Living in the deep palace

pain.

It was as if the soul had been torn into billions of pieces and then roughly stuffed into a small container.

This was Su Chen's first sensation after regaining consciousness.

The celestial music of the Great Dao was no longer ringing in my ears, nor was the boundless power that controlled the starry sea and could be created and destroyed in an instant.

There was only the stench of the howling wind and the mournful roars of unknown wild beasts in the distance.

Su Chen opened his eyes with difficulty.

What came into view was a gray, hazy sky, devoid of stars, sun, or moon, only thick, seemingly perpetually impenetrable leaden clouds.

The air was filled with a nauseating smell of decay and sulfur, the distinctive odor of "ruins".

"I'm alive."

Su Chen tried to get up, but felt as if he were carrying an ancient divine mountain on his back.

He subconsciously tried to mobilize the immortal energy within his body, wanting to activate the "Great Luo Dao Fruit" that had once made him stand out from the crowd.

however.

Empty.

In that instant, Su Chen's heart sank to the bottom.

Upon looking inward, one sees that the once vast and boundless inner universe, which had even conceived the rudiments of a starry sea, is now a desolate ruin.

The "Jianmu Axis" that spanned heaven and earth was gone, the Dao branches representing the ten origins turned to dust, and the Taiyi Dao Platform shattered into countless fragments, scattered in the dried-up dantian and dantian.

The Great Luo Dao Fruit... is shattered.

His cultivation at the near-fifth realm... is ruined.

Even that trace of the [Wasteland] Law seemed to have been forcibly erased from his memory and soul with the strike of the golden divine spear.

Right now, he's like an ordinary person who has just fallen from the clouds into the mud.

"The Heavenly Court...the Heavenly Emperor..."

Su Chen lay on the cold, rubble-covered ground, a cold and tragic smile curving his lips.

That final blow, that towering golden eye, that indifferent spear of order that pronounced his death sentence…

That was the might of the sixth realm.

That's a level he simply can't comprehend right now.

"Cough cough..."

Su Chen coughed violently, coughing up blood mixed with fragments of broken internal organs.

But he did not die.

Beneath that decree that destroyed everything, a faint yet incredibly resilient bronze light protected his last vestige of true spirit and reshaped his broken body.

"The Seed of Immortality..."

Su Chen could clearly sense that in the center of this ruin-like inner world, where the Jianmu tree had once taken root, a seedling, no more than an inch tall and with an ancient bronze hue, was standing quietly.

It is so small that it seems as if a gust of wind could blow it over.

However, it survived the attack that could even kill someone at the fifth level, and... took root in Su Chen's "dead" body, becoming his new source of life.

"Is this the price?"

Su Chen supported himself with his arms and slowly sat up.

He glanced around.

This is a piece of continental debris floating in the ruins. The land is a deathly dark brown, with huge cracks and meteorite craters everywhere.

"I have lost all my cultivation and my Dao Fruit is shattered. I am probably not even as good as a Foundation Establishment cultivator now."

Su Chen chuckled self-deprecatingly.

If the deceased Lord of the Underworld Lotus knew that the "Great Terror" who had dealt with him had fallen to such a wretched state, he would probably be so angry that he would rise from the void and then laugh himself to death.

at this time.

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!
Several whooshing sounds suddenly rang out.

Immediately afterwards, several figures landed at the edge of the crater where Su Chen was.

Those were five strangely shaped creatures.

Some of them had three eyes, some were covered in black scales, and some were simply walking skeletons.

They exuded a mixed and chaotic aura, a mutation caused by their long-term survival in the Void Realm and their forced absorption of "Void Qi" for cultivation.

“Scrappers in the Ruins”.

"The powerful are comparable to the Great Luo Immortals, while the weak are merely True Immortals."

"These few in front of us are just True Immortals, nothing special..."

The word flashed through Su Chen's mind.

These are wanderers abandoned in the Ruins, like hyenas, searching for anything of value in this cosmic graveyard—broken magical artifacts, the corpses of powerful beings, and even…living people.

"Hehe, boss, I told you there was some noise over here! Look! It's alive!"

A scavenger with a rat's head screamed excitedly, his greedy eyes fixed on Su Chen.

"Such a rich aura of blood...tsk tsk, this body looks so delicate and tender, it doesn't seem like it came from the Ruins Domain."

Leading the group was a three-meter-tall cyclops wielding a massive bone club. He licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust.

"Could it be some unlucky ascendant from the lower realm who fell into the Ruins Realm right after ascending?"

"Who cares what he is! Judging from his appearance, half-dead, he must have something good on him!"

"Kill him! Divide the meat among yourselves, and take the bones to Black Iron City to exchange for 'Fragments of Law'!"

The group of scavengers discussed Su Chen's death without restraint, as if he were already a fish on a chopping board.

In their eyes, Su Chen had no spiritual energy fluctuations. Apart from his tattered but subtly distinguishable blue robe, he was just an ordinary mortal.

