After the college entrance examination, my identity as a Mahayana Immortal Venerable could no longer

Dark red stone powder leaked down between Lu Yuan's fingers.

It landed beside the thousand-year-old jade bed in the basement, making a soft rustling sound.

Lu Yuan clapped his hands twice.

The skin on his palm was scratched by fragments of the Ruins Stone, leaving several white marks. There was no bleeding. That skin and flesh, which could withstand the tens of millions of degrees of temperature from a nuclear explosion, still maintained a despairing physical strength after losing the nourishment of the Mahayana stage's true essence.

"The cross-border anchor point is locked."

Lu Yuan looked down at the stone dust covering the ground.

Those people in the Sirius Starfield probably have nothing but void gales in their heads. These powerful cultivators from beyond the realm are making a big fuss about their arrival, as if they're afraid no one will know they're about to be eliminated.

However, this matter cannot withstand close scrutiny.

The main array eye beneath Panlong Mountain was reduced to ashes by his natal immortal fire. The Blood River Sect wanted to force their way into Earth from hundreds of light-years away; the coordinates transmitted by that single eye were far from sufficient. They needed to find a pool on Earth capable of instantly unleashing massive energy to forcibly blast a hole in the dimensional barrier.

The capital city. Martial Arts Arena. Heavenly Thunder Formation.

Lu Yuan went through those three words in his mind.

The logic is complete.

The Ancient Martial Arts Alliance and those powerful figures in the capital were staging a public execution, threatening to strike Ye Qingcheng dead with heavenly lightning to establish their authority. This was all a ruse. Strike Ye Qingcheng was just a convenient convenient measure; their real purpose was to use the energy of heaven and earth drawn by the heavenly lightning array to fill the energy gap needed for the Blood River Sect's arrival.

They're being used as human batteries without even realizing it; these people who practice ancient martial arts really haven't seen much of the world.

A rhythmic humming sound came from the jade bed.

Lu Yuan turned his head.

Lu Qingxue, lying on the bed, remained unconscious. But the red mark on the girl's stomach, belonging to Ye Qingcheng's remnant soul, was now dazzlingly bright.

The surrounding air became extremely thin. The abundant spiritual energy that had filled the basement was all absorbed into the dantian by this humanoid nuclear fusion battery.

After the domineering medicinal power of the Extreme Flame Dragon Marrow and the cold poison of the Nine Yin Profound Meridian were completely neutralized, the pure life force produced was similar to the beginning of chaos, which Ye Qingcheng's remnant soul was desperately swallowing.

Lu Yuan walked over.

The weight of the Mahayana stage cultivator pressed down on the ground. The half-meter-thick bluestone floor tiles were directly trampled into two deep pits. Pebbles flew outwards, hitting the walls and creating a dense network of grooves.

He stood still beside the jade bed.

Looking at the shimmering red mark, Lu Qingxue thought, "This woman always acted like a special envoy when she was alive, but now that she's only half a soul, she certainly knows how to pick her place. If she continues to absorb this spiritual energy day and night, Lu Qingxue's dantian will eventually burst from the overflowing spiritual energy."

Lu Yuan extended his right hand.

Her index and middle fingers were brought together. The edges of her nails lost their color, and the dense finger bones pierced directly through the spontaneously formed spiritual energy shield on Lu Qingxue's body.

He did not mobilize a single trace of true energy.

It was purely by the terrifying weight of the Mahayana stage qi and blood that it forcefully slammed into that cyan vortex.

Two fingers, like two anchors, pressed firmly against the red mark.

"Shut your mouth when you've had enough."

Lu Yuan's voice echoed in the basement.

A pure physical shockwave erupted from her fingertips. This shockwave pierced through flesh and directly struck Ye Qingcheng's greedy remnant soul.

The red mark flickered violently. Seemingly with some kind of instinctive fear and obsequiousness, the light quickly dimmed, and it obediently shrank to the size of a soybean, lying dormant in the corner of Lu Qingxue's dantian, beginning to nourish the already purified spiritual energy.

