Chapter 735: Laughing, Crying, Laughing

I do not know how much time had passed.

The massive thunder orb traveled through the bizarre and myriad Forbidden Grounds of the Ancient Gods, arriving within the remains of the Shi Meng Mo.

"Brother!"

The young girl burst into tears and threw herself into Chen Yan's embrace.

"I thought Ke Qingxuan was lying to me... wuwuwu."

She cried incessantly; though she had experienced a great deal, she still retained a youthful air.

"Master."

"Foster father."

Shen Yiwei and Zhang Ting arrived, and upon seeing Lu Xunyang now restored to his former self, they broke into smiles.

Everything felt as though it had lasted for a very long time.

"It's great, it's so great..."

A woman named Lu Jingqiu wiped away her tears:

"Ke Qingxuan, I thought you were deliberately lying to everyone."

She was on the verge of a breakdown; she was the young lady of a loose cultivator family, and since birth, she had done nothing but cultivate, having almost no experience of the world.

As a result, upon arriving at the Struggle of the Five Clans, she had repeatedly experienced despair, which was truly too difficult to endure.

Ke Qingxuan remained silent, standing calmly by Chen Yan's side.

"Finally... it's over..."

Xia Long sighed with emotion. He looked at Chen Yan with excitement and gratitude, then bowed in salute:

"Long live the Divine General!"

At this moment, everyone looked toward Chen Yan and Lu Xunyang, their eyes brimming with tears as they saluted:

"Long live the Divine General!"

"Long live the Divine General!"

"Long live the Divine General!"

Voice after voice rang out.

Chen Yan stroked the head of his little sister in his arms, also wearing a look of gratified laughter.

Under high pressure, he had also suffered, but fortunately, he had pulled through.

In the void, Lu Jianxia appeared; she stood alone, bowing gracefully to Chen Yan from afar.

Her eyes were filled with complexity; even though she had already made her choice, knowing that Lu Zhiwei was dead still made her feel uneasy.

She was different from Lu Xunyang.

Lu Xunyang cared for the world and had always firmly walked his own path.

But she was born in Lu Province and had lived her whole life for Lu Province; even though she chose Chen Yan, what she thought of in her heart was still that Lu Province was wrong, and that Lu Province could still be saved.

"Let's go in together; having fought for so long, I imagine everyone is already exhausted."

Chen Yan spoke, smiling at Lu Xunyang:

"Please."

Lu Xunyang smiled; he paused for a moment as he looked at Chen Yan.

The crowd also looked at Lu Xunyang, and the atmosphere quieted down.

Lu Xunyang said:

"Is there still food?"

"Naturally, there is," Chen Yan laughed.

The crowd began to laugh.

"I also have food, and not just food, but fine wine as well," Xia Long laughed wantonly.

Inside the Magnetic Storm Thunder Prison.

The structure shifted, evolving into a spacious hall.

Inside the hall, the thunder was as bright as glass pendants, and the wide tabletop was even carved with aesthetically pleasing textures.

Who would have thought the Ten Thousand Prison Nether Thunder would have such good taste.

Xia Long and the others took out dishes, some stored for a long time, others freshly made from existing ingredients; for a moment, it was a dazzling array.

Someone brought out fine wine that had been treasured for a long time, and the fragrance of the wine overflowed.

Everyone had been through too much, and everything at this moment felt somewhat unreal.

Lu Jingqiu sat on a chair, gazing at the dishes on the table for a long time before suddenly gulping down a mouthful of wine.

"Ah... so it's real; I thought I was dreaming."

Having said that, she smacked her lips, stuffed an egg dumpling from the plate in front of her into her mouth, then stuffed in another; it was a bit dry, so she gulped down a mouthful of fine wine and continued to eat.

Such a way of eating left the crowd stunned; many even stopped their chopsticks, looking at Lu Jingqiu with smiles.

Sometimes, rather than eating themselves, many people prefer to watch others enjoy good food.

"Come, drink!"

"A toast to the Divine General!" Wu Song drank five bottles of wine in one breath and was already slightly tipsy; at this moment, he appeared to be proposing a toast, but in reality, he was still looking for an excuse to open another bottle.

The Pure True Yang Realm naturally had its own types of wine.

But compared to the outside world, their two-thousand-year-old wine culture was like an immature infant, and Wu Song and the others had always drunk bitter wine brewed from brown rice.

"A toast to the Divine General!"

Inside the hall, cheers rang out.

Chen Yan revealed a smile and also raised his wine cup.

In Chen Yan's memory, he had only drunk his father Chen Yuhu's wine when he was a child, but that time the liquor had been far too pungent as it went down his throat.

After that, Chen Yan never drank alcohol again.

This time, however, he discovered for the first time that liquor could actually taste good.

"Good, good, good!!!"

Zhang Chao slapped his thigh while drinking, pouring drinks back and forth with Yu Ming beside him.

"Good tolerance, drink some more."

"You drink more too."

"Why did I see you secretly pouring clear water into your wine cup?"

"It seems you are drunk."

"I, Yu Ming, never get drunk; come, continue."