In the Ruins Realm, mortals... are simply food.

As for the definition of mortals, all those below the level of True Immortal are mortals, even those as powerful as so-called Quasi-Immortals.

Su Chen looked at them quietly, his eyes eerily calm.

The Cyclops' aura was roughly equivalent to the early stage of a Xuanxian in the outside world. His other subordinates were also at the "middle-grade True Immortal" to "high-grade True Immortal" levels.

In the past, Su Chen could have wiped out billions of these ants with a single breath.

but now……

"Without magic power, one cannot use supernatural abilities or summon magical treasures."

Su Chen slowly clenched his fist.

Very heavy.

This heaviness is not weakness, but rather a kind of... density.

His physical body, under the reshaping effect of the Longevity Seed, seemed to have undergone a mutation that even he could not comprehend.

"Boy, what are you looking at! Hand over your storage ring, and I'll give you a quick death!"

Seeing that Su Chen didn't speak, the rat-headed man thought he was scared out of his wits. He let out a strange cry, and his figure turned into a black shadow. He held a poisoned dagger and stabbed it straight at Su Chen's throat!

high speed.

But in Su Chen's eyes...

too slow.

Although he had lost his divine sense, Su Chen still possessed the combat instincts he had developed from his experience at the Great Luo Perfection realm.

Just as the dagger was about to pierce his throat.

Su Chen moved.

There were no fancy spells, no spectacular light and shadow effects.

He simply raised his hand and grabbed.

Snapped!
There was a crisp sound.

The highly poisonous dagger, capable of piercing even the protective aura of a true immortal, along with the rat-headed man's withered wrist, was firmly grasped by Su Chen.

"what?!"

The rat-headed man's pupils shrank sharply. He felt as if his hand was being clamped by an iron clamp, and no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't budge!
"This...this mortal has incredible strength!"

Su Chen stared blankly at the ugly, terrified face before him.

"Noisy."

Click!

Su Chen exerted a slight force with his five fingers.

Without using any spiritual power, it was a pure burst of physical strength!

puff!

The rat-headed man's wrist was crushed into a pulp!

Immediately afterwards, Su Chen swung his arm and pushed forward.

boom!
The rat-headed man's chest collapsed instantly, and he was sent flying backward as if he had been hit by a battering ram, exploding into a cloud of blood mist in mid-air!
Instant kill!

Quiet.

Deathly silence.

The sneers on the remaining four scavengers' faces froze instantly.

They stared blankly at the cloud of blood mist, then looked at Su Chen, who was still sitting on the ground, his posture unchanged.

"The...the third brother was...crushed?"

"This...how is this possible?! There's not a single trace of spiritual energy on him!" The Cyclops was also dumbfounded. Although he had killed countless people, this was the first time he had ever seen someone crush a Loose Immortal with pure physical strength!

"A True Immortal Body Refiner?!"

The Cyclops realized what was happening, his eyes flashing even brighter with ferocity. "So he's a body cultivator who's been playing dumb! Everyone, attack together! Use your supernatural powers to blast him to pieces! Body cultivators can't attack from a distance!"

"kill!"

The remaining three reacted immediately, each unleashing their magical weapons, some spewing poisonous fire, others summoning dark lightning, which rained down on Su Chen!
Rumble!
The crater was instantly engulfed by various colored lights.

"Hmph! No matter how strong your physical body is, can it withstand the 'Corrosive Yin Lightning'?" a scavenger covered in scales sneered.

however.

The smoke cleared.

A figure in a green robe slowly stood up.

His clothes were torn, revealing his light bronze skin underneath.

The Yin Lightning and Poisonous Fire, powerful enough to corrode the body of a True Immortal, didn't even leave a white mark on him when they landed on him!

even……

If you look closely, you'll notice that the attacks seem to be partially "eaten up" the moment they touch his skin.

"This...how is this possible?!"

"Is he a monster?!"

The scavengers were completely panicked.

Su Chen patted the dust off his body, feeling the flesh and blood within him that, although lacking spiritual power, seemed to contain boundless explosive power.

"I see."

"The physical body reshaped by the Longevity Seed is no longer a simple immortal body."

"It...craves to devour."

"I haven't been crippled; rather, I'm in a state of rebuilding after destruction!"

Su Chen raised his head, and his eyes, which once reflected the order of the starry sea, now became deep and wild.

"You guys are done fighting?"

"Then it's my turn."

boom!
The earth cracks!

Su Chen's figure vanished from the spot in an instant!

too fast!
The sheer speed of the physical body actually tore through the air and even created a sonic boom cloud!
"Do not--"

The scale scavenger had barely let out a scream when Su Chen smashed his head with a single punch!

Immediately afterwards, Su Chen turned around and unleashed a sweeping kick.

boom!boom!
The other two scavengers who tried to escape were kicked in the waist and their bodies exploded in mid-air!

