At that moment, the young lord of the Monster Beasts transformed into a streak of red lightning, swift as an electric flash, and charged out from the crowd. Behind him, people were continuously sucked toward the ancient tree and turned into white bones, yet he remained unharmed throughout. The moment the black mist spread over the red lightning around him, it was instantly annihilated.
"The supreme treasure is mine!" He gave a cold smile and stretched his claws directly toward the golden page on the ancient tree. Its brilliant golden radiance filled his heart with delight.
Yet just then, an even swifter black shadow swept past his side. At an inconceivable speed, it beat him to it and snatched the golden page from beneath his claws.
It was Chen Fan. The ultimate speed born from fusing the Nine Palaces Footwork with the Formless Step was utterly beyond the reach of these late-stage Golden Core cultivators; even the Monster Beasts found him impossible to catch.
From what had just happened, he had seen through the ancient tree's curse. It was merely a terrifying Divine Soul attack. The only way to resist it was to release one's strongest Divine Soul realm in advance. Otherwise, once contaminated by the black mist, discovering its nature would already be too late. In but an instant, one would be annihilated, without even the chance to save oneself.
That was precisely why, the instant the black mist appeared, his Divine Soul sensed it as well. This was a realm remarkably similar to Life and Death Reincarnation—life ended in an instant, leaving nothing but white bones.
By enveloping himself in the realm of Life and Death Reincarnation, he could perfectly deceive the ancient tree's curse and remain unharmed.
What surprised him was that this young lord of the