Mingchengzi had originally felt there was little hope of capturing and killing Emperor Wenguang, for once the latter ascended to immortality, it was equivalent to abandoning the entire former dynasty.
As for Great Shun, they only needed to wait for him to leave to smoothly take over Youdu, and even the entire former dynasty. There was no absolute necessity to rush forward and risk their lives against Emperor Wenguang, who was shielded by a host of gods and immortals.
If he urged them to do so, it might backfire and do him no good, so he had taken the initiative to take a step back.
Yet now Chen Chuan's resolve was unyielding, determined to obliterate the emperor, and Mingchengzi felt a surge of excitement in his heart.
At once, he cupped his hands with fervent ceremony and said, "Since Xuanji desires to set right our rivers and mountains and cleanse the realm, what fear could I possibly have? I shall assist Xuanji in breaching this ritual, confronting the gods and immortals together, and slaying the false emperor!"
Chen Chuan nodded slightly. "Gaogong, this battle is not ours alone."
He looked back toward the nearly twenty Dongxuan View martial artists. "With so many comrades aiding us, what is there to fear from those otherworld demons, fake gods, and sham immortals?"
Mingchengzi's eyes gleamed as he listened, heroic courage swelling within his chest. "Well said! Xuanji, watch my methods."
Their exchange of words within the mind seemed lengthy, yet the transmission of thoughts was exceedingly swift, transpiring in merely a split second.
Meanwhile, Mingchengzi's alternate body drew an incense burner fashioned like a dragon's maw from his sleeve. He traced several strokes across his brow, drew out a spark of spiritual light, cast it inside, and then raised the vessel aloft.
He, too, was throwing caution to the wind. If he broke this ritual strictly according to standard procedures, it might take a considerable amount of time.
This burner was an heirloom he had brought out from his faction. Crafted by combining several heirlooms using Fulong Faction techniques, it could connect a compatible field outside an esoteric ritual, extending one end into the physical world so that everyone could enter through it.
However, this required consuming a large amount of rare materials gathered by the Fulong Faction's forebears. Every bit consumed was gone forever, so the price might be that this treasure could never be used again.
Yet the sooner they broke through, the more opportunities they would seize, so he no longer held back out of attachment.
At his bidding, a plume of vapor spewed from the dragon's maw and surged toward the esoteric ritual. Where the vapor passed, a transitional passage seemed to open within that place that had previously appeared severed from their world.
Seeing this, Mingchengzi immediately had his manifested avatar rush inside to show the way was clear, pointing ahead as he called out loudly, "Xuanji, this path leads into the heart of the ritual!"
Chen Chuan nodded. Resting his hand upon the hilt of the Xuejun Saber, he said to the others, "Everyone, follow me!"
He leapt forward first, transforming into a streak of light that surged through the passageway, while the more than a dozen Dongxuan View martial artists behind him likewise turned into streaks of radiance, following close behind.
The moment they surged inside, it felt as though they had stepped into the void of the cosmos.
This was because, although they had breached the ritual and made their way inside, they had simultaneously charged straight into that anomaly.
This place could be called an independent field space. Since it involved the vessel for ascending to immortality, looking out across it gave the impression of a boundless, magnificent cosmic expanse.
Mingchengzi's true body followed right behind Chen Chuan so he could inform him of any developments at any moment. He conveyed a thought telepathically:
"This ritual harnesses the upper tiers and communicates through inner demons to forge this path of celestial ascension. Such a method could never have been established without someone from the Xuan sects stepping forward to assist."
At this moment, he could not help but think of that young Xuanist, who was suspected of being a disciple of the Duanchen Faction; if so, this was very likely the Duanchen Faction's handiwork.
Chen Chuan looked ahead. In the distant sky, a single column of light was the most prominent—a spiraling pillar of radiance that, from their perspective, tapered from bottom to top and led toward an unknowable, unfathomable destination.
Within that vortex of light, numerous immortals and deities could be seen clustering around a carriage as it ascended.
That carriage was the initial wisp of aura heading toward the upper tier, acting like a beacon. Unless the anomaly was eliminated, this thing could not be removed. Further behind it trailed a purplish-crimson orb of light, within which a human figure could be faintly seen standing.
After watching for a few moments, Mingchengzi said with utter certainty, "Xuanji, that is Emperor Wenguang.
"I suspect that the vessel Emperor Wenguang currently occupies must be the shell of one of his princes. I do not know which prince it is, but it must be someone bearing a bloodline esoteric diagram. Only in this way can his divine aura be protected from disruption."
Chen Chuan nodded. His gaze fixed upon the figure. After a brief observation, his mind spurred into motion, and his speed abruptly surged as he charged toward the pillar of light, the people behind him following swiftly.
Although they were spaced far apart, set against this boundless void, they still seemed like a cluster of coalesced shooting stars.
Yet when they had flown only halfway, ethereal celestial music and the chanting of scriptures suddenly reached their ears.
Looking up, they saw divine maidens and flying immortals emerge within the void. The forms of these gods and immortals were colossal, and Chen Chuan and his companions were currently threading right through their midst.
The deities all gazed down from above, their eyes devoid of the slightest emotion, radiating an immense sense of oppression.
Chen Chuan merely glanced at them, maintaining his original course and speed without paying them any mind.
