Chapter 767

The Master of the Martial Dao!

Lord Chen looked up at the vast sky, standing with his hands behind his back:

"He likely won't come out; if he were going to, he would have done so long ago."

Lord Chen seemed to be talking to himself as he looked at Chen Yan:

"I have been speculating about what the Master of Will is trying to do. Why would he raise up such a formidable prodigy of will as you, let you preach the Dao, yet refuse to show himself?"

Lord Chen's deep gaze swept over Chen Yan's body, various conjectures surfacing in his mind.

At one moment, he might have thought that the Master of Will was this very collateral descendant of his Chen Prefecture.

But when he saw that Lu Xunyang's body was also burning with a raging flame of will, he set that conjecture aside.

The second realm of the Will path is the Immortal Will, also recognized by the world as the Immortal Body.

The appearance of the Immortal Body predated Chen Yan.

Yet, the possibility that the Master of Will was Lu Xunyang was not high.

Because the power of the Will path on Lu Xunyang was clearly inferior to Chen Yan's.

He paced through the forest:

"For such a person to appear a hundred, or even a thousand years ago, perhaps he was some old antique of the Xia clan from my era.

When the Xia clan was in danger, he bestowed his inheritance, passing it to Lu Xunyang, causing him to awaken the Immortal Body.

When Lu Xunyang was in danger and the Great Xia fell into a desperate situation again, he preached the Dao to you, making you the second pillar of the Xia clan."

Chen Yan listened calmly; Lord Chen's conjecture was actually quite logical.

The reason he did not suspect himself was merely because the Immortal Body had appeared before he was born.

But what Lord Xia did not know was this.

Lu Xunyang was the very existence who first approached the Will path; the other party had awakened the Immortal Body under the threat of life and death.

But Lu Xunyang stopped at the Immortal Body.

Whereas Chen Yan, in order to pursue the Immortal Body, continuously broke through limits, condensed more extreme patterns, and designed the Immortal Will as the second realm of the Will path.

Lu Xunyang was the shadow, while Chen Yan was the completer.

At this moment, Lord Chen did not show any hostility or killing intent toward Chen Yan.

Instead, he acted as if he were speaking to the only friend he could confide in, continuously voicing the conjectures in his heart.

Perhaps it was because the current Chen Yan no longer posed any threat to him, having already withdrawn from this earth-shattering game of chess in the human world.

Or perhaps...

"You are too much like me. To be precise, we are both like the Lord Xia of those years, always using the name of righteousness to do dark things.

You are still young now, but if you were allowed to continue growing, you would be colder than me, and more evil than me."

Lord Chen chuckled:

"Because we both know that what can save the human race is not the Master of Qi and Blood, but only the Master of Hard-Refining."

He looked at Chen Yan with what seemed like extreme admiration, pointed a finger, and a brilliant light landed on the ground.

Instantly, on the ground, soil particles swirled and gathered into a silhouette, muscles and bones gradually appeared, and robes took shape along with the airflow.

When the dust settled, a jade-faced man stood there, his brows like ink paintings, his posture upright.

【Dao Severing】 Severing the Dao of Death.

Severing death, enlightening all things, bestowing vitality!

As Lord Chen waved a hand, Chen Yan's divine soul instantly covered and entered this physical body.

Chen Yan's pupils constricted; Lord Chen had actually forged a new physical body for him.

This was 【Dao Severing】.

Within this newborn body, there was actually no Chen clan bloodline at all; it was entirely formed from soil.

Chen Yan's heart was complex; he had calculated so much precisely to deceive the heavens, change his physical body, and guard against Lord Chen's final means.

Yet, the one who completed this plan for him was none other than Lord Chen.

"Why are you doing this?" Chen Yan looked at Lord Chen in extreme surprise.

"Why be surprised?" Lord Chen laughed softly:

"I said, you should not die. You can combine Hard-Refining and Qi and Blood; your merits would even rival the Master of the Martial Dao.

To kill you is to extinguish a hope of the human race.

In this world, it is not only through slaughter that one can solve everything.

I destroyed the Great Xia, certainly not for selfish reasons. If Lu Xunyang were willing, I could set up a banquet right now and drink with him.

Success or failure is the cycle of history, but as for the future of the human race, do not add your own personal grievances into it."