Lu Qingxue's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly. Her breathing became longer and more even.

Lu Yuan withdrew his finger.

Shake off the ice crystals clinging to your fingertips.

He turned and walked out of the basement.

Without the support of true energy, this physical body became like a road roller without brakes. He had to calculate the contraction of every muscle fiber down to the micrometer level, otherwise even the load-bearing walls of this villa would collapse from a single sneeze.

Follow the stairs to the lobby on the first floor.

Lin Zhen was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window. He had changed into a new bulletproof vest, and the wound on his stomach had healed and scabbed over. He clutched the rusty iron sword, which had been imbued with a bit of spiritual energy, tightly to his chest, treating it like an ancestral tablet.

Upon hearing footsteps, Lin Zhen straightened up abruptly.

"Mr. Lu."

Lin Zhen turned around. His gaze fell on the solid wood floor under Lu Yuan's feet, which had been trampled beyond recognition, and his eyelids twitched uncontrollably twice.

"Has a letter arrived from the capital?"

Lu Yuan walked to the sofa. He didn't sit down. This full leather sofa couldn't withstand his current weight.

"The Wang family has spread the word."

Lin Zhen swallowed hard.

"Three days later, at noon, the Martial Arts Arena activated the Heavenly Thunder Array precisely on time. They not only widely distributed invitations to heroes, inviting major martial arts families across China to attend the ceremony, but they even opened a betting platform on the dark web."

Lin Zhen handed over the tablet computer he was holding.

Lu Yuan didn't take it. He was afraid he might accidentally crush the glass plate into powder.

"read."

"Do you dare to place bets on the betting odds?"

Lin Zhen looked at the data on the screen.

"The funds in the pool have now exceeded 30 billion US dollars. The vast majority of people are betting that you won't show up. The S.H.I.E.L.D. has also said that you exhausted your trump cards in the battle at Panlong Mountain and are now a useless person."

"Useless person."

Lu Yuan twitched the corner of his mouth.

"They're quite good at reading comprehension. What else?"

"A message from our informant at the Astronomical Bureau headquarters."

Lin Zhen's face darkened.

"The Wang family and the S.H.I.E.L.D. conglomerate joined forces to clear out the entire area within a five-kilometer radius of the Martial Arts Arena. It was ostensibly a military exercise. But I checked the logs of supplies being moved there. In the past forty-eight hours, twelve heavy-duty refrigerated transport trucks have entered the underground parking garage of the Martial Arts Arena."

"Refrigerated truck?"

"Those are specially made cargo boxes used by the S.H.I.E.L.D. to transport high-risk living beings."

Lin Zhen pulled up a blurry screenshot from the surveillance camera.

"Steve has gone mad. He transported all the newly minted S-class mutants from the secret headquarters in Asia. Twelve monsters, each costing a billion US dollars. These monsters have star-gold powder mixed into their bones, making them extremely resistant to physical attacks."

Lin Zhen looked up at Lu Yuan.

"Mr. Lu, they believe you have lost your immortal essence. These twelve monsters are a physical cage specifically prepared for you. The Heavenly Thunder Formation is just a prelude; the real killing move is below the stage."

Lu Yuan listened.

He walked to the bar in the lobby and picked up an empty glass.

"Lin Zhen".

"exist."

"Can you get the underground architectural plans of the martial arts arena?"

Lin Zhen was stunned for a moment.

He quickly went through the intelligence network of the Celestial Surveillance Bureau in his mind.

"We can get it. But if you're looking for the core of the Heavenly Thunder Formation, it's probably useless. The old feng shui masters at the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion buried the core thirty meters underground, and surrounded it with high-grade special cement and lead plates, so even armor-piercing bullets can't penetrate it."

"Who wants to break the formation?"

Lu Yuan clenched his five fingers.

Click.

The thick glass turned into a white powder finer than flour in his palm.

The powder spilled onto the bar table through his fingers.

"I need to know how many meters down that martial arts arena we can dig to reach the capital's underground drainage network."

