Chapter 7378
Absolute Loyalty
At this moment, the Yin Ancestor no longer harbored any resentment, only endless fear and utter submission... To survive under such a being was already an immense stroke of luck.
The two walked through the messy courtyard and corridors, finally arriving at a very secluded courtyard behind the shrine.
Far from the hustle and bustle of the main hall, surrounded by ancient trees and vines, this place exudes a tranquil seclusion.
The Yin Ancestor stopped in front of an ancient stone wall covered with moss. Without daring to delay for even a moment, he gritted his teeth and bit his still functional left index finger, using his blood essence as a guide to quickly outline several twisted and strange symbols on the mottled stone wall.
The moment the blood talisman was completed, the stone wall silently slid inward, revealing a deep stone staircase extending downward. The interior was as black as ink, and the damp, musty smell mixed with a faint sandalwood fragrance wafted out along the staircase.
“Master, this is where I usually cultivate in seclusion. It is buried deep underground and is covered by an ancient formation to conceal my aura. No one can disturb it.” The Yin Ancestor hunched over, bowed his head, and spoke with utmost respect and awe. He didn’t even have the courage to look up at Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen nodded slightly, and with a swift movement, stepped onto the stone steps first.
The stone steps wind and twist, long and steep, with special minerals that emit a faint glow embedded in the stone walls on both sides, barely illuminating the way ahead.
After descending for about two or three minutes, the view suddenly opened up... a stone chamber of about thirty square meters appeared before us.
In the center of the stone chamber sat an ancient futon, surrounded by nothing but a few dim and blurred ancient runes carved on the stone walls, with extremely faint traces of array fluctuations, revealing the vicissitudes of time.
Xiao Chen walked straight to the center of the stone chamber and sat down cross-legged. The Yin Ancestor tactfully bowed and stepped back. Once Xiao Chen was seated, the stone wall closed again, completely isolating the stone chamber from the outside world, creating two separate worlds.
The stone chamber fell into a deathly silence, with only Xiao Chen's steady, long breaths echoing softly in the emptiness.
In the previous battle, he refined the fragments of the Prison Clan and extracted a massive amount of pure energy from them... This energy not only helped him stabilize his realm, but also allowed his physical body to undergo a second tempering, making him even stronger.
Outside the stone chamber, the Yin Ancestor, despite his excruciating pain and weakened soul, barely managed to deal with the various forces that had come to investigate the disturbances on the island, relying on his remaining influence.
While he evaded the question with his words, he was secretly terrified, his awe of the mysterious and unpredictable master in the quiet room running deep in his bones...
His ability to manipulate events at will, and his absolute power to crush everything, far exceeded his understanding of what a "strong person" truly meant.
The night passed without incident, as quiet as the changing seasons.
As the first rays of dawn pierced through the extremely concealed ventilation hole above the stone chamber, casting a faint light, the previously violently fluctuating energy within the chamber finally began to subside.
Xiao Chen slowly opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing within them, then instantly vanishing, leaving only an unfathomable depth. He exhaled a breath of stale air, which lingered and did not dissipate, leaving a clear white trail in the air. It hovered like a sharp sword for a moment before slowly dissipating.
"Although the immortal mansion within my body has not yet been upgraded, my realm has already broken through... directly leaping from the first level of the Divine Power Realm to the third level of the Divine Power Realm!"
Xiao Chen felt the divine essence surging within his body like a vast ocean, more than twice as condensed and profound as before, and his divine soul also grew stronger. He understood.
"In this mortal world where spiritual energy is scarce, such a leapfrog breakthrough is nothing short of a fantasy. It is all thanks to the pressure of repeated battles and the energy catalysis of the Prison Clan's divine remains."
He secretly rejoiced: if the Prison Clan were at their peak, he would have no chance of winning... the opponent was too strong.
Although he is known as invincible in the secular world and is one of the top experts even in the Ancient Sea Secret Realm, the Prison Clan is ultimately a special existence. They are monsters who have survived from ancient times to the present day, with strong bodies and strange power. Once they are fully awakened, he has no confidence in confronting them head-on.
This is why he was willing to go to any lengths to annihilate these prison race members before they fully awakened... In a direct confrontation, humanity had no chance of winning.
As his thoughts raced, Xiao Chen subconsciously sensed the Soul Palace within his immortal abode… the core place where spiritual tablets and divine souls were stored. The first soul tablet had long since fallen silent, its surface cracked and devoid of any further fluctuation.
Although there was a faint connection to the second soul tablet, it showed no signs of activating. "Perhaps it's not the right time to trigger it yet. After all, when the first soul tablet appeared, I was in a life-or-death situation," Xiao Chen muttered to himself.
The road ahead is long, and for now we can only wait for the right opportunity to completely eradicate these remnants of the prison clan hiding in the mortal world.
Xiao Chen slowly stood up and stretched his limbs.
A series of crackling sounds, like popping beans, rang out around him. Every inch of his bones and muscles trembled with pleasure. His divine energy surged like a tide, and his blood and qi were so abundant that they almost overflowed. His condition was at an unprecedented peak.
He strode to the stone wall, flicked a wisp of condensed divine energy from his fingertip, and precisely injected it into the mechanism groove that the Yin Ancestor had previously told him about.
"Om..."
The stone wall slid inward silently without any resistance.
Outside the door, the Old Ancestor of Extreme Yin waited with his head bowed like the most devout believer, his body taut and straight, yet extremely humble.
His face was still as pale as paper, clearly his injuries had not yet healed, but the fear in his eyes had long been replaced by a deep-seated awe, and his gaze toward Xiao Chen even carried a hint of fanatical worship.
The moment Xiao Chen stepped out of the stone chamber, he keenly sensed that the aura emanating from the other party was even more solid and profound than the previous night. The invisible pressure was like a mountain pressing down on him, causing him to catch his breath and instinctively bend his body even lower, almost touching the ground.
"Master." His voice trembled slightly, a mixture of awe and submission.
Xiao Chen nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over him and looking towards the end of the winding stone steps, as if he could penetrate the layers of stone walls and see the entire view of the Jiyin Island gradually awakening in the morning light.
"Has the matter on the island been resolved?" He asked in a flat tone, revealing neither joy nor anger.
"Reporting to the master, all forces on the island have been appeased, and the unified statement is that a small-scale explosion was caused by an energy leak in the core laboratory. No one dares to investigate further."
The Old Ancestor of Extreme Yin bowed his head respectfully and reported, his voice still weak but his reasoning exceptionally clear: "The remaining core forces of Extreme Yin Island have been fully reorganized, and all the elites have been marked with the Master's 'Soul-Locking Seal,' ensuring absolute loyalty and waiting for the Master's command at any time!"
"Very good." Xiao Chen turned and walked out with a composed gait. "Get ready. Come back to the Dragon Kingdom with me in half an hour."
For Xiao Chen, destroying the Extreme Yin Island and subduing the Extreme Yin Ancestor were just trivial matters that he could easily accomplish.
He knew in his heart that the strength of this Extreme Yin Ancestor was by no means ordinary... even in the Celestial Realm of the Dragon Kingdom's martial arts world, he would be among the top tier, enough to firmly occupy the top three positions on the Celestial Ranking.
In Xiao Chen's eyes, however, he was nothing more than an ant that could be crushed at will. But to the secular martial arts world, such an existence was already a top expert capable of shaking a region... Keeping him around would have its uses. (End of Chapter)