As a prodigy of the Flaming Sun Clan, one of the Four Sects, Apollo was no stranger to the secret realm.Even though Chase had obtained the formation map, his power should not be this terrifying. As he was unable to sense Chase's aura, Apollo looked at him directly, filled with fear."You... made a breakthrough? That shouldn't be possible. Are you saying... No... It's impossible. You're just a mortal! No one can do this!" Apollo had his suspicions.As he looked at Chase, Skyless was equally shocked. As a stage-three martial lord, he found it unbelievable that he could not see through this young man before him. Could it be?Skyless quickly checked the consciousness he had left on the formation map. To his astonishment, the consciousness had vanished.How could this be? Even though he had crafted the Eight Trigrams Formation Map over many years, he had only managed to leave a little bit of his consciousness on it. These people had been underground for barely an hour, and not only ha
"When... did you take it?" Apollo stammered, still in shock.Chase did not answer. He merely focused on the Chamilia Bead in his hand. This little iron ball held a terrifying amount of energy. Even Lucas could not help but comment, "This thing is equivalent to my full-strength strike in my prime!"Lucas' assessment was quite exaggerated, considering he was a martial monarch expert."Chase, please spare us. I promise not to reveal anything that happened here. I can take an oath!" Now devoid of any leverage, Apollo softened his stance and began to beg for mercy. It was clear he feared that Chase would kill everyone to prevent what happened here from being exposed.If word got back to Bactria, Chase would undoubtedly face relentless persecution from Capital City's influential families, especially from those whose prodigies he had slain.Realizing the gravity of the situation, Slant also pleaded, "Chase, the Flaming Sun Clan has no grudge against you. If you spare us, we can swear
A group of people stood faintly visible in the swirling dust. The night still lingered in the sky, with dawn yet to break.Despite the dust flying everywhere, Chase and his group stood quietly, waiting. This was the very place where they had all entered the secret realm together."Why haven't we seen the exit yet?" Slant asked impatiently.Although Chase could leave and return to Bactria at any moment, he remained standing there. He could see the outskirts of Bactria's Capital City through a thin veil.At the entrance to the secret realm, representatives from the major families had already gathered. There were the Hawkinses, the Coopers, the Salvatores, the Brennans, the Kaydens, and the Welches. They were eagerly waiting.Chase even spotted Gareth, who had brought an entire armed troop to prevent any trouble from these families. Not far from Gareth, Chase also saw a banner of the Flaming Sun Clan.The four elders who had opened the secret realm suddenly appeared, and the entranc
After speaking, Thelonius waved his hand and took his three disciples away, disappearing into the sky. Meanwhile, the remaining family heads of Capital City exchanged looks.What? Even a powerful clan like the Flaming Sun Clan had only three out of over ten people return?The family heads immediately focused on the entrance, each hoping the next person to come out would be their family's prodigy.Inside the secret realm, Mitchell was about to step into the exit when he suddenly found himself stopped by something.He realized instantly that Chase was behind it."Chase, what do you mean by this?" Mitchell asked, his voice laced with frustration.Chase smiled faintly. "Mitchell, swear a blood oath and I'll let you out."Though Chase wore a smile, Mitchell had no doubt that if he refused, Chase would kill him.There was no escaping this, after all. Mitchell's face twisted with indecision. The exit was right in front of him, but if he did not agree, it might as well be miles away.
