2026-09-18 02:56:41The outer disciple quarters of the Vermilion Sect were a sprawling maze of grey stone huts carved directly into the lower cliffs. Compared to the squalid servant shacks, it was a step up, but it was still far below the luxurious, Qi-rich courtyards of the inner peaks. Lu Chen sat cross-legged on a simple straw mat inside his new dwelling, his eyes closed as he observed his internal state.
The razor-sharp vortex in his dantian spun with a steady, low hum, its glass-like shards shimmering with a faint crimson hue. The fight with the Blood Wolf had barely depleted his energy; if anything, the violent expenditure had caused the vortex to settle more firmly into his reconstructed pathways. Suddenly, the wooden door of his hut didn't just open—it shattered inward, bursting into a shower of splinters. "Get out here, beggar!" a harsh voice boomed through the dust. Lu Chen opened his eyes. He didn't flinch or startle. Slowly, he stood up, brushing a few wood splinters off his tattered sleeves, and stepped through the ruined doorway. Standing in the narrow stone alleyway was Young Master Zhou, flanked by three burly outer disciples. Zhou had traded his jade-green tunic for the official crimson robes of the sect, but his fingers were still heavily adorned with expensive jade rings. In his right hand, he held his inscribed steel sword, its blade partially drawn to reveal a gleaming, blue-tinted edge. His handsome face was contorted with a mixture of envy and deep humiliation. "You caused quite a scene at the cage today, Lu Chen," Zhou Bihan sneered, stepping closer. The three lackeys shifted to block both ends of the narrow alley. "A worthless piece of trash with a broken foundation suddenly unleashing that kind of explosive force? It’s impossible. You’re hiding something." "Move aside, Zhou Bihan," Lu Chen said, his voice completely flat. "I have no business with you." "You have plenty of business with me!" Zhou hissed, his voice rising. "A peasant like you doesn't just stumble into that kind of power. You stole a treasure, or you found a forbidden manual. Hand it over to me right now, and I might let you keep your legs. Refuse, and my brother—who is an Inner Disciple—will ensure you disappear from this mountain before sunset. The sect doesn't care about the life of a stray dog." Lu Chen looked at the drawn sword, then at the three lackeys who were already circulating their standard, fluid Qi. They were all at the Second or Third Layer of the Flesh Tempering Realm—the traditional, safe path of cultivation. To them, Lu Chen was just an anomaly who got lucky. "Your clan gave you gold, silk, and pills," Lu Chen said softly, taking a slow step forward. His hands hung loosely at his sides, completely bare. "My poverty gave me a high pain tolerance. Let's see which one lasts longer." "Arrogant piece of filth! Break his arms!" Zhou roared, waving his hand. The two lackeys on the left lunged forward simultaneously. Their fists glowed with a dull orange light as they unleashed the Vermilion Iron Fist, a standard outer sect martial art. The air whistled as their blows aimed directly for Lu Chen’s shoulders. Lu Chen didn't try to dodge or parry. He simply stood his ground, letting the two heavy fists slam directly into his chest and side. Thud! Thud! The impact shook his frame, but Lu Chen didn't even take a step back. His reinforced, widened meridians—forged through the agonizing destruction of his own body—absorbed the blunt force like solid granite. The two lackeys gasped, their eyes widening in horror as they felt like they had just punched a mountain. "My turn," Lu Chen whispered. Deep inside his belly, the jagged vortex erupted. The razor-sharp Qi surged through his arms. Lu Chen shot his hands forward like twin vipers, grabbing both lackeys by their throats. The moment his skin touched theirs, his mutated, jagged Qi flooded into their bodies. "Aaaaaagh!" The two disciples screamed in pure agony. Lu Chen’s Qi didn't just push them back; it acted like a meat grinder, shredding their internal energy pathways upon contact. Their standard Qi flow collapsed instantly, and they fell to the muddy ground, writhing and coughing up dark blood, their cultivation bases severely damaged. The third lackey