Divine Capital Luoyang

The news that the snow-white little beast had a family was truly startling. A single creature of such heaven-defying lineage would shake the world—let alone two or more.

How powerful was Keke's father? No one could say for certain. He had slain Otherworld Supreme Ancestral Gods as if they were nothing—truly, ludicrously strong.

As for the little one itself, its potential seemed boundless. Everyone now knew that its future achievements would be immeasurable.

“Are you sure you dreamed of a family? That there are many members?” Sha Polang tilted his skull, probing.

Keke sat on the ground like a plush ball, stuffing spirit essences into its mouth without pause. It shook its head and mumbled, “No. I only dreamed about my family's treasure and how to refine my own treasures. I didn't see any members.”

This time, Xiao Chen did not ride the Ancestral Lord Warship. He vanished directly from the cabin and appeared over the Nine Provinces in an instant.

Sha Polang, Zhuge Pangzi, and Jin Sanyi had shamelessly insisted on coming, eager to see what the Nine Provinces looked like after thirty years of separation.

Xiao Chen wanted to first understand the situation before rescuing the countless imprisoned cultivators.

As for Yan Qingcheng and the Undying Sect Leader, they were perfectly safe for now. The puppet Qiu Tian, whom Xiao Chen controlled, provided them with the greatest possible protection.

“Ah, nostalgia! The world of desires and red dust, the city of pleasures—I'm coming!” Sha Polang's skeletal body blazed with light, twin beams shooting from his eye sockets. A skeleton so enamored with the mortal world was a rare sight indeed.

Zhuge Pangzi swallowed hard, already dreaming of a grand feast at the nearest tavern.

“My long-lost sisters! Have you been well all these years without your big brother?” Jin Sanyi let out a long howl, his peach-blossom eyes gleaming as he gazed into the distance. He looked utterly insufferable.

The three of them were ecstatic to finally return to the Nine Provinces after so long.

They quickly left the desolate, dead stillness of Yongzhou and traveled toward the Central Plains, entering the divine capital of Luoyang.

According to Keke, the family treasure it had seen in its dream was located right here.

Legend had it that even in ancient times, when Luoyang was still a humble village, it stood alongside Ancestral Dragon Village as one of the two most famous places under heaven.

For millennia, the divine capital of Luoyang had been shrouded in mystery. Many great figures had left their footprints here, and now it turned out that this heaven-defying family had once lived here as well.

The first order of business upon arriving in this bustling metropolis was to deal with the problem of food.

They entered a restaurant. Zhuge Pangzi immediately ordered three full tables of dishes—and that was on top of the separate table Xiao Chen had ordered for the rest of them. The waiter stared, dumbfounded, and asked cautiously, “Honored sir, are you certain you can finish all this?”

“Spare me the nonsense. I might order two more tables later. Your master here eats like a golden mouth devouring ten directions—even if you hauled a mountain of meat over, I'd finish it.”

The waiter felt dizzy.

“Look at you—such a narrow vision,” Jin Sanyi mocked Zhuge Pangzi. Then he warmly beckoned the waiter, pulling him close and draping an arm over his shoulder with exaggerated familiarity. “The most beautiful women in this city... do you understand? You get my meaning, right?”

The waiter's eyes went wide. What kind of people were these? Each one seemed more villainous than the last.

“What's that look for?” Jin Sanyi struck a narcissistic pose. “Staring at me like that—are you implying that I, Third Brother, am so handsome and charming that I appeal to both men and women alike?”

“I—I'm terrified!” The waiter's legs were turning to jelly, because out of the corner of his eye he had seen Sha Polang, still wrapped in his cloak, extend a skeletal claw and absently draw circles on the tabletop.

Sha Polang took off his wide-brimmed hat, grinned at the waiter with a sinister leer, and then casually removed his own skull, wiping it clean with his cloak.

“Mama!” The waiter's hair stood on end. He jumped a full meter into the air and fled, shrieking, “A ghost!”

“I'm hungry,” the snow-white little beast said plaintively at that moment, its big eyes drifting toward Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen grabbed the waiter and pulled him back. “You're seeing things. Don't mind them.” As he spoke, he used an illusion technique to transform Sha Polang into a rough-looking young man.

But the waiter couldn't possibly believe it. He trembled like a leaf, and the moment Xiao Chen grabbed him, his eyes rolled back—he was about to faint.

Xiao Chen shot Sha Polang a severe glare. Then, reluctantly, he used a divine ability to erase the waiter's memory of what he had seen. Once that was done, he spoke in a gentle tone. “Go and serve the food. The faster, the better.”

The waiter retreated, dazed and confused.

“Behave yourselves, all of you. In the current Nine Provinces, if you provoke the wrong people, it's easy to be exposed.” Xiao Chen warned them.

Just then, Jin Sanyi's peach-blossom eyes caught a glint of light. His gaze hooked onto the street outside the window. “A beauty! An absolute beauty!”

