Chapter 205

Under the astonished gaze of the Linglong Immortal Venerable, Chen Zheng began to launch an assault toward the second level of the Immortal Body realm of Longevity.

This realm requires a Longevity-stage cultivator to slowly fuse the primordial spirit and the flesh, so the flesh bears the primordial spirit's power and the primordial spirit possesses the flesh's qi‑blood and yang vigor; only when the two unite as one can one comprehend the truth of immortality.

Upon attaining this realm, not only does one's mana surge dramatically, but one can also undergo myriad transformations, with no limit to size.

Even if all four limbs are severed, or one is castrated like Huatuandu, the limbs can regrow; or one can simply go all the way, turning yang into yin and transforming male into female.

Even if one's body is blown to pieces, as long as a single drop of blood remains, one can escape death and, through arduous cultivation, restore the original form.

This is the Immortal Body!

Ordinary cultivators find it difficult to advance to this realm, especially Free Cultivators; among hundreds, perhaps none succeed.

Even in the former Feather Ascension Sect, there were many Longevity-realm Grand Elders and Vice Sect Masters—such as the Heaven‑Punishment Elder, Wang Daoling, and Ruyizi—but not a single one possessed the Immortal Body.

At the very least, Chen Zheng slaughtered his way through the Feather Ascension Sect, beheading over a thousand Elders, yet he never saw one.

Moreover, among the major top powers of the Xuanhuang Great World, aside from the Taiyi Sect, each has a rule: a Vice Sect Master who attains the Immortal Body may inherit the Sect Master's throne if the incumbent Sect Master is willing to step down.

Three thousand years ago, Feng Baiyu had already cultivated this realm, enabling him to successfully succeed as Sect Master of the Feather Ascension Sect.

This shows how difficult and rare it is for cultivators of this realm.

But for Chen Zheng, the Immortal Body presented no difficulty; his mana had accumulated enough, and it came about naturally.

In a single instant, the True Demon Primordial Spirit fused completely with the flesh, becoming indistinguishable.

Then his entire person vanished from the throne,

this was the flesh splitting into countless microscopic particles invisible to the naked eye.

Each microscopic particle was a brand‑new self, possessing the mighty power to rend heaven and earth, pluck the moon and swallow the sun.

This is somewhat similar to the initial concept of the Divine Elephant Prison‑Suppressing Force, which holds that the human body comprises 840 million microscopic particles.

The difference is that the particles Chen Zheng has become can gather and disperse at will.

When gathered, they form the divine‑demonic body, which is indestructible.

When scattered, they spread throughout heaven and earth, leaving no trace.

"Is this the Immortal Body? It feels wonderful, truly wonderful— a hundred times more comfortable than the Three Cultivations. My mana, flesh, lifespan, and even the abilities of all the catastrophe characters have undergone a significant transformation."

The countless particles that had previously dispersed swiftly re‑condensed, reforming Chen Zheng, who remained seated on the throne with a pleased expression, squeezing his fist as he carefully sensed the various changes brought by his realm advancement.

His mana doubled, reaching eight million strands of Primordial Heavenly Dragon power.

His appearance also improved, becoming more handsome and awe‑inspiringly divine‑martial, a perfect masterpiece meticulously carved by heaven.

Without exaggeration, ninety‑nine percent of the world's handsome men and beautiful women, when faced with him, would feel ashamed of their own appearance, feeling like maggots in a filthy ditch, while Chen Zheng is an immortal king above the nine heavens.

More importantly, his flesh has grown stronger.

His viscera, organs, blood, and so forth are strong from inside out, with no weak points, enough to withstand bare‑handed blows that would shatter even a supreme Dao artifact capable of surviving the Immortal Realm's heavenly tribulation!

If he could travel back to the time when his clone fought Butler Wu, a single punch could destroy the immeasurable sands of the Ganges, and without the Three‑Lives Stone he could rival the True Lord Qi.

Terrifying indeed!

His lifespan is equally terrifying, increasing from the original 360,000 years to 810,000 years!

Consider that five thousand years in the mortal world can already brew an epic, splendid history of civilization.

With 810,000 years, how many changes of sea and field, how many rises and falls of civilizations could one witness, and how many lifetimes could numerous ancient emperors and great sovereigns live through?

It is simply unimaginable.

Chen Zheng cannot afford to be complacent.

He has a clear understanding of lifespan.

Although 810,000 years of lifespan seems long, when viewed across the entire chaotic epoch, it amounts to nothing.

At most, it is merely a small wave.

