"You great-uncle—"
That was Liu Chengfeng's answer.
Liu Chengfeng was wary of the Dilapidated Temple that had suddenly appeared, and carefully examined it with the Sky Eye.
At last, Liu Chengfeng got a clear look at the Dilapidated Temple.
The Dilapidated Temple was actually buried beneath the Imperial Ancestral Temple, its walls and beams already collapsed.
Inside the temple stood a wooden altar. An incense burner rested on it, with a bundle of incense beside it.
"Great-uncle, I'm hungry."
He had no idea whether the Dilapidated Temple understood what that meant, but it was calling Liu Chengfeng "great-uncle."
"You're hungry. What do you want to eat?"
Liu Chengfeng furrowed his brow, suspicion rising in his heart.
The Dilapidated Temple might feed on the Dragon Vein's qi. Otherwise, why would the Dragon Vein's qi sometimes grow weak?
The Dilapidated Temple fell silent for a while, then said, "Great-uncle, offer me a stick of incense."
Liu Chengfeng looked at the bundle beside the incense burner with the Sky Eye.
All it wanted was a stick of incense?
Liu Chengfeng remained suspicious and cautious.
Just then, the Heavenly Mound floating in his mind began rocking him, like a little dog wagging its tail.
Liu Chengfeng could see the Dilapidated Temple in his mind, but the temple couldn't see the Celestial Body inside his mind.
The Heavenly Mound wagged its tail like a little dog, and Liu Chengfeng suddenly understood.
"What do I get if I offer you incense?"
"Great-uncle, whatever you ask for will be granted. Whatever you wish for will come true."
"Is it really that miraculous?"
Liu Chengfeng didn't believe it for a second.
"Whatever you ask for will be granted. Whatever you wish for will come true."
The Dilapidated Temple sounded utterly certain, its words full of temptation.
"Fine. I'll offer you a stick of incense."
Liu Chengfeng agreed, and the delighted Dilapidated Temple vanished from his mind.
Liu Chengfeng ordered people to excavate the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Who would dare disobey an order from a deity?
Before long, the Imperial Ancestral Temple had been dug up, revealing the Dilapidated Temple beneath it.
Standing there, Liu Chengfeng could hear dragon roars coming from below his feet.
Listening closely, the roars sounded like low, agonized moans—the Dragon Vein's qi was being sucked away.
Liu Chengfeng stood before the wooden altar and drew a deep breath.
The Heavenly Mound in his mind rocked gently, reassuring him to go ahead.
"I've offered you incense. You promised to grant whatever I asked for."
Liu Chengfeng took out a stick of incense.
"Great-uncle, hurry and offer it. Whatever is in your heart will come true."
The Dilapidated Temple sounded a little impatient.
Liu Chengfeng held the incense in both hands and raised it to his brows. At a single thought, the incense in his hands burst into flame.
He planted the burning incense in the burner, and it began to burn rapidly.
In an instant, Liu Chengfeng sensed something was wrong.
As the incense burned at a furious pace, he felt his life force draining away. The incense burner was sucking it right out of him.
"Not good—"
Even though Liu Chengfeng had been prepared, his expression still changed.
"What a fine sacrifice. At last, I can possess a body and break free."
The Dilapidated Temple's voice rang out in Liu Chengfeng's mind.
At that moment, divine power surged into Liu Chengfeng's body, trying to strip away his soul and seize his body.
At the same time, the Dilapidated Temple floating in his mind transformed into a blurry face, intent on dominating his consciousness.
With his life hanging by a thread, Liu Chengfeng didn't even need to act. The Celestial Body lunged forward on its own.
The Dilapidated Temple had thought it would possess Liu Chengfeng without a hitch. It had no idea what was happening.
The four-sided Heavenly Mound was like a red-hot brand, searing into the blurry face.
"Ah—" came a scream of agony.
The Heavenly Mound branded the blurry face with a vicious burn, taking control of it in an instant.
The four-sided Heavenly Mound had three layers, each carved with mysterious patterns and designs.
After the Heavenly Mound branded the Dilapidated Temple, a tiny pattern on the lowest layer lit up.
It was as if the Dilapidated Temple's very life had been imprinted there.
The Dilapidated Temple had tried to possess Liu Chengfeng, only to fall into his trap and get captured itself.
Terrified, it fled Liu Chengfeng's mind and burrowed into the body of the temple.
"It's too late to run now."
The Dilapidated Temple had fled back into its own body, and Liu Chengfeng burst out laughing.
With a turn of the Heavenly Mound, he could yank the blurry face right out of the Dilapidated Temple.
"You bastard! May you die a miserable death!"
The Dilapidated Temple hadn't expected its first venture out to end so badly, with its life in someone else's hands.
"Possession like this is nothing new to me."
Liu Chengfeng sneered at the Dilapidated Temple's fury.
The Dilapidated Temple was about to curse him out, but in the next instant its expression changed. It burrowed back into the incense burner and hid deep inside its body.
Just then, a beam of divine light suddenly descended from the sky over the Bright Continent.
The light plunged into the earth and caused an old tree to grow.
In no time at all, it had grown into a towering tree that blotted out the sky.
A towering tree had suddenly appeared in the Bright Continent, breathing out divine light.
The people of the Bright Continent were utterly shaken.
In a flash, countless people across the Bright Continent prostrated themselves, believing a god had descended.
Liu Chengfeng was startled too. He rushed out of the Dilapidated Temple and looked up at the Divine Tree towering into the sky, breathing out divine light.
"Heaven Above Heaven—a divine descent!"
Liu Chengfeng's expression changed drastically.
The Empress of Brightness rushed out as well. Seeing the Divine Tree, her face turned deathly pale, and she looked toward Liu Chengfeng.
