The Trickster's Trail

In the chaotic spacetime, nothing was in harmony.

Watching King Wheel and the other two chase after Qingqing, Xiao Chen had no way to help. The Martial Imprint spoke truly; what seemed like a few li of distance might have been separated by a hundred years or more.

It was the true meaning of 'so close, yet so far.'

No one knew how long they had drifted in this chaotic spacetime. Xiao Chen and his companions could find no way out. They were lost.

The surroundings were not empty. They often encountered floating mountains and islands, and at times, terrifying killing intent would sweep past. This place was not peaceful—it was a dangerous realm of disordered time and space.

"Shiiing—"

Just then, a dreadful blade-light shattered the chaotic space, sweeping toward them. In an instant, it felt like the end of the world. The power was overwhelming, dominating heaven and earth. Even Xiao Chen's soul trembled.

Even the Martial Imprint's color changed at that divine might.

"Power that can shake an Ancestral God!"

The old divine stick was surprisingly agile at this moment. He wrapped up Xiao Chen and the others and charged upward, narrowly dodging the brilliant blade-light.

"An Ancestral God! There is an Ancestral God in this chaotic spacetime!"

"He attacked us... This is..."

The Golden Divine Halberd and the Dark-Iron Seal were both uneasy, revealing fear.

"Don't overthink it. That power was sent here by shattering the chaos from afar," the Martial Imprint said, calming down. "It's a divine power that traverses time and space. Perhaps it was unleashed hundreds or even tens of thousands of years ago. We won't encounter the one who struck—beings of that level should have departed long ago."

And so they drifted for another half month, still finding no way out. Of course, this was only their own perception. Whether it was half a month, several days, or several years, it was hard to say. In this chaotic spacetime, the passage of time could not be measured by common sense.

The Martial Imprint wanted to shatter the void and carve a path to the outside, but multiple attempts failed. Sometimes they entered even more violent and disordered time, other times they crossed space into even more dangerous hells.

They could not escape the bonds of chaotic spacetime. They could only drift aimlessly.

Thus, they felt about twenty days had passed. On this day, two brilliant beams of light appeared ahead. In the blink of an eye, they reached them—incredibly fast.

"Dodge!" the Martial Imprint shouted.

Without needing to be told, everyone flew backward to both sides.

"Shiiing—"

Xiao Chen felt his Ancestral God Battle Suit tremble. The two beams of light that streaked by like emperors left two faint scratches on the Ancestral God War Vest. This was terrifying—what kind of sharp blade could damage an Ancestral God's battle suit?

"That's... two Ancestral God Weapons!" The Martial Imprint wrapped everyone in a flash of light and chased after them. "What a chaotic, sinister place," even the taciturn Bai Qi muttered.

The two Ancestral God Weapons had crossed space and happened to be on the same trajectory as their movement.

Unfortunately, after several days of pursuit, the two Ancestral God Weapons tore through space and vanished completely.

"A divine island! There's a divine island ahead!" the Golden Divine Halberd exclaimed.

Earlier, they had seen many large mountains and islands, but all were bare, without anything on them.

But the divine island before them was completely different—lush and vibrant, with faint sounds of apes howling and tigers roaring. The group rushed over. The island was covered in flowers and vegetation, lush and green.

A giant-eared rabbit flew past, and then two bird-headed, bird-bodied creatures circled overhead.

Xiao Chen and the others were not unfamiliar with these prehistoric creatures; they had encountered some not long ago.

"Rumble—"

A distant mountain ridge flipped over, shaking the entire island. It turned out to be a colossal snake!

"This is a prehistoric divine island that fell into chaotic spacetime, preserving many unknown creatures," the Martial Imprint warned. "Don't provoke them. They probably won't attack us on their own."

The group carefully explored the island, discovering many strange creatures. Finally, at the peak of the highest mountain, they saw a large green stone engraved with writing.

The characters were extremely unique—crooked and twisted, like a beginner's handwriting, the scribbles of a child. In short, they could rival Little Beast Keke's. The style of the two was remarkably similar.

Seeing the stone carving, the Martial Imprint started to get angry. The old divine stick rarely hated anyone so much. Without thinking, it was the one who had once carved on his original body—another piece of calligraphy from that same hand.

"[Name] was here. If you want to escape chaotic spacetime, worship my inscription devoutly for three days, and the path to the outside world will naturally open."

The Martial Imprint ground his teeth as he read.

Xiao Chen and the others were all shocked. That mighty figure's handwriting was truly hard to praise, but his power was too heaven-defying!

