Bang!

Watching Chu Chen slam the door and stride straight toward the outer disciple trial grounds, Zhang Ke'er stood with her mouth half-open, completely stunned for a long moment.

That carefree silhouette.

That decisive, swift manner.

That unrestrained, untamed temperament.

...

For an instant, she was utterly captivated.

How did she suddenly find this old guy...

Roguishly handsome~

"No, no~"

Zhang Ke'er shook her head like a rattle-drum. This was her Master's man; she couldn't afford to harbor any improper thoughts~

"Men are all floods and savage beasts!"

"Love? Even a dog wouldn't touch that!"

"This lady is going to stay single for ten thousand years!!"

...

After silently reciting the Orphan Girl's Heart Sutra passed down by her Empress Master a few times, Zhang Ke'er's restless heart finally calmed down a little.

Then, stepping onto her flying sword, she once again took to Sword Riding, flying toward the Empress's Imperial Palace.

Chu Chen had been settled. Whether he could pass the outer disciple trial and successfully enter the Divine Flame Emperor Palace would depend on his own fortune.

During the time her Empress Master was in Secluded Cultivation, she, Zhang Ke'er, had to guard the palace gate without leaving for even a single step, blocking everyone who came to seek an audience or investigate.

To prevent a palace coup!

This task was no light burden.

...

Meanwhile, Chu Chen left the Purple Bamboo Forest and, following the signs, headed toward the outer disciple trial grounds.

The restoration of his destroyed Meridians meant that Chu Chen could now cultivate.

His Dao Wound had been healed, and his withered, exhausted body had been rekindled with new vitality.

Bringing the dead back to life, regenerating flesh and bone.

Calling it living a second life was not an exaggeration at all.

"This favor is enormous!"

Although he didn't know what the God Phoenix Feather Zhang Ke'er mentioned was, given its effect of Defying the Heavens to change fate, its value was certainly no less than a legendary Imperial-level immortality medicine.

A confession produced an unexpected effect~

Who would have thought the Empress was such a lovesick fool~

Could falling in love save your life?

If he had known this earlier, why would he have lived his previous life like a dog in the Ye family, suffocating himself with grievances?

And after death, he was even despised for wasting land!!

Having been reborn, Chu Chen had already seen through everything.

To him now, what were family bonds, father-son affection, sibling relationships...

All of it was nothing but dog shit!!

To those who treated him well, he would repay them doubly.

To those who treated him badly, no matter who the hell they were, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth-he would strike back directly!

Saying one more word, hesitating for even a single moment.

Was all just being pathetic!

Empress Lin Shuwang had saved his life; he, Chu Chen, would naturally repay her doubly in the future.

Ye Xuan, Ye Ding, those seven sisters of the Ye family...

The disgusting things they had done to him, Chu Chen... Hmph!!

Wasn't the Ye family so impressive?

Didn't they think that with Ye Xuan around, they could secure their position as an immortal clan and make the entire Ye family rise again?

Hmph!

Then just wait and see!

A pure white lotus is best for tearing apart~

...

Swish!

Lost in thought, Chu Chen took three steps as two. Following the signs, he descended from the Purple Bamboo Forest and headed all the way south, straight to Red King Mountain.

The outer disciple trial grounds were right at the entrance of Red King Mountain.

Fortunately, this place wasn't far from the Purple Bamboo Forest; even on foot, it would take less than half an hour to arrive.

These days marked the Divine Flame Emperor Palace's recruitment period. All nearby cultivation prodigies, reclusive geniuses, aristocratic scions, and anyone else who met the requirements had rushed to Red King Mountain to participate in the outer disciple trial, fantasizing about successfully entering the Divine Flame Emperor Palace and Defying the Heavens to change fate!

So, when Chu Chen arrived at the entrance of Red King Mountain, a single glance revealed a vast, dark sea of people. He was genuinely startled by the sheer magnitude of the crowd.

Empress Lin Shuwang was the master of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace. With her status and position, a single glance or a single word from her would allow Chu Chen to easily enter the Divine Flame Emperor Palace with an incredibly high status.

He wouldn't even need the Empress to appear; her foolish disciple Zhang Ke'er could arrange everything properly.

But the Empress didn't do that. Instead, she gave Chu Chen a token and told him to participate in the outer disciple trial like any other aristocratic scion wanting to enter the Divine Flame Emperor Palace.

Why was that?

Gripping the token in his hand, Chu Chen could roughly guess Empress Lin Shuwang's intention.

This was to give him enough time to develop quietly and avoid being targeted by others.

After all, his reputation was too great. Now that he had resumed his cultivation path, getting too close to the Empress right away would easily invite jealousy and frame-ups.

Moreover, Empress Lin Shuwang had forcefully entered Secluded Cultivation to heal his injuries, even at the cost of her realm dropping. In this Divine Flame Emperor Palace, no one would protect him.

In short, the Empress was protecting him.

The Empress's plan was good, but he, Chu Chen, was not a soft persimmon to be squeezed at will.

Carrying the ultimate Imperial weapon, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar, and now having resumed his cultivation path, keeping a low profile was destined to be impossible.

"Stop!"

"This is the location of the outer disciple trial. Unauthorized persons are not allowed to enter!"

"Trespassers die!"

...

Just as Chu Chen reached the entrance of Red King Mountain, he was stopped by several fierce-looking disciples at the gate.

Seeing this, Chu Chen didn't waste words with them. He directly took out the token from his Storage Ring and waved it in front of the disciples.

Swish!