The Dongxuan martial artists behind him likewise looked straight ahead, following him like a rainbow of starlight as they hurtled onward.
For what stood before them were merely simulated manifestations of gods and immortals projected by the anomaly. Though identical in appearance, they could not possibly possess divine power, and most of them were old gods recorded in ancient texts—entities that very likely no longer existed today.
Those true ancient deities were presumably guarding Emperor Wenguang's surroundings right now, and they would inevitably clash with them later.
As they drew closer and closer to that pillar of light, Mingchengzi felt an ornament at his waist begin to tremble. He warned in a grave voice at once, "Xuanji, be careful."
A vast sheet of radiance suddenly reflected in Chen Chuan's eyes—beams of spiritual impact surging toward them, the vast majority bearing down straight upon him.
Upon seeing this, far from pulling back, he accelerated his ascent. With a crisp clang, the Xuejun Saber unsheathed. At the same time, the colossal phantom behind him manifested, gripping a mace in one hand and a long saber in the other, charging up to meet the assault.
With a two-handed slash, he cleaved the spiritual impact before him asunder with a deafening crash, while behind him, the spiritual visage's saber and mace swung and smashed to the left and right, dispersing wave after wave of impacts without slowing his forward momentum in the slightest.
Seen from a distance, he alone was like the razor-sharp tip of an arrowhead, tearing through the continually converging light and leading the others forward in a charge.
Yet right at this moment, the scenery ahead suddenly vanished, turning into a vast expanse of empty space. Moments later, everyone discovered that the spiraling pillar of light had inexplicably appeared behind them!
For a moment, it was unclear whether they had gotten their bearings wrong from the start or if the opposition had the ability to shift spatial positions.
At that moment, Mingchengzi raised the dragon censer in his hands and gave it a gentle swirl. A thin wisp of smoke drifted out, pointing toward a specific direction. He looked up and said, "Xuanji, head this way."
Chen Chuan knew this bearing was correct, for the relic stored inside his external implant had also suddenly flared with heat, pointing toward the exact same direction.
After all, the items Emperor Wenguang carried were bound to be the most numerous and valuable, and relics were entirely impervious to such illusions.
Therefore, without the slightest hesitation, he followed the trail of smoke, unaffected by the pillar of light now behind them, while the group behind him maintained absolute trust in him, none wavering for a second.
As they pressed forward resolutely, the secret technique shattered at once, and the spiraling pillar of light reappeared directly in the direction they were heading.
From these two exchanges, Chen Chuan had also deduced the positions and approximate number of those ancient deities. There were roughly four of them, with perhaps one or two more hidden away at most—certainly no more than that. Some might not even be particularly willing to exert themselves.
Otherwise, together with the former dynasty's generals from earlier, even if relying on geographical advantage and the ritual wasn't enough to wage a pitched frontal battle, they could still have held Chen Chuan's forces off for much longer, allowing Emperor Wenguang to make his arrangements far more leisurely.
It was merely unfortunate that the relic from before had been expended; otherwise, it could have been released now to discern the exact origins and capabilities of these ancient deities.
Nonetheless, it did not matter. They held numerical superiority; once engaged, it would be enough to tie these entities down, so he could comfortably leave them to his teammates later.
His objective was one and one alone: Emperor Wenguang!
He fixed his eyes upon Emperor Wenguang within the light pillar, swiftly analyzing the situation in his mind while listening to the stream of information Mingchengzi continuously relayed.
Judging from the techniques the emperor had previously displayed, he was undoubtedly of the Visage of the Divine.
Chen Chuan was no stranger to methods of the Visage of the Divine. Anyone who had contact with the former state religion, or belonged to it, mostly wielded techniques resembling the divine powers and sorceries of legends.
This was only natural, as the path of the Visage of the Divine relied most heavily on various secret esoteric transmissions, typically accumulated across generations. Without them, one could at best fiddle with transformations of division and convergence.
As emperor, obtaining such secrets had presented no difficulty for Emperor Wenguang.
And since he required a body to protect himself, that vessel would be either of the Visage of the Aberrant or the Visage of Man. Combining two visages would likely grant him even more formidable power—this was his advantage.
Yet there was an obvious flaw here: the ascension ritual could not be interrupted. This meant that from the beginning of the ceremony to its conclusion, Emperor Wenguang had to remain obediently inside the heaven-ascending pillar of light and could not leave.
This meant the emperor would have to take Chen Chuan's strikes head-on, completely unable to evade.
This was a raid, leaving no room for probing, but neither did he need to. The advantages of the Visage of Man became evident at a time like this: there was no need to overthink, only to believe in one's own power and unleash it to the fullest.
Within the pillar of light, Emperor Wenguang held his hands behind his back and looked up toward the heavens, seemingly standing amid a celestial river of flowing radiance. Behind him stretched a boundless, resplendent cosmic void, with palaces and pavilions below and a colossal vortex above.
And as long as he crossed this threshold, he could use the relic to ascend to immortality in a single leap, transcending to the upper tier.
Yet just then, sensing something, he turned his head and immediately spotted Chen Chuan and the others. His expression darkened slightly, and an eerie glint instantly flashed in his eyes.
...
...
Chapter 1436