There were sword formations, flame formations, illusion formations, ice formations, and even devouring formations. The many horrifying restrictions were dazzling.
Miserable cries resounded. Xiao Chen turned his head to look and saw a peak Superior Grade Martial Sage dying in an instant, pierced by strands of sword Qi; he had tried to use his Secret Treasure to break through a restriction forcefully to obtain a Magic Treasure.
Xiao Chen looked even farther. The light of treasures was even more dazzling there. Despite extending his Spiritual Sense, he could not see clearly. That area was crowded with grandmaster-level Martial Sages fighting with each other.
“Bang!”
Just as the two were about to continue forward, a white figure with a full head of red hair suddenly landed at their feet.
When Xiao Chen saw this person’s face, he could not help but smile faintly. “Brother Ye, the mountains and rivers always meet. We see each other yet again.”
This person was Ye Chen. However, based on his appearance, the situation was not good; he was severely injured and seemed to be fleeing pursuit.
“Ye Chen, weren’t you very arrogant in the Heavenly Starry Ocean? Why are you lying down over here?!”
The air filled with starlight. A few people arrived standing on the starlight. The person leading them held an Astral Banner. As he took long strides forward, he exuded incomparable arrogance.
Xiao Chen raised his eyebrows. The Astral Banner in this person’s hand had seven Astral Pearls. It was precisely a Big Dipper Banner, a complete and flawless Astral Banner.
When the girl beside the new arrival saw Xiao Chen, she immediately cried out, “Senior Brother Luo Ji, he is Xiao Chen. He is the one who s.n.a.t.c.hed our life Big Dipper Banners.”
Ye Chen coughed a few times and stood up. He smiled and said, “Luo Ji, apparently, this is all you are capable of. If not for Di Wuque and his thirteen Keepers injuring me beforehand, it would be easy for me to squish you like an ant.”
“Even on your deathbed, you are still so stubborn!”
Luo Ji brandished the Big Dipper Banner, swinging it. A strong wind formed of Astral Energy blew. Ye Chen raised his saber to block and could not help vomiting another mouthful of blood as he went flying back towards Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen stepped forward and placed his hand on Ye Chen’s shoulder. He used a bit of strength to eliminate the force acting on Ye Chen’s body, then pulled Ye Chen behind him.
Luo Ji stood erect in midair and frowned as he held the Big Dipper Banner. With a proud expression on his face, he said, “Xiao Chen, I heard that all the experts in this palace want to kill you. Hand over my junior sister’s life Big Dipper Banner, and I can pretend that I never saw you.”
Smiling faintly, Xiao Chen retorted flippantly, “But I saw you.”
But I saw you?
When the Big Dipper Palace’s Luo Ji heard this response, he laughed instead of getting angry. This fellow was crazy. All Luo Ji needed to do was shout, and a large number of people would charge over, aiming for Xiao Chen’s life, yet Xiao Chen dared to be so arrogant.
“I gained ten types of divine materials from Di Wuque, five tons of each. Now, my Big Dipper Banner is no longer like before. Even the life Big Dipper Banners of the Big Dipper Palace’s elders cannot compare to mine.”
With a wave of his hand, the Big Dipper Banner that Luo Ji held unfurled and radiated starlight. The seven Astral Pearls shone with a blinding brilliance.
Luo Ji pointed the tip of the banner at Xiao Chen. The starlight in the air immediately coalesced, pulsating with a dazzling cold light as if it would spew out at any moment and destroy everything before it.
Luo Ji’s gaze turned chill as he demanded, “Where do you get all your confidence from to be so arrogant before me? Hand over my junior sister’s life Big Dipper Banner now! Otherwise, I will shout, and you will die without a body to bury.”
Xiao Chen smiled coldly and said, “Go on and shout. By all means, give it a try. See if you can shout my name, Xiao Chen!”
Luo Ji laughed loudly and said, “Your name is not some forbidden name. I will shout it now and let all the people in the heavenly palace know. The many experts here will crush you to pieces.”
