Chapter 504: Chapter 417: Going Against the Current, Breaking Through the Encirclement

As these words were spoken, everyone’s scalp tingled, and they quickly stepped back to guard themselves.

Master Illusion’s eyelids twitched violently as he stood next to Zhang Kui, shouting sternly, "Scorching Sun True Monarch, how dare you cause trouble even after death, quickly let us out!"

They weren’t to blame for being nervous, because Zhang Kui had long stopped casting spells, and the time around them was bizarre, as if Scorching Sun True Monarch had crossed time and space to see them.

Zhang Kui’s eyes narrowed slightly and he said in a deep voice, "Do not panic, it’s just an image, like a remnant shadow tracing back, merely solidified in time by some exquisite spell."

However, his words did not ease their worries, instead, they became more panic-stricken.

The mural here hinted at some cosmic secrets about the Starry Sky Evil God, cloaked in great terror, and the words of Scorching Sun True Monarch seemed to know that Zhang Kui was coming.

Could he have foreseen the future?

Even Zhang Kui found this strange.

He was not unfamiliar with foresight spells. The Earth Demon 72 Techniques included the Inference Skill, and the Celestial Gang Skill had "Reverse Knowledge of the Future" to see through all causes and effects of the past, present, and future.

But the difficulty of the future lies in its uncertainty; every second spawns innumerable variations, and the legendary river of fragmented time was beyond Zhang Kui’s sight, even if the calculated future was not necessarily the true future.

How could this guy foresee it?

"Hahaha... cough cough..."

While they were still in doubt, Scorching Sun True Monarch suddenly laughed wantonly, then coughed violently, golden blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Scared you, didn’t I..."

He casually wiped the blood from his mouth, speaking with difficulty, "Rest assured, I can’t see you nor know who you are, I merely left this by the command of the Immortal King."

As he spoke, he opened his right hand. A golden pearl emanating a hazy divine light slowly floated up. Even across distant time, its mystical aura of chaos was palpable.

The core of the Immortal King Tower!

The crowd immediately guessed what it was.

Moreover, they noticed that even after Zhang Kui deliberately took a few steps to the left, Scorching Sun True Monarch’s gaze remained fixed in the original spot, indifferent to anyone who approached.

"Pretending to be a ghost..."

Master Illusion whispered, but he too understood that if the future had not been foreseen, how could such an arrangement have been left behind.

Scorching Sun True Monarch’s aura seemed to weaken further, his pupils losing focus, "Don’t ask why, I too am unsure. When the Immortal King gave me this task, he was already a bit mad, speaking nonsensical words."

"I truly don’t understand, if the Immortal King can foresee the future, why doesn’t he just kill that Ying Hai..."

He spoke with the last of his energy, "Come now, retrieve it within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, or else this place shall be your grave! Hahaha..."

With a mocking and arrogant laughter, Scorching Sun True Monarch’s form gradually dimmed, finally turning into a statue, devoid of any life force, only the golden pearl in his hand floating up and down.

Master Illusion’s eyes turned vacant, muttering, "Retrieving an item across the river of time, how is this possible, this guy really is a bastard!"

The others also looked at each other, all eyes turning to Zhang Kui.

"I’ll give it a try..."

Zhang Kui felt his scalp tingling too, without a shred of confidence in his heart. But with time limited, he couldn’t ponder further.

As he flashed to the front of Scorching Sun True Monarch’s statue, the Golden Light of Law in his mind from the Celestial Gang Skill instantaneously emptied.

Returning Wind and Returning Fire: A Reversal Skill to resolve crises using the Time Skill.

This skill was said to be mysteriously exceptional, with numerous uses, allowing spells to reverse, expelling poison from the dying, and if cultivated to the extreme, even resurrecting the dead.

If retrieving an item from just years ago, as long as it wasn’t in someone else’s hands and the cause wasn’t too significant, it would be effortless, but such a distant era was utterly impossible.

To be honest, Zhang Kui felt despair in his heart, but with things as they were, he could only try reluctantly.

With a flick of his spell, an enigmatic sensation surrounded him within about two meters, then he reached out for the golden pearl.

Sure enough, his hand remained empty.

"Damn it!"

Zhang Kui let out a cold snort, once more executing the Dharma Aspect Heaven and Earth, his giant hand covering the statue, inside his palm, time flowed swiftly.

However, "seeing" and "taking" were entirely different things, like using a telescope to see a stone across the river, while touching it would require traveling against the current.