The voice of the patriarch of the Coopers, Lennox, rang out from behind them."What's the matter? Are you blocking my way?" Gareth immediately questioned."You represent Bactria, so naturally, I wouldn't dare obstruct you. However, I need to ask Scott and Basalt's Collins about the Coopers' prodigy,'' Lennox began, apologizing to Gareth before turning to Chase.Seeing Chase and the others emerge with no one else following from the secret realm, the family heads felt a growing sense of unease.Hence, Lennox directly voiced his concerns."I don't know," Scott replied nonchalantly, his expression unchanging.Chase remained silent."We're leaving," Gareth declared once more."Gareth, you're free to go, but Scott and Basalt's Collins, you can't leave until you explain what happened in the secret realm," Carson, the patriarch of the Hawkins family, said. He also stepped forward to block Chase and Scott."How dare you?!" Though without any cultivation himself, Gareth felt a surge of
"Even the entire cultivation world has never heard of such a heaven-defying existence," everyone exclaimed in awe.The two mysterious martial lords in the sky turned their gazes toward Chase as well."As you're a stage-three martial lord, was it you who claimed ownership of this secret realm?" one of them coldly asked, staring at Chase."So what if it's me?" Chase replied calmly.The two previously enigmatic elders now seemed less intimidating to Chase, perhaps because they were near the secret realm's exit. He could vaguely sense their auras, revealing them to be at most mid-stage martial lords, no higher than level six."It really is you! Such audacity, young man. You've just broken through and already you're so arrogant, showing no respect for your elders. Do you think becoming a martial lord allows you to challenge us?" the elder retorted angrily."It's your condescending attitude that's provoking me. I had no intention of being disrespectful. What now? After knowing that I c
Facing the demands of Ripley, Chase straightforwardly refused, stating, "I have none. Not a single one!""You impudent brat! Do you truly believe your Basalt status can protect you? I've spoken to you respectfully, and you still dare show such disrespect!" Ripley was furious, unable to contain his anger any longer."Respect is earned, not given. It was you who acted shamelessly first, so why should I be respectful?" Chase retorted calmly, his words dripping with sarcasm."You insolent whelp! With your disposition, you're truly fit to be the remnants of the Collins family—always courting death!" Ripley suddenly withdrew his anger and sneered.Hearing this, Chase immediately questioned, "What do you mean?""You know exactly what I mean.""So, you're admitting that the incident at Green Hills Orphanage was orchestrated by the Coopers?""So what if it was? Chase, even if I tell you that not only was the Green Hills Orphanage incident orchestrated by the Coopers, but we were also inv
"Yes, who would've thought Basalt's Collins had such bloodlust? It's a shame. With his control of this secret realm, Basalt's Collins might've been able to restore the Collins family's former glory in Capital City. Why did he get into this ordeal?""Indeed, it's such a pity," the crowd lamented.Although they did not know exactly what transpired between the two, Chase's moment of losing control made everyone make some guesses.Not only independent cultivators but also Scott and Gareth, who were standing beside Chase, realized something was wrong.What could have happened to make Chase lose his composure so completely? However, now was not the time to find out."Hmph. How dare you try to attack Ripley? You're doomed, Chase Collins!" Lennox sneered, casting a mocking glance at Scott and Gareth."Yes. Although our families don't always see eye to eye, I have to agree with you on this," Carson chimed in, watching the spectacle with interest.High above, Ripley deliberately led Chase
The pieces did not fall but floated in the air.No one expected this.This included the officer who was guarding the corpse. His eyes widened at this incredible sight.Chase could sense spiritual energy gathering at the corpse."Could it come back to life?"He guessed what would happen.The giant's imagery suddenly opened his eyes as if answering Chase's question and got up.That was when the floating crystal pieces fell to the ground. They glittered like fragments of diamonds.The giant stood up, looking like a colossal spirit.Fortunately, the round hall, which had a radius of about 165 feet and was about a hundred feet high, was just enough to fit him."You… are… dead."The giant spoke one word at a time very slowly, but everyone heard him.It was a relief to the officer to see the giant pointing his fingers at Chase. The giant belonged to the Worthingtons and recognized who was the enemy.Chase and the others were surprised too. The only thing real on this giant was it
"A god's corpse?"Chase did not think this was possible. After all, this world's limit was a martial monarch. A god?Even though Chase would become a martial god again after leaving this world, his abilities were still far from a real god. There had to be something unique about that corpse for others to think that it was a god.This was Chase's initial thought.Walter and Willow did not believe it either."Could it be the corpse of an ancient giant beast?" Walter guessed.As a Two-Headed Giant Python, many ignorant humans he met mistook him for a Snake God or even a dragon. Weaker humans who met cultivators would also mistake them for gods."Talking about this doesn't help. Why not just lead us there?" Chase said to Cyril."Alright."Cyril led the group into the ancestral home. The place was surrounded by guards who looked like they were in a daze. All of them were equipped with sophisticated tools. Most of them had guns and grenades on them.A portion of these men possessed
That was too bad!Chase sighed when he saw what had happened.Greedy Wolf's blade intent was newly formed and not perfect enough. It could only suppress the minds and souls of ordinary people. Anyone with slight cultivation could fight against it.However, Chase had at least achieved a small part of his plan. This time, he channeled his vital energy and swung down his blade. A giant image of Greedy Wolf roared behind him.An image of a colossal wolf walking in the snow under the moonlight appeared in everyone's consciousness. It lunged at the defensive formation shielding the Worthingtons' ancestral home. The officer and everyone else inside the ancestral home heard a loud crack. It was shrill to their ears.That was impossible!The officer could no longer hear anything from the outside world. There was only fear and anger in his eyes.How did Chase break the defensive formation when its energy source had not been exhausted?He could only roar about this silently. There was n
