Suppression

"Lu Chen, Ye Fan's friend, an unaffiliated cultivator." Golden divine radiance flowed around Lu Chen as he stood amid an illusory sea of stars, like a sun god descending upon the world, calmly facing the Ji Family members.

"An unaffiliated cultivator!" Upon hearing that he was not a disciple of a major power, Ji Hui's aged face immediately darkened. "You intend to side with that little bastard and make an enemy of the Ji Family?" she asked coldly.

The words grated on Lu Chen. "So what if I make an enemy of your Ji Family?"

The Golden Age was approaching. Since he intended to contend for the supreme imperial throne, he did not mind making enemies of some major powers. After all, the Immortal Path was a bloodstained road. To reach its pinnacle, he was destined to advance over countless bones.

He had already reached the Dao Palace Fourth Heaven, and with the damaged Extreme Dao Weapon—the Immortal-Slaying Gourd—he now possessed both a solid foundation and deep reserves. Fighting members of a Desolate Ancient Family was just the thing to cultivate Lu Chen’s own invincible momentum.

If he succeeded, he would charge forward with triumphant songs, pursuing the Dao and immortality.

If he failed, everything would come to nothing, and all would end.

"Good!" Boundless killing intent surfaced on Ji Hui's aged face. "Today, I'll kill you here along with that little bastard," she said icily.

When a top-tier power like the Ji Family encountered a talented cultivator, it first tried to recruit them. If recruitment failed, it simply ignored them; after all, it had no shortage of one or two talents. But if they became enemies, they had to be snuffed out before they could grow. That was how major powers operated, and as a Ji Family Eminent, Ji Hui naturally understood this principle.

Bzzz!

Ji Hui pressed her withered hand forward. A gigantic black palm imprint appeared in the void, radiating a terrifying aura that crushed the sky into a series of explosive booms, as though it could shatter everything.

It was an essential secret technique from the Ji Family's Void Ancient Scripture-the Void Great Hand Seal.

"Ba..."

Lu Chen once again uttered the majestic True Words Heavenly Sound. The illusory sea of stars swelled, like an expanding starry world, enveloping the three Four Extremes Realm Eminent Elders, Ji Hui among them.

Whoosh!

The Star River between him and the Ji Family members shone with dazzling starlight, stretching the intervening space to an infinite length.

In the end, though Ji Hui's Void Great Hand Seal was terrifying beyond compare, it dissipated within the Star River, unable to harm Lu Chen and Ye Fan at the other end.

"What secret technique is this? I've never heard of it." Another elderly Ji Family Eminent Elder exclaimed in wonder.

"This looks like a formation!" Ji Hui frowned in thought, her aged face cold.

The next moment, her figure turned into a wisp of black smoke and entered the void. This was another Ji Family secret technique-the Great Void Technique, the very technique they sought to recover from Ye Fan.

Whoosh!

A wisp of black smoke emerged at the edge of the Star River, and Ji Hui's figure re-formed. Even the Great Void Technique could not cross the Star River conjured by the heavenly sound of "Ba." It was like an endless Heavenly Abyss that no one could cross, placing Lu Chen in an inherently invincible position.

No matter how mighty one's divine abilities, if the enemy stood at the other end of the Star River, separated by that vast distance, every attack was useless.

Unless they shattered the Star River first. Clearly, however, Ji Hui and the others could not. They were already decrepit, yet still lingered in the Four Extremes Realm. Their potential in this life had reached its limit; how could they possess such Divine Power?

Against talented cultivators who could fight across cultivation realms, people like Ji Hui served as the baseline: Zero Restriction, among the weakest cultivators of their realm.

Boom!

Three secret techniques struck at once.

The first was the reappearance of the black great hand seal. The second was a pair of enormous silver dragons crossing each other's paths, seemingly capable of severing anything. Alongside them, a Dao diagram formed from innate essence struck the illusory Star River.

Ji Hui and the other two Ji Family Eminents attacked together, unleashing three secret techniques from the Void Ancient Scripture: the Void Great Hand Seal, the Heaven-Cutting Finger, and the Innate Grand Void Astral Energy.

Bzzz!

The Star River formed by the true word "Ba" trembled, as though it could no longer withstand the powerful attacks and was about to collapse.

Seeing this, Lu Chen strode forward. Vast Divine Power surged out, stabilizing the cosmic sea formed by the origin heavenly sound and causing the Ji Family's three secret techniques to dissipate within the Star River.

"This..." Ji Hui and the other two Eminent Elders exchanged looks, deeply shocked. Could their combined attack really fail to harm two juniors?

As for the other young Ji Family disciples, there was even less hope of relying on them. Many were still in the Sea of Bitterness realm and could only serve as bystanders, despite their considerable numbers.

But numbers could not bridge the gulf between a prodigy and ordinary cultivators, just as when Ji Haoyue pursued the Demon Race princess Yan Ruyu.

Once he unleashed his Sea of Bitterness Phenomenon, those old demons of the same realm were almost instantly slain, unable to stir even a single ripple.

The same was true now. Against the Innate Immortal Formation conjured by Lu Chen's Six-Character True Words, their attacks failed to raise the slightest ripple in the Star River.

"The Ji Family may be a Desolate Ancient Family that rules the Southern Region, but you amount to no more than this." Standing at the far end of the dazzling Star River, Lu Chen looked down upon the Ji Family members.

"Brat, you..."

Ji Hui and the others were furious, their veins bulging and their faces twisted.

"You've exhausted your tricks. Now it's my turn." Starlight flickered in Lu Chen's eyes, revealing a trace of coldness.

The heavenly sound of "Ba" was a supreme Divine Art of Buddhism. It contained the mysteries of the universe's birth and touched upon the origin power of heaven and earth. Even setting everything else aside, this illusory sea of stars alone could trap the Ji Family members until they died.

It possessed endless mysteries of opening heaven and earth and gathering their vast momentum. It was virtually a supreme immortal formation born innately, and naturally had methods to suppress and kill its enemies.

"Ba!"

Lu Chen shouted once more. A mysterious Immortal Gate rose within the Star River flowing with silver radiance. A gigantic vortex slowly revolved inside it, releasing a terrifying suction, as though it would devour everything in heaven and earth.

The true word "Ba" was a Divine Art of Buddhism, whose practitioners cultivated for their next lives.

Thus, the Innate Immortal Formation contained a Reincarnation Gate. Once someone was drawn inside, they could be suppressed or cast into reincarnation and sent to rebirth in the World of Ultimate Bliss.

Of course, this so-called World of Ultimate Bliss meant being crushed into dust, with the soul utterly scattered.

"Aah..."

The many cultivators in the ancient city saw only a terrifying gateway appear in the Star River within that illusory cosmic sea. It swallowed all the young Ji Family disciples, leaving only screams echoing through the sky.

"You... dare kill our Ji Family disciples!" One of the Ji Family Eminents summoned a treasured pagoda to anchor himself in place, but more than a dozen Ji Family disciples had been swallowed, their fates unknown. This was absolutely a grave matter.

"Damn you, brat! You will suffer the thunderous wrath of a Desolate Ancient Family!" Ji Hui shouted harshly as she struggled to resist the devouring force of the Reincarnation Gate.

This outcome was nothing like what she had imagined. They had originally been pursuing only Ye Fan, a minor cultivator in the Divine Bridge Realm. Bringing more than a dozen young Ji Family disciples had also been intended to give them experience.

She had never expected such a turn of events. Now those young disciples' fates were unknown, and the three eminents could barely protect themselves.