A stunning woman was walking alone down the avenue. Her robes fluttered, her figure graceful and moving. But a cold, murderous aura clung to her—she was clearly no ordinary mortal.

Zhuge Pangzi crowded over to look and immediately changed expression. He transmitted a message: “A female Half-Ancestor of the Eighth Heaven!”

Jin Sanyi shrank his neck. He recognized her too. She was the same female Half-Ancestor who had pursued them into the stars and fought Xing Tian. Xing Tian had utterly defeated her, but she had escaped certain death by using a demonic diagram.

This powerful Otherworld female Half-Ancestor made Jin Sanyi and Zhuge Pangzi feel as though they were sitting on needles and thorns in the restaurant.

“It's fine,” Xiao Chen said, shaking his head. He had already concealed their auras; he wasn't worried about the female Half-Ancestor sensing them.

Chi!

On the street, the female Half-Ancestor of the Eighth Heaven suddenly blazed with radiance. A suit of silver battle armor covered her body, its metallic luster shining brightly and lending her a heroic, commanding presence.

At the same moment, from different directions, seven more figures slowly approached her.

Each one was a powerhouse—every single one had reached the Half-Ancestor level. They all wore divine metal battle armor, cold light glinting from the suits.

“Damn. Are they coming for us?” Sha Polang was losing his composure.

“No,” Xiao Chen said, shaking his head again. He sat quietly in the restaurant, watching everything on the street below. “It looks like they're about to make a major move.”

Meanwhile, from a street on the opposite side, a tall figure appeared without a sound. He was majestic, valiant, and filled with an overpowering spirit. He was none other than the grandson of the Otherworld Ancestral God Li Huiyou—also a Half-Ancestor of the Eighth Heaven, his battle armor gleaming with cold metallic light.

Soon, five more Half-Ancestor-level experts gathered around him. Every single one wore a grave expression and carried divine weapons, their murderous intent boiling over.

At the same time, yet another towering figure materialized in a nearby space, and several more Half-Ancestors quickly converged beside him.

Luoyang was now a gathering place for an overwhelming number of experts. Although the Otherworld Ancestral Gods had not yet arrived in person, Half-Ancestors of the Eighth and Ninth Heaven were appearing one after another, each leading a powerful cadre of combatants.

In just half an hour, no fewer than a dozen leaders at the Eighth and Ninth Heaven levels had appeared within the divine capital, along with scores of ordinary Half-Ancestors.

It could be said that even by Otherworld standards, this was an extremely formidable military force—one capable of sweeping away any enemy below the Ancestral God level.

In that moment, the entire city of Luoyang fell silent. Every household closed their doors and windows tightly. The people were terrified, feeling as though the end of the world had come.

In all the establishments still open for business, patrons lay trembling on the floor, paralyzed by fear.

So many powerful Half-Ancestors—even though they did not deliberately release their auras, the faint traces that slipped out were still enough to fill the hearts of every resident in this ancient capital with dread.

Jin Sanyi and Zhuge Pangzi's scalps went numb. With so many Half-Ancestors, a single glare from them could have annihilated the two of them several times over. But seeing that Xiao Chen had concealed their presences with his divine ability, and that those powerful Half-Ancestors had not detected them, they felt a little more at ease.

The most relaxed of all was undoubtedly Keke. The little one was providing for itself, using a Dragon Clan grand divine ability to teleport every kind of delicacy from the kitchen directly to its table. It ate with great relish, visibly enjoying itself.

On the street, the grandson of Li Huiyou spoke in a deep voice: “This place has been shrouded in mystery since ancient times. According to legend, a supreme treasure of our realm was lost here in the distant past, never to be recovered. Today we will open the underground world and retrieve it.”

“An Ancestral God will arrive soon to personally break open the underground world.” The female Half-Ancestor of the Eighth Heaven spoke in a clear, cold voice, her beautiful eyes sweeping the surroundings.

In the restaurant, Xiao Chen revealed a look of surprise. Jin Sanyi and the others exchanged glances.

Keke furrowed its delicate nose and let out a soft “Ya-ya” of displeasure. Obviously, it was thinking of its own family treasure. Its furry little ears swiveled as it listened intently.

Just then, another Half-Ancestor of the Ninth Heaven on the street suddenly spoke slowly: “I've heard that the treasure of our realm was actually seized from someone else and sealed here.”

“That's right, I've heard that rumor too. It's hard to imagine that anyone could have stolen our realm's treasure—unbelievable!”

Another powerful Otherworld Half-Ancestor stepped forward and said, “Don't underestimate the Nine Provinces and the Four Worlds. In the long river of history, there have indeed been some transcendent figures of terrifying power. Not only did they kill our Ancestral Gods in their own world, some even fought their way into our world and stirred up monstrous waves.”