She had thought Liu Chengfeng had summoned the Divine Tree.
But Liu Chengfeng hadn't summoned it at all.
"What earth-shattering crime did you commit, that a god descended the moment you appeared?"
Liu Chengfeng grabbed the Dilapidated Temple and demanded an answer. The sudden divine descent unsettled him.
Cultivators from the Green Meng Realm couldn't enter a small world, and the gods of legend certainly couldn't come to one either.
Now a god had descended upon the Bright Continent. Did this mean the god was willing to pay any price to reach this small world?
"Maybe you're the one who brought down the divine descent."
The Dilapidated Temple flatly denied Liu Chengfeng's accusation.
Liu Chengfeng couldn't help feeling uncertain. He wasn't sure whether obtaining the Celestial Body had brought down the divine light, or whether the Dilapidated Temple had committed some unforgivable crime against gods and men, drawing down the divine light the moment it emerged.
The towering Divine Tree grew in the Bright Continent, sending out countless thick roots in a very short time.
The thick roots burrowed into mountain ranges, ripping them apart and crushing every city in their path.
This terrifying scene descended without warning. The entire Bright Continent looked like doomsday had come: mountains and rivers shattered, the earth split open.
Countless people lost their homes and died in the destruction.
Amid a series of thunderous crashes, the Divine Tree's giant roots roared like dragons as they surged toward every corner of the Bright Continent.
They were intent on destroying every inch of its land.
The end of the world had arrived. Screams filled every city and every place in the Bright Continent, driving countless people to despair.
"This isn't a divine descent. This is the end of the world."
Seeing this, Liu Chengfeng snapped back to his senses, his expression changing drastically.
"Does the god want to destroy this world to kill you?"
Liu Chengfeng couldn't help suspecting as much, and shouted at the Dilapidated Temple.
"You've got a monster inside you. The god must be destroying the world to kill you!"
The Dilapidated Temple tried to shift the blame, immediately denying any responsibility.
"Immortal, please save us!"
At that moment, the Empress of Brightness understood that Liu Chengfeng hadn't summoned the Divine Tree.
The Divine Tree was destroying the world. It wasn't just other places—the capital was already in chaos.
Everyone wanted to flee, but where could they go?
The Empress of Brightness begged Liu Chengfeng for help. Perhaps only he could save this world now.
Liu Chengfeng looked at the Divine Tree, and a chill ran through his heart.
He didn't know who the destruction was aimed at, but it certainly wasn't anything good.
"You want me to save your world?"
"Please, Immortal, show mercy and save us! We're willing to be your oxen and horses, serving you for generations to come."
Desperate and out of options, the Empress of Brightness begged Liu Chengfeng to save them.
Liu Chengfeng watched the Divine Tree grow wildly, greedily devouring the Bright Continent's life force. Then he glanced at the Myriad World Wristband on his wrist.
A bold idea came to him.
This was the perfect chance to go home.
"Saving the world? What's so hard about that? Watch me step on a god and ascend to heaven."
With that bold idea in mind, Liu Chengfeng laughed.
The Empress of Brightness stared at Liu Chengfeng's fearless, world-defying bearing and was stunned into silence.
Liu Chengfeng turned, hoisted the incense burner out of the Dilapidated Temple, and set off.
"What are you doing?"
The Dilapidated Temple sensed trouble as the incense burner was carried out.
"Can't you devour things? Perfect. I'll use you to devour the Divine Tree. I need divine power to go home, too."
"Are you insane? I'm in a weakened state. Divine power will crush me to pieces!"
Liu Chengfeng's plan scared the Dilapidated Temple out of its wits.
If it could devour divine power, why would it have waited until now?
"Don't you still have me?"
Liu Chengfeng carried the incense burner to the foot of the Divine Tree, set up the altar, took out a stick of incense, and lit it with his life force.
"Come on! Let's see how you devour this!"
Liu Chengfeng laughed and planted the incense in the burner.
At that moment, the Dilapidated Temple wanted to control itself, but it couldn't.
Under Liu Chengfeng's control, the Heavenly Mound drove the incense burner to devour divine power at a furious pace.
In that instant, the incense burner sucked in boundless divine power, and the sky-blotting Divine Tree crumbled.
The incense burner was like a Taotie beast, devouring everything in a frenzy.
The Dilapidated Temple was already extremely weak. Such a terrifying flood of divine power could have crushed it to pieces.
But the Heavenly Mound's brand held it fast.
Even as the divine power ground it to pieces, it endured, screaming in agony.
"Lend me a little divine power."
After the incense burner devoured all the divine power, Liu Chengfeng plunged the Myriad World Wristband into it, letting divine power flood the wristband and restore its strength.
Amid a series of thunderous crashes, the people of the Bright Continent witnessed an unimaginable sight.
The Divine Tree, which had just blotted out the sky, fell apart in no time.
In the end, it was smashed to dust, without a single scrap left.
The Empress of Brightness sank to the ground as she watched the shocking sight. It all felt like a dream.
After restoring the Myriad World Wristband's power, Liu Chengfeng didn't want to linger on the Bright Continent any longer. He was ready to go home—to the Green Meng Realm.
"Old man, you said you were Crown Prince Li and told me to return to Little Meng Mountain to inherit your legacy."
Liu Chengfeng looked up at the sky and murmured.
"Do you have a Divine Dynasty for me to inherit, too? Let me become its crown prince. That'd be great—I didn't suffer for over a decade for nothing."
As he spoke, he activated the Myriad World Wristband, and a portal appeared at once.
"I'm off—"
Liu Chengfeng shouted and charged into the portal.
Before you continue