The Return of the Slain King

The Heaven-Overturning Seal was white as finest mutton-fat jade, carved by a divine hand, radiating millions of rays of light. But it was vast as a mountain, pulsing with a destructive aura, blotting out the sky as it came crashing down.

Such a colossal mountain was a supreme treasure of ancient legend; no one dared take it lightly. In the annals of war, those brave enough to face it head-on could be counted on one hand.

Heaven and earth split apart. The clouds in the distant sky scattered before the dread energy. A heart-shaking ripple swept across the ten directions, stunning the soul.

Facing a legendary sacred artifact, Xiao Chen's expression grew solemn. But before he could act, the little beast had already moved.

Keke shot into the sky, clutching the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree. She swept out a rainbow beam like a comet streaking across the void, meeting the Heaven-Overturning Seal head-on.

It was as if the bright moon itself shattered, scattering holy radiance across the heavens. Like stars falling from the celestial dome, brilliant colors swayed through the sky. Keke used the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree to block the Heaven-Overturning Seal, colliding with it again and again.

Like a thousand fireworks blooming at once, gorgeous hues spilled across the sky. The Heaven-Overturning Seal, vast as a mountain, was actually pinned high in the air by a palm-high little tree. Everyone was stunned.

The shimmering Heaven-Overturning Seal suddenly burst forth with overwhelming energy, finally breaking free and flying toward the distant sky.

In terms of sacred artifact grade, the Heaven-Overturning Seal was naturally inferior to the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree. But the one controlling the treasure from behind possessed profound divine power and recalled the seal.

Boom!

The Heaven-Overturning Seal suddenly tore through space again, appearing abruptly and smashing toward Xiao Chen.

"Ya-ya…"

Keke was angry. Gripping the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree, she charged up, simultaneously opening Paradise Lost stealthily, intending to take the Heaven-Overturning Seal.

Millions of auspicious rays burst forth. The master of the Heaven-Overturning Seal sensed the anomaly. The seal shot up into the sky, but instead sent thirteen divine swords flying out, each twenty meters long. They arranged themselves into a Demon-Suppressing Formation, drawing down the power of the stars, trying to trap and kill the little beast.

Keke didn't get the Heaven-Overturning Seal. She huffed, her big eyes wide with anger. The Seven-Colored Sacred Tree swept out holy light screens in succession, forcing the thirteen swords' Demon-Suppressing Formation to rapidly contract and press down on her.

Space shattered. The thirteen divine swords shot forth billions of rays, twisting into a brilliant net of light that engulfed the little beast.

Light surged endlessly, piercing through the void and tearing space apart, but the little creature emerged unscathed — a million techniques could not touch her!

Swoosh! Paradise Lost expanded to its limit, sweeping across the sky. The thirteen divine swords were instantly drawn in, and the blazing Demon-Suppressing Formation was broken.

Clang! Clang! Clang! The thirteen swords plunged into Paradise Lost. Keke swept the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree across them, and wisps of spiritual energy were absorbed by the treasure tree. Before long, the thirteen swords shattered inch by inch into dust.

The Heaven-Overturning Seal tore through the void and vanished, never appearing again.

Xiao Chen knew that a Chan Sect expert had taken up residence in Heavenly Emperor City and had already detected his trail. From now on, there would be no shortage of clashes.

Long Teng's eyes blazed with fury. Having one dragon horn broken off was a tremendous humiliation.

"Hahaha…" Xiao Chen laughed loudly. He tossed the blood-drenched horn in his hand toward Liu Mu. "This dragon horn is still quite tender, surely more potent than antler. Later we'll use it for wine."

"ROAR…!"

Long Teng's face turned ashen black as a black mist burst from his body. His long hair stood on end, and scales covered his frame, gleaming darkly. He transformed into a human-shaped tyrant dragon and charged.

His hands had become dragon claws, sharp beyond compare. Each strike collapsed space. His brutal attacks contained infinite power, clashing with Xiao Chen's Hand of the Supreme Being, producing a ringing sound of metal.

