The Key Awakened
Over the past five years, the newly established Limitless Divine Dynasty has completely stabilized its situation through the iron-fisted yet appeasement-based approach of its Grand Chancellor, Mo Wendao.
Three Thousand Middle Thousand Worlds and One Hundred Thousand Small Thousand Worlds that were once under the command of the Immortal Feather Divine Dynasty have submitted, and none of them dare to harbor any disloyal thoughts.
Mo Wendao rebuilt the Myriad Realms Trade Formation, transporting countless rare spiritual veins and top-grade medicinal herbs to the Ziwei Emperor Star. The territory and foundation of the Divine Dynasty have expanded more than tenfold compared to the heyday of the Immortal Feather.
Hundreds of billions of beings worship the Supreme God, and the vast and surging power of incense and the vitality of Life Force of the People, like the Milky Way flowing backwards, nourish the Purple Imperial Star day and night.
However, deep within the serene bamboo forest of the Imperial Palace, not a trace of the clamor of the court could be heard.
For five years, Chen Fan never stepped out of the Imperial Palace.
The sixteen-year-old boy had grown taller and changed out of his coarse clothes, now wearing only a simple white robe, his dark hair casually draped over his shoulders.
Along the bamboo stream, a gentle breeze ripples across the water.
Chen Changqing sat on a bamboo stool, holding a green bamboo fishing rod in his hand. On the small clay stove next to him, a pot of fragrant spirit chicken soup was simmering.
Chen Fan lay on a blue stone not far away, a blade of grass between his teeth, his eyes half-closed, letting the dappled sunlight fall on his face.
"Fan'er, when the soup is ready, drink a few more bowls. This is three-thousand-year-old Solomon's Seal that your father personally picked from the herb garden."
Chen Changqing stared at the float on the water's surface, muttering to himself:
"You've grown taller rapidly these past few years. Although your cultivation level is high, your body still needs to be nourished slowly with grains and spiritual food..."
"Understood, Father."
Chen Fan didn't open his eyes, but a slight smile played on his lips.
For five whole years, he was like an ordinary young man, accompanying Chen Changqing, fishing, drinking tea, and taking walks.
This seemingly wasted time in the mundane world has allowed the "Myriad Realms Red Dust Scripture" to achieve an unprecedented level of perfection and clarity.
Those intangible human bonds transformed into an unbreakable anchor for the soul, firmly anchored in the deepest part of the Miniature Divine Kingdom.
Boom!
In that moment of utter stillness, a deafening roar, as if the heavens and earth were splitting apart, suddenly resounded from the depths of Chen Fan's Sea of Consciousness.
Within the Divine Kingdom, the rotation speed of the Yin-Yang Tai Chi Millstone slowed down, completely solidifying.
The collective Life Force of the People, the Mortal World Karma of hundreds of billions in the mortal world, and the Fortune of immortals over tens of thousands of years, all merged completely at this moment.
Click!
Accompanied by a barely audible cracking sound.
The last faint trace of the sealing spirit Dao pattern within Chen Fan's body completely dissolved and disintegrated!
All thirty-six Spirit-Sealing Seal were shattered, and the Chaos God-Demon Body was perfectly unified!
There were no unusual celestial phenomena, nor did any thunderous tribulation descend.
This avatar, which housed the Martial God True Spirit, silently passed through the final barrier as the Heavenly Qi and Blood Laws of the Cangwu Realm yielded.
Early Great Vehicle!
The Dao Integration Realm and the Great Vehicle Realm was flattened in that instant.
Transcending Dimensions barriers, the immense power contained within this sixteen-year-old body has already firmly crossed the threshold of the Eighth-Order Starry Sky!
However, just as Chen Fan's Dao Rhythm underwent a transformation and his Great Vehicle True Meaning had not yet been fully subdued...
Inside the Divine Kingdom, the Bronze Fragment covered in green rust, which had been suppressed beneath the Black-and-White Millstone for five years, suddenly trembled violently!
Brutality!
A sharp, piercing cry of an ancient, ferocious bird suddenly erupted from the depths of the Bronze Fragment!
