Chapter 629 614: Flower Realm, Donghuang Reappears

Deep within an Earth Palace under the Imperial City of the Purple Chu Imperial Capital, the Royal Family's Elder Ancestor, Tantai Jingming, was sitting in meditation with his eyes closed.

Suddenly...

Tantai Jingming's eyelashes trembled slightly, and as if sensing something, he opened his eyes.

It would have been one thing if he had kept his eyes shut, but the moment he opened them, the color drained from Tantai Jingming's face!

There, about five meters in front of him, the indistinct figure of a person shrouded in a black cloak flickered in and out of sight, floating silently in mid-air, their robes billowing slowly.

Within the black cloak was a void; no hands, no feet, no face could be seen.

A black mist swirled around the figure, making it look as unreal as a reflection on the water's surface.

Where the head should have been, a black hole was spinning rapidly. A single glance caused Tantai Jingming to lose his composure; he grew dizzy and quickly averted his gaze!

At a glance, it seemed to be nothing more than a black cloak floating there, with no signs of life whatsoever.

But Tantai Jingming knew with absolute certainty that this entity was silently "watching" him, and had likely been doing so for quite some time...

Tantai Jingming's Divine Thought had long since radiated outward, covering a hundred-li radius, yet within its perception, the space before him was a complete void. There was nothing abnormal at all!

Only by opening his physical eyes could he see what was right in front of him...

'Xue Shiyin, a Quasi-Emperor Martial Realm expert, is currently guarding the Imperial Capital! For this mysterious black-cloaked figure to appear right under her nose without alerting her... what in the world is this...'

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Tantai Jingming leaned forward slightly and said respectfully, "Senior, please forgive me for not giving you a proper welcome. May I ask what business you have with Tantai Jingming...?"

The black-cloaked figure's right arm pushed forward gently. There was no fluctuation of Primordial Qi, yet Tantai Jingming felt a power capable of sundering mountains and seas, a boundlessly tyrannical force, rushing toward him!

In a mere instant, Tantai Jingming, an Emperor Martial Realm expert, found himself utterly unable to resist as an invisible hand seized him by the neck and lifted him into the air!

Tantai Jingming did not resist.

He didn't dare to.

'Against an existence whose Cultivation might far surpass even Xue Shiyin's, resistance is completely futile.'

"I sought you out for one reason only."

A deep, distant, and oppressive voice echoed through the Earth Palace, drifting ethereally, not sounding at all like it came from the black cloak.

The voice was hoarse and heavy, as if the flesh and blood in the speaker's throat had long since dried up.

But this faint sound entered Tantai Jingming's ears with perfect clarity.

Though quiet, the voice seemed capable of filling the heavens and the earth!

Fear gripped Tantai Jingming's heart, but his gaze remained relatively calm.

He did not struggle, merely watching the black cloak in silence, waiting for the figure to continue.

Then, the black-cloaked figure spoke again. "The Third Prince is my man. Do you understand?"

"Mmph... mmph..." Tantai Jingming struggled to nod.

Tantai Jingming had already learned from Shen Lang that the Third Prince had a powerful force behind him, so he wasn't overly surprised to hear this now.

He just hadn't expected them to come for him so quickly, or to be so direct!

The black-cloaked figure said no more; there were no threats, no forceful demands.

But that one sentence was enough. Tantai Jingming understood the implication.

The black cloak shifted slightly, releasing its Power.

THUD!

Tantai Jingming fell wretchedly to the ground, clutching his neck and coughing dryly a couple of times.

Before he could even react, an enormous black cloud suddenly swept over him, swallowing him in an instant!

Tantai Jingming felt his head spin, and the world around him transformed!

He was now in a world of flowers. Clouds drifted lazily across a vast, open sky as an endless rain of petals fell all around him.

"The Flower Realm... This is the legendary Flower Realm, said to be one of a kind! Legend says that only Lord Donghuang of the War God Hall possesses the Flower Realm. So, Your Excellency, you are..."

Tantai Jingming was aghast.

After Shen Lang told him that a powerful force was manipulating the Third Prince from behind the scenes, he had considered countless possibilities, trying to guess which power was pulling the strings.

But no matter what, he had never once considered the War God Hall.

For one, the War God Hall was the supreme sacred ground that led the Human Race; it was a level of existence he could never hope to come into contact with.

For another, according to Shangguan Feiyue and Shark's Kiss, Shen Lang's own backer was likely connected to the War God Hall, and Shen Lang was currently the Third Prince's enemy!

'So after all this, it's just an internal feud within the War God Hall?' A bitter taste filled Tantai Jingming's mouth.

He couldn't afford to offend either side, yet they had chosen Purple Chu Country as their battlefield.

And one of them just had to be the Third Prince!

Tantai Jingming felt a massive headache coming on.

"You actually recognize my Flower Realm. You have some knowledge, it seems."

Donghuang materialized within the Flower Realm, still in the form of the black-cloaked figure from before.

However, within this Flower Realm, the sinister form seemed somewhat less terrifying.

"Greetings, Lord Donghuang!"

Knowing the visitor was Donghuang, Tantai Jingming actually felt more at ease.

'Neither the War God Hall nor Donghuang would have any reason to kill him. His life was safe, for now.'

"The Third Prince has tasks to complete in Purple Chu Country. Grant him the authority he needs and assist him," Donghuang said faintly. "Opportunity is before you. Seize it."

The Flower Realm suddenly vanished without a trace. As Donghuang spoke the first sentence, he was still there, but by the time he finished the second, he had disappeared into thin air.

Only the faint echo of his words, proving he had been there, remained.

Tantai Jingming was drenched in sweat. It felt like a dream—unreal, yet not. And though it felt unreal, every detail was still replaying in his mind.

