"Thump... thump... thump..."
The beating of Pangu's Heart rang through the vast hall like thunder from Chaos.
Lu Chen lay sprawled on the cold floor, feeling as if every bone in his body was about to shatter.
The heart floated a hundred zhang above him. It was dark gold and as large as a hill, and each beat made the space throughout the hall tremble. Twelve drops of Essence Blood, each as large as a fist and each a different color, floated around it. Their auras made Lu Chen's soul shudder.
"Ancestral Witch Essence Blood..." He licked his cracked lips.
Just one drop could create a Great Witch! All twelve together could even recreate the true bodies of the Ancestral Witches!
But he didn't dare move.
Beneath the heart sat twelve towering, phantom figures. Though they were illusory, their terrifying aura of blood and vitality made it hard for him even to raise his head.
The one at the very center was especially imposing—human face, bird's body, four wings on its back, and a red dragon beneath its feet—the Head of the Ancestral Witches, Dijiang!
"Buzz—"
The phantom of Dijiang seemed to sense an outsider and slowly opened his eyes.
There were no pupils, only two balls of burning blood-red flame.
Lu Chen's scalp prickled. He hurriedly took out Qiankun Ancestor's jade slip and raised it above his head.
"This junior, Lu Chen, came here by mistake while carrying out Qiankun Ancestor's request. I never meant to trespass!"
Dijiang's phantom looked at the jade slip. The blood-red flames flickered.
"Qiankun..." A vast, ancient voice sounded directly in Lu Chen's mind. "That old fellow still hasn't kicked the bucket?"
Lu Chen was startled. Dijiang knew Qiankun Ancestor?!
"Were you acquainted with the Ancestor, Senior?" he asked cautiously.
"Hmph. We fought once." Dijiang's phantom spoke indifferently. "Since you're his successor... I'll give you three breaths to explain why you broke into this place."
Lu Chen broke into a cold sweat.
Three breaths? What was he supposed to say? That the Kirin Clan outside was trying to kill him, so he'd run in here to hide?
"This junior... came here to ask for a drop of Ancestral Witch Essence Blood!" He steeled himself and stated his true purpose.
"Oh?" Dijiang's phantom seemed intrigued. "What do you want it for?"
"Body Refinement and a breakthrough!" Lu Chen gritted his teeth. "This junior has already reached the Golden Immortal realm, but my physical body is too weak. I want to use Ancestral Witch Essence Blood to strengthen it and follow the path of Proving the Dao through Strength!"
It was the truth. With Sky-Opening Merit as his foundation and a fragment of the Law of Strength, the path Pangu had taken—Proving the Dao through Strength—was the best fit for him. And Ancestral Witch Essence Blood was the perfect catalyst.
Dijiang's phantom fell silent for a moment.
"Proving the Dao through Strength... An ambitious goal." His voice betrayed no emotion. "But not everyone can walk the path of Father God Pangu."
Lu Chen's heart sank.
"However..." Dijiang changed tack. "Since you're Qiankun's successor and had the courage to enter Pangu Hall, you have some guts."
He raised a hand and beckoned. One of the twelve drops of Essence Blood, as red as fire, flew toward them.
"This is Zhurong Essence Blood, which governs fire. If you can withstand its power, I might as well give it to you."
The drop of Essence Blood flew in front of Lu Chen. Its terrifying heat made space itself distort.
Lu Chen gritted his teeth and reached out to grab it.
"Boom—!"
Boundless flames surged into his body, scorching his flesh, bones, and meridians. He felt as if he'd been thrown into the heart of the sun, every inch of him burning.
I can't pass out... Hold on!
He frantically circulated Golden Light of Merit and urged the Three Lights Divine Water to protect his Primordial Spirit.
A full hour passed.
The flames gradually died down, and the Essence Blood completely merged with his body. Lu Chen's physical strength increased tenfold, and faint red patterns flowed beneath his skin.
"I did it!" He opened his eyes and was delighted to find that his cultivation had stabilized at the middle stage of the Golden Immortal realm, while his physical body was now comparable to a Great Witch's!
"Thank you for bestowing the blood, Senior!" Lu Chen bowed respectfully.
Dijiang's phantom waved a hand. "No need to thank me. You'll have to repay me for this drop of Essence Blood."
"Repay you?" Lu Chen was taken aback.
"The Tribulation is about to begin, and the Witch Clan must emerge." Dijiang's phantom spoke solemnly. "In three thousand years, a great calamity will befall the Primordial World. The Witch Clan must enter the world and face it. When the time comes, you must do something for the Witch Clan."
