However.
Lu Chen's eyes wavered for only an instant.
Then, a sharp glint, fierce as a divine blade cleaving open the heavens, burst forth from the depths of his eyes!
Lu Chen's spine straightened, ramrod-straight!
His gaze was sharp as a blade, as though it could sever all falsehood and fear!
Fear? Retreat? Hesitation?
Those emotions had long since been crushed to pieces by his countless brushes with life and death!
His Dao heart had been forged in the Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood and tempered through comebacks from desperate situations. It had long since become indestructible!
"What is there to fear!"
Lu Chen spoke.
His voice was not loud, but it rang with force. Every word was like iron, resounding as it struck the ground!
Every syllable held incomparable resolve and confidence!
"Good!"
That vast, icy will seemed to ripple with an exceedingly subtle fluctuation because of Lu Chen's unwavering, utterly resolute response.
Within that fluctuation, there seemed to be a trace of... approval, so faint it was nearly impossible to detect.
But it vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving behind absolute coldness once more.
"If that is so..."
"The First Tribulation, the Dao Heart Tribulation..."
"Begin!"
The final word, "Begin," fell!
BOOM!!!
Lu Chen felt everything before his eyes—including the magnificent phantom of the Myriad Dao Sea of Origin, the endless chaos, and the token in his hand—shatter like a mirror smashed to pieces!
An irresistible force that reached into the very essence of his soul enveloped him.
The heavens spun and the earth whirled!
Time and space shifted!
When he could sense his surroundings again, he found himself in a...
familiar scene that made even his soul tremble.
"Beep—beep—"
The crisp honk of a car, carrying the distinctive impatience of the city,