...

High above the Imperial City, Donghuang's figure appeared out of thin air.

Despite appearing so brazenly above the Imperial Capital, he still didn't attract anyone's attention.

He didn't even startle Xue Shiyin, the Quasi-Emperor Martial Realm expert!

Donghuang slowly turned his head. From within the black hole, a pair of eyes seemed to pierce through the barriers of space, their gaze landing on Shen Lang, who was in the middle of his Cultivation.

Inside his room, Shen Lang flipped his hand over, and a wisp of Vermilion Bird Divine Fire appeared in his palm.

But just as Donghuang's gaze fell upon him, Shen Lang suddenly froze!

SMACK!

The Vermilion Bird Divine Fire retreated into his body. Shen Lang lightly slapped the edge of his bed and flew straight out the window!

The night wind brushed against his face, his long hair flying as his cold, sharp eyes swept rapidly over the area before him!

However, below him were the myriad lights of the Imperial City, and the sky above was empty. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

With a flash of movement, Nangong Yan and Shark's Kiss appeared out of thin air on either side of Shen Lang.

"Xiaolang, what happened? Why do you look so grim?"

Nangong Yan asked, a little surprised.

She scanned her surroundings, her vast Divine Thought instantly blanketing the entire Imperial Capital, but she found nothing amiss.

Shen Lang didn't speak, merely closing his eyes.

He retracted his Divine Thought and shut down his Sixth Sense. The great Momentum of heaven and earth surged forth, instantly enveloping the entire Imperial City.

'Such a familiar scent of flowers, such a familiar feeling... Amidst an emotion as cold as Ice, there's a faint, imperceptible sorrow. Who could it be!'

Opening his eyes, Shen Lang stared straight ahead and said calmly, "An unknown expert was here. It seems they came for me..."

"What...?" Nangong Yan and Shark's Kiss were stunned.

'It was one thing for the visitor to go undetected by them, but even Xue Shiyin, a Quasi-Emperor Martial Realm expert, had no reaction at all... To be able to come and go as they pleased right under her nose, just how powerful was this person?'

"It's nothing. Perhaps I was just imagining things," Shen Lang said, shaking his head and turning back to his room.

The moment he was back in his room, Shen Lang immediately asked in his mind, 'Wentian, did you sense anything unusual just now?'

'Powerful. Incredibly powerful. I'm afraid he was no weaker than I was at my peak!' Zuo Wentian's voice was more cautious than ever before.

'What!' Shen Lang was shocked.

Zuo Wentian continued, 'My Soul Power is too weak right now. The moment that aura appeared, I was afraid he would even detect the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron, so I concealed my presence completely... But I could feel it. The visitor was truly, immensely powerful!'

"Mm," Shen Lang nodded slightly, picking up a teacup from the table and taking a sip.

'The appearance of this peerless expert was too strange, too bizarre.'

'Logically, with his current Cultivation, it should have been impossible for him to notice anything amiss.'

'But Shen Lang's feel for "Momentum" had reached a profound level. Even without sending out his Divine Thought, he could perceive his surroundings, just as he had when Dugu Zhange ambushed him before.'

'Control over "Momentum" was a form of enlightenment regarding the Celestial Dao. It not only allowed one to perceive everything but also to predict certain actions.'

'But besides his sense of "Momentum," what truly alerted Shen Lang and made him realize something was wrong was the sliver of emotion the other party had been unable to suppress...'

'This person... they must know me. Even from just that elusive aura, I felt an incredible sense of familiarity.'

'Or rather, they knew the War Emperor... But the War Emperor fell long ago. Even among the people of the War God Hall, besides the old fortune-teller who tapped my forehead and awakened my potential, there shouldn't be anyone else who knows.'

'Who could it be?'

Unable to find an answer, Shen Lang pushed the matter to the back of his mind and sat cross-legged on the edge of his bed.

Composing himself, Shen Lang willed it, and the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire once again appeared in his palm.

Even though it was just a tiny wisp, the moment the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire emerged from his palm, the temperature in the room shot up!

A piece of paper on a table three meters away went POOF and burst into flames!

Staring at the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire in his palm, a bold idea surfaced in Shen Lang's mind.

'This Vermilion Bird Divine Fire, much like his Thunder Power, was now completely under his control.'

'Even without obtaining the Vermilion Bird Origin, its power was still a far cry from the true Vermilion Bird Divine Fire. But compared to ordinary Pill Fire, it was more than a hundred times stronger!'

'The Vermilion Bird Divine Fire could burn anything, said to be capable of incinerating even space itself!'

'Both the Thunder Power and the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire were forms of Energy he could now control.'

'If Thunder Power could be used for Body Forging, then naturally, so could the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire.'

'With the current toughness of my physical body, combined with my control over the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire, I should be fine as long as I'm careful.'

A hint of joy appeared in Shen Lang's eyes.

Just by being sealed by Lan Mengling and passively enduring the scorching from the tiny wisps of Vermilion Bird Divine Fire on the Spiritual Power Chain...

...in just a few short days, his meridians had grown much stronger, and the number of his Ten Divine Beast Particles had surged by more than three thousand...

Keep in mind, when he had arduously practiced the Golden Needle Acupoint Forging Body Technique for a full year, he had only managed to increase his Ten Divine Beast Particles by a little over one thousand!

And when he used the Medicinal Liquid refined from the incredibly rare Thousand-leaf Fruit for Body Forging, a single session only increased his Ten Divine Beast Particles by 189!

If he were to consciously use the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire for Body Forging, wouldn't a single day of Cultivation be equivalent to a whole year before?

How could Shen Lang not be overjoyed by such a heaven-defying prospect?