Lord Chen raised his head:

"The Five Clans and the Great Xia are enemies, but you and I are not. I plotted against you for the sake of the Five Clans, not for myself.

Your destruction of the Ji Prefecture was the same."

Chen Yan was silent, feeling this newborn physical body.

It was no different from an ordinary person's body; given time, he would naturally grow strong again.

But this was clearly impossible.

Lord Chen would not let him grow strong.

"You are surprisingly candid, more than I expected." Chen Yan said frankly:

"I originally thought that the person who created Chen Changyuan must have the same personality as Chen Changyuan."

"Chen Changyuan is the future Ancient God I need." Lord Chen spoke:

"What I want is to control another self, another self that has become an Ancient God."

"If I were to become an Ancient God, why would I need to fabricate another avatar?"

The Chen Lord looked at Chen Yan, yet saw that certain things deep within Chen Yan's gaze had never changed.

The two men's origins were different.

One was born shouldering the entire Chen Province, viewing the world as their own responsibility.

The other was born into poverty, starting with only the small plot of land before their eyes, struggling immensely just to survive.

The Chen Lord might treat life as mere numbers.

But Chen Yan did not distinguish by numbers.

"If you don't kill me, you will lose," Chen Yan said calmly.

"Will I lose?" the Chen Lord murmured:

"I do not kill you, I only want you to look at things on a larger scale, not to be confined to what is before your eyes.

The salvation you speak of so often must not only look at those around you, but also at the world.

If you only look at what is before you, even if you defeat me, how will you defeat the Ancient Gods?"

He looked fiercely at Chen Yan:

"If you cannot defeat the Ancient Gods, then your defeating me is actually destroying the world!

Do you understand?!"

Chen Yan's pupils constricted slightly, and at this moment, the meaning in the depths of his eyes gradually changed.

He was like this, Lu Xunyang was like this, and Xia Qi was like this.

All of them held a longing in their hearts, which was that the human race could truly defeat the Ancient Gods.

Because of such a longing, they determined that the Five Clans were stumbling blocks.

Yet the Five Clans did not believe at all that the human race could wipe out the Ancient Gods, so the Great Xia was the Five Clans' stumbling block.

All were human, yet the source of everything was the Ancient Gods.

Ancient Gods.

Ancient Gods.

Ancient Gods!

Chen Yan's heart churned; the Ancient Gods had never truly appeared, they had always existed in legends.

That indescribable power and chaos had suppressed the human race for countless years.

Countless years!

The human race was like someone stepping on shattered glass, cautious and careful, where one slip would lead to falling into an endless abyss.

Either reduce the population, or step into the abyss to stare at and fight to the death with that indescribable entity.

Chen Yan had originally thought that to wipe out the Ancient Gods, one must first eliminate the Five Clans.

But the Chen Lord's words shifted Chen Yan's gaze back to the Ancient Gods once more.

If he wiped out the Five Clans, could he truly defeat the Ancient Gods?

Deep in his mind, the heartfelt fear that the Chen Lord had revealed earlier—even if only as a guess—suddenly surfaced again.

If the Ancient Gods were invincible.

Then he was wrong, Xia Qi was wrong, and Lu Xunyang was wrong.

And the Chen Lord was right, and the original Chen Min was also right.

Everything he had pursued had, in the end, become a joke.

Chen Yan's body stiffened in place, motionless, his gaze fixed on the distance.

In his mind, countless guesses and chaotic thoughts emerged.

The Chen Lord looked at Chen Yan in this moment, a thought flashed, and he vanished from where he stood.

High above in the sky.

The white-haired Pool Lord looked calmly at the scene below and said:

"Today, I lose myself; I do not see the dark night, I do not think of the dark night.

You are saying his Dao heart is shattered."

The Chen Lord appeared, his green robes fluttering:

"If his Dao heart is shattered by this, then he has failed completely, and I can truly say I have defeated him."

The Chen Lord glanced at Chen Yan below and shook his head slightly:

"I originally thought he would become the chess player of this world, but he insisted on a surprise attack on Ji Province, cutting off his own path to survival."

The Pool Lord narrowed his eyes:

"I suspect you are also longing for him to become the chess player; now that he has failed, you are also very disappointed."

The Chen Lord shook his head:

"You have misunderstood me."