The swing of his blade created a ripple in the air, and everyone watching was astonished.The officer realized that there was no vital energy used in that swing after sensing it via the formation. That was pure physical strength. However, the defense formation was sustained using stored vital energy.Below the base of the ancestral home was a giant space storing Dark and Light Emeralds and spiritual stones. They were mainly used to replenish the formation.According to reports from below, they had exhausted a hundredth of the reserves just to defend against one swing of the blade.That would mean Chase could exhaust the first level of the defense formation's reserve energy if he swung his blade at the formation a hundred times.The office was shocked at the data. However, upon further thought, he figured Chase would not last if he were to attempt swinging his blade down a hundred times. After all, he had clearly put in full energy for that one swing of the blade. There was nothing
What was the point of having such a strong defensive formation? They were like ragdolls to someone as powerful as Chase.Willow was proud of this. She was now a resident fan and Chase's groupie. She had started making plans to turn Chase into her slave and bodyguard.The others moved quickly to get inside during the short moment when the defensive formation was broken. Bright lights suddenly burst out from inside the Worthingtons' ancestral home.They watched as flashes of brilliant lights displayed formations in the air like electric currents. After the lights connected, the defensive formation was strengthened once more. The cracks on its formation lines were repaired, and the shield became thicker than before.Chase attacked with a rain of swords. The usual clanging from the attack turned into muffled sounds.It looked like the Worthingtons had placed a lot of effort into their defense. Their defense formation was unexpectedly strong.Chase saw how the rain of sword attacks di
When Willow and Cyril saw Walter attack, they both thought he had acted too recklessly. As expected, alarms blared throughout the Worthingtons' ancestral home.Warning lights flashed wildly as the guards swarmed out of the compound like ants from a nest.Chase stared in disbelief.In the programming world, there was a popular principle known as the Duck Test. If it walked like a duck, quacked like a duck, looked like a duck, and pecked like a duck, then it was probably a duck.This so-called ancestral home, aside from its exterior resembling a military base, had military-grade alert systems and personnel. By the duck principle, without a doubt, this was a military base."Is this ancestral house hiding some kind of secret? Why is the defense so tight?" Chase asked Cyril.Cyril was equally stunned by the scene. "My mentors just told me the Worthingtons' ancestral home is very important. I don't actually know what's inside… But now, it seems I underestimated how much it means to the
In Walter's understanding, even among ape-type beasts, it was nearly impossible to move so effortlessly between high-rise buildings using only physical strength—let alone doing so with such speed, like Chase just did.Willow, being a practitioner focused on soul-based and spiritual techniques, had also trained her body somewhat recently. However, she was nowhere near Walter's level and definitely far below Chase's.When she sensed that Chase had surpassed her even while she was fully employing both her movement techniques and vital energy without using any vital energy at all, she went numb inside."Chase is just a genius. I can't compare…" she said to comfort herself.In the end, even with her top-tier body movement techniques, she arrived at Cyril's location more than ten minutes later than Chase. Seeing everyone already waiting on her, she felt slightly embarrassed."Sorry, I was too slow.""It's fine. We were just taking a break anyway. What's ten minutes?" Chase waved it off
Chase and his group arrived at the rooftop of a tall building next to the Worthingtons' headquarters."That whole building over there belongs to the Worthingtons," Cyril said, pointing to the rooftop across from them where the giant words for 'Worthington Group' were displayed.For Willow and Walter, this was their first time seeing the high-rise buildings of modern society. Everything felt fresh and fascinating. They were curiously scanning the surroundings.Chase glanced at the crowds below and frowned. "This isn't a good place to fight them. There are too many civilians around. One misstep and it'll be a disaster.""Is that a problem?" asked Walter, the Water and Fire Two-Headed Giant Python. Although currently in human form, he still carried a beast's mindset and did not see anything wrong with the idea.Cyril, hearing Chase's concern, immediately understood he did not want to harm innocents. However, Walter, as Chase's contract beast, seemed surprisingly indifferent to human
In the Worthingtons' headquarters, Ricky looked at Dominic, who was still stunned from the earlier battle, and shook his head.Dominic clutched his throbbing head and asked, "Is there really no way to get all this weird junk out of my mind?""To clear it out, I'd have to work with Carla and treat you for nearly a full year. And that's only if we return to the nether realm. Here? It's practically impossible," Ricky snorted."You're a peak martial nirvana cultivator, and you've already mastered the Nine Nefarious Holy Fist, a top-tier yellow-ranked technique. You even have the Two Evils of Hell by your side, so why did you insist on fighting that kid one-on-one? Wasn't his destiny aura bright enough for you to realize who you were dealing with?"After explaining the difficulty of healing him, Ricky could not help but scold Dominic in a tone full of frustration. From his perspective, their side had been at a disadvantage ever since entering this so-called Dark and Light Mineral Ore.