Living in the deep palace

"If you're a newcomer and you see this line, it means you've fallen into this trap too."

"Don't be too happy yet, and don't think there's any chance to become a god here."

"The Sixth Realm... is a scam!"

"There is no such thing as 'perfect ascension' in this world! Ancient gods are not cultivated, they are 'planted'!"

"That so-called Emperor's Decree is not a key, it's a chain! It's a dog leash that's locking us in this universe!"

"I refuse to accept this! I'm going to cut these chains!"

"That foolish Skeleton Lord left himself inside my heart to pave the way for me. I have no face to go back, but I must go out and bring the truth to those who come after me."

"This road is blocked, turning back is the shore? To hell with the shore!"

"—Chen."

boom!
After reading these words, Su Chen's mind went blank.

Is the Sixth Realm a hoax?

Were the ancient gods "planted"?

Is the Emperor's Decree a chain?

These few lines contained an astonishing amount of information, almost overturning Su Chen's understanding of the cultivation system.

"Chen Sheng..."

As Su Chen stroked the words, he could almost feel the scene of the Fifth Realm cultivator, who was still full of vigor three thousand years ago and was not as old and frail as he had become after his fall, roaring in despair here.

"You discovered the truth, so you escaped."

"But why didn't you reveal the truth?"

"Your memories are not recorded in the Fallen Era, nor are they passed down in the Starry Sky... Is it because you dare not speak? Or are you unable to speak?"

Su Chen thought of the Void Ancestor.

The Void Ancestor sent him to retrieve the Emperor God's Decree, saying it was a ticket to the "other shore."

But Chen Sheng said it was a "dog leash".

Who is lying?

Or is this simply a cognitive bias in two dimensions?

"My lord, this..."

The Demon Lord of Chaos also saw the words on the stone tablet, his face turning deathly pale. "The Sixth Realm is a hoax? Then what's the point of our cultivation? This...this is absurd!"

"Is it absurd?"

Su Chen took a deep breath, and the confusion in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by a more determined and cold light.

"For the pieces, the chessboard itself is a deception."

"But as long as you step outside the chessboard, a deception can become a stepping stone."

Su Chen turned around and stopped looking at the stone tablet.

"I believe half of what Senior Chen Sheng said."

"But I also have to do the task assigned by the Ancestor of the Ruins."

"Whether it's a key or a dog leash, let's get it first!"

"Once it's in my hands..."

Su Chen clenched his fist, and the [Chaos Branch] within his body trembled slightly.

"Whether it's a god or a demon, a treasure or a trap, I decide!!"

"If you can eat it, it's a tonic; if you can't eat it, it's poison!"

"keep going!!"

……

Just as Su Chen was preparing to lead his team away from the ruins and head towards the golden mountain range (the heart of the ancient god).

Om-! ! !
The void ahead suddenly began to fluctuate violently.

Golden beams of light descended from the sky, landing on the path that Su Chen and his companions were bound to take.

As the beam of light dissipated, giants, each ten feet tall and composed entirely of golden crystals, were revealed.

They had no facial features, no expression, and held lightsabers in their hands, radiating an aura ten times stronger than that of the heroes from other realms.

"Alarm... Intruder... Eliminate..."

A mechanical mental fluctuation swept across the entire arena.

"This is……"

Su Chen narrowed his eyes.

"Immune cells within the ancient gods?"

"No, this is a higher level... antibody!"

There were three hundred golden giants, each possessing a physical strength comparable to a Great Luo Golden Immortal at their peak. Behind them stood a six-winged golden angel, a hundred feet tall, whose aura faintly touched the threshold of the fifth realm!

"It seems this divine palace doesn't welcome us."

Ba Shan swallowed hard, his hand trembling as he gripped the newly replaced bone club. "Lord City Lord, how... how do we fight this?"

Su Chen smiled.

He cracked his neck.

"how to spell?"

"of course……"

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

The next second, he appeared above the head of the six-winged golden angel.