That great man had once appeared at the Weapon Burial Valley, leaving carvings on the old divine stick's body. Even without a stone bone in hand, he had smoothly opened the road to the most evil place. One had to admire his heaven-reaching methods. And from the words he left behind, he was entirely relaxed, as if he were touring while strolling toward the most evil place, completely ignoring the dangers that could threaten Ancestral Gods. Truly a freak.

"He carved on my body and now he's playing tricks here! It's infuriating!" The Martial Imprint was about to slap the great green stone when the Golden Divine Halberd and the Dark-Iron Seal quickly stopped him.

"Lord Divine Stick, please calm down. We'd rather believe it than not. If we get trapped here forever, it will be too late for regrets."

The Martial Imprint was still seething. Hearing this, he glared at them fiercely: "What 'Lord Divine Stick'? Just call me 'My Lord' and drop the first two words."

"Yes, yes, yes. My Lord, then shall we worship the inscription?"

Gritting his teeth, the Martial Imprint read the next lines: "I only accept the worship of Ancestral God-level cultivators. Don't waste your efforts, everyone else."

Too twisted! To demand that Ancestral Gods bow in worship—was this man truly insane, or was he simply too heaven-defying?

"Escaping is what matters. Lord Divine Stick, please just pay your respects," Xiao Chen said with a wry smile.

"You little brat, asking for a beating!" The Martial Imprint's face darkened, his expression far from friendly.

The Golden Divine Halberd and the Dark-Iron Seal also urged: "That senior is an expert. It wouldn't hurt for you to bow, Lord Divine Stick..."

"Both of you shut up! If you want to bow, go ahead, but I absolutely will not!" The Martial Imprint's face was sour, itching to shatter the great green stone with a single slap.

"We are not Ancestral Gods, so that senior won't accept our worship. Only you, honored one, can do it..."

"I $#@%^&..." The Martial Imprint erupted in a string of curses. "That bastard is obviously toying with us! Even if his power is heaven-defying, he left years ago. There's no way he'll open a spacetime passage for us now!"

Not far off, a white fox was watching them with great human-like curiosity. The Dark-Iron Seal transformed into a beam of black light and pressed down.

"Heh, caught a spirit fox! Let's have it kneel and worship for three days—better than nothing. Eh? It actually has nine tails—a rare breed..."

As soon as the Dark-Iron Seal finished speaking, it suddenly crashed straight to the ground.

"A powerful prehistoric creature—a Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Its emitted gas can paralyze the soul!" The Martial Imprint shot out a beam of azure light, quickly freezing the demon fox in place.

At the same time, the Dark-Iron Seal shot up. After all, it had the divine sense of a half-ancestor; though briefly stunned, it recovered quickly.

"Damn it! How can even a fox be this sinister? Alright, it's settled—let it worship for three days!"

The unfortunate prehistoric creature, a Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, was forcibly captured and made to kowtow. It was clearly a highly intelligent demon fox; once it understood the stakes, it behaved very obediently.

The group hadn't really taken this seriously, treating it as the Dark-Iron Seal venting its anger. But to their surprise, after three days, the great green stone actually began to shine with divine light, revealing a few crooked characters.

Even the Martial Imprint was taken aback. He read aloud: "If you are not a half-ancestor-level cultivator, don't bother. Just live well on this divine island. I will bless you with a lifetime of peace."

Everyone turned to look at the Martial Imprint.

"Don't look at me. I'll never bow to that bastard!" The Martial Imprint's forehead was covered in black lines.

He was far stronger than the others, so no one could force him. But for the next half month, they still found no way to escape the chaotic spacetime.

Finally, even the Martial Imprint grew anxious. He moved like lightning, delivering four slaps that sealed the spiritual awareness of Xiao Chen, Bai Qi, the Golden Divine Halberd, and the Dark-Iron Seal.

The group had no idea why the old divine stick had suddenly ambushed them. They fainted and fell to the ground.

When Xiao Chen and the others woke up, they found not only the great green stone shattered into powder but even the mountain ridge beneath their feet had been sheared off. The Martial Imprint was panting like an ox, his face dark and foul, as if everyone in the world owed him money.

Seeing this, the Golden Divine Halberd and the Dark-Iron Seal—those two crafty old fellows—chuckled to themselves, guessing that the Martial Imprint must have secretly bowed to the stone.

Bai Qi also guessed it, but he was straightforward and asked directly: "Senior, what was the result? After paying homage, did you find a way out?"