Xiao Chen fought with grand, open movements, clashing head-on with Long Teng. The Lingxi Sword Ripples swept out unceasingly, scraping off a large patch of Long Teng's dark dragon scales. Blood sprayed, staining the sky.

Long Teng's fury blazed to the heavens. With a long howl, he unleashed the dragon clan's ultimate technique — the Dragon's Roar Melody!

When the Dragon's Roar Melody rang out, it was like a hurricane sweeping the Southern Wastes. In the distant primordial mountains, all savage beasts that heard this king of all beasts' roar prostrated themselves, trembling.

At such close range, an ordinary person struck by the Dragon's Roar Melody would have their three souls and seven spirits shaken from their body. But Xiao Chen had a surpassing talent in this area — he was deeply versed in the Eight Syllables of Origin, and he met it with the 'Om' Heavenly Sound.

Space was annihilated. Between the two powerhouses, destructive black holes appeared, and all light was swallowed into them.

Long Teng screamed in agony. Most of the scales on his body burst apart. He reeled back like a blood-drenched man. The Dragon's Roar Melody could not match the 'Om' Heavenly Sound; he was grievously wounded, his physical form nearly shattered.

Xiao Chen clung to him like a shadow. The God-Slaying Hand and Demon-Suppressing Hand smashed down on his head.

Bam! Bam!

Long Teng was beaten black and blue, coughing up great mouthfuls of blood. A dozen ribs on his left side were completely shattered, his right shoulder smashed to pieces.

CRACK!

His other dragon horn was also snapped off by Xiao Chen. Dragon blood dripped from the sky like a rain of blood.

"Take this one too for the wine," Xiao Chen said, flicking the horn in his hand down below.

Long Teng's face twisted with fury, turning a livid green. He was furious to the point of madness. The contemptible pawn he had toyed with all those years ago had now reached such a level! He hated so much he wanted to howl. If he had known, he would have killed him back then instead of playing games.

"Dragon Soaring to Heaven Gate!"

Long Teng shrieked, unleashing his ultimate divine technique. When a carp leaps the dragon gate, it becomes a divine dragon. What then does 'Dragon Soaring to Heaven Gate' become? In that moment, Long Teng gave the answer: an aura of annihilation hung over Heavenly Emperor City. A hazy image, like a river ten thousand li long, stretched across heaven and earth, churning waves of energy, its vast pressure shaking the ten directions.

No one could see clearly what it was, but in the rolling black clouds, occasionally a few mountain-sized giant claws could be seen tearing apart heaven and earth, ripping toward Xiao Chen.

Boom! The overwhelming pressure shook heaven and earth. The primordial mountain range below crumbled and shattered. Heavenly Emperor City emitted a hazy light, resisting the destructive aura in the sky.

"This ancient city is truly strange…" Everyone finally understood why it had stood through endless years without falling — it could protect itself from external forces.

Long Teng was clearly trying to fight to the death, not hesitating to destroy all life within ten li. The surrounding peaks split apart continuously, as if multiple meteors were striking the earth.

In the midst of the storm, Xiao Chen shone with thousands of lights. The Big Dipper Light Screen clung to him like battle armor, covering his entire body. The combat techniques recorded on the Heavenly Stele manifested like dreamlike flowers, unleashed one after another.

Finally, a Heavenly Stele appeared in Xiao Chen's right hand. As he swung his arm, it kept smashing down at the colossal form within the demonic clouds.

The invincible giant was smashed to pieces by the stele in Xiao Chen's hand, letting out a terrible, long howl that shook the ten directions and made the heavens tremble.

Boom! The colossal shadow in the sky shattered completely. Long Teng's face was ashen gray. His body was pierced by terrible wounds, on the verge of collapse.

Shiiing! Xiao Chen pointed a finger, and Long Teng's lower body instantly disintegrated into a cloud of blood mist.