Lin Zhen's breath hitched for half a second.

He stared at the pile of glass dust drifting in the wind. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind—an idea that was utterly absurd yet perfectly in line with the way this man acted.

He wasn't going to break the formation.

He planned to break the entire load-bearing foundation of the martial arts arena with his bare hands.

"I'll go get the blueprints right away!"

Lin Zhen, clutching the rusty iron sword, turned and ran towards the door. Halfway there, he stopped.

"Mr. Lu, you're going to the capital in three days. Here..."

"I'll leave that coffin lid to you."

Lu Yuan pointed to the courtyard outside the door.

"Anyone who dares to approach this villa, just shove that broken sword into the ground; it will teach them a lesson about how to be reincarnated."

......

The capital city. Western suburbs.

This is a vast, ring-shaped basin. The martial arts arena is built right in the center of the basin.

The entire building is constructed of granite, giving it a rugged and cold appearance. Twelve black metal pillars, each fifty meters tall, stand around the platform according to the orientations in the Qimen Dunjia divination method.

At the top of the tower, faint purple arcs of electricity were already dancing in the air.

Wang Hai, the second master of the Wang family, stood with his hands behind his back at the edge of the martial arts stage.

Beneath his feet was a thick alloy grille. From beneath the grille came nauseatingly heavy breathing and the scraping of chains.

"The sound of this is reassuring."

Wang Hai stepped on the grille with his toes.

Steve walked over from the temporary command post at the back, carrying a cup of hot coffee. The Asia CEO of the S.H.I.E.L.D. was wearing an expensive custom-made suit today, with a red silk handkerchief even tucked into his breast pocket.

"A cost of 12 billion US dollars. If that doesn't give people peace of mind, then those idiots in charge of R&D might as well go and reclaim land from the sea."

Steve walked over to Wang Hai.

He looked at the technicians in the distance who were making final adjustments.

"Ye Hongyu isn't dead yet?"

Steve took a sip of his coffee.

"That woman was cursed with a soul-devouring death curse."

Wang Hai snorted coldly.

"They wail every midnight sharp. The Ye family hired over a dozen top-tier doctors and even administered dozens of doses of sedatives, but it was all to no avail. They're now locked in the basement waiting to die."

Wang Hai turned his head and looked at Steve.

"That guy surnamed Lu's methods are extremely unorthodox. Are you sure he really can't use that technique of manipulating people out of thin air right now?"

"The energy monitoring data from the Astronomical Bureau doesn't lie."

Steve pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses.

"The nuclear explosion in Antarctica, coupled with the depletion of the earth's veins at Panlong Mountain, would be too much for even a so-called True Immortal in the cultivation world to withstand. According to our think tank's calculations, he currently has not a single drop of spiritual energy left in his body."

Steve pointed to the grille under his feet.

"He's just a brute who relies on his physical strength. Once he steps into the area within a kilometer radius of this martial arts platform, these twelve S-class mutants infused with Star Essence Gold will tear his body apart inch by inch. Even the storage ring on his hand will be the spoils of war for the conglomerate."

"What did the Blood River Sect say?"

Wang Hai lowered his voice.

"As soon as the Heavenly Thunder Array sounds, the passage will open."

Steve's smile widened.

"Once the sect leader's avatar descends, all the rules on this planet will have to be reshuffled. Martial Arts Alliance? Secular clans? They're all garbage from the old era."

A glint of fanaticism flashed in Wang Hai's eyes. He ignored Steve's words, his gaze fixed on the bronze pillar bound with thick chains in the very center of the martial arts stage.

three days later.

That woman named Ye Qingcheng will be tied up there.

Then, the arrogant Lu Yuan will be crushed into a pile of mud in front of the whole world.

......

Time seems to pass very slowly to those who are waiting to die.

But in some people's eyes, three days is just the time it takes to take a nap.

Day three. Early morning.

At the highway toll station in Jiangzhou, a black heavy SUV without any license plates crashed through the barrier gate and drove directly onto the main road leading to Beijing.

