Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

The gray aura of law, like a viscous swamp that couldn't be dissolved, continuously emanated from Li Changgeng's palm.

These halos silently intertwined and entwined in mid-air, like an invisible giant hand weaving a huge gray cocoon. In no more than two breaths, a closed sphere of law with a diameter of about ten feet was completely formed.

Chen Xuan's mutilated body, which would make even wild dogs shake their heads, was forcibly lifted into the air by this gray halo.

His broken spine had completely lost its support, and his lower body drooped helplessly like a tattered sack hanging on a meat hook. In the horrific wound where the flesh was turned inside out, the broken bone fragments, suspended in the air, lost their original positions and rubbed and collided with each other, making an extremely fine but tooth-grinding "crackling" sound.

The bleeding couldn't be stopped at all.

Dark red liquid dripped down his drooping trouser legs, finally crashing heavily onto the gray law light barrier at the bottom.

This barrier of light was translucent, exuding a deathly stillness devoid of any emotion. The moment the blood droplets struck it, they exploded into dazzling blood flowers, then quickly dispersed, forcefully staining that large gray area a shocking red.

But Chen Xuan did not struggle.

Or rather, his current physical condition has completely drained him of the strength to even move his little finger.

But he just stubbornly stuck his neck out.

Those eyes, turned pure black from extreme bloodshot, pierced through the gray-red light barrier, fixed intently on the distant stone platform. They were fixed on the dark red primordial light of the celestial fox, finally disappearing into the withered remains of the body.

"Su Chang'an..."

He chewed on those three words in his mind over and over again, swallowing the strong taste of blood in his mouth.

Under Li Changgeng's control, the ball of light began to slowly rise towards the crack at the top of the cave.

Chen Xuan's chin was pressed tightly against the inside of the light wall. His lower lip had long been bitten to pieces, with bloody, mangled flesh rolled up on the outside. Deep in his throat, due to damaged vocal cords and extreme weakness, he could only make a hissing sound like a broken bellows being pulled.

His five fingers on his left hand were being twisted at an angle that no human skeleton could possibly achieve, slowly and stubbornly digging upwards.

Clinging tightly to the smooth, light-filled wall of laws.

The fingernail, due to excessive force, shattered and flew off the flesh, falling into some dark corner. The bare, bleeding flesh of the fingers was thus ground against the incredibly hard surface of the law, leaving shocking bloody marks.

The bloodstains overlapped and intertwined, forming a net that completely covered Chen Xuan's unwillingness and madness on this half of the light wall.

Even in the dust, sparks can be hidden; in the ordinary, legends can be born!

If I don't die today, I'll make sure to tear a hole in this sky someday!

Li Changgeng didn't even turn his head. With his back to the ball of light in mid-air, he acted as if he were dealing with a trivial piece of trash, and pressed his right hand down sharply.

"Boom!"

A muffled rumble echoed from the rock strata at the top of the cave, as the power of the laws tore a spatial rift several feet wide through the hard rock walls. Black spatial turbulence surged wildly into the rift, carrying an aura of destruction that could shred everything, sending rubble flying everywhere below.

Without the slightest pause, the ball of light, carrying Chen Xuan, plunged headlong into the spatial rift.

In the final moment before the crack closed.

Chen Xuan's pure black eyes, filled with overwhelming killing intent and obsession, were imprinted on the dome of the cave, as if trying to etch Li Changgeng's silhouette into his very bones.

The gap was completely closed.

Gravel fell like rain, clattering onto the piles of broken chains on the ground with a dull thud.

Inside the cave, a deathly silence returned.

Only the withered body on the stone platform was showing extremely faint, almost negligible, undulations in its shriveled chest as the dark red essence was injected.

Just then, a series of unhurried footsteps came from the entrance of the passageway.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Three long and one short.

The rhythm was precise, each step carrying the composure and arrogance unique to those in power. The soles of his shoes relentlessly ground the grayish-white rune powder on the ground, producing a soft, rustling sound. The hem of his purple-gold robe casually swept across the rough, rocky surface.

The third ancestor of the Chen family was Chen Daolin.

This powerful figure from the Central Continent imperial family slowly emerged from the dark passageway.

