Chapter 413: Shangguan Chen's Illusion

Within the solemn, magnificent great hall.

Shangguan Chen woke as if from a dream. Astonished, he looked around at Ye Linfeng, Xiao Chen, Chu Jun, and Shen Yao...

One by one, the long-dead comrades who had once fought beside him under the Mad King appeared before him. Their faces, familiar yet strange, made his heart tremble.

He looked down at himself. His pristine white Primal Cult Robes had become bloodstained armor.

Everyone knelt on one knee, their burning gazes fixed on the throne. There sat a lean yet imposing figure. Shadows coiled gently around him like loyal guards, blurring his features and deepening the mystery.

He sat there quietly, the absolute ruler of the world!

The Mad King!

What... what is going on!? How did I return to my youth...

"An Illusion Technique! It's an Illusion Technique!" Shangguan Chen abruptly stood up from the crowd, his bloodshot eyes scanning frantically for Su Mu.

His actions immediately drew the attention of everyone present.

"Li Chen! What are you doing? Kneel at once!" a cold-faced man shouted.

Shangguan Chen fell into a daze as dust-covered memories surged into his mind. It had been a very long time since anyone had called him by that name—so long that he had almost forgotten his true name was Li Chen.

Shangguan Chen was the new identity he had taken after usurping the nation, chosen to highlight the distinction between nobles and commoners, and to completely sever ties to his past.

"Shut up!" Shangguan Chen roared. A surge of humiliating rage washed over him, as if his darkest secrets had just been laid bare.

The crowd erupted in an uproar. No one expected the usually composed and seasoned Li Chen to act like a completely different person in the royal court today.

"Li Chen, you've gone mad! His Majesty the Mad King is still up there..."

"Enough! You're just a bunch of illusions! Fake, it's all fake!" Shangguan Chen's expression twisted savagely. "Su Mu, get the hell out here! Did you think a mere Illusion Technique could trap me?"

Seeing Shangguan Chen act so unhinged, several people immediately stood to subdue him.

Right then, the imposing figure on the throne slowly raised a hand. A dark gold ring gleamed on his long, pale finger, and the great hall instantly plunged into dead silence.

Only Shangguan Chen was still relentlessly searching for a flaw in the Illusion Technique.

"Li Chen, am I... also fake?"

The calm voice carried a commanding weight, echoing throughout the great hall.

Hearing that familiar voice, Shangguan Chen trembled on instinct. His pupils contracted as he looked up at the throne, staring at the figure who had haunted his nightmares for countless days and nights.

A fear carved deep into his bones surged into his heart. Under the Mad King's gaze, his heart pounded in sheer terror.

But a moment later, his expression abruptly turned ferocious. "You are fake too! The Mad King died long ago! You think a mere illusion can trick me? I am a Saint Grade expert! I..."

His words came to a screeching halt as an ice-cold hand clamped around his throat.

The Mad King had appeared right in front of him before he even noticed. Those narrow, icy eyes stared into him, as deep and dark as a freezing abyss.

"Shh, be quiet. I don't know what you are trying to say, but there is no need to rush. Explain your thoughts slowly. I am listening."

"You..." Shangguan Chen's face flushed crimson, veins bulging on his forehead. He tried to cast Primal Divine Magic, only to discover in horror that not a single trace of Primal divine power remained in his body.

All he had was the Gold Law, Flame Demon!

"How could this be... my power... Let me go, you damned illusion! Su Mu, get the hell out here!"

Suddenly, an icy smile curled at the corners of the Mad King's mouth.

"Oh, so you want to die."

The Mad King smiled faintly. "However, seeing as you followed me for many years—offering neither merit nor hard work—I will spare your life."

Thud!

The nearly asphyxiated Shangguan Chen dropped to the ground.

The Mad King had already turned and was walking back toward the throne, his dark gold robes swaying gently with every step.

"Someone, break his limbs, cripple his abilities, and throw him out of the Imperial Palace."

"Yes, Your Majesty the Mad King!"

Before Shangguan Chen could react, two Gold experts struck in an instant, driving several Mithril Long Spikes straight into his joints.

"Ah!"

He let out a miserable shriek, but no one paid him any mind. He was dragged out of the great hall like a dead dog.

He was taken down to a dungeon and, after enduring a brutal series of tortures, tossed out of the Imperial Palace.

Out on the main streets, the raggedly dressed Shangguan Chen curled up in a corner like a maggot, his bloodshot eyes brimming with hatred.

"Su Mu! Get out here! Do you think this will make me yield?

I am the true King! I am the Primal Pope! I am a Saint Grade expert! A mere Illusion Technique..."

Bam!

A size-forty-four shoe ruthlessly planted itself right on his face.

A burly, rough-looking shop owner pulled his foot back and cursed angrily, "Where did this lunatic come from? Go have your fit somewhere else, don't ruin my business!"

Shangguan Chen glared viciously at the shop owner, the killing intent in his eyes practically overflowing. But he was completely crippled now. He didn't even have the strength to stand, let alone strike back.

"Glaring! You still dare to glare at me! Fuck you!"

Bam, bam, bam...

The shop owner kicked him dozens of times in a row, only stopping when Shangguan Chen was left on the verge of death.

"Pah! Piece of trash." He spat a thick wad of phlegm onto Shangguan Chen before walking away in satisfaction.

"Su... Mu, just you wait. This place can't hold me... cough, cough..." Shangguan Chen coughed up blood continuously, but he never gave up for even a second.

Soon, he thought of a solution. Perhaps if he died, the Illusion Technique would break.

So, he decisively bit off his own tongue. Blood poured from his mouth. With his current injuries, it wouldn't take long for him to bleed out and die.

His consciousness gradually blurred, and Shangguan Chen's eyes grew heavier and heavier.

Right at that moment.

"Somebody come quickly! There's an injured man here, save him!"

Snap!

Shangguan Chen's eyes abruptly snapped wide open. He saw a two-hundred-plus-jin young woman dragging his body.

You motherfucker...

He wanted to curse her out but couldn't, because his tongue was gone. He could only make muffled whimpering sounds.

Seeing this, the young woman hurriedly comforted him, "Don't worry, I have a kind heart. I will definitely save you."

Several days later.

Shangguan Chen lay on a large bed with empty eyes, looking like a puppet whose soul had been drained away. Snuggled up beside him was the young woman who had saved him.

The young woman giggled coquettishly. "I only saved you out of the goodness of my heart back then. I never expected you to be so handsome. Even though all four of your limbs are crippled, at least that part still works. Don't worry, you'll just stay with me from now on. I'll take care of you forever.

"You must be exhausted. Come, eat something."

The young woman brought a bowl of stewed chicken soup to Shangguan Chen's lips, but he didn't move an inch. He planned to go on a hunger strike until he died.

The young woman tried a few more times. Her eyes, squeezed between folds of fat, gradually grew cold.

Slap!

"Are you going to eat or not! Let me tell you, don't be ungrateful. It's your good fortune that a stinking beggar like you caught my eye!"

The young woman pinched his mouth open and started forcefully stuffing the food in.

Several years later.

Shangguan Chen finally died. Because the young woman's fetishes only grew more twisted as she aged, he failed to endure one of her sessions and breathed his last.