In the long river of history, no matter how splendid the wave or how high it splashes, it will eventually fall back, merging into the torrent and leaving no trace.

Even among the immortals, those supreme celestial emperors whose lifespan equals heaven will, amidst the turnover of chaotic epochs and the arrival of the Five Declines of Heaven and Man, also head toward extinction.

Only by shattering all rules and bonds can a Supreme Heavenly Monarch strive across one chaotic epoch after another, seeking the slim chance of eternal life.

"Not enough, far from enough—I must strive to become a Supreme Heavenly Monarch within three years."

Chen Zheng's eyes were firm; he silently set a modest goal for his current stage: Heavenly Monarch.

He continued to experience.

The "extract" character's intake increased twentyfold, from being able to draw a hundred billion pure‑yang elixir's worth of vital energy daily from the Immortal Realm's gate to reaching a daily level of two trillion.

Now he needs only three or four days to gather the entire stockpile that all members of the Feather Ascension Sect have painstakingly accumulated over countless years.

The "divide" character likewise rose with his cultivation, from previously splitting into four to now splitting into eight.

Soon he will be able to single‑handedly form an army!

Beside him, the Linglong Immortal Venerable watched Chen Zheng in silence, having not disturbed him earlier; now she chuckled lightly and said, "Congratulations on advancing once more and attaining the Immortal Body."

Chen Zheng waved his hand and said, "Just luck."

"……"

The Linglong Immortal Venerable had no reply.

Chen Zheng's suppression of Wang Daoling in the Feather Ascension Sect was luck, his slaying of the Elephant Heaven in the Zuoma Great World was luck, and now this inexplicable breakthrough is also luck.

Aren't you getting lucky a bit too easily?

And just how many times must you rely on luck?

Will you have to say "luck" again when you later unify the myriad heavens, ascend to the Immortal Realm, and enter the Gate of Eternal Life?

She shook her head, quite curious, and asked, "After your promotion, how is your combat strength?"

Chen Zheng previously could slay a Nine‑Cauldron Immortal Venerable of the Seventh Level of the Longevity King realm.

With this realm advancement, he should now be able to kill a cultivator of the Eighth Level of Longevity, the Chaos realm.

Killing two levels to reach eight—what terror! Even if she obtained the master of the Hongmeng Secret Treasury, the Hongmeng Daoist, she could hardly achieve that.

"Perhaps... I can barely match a Ninth‑Level Immortal of Longevity?" Chen Zheng muttered after a moment's thought.

He seemed somewhat unable to gauge it.

Because an immortal's magical power alone amounts to at least ten million strands of primordial heavenly dragon force.

One quadrillion horses.

But he only has eight million dragons, which indeed falls short.

But if he creates seven clones with the "split" character, then fuses them and his main body into one with the "unite" character, his power will stack up to sixty‑four million dragons.

This already surpasses ninety‑nine percent of immortals in the world; it can truly be called a meteoric rise, standing atop the pinnacle of the vast Xuanhuang world, looking down on all mountains as small.

Who among the immortals could withstand a single strike of sixty‑four million dragons' power and not die?

Almost none!

Unless it is a True Immortal of the Tenth Level of Longevity, only then would one be qualified to fight Chen Zheng.

However, only Chen Zheng after merging with his clones is capable of battling a True Immortal.

This fluctuating combat power, he naturally cannot gauge.

One must not speak too boastfully.

"Barely matching an immortal? Then you are enough to sweep the Chaos Realm invincibly." Linglong Immortal Venerable, after a slight surprise, said reassuringly: "It seems you have full confidence in your impending battle with Taihuntian."

According to her calculations, Taihuntian's fortune has been rising steadily lately, flourishing like a blazing fire heating oil.

Presumably after learning of Chen Zheng's slaying of the Nine Cauldrons Immortal Venerable, Taihuntian felt pressured, thus entered the Eternal Divine Furnace to enter secluded cultivation, reaching the Chaos Realm, intending to slay Chen Zheng in front of all the heroes today.

Now that Chen Zheng possesses the power to sweep the Chaos Realm, she feels relieved.

"Sect Master need not worry; to me, Taihuntian is but an ant." Chen Zheng chuckled offhandedly.

He did not take Taihuntian to heart, sinking his mind into the Sheep Skin Scroll deep in his brain to examine the newly appeared calamity character.

This character is "kneel".

"Kneel? Everyone kneel down and become my dog? Is this character really not tailor‑made for me?"

Chen Zheng's eyes flashed with a strange hue, he grinned, then closed his eyes and immersed himself in focused contemplation of the "kneel" character.

