Three years after arriving on the Big Dipper, Lu Chen saw Ye Fan again, but his situation looked rather grim.
In those early days, Ye Fan knew little of the cultivation world's common knowledge. He had rashly learned the Great Void Technique from Ji Ziyue, and after the Ji Family discovered it, their pursuit had driven him almost to the end of his rope.
Left with no other choice, he had fled into a densely populated city and threatened to spread the Great Void Technique, temporarily stopping the Ji Family Members in their tracks.
But this could only resolve his immediate crisis. Once Ye Fan left a populated area, the Ji Family would inevitably surround and attack him again.
Or, if the Ji Family sent an elder of the Dragon Transformation Realm, or even a Supreme Elder of the Immortal Platform Realm, his threat to spread their secret technique would become useless.
Once a powerhouse like that caught up with him, they could instantly kill Ye Fan, who was only in the Sea of Bitterness Realm, leaving him no time to spread the secret technique.
Now, the Ji Family Members, led by Ji Hui and two other eminent cultivators of the Four Extremes, were caught in a dilemma. They feared they could not kill the boy quickly enough, and that he would then tear the net even if the fish died, spreading the Great Void Technique. If that happened, they would become sinners against their family.
"Get lost already! Are you really going to force me to spread the Great Void Technique?" Ye Fan shouted.
Although Lu Chen had now offered to help him through a voice transmission, Ye Fan had only reached the Divine Bridge Realm after spending around three years in this world. What realm could his fellow Earthling have reached? Could he defeat all these Ji Family powerhouses? Ye Fan had his doubts.
"Such audacity! In the Southern Region of the Eastern Wasteland, few dare rebuke the Ji Family Disciples like this."
"Three ancestors, kill that boy!"
"You dare threaten our Ji Family like this? Do you think you're the Peacock King, that mighty cultivator of the Demon Race? Today, we'll rip out your soul and refine your spirit, then roast them in divine fire for a hundred years!"
Ye Fan's threat enraged the many Ji Family Disciples. They glared at him, their killing intent surging like a tide, wishing they could flay his skin and tear out his tendons.
The Ji Family, a Desolate Ancient Family, had endured in this world for over a hundred thousand years. It was one of the most powerful ruling forces in the Eastern Wasteland. Few had ever treated them like this throughout history. This was a slap in the Ji Family's face!
"What imposing might the Ji Family has. Three eminent elders leading a pack of young disciples to surround and kill a teenage boy. Is this how all Desolate Ancient Families behave?"
Suddenly, a calm, composed voice rang out over the great city, reaching the ears of the Ji Family, Ye Fan, and the many cultivators. The speaker was naturally Lu Chen.
His white robes fluttered lightly, his hair danced in the wind, and a faint smile rested on his handsome, valiant face. He walked through the air, arriving beside Ye Fan within a breath.
"Another youth? Who is he? He dares speak to the Ji Family like that?"
"Does this... mean the Ji Family has declined? Why are people daring to provoke them appearing one after another today?"
Lu Chen's appearance immediately shocked the cultivators watching the spectacle. This was their first time seeing anyone dare confront the Ji Family to their faces-and they had seen two in a single day.
If a mighty Demon Race cultivator like the Peacock King had scorned the Ji Family, that would have been understandable. After all, he was a terrifying demon king who could contend with the Ji Family Holy Lord.
But today, two obscure young cultivators had angrily confronted the Ji Family. The unaffiliated cultivators watching the spectacle could not make sense of it!
"Good, good, good." Ji Hui, a Ji Family Eminent, laughed in her fury. Veins bulged in her neck, and her face twisted like that of a savage beast about to devour someone. She shouted, "Ji Family Disciples, heed my command! Surround those two and kill them with all your strength! Anyone who dares learn the Ji Family's secret techniques without permission shall be killed without mercy!"
First, a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy had killed members of the Ji Family, then threatened and cursed them before a crowd of cultivators. Now another youth had appeared and dared mock the Ji Family to their faces.
How could the eminent elders and disciples of a Desolate Ancient Family that had stood high above others for over a hundred thousand years endure this? They were the rulers of the Southern Region, the Immortals and Gods of this vast land, governing the destinies of countless kingdoms and hundreds of millions of people. How could they tolerate the provocation of two insignificant cultivators?
