Sky Demon Gorge.

Deep within a cave.

"Where..."

He had no idea how long he had been unconscious. By the time Chu Chen finally opened his eyes, dawn was just breaking across the horizon.

Golden sunlight pierced the dense thicket above, slanting through the cave entrance to strike his face. He rubbed his eyes, his mind still clouded with a lingering haze.

"To lose this much blood and still draw breath... to avoid the jaws of wandering Demon Beasts... my luck hasn't run dry just yet!"

He glanced down at his scabbed wounds, then at the faintly glowing Formation near the cave entrance. A chill of lingering dread washed over him.

It had been far too reckless!

The Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar was a supreme Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon. Even sealed, the refinement process was fraught with lethal peril.

Furthermore, the Formations inside the Storage Ring he had snatched from the maidservant Die'er were of the lowest grade. They could deceive ordinary Demon Beasts, but against anything above the Heaven Opening realm, these concealment and defensive arrays were utterly useless.

Fortunately, this was only the outer perimeter of Sky Demon Gorge. The truly powerful Demon Beasts fiercely guarded their own territories, rarely venturing out unless provoked.

"Survive a great calamity, and Fated Chances will follow."

Chu Chen waved his hand. A pitch-black earthen jar materialized in the air before him, cascading strands of dark light as the endless power of the Great Dao surged outward.

The jar itself appeared rustic and unadorned, entirely unremarkable at first glance.

Yet, its clay form possessed the flawless curves of a celestial maiden, radiating a terrifying Pressure that could make the myriad heavens tremble and suppress the nine heavens and ten lands.

Terrifying sword marks scarred the rim of the jar. Even from a distance, the razor-sharp Great Luo Sword Intent felt as though it could rend the firmament and cleave heaven and earth in two.

"Pfft!"

Chu Chen coughed up a mouthful of blood. He hastily withdrew his Divine Sense, not daring to gaze any longer at the horrifying sword marks etched into the clay.

With his crippled cultivation, staring for even a second longer would invite the residual Great Luo Sword Intent to shred him into bloody mist.

"It is only a preliminary refinement, but I have finally bound this supreme Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon."

Wiping the blood from his lips, Chu Chen cradled the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar with burning anticipation. This was his sole trump card.

Whether he could survive crossing Sky Demon Gorge.

Whether he could safely reach the Divine Flame Imperial Palace.

Whether he could stand before Great Emperor Lin Shuwang...

Everything hinged on this jar.

"Unfortunately, a formidable seal binds the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar. With my cultivation destroyed, I could only rely on my heart's blood to force a preliminary refinement. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise, I could awaken its artifact spirit to escort me directly to the Divine Flame Imperial Palace!"

What made a supreme Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon so terrifying?

Each one was forged by a Great Emperor using the rarest, most precious divine materials in existence. They were inscribed with the Great Dao of heaven and earth, contained apocalyptic imperial-level Pressure, and housed fully sentient artifact spirits.

Even an unparalleled Great Emperor who dominated an era possessed a lifespan of only ten thousand years.

But an awakened artifact spirit had no such limits. It could protect a clan or sacred land for thousands of generations!

It was the ultimate foundation that allowed an immortal orthodox lineage to endure!

"Regardless, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar is a supreme Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon capable of piercing the nine heavens and ten lands. Even with only a preliminary refinement, I finally have the power to protect myself in Sky Demon Gorge!"

The sheer terror of such a weapon defied mortal imagination. A single leaked trace of imperial-level Pressure could obliterate heaven and earth, reshaping mountains and rivers in an instant.

Though Chu Chen's meridians were shattered and his cultivation erased, rendering him unable to perfectly activate the weapon, the jar possessed its own sentience. Thanks to the preliminary refinement, it would autonomously protect its master in times of lethal peril.

"This Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar is entirely different from ordinary Extreme Dao Imperial Weapons. It is infinitely more profound."

He recalled the events before his rebirth. When Great Emperor Lin Shuwang clashed with the Ye family's ancestor, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar had voluntarily acknowledged Chu Chen as its master to shield him from the fallout.

Even now, the memory of that profound and mysterious Dao resonance left him deeply shaken.

Because of that, Chu Chen understood how to wield the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar better than anyone alive.

Extreme Dao Imperial Weapons were forged from the blood and sweat of ancient Great Emperors. Beyond their world-destroying imperial Pressure, their connection to the Great Dao granted them unique, heaven-defying abilities.

For instance, the Ye family's Heaven-Reaching Mirror possessed the ability to [Penetrate Heavenly Secrets], allowing its wielder to gaze into the river of time and glimpse fragments of the past and future.

