The members of the Chen Family gaped, stunned for several breaths before thudding to their knees. They began to kowtow deeply toward Chen Zheng in worship.

"Thank you, Young Master, for annihilating our ancestor. Your kindness will be eternally remembered by all of us!"

Chen Zheng shook his head slightly, not casting another glance at anyone from the Chen Family. He simply took Li Mu by the hand and left the altar.

On the road, Li Mu sighed after a moment of thought. "Young Master, you shouldn't involve yourself in this anymore. The Ancestor's Nascent Soul has been destroyed; he has truly perished. Chen Nan only has a sliver of her consciousness left, but she should be able to condense a new body soon. If she does, she definitely won't spare us! Young Master, I've spent these past days by your side, which I consider repayment for the favor I owed Chen Nan. I may face danger from now on, so I'd like to venture out on my own."

"Oh? So, Auntie, you think I'm too weak and that you can protect me? Is that it?" Chen Zheng stopped in his tracks and asked.

"Mhm," Li Mu nodded.

"Do you think you could withstand a being at the Golden Immortal level?" Chen Zheng asked again.

"That… not necessarily!" Li Mu hesitated briefly before shaking her head.

Indeed, she wasn't certain she could fend off a Golden Immortal. The Golden Immortal realm already transcended the stages of Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Golden Core, and Primordial Spirit! And what realm lay above Golden Immortal? That would be the Daluo Golden Immortal!

"An enemy at the Golden Immortal level? Do you think an enemy of that caliber would even bother with a cultivator like you, who's only at the Foundation Establishment Stage?" Chen Zheng revealed a faint, unreadable smile. "Auntie, you're overestimating yourself. Your cultivation level isn't even one percent of a Golden Immortal's. Even if your Cultivation Technique is high-grade, you're still a novice with it; you'd be lucky to exert thirty or forty percent of your combat power. Besides, you just felt it yourself—you have no fluctuations of law whatsoever. Have you forgotten who you really are?"

"What identity?" Li Mu's face was filled with confusion.

"Auntie, you are a true Immortal Emperor," Chen Zheng said with a smile. "However, for certain reasons, your Nascent Soul is incomplete. The power of your Primordial Spirit is only at the Golden Immortal level, so your true strength cannot be measured by your Primordial Spirit alone."

"Immortal Emperor!"

"Impossible! The Immortal Emperor is a legend!"

"How can this be! How could such a legendary, high-level being appear in our tiny Chen Family!"

The members of the Chen Family were dumbfounded.

"What! Im-Immortal Emperor…"

Chen Nan's Nascent Soul was stunned, then completely stupefied.

I'm dumbfounded! I refuse to believe it! Immortal Emperor! This native from the mortal world is actually an Immortal Emperor! How could this be! No! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

"I know my current strength is far inferior to yours, Auntie," Chen Zheng said, looking at Li Mu's Primordial Spirit with a faint smile. "Even though you only have a wisp of a remnant soul, you still possess the combat power of an Immortal Emperor. Once your Primordial Spirit merges with a physical form, your body will be restored and your cultivation will even rise to the Mahayana Initial Stage. You'll be just a single step away from undergoing tribulation and ascending. You've gained a great deal this time, Auntie. By devouring that fellow's Nascent Soul, you not only lifted the curse but also used his body to reconstruct your own. There is a small problem, however. The Chen Family's Secret Treasure was taken by Chen Nan, so I can't give her body to you—it is the Chen Family's secret, after all. But don't worry. Now that Chen Nan is gone, these fools from the Chen Family won't dare to covet the Chen Family's Secret Treasure."

With that, Chen Zheng took Li Mu and soared into the sky.

"The Chen Family's Secret Treasure! Oh, the Chen Family's Secret Treasure!"

"The Chen Family's Secret Treasure! My heavens!"

"Is our Chen Family finally going to rise?!"

The Chen Family Patriarch snapped back to reality, his eyes bloodshot with excitement.

BOOM!

At that very moment, a deafening explosion erupted from the direction of the Chen Family's ancestral shrine.

"Ancestor!" the Chen Family members cried out in alarm.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Immediately after, figures shot out from the Chen Family's ancestral shrine one after another.

"Father! Run!"

"Father, run!"

"Big Sister! We were wrong! Father! Big Sister! Please don't die! We were wrong!"

A moment later, kneeling before the ancestral shrine were two bodies—the corpses of Chen Nan and Chen Lin.

"Ancestor! Oh, Ancestor, please wake up!"

The members of the Chen Family wept bitterly.

From within the ancestral shrine, an extremely indifferent female voice echoed, "Chen Nan, it's time to honor the deal we made all those years ago. Hand it over."

"I… I… I'm already dead, and the Chen Family has been annihilated. I no longer have the right to control the Chen Family's secret vault!"

"Heh." The indifferent woman chuckled.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The next moment, a terrifying, world-ending pressure burst forth from within the Chen Family's ancestral shrine.

"No!"

"This is bad!"

"This aura! It's a Golden Immortal!"

The members of the Chen Family screamed in horror.

BANG!

The ancestral shrine exploded. A gigantic hand that blotted out the sky tore through the void and lunged viciously toward Chen Zheng and Li Mu. The Chen Family members in its path were instantly crushed, and the area for thousands of feet around the shrine was turned into a barren wasteland.

SWOOSH!

The sky-blotting hand snatched again, and a bag of items clattered to the ground. Chen Zheng swept his gaze over them, recognizing various spiritual materials and medicines. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at the colossal being behind the giant hand. Then, he raised his right hand and threw a punch through the air.

BANG!

The punch tore through the void and blasted a hole through the chaos itself.

"Eh? You're still alive? Why don't you just die!" a voice full of surprise called out from within the colossal being.

"If I died, who would be left to do your killing for you?" Chen Zheng replied casually.

"You… I'll have your life!" the colossal being roared, attempting to shrink back. But it was too late. The giant, sky-blotting hand seized it fiercely, crushing it into pulp.

WHOOSH!

In the next moment, the chaos roiled, and a massive entity appeared.

As soon as this massive being emerged…

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

The Chen Family members nearest to the behemoth instantly exploded and died.

"What is that monstrous thing?!"

"Run!"

"Run!"

The surviving Chen Family members shrieked in terror.

At that moment, Li Mu's Primordial Spirit, floating beside Chen Zheng, began to tremble uncontrollably. This monster… it exuded an intensely familiar aura.

"You…" Chen Zheng's expression was calm as he gazed at the massive being.

"Haha!" A savage laugh emanated from within the behemoth.

CRACK!

The next instant, the behemoth tore itself apart, revealing a man clad in a blood-red robe.

"It's him!" Chen Nan's Primordial Spirit's eyes widened in utter disbelief.

"I heard you once roamed the Immortal Martial Continent, even slaughtering Immortals. I thought it was a lie—if you truly had such power, you would have entered the Saint Emperor Realm long ago! Unfortunately, you have gravely underestimated the methods of the Heavenly Dao. You will never know how truly terrifying it is! But I must thank you. You have given me a new life and made me stronger! Now, your life is mine!" the blood-robed man snarled, staring at Chen Zheng as a sinister, icy smile spread madly across his face.

BOOM!

The blood-robed man had barely finished speaking when—

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