Chapter 169

Who! Who is so bold, daring to sneak attack us, provoking the supreme majesty of my Grand One Sect?

Hiss…… What fierce killing intent, what terrifying cultivation—who exactly is striking at us? Could it be a supreme elder of some great sect?

Oh no, my body actually won't move, my mana and primordial spirit can't even leave my body—am I going to die?

The five vice sect leaders of the Grand One Sect were middle-aged men and women; they had just finished discussing with Supreme Elders Deng Ao and Sun Xihua of the Feather Transformation Sect how to deal with Chen Zheng, when they left the Feather Transformation Heavenly Palace and arrived outside the Feather Transformation Mountains, just about to return to the Grand One Sect, when they saw a sudden change—a huge hand abruptly protruded from the horizon and ruthlessly grabbed toward them and Chi Rong Tian.

That huge hand was boundless and majestic, pressing down to fill the heavens, as if millions of mountains were pressing down from the sky, and its killing intent pierced the nine heavens, causing the primordial spirits of the five to tremble.

The five only felt a chill run down their spines, a horrible illusion arising in their hearts—that they were the most superfluous things in heaven and earth, unacceptable to heaven, unacceptable to earth, and could only be mercilessly erased by that huge hand.

Based on their cultivation at the first level of longevity, the Wan Shou Realm, the esteem of the vice sect leaders was irresistible; they could only sit and await death.

They didn't even know who the master of that huge hand was, or where it was located.

This is too terrifying; it's simply the most terrifying nightmare they've experienced in thousands of years of cultivation!

And the leader among the vice sect leaders, Chi Rong Tian, was also startled and terrified by the sudden appearance of that huge hand.

Yet he remained calm in the face of danger.

His pair of crimson pupils shot forth divine Li fire light, piercing the nine heavens, as he sought to locate the one who had struck.

And indeed he saw him.

He saw Chen Zheng's tall, cold silhouette standing obliquely above him and the vice sect leaders' heads, like a demon or a god, wanting to challenge the heavens, coldly gazing at him and the vice sect leaders, as if looking at a group of corpses.

It's actually him!

Chi Rong Tian's pupils contracted sharply.

Never would I have imagined that Chen Zheng's boldness had reached such an extent that he dared to run to the mountain gate of the Feather Transformation Sect.

He even dared to ambush and kill them.

He is simply audacious beyond measure!

Does Chen Zheng not know that many supreme elders of the Feather Transformation Sect, even the patriarchs, want to kill him?

Once the commotion of their battle with Chen Zheng alarms those supreme elders inside the Feather Transformation Sect, Chen Zheng will have nowhere to bury his body.

Moreover, Chen Zheng at this moment is too strong—strong enough to make his heart go cold and his scalp tingle.

How can a mere divine ability cultivator be this strong?

He doesn't understand.

At this critical juncture of life and death, he has no time to think further.

If he doesn't now deploy means to block the huge hand that Chen Zheng grabbed down with, he will die without a burial place even before Chen Zheng does.

Disaster among mankind!

Chi Rong Tian let out a great roar, his whole body engulfed in crimson clouds filling the sky, his spirit swallowing mountains and rivers, intending to unleash the Grand One Sect's sect-protecting supreme art, the Great Disaster Technique, to resist Chen Zheng.

But he was overthinking.

Although he is a reincarnation of the fire god, with extraordinary talent and mana far surpassing many cultivators of the same realm, he has not exceeded the norm—just fifteen strands of primordial heavenly dragon power.

And Chen Zheng?

He actually possesses fifty-five strands of primordial heavenly dragon power, already surpassing the limits of the second level of longevity, the Indestructible Body realm, and chasing after the strong of the third level of longevity, the Cave Heaven realm—how could he possibly resist?

For Chen Zheng to kill him is almost like crushing an ant.

Moreover, since he struck first, there's no chance for him to unleash the Great Disaster Technique to resist.

Boom!

Ah……

Without a doubt, before Chi Rong Tian's Great Disaster Technique could even be unleashed, he together with the other five vice sect leaders was seized by the huge hand that Chen Zheng grabbed down with; the hand squeezed their bodies into a lump of crushed flesh, their primordial spirits also collapsing, and they perished amid shrill screams.

Chi Rong Tian's body also turned into mud; the medicinal pills and other items on him, including a set of seven medium-grade Dao artifacts called the Li Fire Essence Flame Banner, all turned into mud indistinguishable from flesh and blood.

But he ultimately possessed an immortal body, not yet dead, attempting to regroup his flesh and blood while letting out a ferocious roar: 'Chen Zheng, release me—I am the future sect master supreme of the Grand One Sect; if you dare kill me, the Xuanhuang Great World will have no place for you to reside, and even if the entire three-thousand great worlds have no place for you to hide, my Grand One Sect will surely make you die a horrible death!'

I and your Grand One Sect have long been mortal enemies; what's the use of saying all that? Can you even escape death?

Chen Zheng's expression unchanged, his heart unmoved, he gave another squeeze, crushing the head that Chi Rong Tian had just condensed into a bloody pulp.

