Within the mythological secret realm, in Guangchengzi's Daoist sanctuary.
The world stretched out vast and desolate. At times, a violent gale swept through, whipping up swirling sand against the backdrop of distant, undulating mountains.
From time to time, secret realm spirits drifted past, their eerie silhouettes appearing somewhat bizarre.
The place resembled a dreadful no-man's-land.
An ordinary person stepping inside would find it difficult to adapt.
Yet Lu Yuan stood quietly in place with his hands behind his back, his voice utterly flat and devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
However, following his words, no reaction came from the surroundings; everything remained just as it had been before.
Seeing this, he let out a soft chuckle. His internal aura began to seep outward.
Golden-tinged vital blood surged forth, swirling around his body.
A tremendously vast power surfaced, causing the ground beneath his feet to tremble as though burdened by immense weight, before rippling outward in slow, spreading waves.
"King Lu of the Milky Way Star Sector, we only just stepped inside. We bear no ill will, and we shall leave at once."
Right at that moment, as if sensing an overwhelming sense of crisis, a voice suddenly rang out.
Immediately afterward, six figures materialized, standing behind Lu Yuan.
These six consisted of two members each from the Three-Headed Ghost Clan, the Origin Demon Clan, and the Celestial Clan.
All of them were at the Sovereign King Realm and exceptionally powerful. Each possessed a striking, otherworldly appearance, their auras intensely oppressive.
Out in the world, they would undoubtedly stand at the pinnacle of the pyramid, for few on Earth had reached this stage—virtually all of whom were extraterrestrial beings—and entities of the Saint Domain Realm were still barred from descending.
One could say that Sovereign King experts, occupying the fifth stage of evolution, were surpassed only by the top prodigies of the major clans.
Yet at this moment, the six of them reined in their auras completely, adopting an exceedingly humble posture.
Fear seemed to grip their hearts; none of them dared provoke the man standing before them.
"No ill will?"
Hearing that, Lu Yuan chuckled. He turned to face the extraterrestrial beings. "From before I even entered the Daoist sanctuary, you were watching from the sidelines, taking special care to conceal yourselves. Well? I imagine news of my arrival has already been relayed outside?"
These members of the three major clans had employed a special concealing technique that even ordinary Awakened could never detect.
Lu Yuan, however, was different. With the Martial Dao Heavenly Eye, he could see straight through all illusions.
That was why he had remained motionless after Zhu Qingyu and the others departed—he already knew he was being tailed.
As for the ones pulling the strings, the answer was obvious: the sequence prodigies of the three clans.
Lu Yuan had sensed earlier that this trip to Mount Kongtong would not be simple, and his suspicions were now confirmed.
"King Lu, it is purely a coincidence. Surely you are not suggesting that you are permitted to enter this Daoist sanctuary while we are not?"
A Celestial Clan member spoke up. He had assumed his battle form, vibrating a pair of wings as the power of wind and lightning swirled around him.
He bore a striking resemblance to Winged Celestial, yet he was stronger, his bloodline far richer.
After all, he had descended directly from the extraterrestrial domains; the two were hardly comparable.
"Indeed. We have already yielded and offered to depart," another member of the Three-Headed Ghost Clan said. All three of his heads bore furious glares, clearly brimming with dissatisfaction, his gaze distinctly hostile.
Having crossed countless star sectors to descend here with supreme arrogance, so what if this man was powerful?
They had done nothing yet, and many others had entered Guangchengzi's sanctuary as well.
Thus, although a trace of apprehension lingered in their hearts, they had no intention of continuing to grovel.
Simply put, they did not believe Lu Yuan would dare strike in a situation like this.
With those words spoken, the six figures offered no further explanation and began to slowly retreat.
Despite their underlying confidence, they still did not dare truly provoke the man before them at this moment.
"Did I say you could leave?"
Lu Yuan's voice cut through the air. "Do you truly believe I am blind to your intentions?"
Having spoken, he wasted no more breath. Taking a step forward, the golden vital blood around him erupted instantly.
Tailing him solely to keep him under surveillance made their intentions as clear as day. In such circumstances, why should he endure it? That was never his nature.
Thus, he chose to attack without the slightest hesitation.
Terrifying power burst forth alongside his vital blood.
*Not good.*
Horror gripped the six. None of them had imagined he would truly dare to strike.
"Attack together! I refuse to believe he can slaughter us all with his strength alone!" the Celestial Clan member roared. His wings beat furiously as wind and lightning exploded from within him, electric arcs intertwining to form a storm that swept across the surrounding terrain.
Seeing this, the other five voiced no objection and unleashed their respective powers.
They had heard much about the man before them and knew his terrifying strength, so they could not afford the slightest carelessness.
In an instant, all six struck at once. Diverse energies erupted, rattling the very earth beneath them.
Yet Lu Yuan's expression did not waver in the least. Facing the collective onslaught, he simply threw a punch forward.
*Rumble!*
The air detonated, churning into violent air currents. Massive swathes of earth were obliterated instantly, surging outward like a raging hurricane.
The six who had just joined forces paled in shock, pouring every ounce of their strength into defense.
*Boom!*
The wind of his fist cracked like thunder. The ground fractured for hundreds of meters around, the entire area engulfed by Lu Yuan's overwhelming force.