Compared to such artifacts, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar was an anomaly.

"I remember it possessing two heaven-defying abilities: [Devouring the Heavens] and [Grasping Heavens]."

[Devouring the Heavens] was straightforward. It unleashed a terrifying devouring force that could forcibly consume an enemy's Dharma Treasures, cultivation base, and even their Dao Fruit, refining the stolen power to nourish its master.

It was a tyrannical, heaven-defying art that violated the harmony of the Heavenly Dao-an absolute taboo among the righteous sects.

That was precisely why it bore the title of a 'Spiritual arts' Jar.

The second ability, [Grasping Heavens], was far more esoteric. By reaching a hand into the jar, the wielder could rely on their own Providence and Fated Chance to blindly pull a treasure from the void.

Though the jar was only the size of a palm, it contained a self-sustaining world connected to an alternate dimension.

The item pulled could be a cultivation manual, a Pill, a Dharma Treasure, or perhaps a rare crystal, a heavenly spirit herb, or an ancient relic.

Its value and rarity...

Everything depended entirely on Providence and opportunity.

However, such a heaven-defying power came with a strict limitation. After refining the jar, this ability could only be used once every ten days.

"Let's see what my Providence can pull from the void on my first try!"

Chu Chen took a deep breath, staring at the eerie dark light spewing from the jar's mouth. Steeling his resolve, he rolled up his sleeve and plunged his right arm into the abyss.

Swish!

The moment his arm crossed the threshold, strands of bizarre dark light coiled around his skin. A profound Dao resonance enveloped his body, violently dragging his Divine Sense into a hazy, gray dimension.

It resembled a boundless night sky.

Dark and unfathomable.

Desolate and ancient.

Countless points of starlight flickered in the void. Chu Chen raised his head, his thoughts drifting as he gazed into the infinite cosmos.

Driven by instinct, he reached out toward an exceptionally bright star burning billions of miles away.

Though he possessed a crippled mortal body devoid of cultivation, his extended arm instantly magnified billions of times. It transformed into a heaven-spanning phantom limb, tearing through the cosmos to seize the star.

Across an unbridgeable distance, he could pluck the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Bang!

The captured star erupted with violent resistance, struggling wildly against Chu Chen's grip.

"Oh? It dares to resist?"

"Interesting!"

A cold smirk curled Chu Chen's lips. He focused his mind, channeling the supreme might of the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar to crush its defiance.

Rumble!

The Great Dao flowed.

Dao resonance bloomed.

The power of worldly laws cascaded through the void.

A terrifying devouring force erupted from Chu Chen's palm. After a stalemate lasting several breaths, a deafening roar shook the starry expanse. The heaven-spanning arm clamped down on the massive star and, with supreme divine might, ripped it from its orbit billions of miles away.

Swish!

The colossal arm and the blazing star rapidly shrank! Smaller, and smaller still!

By the time Chu Chen's Divine Sense snapped back to his physical body, his right arm had already withdrawn from the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar.

"That sensation..."

Chu Chen froze, feeling as though he had just woken from a surreal dream.

"Hm?"

"This is..."

He slowly opened his hand. Hovering just above his palm was a single drop of blood, bathed in swirling scarlet flames.

Looking closely, the phantom of a divine phoenix soared within the crimson droplet, its wings beating against the fiery current.

"Divine Phoenix Essence Blood!"

"It contains the memory fragments of the Undying Divine Phoenix... a treasure with the power to pierce heaven and earth!"

The terrifying flames distorted the very void. The moment the phoenix phantom flapped its wings, an apocalyptic Pressure erupted, instantly shattering every Formation in the cave before converging to obliterate Chu Chen.

"Not good!"

Chu Chen closed his eyes as the suffocating shadow of death swallowed him whole.

Even a single leaked trace of Pressure from the Divine Phoenix Essence Blood was far beyond what his crippled mortal body could endure.

Just as the crushing force threatened to grind him into bloody mist, Chu Chen formed a rapid hand seal and roared:

"Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar, take it in!"

Swish!

The Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar trembled in response. A terrifying devouring force erupted from its mouth, instantly swallowing the flaming drop of Divine Phoenix Essence Blood into its depths.

The lethal pressure vanished.

"Hm? Someone is coming?"

Before Chu Chen could even catch his breath, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar's heightened perception alerted him to a figure flying straight toward the cave.

"This aura... it's too familiar!"

"Dammit! It's..."

"It's Ye Lingyue!"