At the same time, he raised the true fire of the character 'refine' in his hand, and roasted Chi Rong Tian's wails to death, simultaneously refining the flesh and blood of the other five vice sect leaders into essence.

Chi Rong Tian's ninety-eighty-one clusters of divine ability seeds were also refined out, all being the Flame God Dao, Pure Fire Burning God Technique, Demonic Fire Spiritual Transformation… and so on—fire-system divine abilities passed down from ancient times, as well as some divine abilities and the Great Disaster Technique of the Grand One Sect.

Chen Zheng fused all those divine abilities into his natal golden core, bringing the total number of divine abilities to five hundred seventy.

His mana also reached sixty-five dragons.

Chen Zheng, you unrepentant fiend of ten heinous crimes, thankless traitor, you actually have the nerve to return, committing atrocities at the mountain gate of my Feather Transformation Sect, killing six fellow Daoists of the Grand One Sect—you deserve death ten thousand times!

Chen Zheng had just finished refining Chi Rong Tian when, from the distant boundless, towering mountains—peak after peak—and the densely forested Feather Transformation Mountains, a heaven-shaking explosive shout rang out.

Fury beyond restraint!

Before the explosive shout even faded, a huge hand protruded from the vast mountain range, its five fingers spread wide, covering the sky and blocking the sun, as if five hundred‑thousand‑li mighty peaks had been overturned from the azure abyss, carrying a heaven‑toppling killing intent, it grabbed fiercely at where Chen Zheng stood.

Screech! Screech!

The heavens and earth echoed with sharp, grating sounds; it turned out that the space within a radius of several hundred thousand miles was wailing, twisting wildly, trembling, and cracking between the five heaven‑supporting giant fingers resembling primordial mighty peaks, splitting into millions of spatial faults and plates, densely packed, constantly recombining, as if forming a gigantic spatial prison.

A person standing beneath those millions of spatial faults would feel as if at the very center of the universe; with just a thought, they could travel through the faults to any corner of spacetime.

This is not an illusion; it is real.

This is the act of a terrifying figure who has comprehended the rules of space, attempting to condense a spatial prison to seal off this heaven and earth, preventing Chen Zheng from escaping to the Five Elements realm using the six‑character true word talisman.

This is a means available only to cultivators of the third level of longevity, the Cave Heaven realm.

One must know that, up to the second level of longevity and before, although divided into many realms each with different characteristics, strictly speaking they are merely a stage of accumulating power, called 'cultivation'.

Only when a cultivator reaches the third level of longevity and comprehends the laws of space can they enter the second stage, called 'cultivation of the Dao', truly embarking on the path to pursue the Heavenly Dao.

What is the Heavenly Dao?

In heaven and earth there are laws of space, time, life and death, reincarnation, the five elements, creation, disaster, and so on; these many laws together constitute the Heavenly Dao.

And a cultivator's comprehension of these myriad heavenly and earthly laws is the pursuit of the Heavenly Dao, which is called cultivation of the Dao.

True Cultivation and Dao Cultivation differ by only one character, yet they are two different concepts, and the strength of both sides differs as greatly as heaven and earth.

Put it this way, even if a True Cultivator's strength exceeds that of a Dao Cultivator, they cannot be a match for the Dao Cultivator.

One is strength, the other is law.

No matter how great the strength, it is merely mundane force.

The law belongs to the Heavenly Dao, transcending strength.

Law against force is equivalent to a dimensional strike.

Thus, among the major powers there is a rule: only a Longevity Third Layer cultivator who has comprehended the Space Law can hold the position of Supreme Elder.

Even when looking across the myriad worlds, among countless super major powers, a Longevity Third Layer cultivator is a Supreme Elder, and also a towering existence of mythic epic proportion.

At this moment, such a mythic-epic existence has come into reality, launching a dimensional strike against Chen Zheng!

No True Cultivator can withstand such an attack!

Even Chen Zheng felt the pressure.

The heaven and earth around him had completely solidified,

he was trapped inside this solidified space prison.

Even activating the eight high-grade Dao artifacts on his person could not break the prison.

There was no escape!

"A figure of Supreme Elder level is indeed formidable."

Chen Zheng showed no trace of fear, instead revealing a faint smile.

Before coming here to intercept and kill Chi Rongtian and others, he had already prepared himself for being watched by the Feather Ascension Sect's Supreme Elder.

He also had countermeasures ready.

Swish!

The 'transcendence' character in his golden core suddenly activated, and his entire body immediately displayed a peculiar aura.

It was as if he had transcended spacetime, exceeded the Three Realms and Five Elements, and was no longer bound by heaven and earth!

Chen Zheng stepped forward, and his figure vanished from the space-time prison.

"Huh?"

A figure appeared out of thin air at the spot where Chen Zheng had been standing—a middle-aged man who exuded authority without anger, broad-shouldered and thick-backed, his posture straight like a pine.

"Demon Slayer Great Immortal, Deng Ao!"

(End of Chapter)