Not long after, an outline of the "kneel" character formed on his right index finger, shifting from illusory to solid, faintly exuding a strange power.

"What… what is this? A divine ability rune? Ancient script of the demon realm, or even text passed down from the Gate of Eternal Life? How could something so terrifying exist in the world?"

Linglong Immortal Venerable sensed the fluctuation and glanced at the "kneel" character on Chen Zheng's fingertip.

But just that glance caused shock and even terror to flash across her jade‑like countenance, impossible to conceal.

She immediately withdrew her gaze; the throne beneath her lurched sideways, putting distance between her and Chen Zheng, and she dared not approach him again.

Merely seeing the crooked, twisted strange script on Chen Zheng's index finger aroused in her an irresistible urge to kneel before him.

That character seems like a heavenly decree, irreversible, disregarding all causality, rules, fortune, and destiny, compelling whoever it targets to kneel.

This character carries great terror.

Indeed, the fact is exactly so.

The core logic of the "kneel" character is to take calamity as an edict and the finger as an order; wherever the gaze falls, all beings must bow their heads.

However, Chen Zheng's "kneel" character is still coalescing and has not yet fully manifested in the present world.

Once it solidifies, who knows what waves it will stir?

Thus, the "kneel" character continues to condense slowly.

Linglong Immortal Venerable also remained with lingering fear.

Meanwhile, on the plaza beneath the Sumeru Golden Summit, the arena battle had already reached a fever pitch.

The arena spans three hundred thousand zhang in length and width; Fang Han stands at the center, surrounded by tens of thousands of talented youths.

Does he alone battle the multitude?

Indeed!

At the start of the contest, Fang Han was the first to mount the arena, looking down on the crowd, speaking bluntly that all the talented youths present were trash, not a match for him in a single move.

This first place, he has already secured.

To avoid wasting time, he further let all the talented youths attack together.

None of the talented youths, being proud and arrogant, could tolerate such arrogance; they all denounced Fang Han, saying that even as Chen Zheng's junior disciple, he could not be so contemptuous of everything and regard the heroes as nothing.

Too arrogant!

Jiao Fei, Xingmie Xie, and others who originally ranked high on the Longevity Candidate List, as well as youths who dominated their star domains, were furious and led many talented youths onto the arena.

The siege against Fang Han unfolded.

Tens of thousands of divine abilities and techniques, various supreme treasures, lower‑ and middle‑grade Dao artifacts, all surged forth to bombard Fang Han.

Even among them was a supreme Dao artifact called the "Eye of the End of Dharma," belonging to Ying Tianqing; it was forged over a thousand years by his father, the Primordial Sovereign, together with many elders of the United Gate, who went to the Doomsday Burial Ground to refine it with the apocalyptic qi there.

Ying Tianqing, worthy of being the reincarnation of the "Righteousness‑Love Immortal King," is exceedingly yin; knowing he is no match for Fang Han, he hides the Eye of the End of Dharma within the chaotic crowd, occasionally unleashing pitch‑black doomsday light to sneak‑attack Fang Han.

This gave Fang Han a hint of pressure.

Fortunately, his magical power is formidable, matching Chen Zheng's earlier level of nine‑hundred‑ninety‑nine million Xuanhuang warhorses' strength.

Moreover, Yan has recently, through the "inhale" character granted by Chen Zheng, absorbed vast amounts of pure yang energy, restoring the Jiao Fu Huangquan Diagram to the level of a supreme Dao artifact; when unfurled it blocks sky and sun, its momentum terrifying, holding off the furious barrage of many talented youths and the doomsday light.

And he opened the Gate of Avici within the Huangquan Diagram, erecting the Bridge of Helplessness to strike sideways at all kinds of talented youths.

Each time the Bridge of Helplessness pierces the void, a genius falls at Fang Han's feet.

Even Jiao Fei, Xingmie Xie, and others possessing tens of millions of horsepower and middle‑grade Dao artifacts were no exception; Fang Han defeated them one by one, kicking them off the stage like a football, sending them sprawling face‑up, limbs akimbo, in a sorry state.

Ying Tianqing suffered worse; a kick from Fang Han to his groin elicited a pig‑like scream as he collapsed and rolled on the arena.

Then Fang Han ruthlessly ground him with the soles of his feet, first left cheek then right, crushing Ying Tianqing beyond human shape before finally kicking him off the stage, leaving the onlookers clicking their tongues in amazement.

"In this competition, Fang Han has won first place!"

