entire city of Yujing was shrouded in an eerie stillness.

The sky was moonless, the stars were dim, and the leaden clouds hung low, like a giant hand covering the city!

Above the imperial city, in the Tianyan Terrace.

The nine-tiered white jade platform pierced through the leaden clouds, and the starlight of the heavens and earth flowed and transformed into a starlight curtain, enveloping the entire palace platform.

Beneath the curtain, atop the nine-tiered white jade platform, a massive altar came into view, its starlight forming patterns that spread out and transformed into a dome-like expanse, arranged at nine corners.

At the heart of the formation, on a jade platform, a spirit bone floats in mid-air, its entire body pitch black and riddled with holes.

Beneath the bone, Chen Xuan's breath was barely a whisper. Nine chains, like venomous snakes, coiled around her, forcibly draining her life force, turning it into wisps of pale energy that nourished the spiritual bone above, maintaining its last bit of activity and a weak connection.

Around the spirit bone, eight rays of light, each with a different color and a distinct aura, twisted and intertwined like living things!
One of them was a blue fox shadow that was wailing, charging, and struggling!

Tracing back to the source, the origin of this fox shadow is none other than Princess Xiyao, who sits on the Jade Lotus Platform, one of the nine corners of the altar array!

Originally, when the Immortal Emperor ascended, the demonic energy had been sealed back into the princess's body, allowing her to return to normal. But at this moment, Xi Yao's black hair had turned completely silver-white, and the crimson mark between her brows was like blood. In particular, her eyes were empty, with only two non-human green flames remaining!
Chains formed from dark gold runes bound her completely, wriggling like leeches, burrowing into her skin, corroding her bones and stimulating her transformation, extracting the pure essence of the celestial fox and drawing it towards her central spiritual bone!

Apart from the corner where the princess was located, seven of the other eight corners depicted scenes of torture and hell.

A young man dressed in black with two horns on his head was bound by shackles of ice, and the dragon-shaped purple aura was being forcibly drawn away from him;

A voluptuous, beautiful woman in palace attire, surrounded by crimson flames and thorns, her spirit transformed into wisps of scarlet blood smoke;
Within a tattered suit of heavy armor, an indomitable fighting spirit roared and surged, only to be catalyzed into billowing, ferocious smoke.
A gaunt old scholar collapsed to the ground, his literary talent devoured by the filthy bamboo slips, his pure spirit turned into filthy mud.

A section of eerie wood, half withered and half thriving, was being scorched by ghostly fire, squeezing out wisps of gray-green poisonous mist.

On a writhing, dark red mass of flesh, ten thousand human faces struggled and wailed, oozing a foul, filthy light.

A jade-colored skeleton draped in tattered robes, with a distorted, seven-colored auspicious cloud dissipating and disappearing above its head...

With Princess Xiyao added, the nine-cornered formation was filled with punishments in eight corners, leaving only the eastern corner empty!
Night was falling.

"boom--"

At the center of the formation, a wave of energy surged up like a dragon!
Outside the altar, above the floating palace.

The Empress Dowager's face was veiled by a beaded curtain, her aura as deep and unfathomable as she indifferently surveyed the changing formation.

She is waiting.

When the nine tribulations obscure the sky, the Heavenly Dao will fail to notice!

The Sixth Prince stood by his side, his eyes burning with uncontrollable fervor: "It's almost here! The Heavenly Evolution is 49. As long as we capture the one that escaped, and forge the 'Nine Tribulations World-Suppressing Seal,' we can stabilize the world and protect the unshakeable foundation of our Immortal Dynasty for all eternity!"

Zhao Yuanji bowed behind him, his posture humble, a far cry from his arrogant demeanor of the past few days.

hum-

suddenly!

At the center of the altar, the spiritual bone that was devouring the eight calamity energies suddenly trembled violently!
A pure starlight burst forth from the depths of the bone cavity, like a fuse!
"The time has come, activate the formation." The Empress's indifferent voice descended like a divine decree. "Zhao Yuanji, you take the Star-Guiding Banner and enter the formation to take command!"

"Here!"

Zhao Yuanji took a step forward, soared into the air, and landed in an empty space to the east of the formation, a long banner appearing in his hand!
The banner was nine feet long, its surface as black as ink, emanating a cold, deathly, and eerie aura!

"Mysterious Star-Guiding Banner! Rise—"

Zhao Yuanji roared like thunder, his magical power surging wildly as he wielded the giant banner with both hands and fiercely plunged it into the altar beneath his feet!

"Om-"

Tianyan TV Drama Shocks!
The array patterns within the altar shone with blinding brilliance, their lines writhing like living creatures! The malevolent energy of the Nine Heavens Stars resonated with the starlight within the spiritual bones, forcibly drawn down from the heavens and injected into the altar!
The Devouring Abyss Spirit Bone trembled violently, its orifices opening and closing like the gaping maw of a gluttonous beast, swallowing the Star Demon!
The eight beams of calamity energy were pushed to their limit!
The blue fox shadow let out an extremely mournful cry, and its form became thinner and dimmer at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Princess Xiyao's demonic aura surged wildly, her silver hair danced wildly, and the red mark between her brows was almost dripping blood!
The remaining seven prisoners let out painful roars as their primordial tribulation energy was ignited like kindling and frantically extracted and melted by the spiritual bones!
"Boom!"

Defying the heavens and stealing life, the heavens and earth are enraged!
A dark red bolt of lightning, shaped like the claw of a monstrous dragon and as thick as a palace pillar, tore through the thick, leaden clouds, carrying a violent aura as it fell straight down!