Luo Ji did not show any fear at all. He took a deep breath and circulated his Quintessence, preparing to inform the people of the Heavenly Music Sect, the Frost Moon Sect, the sects of the disciples whom Xiao Chen had killed, and the various loose cultivators of Xiao Chen’s location.
“Xiao—”
Luo Ji’s Law Energy gushed, and his Quintessence surged. The word “Xiao” sounded like thunder, echoing without end. However, he could not finish the final “Chen” word.
Resplendent starlight several times stronger than the light of Luo Ji’s Astral Banner suddenly shot out from Xiao Chen’s hand, instantly blinding Luo Ji temporarily.
Boundless killing Qi surged out. The tip of a banner served as a spearhead, stabbing into Luo Ji’s throat. Just as he was about to say the final word, he died.
Up to the moment he died, he did not get to see how Xiao Chen attacked.
“Bang!”
Starlight exploded, and the three lights of Ma.s.sacre, Death, and Ruin flickered, blasting apart Luo Ji’s head.
Xiao Chen twisted his wrist, and the Big Dipper Banner opened. A red light flashed, and the fluttering banner swept through the entire place, crus.h.i.+ng all the juniors of Luo Ji beside him into bits.
The initial light of the reforged Big Dipper Banner instantly killed this group of people.
Lord Jiu, who was at the side, quickly flew out. Then, with long familiarity, he grabbed the spatial rings of these people.
Ye Chen was flabbergasted. He had even felt some fear when Xiao Chen sent out that light. This Xiao Chen was totally different from the calm and collected image that he normally projected.
“Is this the reason you were not willing to leave that day? What Secret Treasure is this?” Ye Chen asked.
“Cycle Banner. I refined it myself. Now is not the time for talking. The commotion that Luo Ji caused just now will definitely attract some attention. We should leave first before speaking.” Xiao Chen carefully stored the Astral Banners and led the two away.
Clearly, it was no longer suitable to call this Astral Banner the Big Dipper Banner. After Xiao Chen infused in the Ma.s.sacre Throne, Death Throne, and Ruin Throne, it already diverged from the Big Dipper Palace’s Big Dipper Banner.
The word “cycle” happened to reflect Xiao Chen’s ambition.
Not long after the three left, two figures arrived in a flash.
The new arrivals were one man and one woman, both with a full head of white hair, both very good looking. With one glance, it was clear they were of the Deity Race. One of them was the Divine Daughter, Tian Youxi, and the other was one of the Keepers.
When the two saw Luo Ji’s headless body, the Deity Race male frowned and said, “Although this fellow is not very strong, the Divine Son intended to use him to establish a relations.h.i.+p with the Cyclic Astral Palace. It is rather problematic that he died.”
“We can only get Wuque to go personally to the Heavenly Starry Ocean,” Tian Youxi said after checking the surroundings.
“Before he died, he said ‘Xiao.’ Could the person who killed him be Xiao Chen?”
“It does not seem to be so. Only Astral Energy and three higher-level states linger in the air. It should be four people working together and instantly killing him.”
Tian Youxi a.n.a.lyzed rationally. “However, the ‘Xiao’ is a clue. Xiao Chen could be one of them. Let’s return.”
Golden light flashed. The two did not care about the Magic Treasures behind restrictions along the way. They also ignored the cultivators trying to break the restrictions. They flew directly to the center of the heavenly palace.
---
The heavenly palace was very vast, filled with restrictions and lights from treasures. Xiao Chen led the two directly to a restriction with no one there.
After looking in the spatial ring of the Medicine G.o.d Valley’s Mister Qin, Xiao Chen found a Sage Grade Medicinal Pill for treating injuries, which he handed to the b.l.o.o.d.y Young Master.
Ye Chen was severely injured. After giving thanks, he accepted it.
After Ye Chen swallowed the Medicinal Pill and felt the rate of his recovery, his expression contorted. In mere moments, his internal injuries had actually mostly healed.