When he exhausted all his Mana, only reversing time by ten years, Zhang Kui’s eyes were filled with helplessness.

Yet at this moment, the entire hall suddenly hummed and shook, a mysterious aura instantaneously spread, and everyone seemed frozen in time, including Zhang Kui.

In a daze, Zhang Kui seemed to see an indescribable entity, like an overflowing river, an enormous tree reaching the heavens, more like a tightly woven net... his consciousness immersed within, forgetting who he was.

Thump!

A strange sound echoed in his mind, as if something fell into water, or emerged from dehydration, all anomalies vanished instantly.

No one else perceived any of this, maintaining their tense expressions, as nothing had occurred in their perception of time.

In their eyes, the giant Zhang Kui had just reverted back to his original form, while the stone statue of Scorching Sun True Monarch vanished completely.

Bo Yuan swallowed hard, "Sect Leader?"

Master Illusion’s face turned pale, "It’s over, it really wasn’t possible..."

Zhang Kui remained silent, though filled with questions, he slowly opened his right hand to reveal the golden pearl floating up and down in his palm.

Master Illusion immediately rejoiced wildly, "It worked, it worked! Sect Leader Zhang’s divine power is invincible, traversing the eight wilds of the cosmos!"

At this moment, he was completely convinced of Zhang Kui, even inexplicably grateful, as black tentacles appeared on his face in his excitement.

The others were equally overjoyed.

Only Zhang Kui’s eyes still reflected shock.

Obtaining the golden pearl was not due to his power, but the arrangement set long ago by the Longevity Immortal Monarch.

The earlier events defied description, he had thought the Immortal King was just so-so, but now it seemed the opponent’s grasp and understanding of the Time Law exceeded his imagination.

Such an incredibly powerful person,

what were they afraid of...

...

The starry sky was vast and deep, boundless and infinite.

A massive light mark stood in space, like a scar sliced open in the cosmos by someone. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The Longevity Immortal Prison, where the Ancient Infinite Immortal Dynasty suppressed the heretical remnants of evil gods, sealed after great chaos, reappeared a century ago, occupied by the Chaotic Sky Pavilion of the Desolate Ancient Battlefield trade caravan.

Nowadays, it bustled with activity.

All around the starry sky were countless Star Beasts, enclosing the place tightly, their eyes filled with fanaticism and dread.

Their subservient races piloted starships back and forth, entering and exiting the massive Light Sect fissure.

"They’re all dead, not a single one came out!"

Aboard a tattered starship, a one-eyed Wolf Demon lamented, "That mountain seam cannot be probed; not one can come out alive. What does the god really want us to find?"

Next to it, an elderly Wolf Demon moved its lips, a flicker of reluctance in its eyes, "The god’s will cannot be defied..."

Silence engulfed them all.

They were the subservient races of the Star Beasts. Traversing the cosmos over the years had long eroded their initial reverence, knowing they were merely domesticated slaves, disposable at any moment.

And this supposed exploration seemed more like bait, sending one batch after another to their deaths.

What did those so-called "gods" truly want?

Unbeknownst to them, inside was the suppression of the Starry Sky Evil God’s Divine Fiend, a treasure yet a terror to the Star Beasts.

If absorbed into the Divine Fiend, even if the Law was fragmented, it provided a glimmer of hope for promotion, only slightly less potent than a complete Reincarnation.

But simultaneously, the Divine Fiend was also their nemesis, if ensnared, only a path of death remained, becoming sustenance for the revived evil god.

Amid greed and fear, none of the Star Beasts dared to leave, nor did they dare to advance.

Just then, a radiant light swept from the fissure, time froze, and all appeared momentarily suspended.

Buzz!

The Chaos Heaven burst through the massive fissure, rapidly traversing through this light, scattering magnificent light waves along the way, like meandering through a river.

Finally, before the light completely dissipated, the Chaos Heaven escaped the Star Beast’s encirclement, retreating into the vast void.

Everything returned to normal.

Buzz buzz buzz!

Amid the enormous spatial tremors, the fissure of the Longevity Immortal Prison began to slowly close, the subservient races still exploring inside frantic to escape with their starships.

To their delight, not a single partner exploring within the mountain seam’s void perished, appearing bewildered as they followed behind.

Yet the Star Beasts were far from pleased, detecting the vast void within, each fell into a fury, their piercing, manic roars reverberating through the starry river...