Someone nodded in agreement. “Millions of years have passed. Our ancestors endured countless battles. Although they always crushed the Nine Provinces and the Four Worlds with overwhelming force, they also paid a very painful price.”

“The most frightening thing is that perhaps the terrifying figures of the Nine Provinces' past have not truly been exterminated!” Just then, another Half-Ancestor of the Ninth Heaven revealed this shocking news.

Even Xiao Chen and Jin Sanyi on the restaurant were deeply shaken.

“Are you talking about the Heavenly Emperor?” The female Half-Ancestor of the Eighth Heaven, her silver battle armor gleaming, spoke with a cold voice. “He wanted to take another step forward, but in the end, he destroyed himself. Pity. He was a man who could have turned the tide of battle, but he annihilated himself in the end.”

“The Heavenly Emperor is not the only threat. One of our Supreme Ancestral Gods once sensed an extremely dangerous aura—a remnant of an ancient Tiren seems to still be alive…”

As soon as this news broke, every Otherworld Half-Ancestor changed color.

But on the restaurant, Xiao Chen felt a surge of excitement. Jin Sanyi and Zhuge Pangzi were even more agitated—perhaps the situation was not as hopeless as they had imagined.

“Hmph!” An Eighth Heaven Half-Ancestor sneered. “This time, breaking into the underground world is precisely to retrieve our realm's treasure and use it to locate wherever those terrifying figures might be hiding.”

“Never underestimate the Nine Provinces and the Four Worlds. Our realm's treasure was indeed stolen from us.” A Ninth Heaven Half-Ancestor stepped forward. “Alright, we have gathered enough people. Let's begin.”

With that, scores of Half-Ancestors vanished from the street.

“Ya-ya!” On the restaurant, the little beast Keke frowned. Its big eyes flashed with anger, and it grumbled indignantly, “Bad guys!”

“What is it?” Xiao Chen asked.

“They're going to steal my family's treasure,” the snow-white little beast replied.

In that instant, Xiao Chen sensed that all those powerful Half-Ancestors had entered the underground beneath the divine capital.

Zhuge Pangzi, Sha Polang, and Jin Sanyi were excited, agitated, and worried all at once. Keke's family was absolutely monstrous, and it seemed that their treasure hoard contained an Otherworld supreme treasure.

If the little beast and its companions could successfully retrieve it… well, that was something to look forward to.

But the Otherworld experts had already made their move, and an Ancestral God would be arriving soon. They were probably in for serious trouble.

Now, none of them cared about eating. In an instant, they vanished from the restaurant and followed the Half-Ancestors underground.

Naturally, Xiao Chen led the way. The others hid inside Paradise Lost.

He used the half stone skull to conceal their traces. This had fooled the Otherworld Ancestral God Qiu Tian in his dimensional world before; it would certainly have no trouble deceiving the Half-Ancestors ahead.

Within the dark underground world, a vast cavern stretched out before them, so immense that one could hardly see its end. And even when they did reach the end, new black tunnels immediately appeared, leading into unknown depths.

This was a colossal labyrinth, incredibly easy to get lost in.

Even the powerful divine senses of the Half-Ancestors were of no use here. A mysterious force interfered with their perceptions, suppressing their spiritual awareness. When they extended their mental probes, it felt as though they had fallen into a dead void—they could detect nothing at all.

Thus, they had become as though deaf and blind, little better than ordinary mortals. They could only rely on their physical eyes and their instincts to advance.

“Keke, can you sense where the treasure is? Let's get there first,” Sha Polang rattled his skull as he spoke.

“No,” the snow-white little beast shook its head, frowning with frustration. “I can only sense that it's somewhere under this ground, but I can't tell exactly where.”

“Aaah!”

Suddenly, a terrified scream came from ahead. A Half-Ancestor was pierced by a beam of light and, in an instant, his body and soul were utterly annihilated.

“What is that…”

A cold, metallic humanoid figure stood motionless. Its entire body was pieced together from Ancestral God weapons. It had no life aura whatsoever.

All the Half-Ancestors behind it changed color.

So this was what lay beneath the divine capital of Luoyang. It truly was no ordinary place.

Every last Half-Ancestor vanished from their positions, tearing through space to flee.

But the metal being formed from Ancestral God weapons did not pursue them. It stood there in utter stillness, as silent as a statue.

“A stone door!” Sha Polang exclaimed. “There's a stone door over there!”

It was obvious that the metal being had been placed there to guard the stone door. The ambition of whoever had set this up was staggering—to have imprisoned a being capable of wounding Ancestral Gods as nothing more than a guardian.

“The treasure of our realm must still be in this underground world.” Just then, a cold, flat voice echoed from the sky above Luoyang.

“Let's go!” Xiao Chen covered their presence with the half stone skull and led Keke and the others deeper into the darkness.

An Otherworld Ancestral God had arrived. He did not wish to clash head-on now. Perhaps waiting in the shadows for an opportunity was the best choice.