Chen Changqing: "???"
Chen Haotian: "!!!"
Everyone in the Chen Family: "(òωó?)!"
At that moment.
The entire Purple Sun Peak fell so silent a dropped needle could be heard.
Everyone stood frozen as if under a paralysis spell, mouths agape and eyes wide, staring blankly at the thousand-zhang phantom behind Chen Yuanba.
They were stunned.
Every Chen Family Member was stunned.
Even—
Even Chen Changqing's smile froze. The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
What was going on now?
How could someone comprehend such a bizarre Divine Ability?
Chen Changqing could not help feeling intrigued.
"Ancestor... Ancestor Blesses Me?"
"Could that even count as a Divine Ability?"
Family Head Chen Lingfeng muttered the words to himself. Then his face twitched violently as he struggled not to laugh.
He was hardly alone.
Once the others recovered from their initial shock...
"Pfft—"
Someone was the first to lose the battle against laughter.
Then, like floodwaters bursting through an opened gate, laughter spread through the crowd in wave after wave.
"Pfft... Hahaha..."
"Ancestor Blesses Me... That Divine Ability... It's too funny... Hahahahaha!"
"Brother Yuanba, you... you call that a Divine Ability?"
"Hahaha! Sorry, sorry, I really don't want to laugh, but I can't help it... Pfft!"
The whole crowd roared with laughter, doubling over until tears streamed from their eyes.
The younger members who had looked so awestruck moments ago could barely stand straight.
Even the Supreme Elders, stern as they usually were, turned their heads away, shoulders shaking as they tried to hold back their laughter.
Chen Yuanba flushed crimson. He wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl inside.
He stiffened his neck and shouted in protest, "Laugh, laugh, laugh! What's so funny? My Divine Ability is powerful!"
His protest only made them laugh harder.
"Enough."
Just as the laughter threatened to spiral out of control, Chen Changqing finally spoke.
His standing in the Chen Family now surpassed everyone else's, and the laughter died at once.
Everyone swallowed their smiles and stood properly, though their red faces still silently betrayed their mirth.
Chen Changqing looked at Chen Yuanba and paused. With his extraordinary comprehension, he quickly grasped every mystery of the Divine Ability—and just how formidable it was.
Only then did he nod slowly and ask, "Not bad, not bad! Yuanba, how did you comprehend a Greater Divine Ability like this?"
Yes!
Chen Yuanba's Divine Ability was indeed a Greater Divine Ability!
He was also the first among the Chen Family Members to comprehend one!
Once Chen Changqing understood its effect, even he found it a little unbelievable.
Chen Yuanba truly deserved to be called a top-tier prodigy, far beyond ordinary people!
At Chen Changqing's words,
The crowd erupted in astonished murmurs, staring at Chen Yuanba in shock.
Seriously?
Ancestor Blesses Me sounded so unreliable, yet it was a Greater Divine Ability?
Chen Yuanba had actually comprehended a Greater Divine Ability?
"Actually... I don't really know how it happened."
Chen Yuanba scratched the back of his head. A rare hint of embarrassment appeared on his dark, resolute face.
He stole a glance at Chen Changqing and found him watching with an encouraging smile. Only then did he take a deep breath and slowly explain what had been going through his mind.
"Before Ancestor's sermon, he beat me so badly I couldn't even stand. I used every trump card I had, but he thrashed me from start to finish, and I never even touched the hem of his robe."
Good-natured laughter rippled through the crowd.
Chen Yuanba glared fiercely in its direction, but he was not truly angry. He merely shook his head with a rueful smile.
"From that moment on, Ancestor's figure filled my head."
"A single casual punch from Ancestor unleashed a Divine Ability countless times stronger than my Overlord Fist!"
"With one casual glance, Ancestor could create all kinds of unimaginable Divine Abilities."
"So I kept wondering: if I ever faced an enemy who wielded Divine Abilities like Ancestor's, how would I fight them?"
"I racked my brains until my head hurt, but I couldn't find a single way."
Chen Yuanba's voice was dry. His gaze passed over the crowd to the site of the barren mountain that Ancestor Chen Haotian had burned into nothingness with a glance, as though his former pride had burned to ashes along with it.
He raised his head, and his defiant tiger eyes met Chen Changqing's calm gaze.
Then...
He curled his lips into a self-mocking smile.
"I, Chen Yuanba, have never bowed to anyone in my life."
"The Azure Heaven Tyrant Body is invincible in battle!"
"Against anyone of my generation, I've never needed to think about things like this."
"But facing Ancestor today, for the first time, I felt as small as an ant. That feeling..."
Chen Yuanba paused. Helplessness and self-mockery filled his voice. "Honestly, it was pretty hopeless."
Purple Sun Peak fell quiet.
No one laughed anymore.
"So during my enlightenment, whenever I remembered how powerless I'd felt before Ancestor, I nearly gave up. I simply couldn't think of any way to stand against him!"
"No matter what I did, I couldn't devise a Divine Ability that surpassed Ancestor's. However long I spent trying, I'd never amount to anything, so I might as well give up!"
Chen Yuanba continued.
Then,
His tone shifted, carrying a hint of relief.
"But just as I was about to give up, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind."
As he said this, his tiger eyes lit up.
"Ancestor Changqing is the ancestor of our Chen Family!"
"The stronger and more gifted Ancestor is, the stronger the Chen Family's future will be!"
"Why did I have to compare myself to Ancestor?"
"Ancestor can restore the old ancestor's vitality with a finger, see through the flaws in all our cultivation methods with a glance, and devise a heaven-defying art like the Divine Ability Method..."
"With Ancestor protecting the Chen Family, how could we fail to rise in this Golden Age?"
"With Ancestor standing behind me, why would I, Chen Yuanba, ever need to fear a powerful enemy again?"
Chen Yuanba grew visibly more excited as he spoke.
"So in the end, I thought—if I can't beat my enemies or comprehend those incredible Divine Abilities of Ancestor's, I can just ask Ancestor to descend upon me and protect me, right?"
At those words, the entire crowd fell deathly silent again, staring at Chen Yuanba in disbelief.
What the hell?
What kind of thought process was that?
Could someone really comprehend a Greater Divine Ability that way?
Before you continue