“Was that a Sage Grade Medicinal Pill that you gave me?” Ye Chen asked as he stood up.
Xiao Chen nodded. Sage Grade Medicinal Pills were incredibly precious. However, as a grandmaster Alchemist of the Medicine G.o.d Valley, Mister Qin had had many in his possession.
There was one bottle of each type of Medicinal Pill for treatment, each bottle containing ten Medicinal Pills. To Xiao Chen, this was not a rarity.
Ye Chen mumbled to himself for a while before saying, “In the future, if you come to the Heavenly Starry Ocean, I will return this favor. I’ll take my leave, then!”
Xiao Chen could not help but be stunned for a moment. What is this fellow thinking of doing? Could it be that he still wants to repay Tian Youxi for that palm strike?
“Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+”
Soon after, Ye Chen returned in a flash. Xiao Chen a.s.sumed that the other man had finally thought things through. Who would have imagined Ye Chen would ask, “Do you still have any more of those Sage Grade Medicinal Pills for treatment? Can I have one as a backup?”
Xiao Chen smiled faintly. Then, he took out one pill from each of the bottles for himself and tossed all the bottles over to Ye Chen.
After Ye Chen caught the jade bottles, he gave Xiao Chen a deep look before turning away.
Lord Jiu laughed thoughtlessly and said, “Soon, we will see him collapsing at our feet again.”
Xiao Chen did not say anything. He could tell that Ye Chen was a proud person. If Ye Chen fell, he would definitely climb back up.
However, how could it be so easy to injure Tian Youxi? Perhaps in single combat, he might have a fifty percent chance. However, to do this while she was in the midst of a group of experts, the possibility was nearly zero.
“Boom!”
With one punch, one Dragon Force—five thousand tons of force—Xiao Chen casually broke the restriction of this place. Then, a paG.o.da-shaped Magic Treasure appeared in his hand.
He gave it two glances and found that it had only ten types of divine materials infused into it. Losing interest, he tossed it to Lord Jiu. Lord Jiu happily caught it and thought to himself, A Magic Treasure is equal to a King Grade Secret Treasure. No matter how bad it is, I still can sell it for a significant amount.
Along the way, Xiao Chen did not hide his strength, breaking all the restrictions they came across. He took a circular route as he slowly headed for the inner area of the palace, where the light of the treasures was strongest.
The treasures there would be Magic Treasures equal to peak King Grade Secret Treasures. Xiao Chen had Magic Energy, so he would not need to refine them. He could use them immediately as they were and bring out their might to the fullest.
Hence, his desire for these items was stronger than anyone else’s.
By continuously breaking restrictions, he attracted the attention of the surrounding cultivators. However, he moved too fast. The other cultivators only saw a flash of white light before the restrictions broke and the Magic Treasures disappeared.
After pa.s.sing the periphery, Xiao Chen came to a stop. Before him was a restriction at the boundary of the inner area.
This restriction was a sword formation set up using a profound positioning system. Nine black swords stood in the surroundings, delineating an area.
When the black swords moved, they gave off dense Death Qi like they were the sickle of the death G.o.d. No one would dare to touch this.
The indistinct sword Qi seemed to be constant. Even if one had a King Grade Secret Treasure for protection, it would be hard to cross the barrier.
Xiao Chen looked down and saw a few desiccated corpses lying on the floor of the restriction. These corpses were utterly devoid of life, appearing miserable even in death. Furthermore, these had all been grandmaster-level Martial Sages.
Xiao Chen could clearly feel that the restrictions here were completely different from the restrictions that he casually broke in the periphery, a difference akin to that of heaven and earth.
Inside the restriction was a pair of white wings made from the bones of an unknown Holy Beast. As it flew around, it moved extremely fast.
Two people were in hot pursuit of the wings. However, they brushed by the sword Qi that contained Death Qi several times, nearly getting injured by it.
When Xiao Chen made out who they were, he revealed a smile on his face. As the saying went, “It’s a small world.”