"I have not misunderstood you.

Chen Yuan, you are the most terrifying person I have ever met; you even schemed against your own daughter, Chen Yi, so miserably.

The sentiments that should belong to the human race have long since lost any meaning in your heart.

Everyone says Lu Xunyang is the reincarnation of the Xia Lord, but I think it is you!"

The Chen Lord narrowed his eyes:

"Don't forget, I possess both Qi and blood, as well as hard-body cultivation; the Xia Lord would never deign to cultivate Qi and blood."

The Pool Lord smiled faintly:

"That is the stereotype the Xia Lord presents to the world, but history records that the Xia Lord's research into the path of Qi and blood was actually no less than that of the Lord of Qi and Blood."

If the Master of Horizontal Refining had not seen the impossibility of the Blood-Qi path, how would he have created the Horizontal Refining path?

Master Chi's expression was calm as he continued:

"The coalition forces in Iron Province have already been swept by the Xia Clan's military guards five times, suffering heavy losses; we must deploy combat power to Iron Province in advance.

How are the injuries from your battle with Lu Xunyang?"

Master Chen smiled faintly:

"He is severely injured and cannot recover in less than a year; he will be unable to exert his peak combat power."

"And you?"

"Me?" Master Chen glanced at Chen Yan below, who was still standing there alone:

"Although I am injured, I possess the Dao-Severing Divine Technique, which can allow me to recover half a year earlier than him; this is the conclusion I reached after giving him sufficient consideration."

Master Chi's eyes flashed:

"That is excellent. As for Universe Province..."

Master Chen narrowed his eyes:

"I will handle Universe Province. He is too shrewd, yet he is also too naive; often, people who are too naive do not live to the end."

Master Chi's expression changed slightly, not expecting Master Chen to be so decisive as to personally kill Master Universe.

Master Universe is indeed shrewd, but his ambitions are too great, and he finds it difficult to fully trust the Great Xia and the Five Clans.

The thousands of years of achievements of the Universe Clan still cannot withstand the crushing slaughter of a Ninth-Rank entity.

After Master Chen swept a glance at Chen Yan, he and Master Chi vanished above the void.

Meanwhile.

"Zhang Huizhi, I know all the extraordinary people under heaven, yet I have never heard of a person named Zhang Huizhi!"

Within Zhao Zhugui's world of consciousness, Master Ji gritted her teeth, filled with extreme resentment.

The Ice Spirit was gone.

The first step of her resurrection had collapsed directly.

Zhao Zhugui's expression was calm as he walked through the countryside, his gaze lingering on the flowers and grasses.

"Since you have failed, can you leave my body?" Zhao Zhugui spoke.

Master Ji's consciousness flickered, and she remained silent for a long time.

"Zhao Zhugui."

"Get out."

Master Ji's expression turned cold; who had ever treated her like this?

Yet this Zhao Zhugui did not care at all whether she was the Master Ji of yesteryear, nor did he care about her power; he only wanted her to leave.

Master Ji was silent for a long time:

"You have no way to make me leave either; ultimately, it is because you are too weak."

Zhao Zhugui frowned:

"So, you are still unwilling to get out?"

"Hiss..."

Master Ji exhaled a cold breath, forcibly suppressing the anger in her heart:

"You possess a God-level grand formation, and many people know of this; are you not worried about being captured by those with ulterior motives again?"

Master Ji sneered; she saw no hope of resurrection now, but Zhao Zhugui was special.

Perhaps in Zhao Zhugui, she could find hope to become powerful once more.

"What do you mean?"

Zhao Zhugui narrowed his eyes.

"Has no one taught you? In this world, weakness is the original sin. Even if you have your reasons, I am stronger than you; if I say I will capture you, then I will capture you. What can you do?

You cannot drive me away, which is your incompetence; me refusing to leave is also because of your incompetence."

Zhao Zhugui narrowed his eyes.

Master Ji's words made the world in his eyes lose a bit of its beauty.

"This world is filled with ancient divine beasts, filled with unspeakable terror and coldness.

If you are this weak, let alone seeing the world, you won't even be able to walk out of the Royal Court."

PS: Stuck on writing, one chapter.

It is truly difficult to write the parts ahead; I have to write the plot of the chess match.