"Hm? Why are you drinking my wine?"

"No, this wine of yours has no taste of alcohol at all..." Yu Ming frowned, took another sip, and the look in his eyes as he stared at Zhang Chao changed.

Zhang Chao felt awkward and turned his head away:

"Brother Qi Fan doesn't like to drink, so I quit drinking a long time ago..."

As he spoke, his eyes turned red, and tears streamed down:

"Big Brother...!"

He held his head in his hands, his body beginning to tremble.

Yu Ming watched, stunned, tears also welling up in his drunken eyes:

"Yu Qing..., I promised your mother, but I didn't bring you back... I, Yu Ming..."

Yu Ming stood up unsteadily, shook off Yu Cheng's hand that was pulling him, opened his eyes wide, and spoke with a comical smile:

"I, Yu Ming, am a piece of trash, hahahahaha!!!"

Having said that, he began to chug the wine.

The two grown men began to cry.

Lu Jianxia remained silent, lowering her head as crystalline tears fell.

She was the only martial artist from Lu Province left who had entered the Five Clans Struggle.

Lu Wuyi was dead, and no one even cared that Lu Fukun and Lu Mingyuan had died.

"My Pure True Yang Realm... millions of people!"

Wu Song stood up, grabbed two bottles of wine, and drank them straight, not caring at all that Hong Mi was pulling at his arm beside him.

He stared with wide eyes, as if he were not drinking, but killing an enemy.

The more he drank, the more he would kill.

If he drank to a certain point, he could reverse time and make the destroyed Pure True Yang Realm return once more.

But everyone knew that the Pure True Yang Realm was destined to end in tragedy from the very beginning.

This was a race struggling for survival in the belly of an ancient divine beast.

The Pure True Yang Realm had neither purity nor true yang.

Wu Song was drunk.

All his ideals had been destroyed.

The entire hall was plunged into an atmosphere of sorrow.

"Come, keep drinking!"

Yu Ming wiped away his tears and continued to shout loudly.

"Drink with me, Zhang Chao is no good!" He walked over to Wu Song and raised his wine bottle with a smile.

"Come, come, come, I, Wu Song, find you, Shen Yiwei, quite pleasing to the eye; that sword strike you executed was truly excellent!"

"My name is Yu Ming, not Shen Yiwei."

"Whatever."

"Exactly, whatever."

"Everyone, I, Yu Ming, have an announcement to make: I-am-a-piece-of-trash!"

"Everyone, I, Wu Song, also have an announcement to make: I-am-also-a-piece-of-trash!"

"Hahahaha!!!"

"Hahaha!"

Throughout the hall, there was a cycle of crying and laughing; everyone seemed capable of changing their expressions in an instant, tears flowing even as smiles appeared.

Chen Yan watched quietly, while Chen Yu beside him simply continued to pick food for him in silence.

In her consciousness, the red-dressed woman sensed everything happening in the hall and did not say a word.

It was not because she was unhappy, but because Lu Xunyang was right beside her, and she dared not even breathe too loudly.

Lu Xunyang ate his food, his expression complex as he watched the scene, though a smile gradually appeared; he glanced at Ji Yannan and simply smiled calmly.

This made Ji Yannan feel as though she were being stared at by a ferocious beast.

But immediately after, Ji Yannan was suddenly struck by the realization that if Lu Xunyang was a ferocious beast, then Chen Yan was no less so.

It was truly difficult for her to stay alive.

After a while.

The little girl, as if she had done something wrong, had also secretly tasted a few sips of wine, but was then carried by Chen Yan and placed on the bed in another room, where she fell fast asleep.

The others were still drinking, while Lu Xunyang and Chen Yan went into another room to discuss matters.

"If Chen He does not die, I can modify his cognition to utilize the Heavenly Bone, making him an asset to me."

Chen Yan spoke, saying that Chen He had already been sealed by him within the pitch-black cube evolved from the Ember Evil Spear, suffering torment.

His consciousness would become increasingly blurred until he was completely controlled by Chen Yan.

As a divine skill evolved from a divine artifact, if Chen Yan wanted to learn the 【Heavenly Bone】, the cost would be immense.

It was better to directly control Chen He; that would be much easier.

"Hmm."

Lu Xunyang looked at Chen Yan:

"That wisp of Ancient God aura within your body remains a disaster; although I have already taken measures to extinguish the life-death aura that the Lord of Chen planted in you, you must still be careful."

Lu Xunyang hesitated to speak further:

"He must have mastered a type of rule-based martial art related to bloodlines; the Ancient God aura is merely the channel through which he exerts the life-death aura, and the problem lies within yourself."

Chen Yan nodded.

After the Shi Meng Mo died, the half of the Ancient God aura that had been extracted by the Shi Meng Mo had indeed dissipated.

The wisp within Chen Yan's body, however, was still there.

Chen Yan had previously sensed that he was being influenced by the Lord of Chen in some way, and after Lu Xunyang's treatment, that trace of influence had vanished.

"Master Lu, why did you come to the Ancient God Forbidden Land in the first place?" Chen Yan asked; this was something he had always wanted to know.

