Chapter 248: Capture Alive

Thunder Emperor.

His whole body was shrouded in purplish-black thunder laws, each strand of hair a tiny bolt of lightning.

His eyes had no pupils; each eye socket held a thunderball slowly rotating.

Wind Empress.

His gray-white hair floated on its own in the windless air, his form vague and shifting; seated there, he gave the impression not of a person sitting but of a storm given human shape, barely maintaining stillness.

Martial Venerable.

The simplest one.

Coarse cloth short attire, barefoot, with no magical treasure on his person.

But seated there, the spatial laws within three zhang were compressed to the extreme—light could not travel in a straight line.

"I humbly report to the Grand Supreme."

The Wind Empress spoke first. His voice, like his appearance, was vague and shifting, sometimes far, sometimes near.

"We all know Zhen Yuan's nature: greedy for merit, rashly advancing, overly self-confident. This time, having likely learned of an incident in Sanqian Zhou, he sought to monopolize the credit to earn the Grand Supreme's promotion, secretly descending and encountering an opponent beyond expectation."

"Beyond expectation?"

On the golden face of the Grand Supreme Immortal King, his lips twitched,

"Although Zhen Yuan ranks 137th, his Zhen Yuan Divine Tower combined with the Trapped Immortal Array could imprison a newly ascended Jue Dian Immortal King for three thousand years. What kind of opponent could make him lose even his life tablet?"

The Wind Empress fell silent.

At that moment, a calm voice came from outside the hall.

"I have something to say."

All the Immortal Kings turned their gazes toward the hall door.

Li Hentian walked in.

He wore that azure Daoist robe, carried on his back his natal divine sword bearing a crack, his steps steady, his expression calm.

No one thought his appearance improper. Li Hentian is the nominal guardian of Sanqian Zhou; given this incident, he naturally had to come.

The problem was his injury.

The Thunder Emperor's thunderballs spun up half a beat faster.

No. Shouldn't this guy be in seclusion recovering from heavy injuries?

His clone was slain, his true self wounded, the origin of his sword Dao severed—such injuries, recovering even thirty percent in a hundred thousand years would be a blessing.

Yet the Li Hentian before us, though his aura was indeed much weaker than at his peak, remained composed, his steps unhurried.

At least he had recovered fifty percent.

Too fast.

"Hentian, your injury—"

"Thank you, Grand Supreme, for your concern."

Li Hentian clasped his hands, his tone light: "My injury is still healing; I cannot yet take action in battle, but walking, sitting, lying down pose no problem."

The Grand Supreme Immortal King did not press further.

"Speak."

Li Hentian rose to his feet, his gaze sweeping over the dozen or so Immortal Kings in the hall.

"I know some of the changes that have occurred in Sanqian Zhou."

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly grew solemn.

"When the four Immortal Kings previously met to question me about the loss of Thunder Prefecture and Fire Prefecture, I had mentioned that a third party was involved."

Li Hentian's voice was flat, as if recounting someone else's story: "At that time, cause and effect were severed; I could not investigate the other party's identity. But lately I have occasionally sensed..."

He drew a black jade slip from his sleeve and tossed it into the air.

The jade slip hovered in the hall's center, projecting a segment of imagery.

The imagery was blurry and intermittent, but the core picture was clear enough… a gaunt old man dressed as a farmer, standing in the void, behind him a grayish-purple chaotic dharma manifestation appeared.

"He calls himself Gu Cangsheng, cultivates the Dao of Chaos, and is at least a Jue Dian Immortal King in cultivation."

Li Hentian's voice was unhurried, as if reading an official document.

"He spread an Immortal King's domain around the Boundary Wall of Sanqian Zhou, enveloping the entire great world to shield it from celestial inspection. If Zhen Yuan were to descend privately and encounter this person, his fate would be easy to imagine."

An uproar rose in the hall.

It was not mere clamor.

The Immortal Kings would not lose composure so.

It was a fluctuation at the level of law—the emotions of a dozen Immortal Kings surged together, causing the stellar cores around the Grand Supreme Immortal King's Hall to pulse erratically for a beat.

Jue Dian Immortal King?

An unknown-origin Jue Dian Immortal King?

Nowadays, the Immortal Dao is shrouded in dust.

The path of the Immortal King is cut off.

Nearly all the Great Dao have been occupied.

How could a new Immortal King possibly be born?

Even if we concede ten thousand steps,

even if one existed,

how could one silently grow to become a Jue Dian Immortal King?

"Not only that." Li Hentian continued, "This person commands a family force whose number of cultivators is unknown, but at least they possess several True Immortals and an Immortal King–level guest elder. They have driven origin‑anchoring immortal stakes into the ancient altar in Zhongzhou of Sanqian Zhou and set up a large‑scale traction array."

He paused.

"They are moving Sanqian Zhou."

"This time it really caused an uproar."

"Moving?"

"The Thunder Emperor's lightning ball exploded one, then recondensed,"

"Moving Sanqian Zhou?"