He stopped three zhang away from the stone platform, refusing to take another step. His deep, calculating eyes quickly swept over the broken rune chains scattered on the ground, a barely perceptible hint of apprehension flashing in them. Then, his gaze swept over the spatial rift in the cavern's dome that had just healed.

Finally, his gaze was fixed on Li Changgeng's back.

"You just let them go so easily?"

Chen Daolin's voice was calm, but the weight of his words was terrifying. He raised his right hand and casually patted the stone powder stuck to his wide sleeve.

"Li Changgeng, do you know how long the Chen family's protective formation operated at full power to trap that rebellious son? In just this short time, the formation burned three hundred mid-grade spiritual veins!"

Chen Daolin's tone carried a hint of barely concealed heartache. Three hundred mid-grade spiritual veins—that was no small sum; enough to build a medium-sized sect out of thin air.

"Not only that, I personally intervened, mobilizing twelve elders from the main family at the peak of the Cave Profound Realm, sparing no expense to seal off all the array points within a three-hundred-mile radius of the ancestral land. Not even a fly or a wisp of divine consciousness could escape!"

Chen Daolin lowered his hands, clasped them together on his stomach, adopting a negotiating posture, his eyes gradually turning cold.

"And the result?"

"With just one sentence, you threw someone into the spatial turbulence."

"My Chen family has spent half a day and countless resources working tirelessly on this meticulously planned scheme, only to have it all come to nothing. Shouldn't you give my Chen family an explanation?"

Li Changgeng remained standing by the stone platform, his hands clasped behind his back. His gray hair hung casually over his shoulders, the ends still stained with the black blood he had coughed up as a result of the backlash from forcibly breaking the formation.

He didn't even turn his head.

"Noisy."

The two words, like two giant iron hammers, slammed heavily into the empty cave.

The moment the words fell.

They didn't see how Li Changgeng formed hand seals or how he circulated his spiritual power; a wisp of gray law shot out from under his feet, skimming the ground.

The speed is so fast it's completely unreasonable.

It was like a gray venomous snake, tearing through the air and heading straight for Chen Daolin's feet.

Chen Daolin's eyes narrowed sharply; his quasi-emperor intuition told him that he felt a real and deadly threat.

The pair of purple-gold boots beneath his feet instantly erupted with dazzling golden light. His protective aura, at the early stage of Quasi-Emperor level, was unleashed without reservation, bursting forth with a deafening roar. A golden shield, like an inverted bell, tightly protected Chen Daolin within.

next second.

The gray law collided directly with the golden light.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any dazzling light. Only a terrifying, grating sound, enough to send chills down your spine and make your teeth ache. It was like two iron mountains grinding against each other; the sparks were invisible, but the destructive force field was undeniably present.

"Click click click..."

The rock layer within three feet of Chen Daolin's feet couldn't even hold for half a second, instantly turning into extremely fine dust. His feet, having lost their support, sank directly into the rubble pit.

Even more terrifying was that layer of golden protective aura.

The originally perfect semi-circular light shield was crushed by that seemingly insignificant gray law, turning it from a perfect circle into a pitted and flawed product.

Chen Daolin's shoulders suddenly slumped down, as if a hundred thousand mountains had suddenly pressed down on his back. The veins in his neck bulged instantly, like green earthworms throbbing violently under his skin.

He withstood the blow.

But that once composed face was now extremely gloomy, almost as if it could drip water.

This old madman, despite both being at the early stage of Quasi-Emperor, was able to deliver a pure dimensional reduction attack on him due to his understanding and control of the laws!

Li Changgeng then slowly turned around.

He stared blankly at Chen Daolin, whose feet were stuck in the rubble, his eyes as cold as a block of ice.

"Explanation? What your Chen family went to such lengths to obtain was nothing more than that supreme bone within him that could reshape one's Dao foundation. You wanted to use it as nourishment to feed your family's useless divine son."

Li Changgeng's voice was completely flat, as if he were stating the ownership of garbage.

"But I saw it very clearly just now."

"His spine was broken in three places."

"The Qi Sea was shattered into dust."

"Even his soul was burned by more than 90% in order to pull out that sword."

Li Changgeng took a step forward, staring intently at Chen Daolin.

"Chen Xuan right now is just a pile of rotten flesh that can't be pieced together. What are you keeping him for? To use as fertilizer?"