In the blink of an eye, four out of five are gone!
Only the Cyclops leader remained.

He was so frightened that his legs went weak, the large bone club in his hand fell to the ground, and he knelt down with a thud.

"Senior...Senior, spare my life! Senior, spare my life! I was blind and didn't recognize your greatness!"

Su Chen walked step by step to him, looking down at this "strongman" at the early stage of the Profound Immortal realm.

Tell me, where is this place?

"This...this is a fragment of the 'Bone Continent' on the outskirts of the 'Chaotic Star Sea'..."

"Where is the nearest city?"

"Thirty thousand miles to the east, there is... there is a 'Black Iron City'..."

Su Chen nodded.

"very good."

The Cyclops was overjoyed, thinking he had escaped a calamity.

But next second.

A cold hand covered the top of his head.

"In return, I'll take your life."

"Do not--!"

puff!
The Cyclops's head was smashed like a watermelon.

Su Chen shook the blood off his hands, showing no discomfort whatsoever.

Falling from the Great Luo Perfection realm to the mortal world, he lost his cultivation, but in return, he gained a colder heart, more adapted to this cruel void.

"Black Iron City, huh..."

Su Chen looked eastward.

"A useless person?"

He looked down at his fist, which gleamed with a faint bronze luster.

"Do not."

"From this day forward, I, Su Chen... will rebuild my legend amidst these ruins."

……

……

In a hidden cave on the continent of withered bones.

Su Chen sat cross-legged, surrounded by "array flags" he had looted from the scavengers.

Although these array flags were crudely made, with a few modifications by Su Chen, a former master of array formations, they were transformed into a simple isolation array that blocked outside prying eyes and most of the void energy.

"call……"

Su Chen exhaled a long breath and began to truly examine his current physical condition.

In that previous battle, although it seemed like an easy victory, it was actually entirely supported by the primordial essence bestowed by the Longevity Seed.

After that battle, he could clearly feel a deep sense of exhaustion and hunger deep within his body.

That was a desire that originated from the depths of the cells.

"Internal inspection."

Su Chen closed his eyes and focused his mind, letting his consciousness sink into his dantian.

The scene remains horrific.

The once vast space, large enough to contain the stars, is now nothing but a chaotic grayness.

In that gloomy center, where the Taiyi Dao Platform and the Jianmu axis once stood, there is now only a huge pit.

In the center of that pit, a bronze-colored seedling grew alone and tenaciously.

It has only three leaves.

Each leaf was engraved with patterns that Su Chen had never seen before, patterns so intricate they were beyond measure.

The pattern does not belong to any known laws; it is neither order nor chaos, nor is it [barrenness].

That was a kind of... absolute "life".

A tyrannical life that plunders everything and exists solely for its own survival!

"The Tree of Immortality..."

Su Chen murmured softly.

This was his last trump card, the legendary "forbidden object" that even the Heavenly Emperor of the Sixth Realm feared.

He remembered that at the moment when the Heavenly Emperor's fatal blow struck, it was the predecessor of this Dao Tree—the Immortal Dao Seed—that unleashed a ray of bronze light, blocking most of the rules of destruction.

"The Jianmu tree has been destroyed; Changsheng should be established."

Su Chen had a sudden realization.

"The way of Jianmu lies in supporting heaven and earth, in communicating with all worlds, and in being a pillar of order."

"And the way to immortality..."

Su Chen tried to touch the seedling.

hum!
The moment his consciousness touched the seedling, a strong "hunger" that almost swallowed his reason swept over his entire body!
hungry!
So hungry!

That is not the hunger in the stomach of mortals, but the lack of the soul, the Great Dao, and the essence of life!

"It... wants to eat!"

Su Chen was shocked.

But the cave was empty; where could it find any rare and precious treasures to eat?

Just then, the Longevity Tree seemed to sense something, and its originally still roots suddenly began to dance wildly!
laugh!laugh!laugh!
Those bronze-colored roots ignored the barriers of space and matter, directly piercing through Su Chen's body and penetrating... the void outside!

"This……"

Su Chen was horrified to discover that the roots had actually extended directly out of the isolation array and plunged into the dense, corrosive, and violent "ruin energy" outside!
Void Qi is a specialty of the Void Domain.

It is the remnant of countless universes destroyed, containing chaotic fragments of the Great Dao and endless resentment. To normal cultivators, this void energy is deadly poison!
Once it enters the body, at best it will cause qi deviation and demonic possession, at worst it will cause the foundation of one's cultivation to collapse, turning one into a monster like those Void Beasts.

Therefore, all cultivators in the Void Domain are extremely cautious, using formations and elixirs to resist the erosion of the Void Qi.

but now……

This Longevity Tree actually went to "eat" the Void Qi on its own?!

"That's highly poisonous!"

Su Chen tried to stop it, but he realized he had no control over the Dao Tree. (End of Chapter)