Inside the dilapidated Bodhisattva Temple, silence reigned.

  Nie Changqing and Mo Tianyu stared dumbly at the figure rolling out from behind the air wall.

  “Young Master!”

  “Young Master Lu!”

  They spoke in unison, hearts jolting. Lu had truly appeared—not a clone, but his real body!

  The Young Master… had left Lake Center Island for this place!

  Rare indeed!

  Lu sat in the Thousand Blades Chair, white robes pristine. He glanced at Nie and Mo without surprise, nodding slightly.

  Outside, terrifying fluctuations surged and thundered.

  The sky darkened as if a single palm blotted out the heavens.

  “Head back, or stay quiet. Don’t leave the temple.”

  Lu said.

  Nie nodded—the battle outside was for titans; they couldn’t interfere.

  Lu turned to Mo Tianyu: “Don’t divine what you shouldn’t…”

  Mo smiled awkwardly.

  Of course the enigmatic Young Master Lu had sensed it.

  He dared not read Lu’s fate—being planted in the ground like grass still haunted him.

  As for Ding Jiudeng inside the temple.

  Lu spared him a glance, then ignored him, wheeling out.

  Beyond the temple, blizzard howled, winds and snow plunging the world into gloom.

  Lu’s chair-bound figure faded into the storm.

  ...

  Outside the temple.

  A massive rift tore the sky.

  The Empress, crimson robes whipping, was sucked into it.

  As she vanished inside…

  Du Longyang, Master Yuanshang, Tianxu, and Ye Shoudao felt chills—her anguished scream echoed from within.

  They struck without hesitation.

  They would storm the rift, shatter their pawn destiny.

  The Empress had ascended to the “immortal realm.”

  They’d seize the chance to uncover its truth!

  And why her cries of pain?

  The giant palm clashed with their full assaults, shockwaves rippling.

  Clouds exploded.

  Du Longyang roared, spear blazing like a sun.

  Lu emerged from the temple.

  Raging snow plastered his robes to his body.

  He looked up at the fight.

  The four seemed stalled by the palm.

  Lines danced in Lu’s eyes—it wielded terrifying source power.

  No matter their attacks, they couldn’t break through.

  Ascension was impossibly hard.

  The immortal realm a lie? Undeniable now—but what was it?

  Lu grew curious.

  He raised a hand, tapping the armguard.

  Phoenix Feather Sword sliced the void, soaring.

  A shrill phoenix cry rang out; crimson fire wings spread like flaming blades.

  It slammed the shading palm!

  The instant the cry sounded…

  Du Longyang’s eyes lit.

  “Thank you, Young Master Lu!”

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  Boom!

  A feather struck the palm’s weak point, blasting a gaping hole.

  None were ordinary—they seized it, unleashing heaven-shaking strikes.

  Boom!

  Energy detonated at the palm’s core; the tear widened.

  Tianxu, upon Lu’s arrival, swallowed his usual barbs and attacked furiously to widen the breach.

  He talked big, but feared Lu most.

  Lu could possess him unseen—kill him silently.

  It was his nightmare.

  His taunts? Just bravado.

  Face Lu, he fled fastest.

  The palm torn, it couldn’t block them.

  They slipped through.

  But the palm’s might persisted, crashing down.

  Snow trembled.

  The temple seemed ready to shatter.

  Lu flicked a finger, sending a ripple—the rickety structure turned rock-solid.

  Boom!

  Explosion erupted.

  The palm flattened the land.

  The towering ridge became plain—only the temple remained amid the flat path.

  The Thousand Blades Chair lifted Lu steadily.

  Du Longyang reached the healing rift first, spear in one hand, resolve unbreakable, charging in.

  Yuanshang and Ye Shoudao followed.

  Tianxu hesitated at the entrance.

  Snow drifted lightly.

  Lu drifted up on his chair, appearing behind him.

  Tianxu turned—pale face whitening further. No hesitation—he dove in.

  Lu was speechless.

  Was he that scary?

  Real body out—he should seem a dashing young gentleman.

  Elegant, refined—what was frightening?

  Only now did he study the rift.

  Beyond: the “immortal realm.” Ascension meant this.

  “Such dense source aura…”

  “This so-called immortal realm… a source world?”

  Lu’s face twisted oddly.

  Unlikely—Du Longyang and others had entered the true source world before.

  Lu frowned outside the rift, pondering long, undecided.

  Finally, he wheeled into it.

  Boom!

  The moment he entered…

  Powerful spiritual sense surged.

  “You are another world’s Plane Lord—truly meddling?”

  White void surrounded him.

  A black silhouette stood before him, voice ethereal.

  “Today’s me could be tomorrow’s you…” it continued.

  It seemed to bar his path.

  Lu smiled. “No, we’re different.”

  Spiritual sense stirred—everything tore apart, the scene vanishing.

  Lu wheeled through the rift.

  Plink.

  Like a pebble in water.

  Clarity returned.

  He found himself on a mirror-like water surface.

  Looking down, the lake reflected him.

  “This is the immortal realm?”

  Lu felt his intelligence insulted.

  Far off…

  Du Longyang stood on the water, spear in hand, staring around, lost.