Back in the college entrance examination secret realm, Chen Yan had already addressed Lu Xunyang as Master Lu.

The other party was one of the guides who had led him into the martial path, and the Xunyang Faction and the Military Martial Guard had always been Chen Yan's foundation.

"Because of the Ninth Rank."

Lu Xunyang smiled:

"Do you know why the Soul of the Fate Chapter can allow one to advance from the Eighth Rank to the Ninth Rank?"

Chen Yan shook his head slightly.

"Within the Soul of the Fate Chapter..." Lu Xunyang's eyes shone with a sharp light:

"It contains the divine soul of an Eighth Rank peak Ancient God Beast; slaying this divine soul allows one to advance to the Ninth Rank.

This is the mandatory path of the martial way."

Chen Yan's pupils constricted slightly; he had guessed some of it:

"In other words, to advance from the Eighth Rank peak to the Ninth Rank, one must slay an Ancient God Beast of the same level?"

"Yes!" Lu Xunyang nodded:

"The meaning behind the birth of the martial way is to resist the Ancient Gods.

The growth of a martial artist requires seizing the fortune of heaven and earth, and seizing the future of all living things.

If an Eighth Rank cannot even kill an Ancient God Beast of the same level, how can they be qualified to enter the Ninth Rank?

If they absorb the opportunities of so many human beings and the energy of heaven and earth to enter the Ninth Rank, yet are still no match for an Ancient God Beast, then what is the point?"

Chen Yan nodded; this was the rule established by the Lord of the Martial Way when he created the martial way.

This was the rule of the martial way.

As the Lord of the Martial Way himself, Chen Yan could understand the mindset of the Lord of the Martial Way when he designed it this way.

The energy required for an Eighth Rank peak to advance to the Ninth Rank might be enough to give birth to a dozen or even dozens of Eighth Ranks.

How many Eighth Ranks are there in the entire world?

Such vast energy should not be wasted on a piece of trash who cannot slay an Ancient God Beast of the same level.

"The more powerful the Ancient God Beast of the same level one slays, the more powerful the Ninth Rank one becomes; no matter how good the Soul of the Fate Chapter is, it only contains the divine soul of a sealed Ancient God Beast.

To advance to the Ninth Rank with this is too pathetic, unable to change the world; why would I use it?"

Lu Xunyang said calmly, letting out a long sigh.

Chen Yan's expression changed slightly.

He understood why Lu Xunyang had come to the Ancient God Forbidden Land.

Because the most powerful Eighth Rank peak Ancient God Beast was right here in the Ancient God Forbidden Land.

And it was one of the world's five great Ancient God Beasts.

Whether it was the Shi Meng Mo or the Underworld Nightmare Beast, Lu Xunyang only needed to slay one of them to become the most powerful Ninth Rank in history.

Only then would Lu Xunyang truly obtain the power to modify the world.

Chen Yan asked himself, if it were him, he might have taken the same action.

Lu Xunyang shook his head slightly.

It was precisely because of this thought of his that Qinzhou fell into chaos, and the Great Xia fell into chaos.

But was he wrong?

"Back then, the Xunyang Faction quelled the rebellion in Tiezhou and were heroes who saved the world.

By rights, the Xunyang Faction should have been stationed in Jinzhou as a powerful force protecting the nation, not in a remote place like Qinzhou.

I staged a scene with Xia Hanzhou, making the whole world believe that I, Lu Xunyang, had a conflict of power with the Xia Imperial Clan, that I was suppressed in Qinzhou, and was forced to go to the Ancient God Forbidden Land.

Very few people know the truth, and Xiao Shen once begged Xia Hanzhou on a rainy day because of this."

Lu Xunyang stood with his hands behind his back, pacing inside the room as he slowly recounted the past.

"In truth, my former deputy general Xia Yuan should have inherited the position of the ruler, but he died while undergoing his tribulation.

His younger brother Xia Qi was young and physically weak, unable to bear the suffering of the Imperial Calamity; even if he became the ruler, he would not last many years.

But the Chief of the Astrological Bureau explicitly stated that Xia Qi possessed the bearing of a dragon rider, could stabilize the nation's foundation, and ensure the peace and prosperity of the world; Xia Qi was the best choice for ruler.

I went to see that child; he was intelligent, sensible, had the world in his heart, and possessed excellent strategies; he could contain the mechanisms of the universe and glimpse the path of the great era!"

He revealed a smile, yet it was complex:

"Therefore, I immediately decided to go to the Ancient God Forbidden Land to become an extremely powerful Ninth Rank and suppress the Imperial Calamity that has plagued the Xia family for ten thousand years!"

Chen Yan sighed inwardly; so this was another reason why Lu Xunyang had headed to the Forbidden Land of the Ancient Gods.

Xia Qi was indeed an enlightened ruler.

There had never been anyone with such courage and resolve as Xia Qi.

From the moment Chen Yan was appointed as a Divine General by Xia Qi after the college entrance examination, Chen Yan had already known which path he was meant to walk.

But Xia Qi...