"On the golden face of the Supreme Immortal King, both eyes flashed simultaneously."

"The hall fell silent for three breaths."

"\"Where is the source? \" the Supreme Immortal King's voice remained without emotional fluctuation, \"Where did this Gu Cangsheng come from? \""

"Li Hentian shook his head."

"\"All traces have been wiped away by chaotic force, and the karma line has been severed. The only thing we can confirm is that he has Chaos Spirit Stone fragments in his body. \""

"As soon as these words were spoken, the temperature in the hall changed again."

"Chaos Spirit Stone fragments."

"Creation Cornerstone."

"Legend says it is a supreme miraculous artifact that allows one to glimpse the realm of the Supreme Immortal King or even the Immortal Emperor."

"Even the Supreme Immortal King could not help but be moved."

"He did not ask further, but instead extended a finger and lightly pointed in the void."

"An illusory river of time appeared in the hall, its waves surging; each wave was the birth and death of an era."

"He attempted to trace the karma of Sanqian Zhou from within it."

"Li Hentian lowered his eyelids, concealing a hint of regret deep in his eyes."

"He originally intended to keep this greatest secret—the Chaos Spirit Stone fragments—buried in his belly, and retrieve it himself after his injuries healed."

"But he never expected!"

"That Zhenyuan Immortal King actually left a backup plan in his own Immortal King's hall!"

"Before the Supreme Immortal King, such a titan, any concealment is futile."

"Rather than be passively exposed, it's better to proactively confess, thereby earning favor and pushing the blame for killing Zhenyuan onto Gu Cangsheng!"

"After a moment, the Supreme Immortal King withdrew his finger, and the river of time vanished."

"\"Indeed. \" He spoke slowly, his voice still without emotional fluctuation, \"The karma of Sanqian Zhou is shrouded in a mass of dense chaotic qi, impossible to see through. Only the Chaos Spirit Stone can achieve this. \""

"The weight of these words is ten thousand times greater than \"Moving Sanqian Zhou. \""

"Chaos Spirit Stone."

"Creation Cornerstone."

"Legend says it is a supreme miraculous artifact that allows one to glimpse the realm of the Supreme Immortal King or even the Immortal Emperor."

"In the Thunder Emperor's eye sockets, two lightning balls spun rapidly."

"The Wind Empress's elusive form became three-tenths solid."

"Even the Martial Sovereign, who had been keeping his eyes closed to nurture his spirit, opened his eyes, revealing a pair of pupils that were turbid yet sharp."

"\"Supreme. \""

"The Thunder Emperor was the first to stand. He knelt on one knee, and purple-black lightning spread from his knee to the ground, burning a pit in the stellar matter beneath his feet."

"\"I volunteer to lead troops down to Sanqian Zhou, capture this person, retrieve Zhenyuan's relics, and thoroughly investigate the relocation matter. \""

"The Wind Empress followed closely behind."

"\"I concur. Although Zhenyuan sought his own death, he is still a subject of the Immortal Realm; dying at the hands of unknown forces in the lower realm, if not investigated, it would damage the dignity of the Immortal Realm. \""

"The Martial Sovereign said nothing, merely standing up."

"His action of standing up carried more weight than ten statements of stance."

"Three Supreme Immortal Kings volunteered together."

"The Supreme Immortal King's gaze swept over the three of them."

"\"Yes. \""

"He only uttered two words."

"Then he added:"

"\"Capture alive. \""

"……"

"……"

"Zhongzhou, ancient altar."

"The deep-blue essence of the Immortal King is melting at a speed visible to the naked eye."

"The light cocoon at the center of the Star Plate has shrunk to less than a fist's size; the outline of Zhenyuan Immortal King's remaining body is completely blurred, leaving only a mass of pure blue liquid essence spinning, like a star core burning out."

"Twenty-eight bands of light pierce the Heavenly Dome, connecting the law nodes of the twenty-eight major states."

"Each band of light flickers rapidly, its rhythm astonishingly matching the frequency of a heartbeat."

"That is the heartbeat of the Great Array."

"Gu Yuan sat cross-legged atop the altar, the World Tree Roots plunging deep into the earth."

"He can now sense one thing—"

"The law foundations of the twenty-eight major states are loosening."

"That feeling is strange."

"It is like twenty-eight towering trees whose roots have been entwined with the soil of Sanqian Zhou for countless eons, now being uprooted by a brutal force. The roots tear, break, regrow, and are pulled apart again in the soil."

"It is not the trees that feel pain."

It is earth.

The world will of Sanqian Zhou is wailing.

A bit faster.

Gu Yuan's voice traveled through the World Tree's roots to every corner.

It is not urging.

It is a warning.

Within the Tongxin Immortal Talisman, Gu Cangsheng's voice has not sounded for some time.

This in itself is a sign; the old ancestor seems to have encountered a situation outside that demands focused attention, leaving no time for idle chat.

Gu Yuan does not know exactly what happened.

But his intuition tells him… there is not much time left.