"Staying here will only dirty this land."

Chen Daolin snorted coldly and forcefully pulled his right foot out of the rubble pit. The golden aura slowly contracted and re-adhered to the surface of his purple-gold robe, restoring the dignity of a noble patriarch.

"A rotten body was exchanged for the purest celestial fox essence of that red-clothed fox demon."

Chen Daolin raised his chin, his gaze passing over Li Changgeng and looking at the body on the stone platform.

"Li Changgeng, broaden your perspective. You really made a very worthwhile deal."

Chen Daolin walked to a rock about half a person's height. On the surface of the rock, there were still traces of the blood Chen Xuan had spat out when he forcibly pulled out his sword. The blood had dried and turned black, giving off a gruesome smell.

Chen Daolin stretched out his finger and touched the bloodstain in the air.

"But I have to warn you, you've suffered a huge loss this time."

Chen Daolin's gaze was fixed on the withered, mangled body on the stone platform, a mocking sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

"You are a master of medicine and a grandmaster of formations; there are some things I don't need to teach you. The heart meridian of this body has been firmly pierced by these three hundred and seventy-two chains for a full three thousand years!"

"Three thousand years! Li Changgeng! With every heartbeat, those vicious runes are frantically draining my life force!"

Chen Daolin raised his right hand and drew a circle in mid-air, simulating the trajectory of the formation.

"You were indeed ruthless today, forcibly forcing that red-clothed fox demon to dissipate her soul, extracting the purest essence of the celestial fox and pouring it into this body. On the surface, you replenished her depleted life force, it was practically a divine resurrection."

"But in reality, it's riddled with flaws!"

Chen Daolin's finger suddenly turned, pointing directly at the dozen or so main locks that were still firmly stuck in the body's chest cavity.

"The main lock remains intact! The runes are still functioning!"

"What's the use of pouring in pure essence? It will only flow along those broken heart vessels, strand by strand, to the main root of the spiritual veins underground."

The curve of Chen Daolin's lips widened, carrying a chilling and sarcastic air of knowing everything.

"It's like a sieve riddled with a thousand holes; no matter how much water you pour in, not a single drop will stay. Without repairing the heart meridian, everything is in vain. I predict that within forty-nine days, this wisp of celestial fox essence will be completely drained."

"At that time, she will still be doomed."

Chen Daolin crossed his hands over his abdomen again, like a shrewd businessman reviewing a failed investment.

"You went to great lengths, sacrificing three thousand years of your Dao Heart, even risking a falling out with my Chen family, only to end up giving her forty-nine days of barely clinging to life."

"Li Changgeng, don't you find this ridiculous?"

In the empty cave, Chen Daolin's laughter echoed among the rock walls.

Li Changgeng was not angry. He didn't even frown.

He simply turned around and slowly walked to the edge of the stone platform. He extended his right hand, his index and middle fingers joined together, and gently placed them on the side of the mutilated, withered neck.

He felt the pulse beneath his fingertips, so faint it was almost stagnant.

"Chen Daolin".

Li Changgeng's voice was so steady that it didn't have a single inflection, as if he were stating the simplest of facts.

"Who told you I was going to save this body?"

As soon as those words were spoken, the temperature inside the cave seemed to drop to freezing point instantly.

Chen Daolin's hands, which were clasped together on his abdomen, tightened suddenly, his knuckles turning white instantly from the excessive force.

"What did you say?"

Chen Daolin's brows were furrowed, and a hint of surprise and uncertainty flashed in his eyes.

Li Changgeng withdrew his hand. He turned his head and stared straight at Chen Daolin. His once cloudy eyes now revealed a chilling fanaticism and madness.

It was a kind of madness that completely abandoned reason and set the soul ablaze.

"This body is completely rotten."

Li Changgeng's fingers gently brushed over the dark red fleshy buds on the body that had curled up due to the chains piercing through them.

"Three thousand years, three thousand years of torment. It has long since reduced her vitality to the most worthless ashes. It cannot be made up for, and I know this a million times better than you, an outsider."

Li Changgeng turned around and faced Chen Daolin directly.

"What I want is not to revive this rotten body at all."

Chen Daolin's breathing suddenly became erratic; the dignified Quasi-Emperor was now feeling a sense of absurdity.