The SUV's chassis was lowered extremely, with the tires and rims almost touching. The engine roared under the strain, and black smoke billowed continuously from the exhaust pipe.

Lu Yuan sat in the passenger seat.

He wore a completely black windbreaker today. He didn't bring his rusty iron sword, nor any magical artifacts.

He simply leaned back quietly in his chair.

The driver was a field agent from the Observatory. The young man's hands were trembling as he gripped the steering wheel, and sweat dripped from his forehead and down his chin.

This isn't nervousness. It's a physiological, instinctive fear.

The man sitting in the passenger seat didn't exude any aura. But to the agent, it wasn't a person sitting next to him, but a volcano ready to erupt at any moment. The sheer density of his aura created a sense of pressure that made the air in the car feel as viscous as water.

"Drive more steadily."

Lu Yuan looked out the window at the scenery rushing past.

"If you keep slamming on the brakes like that, the car's suspension will break."

"Yes...yes!"

The agent quickly eased off the accelerator a little.

Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze.

He raised his right hand and glanced at his wrist.

Beneath the skin, a very thin black line was slowly writhing. That was the Heavenly Dao Chain in its frozen state. Although it had stopped tightening, it was still firmly embedded in the broken end of the Nascent Soul like a nail.

During these three days, Lu Yuan made no attempt to restore his true essence.

He is adapting.

The techniques for generating force in this pure Mahayana-stage physical body under normal gravity.

Since the laws of nature on Earth do not allow him to use immortal techniques.

Let's use the most primitive physical methods to teach these unsophisticated natives a lesson.

11:30 a.m.

Western suburbs of the capital. Outer defensive line of the Wudaotai (Martial Arts Arena).

This area has been completely taken over by the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s private armed forces. Two armored vehicles are blocking the only entrance road. The heavy machine guns are pointed at the end of the road.

Behind the defensive line, several mercenaries wearing tactical vests were smoking.

"With this kind of setup today, not even a fly could get in."

A blond mercenary flicked his cigarette butt onto the ground and crushed it with his military boot.

"I heard the target is a high school student? Boss, aren't you making a mountain out of a molehill?"

"Shut your mouth. Take the money and do the job."

The squad leader glared at him.

The voice just fell.

A black dot appeared at the end of the road.

The black SUV, its chassis almost touching the ground, showed no sign of slowing down. With the roar of its engine, it charged straight at the armored vehicle like a rampaging wild boar.

"Enemy attack!"

The squad leader ripped the walkie-talkie off.

The heavy machine gun opened fire instantly.

A barrage of armor-piercing rounds sent sparks flying across the SUV's hood. The bulletproof glass was riddled with spiderweb-like cracks after the first volley of fire.

The off-road vehicle, about thirty meters away from the armored vehicle, suddenly spun out and came to a stop across the middle of the road.

The tires rubbed against the ground, sending up a plume of acrid white smoke.

The car door was kicked open from the inside.

The bulletproof car door, weighing several dozen kilograms, spun in mid-air before slamming precisely into the barrel of the heavy machine gun. The high-strength barrel was bent into a right angle by the impact.

The gunfire stopped abruptly.

The smoke of battle has cleared.

Lu Yuan got out of the car.

He ignored the mercenaries who pointed their guns at him.

He looked up and glanced at the twelve towering black metal pillars that seemed to reach into the clouds in the distance.

At the top of the tower, purple arcs of electricity had coalesced into a web of lightning. Directly below this web, a figure could be vaguely seen chained to a bronze pillar.

Lu Yuan put his hands into the pockets of his windbreaker.

His foot rolled over the asphalt.

"Deliver the food on time."

Lu Yuan looked at the two armored vehicles blocking his way.

"I wonder if you bunch of bastards will even be alive to sign for it."

He took the first step.

The asphalt beneath his feet emitted a piercing cracking sound. A fissure stretching over ten meters long tore the entire road apart, starting from his toes.