Chen Kuang had once personally experienced that overbearing Tyranny, paying for it with his life, there was absolutely no way he could mistake it.
The trace of Dao Rhythms lingering on this shattered Teleportation Talisman was precisely the mark of a "Dao Domain" unfurled by a Martial Saint.
But Mu Zhao had already left the Ancient Battlefield of Meditation!
Otherwise, there was absolutely no way the various sects' masters would have dared to activate the battlefield and send in their younger generation disciples, no one would be foolish enough to risk entry into a secret realm that still contained a Saint.
They weren't idiots. Their precautions would have been meticulous. It was certain that Mu Zhao had already departed.
"So there's only one possibility, this 'Dao Domain' power is a backdoor Mu Zhao left behind before he left..."
Chen Kuang's gaze turned cold. His fingers closed together and crushed the talisman in his hand completely.
Powder spilled between his fingers, scattering across the battlefield. In the next instant, the crimson ground swallowed it all up.
"This backdoor's purpose isn't clear yet... but I'm guessing it's probably related to Wen Yao!"
The image of Wen Yao's dual pupils merging just before stepping through the stone gate was still vivid in his mind.
He was eighty to ninety percent sure that they were working together.
But what exactly was their goal?
Chen Kuang didn't know.
However, judging from what he'd just experienced, it was highly likely that they intended to trap the other sects' young elites in a battlefield involving Upper Third Rank cultivators, and kill them all.
Given the cost and consequences, cultivators of the Upper Third Rank rarely intervened directly.
Therefore, a battlefield with their presence was inevitably tied to immense conflict, between sects or even nations!
There was no way someone of the Mid Third Rank could leave such a battlefield intact. The sheer carnage in front of Chen Kuang was already proof of its brutality.
It didn't matter if you were Sea-Cleaving, Moon-Embracing, or Master Realm, you'd be torn to pieces all the same.
But in a massive battlefield like this, where there was Upper Third Rank involvement, the fight couldn't last long. Just like the Saint-level battle above the Liang Kingdom's imperial palace, it only lasted about ten days.
Fights between Upper Third Rank cultivators would be even shorter.
What if these young elites just hid and waited it out?
If even one person managed to recognize the Dao Rhythm's source and escaped to reveal the truth, then Martial Saint Mu Zhao and the Martial Saint Pavilion would instantly become the public enemy of every sect in the Central Domain!
Did Mu Zhao not consider that?
"Hey! Look what we have here, a straggler! And so weak too! Looks like he's scared stiff! Perfect!!!"
Chen Kuang's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a vicious voice as a figure lunged at him.
"Swoosh!"
A gleaming blade appeared inches from his face, brimming with killing intent.
That blade was wreathed in blood-red demonic energy.
As it cut through the air, it carried with it countless wailing souls, shrieking as they pounced. The force behind the attack blasted the already-ruined buildings nearby into rubble, dust exploding outward in all directions.
In a split second, Chen Kuang reacted with calm precision. He stepped back with incredible speed, dodging the strike and leaving behind a phantom image.
"Bullet Time" had triggered and everything around him froze in place.
He turned his head and saw an unusual face.
That face was twisted with a manic grin. The bloodthirsty pupils gleamed like those of a wild beast, filled with horrifying desires, killing lust, greed... and hunger.
Pitch-black meridians extended from the exposed skin of the man's neck, creeping upward and covering most of his face. Blood-colored threads crawled and writhed alongside them, twisting his visage.
It didn't even look human.
A demon? That was Chen Kuang's first thought, but he dismissed it immediately.
The ocean of enemies before him, including this one, all wore the same green-blue standard robes, clearly from the same sect.
Given Cangyuan's ecosystem, it was impossible for an entire sect to be composed solely of demons.
As Chen Kuang's mind raced, Bullet Time ended, and the world resumed motion.
His body had already moved to stand behind the attacker.
"Wha, ?!"