"If you're not going to save the physical body, then why did you go through all that trouble to force out this wisp of Celestial Fox essence? Was it for fun?"

Li Changgeng slowly spread his hands in front of his chest, palms facing upwards.

The gray laws rapidly gathered above his palm, condensing in the blink of an eye into a ball of light the size of a longan.

What I need is a container.

Li Changgeng suddenly clenched his fingers, and the gray light sphere emitted a faint crackling sound between his fingers, turning into specks of gray light and dissipating.

"The essence of that red-clothed fox demon is the purest celestial fox power in the world, sharing the same origin. And within this withered body, the last remnants of my master's three souls and seven spirits still remain."

Li Changgeng suddenly drew extremely complex array patterns in mid-air with both hands. The array patterns emitted a dark gray light, instantly enveloping the space around the stone platform and isolating it from all heavenly secrets.

"The essence is integrated into the residue, not to repair that damned heart meridian. It's for nurturing!"

Li Changgeng's speech became faster and faster, and his tone became higher and higher. The muscles in his cheeks twitched violently as he spoke, making him look like a complete madman.

"Forty-nine days later!"

"This pure essence of the celestial fox will devour and fuse all the fragments of her remnant soul scattered within her flesh and bones!"

"Finally, at the moment when her heart and veins are completely exhausted and this body breathes its last breath, this power will condense into a Life Pearl containing all her destiny!"

Li Changgeng lowered his hands, and the gray array patterns slowly rotated in mid-air, like a giant millstone.

"With this life-giving pearl, I have my anchor!"

The rock beneath Chen Daolin's feet creaked under the weight once more.

He stared intently at Li Changgeng's crazed face. His knowledge and experience as a quasi-emperor allowed him to piece together all of Li Changgeng's insane intentions in a flash.

An indescribable chill ran from Chen Daolin's tailbone straight to the back of his head, making even his scalp numb.

"You want to... open the river of time?"

Chen Daolin's voice echoed loudly in the cave, even changing the tone of his voice.

Three thousand years ago.

Li Changgeng didn't answer directly. Instead, he looked up at the dark dome of the cave. His eyes completely lost focus, as if piercing through the thick layers of rock and seeing the past.

"The far north snowfield. The mountains are sealed off by heavy snow, leaving no trace for thousands of miles."

"That was before she established the rules of the Supreme Forgetfulness Sect for the sake of all living beings. That was before she stripped herself of her ego and willingly allowed herself to be bound by these 372 chains in this dark and sunless underground!"

Li Changgeng suddenly lowered his head, staring intently at Chen Daolin, his eyes flashing with a terrifying light.

"I want to go back to that day!"

"I will wield this life-giving pearl as a guiding light! I will tear apart the barriers of the river of time!"

Li Changgeng clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles cracking like popping beans.

"I want to drag her, alive and intact, right out of the timeline of three thousand years ago!"

crazy.

This old man has completely gone mad!

Chen Daolin subconsciously took half a step back, the hem of his purple-gold robe dragging on the rough rock with an extremely grating scraping sound.

"You're absolutely insane!"

Chen Daolin's voice was filled with undisguised fear.

"To forcibly interfere with cause and effect across the river of time is an absolute taboo that violates the Great Dao! The Great Dao will backfire, bringing forth the legendary Nine Heavens Tribulation!"

Chen Daolin pointed at Li Changgeng, his finger trembling slightly.

"With your mere early-stage Quasi-Emperor cultivation, you can't even withstand a single drop of water splashed in the River of Time! The moment the tribulation lightning descends, you'll be crushed into nothingness by the laws of time, unable even to enter the cycle of reincarnation!"

Faced with Chen Daolin's warning, Li Changgeng not only did not get angry, but he even smirked, revealing an extremely eerie smile.

"What do you think the ninth level of the Supreme Forgetfulness Technique is?"

"Tell the Supreme One to forget death."

Li Changgeng put his hands behind his back again, his posture as upright as a long spear.

"I have been imprisoned on this ruin of the Guiyuan Hall for three thousand years. I will not break through the realm, I will not ascend. I suppress my cultivation, waiting for the moment when the Great Dao will backfire."

Li Changgeng took a step forward.