The bluish-black patina on the surface of the fragment peeled away inch by inch, revealing a Mysterious Ancient Gold that was dark red like blood.
A strange and dazzling crimson beam of light pierced through the Divine Kingdom, shooting straight into the Firmament and tearing open a crimson Star Map spanning tens of thousands of miles above the Ziwei Emperor Star!
The Star Map's veins meandered and twisted, with all the arrows pointing towards the deepest part of the desolate, cold, and untouched Void Star Sea beyond the Cangwu Realm!
The fishing rod jerked violently, and Chen Changqing looked up in astonishment at the eerie, blood-stained Star Map in the sky.
On the blue stone, the white-robed youth slowly opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing deep within his pupils.
"The key... is awake."
Above the sky, the blood-red Star Map resembled an ancient sword tearing through the Firmament, lingering for a long time.
Beside the stone table, the green bamboo fishing rod in Chen Changqing's hand fell to the ground, and the spirit chicken soup in the clay stove bubbled with white foam.
He looked at the blood-red light filling the sky, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes, and turned to look at the white-clad youth lying on the blue stone.
"Fan'er, this is..."
Chen Fan spat out the grass stems from his mouth and sat up.
He waved away the lingering strange phenomena in the Void, his expression returning to its usual calm, and said softly, "Father, don't panic. It's just that an underground palace left over from the previous dynasty has opened. I'll be right back to get you some powerful longevity elixirs."
Chen Changqing opened his mouth.
He was now at the peak of the Deity Transformation, with keen Divine Sense, and could naturally vaguely perceive the overwhelming danger emanating from the end of the Star Map. It was no ordinary ruin, but a perilous place where even the laws of Heaven trembled.
But looking into his son's unfathomable eyes, Chen Changqing swallowed back all his worries.
He stepped forward, bent down, and brushed the grass clippings off Chen Fan's clothes, his hands stiffening slightly.
"Your father can't help you much," Chen Changqing said in a low voice. "With Elder Mo and I watching over the Divine Dynasty, things won't fall into chaos. When you're out there, always be prepared. Your life is more precious than any medicine."
Chen Fan's expression softened slightly, and he nodded. "Okay."
He raised his hand and pointed, drawing a line in the air above the Ziwei Sacred Temple.
Buzz!
The black and white Tai Chi Millstone within the Dantian Divine Kingdom trembled slightly, and a gray-white array containing the True Meaning of Life and Death descended from the sky, like an invisible bell, quietly striking the outer perimeter of the entire Imperial Palace.
With this formation in place, even Middle Great Vehicle cultivator wouldn't be able to shake the Imperial Palace in the slightest within half an incense stick's time.
After doing all this, Chen Fan's figure flickered and vanished into thin air by the bamboo stream.
Beyond the Cangwu Realm, lies an endless, Void Star Sea.
This is the endpoint indicated by the Star Map, and also a forbidden zone in the eyes of cultivators from all realms.
There were no Stars shining around, only the cold, deathly silence of the Eternal Night. Hundreds of millions of broken star fragments floated in the Void, and the occasional turbulent currents could easily tear apart the protective True Essence of a cultivator at the Void Refinement stage.
Chen Fan's physical body traversed the Void, his white robe fluttering in the starry winds.
He opened his palm, and the Dark Red Bronze Fragment, peeling off its patina, hung three inches from his palm, emitting a low, cicada-like chirp. The fragment emitted a faint halo, pushing aside the surrounding turbulent interstellar currents.
After traveling thousands of miles, the stellar remains gradually became sparse.
At the edge of the horizon, a colossal, breathtaking creation lay silently in the center of the Star Sea.
It was a colossal Nine-Cornered Bronze Coffin, stretching for tens of thousands of miles!
The coffin was covered with ancient bluish-black patterns, and its nine sharp corners were like swords piercing the starry sky, pointing directly to all directions of the universe.
The giant coffin was surrounded by chaotic nebulae, with wisps of Primordial Immortal Light weaving through them, radiating destructive energy powerful enough to grind even Dao Integration cultivators into mincemeat.