"I won't accept this! To be defeated by you…" He ground his teeth, facing the enemy he had once despised, and spat bitterly: "You contemptible brat…"

Xiao Chen raised his right arm calmly and unhurriedly. Long Teng finally cried out in terror: "Don't kill me! I am of the Southern Wastes Dragon Clan. If you kill me, your sins will be boundless…"

"Then let my sins be boundless…" Xiao Chen laughed as lightly as drifting clouds, waving his right arm down as casually as swatting a fly. The shadow of a Heavenly Stele pressed down. Long Teng screamed in terror, and his powerful dragon-human physique vanished in an instant, not a trace left.

Having reached his current realm, Xiao Chen's understanding of the ancient methods of the Heavenly Stele had deepened deeply. What he could not do before, he could now do effortlessly — many techniques had reached their perfect state.

Killing Long Teng in a single battle stirred a tempest in the hearts of the many cultivators in Heavenly Emperor City. A man thought dead had returned in such dominating fashion — how could it not shock everyone?

In the Drunken Beauty Palace, strings and bamboo pipes made joyful music. Dances were graceful and cups clashed in merry banter. Xiao Chen drank and laughed with Liu Mu and the others. Yao Yao, the peerless enchantress, laughed and chatted, the scene full of warmth and cheer.

"Come, come, come! Let's see how this wine steeped with dragon horn differs from the ordinary," Fire Dance said, her beauty enchanting as she smiled and poured wine for everyone.

"Not bad! There's a dragon essence in it. I feel my blood starting to boil!" Niu Ren's eyes lit up.

"I think your beast blood is boiling," Yao Yao said with a smile, her face like finest jade, smooth as cream and seeming to break at a touch. "Then drink a bit more." She signaled to the lovely maids nearby to prepare rooms.

"No need. I'm not Jin Sanyi, stopping at thirteen seconds. I'm a pure man," Niu Ren said with a simple grin, but refused Yao Yao's arrangement in a tone that brooked no argument.

Xiao Chen savored the wine. "This is only from a dragon-man's horn. Someday, we'll go to the winged dragon island in the mortal world and kill a true Sacred Dragon to go with the wine."

This was no joke. The Hundred Races had killed many human experts, and Xiao Chen was indeed planning to fish for dragons and hunt turtles.

Music and song filled the air with celebration. But in some families of Heavenly Emperor City, the mood was bleak and sorrowful. The Hai family and the Rigen family, who had once held grudges against Xiao Chen, were frozen with fear. They had never imagined that a man they thought dead would return alive.

That evening, the Drunken Beauty Palace was brilliantly lit. As everyone raised their glasses in conversation, a terrifying draconic aura rolled in. Every cultivator in Heavenly Emperor City felt the powerful fluctuation.

A dragon clan powerhouse had come!

All eyes turned toward the Drunken Beauty Palace.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Xiao Chen, Liu Mu, and Niu Ren flew up into the sky.

Ahead, two elders led a group of dragon clan experts, standing coldly in the sky, staring at them.

"It's you!" A young dragon clan expert exclaimed in surprise. Then he stepped out from the group with another young dragon clan expert, walking forward.

Xiao Chen felt a flicker of familiarity, then suddenly remembered — these were three young dragon kings of the Southern Wastes Dragon Clan who had once appeared together with the Little Defiant Dragon.

"You're still alive?"

"Is the Reverse Dragon King well?"

…

After a few plain exchanges, the three-headed Dragon King turned and withdrew. To the two dragon clan elders, they said: "Long Teng deserved his death. He went too far over the years. Let this matter rest."

The two dragon clan elders, though their cultivation was extraordinary and transcended the mortal, were very respectful to the three young Dragon Kings. They nodded, and led the many dragon clan experts away in an instant. But as they left, they shot Xiao Chen a fierce glare, their killing intent unconcealed.

The three young Dragon Kings looked back once, then tore through the void and departed. No one had expected the anticipated great battle to end like this.

The cultivators in Heavenly Emperor City received the news immediately. And certain families grew even more terrified.

That same night, the Hai family and the Rigen family sent invitations, asking Xiao Chen to a banquet the next day.

Xiao Chen waved his hand and dismissed the messengers directly.

Before long, important figures from both families personally came to the Drunken Beauty Palace to request an audience.