froze, his face turning entirely pale. He took three steps back, tripped over a loose stone, and fell on his backside, scrambling away in terror. Young Master Zhou’s smirk vanished. A cold sweat broke out across his forehead. "You... what kind of demonic technique is this?" his voice trembled as he fully drew his inscribed steel sword, the blade shaking in his grip. "I am the son of the Zhou Clan! My brother is—" "I don't care who your brother is," Lu Chen interrupted. He stepped over the groaning bodies of the lackeys, his pitch-black eyes locked onto Zhou. "You bought fine swords to protect your lives. I broke my own bones to take them." Driven by sheer panic, Zhou Bihan unleashed his strongest attack. He thrust his sword forward, channeling all his purified Qi into the blade. A three-inch arc of blue energy shot from the tip, tearing through the air toward Lu Chen’s heart. Lu Chen didn't retreat. He raised his right hand, coating his palm in a dense, shimmering shield of his glass-shard Qi, and slapped the incoming steel blade aside with his bare flesh. Clang! The expensive, inscribed sword shattered into five pieces under the impact of the jagged vortex energy. Zhou Bihan was left holding nothing but a useless hilt. Before he could even scream, Lu Chen closed the distance, grabbed Zhou by the front of his fine crimson robe, and slammed him hard against the stone cliffside. The impact knocked the breath out of the young master. Lu Chen’s face was inches from his, completely devoid of emotion. "Don't look so shocked," Lu Chen said, his voice a low, terrifying whisper. "I've survived worse things than your best attack just getting out of bed this morning. If I see you or your lackeys near my hut again, I won't just break your sword. I will shatter your dantian." Lu Chen let go, and Zhou Bihan collapsed into the mud like a puppet with its strings cut, weeping silently from fear and bruised pride. Lu Chen didn't give him another look. He turned around and walked back into his ruined hut to pack his meager belongings. He knew this alleyway was no longer quiet, and the sect would soon catch wind of what he had done. He needed to get stronger, and he needed to do it far away from the prying eyes of the inner peak. ----------------
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Chapter 47 Forged in Fire and Void
The central chamber of the Star-Ship Foundry descended into a chaotic symphony of violence and creation. Colossal steam-powered gantry cranes whined under the weight of massive, four-inch-thick hull plates forged from dark Void-Iron—a rare, density-defying metal that could withstand the crushing gravity of the higher planes. Thousands of multi-limbed Iron-Weaver blacksmiths swarmed the split-open chassis of the Iron Sovereign, their heavy hammers raining a continuous shower of blinding orange sparks onto the deck.Lu Chen sat cross-legged at the absolute center of the exposed hull, directly above the ship's pulsing star-core. He had discarded his torn burlap cloak. His bare, marble-dense chest was a network of glowing, pitch-black cosmic veins that directly mirrored the newly installed copper conduits of the warship."The ship’s skeletal framework cannot handle the sheer kinetic feedback of the Primordial Dreadnought Schema [1.1]!" Forge-Master Vulcan roared from the elevated gantr
Chapter 46 The Star-Ship Foundry
The Iron Sovereign tore through the glowing stellar highways of the Star-Strand conduit like a comet forged of rusted iron and raw malice [1.1]. Powered by the stolen Star-Core Propulsion Unit [1.1], the flagship’s auxiliary copper lines hummed at a violent, bone-rattling frequency, illuminating the dark vacuum with a brilliant, translucent silver radiance [1.1].Up on the primary command bridge, Lin Xue frantically managed the hexagonal emerald crystal communication device she had looted from Officer Jaro [1.1]. A dense grid of translucent green data slips projected into the air before her, mapping out the local celestial sector."Lu Chen! The destruction of the skull-fortress has triggered a total lockdown across the Northern Star-Strand!" she shouted, her voice thick with static as she filtered the cosmic radiation. "The Ascendant Council of the True Void has deployed an entire sector patrol fleet. Seven silver-hulled dreadnoughts are already locking onto our warp-trail. If we s