Opposite him, the moment the six struck that surging wave of energy, their faces drained of color and they stumbled backward in unison.
All of them were at the Sovereign King Realm—true experts by any standard—yet at this moment, they were swept aside like autumn leaves in a gale.
The wind and thunder wings of the two Celestial Clan members shattered in bursts of sprayed blood. The black mist enveloping the Origin Demon Clan experts blew apart, exposing bodies covered in spiderweb cracks. The heads of the Three-Headed Ghost Clan members were pulverized into dust. The scene was utterly gruesome.
After a single strike, the ground lay devastated, and the six extraterrestrial beings sprawled in disarray, their auras languishing to the absolute brink of extinction.
Indeed, Lu Yuan had crippled them entirely with a single blow, leaving each with less than half a breath of life.
One had to remember that back when he was merely in the Golden Body Realm, he could already overpower Sovereign King Realm opponents a stage above him.
Now that he had advanced further, the strength he commanded was naturally far more terrifying than before.
This completely exceeded the expectations of the six extraterrestrial beings.
Still, being resilient extraterrestrial lifeforms, they managed to hold on for the moment.
"How can he be this strong?"
"He isn't in the Golden Body Realm... *cough, cough*... he's a Sovereign King! He must have broken into the Sovereign King Realm!"
"To be this formidable... could he be on par with the sequence prodigies of our clans? How could someone like this emerge from the Milky Way Star Sector in such a short time?"
They were utterly dumbfounded. The prominent figures in their clans had calculated the precise timing of Earth's revival, dispatching them early to suppress this world with absolute foundation before any true powerhouses could arise.
Having arrived in time, they had assumed their own strength alone would suffice to dominate everything without needing their sequence prodigies to act.
Yet who could have foreseen the emergence of someone like Lu Yuan?
His speed of evolution was simply horrifying.
While others in this world were still struggling in the second and third stages, he had stepped straight into the fifth...
"I stated before: if anyone provokes me of their own accord, I will show no mercy."
On the other side, Lu Yuan walked over at an unhurried pace, his expression remarkably serene.
Rather than waiting for others to plot against him, he preferred to strike first.
It was just as well—he could use these individuals to make an example.
In the end, he spoke no further.
Facing the six barely clinging to life, he surged the power within his fully divinized heart, igniting the might of the Great Sun Smelting Furnace.
*Boom!*
A tremendous aura surged forth.
The six felt as though they stood before an archaic primordial beast.
Their bodies fractured inch by inch and were then obliterated without warning, crushed into absolute nothingness.
Six Sovereign King Realm experts possessed virtually no power to resist before Lu Yuan. Before they could even deploy their various trump cards, they were suppressed and slain on the spot, not even leaving behind a corpse.
Having finished the deed, Lu Yuan's gaze remained tranquil. He slowly raised his head, looking toward a grand hall looming faintly in the distance.
"Sending only ordinary clansmen to track my whereabouts... it seems you have already set off to search for the legacy and fortuitous opportunities."
He easily deduced the intentions of the three sequence prodigies; their scheme was hardly profound, and a moment's thought laid it bare.
His own objective, after all, was also that grand hall. He was curious to see what the legendary immortal Guangchengzi had left behind.
This would serve well enough to resolve the matter at hand along the way.
Without further hesitation, Lu Yuan took a step forward, soaring directly through the air and speeding toward the great hall.
As for the secret realm spirits he encountered along the way, he chose not to slay them.
It was not for any particular reason; he simply found it troublesome. Furthermore, the ambient power of heaven and earth held little utility for him now, so there was no need to squander time.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the realm...
A towering, majestic hall loomed upright, its archaic architecture reaching over a dozen stories high.
It looked as though it had witnessed the turning of ages, the traces of time flowing across its walls.
Numerous secret realm spirits wandered ceaselessly around its perimeter, seeming to possess a degree of autonomous awareness that barred outsiders from entering.
The hall's heavy doors remained tightly sealed, appearing as though no one could force them fully open.
Just then, three formidable auras approached steadily.
Abruptly, one figure came to a halt.
It was Lei Xuan of the Celestial Clan.
His brow was tightly furrowed, his expression solemn.
"The ones we dispatched to track the human Lu Yuan... appear to be dead."
He spoke while looking toward the two sequence prodigies beside him, his tone chillingly grim.
Without a second thought, one knew who was responsible.
"The two from my clan are dead as well," the Origin Demon Clan sequence said, narrowing his eyes as a wisp of killing intent surfaced.
Even so, one thing baffled both of them: how had their clansmen been discovered in the first place?
They had clearly utilized a mysterious concealing method, yet it had proved entirely useless.
"Regardless, that Lu Yuan is stronger than anticipated," the Three-Headed Ghost Clan sequence remarked. Many of his clansmen had been slain before, making it clear that Lu Yuan was no ordinary opponent. Both his talent and his strength were exceptional, no weaker than those of certain sequence prodigies. Given the unique conditions of this world, his future achievements would be formidable.
"All the more reason why such a person cannot be allowed to live; otherwise, he will become a disaster."
Lei Xuan's gaze turned frigid, the murderous intent within him burning even fiercer than before.
If Lu Yuan were allowed to continue growing, even the three major clans might eventually be affected.
Besides, an absolute execution order had already been handed down from above. Under no circumstances could they tolerate his existence any longer!
Chapter 148