"What?"
"You'll know when the time comes." After saying this, Dijiang's phantom waved a hand.
An irresistible force seized Lu Chen and flung him out of the hall.
"Remember: in three thousand years, the Witch Clan will emerge beneath Buzhou Mountain. You must be there."
Before the words had even faded, Lu Chen had appeared outside the valley.
The entrance to Pangu Hall vanished, as though it had never existed.
"I'm... out?" Lu Chen was still a little dazed.
But he quickly had no time to stay dazed.
Not far away, Shi Qilin and three Great Luo Kirins were furiously attacking the valley's formation. It was on the verge of breaking!
"Damn it, they just won't leave me alone!"
Lu Chen turned and ran.
With Zhurong Essence Blood strengthening him, his escape speed had doubled. He shot east like a streak of scarlet light.
"After him!" Shi Qilin sensed his aura and pursued him in a fury.
One chased; the other fled. They crossed a million li.
Three days later, Lu Chen finally shook off his pursuers and hid on a deserted island at the edge of the Eastern Sea.
"I'm safe for now..." He slumped onto the beach and gasped for breath.
Thinking back over the past few days, the whole ordeal had been more thrilling than a roller coaster. But the gains had been enormous, too: cultivation at the middle stage of the Golden Immortal realm, a physical body comparable to a Great Witch's, Zhurong Essence Blood, and Dijiang's "agreement."
"The Lich Tribulation in three thousand years... I'll deal with that when it comes."
Right now, he was more concerned with the benefits in front of him.
Lu Chen took out the Dragon Palace Third Prince Token, his eyes glinting.
"The Dragon Clan Treasure Vault... It's time to take a few things."
He spent a day meditating until he'd fully recovered, then slipped into the Eastern Sea.
The deeper he went, the greater the water pressure became, but it was nothing to him now. Following the jade slip's map, he found the East Sea Eye—a terrifying whirlpool ten thousand zhang across.
At its center, the phantom of a golden palace was faintly visible. It was the Dragon Clan Treasure Vault.
"On the fifteenth of every month, the tides weaken the restrictions around the sea eye for three breaths..." Lu Chen calculated the timing. "That'll be tonight!"
He hid among the coral and waited quietly.
Night fell, and the full moon hung round in the sky.
As soon as midnight came, the whirlpool of the sea eye slowed sharply, and the restrictions around the golden palace wavered faintly.
"Now!"
Lu Chen turned into an arrow of water and shot toward the center of the whirlpool.
In the space of three breaths, he passed through the weakened part of the restrictions and entered the golden palace.
The vault had three floors.
The first floor was piled high with Houtian Spiritual Treasures, ores, and spirit herbs. Lu Chen didn't even bother looking. There was too much to take, and none of it was particularly valuable.
The second floor held Xiantian Spiritual Materials, Dragon Clan cultivation arts, and Great Luo Dragon Pearls. He casually took three Dragon Pearls and more than a dozen pieces of Xiantian Geng Metal.
He headed straight for the third floor!
Using the Third Prince Token to break through the restrictions, Lu Chen stepped inside.
"Whew—"
He sucked in a sharp breath.
The third floor wasn't large, only a hundred zhang across, but every treasure radiated Xiantian spiritual light.
Twelve Sea Calming Divine Pearls floated in the center, as blue as the sea. Faint visions of worlds could be seen inside them. Together, they formed an Innate Spiritual Treasure set. All twelve could be used to arrange the Lesser Zhou Tian Array!
On the left stood a Dragon Blood Coral, three zhang tall and blood-red all over, emanating dense Dragon Qi. It could purify the Dragon Clan's bloodline and was a supreme treasure to dragons.
On the right were three jade boxes. One contained a drop of Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood; another held the complete version of the Ancestor Dragon Nine Transformations; the last contained a golden scale whose aura was even more ancient than the Ancestral Dragon's Reverse Scale!
"Is this... the reverse scale of the Primordial Azure Dragon, the Father of the Ancestral Dragon?!" Lu Chen's heart pounded like a drum.
The Primordial Azure Dragon, one of the Chaos Demon Gods, was the Dragon Clan Progenitor! Its reverse scale contained the Chaos Dragon Dao!
"I'm taking everything!"
Without another word, Lu Chen unfurled the Qiankun Diagram and swept all the treasures into it.