As soon as the token appeared, the disciples-who had been cold-faced, arrogant, and hurling insults just a moment ago-immediately bowed their heads in fright, saluting Chu Chen.

They shrank their necks and said with flattering smiles:

"Senior Brother, please enter quickly!"

"The outer disciple trial is about to end. Senior Brother, please hurry! Please hurry!"

"Yes, don't miss the time and delay Senior Brother's important matters."

...

Chu Chen didn't bother with these disciples. He stepped forward and entered Red King Mountain.

Three years ago, the great battle with the Empress had severed all his Meridians and destroyed his cultivation. Now, his cultivation path had been restored, but he still had to start from scratch, cultivating anew bit by bit.

Starting over wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Walking a path he had walked before was naturally very familiar. Moreover, with the cultivation experience of his previous life, he could even go further from where he had left off.

As a sacred land of the Southern Wasteland Demon Clan, the Divine Flame Emperor Palace had stood on the Desolate Ancient Continent for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years. How profound was its foundation?

Stones from other mountains can polish jade.

Since he was starting over, he naturally had to take the cultivation methods of the Divine Flame Emperor Palace! Take them all!!

Furthermore, Chu Chen wasn't stupid. He had already seen that Empress Lin Shuwang's situation in the Divine Flame Emperor Palace seemed...

Somewhat dangerous.

A drop of water's kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring, let alone a life-saving grace.

He had already confessed his feelings; he couldn't just pat his butt and leave, could he?

Since that was the case, he, Chu Chen, also had a great gift to give Empress Lin Shuwang~

Thinking of this, Chu Chen looked toward the high platform in the square, which was crowded with people.

Pushing through the crowd, he stepped forward. What met his eyes were six towering jade pillars rising from the ground.

These jade pillars were milky white, each a hundred meters tall, standing on the high platform of Red King Mountain like giant trees reaching the sky, blotting out the sun.

"These Awakening Spirit Jade Pillars are the same as those in other sacred lands. A cultivator places their palm on them and channels their internal spiritual power into the pillar to test the attribute and strength of their spiritual power, thereby judging their Potential and talent."

If the Awakening Spirit Jade Pillar was lit, it meant the trial participant had spiritual power within them and could embark on the path of spiritual cultivation.

The height of the lit pillar indicated the level of the trial participant's talent.

Generally speaking, a pillar height below ten meters indicated a Low Grade spiritual root.

Ten to forty meters indicated a Middle Grade spiritual root.

Forty to seventy meters indicated a High Grade spiritual root.

Above seventy meters indicated a rare, one-in-ten-thousand Top Grade spiritual root.

The six Awakening Spirit Jade Pillars represented Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, and, aside from the five elemental spiritual powers, miscellaneous attribute spiritual power.

The Ye family also had Awakening Spirit Jade Pillars. Every Ye family disciple, when holding their coming-of-age ceremony, had to undergo an Awakening Spirit test, so Chu Chen was very familiar with this.

Remembering the celestial phenomenon he had triggered during his Awakening Spirit test in the Ye family, the corners of Chu Chen's mouth lifted slightly.

Some people were born as dazzling and brilliant as the sun hanging high in the nine heavens; it wasn't something one could hide even if they wanted to.

Withdrawing his gaze from the Awakening Spirit Jade Pillars, Chu Chen wasn't in a hurry to show off. Instead, he began to survey his surroundings.

Soon, a black-robed Elder behind the pillars caught Chu Chen's attention.

The Elder was treading through the void, hands clasped behind his back, his Daoist robe rustling in the wind.

A terrifying spiritual Pressure erupted from within him, falling from the nine heavens, intimidating the thousands gathered at Red King Mountain.

A Saint-level powerhouse, having comprehended the power of space.

This Elder was presumably the reception Elder in charge of the outer disciple trial and also the strongest person present.

At this moment, his brows were tightly furrowed, his eyes closed in contemplation, and his aged face was full of disappointment and impatience.

"This outer disciple trial has been going on for two days. Today is the last day."

"Anyone who hasn't come forward to light the Awakening Spirit Jade Pillars, hurry up. In another hour, it will be over!"

The black-robed Elder opened his murky eyes, surveying the thousands of trial participants below, his dissatisfaction evident:

"In two days, over eight hundred trial participants have successfully lit the Awakening Spirit Jade Pillars. Less than fifty have High Grade spiritual roots, less than two hundred have Middle Grade spiritual roots. As for Top Grade spiritual roots and those with multi-attribute spiritual roots... even more so..."

"Not a single one!!"

The Elder sighed slightly. With his Saint-level cultivation, being assigned to receive outer disciples-and a group of extremely ordinary ones with potentially no future achievements...

Thinking of this, the black-robed Elder lost his patience and grew somewhat irritated.

...

Chu Chen paid no attention to any of that. Instead, he stared at the six Awakening Spirit Jade Pillars standing on the high platform, lost in thought for a moment.

He was also curious.

Now that he had resumed his cultivation path and lived a second life,

if he were to undergo the Awakening Spirit test again, what celestial phenomenon would he trigger? And what would the result be?

Time could make people forget everything. It had only been three years.

The world had forgotten one thing.

That the number one cultivation genius of the entire Desolate Ancient Continent had never been Ye Xuan, nor Empress Lin Shuwang.

It was him, Chu Chen!

Now, he, Chu Chen, had returned!

As he thought this, Chu Chen was about to extend his right hand and place it on the Awakening Spirit Jade Pillar.

At the same time, deep within the Red King Palace, several dust-covered coffins violently shook and hummed.

As if...

As if, in the next instant, the lids of these coffins were about to be thrown open~

...

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