Chapter 8: The Century's Harvest and the King's Reality Check
The Tower of Eternal Kalpas stood like a silent monolith, humming with the force of a thousand years compressed into a single day. Inside, the Spiritual Energy didn't just drift; it was a physical weight, thick as mountain mist, pressing into the pores of those brave enough to stay.
The Tower's Exit
As the sun began to dip below the horizon on the mountain peak, the massive bronze doors of the tower creaked open. Two figures stepped out, their auras significantly more tempered than the "green" disciples who had entered only twenty-four hours prior.
Lin Feng walked out first. His frame had filled out, his shoulders broad and his gaze steady. He had spent nearly fifty years of internal time under the brutal shadow of General Yan.
• New Cultivation: Celestial Body Realm (5th Stage).
• Note: Combined with his Sun-Devouring Physique, his raw power can now match a Peak Dharma Phase or an Early King Realm expert.
Su Qingchan followed, her silver hair shimmering with a sharp, metallic edge. Her every step seemed to slice the air.
• New Cultivation: Dharma Phase Realm (2nd Stage).
• Note: Her Sword Intent is so sharp she can bridge the gap to fight those at the Peak of the Dharma Phase or hold her own against a Half-Step King.
The King's Arrival
At the base of the mountain, the reality-warping fog was being hammered by waves of blue, icy light.
Ancestor Han, a 3rd Stage King Realm expert, stood atop his floating ice-lotus. He was the pinnacle of the Cold-Moon Sect, a man whose name caused entire cities to tremble. Behind him stood two Celestial Body protectors and a small army of Dharma Phase elites.
"Enough hiding!" Ancestor Han's voice boomed, shattering the nearby trees. "I have tracked the scent of my Elder's blood to this void! Reveal yourselves, or I shall freeze this entire mountain range into a tomb!"
Suddenly, the fog didn't just part—it evaporated.
Lin Feng and Su Qingchan descended the Talent Ladder with measured steps. They didn't fly; they walked, but the pressure they exerted made the elite disciples at the bottom stagger.
"A King?" Lin Feng asked, his golden Spiritual Energy flickering like a crown around his head. He looked at Su Qingchan. "Master said to handle the 'noise.' I suppose this qualifies."
Ancestor Han's eyes widened. A Celestial Body youth and a Dharma Phase girl? He felt insulted. "You send children to face a King? Where is your Sect Master? Tell that coward to face his judgment!"
"You aren't worthy of seeing the Master's face," Su Qingchan said, her voice like a cold blade. "You can't even see the mountain you're standing on."
The Clash of Intent
Ancestor Han roared, swinging his Glacial World-Breaker Hammer. A King-level strike combined with the Law of Frost turned the world into a white-out blizzard.
"Nine-Suns: Solar Flare!"
Lin Feng didn't retreat. He met the King's strike head-on. His Celestial Body (5th Stage) power, amplified by his God-grade Spiritual Energy, clashed against the King's 3rd Stage power.
The gap: 1.5 Major Realms.
The collision sent a shockwave that cleared the clouds for ten miles. Lin Feng slid back a few yards, his boots cutting grooves into the stone, but his golden aura remained unbroken. He had successfully blocked a King!
"Impossible!" Ancestor Han gasped. "A Celestial Body ant stopped my hammer?!"
"I'm no ant," Lin Feng growled, his blade glowing white-hot. "I'm a disciple of the Eternal Divine."
Meanwhile, the two Celestial Body protectors charged Su Qingchan. She moved like a silver blur, her Nether-Void Rapier never fully leaving its sheath.
Slash. Slash.
Two lines of silver Spiritual Energy bypassed their defenses. The protectors fell to their knees, their armor shattered and their Spiritual Energy spinning out of control. A Dharma Phase girl had neutralized two Celestial Body experts in a single breath.
The Master's Intervention
Ancestor Han, seeing his elites falling, prepared to burn his Life Essence for a final strike. But before he could, the air on the mountain went still.
Ye Chen appeared at the top of the ladder, Xiao Hei sitting on his head as usual. He looked bored.
"Ancestor Han," Ye Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it suppressed the King's aura instantly, snuffing it out like a candle in a hurricane. "You've made enough of a mess. My disciples needed the practice, but now you're just getting ice all over my front porch."
With a lazy flick of his wrist, a gust of wind—gentle yet irresistible—picked up the King and his entire sect.
"Go back to your Cold-Moon valley. If I see you again, I'll turn your 'Ice-Lotus' into a 'Fire-Pit.' Get lost."
The King and his followers were launched ten miles away in an instant, tumbling through the sky like autumn leaves.
The Next Task
Ye Chen turned back to his disciples. "Good work. You didn't die. Now, go wash up. The System—I mean, the Sect—just told me our third member is currently being used as a punching bag in a slave pit."
[Ding! Mission Update: The Slave Pits of the Iron-Blood Empire.]
[Target: 3rd Direct Disciple. Male. 'Indestructible Vajra Body'.]
"A tank," Ye Chen muttered, heading back to his chair. "Finally, someone to carry the heavy luggage."
End of Chapter 8