The man's pupils constricted, his frenzied expression instantly replaced by shock.
From the moment Chen Kuang entered this battlefield, every passive ability he had was automatically triggered, this was the peak of his power.
And due to the overwhelming number of enemies before him, the effect of Invincible Before the Divine had reached unprecedented heights!
It was even more potent than when he had faced the Martial Saint or Lady Wang Shuyuan!
After all, whether it was the Martial Saint or Wang Shuyuan, no matter how powerful, they were still just one person.
But right now, this battlefield held thousands of cultivators with a higher realm than Chen Kuang!
In this moment, Chen Kuang's strength had reached an all-time high.
And the enemy before him was just a measly Sea-Cleaving Realm opportunist trying to pick off the weak.
Chen Kuang extended his hand and pressed it firmly against the back of the man's skull. His fingers tightened.
The man, eyes flickering with ruthlessness, suddenly twisted his entire body with explosive force. "Crack" The bones in his spine audibly snapped as he forcefully bent himself, using the recoil to swing his blade!
"Swoosh!"
Using the momentum, the blade in his hand sliced through the air in a streak of silver and crimson, cleaving toward Chen Kuang.
"Clang, "
The sound of metal striking metal rang out crisply.
The man's twisted, triumphant grin froze on his face. He couldn't see behind him, but he felt it, his blade had hit something. His pupils began to tremble.
"N-No way..."
Behind him,
Chen Kuang stood perfectly still, head slightly tilted.
And the blade had landed squarely against Chen Kuang's neck.
But there wasn't even a scratch. The blade didn't pierce, didn't dent, not even the faintest mark.
A full-force blow from a Sea-Cleaving Realm couldn't even break the skin on Chen Kuang's neck!
He felt the cold edge of the blade pressing against him, then blinked in surprise. A moment later, he chuckled.
"Nothing is impossible."
Crack!
His fingers exerted sudden force, and the skull beneath his palm shattered.
Chen Kuang let go. The man's body slumped lifelessly to the ground.
Chen Kuang touched his own neck, his expression turning a bit odd.
Though all of his attributes had been greatly enhanced right now, the fact that a Sea-Cleaving Realm couldn't even scratch him was still a bit ridiculous.
This wasn't something he had anticipated, he'd been ready to trade injury for injury.
The reason he could now do this... was because the strength of his physical body had suddenly risen another tier.
The source, was the passive ability Wind Leans on the Tree.
In other words...
The Chen Clan had just added a new member.
"Chen An, that kid... got it done fast, didn't he?"
Chen Kuang was speechless.
He hadn't been gone from Jishao Prefecture for that long.
Then again, Chen An had already had ambiguous relations with Xiao Hong. Once their emotional knots were untangled, rapid progress was to be expected.
Still, why did it just have to be right now...
"It must be the effect of Blessing and Calamity Intertwined... For every tribulation, a reward follows. That's how it works."
Chen Kuang lowered his head and looked at the corpse before him, deep in thought.
From the man's body, and the blade in his hand, Chen Kuang sensed an unfamiliar aura.
A foul, nearly decayed scent, ominous and foreign.
He recalled hearing the words "Bitian Prefecture" and "demonic path" amid the chaotic shouts earlier...
In the karmic-illusion memories of the Wujian Between, Chen Kuang had seen fragmentary information about a sect called Bitian Prefecture.
It was a major sect that had long since vanished from Cangyuan's history, once prosperous during the same period as the Heavenly Observatory Division.
The reason for its disappearance remained unclear, but some obscure records hinted that it may have had a falling out with the Mysterious Divine Path Sect.
And just now, Chen Kuang had heard someone mention the Mysterious Divine Path Sect!
He took a deep breath and turned to look behind him.
Beyond the city shrouded in firelight, there floated an endless chain of celestial mountains, now half-shorn and collapsing.
This place.. was Fuli, the Floating Glass Immortal Province.