The Martial Imprint jumped up like someone whose tail had been stepped on, shouting: "Nonsense! How could I bow to that bastard!"

"Lord Divine Stick, calm down," the Dark-Iron Seal urged from the side.

The Golden Divine Halberd also tried to cozy up: "Senior, is there a way to leave this place?"

"No!" The Martial Imprint seemed furious, grinding his teeth. "That liar!" As soon as he said it, he suddenly realized he had slipped up and shut his mouth immediately.

No one dared to ask for the details.

In the following half month, the Martial Imprint was constantly grinding his teeth. Every day, one could hear the sound of "gnash, gnash."

Xiao Chen and Bai Qi were speechless. That great man who had left the inscription was too reckless, actually daring to toy with an Ancestral God-level being. Separated by endless years, he had infuriated the Martial Imprint like this. He must have been a figure who could give even Ancestral Gods a headache.

Several days later, Xiao Chen and the others left this place and continued drifting through the chaotic spacetime.

"You bastard, I may not be able to deal with you, but I will definitely take good care of your precious darling!" More than twenty days had passed, but the Martial Imprint was still full of resentment, grinding his teeth several times a day. "I curse you a hundred times! A hundred times!"

As he said this, he could not help but glare viciously at Xiao Chen, sending a chill down Xiao Chen's spine. In response, Xiao Chen quickly turned around, pretending not to notice, showing the back of his head.

"Lord Divine Stick, how did that great man trick you?" Bai Qi asked—whether out of genuine naivety or deliberately provoking the Martial Imprint.

"Shut up! This has nothing to do with you!" The Martial Imprint was now displeased with everyone and nearly punished the Golden Divine Halberd and the Dark-Iron Seal—the two who had once urged him to bow to the inscription. Those two had been having a hard time lately, both behaving quietly, not daring to say much.

After being cooped up for over a month, the Golden Divine Halberd and the Dark-Iron Seal finally found a chance to roar out loud, venting with a couple of fierce shouts.

"Look, there's a figure beside us!"

"No, it seems to be a beast shadow..."

...

On a spacetime corridor parallel to the Martial Imprint's group, a soft ball of white light advanced unhurriedly. Xiao Chen peered closely with his divine eye and suddenly cried out: "Keke!"

At that moment, he found it utterly incomprehensible. How had the little beast gotten here?

"Keke..." Xiao Chen called out loudly to the little thing.

Then he came to his senses. Between spacetime corridors, the difference of a hair could be a hundred years. Even if he shouted, the other party could not hear him.

But... he felt it was incredible. Why had Little Beast Keke come here? How had it gotten in?

The white light drew closer until it ran parallel to them. They could clearly see the snow-white little beast.

Yet Xiao Chen was dumbfounded. This snow-white little beast before him was... too cool!

Though it was the same size as Keke—about a foot long, pure white like jade, radiating spirituality—its manner was completely different from adorable little Keke.

This snow-white little beast wore a pair of black crystal glasses. According to reports, such dark crystal glasses had been unearthed from many prehistoric relics; their true name was 'sunglasses.'

This snow-white little beast had its hands clasped behind its back, head held high, wearing black sunglasses, a blade of grass dangling from its mouth. Its demeanor... was simply that of a little cool beast!

And its head of snow-white, glossy fur was slicked back into a perfect pompadour!

Was this Keke? Xiao Chen wondered. This style... somehow seemed not quite right.

Little Beast was never like this.

While Xiao Chen was puzzling, the Martial Imprint beside him completely exploded.

"#$@%^&..."

The Martial Imprint's whole body trembled. He pointed at the snow-white little beast, cursing furiously: "It really is you, you bastard... Just you wait! I'm not done with you!"

Though he knew this was likely an afterimage left thousands of years ago, coincidentally appearing in this disordered spacetime, the Martial Imprint still could not control his emotions. He stomped and cursed, his whole body shaking.

"You bastard! You ate up all the spiritual essence gathered by several Ancestral Gods! Some of that essence was meant for me, but I never got to enjoy it! And you carved on my body! You liar... I despise you! I curse you!"

The Martial Imprint was nearly out of control, cursing ceaselessly.

"Life is so lonely like snow. Without a rival on heaven and earth, the days are too hard—not even a pastime to pass the time... Ah..." The cool little beast, hands behind its back, face to the sky, sunglasses in place, grass between its teeth, sighed with this lament. "I suppose I need to go wander the Otherworld or the Primordial Celestial Realm for a while..."