Chapter 2627

The Purgatory-like bustling Panlong Secret Realm had returned to being a sleepless city devoid of a single soul.

The lights along the streets and alleys remained warm, only a few lanterns spun round and round in the gusts kicked up by the yin shadow's constricting band, as if some roof tile had been blown off and fallen to the ground, only to return to its original place after a few breaths.

The power of the Great Expansion Heavenly Pearl made everything remain as usual.

Thus the little snake coiled once around He Lingchuan's palm, reverted to its ouroboros form, ceased moving, though its shape had slightly altered.

He Lingchuan then set it into the groove along the pool's edge.

This time, it fit perfectly.

The snake's eyes flared red light; He Lingchuan grasped the center of the groove and gave it a gentle twist, hearing only a soft "click," as if something had been activated.

The two artifact spirits also braced themselves, hearts in their throats, watching anxiously, fearing some earth-shattering change.

Would the reception of the Nine Abysses be the second heavy trial of fate?

The originally dry pool bottom began to have water.

The mechanism He Lingchuan activated was likely the opening of the pool's drain; the water level of the Blessing Pool rose at a visible speed, reaching half-full in merely thirty or fifty breaths.

This pool of clear water also turned into the familiar light red.

If one gazed into the depths of the pool water, it seemed as if a purplish-red shadow swam past.

"Eh ya!" the Soul-Capturing Mirror exclaimed, "This this, could this possibly be—"

Indeed, this Blessing Pool was the passage left for him by the Great Vast Vessel.

He Lingchuan reclaimed the Divine Seal of Fate, and without hesitation plunged into the pool.

With a plop, he vanished into this pool of water two chi deep.

The water rippled, and only after a while did it return to calm.

……

Once again passing through the Red Sea, He Lingchuan's heart pounded thump-thump.

He had not been able to visit this place for over ten years, since the Panlong World was sealed.

The boundless Red Sea before his eyes was also quite different from before; the most obvious difference was the giant seaweed floating in the sea, thick and dense, forming a very three-dimensional underwater forest.

Familiar?

If it feels familiar, then it's correct—this is the main body of the Hidden God Sovereign!

Strictly speaking, it was not He Lingchuan who stole the Hidden God Sovereign's main body from the Glazed Sea of the Spirit Essence Palace, but the Great Vast Vessel! He Lingchuan merely placed his hand on the target, while the Divine Bone Necklace was responsible for the suction that devoured the Hidden God Sovereign's main body clean and clean.

He Lingchuan had always been curious how the Great Vast Vessel would arrange the Hidden God Sovereign's corpse.

Now he knows.

Thereafter, he saw in the deep sea a huge shadow drawing nearer and nearer.

Chaos had finally arrived.

No matter how many times one looks, this fellow's physique is astonishingly magnificent.

However, Chaos did not stop to communicate with him, but instead swept straight past his side, a flick of the tail accelerating forward.

Where is it headed?

He Lingchuan had just turned to swim toward its direction when he was swept aside by the current kicked up by the giant beast's tail flick.

Then he saw the Panlong Secret Realm!

He came from the secret realm; now the secret realm is behind him, also the direction Chaos is swimming toward.

He Lingchuan had never thought he could observe the Panlong Secret Realm from this strange angle—that is, from underwater looking toward the shore.

Is this the perspective of a fish?

He glanced at Chaos; this thing's appearance also resembles a fish, no problem.

But looking from underwater, he could only see a corner of the Panlong Secret Realm.

Or, conversely, looking at himself and Chaos relative to the Panlong Secret Realm, they are too small.

As Chaos swam closer to the Panlong Secret Realm, the secretariat's vastness became even more apparent, making Chaos's size truly like that of a koi in a pond.

Chaos gave another burst of acceleration, suddenly charging toward the Panlong Secret Realm, and then—leapt out of the water.

He Lingchuan could see water splashing everywhere; it truly had rushed out, but within two breaths it fell back into the water, bringing up a large amount of foam.

"……" He felt that Chaos very much wanted to rush into the secret realm, but it could not get onto land.

Is it limited by rules?

He Lingchuan looked around, still unable to see the boundary of this Red Sea.

Yet he had the illusion that the area of the Panlong Secret Realm seemed larger than the Red Sea.

Staying in the Red Sea, he felt somewhat……like looking from the bottom of a basin toward the world beyond the water surface.

If the Red Sea represents the interior of the Great Vast Vessel, then the real world connected to the other end of the Panlong Secret Realm is indeed truly boundless.

No wonder Chaos is so restless; is it yearning for a broader world?

But what does it mean that Chaos repeatedly struck the Panlong Secret Realm?

Even if it wanted to leave here, this behavior itself is unnecessarily violent.

Reality, secret realm, Great Vast Vessel, hmm……

The Panlong Secret Realm is what he painstakingly constructed, for which he even fought life-and-death battles with Shangguan Biao and Jia Lou Tian, and only three years have passed since then; it can be said that its connection to the Great Vast Vessel is abnormally stable.

A strange thought suddenly popped into He Lingchuan's mind:

Wait, could Chaos's frequent striking of the secret realm be because this connection is too stable?

His heart once again surged with an ominous premonition; lowering his head, he saw the serpent eyes of the Divine Seal of Fate glowing, their light not even concealed by the seawater.

In the dim and distant, it seemed as if countless things were intertwined together, myriad threads.

A great fate storm is taking shape.

At this moment, Chaos flicked its tail and turned again, but this time it did not collide with the Panlong Secret Realm; instead, it turned around and swam over here.

It came looking for He Lingchuan.

"Come on," he murmured in his heart.

Chaos's behavior just now, or perhaps it was a demonstration aimed at him. Otherwise, before he entered the Secret Realm, Chaos had never struck against the Panlong Secret Realm, at least the Earth Mother had not noticed.

The communication between the two parties was just so abstract.

This time, Chaos opened its mouth toward him.

That blood basin mouth truly looked as if it could swallow the whole world.

He Lingchuan did not resist either, relaxed his body, and then his vision went dark.

……

When he opened his eyes again, he hadn't even had time to take in his surroundings when deafening cheers rang out all around:

"He's awake, he's awake, he's truly awake!"

He Lingchuan turned his head, and his breath caught, for he saw Hu Min and the door panel.

The two of them, one grinning with his mouth split back to his ears, the other with red eyes.

Upon seeing these two faces, He Lingchuan finally confirmed, he had truly returned!

In the blink of an eye, it had been over a decade, and the Panlong world finally reopened to him!

He Lingchuan could no longer lie still, he shot up into a sitting position, and found himself in an unfamiliar room.

Then he saw Zhong Shengguang standing behind the two, Xu Shichu of the Shanxue Academy, and Zhao Mantu.

Xu Shichu and the first two basically still looked as he remembered, but Zhong Shengguang's temples were already streaked with white, and his face had acquired several more wrinkles; Xu Shichu's eyelids were somewhat drooping, his cheekbones prominent.

During the time he had disappeared, they seemed to have undergone further trials of wind and frost.

But their smiles remained as warm and sincere as ever, just as they were when he left.

He Lingchuan's heart warmed, and then his gaze fixed on Zhao Mantu.

(End of Chapter)