"I have no time now. Tell them to go back," Xiao Chen said, sending someone to relay the message. He had no intention of meeting the important figures of the two families.

The next morning, the two families sent over a dozen wooden boxes. When opened, they were filled with heads — the heads of the demigods and the instigators who had ambushed Xiao Chen all those years ago.

Xiao Chen sighed and said nothing. He waved his hand and dismissed the messengers.

The two families lived in constant fear, dreading that Xiao Chen would massacre Heavenly Emperor City and wipe out both clans. They waited anxiously for news.

"See you in the Nine Provinces."

After staying a few more days in Heavenly Emperor City, Xiao Chen decided to enter the Nine Provinces.

Liu Mu and Niu Ren still had matters to attend to and decided to return to the Mortal World later. Now, though entering the Nine Provinces from the World of Immortality was still difficult, with sufficient preparation it was possible to travel between the two realms.

Yao Yao let out a silvery laugh. "Since you're all going to the Mortal World, I'll go take another look too."

At parting, Keke loaded Paradise Lost with packages and bundles of good food.

Xiao Chen pinched her fuzzy ears and laughed. "We're only staying in the Dead World for a few days. Is this really necessary?"

Xiao Chen and Keke smoothly entered the Death World. When they arrived at the Divine Village, the Divine Tribe had already selected those to go on the training expedition. The first batch was only seven young experts, intended to learn the lay of the land and test the results of their training.

Little Tianya was among them. The little boy's face was flushed with excitement.

"He…" Xiao Chen found it hard to speak.

"Tianya slept for over a hundred years after birth before awakening. He has very powerful potential. In truth, his potential has long since awakened — he's just still young and doesn't know how to use his power," said Elder Li Mu, affectionately stroking the boy's head.

Tianya immediately thrust out his chest, his little face red as a big apple.

The Divine Tribe was a peculiar race. After birth, infants would fall into a deep slumber. The longer the awakening took, the greater the potential.

These seven young Divine Tribe experts were all over a hundred years old, but the eldest among them had only been awake for thirty years. The youngest, naturally, was Tianya, only seven.

"You must be extremely careful. Among the Hundred Races, there are truly Half-Ancestors!" Li Mu dropped this shocking news.

Divine Tribe elder Zhao Ying nodded. "They seem to be establishing some rules. Do not break these rules and provoke their anger. Otherwise, even with the power of the Dead World to escape, it will be very dangerous."

This was truly not good news for Xiao Chen. It had been over twenty years since he had dealt with Half-Ancestors. That level of expert was impossible to fathom in terms of how terrifying they could be.

Before leaving, Xiao Chen sealed the young female king of the Fallen Angel race, whom he had captured in Paradise Lost, and the corpse worm that had fed on king's blood, and left them in the Divine Village, asking the two elders to train them, intending to send them to the battlefield later.

The seven young Divine Tribe experts — four males and three females — were extremely excited, eager to enter the holy land where their ancestors had once lived: the Nine Provinces.

Entering the Bone Well, the group smoothly traversed space and arrived in the Nine Provinces, appearing outside the Dead City.

"What a long Yellow River! What beautiful scenery!"

The seven Divine Tribe youths flew up into the sky and, seeing the surroundings, immediately began shouting, all of them wildly excited.

"I want to eat dragon meat! Let's go kill a winged dragon!"

"No, I want to eat red monkey brains. Let's go kill a demon ape!"

"I think bear paws from the Earth Bear Tribe are the best delicacy. I've decided to go hunt an Earth Demon Bear."

"I hear angel wings are a fine treat. I think we should go to Heaven and catch a few angels."

…

Xiao Chen stared, dumbfounded. These seven originally honest-looking young Divine Tribe people — how had they changed so dramatically upon entering the Nine Provinces? They were like a completely different group! This was a pack of problem teenagers!

He immediately felt a massive headache coming on, sensing trouble was headed his way.

Only Keke, the little beast, looked like she had found kindred spirits. Her big eyes quickly narrowed into crescent moons, and she happily sidled over, listening to this bunch of trouble's discussions and nodding her head again and again.