Chapter 45 The Skull of the True Void
The high-pitched, mental shriek of the starlight alarm vibrated directly through the vacuum of the Star-Strand, echoing like glass shattering inside the skulls of every living entity within five miles.On the deck of the listing Iron Sovereign, Lin Xue pressed her palms hard against her temples, a trickle of dark blood seeping past her fingertips as her wind-affinity Qi buckled under the weight of the incoming psychic wave. "Lu Chen! The fortress cannons are tracking us!" she screamed into her fading air bubble. "They’re drawing power directly from the Star-Strand’s main river-conduit!"Across the void, the three-mile-wide skull of the ancient cosmic beast began to violently shift. The massive golden arrays embedded within its hollow eye-sockets whirred, the light turning from a passive gold into a blinding, hyper-concentrated white heat. The surrounding cosmic skiffs immediately pulled back, their silver hulls flashing as they cleared the firing lines.Lu Chen did not retreat to
Chapter 44 The Star-Strand Toll
The sensation of planar ascension did not feel like riding a gentle cloud; it felt as if a colossal iron hammer was continuously pounding Lu Chen’s physical vessel into a thin sheet of gold foil.The colorless pillar of light from the Planar Nexus Gate shot through the atmospheric boundaries of his mortal world, dragging the Iron Sovereign upward into the deep, freezing void of the Greater Heavenly Domain. The ship’s iron hull violently buckled, its thick plates groaning and emitting high-pitched shriek-like sounds as the atmospheric pressure completely vanished, replaced by a harsh, suffocating vacuum.CRACK.The mechanical Helmsman’s Core on the primary bridge instantly imploded, unable to handle the alien, highly concentrated ambient Qi of the higher planes. The flagship gave a heavy, lifeless lurch, its massive iron propellers grinding to a complete halt as it drifted into the orbital ring of a colossal, glowing cosmic river-conduit known as the Star-Strand.Lin Xue lay flat
Chapter 43 The Horizon of the Void
The shattered fragments of the Prismatic Throne lay scattered across the black jade floor plates like frozen starlight, completely drained of the solar fire that had kept the continent enslaved for generations [1.1]. The grand imperial vault, once the absolute center of the world's wealth, was now a silent, shadow-drenched tomb. The only light remaining in the entire Sovereign Holy Land was the violent, crackling golden-crimson lightning leaking from Lu Chen’s skin [1.1].Lin Xue stepped through the dust of the ruined gold-leafed archway, her wind-affinity Qi swirling in slow, heavy currents around her boots [1.1]. She didn't look at the piles of gray ash that had once been the Seven Sun-Kings [1.1]. Her green eyes were fixed entirely on the youth standing at the edge of the empty throne platform."The high kingdoms are completely silent, Lu Chen," she said, her voice carrying a deep, layered exhaustion that echoed off the broken black pillars. "The communication lines are dead, th
Chapter 42 The Vault of the False Heavens
The central capital of the Sovereign Holy Land did not resemble a mortal city anymore. Deprived of the grand refinery’s strategic ether, the massive jade palaces and ivory towers that once floated high above the clouds had lost their anti-gravity fields [1.1]. They had plummeted out of the sky, crashing into the lower plazas in a cataclysmic rain of shattered emerald masonry and white marble dust [1.1].The Iron Sovereign glided through the dark, cloud-chrouded ruins of the upper tiers, its heavy hull navigating a landscape of absolute devastation.Up on the primary command deck, Lin Xue stood by the shattered brass console. The Grand Sect Alignment Registry pulsed weakly in her hand, its blue ink fading fast [1.1]. She looked at the colossal golden mountain at the center of the ruins—the Imperial Zenith Palace—which had miraculously remained anchored to the bedrock by hundreds of massive gray bone chains."The high kings are dead or fleeing, Lu Chen," Lin Xue said, her voice shak
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