When Fang Han had defeated all his foes and stood proudly in the arena's center, Qiu Xiyu flew in with a voice transmission, mounting the stage and loudly announcing the contest's outcome to everyone.

And he gave Fang Han the three Divine Skill talismans that Linglong Xianzun had rewarded.

"Thank the heavens, punish Thus we have Title: Elder."

Fang Han was overjoyed, clasped his hands and thanked.

He had cultivated ninety‑nine Divine Skills, and possessed many of the formidable three thousand Dao, yet he had even more great Divine Skills used to fill the numbers.

Now that he obtained these three supreme Divine Skills, he could strip out the three great Divine Skills within his body and replace them; although it would not increase the amount of mana, the quality of his mana would be enhanced again.

This would greatly aid both his current combat power increase and his future ascent to the Immortal Secret Realm.

Fang Han immediately sat cross‑legged and began swapping the three Divine Skills.

"Fang Han truly lives up to being Chen Xianzun's junior brother; he has cultivated ninety‑nine Divine Skills and even possesses the Jiao Fu Huangquan Map, the treasured relic of the ancient Yellow Spring Emperor, winning first place deservedly!"

"What do you think Chen Xianzun will grant Fang Han? An Artifact, a Divine Skill, a Pill, or some other Opportunity?"

"Alas, I can't guess, nor do I wish to; just thinking of missing the Opportunity makes my heart ache!"

"Let's just see what Chen Xianzun says…"

The onlookers debated loudly; some cast envious glances at Fang Han, while others looked up toward Chen Zheng at the Sumeru Golden Summit.

"Chen Xianzun's reward will surely be extraordinary."

The Star Lord, the Xuan Emperor, the Heavenly Dao Law King, the Tong Tian Sword Sect Headmaster Sword Fifteen, the One Yuan Sect Headmaster One Yuan Old Dao and other Headmasters were all curious about what Opportunity Chen Zheng would bestow, and couldn't help looking toward Chen Zheng on the mountain peak.

But with that glance, a bizarre scene that left everyone gaping in astonishment unfolded.

Plop! Plop! Plop…

One after another, the sound of knees striking the ground rang out; among the millions present, whether the first‑rank Divine Skill users like Xu Yue'er and Long Xuan, or the Sixth Rank Immortal Star Lord, the Seventh Rank Immortal Heavenly Dao Law King, and others, all who saw Chen Zheng were shocked to find their knees no longer obeyed them, and they knelt straight down.

In an instant, of the over four million people in the plaza, about half had knelt.

They were all stunned.

What made it even more bewildering was that, no matter how hard they tried, their knees would not obey, remaining motionless while knelt on the ground.

It was as if the knees were not their own at all.

The other half who remained standing were also dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what was happening, why these people were fine one moment and knelt the next?

Who can tell me what happened?

Some clever ones followed the kneeling crowd's gaze toward Chen Zheng, trying to figure it out, only to find themselves kneeling as well.

In that moment, across the vast plaza, except for a handful who, for various reasons, did not look at Chen Zheng, almost everyone knelt, creating an extremely bizarre tableau.

The character "Kneel" drove them mad!

"Chen Zheng, why don't you quickly retract the Divine Skill? Today is my birthday feast; having them all kneel like this is indecent!" Linglong Xianzun's voice rang across the Sumeru Golden Summit.

"Sorry, I was just in a state of divine cultivation. I'll retract the Divine Skill right away."

Chen Zheng snapped out of his contemplation, opened his eyes, a hint of apology appearing, and hurriedly absorbed the "Kneel" character on his index finger into his body.

"Are you sure you've already retracted it?"

Linglong Xianzun was no longer atop the Sumeru Golden Summit, hidden somewhere unknown; her voice sounded again, tinged with suspicion, as if not believing Chen Zheng.

Chen Zheng replied earnestly, "I really have retracted it."

He hadn't done it on purpose; how could he have known the "Kneel" character hadn't been triggered, yet it wielded such great power, causing so many to kneel unintentionally?

Swish!

Linglong Xianzun descended from the heavens, but landed on the opposite side of the Sumeru Golden Summit, far from Chen Zheng, turning her face away and not looking at him.

"Am I really that terrifying?"

Chen Zheng, helpless, was about to say a few words to soothe Linglong Xianzun when a booming laugh echoed from far beyond Linglong's blessed land: "Ha ha! Good, very good, it seems you all know that the Supreme Headmaster of my Taiyi Sect is about to descend, so you knelt early to welcome him! You've shown your hearts; when I send the Supreme Headmaster to display his divine might and behead Old Demon Chen, I will reward you richly!"

(End of Chapter)