  Tianxu too.

  Yuanshang and Ye Shoudao frowned, deep disappointment in their eyes.

  They’d shouted “slaughter immortals,” but harbored hopes for the realm. Now inside, their dreams shattered.

  “Where’s Empress Ni Chunqiu?”

  Tianxu’s pale face shifted; he asked.

  Du Longyang and others paled—no sign of her on this lake world.

  She ascended first—yet vanished.

  Unease gripped them.

  Lu eyed the lake, curiosity sparking.

  “This water… isn’t water!”

  He said.

  He pinched like plucking a flower.

  A droplet rippled upward to his palm, evaporating.

  “Source power.”

  His eyes gleamed strangely.

  Liquefied source power?

  By now, Lu knew: energy from the world source.

  A heavenly treasure.

  Boosted strength, aided Dao comprehension.

  This entire lake was condensed source!

  Mind-boggling.

  How many eons accumulated?

  Precious? Lu itched to haul the whole lake away.

  Swap it with Beiluo Lake.

  Suddenly…

  Chains clinked in their ears.

  Hearts clenched.

  They blasted forward, skimming the lake toward misty depths.

  For Infant Transformation experts, walking on water was trivial.

  Lu pondered hauling the source water home.

  Useless here—better nurture Five Phoenix cultivators.

  No ideas came; he gave up, wheeling deeper.

  Suddenly…

  He paused.

  Ahead, in the lake’s heart, an ancient black iron ship emerged slowly.

  Du Longyang and others eyed it warily.

  Behind the ship trailed something massive.

  Rumble…

  Lu focused—it was the source he’d seen in the source space.

  A star-like orb, floating, towed by the ship.

  Figures flickered aboard.

  A red flash—the missing Empress was there.

  They exchanged glances.

  They’d stormed the “immortal realm” expecting gods, ready to die.

  No immortals—just weirdness.

  “Board! Ni Chunqiu’s on it!”

  Du Longyang said.

  He stomped the lake, cratering it, leaping aboard.

  Yuanshang, Tianxu, Ye Shoudao followed.

  Boarding, they froze.

  Figures sat cross-legged on deck.

  “That’s the East Yi ancestor from a thousand years ago.”

  “That’s Martial Emperor City’s first Martial Emperor!”

  “That’s my Bitter Buddha Temple’s Great Buddha!”

  Shock hit Du Longyang and the others—these lifeless bodies were legends who’d ascended.

  Now incorrupt corpses, adrift on this boundless source lake.

  Immortality?

  A cruel joke.

  Du Longyang stared at the once-glorious first Martial Emperor, eyes reddening.

  What horrors had they endured?

  Lu boarded leisurely, eyebrow raised at the seated figures.

  Each rivaled Du Longyang’s level.

  Bodies intact, but souls and cultivation drained dry.

  Sucked clean.

  Lu eyed the towed source orb.

  Star-sized, unusual.

  Reminded him of the giant eye atop the source in the world’s origin.

  Connected, surely.

  Du Longyang’s group pressed to the stern.

  There: the ascended Empress.

  But seeing her, eyes shrank, chills racing.

  No ascension glory.

  She knelt in chains, facing the source orb.

  Chains from it pierced her, blood dripping, absorbed—chains twitching alive.

  Clank.

  She moaned in pain.

  Above her head…

  Chains coiled her mutated infant, yanking it out.

  Power and qi drained wildly into them.

  “Immortality… immortality…”

  Her phoenix crown lay shattered.

  “Cultivated to tribulation, only to become food…” Blood trickled from red lips.

  She laughed bitterly.

  Ascension’s instant—she’d believed the dream.

  Then chains burst from the source, piercing, devouring her years of cultivation.

  Far off…

  Du Longyang and others iced over.

  They’d resisted believing immortality a scam—their dream.

  Now brutally crushed.

  Du Longyang roared, hurling his spear at the source.

  But…

  Chains shot out, deflecting it.

  He tensed to dodge.

  Unexpectedly…

  Behind him, Yuanshang appeared, palm slamming his shoulder coldly.

  Du Longyang coughed blood, unable to evade—chains pierced him.

  He knelt, disbelief flooding his face.

  Terrifying suction pulled from the source.

  Not just him.

  Yuanshang struck Tianxu and Ye Shoudao in their shock—chains impaled them.

  Power drained madly.

  The twist blindsided all.

  Du Longyang’s eyes blazed, staring at Yuanshang incredulously.

  He’d guarded against Tianxu and Ye—but never the revered master!

  The immortal’s lapdog was the plan’s initiator!

  Far off…

  The Empress’s laugh grew more wretched.

  They’d schemed against immortals.

  Slaughter them—yet remained pawns.

  Yuanshang started the plan.

  Yet served the immortal.

  They’d followed blindly.

  The Immortal Slaughter Plan?

  Collapsed in an instant.

  Yuanshang pressed palms, face compassionate, smile warm.

  He turned slowly.

  Toward the ship’s far end.

  There, Lu in his Thousand Blades Chair—his final target.

  He’d lured Lu into the plan at all costs.

  Now, he wouldn’t let him go.