Threatening to spread the Great Void Technique?
If the Ji Family flew into a rage and its higher-ups hardened their hearts, what did it matter if they razed this city of a million people?
Who would dare call the Ji Family evil then? What major power would be willing to uphold justice for a crowd of mortals and offend a Desolate Ancient Family?
In the recent battle at the Qing Emperor's Tomb, how many people had certain Holy Lord Powerhouses sacrificed in blood to open the Emperor Tomb and find the Desolate Pagoda? Mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and heaps of white bones still lay there. Who had dared say anything?
This was merely an ancient mortal city. If they razed it, then so be it.
Ye Fan's horizons were still too narrow. He did not yet clearly understand great powers such as the Holy Lands. Spreading a single secret technique could not shake the Ji Family's foundations.
Now Ji Hui and the others were furious. They had cast aside their misgivings and sworn to kill Ye Fan and Lu Chen.
"Kill..."
The many Ji Family Disciples struck at once, immediately charging at the two.
Divine light blazed, Magic Treasures flew through the air, and numerous supreme arts and secret techniques of the Ji Family appeared in the sky, hurtling toward them.
Shock crossed Ye Fan's face. He moved, mysterious Dao Patterns appearing beneath his feet-the peerless footwork of Tianxuan-as he prepared to pull Lu Chen along and flee.
With his current Divine Bridge Realm cultivation, confronting the Ji Family's many Magic Treasures and secret techniques head-on would mean certain death.
"There's no need to run." Watching the Magic Treasures and secret techniques coming at them, Lu Chen showed little emotion. Instead, he pressed a hand onto Ye Fan's shoulder, telling him not to flee.
The next moment, Lu Chen formed seals with both hands and recited a mysterious incantation. His bearing became solemn and sacred, and ten thousand rays of golden light shone from his body, as though the sun had fallen here from the depths of the heavens.
"Ba..."
He suddenly roared, releasing a primordial heavenly sound. In an instant, myriad wondrous manifestations filled the heavens, and a somewhat illusory starry expanse opened, enveloping this stretch of sky. Lu Chen, Ye Fan, and the Ji Family Members stood at opposite ends of a sea of stars, separated by a Star River.
All the incoming secret techniques dissipated within that Star River, while the divine light of the various Magic Treasures could not cross it. None could reach Lu Chen or Ye Fan.
This was a supreme divine art of Buddhism, the heavenly sound of "Ba" from the Six-Character True Words. Lu Chen had obtained it at the Great Thunderclap Temple on Mars and begun studying it after entering the Dao Palace Realm. Today, facing the attacks of the many Ji Family Disciples, he used it for the first time.
The heavenly sound of "Ba" represented a grand configuration of heaven and earth, approaching an innate divine formation. It was somewhat similar to "Zu" of the Daoist Nine Secrets and possessed the mighty power to cleave heaven and earth apart.
Of course, Lu Chen could not yet display such supreme profundity. This was only a rudimentary application, but it had already dissolved every attack from the Ji Family Disciples, like a spring breeze melting into gentle rain.
"What..."
Cries of shock erupted. Both the cultivators in the great city and the Ji Family Disciples were utterly astonished. That handsome, valiant youth had actually blocked their attacks.
"Is that... his Sea of Bitterness Phenomenon?"
"A primordial heavenly sound transformed into a cosmic sea, separating friend and foe at opposite ends of the Star River and annihilating every attack!"
"This is a world-shaking ability we've never even heard of! He faced so many disciples of a Desolate Ancient Family alone. Has another Divine Body appeared in the Eastern Wasteland?"
After their initial shock, the many cultivators watching the battle from afar in the skies above the great city began speculating about Lu Chen's origins.
In the present age, those with a Divine Body were the strongest prodigies known to the public. Otherwise, even with a peerless secret technique, an ordinary cultivator could not face so many young Ji Family Disciples alone.
"Which family are you a disciple of?" After recovering from her surprise, Ji Hui, the eminent elder leading the Ji Family group, did not immediately attack. Instead, she asked with a frown.
In that youth, she saw talent and potential as powerful as those of Ji Haoyue, the Ji Family's future Divine King. In her view, he had to be a core successor nurtured by some supreme power.
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