In the back mountain of Myriad Heaven Palace, behind a stretch of bamboo forest, there stood a cluster of stone houses that seemed somewhat out of place.

The stone houses were connected together, and daoists patrolled outside with expressionless faces.

A dim, gloomy sheen emanated from the surfaces of these stone houses, giving people an uncomfortable feeling.

A middle-aged daoist arrived here, said a few words to the guarding daoists, and then walked inside the stone house.

From the outside, nothing about the stone houses seemed particularly unusual. But once the middle-aged daoist entered, it became clear that there was a long corridor inside, with prison cells lining both sides.

It turned out to be an underground prison.

The middle-aged daoist walked through the corridor, confirming that the prisoners in the cells on both sides were still there. Without saying anything further, he turned and left.

However, in the dozen or so cells at the end of the corridor, someone had been watching him the entire time.

Only after he left did that person withdraw his gaze and look toward the cell opposite.

In the dim cell across from him sat a middle-aged daoist in meditation. Although imprisoned here, this daoist still appeared calm, without much emotional fluctuation.

"Senior Brother..."

The standing daoist could not help but speak. “I wonder what’s happening outside. If something really happened to that girl Zhu Xia, I won’t be able to face Martial Uncle.”

The daoist speaking was Li Yu. Half a month ago, this Daoist Li had still been an elder of the Discipline Hall in theMyriad Heaven Palace, wielding great authority. But now, he could only remain here, accompanying his own senior brother, the Palace Lord.

Hearing Li Yu speak, the Myriad Heaven Palace Lord opened his eyes. He first glanced around before saying somewhat helplessly, “You know how terrifying the Spirit Locking Nail is. What could I possibly do right now?”

The Spirit Locking Nail was a secret technique of the Myriad Heaven Palace. It condensed one’s qi into a nail and drove it into a cultivator’s acupoints, stripping away all cultivation and reducing them to the level of an ordinary person.

This method was originally meant for daoists who violated sect rules but did not deserve death. Yet now, it had been used on the very Palace Lord of Myriad Heaven Palace.

Li Yu struck the cell door in frustration. Under normal circumstances, he could have easily shattered it, but now, aside from feeling his palm ache from the impact, the door did not move in the slightest.

“I wonder if anyone can make it to the Divine Capital. Those old fools, after cultivating for so many years, it’s like they’ve cultivated into dogs! If the founding ancestor knew, who knows if he’d be so furious he’d come back to life!”

Li Yu clenched his teeth, filled with extreme anger. It was not only because Zhu Xia’s life and death were uncertain, but also because those daoists, regardless of seniority or realm, whom he had once regarded as seniors and idols, had ended up doing something like this.

The Myriad Heaven Palace Lord said calmly, “I heard Chen Chao has long entered seclusion. Even if someone reaches the Divine Capital now, they likely won’t be able to bring him out. And even taking a step back, if Chen Chao learns of this matter and comes to Mount Xi, with him alone, it would still be very difficult to accomplish anything.”

As the Myriad Heaven Palace Lord spoke, his brows furrowed deeply. He felt some regret for not having noticed Zhu Xia’s abnormality earlier. If he had, things would not have reached this point with him completely unprepared and unaware.

Li Yu sighed repeatedly. “Senior Brother makes sense. Though outside Mount Xi, if there’s anyone who could save Zhu Xia, it would probably only be him. But we can’t have him come and throw away his life just to save her... This is something I didn’t think through clearly, I’m afraid...”

The Myriad Heaven Palace Lord consoled him, “At that time the situation was urgent, no one had considered this kind of outcome. If he comes up the mountain and finds this matter cannot be done, presumably Martial Uncle and Martial Uncles of the elder generation would not make things difficult for him...”

Although it was said like this, in truth both the Myriad Heaven Palace Lord and Li Yu clearly understood one point, that according to Chen Chao’s temperament, if he truly came up the mountain, there would be absolutely no possibility of going back down for any reason.

Once he came up the mountain, it would be a situation of either death or no rest.

“It’s not certain. So many things have happened, and no one has ever truly been able to leave him with no way out.”

Li Yu rubbed his head and gritted his teeth. “No matter what, those old swines all deserve to die!”

......

......

On the mountain path, corpses already lay everywhere.

Fresh blood flowed continuously down along the stone steps, completely dyeing a stretch of the mountain path red.

And the young man in black clothes merely strolled as if in a courtyard at this moment, slowly ascending the mountain.

Speaking of it, since the establishment of Mount Xi’s sect until now, such a thing had never happened. As the leading sect of the Great Peace Dao lineage, how could it be something that ordinary people could casually bully?

But now, a martial artist, looked down upon most by cultivators, was slowly ascending the mountain. And judging by the situation, he would walk from here all the way to the summit, go to the place he wanted to go, and take away the person he wanted to take away.

The few remaining daoists on the mountain path watched that calm-faced young martial artist ascend at this moment, already unable to stand steady. In the cultivation world, it was often said that someone’s dao heart shattered because of something, but none of that was as direct and simple as today. The martial artist before them was plainly telling them that if they did not step aside, then it would not just be a matter of dao heart shattering, it was even very likely that they would die and their dao dissipate.

Oh, not “very likely.”

If they did not move aside, it was a certainty.

“Please ask Grand Martial Uncle to take action!”

A daoist could no longer face the young martial artist before him. He turned around, knelt down heavily, and kowtowed repeatedly.

The few people behind him also knelt here, kowtowing without stop.

“Please-”

Before one person could finish speaking, Chen Chao, who had already walked here, stomped heavily on his head. With one heavy step, he directly crushed the daoist’s head.

Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere!

The young martial artist kicked one daoist away and raised his head.

Above the sky, a phantom gradually appeared; it was a massive daoist dharma idol. It sat cross-legged between heaven and earth, with endless daoist qi manifesting around it.

Covering the sky.

“Young man, don’t be so ignorant of the vastness of heaven and earth!”

An aged voice drifted down from the mountaintop, long and drawn out. It carried a deep sense of vicissitude, as if it had passed through countless eras.

As if it came from the distant ages of antiquity.

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes, the killing intent within them growing even stronger.

“This official already said, release Zhu Xia. Otherwise, each and every one of you, even if you really ate her, you will not live past today!”

As these words left Chen Chao’s mouth, behind him a dharma idol gradually appeared, continuously rising higher. White mist coiled around it, and within that mist, it seemed as though the sun, moon, and stars also revolved.

It was a dharma idol of overwhelming presence. At this moment, it spanned heaven and earth, boundless qi surging wildly, tangling and clashing here with that daoist qi.

The old daoist sneered. “If you truly had such ability, you wouldn’t be boasting here. Though at your age you’ve reached this step, do you really think that with the strength of one person, you can flatten Mount Xi? Not to mention you, even if Chen Che came, would he have the ability?”

Chen Chao said indifferently, “Then let’s try, and see today how many of you can leave unscathed!”

As his words fell, within the massive dharma idol behind him, snow-white true dragons burst out one after another, roaring as they crashed in all directions. The entire Mount Xi could not help but tremble at this moment.

Countless rocks shook loose and tumbled down, falling into the mountain.

Even the daoist phantom sitting cross-legged in the sky became somewhat indistinct.

“This official will say it once more, release Zhu Xia. Otherwise, all of you will die!”

A calm yet cold voice spread across Mount Xi at this moment.