But he left himself some leeway. He took only seven-tenths of each item, leaving the rest behind to conceal his tracks. He also placed the Third Prince Token somewhere conspicuous, creating the impression that the "Third Prince had stolen from the vault while guarding it."
Once he'd done all that, he prepared to leave.
But just then, he heard movement outside the vault.
"Third Prince, what brings you here?" a guard asked.
"My father ordered me to retrieve the Sea Calming Divine Pearls for the formation." A young man's voice rang out, full of arrogance.
Lu Chen's expression changed. The real deal had arrived!
He looked around. There was nowhere to hide on the third floor.
As the approaching footsteps grew louder, Lu Chen gritted his teeth, took out the drop of Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood, and smeared it on his brow.
"Ancestor Dragon Nine Transformations—Dragon Transformation!"
"Buzz—"
His body began to change. Dragon horns, scales, and a tail sprouted... In the blink of an eye, he had become a ten-zhang-long Azure Dragon, with an aura indistinguishable from that of the Dragon Clan.
This was a divine ability he'd shared from his clone, Ao Chen. With the Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood strengthening it, the disguise was good enough to fool anyone.
He had barely finished transforming when the vault door opened.
A young man in golden robes walked in. He had a pair of horns on his head, handsome features, and an aura at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm. He was the Dragon Clan's Third Prince, Ao Bing!
Ao Bing saw Lu Chen in his Azure Dragon form and paused. "Which branch of the Dragon Clan are you from? What are you doing here?"
Lu Chen imitated the Dragon Clan's manner of speaking and replied in a low voice, "This subordinate is the East Sea Patrol Yaksha Commander. I was ordered by the First Prince to come and take inventory of the treasures."
"My elder brother?" Ao Bing furrowed his brow. "Why would he send someone to the vault...?"
Before he could finish, his expression suddenly changed.
"Where are the Sea Calming Divine Pearls?! Why is there less Dragon Blood Coral?!"
Lu Chen knew he was in trouble and quickly replied, "The First Prince already took some. He said they were urgently needed for the formation."
"Bullshit!" Ao Bing roared in fury. "The formation only needs three Sea Calming Divine Pearls, but all twelve are gone! And the Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood and the Azure Dragon's reverse scale... My elder brother would never take those!"
He fixed his gaze on Lu Chen, golden light flickering in his dragon eyes. "You're not a member of the Dragon Clan! You're an infiltrator!"
His cover was blown!
Without a word, Lu Chen reverted to his true form, took out the Black Brick, and smashed it toward Ao Bing's face.
"Die!" Ao Bing summoned his Natal Dragon Pearl.
"Bang!"
The Black Brick collided with the Dragon Pearl, and Golden Light of Merit burst out.
Ao Bing was knocked back three steps. The Dragon Pearl cracked, and his face filled with shock. "A Merit Spiritual Treasure?! Who are you?!"
Lu Chen didn't answer. He turned and ran.
"Stop him!" Ao Bing roared.
Outside the vault, four Golden Immortal guards rushed in.
"Get out of my way!" Lu Chen summoned the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner to protect himself and charged through them.
"After him! Sound the alarm! A thief stole our treasures!" Ao Bing was so furious his whiskers stood on end.
The entire Dragon Palace erupted into chaos.
Lu Chen fought his way through. The Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner's defense was unmatched, and the Black Brick was perfect for bashing dragon heads. He broke through seven checkpoints in a row.
He was about to escape the Dragon Palace when, suddenly—
"Buzz!"
A terrifying pressure descended.
The water throughout the Eastern Sea froze, and time itself seemed to stop.
A golden dragon phantom, ten thousand zhang tall, appeared. Its eyes were like the sun and moon as it gazed down at Lu Chen.
"You stole from my vault and harmed my offspring... Insect, who gave you the nerve?"
The Ancestral Dragon himself had arrived!
Beneath the Ancestral Dragon's pressure, Lu Chen couldn't even move a finger. But the Qiankun Diagram in his arms suddenly unfurled on its own, and a phantom of Qiankun Ancestor appeared. He said mildly, "Fellow Daoist Ancestral Dragon, would you do this old man a favor?"
The Ancestral Dragon's gaze flickered. "Qiankun, you've already fallen. You still think you can stop me?"
The phantom smiled. "That's true. But if you kill him, you'll never get to the bottom of the theft from your Dragon Clan's vault—because the real culprit is inside your own Dragon Clan!"
The Ancestral Dragon narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?" Lu Chen's heart pounded wildly. What kind of safeguard did Qiankun Ancestor leave behind?!
Before you continue