Boom!
With a final surge of strength, Su Chen uprooted the entire Enlightenment Tea Tree—roots, soil, and all. The ancient roots snapped from the earth with a deep crack, finally free from the land's grasp.
"Ahh… finally," Su Chen exhaled, wiping imaginary sweat off his brow.
Without wasting a moment, he activated the System Storage. A swirl of spatial energy surged from the void like a vortex—whoosh!—and in an instant, the five-meter-wide Enlightenment Tea Tree vanished into thin air, safely tucked away in his system's spatial vault.
"Now… I can finally deal with these people without worrying about a single leaf of that damn tree getting damaged."
But outside, the atmosphere had shifted.
The moment the tree disappeared, the expressions of the five cultivators twisted into pure rage. Their eyes reddened as if possessed. They looked ready to tear Su Chen limb from limb.
"You fucking thief!" the chubby child screeched in a childish voice, his face contorted with fury. "You think just because you dug it out and hid it, it's yours? I don't care if you run to the bottom of the sea or the edge of the sky—I'll find you and skin you like a fat dog dying in a ditch!"
Su Chen turned, casually brushing off the dust from his robe as he looked at the fuming group. He chuckled coldly, then focused on the chubby child.
"You little bastard… A mistake of your parents," he said, voice dripping with disdain. "You gluttonous pig—now I see why your parents tossed you into a trash can the moment you were born."
Then his gaze shifted to Lin Yu, who was standing tense, eyes sharp.
"And you… bald Buddhist stray. An orphaned donkey pretending to be a monk—looks like someone needs to remind you of your place."
Before any of them could react, Su Chen activated the Immortal Rebirth Armor. In a flash of brilliant light, he shattered through the restriction barrier and disappeared into the air using Air Escape.
Boom! Boom!
The cultivators immediately launched their attacks the moment he emerged—arcs of blade-light, spears of qi, and flame whips lashed toward him. But it was all in vain. Their strikes hit nothing but air. Su Chen had vanished.
However, their expressions changed again as two voices echoed simultaneously—one from the pendant on Jiang Chen's chest, and the other from Lin Yu's weapon spirit.
"He's still here. Be alert. He's not done yet."
Just then—
ROOOOAAAR!!!
From the skies above, a golden light descended. A colossal dragon—over one kilometer long—emerged with golden scales gleaming like molten metal. It had no wings, five claws on each foot, and its majestic form radiated the terrifying aura of a True Dragon. It looked down on the world like a sovereign looking at ants.
"True Dragon: Dominate the World!" Su Chen's voice thundered, carrying the weight of an epoch.
The five cultivators looked up, their expressions turning grim. Each one immediately activated their strongest techniques.
Jiang Chen roared in return. "Azure Dragon Claw!"
A massive crimson dragon claw surged from his body, slamming into the golden dragon mid-air.
BOOM!!
The clash created a sonic shockwave, flattening trees and sending rocks flying. The ground cracked beneath them as spiritual qi erupted in chaotic waves.
But the True Dragon—controlled by Su Chen—was too strong. Its golden body surged forward, cracking the crimson claw like glass and crashing directly toward Jiang Chen.
Meanwhile, somewhere behind the battlefield—
Swish!
Su Chen silently reappeared behind the feminine man, his golden sword flashing like a comet. He slashed clean through the man's body.
Fshhh!
But no blood spilled. The body flickered and vanished—it was a clone.
"Tch," Su Chen clicked his tongue. "Bastard tricked me."
He disappeared again.
In the air, the True Dragon pressed down on Jiang Chen.
"Master! Save me!!" Jiang Chen screamed as the dragon crashed into him like a mountain. His master's protective aura flared to life, but it wasn't enough.
BOOM!!!
A massive explosion tore through the land, leaving a one-kilometer-wide crater. The other four cultivators barely managed to escape the destructive zone.
Far away, the feminine man's real body felt his clone vanish—and his entire body tensed, knowing an attack was coming.
But it was already too late.
Something nearly invisible to the naked eye zipped through the air like a phantom. In that moment of hesitation—
Swish!
Su Chen, using the True Dragon Flight Technique, boosted his speed tenfold and cut through the man like butter.
Two halves of the cultivator fell to the ground.
Su Chen's mocking, singsong voice echoed softly in the wind like the toll of a village gong:
"🎵 Pretty little baby… one down 🎵"
Then once again, Su Chen disappeared—this time into the earth. With a flash of golden light, his body merged with the ground using Earth Escape, vanishing without a trace.
Killing everyone would take too long.
He didn't have the time for that.
But killing two of them—Lin Yu and the feminine man—that had always been the plan.
The True Dragon Technique from earlier had served its purpose: power testing. Now it was time to finish what he started.
Swish—
Su Chen tunneled silently through the ground, emerging near Ye Tian, who stood alone, staring in the direction of the earlier scream. His face was pale with shock. From where he stood, he could just make out the remains of the feminine man's body—sliced clean in two.
"W-What the hell…?"
Ye Tian's mind went blank for a moment. He hadn't even seen the attacker properly—only a glimpse of a ghost mask. It sent a chill down his spine.
The next instant, Su Chen emerged beside him, silent as a shadow.
Ye Tian turned, startled, just in time to see a figure in a ghost mask flash toward him with a raised fist. There was no immortal technique, no flashy qi attacks—just a raw, physical blow coming straight for his chest.
Panicking, Ye Tian instinctively gathered qi into his palm and tried to block it.
But Su Chen wasn't using ordinary force.
This time, he didn't use stored immortal energy—only his own physique.
Seven-colored light burst from his arm—the unique glow of the Innate Sacred Dao Fetus Physique.
Boom!
The moment their fists met, Ye Tian was blasted off his feet.
He flew through the air like a paper doll, slamming into the ground dozens of meters away. Dirt and rubble exploded around him as he crashed and skidded to a halt, coughing blood.
Su Chen didn't move.
He looked at the fallen boy and muttered casually to himself,
"Just as I thought. He really does have the Ancient Eucharist Physique… same as mine. So that's why he could sense my presence back at the Immortal Platform… and why I kept feeling something familiar from him. Tch—what a pain."
Then, without another glance, Su Chen melted back into the ground using Earth Escape.
He was already heading for his next target—
Lin Yu.