"Yu!"

Zhao Yuanji shook the banner and shouted fiercely, causing the banner to flutter loudly!

The array patterns and the starlight curtain around the altar suddenly solidified, with countless starlight flowing like a shield!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The crimson lightning bolt slammed into the light screen, exploding into a sky full of blood and stardust!

The starlight screen flickered and faded wildly, with countless fine cracks crawling all over its surface!

The Tianyan Terrace shook violently!
The sixth prince's face turned ashen, and a look of panic flashed in his eyes. He actually took two steps back!
After a few breaths of lightning, all around fell into dead silence.

When the thunder subsided, the light curtain was not torn apart.

A few breaths later, the stars in the sky returned to calm, and the thunder in the sky had disappeared.

The sixth prince, still shaken, smiled and took two more steps forward, declaring proudly, "Calamity cannot stop me! The Nine Calamities Seal shall be mine!"

The Empress stood atop the floating palace, her gaze behind the beaded curtain as cold as eternal ice, and uttered a single word—

"Refining."

"what--"

Inside the altar, Chen Xuan let out an extremely shrill scream, and her body withered away at a visible speed!

Above the altar array, a cluster of starlight slowly gathered, outlining a blurry prototype.

Just then.

"Om-"

The eastern sky suddenly brightened!

A colossal golden-armored god, towering to the heavens and standing tall, shattered the void, casting a shadow that blotted out the sky!

On his shoulder, the eldest prince, Xu Chengqian, sat cross-legged on the starlight chessboard, black and white energies flowing and dying around him. His indifferent gaze fell on the Heavenly Evolution Platform, and he said, "Nine Tribulations Substitute, reversing Yin and Yang! If this seal is completed, the Immortal Dynasty will collapse, the Dao Fruit will wither, and the status will crumble! He should be executed!"

On the western horizon, a fierce and menacing aura soared into the sky!

The Second Prince Xu Zhanyuan was clad in heavy armor, with the shadowy Xuanjia battle spirits roaring silently behind him!

He held the halberd in one hand, pointed it diagonally at the altar, grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth: "Sixth Brother! You think you're worthy of that position?!" His voice boomed like thunder, echoing across the sky!

In the south, amidst the gathering and dispersing shadows of the mountains, a woman named Su Qingyi arrived, stepping through the air. Dressed in elegant palace attire, she raised her slender hand, parted her lips slightly, and spoke in a clear, cold voice: "Su Huan! I respectfully address you as Empress! But my elder sister is a born Daoist, not a plaything for your selfish desires! Release her now!"

Behind him, several cultivators with profound auras stood silently, each holding an ancient bronze mirror. The magical light of the mirror flickered, yet remained unreleased.
In the north, a deathly silence spreads!
A gaunt, ghost-like old man in hemp clothing arrived silently, holding a black tortoise shell that spun rapidly in his hand. The tortoise shell was covered in cracks, and wherever it passed, an aura of decay and decay spread like a plague, freezing spiritual energy and causing life to wither!
His cloudy old eyes were fixed on a certain spot on the altar, and he uttered a hoarse, venomous voice: "Empress Dowager! You've detained my last disciple for soul refinement! You've severed the true lineage of my Dao! How ruthless you are!"

This person is the patriarch of the reclusive sect "Xuan Gui Island"!

Further away, shadowy figures lurk, lurking everywhere, a deadly aura lurking in the distance!
The sixth prince, Xu Qitian, looked at the newcomers with a gloomy expression.

"The calamity of those who obstruct the Dao has indeed arrived! Zhao Yuanji, ignore them and focus on presiding over the great formation!"

Just as these four powerful forces collided, and the world changed color...

"Hey!"

At the edge of the altar, the space subtly folded, and a beam of blue light suddenly slid in!

The radiance and energy of the Ninth-Rank Azure Lotus Platform, in harmony with the laws of heaven and earth, perfectly concealed Chen Qing's aura and figure.

He landed in the formation, looked up and saw that the aura of calamity on the altar was boiling, and eight twisted and wailing rays of light were twisting and changing around the dark spiritual bone!
"This is my spirit bone? How can it be so sinister?"

With another glance, he saw the emaciated Chen Xuan, the weak Princess Xi Yao, and seven other figures like lambs to the slaughter!
Of course, Zhao Yuanji, holding a banner and grinning maliciously, is also present on the east side!

"The one controlling the grand formation is this person! He's definitely a seasoned villain! But in the current situation, saving people is absolutely out of the question. Only by retrieving the spirit bone and disrupting the grand formation can we turn the tide!"

Calming his mind, Chen Qing carefully moved his body and quickly confirmed a guess.

The terrifying restrictions that enveloped the array and altar had no effect on him whatsoever!
"Indeed, we share the same origin and energy! The Spirit Bone and Chen Xu are ultimately one! I am like the Spirit Bone within the formation!"

This grand formation treated him as part of the spiritual bone!

Having made up his mind, Chen Qing took this opportunity to walk a few more steps, but...

"Om-"

Suddenly, Zhao Yuanji waved his flag!

The blurry outline above the altar resonated with the spiritual bones, rapidly taking shape and gradually revealing the outline of a blurry seal!

This seal is square and upright, with the base seemingly engraved with scenes of the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and the state, and nine divine dragons of different shapes coiled on the top!

A majestic and awe-inspiring pressure descended suddenly!

　I'm here, it's quite late today...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)