The quasi-emperor's aura was released without reservation. The entire cavern space was distorted wildly, causing Chen Daolin to gasp for breath.

"Your Chen family owes me a huge favor from back then. Now, it's time to repay it."

Chen Daolin's brows were tightly furrowed, forming a deep "川" shape. Despite Li Changgeng's overwhelming pressure, he stood up straight.

We're all seasoned veterans; now that the truth has been revealed, we can only negotiate.

What do you want?

"I need to borrow the Chen family's imperial weapon," Li Changgeng said, emphasizing each word. "The Heaven-Suppressing Bell."

Chen Daolin's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints.

The Heaven-Suppressing Bell! That's the supreme foundation of the Chen family, the imperial clan of Central Continent, for suppressing their fortune! It's the very reason why the Chen family has been able to stand firm!

"You dare use my Chen family's imperial weapon to withstand the Nine Heavens Tribulation?!"

Chen Daolin's hands, clasped together over his abdomen, clenched tightly, his nails almost digging into his flesh.

"You're crazy, I'm not going to be crazy with you! If the Imperial Weapon is damaged in the tribulation, the fortune of my Chen family will plummet to rock bottom! If this news gets out, it might even attract the combined attacks of other Imperial clans, who could directly swallow up my Chen family!"

Li Changgeng's face was as cold as iron; he wasn't swayed by any of that.

"That's your Chen family's business, what does it have to do with me?"

"Lend me the Imperial Weapon. In exchange, the moment the River of Time opens, the primordial purple energy that existed only at the beginning of time will overflow from the chaotic silt at the bottom of the river."

Li Changgeng stared at Chen Daolin's calculating face and threw out a bait that no cultivator could refuse.

"That wisp of purple energy is enough for you, Chen Daolin, to directly cross the final threshold of the Great Saint Realm, completely solidify your Dao foundation, and step into the true mid-stage of Quasi-Emperor. It might even qualify you to glimpse the Great Emperor Realm!"

Primordial purple aura.

Upon hearing these four words, Chen Daolin's tightly clenched hands suddenly loosened.

Inside the cave, only the heavy, muffled breathing of the two remained.

Profits, absolute profits. The risks are immense, but the rewards are so great that an imperial patriarch would risk the fate of his entire clan.

After a long silence.

Chen Daolin slowly stretched out his hand and carefully straightened his somewhat disheveled purple-gold robe, regaining his aloof demeanor as the leader of an imperial family.

"Borrowing the imperial weapon is permissible."

Chen Daolin raised his head and looked directly into Li Changgeng's murky yet crazed eyes.

"But the Chen family has never been at a disadvantage in business. Not only do we want that wisp of primordial purple energy, but we also want 70% of all the crystallization of time that overflowed when the river of time opened."

Chen Daolin was a man who made outrageous demands.

Li Changgeng did not hesitate at all. He turned around and faced the withered body on the stone platform again.

"Take it."

Two words, decisive and straightforward. As long as it saves his master, what does it matter if he gives the whole world to Chen Daolin?

Li Changgeng raised his right hand, his index finger gently touching the chest of the mangled body. Gray laws flowed continuously into the celestial fox essence that was fusing with the remnants, carefully protecting the "life pearl" that was being nurtured.

The deal is done.

Chen Daolin didn't waste any more words. He turned around and walked into the dark passageway.

The purple-gold soles of his boots crunched rhythmically on the gravel. Chen Daolin stopped at the entrance to the passageway.

He didn't turn around.

"Forty-nine days from now, the Zhen Tian Bell will be delivered to the ruins of the Guiyuan Hall on time."

Footsteps sounded again.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Three long and one short. Gradually disappearing into the depths of the tunnel, along with Chen Daolin's aura, they completely left this underground space.

Inside the cave.

Deathly silence returned once more.

Li Changgeng slowly bent down and knelt before the stone platform. He stretched out his hands, as if holding a priceless treasure, and carefully cradled the withered, cold body.

Her gray hair hung down.

It was laid out on the broken rune chains scattered all over the ground.

He pressed his face against the back of the mutilated hand.

"Master, wait for me a little longer."

The murmuring echoed in the empty cave, conveying a sense of longing and desolation that spanned three thousand years.