"Treat it like a buffet!!"

"Gluttony - True Form Manifestation!!"

boom!
Behind Su Chen, a gigantic maw of chaos, large enough to devour heaven and earth, appeared out of thin air and bit down hard on the arrogant golden angel!
"I'm going to eat... half full for this meal!!"

The great battle broke out once again in the inner domain of the Divine Palace.

……

……

[Ancient God Ruins - Inner Domain - Divine Palace Wasteland]

"Bang bang——!!!"

A sharp, teeth-grinding crack echoed throughout the entire inner domain of the Divine Palace.

That wasn't the sound of bones breaking, but rather the crackling sound of some kind of high-density energy crystal being forcibly crushed.

In the sky, the six-winged golden angel, towering a hundred feet tall and radiating the pressure of a near-fifth realm being, was in a state of extreme terror (if it even possessed such emotions). This was because its light sword, powerful enough to cleave mountains and rivers, had been crushed by Su Chen with a single hand.

Even more terrifying, the tiny human in the green robe now manifested a gigantic maw that blotted out the sky, and it was biting down on half of its wing.

"Outrageous...filth...cleanse..."

The golden angel let out a mechanical mental roar, its body bursting with dazzling purifying divine light, attempting to burn away the "virus" that dared to blaspheme against the gods.

However, its proud divine light was like a mud ox sinking into the sea when it came into contact with the [Chaos Branch] law within Su Chen's body, not even making a ripple.

"The taste is a bit bland, and the texture is like chewing shards of glass."

Su Chen stood inside the giant maw, chewing as he gave an extremely critical evaluation.

"However, the energy density is indeed high."

"Gudu!"

Su Chen swallowed the enormous golden wing with a forceful gulp.

boom!
As the wings of light entered his abdomen, a violent yet sacred golden current instantly washed over his limbs and bones. It was the purest essence of the ancient god's "immune system," a power of rules used to annihilate all foreign invaders.

However, under the transformation of the Chaos Furnace, this power of rules became the most perfect tonic.

[-Absorb the high-level ancient god antibody (Golden Angel) and gain 'divinity'!]

[-Physical 'Ancient God Transformation' progress increased to 60%... Gained: Divine Immunity (Basic)!]

"Cool!"

Su Chen's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

He sensed a qualitative change occurring in his [Origin God-Demon Body]. The dark red patterns beneath his skin began to turn golden, an evolution from "demon" to "god-demon unity."

"Since it's a tonic, let's not waste it."

Su Chen licked his lips, his gaze fixed on the still struggling golden angel.

"Next, the main course!"

"Eternal Life, Following the Laws of Heaven and Earth, the Gluttonous Appearance of Gods and Demons!!"

Rumbling--

Su Chen's body swelled in the wind, transforming into a chaotic giant tens of thousands of feet tall in the blink of an eye. He stretched out his two large hands, ignoring the golden angel's frenzied attacks, and grabbed its other wings like a chick.

"Come here...!" *Rip—!!!*

With a loud ripping sound like cloth being torn apart, the golden angel was ripped in two by Su Chen!
Golden divine blood (energy liquid) rained down from the sky, like a golden shower.

"suck!!"

Su Chen opened his mouth wide, unleashing a terrifying suction force that swept all the golden blood and severed limbs into his stomach.

Less than ten breaths of time.

The gatekeeper BOSS that had filled Ba Shan and the others with despair was devoured by Su Chen, leaving not even a trace.

"belch--"

Su Chen let out a burp, his body shrinking back to normal size, but the pressure emanating from him was several times more terrifying than before. As he stood there, the white jade ground around him began to slightly collapse, as if it could not support the weight of his current physical body.

"This...is this the City Lord's power?"

Behind them, Ba Shan and the native warriors were completely dumbfounded, kneeling on the ground trembling. In their minds, the Golden Angel was an invincible messenger of God, but now it had become... food?
"Stop staring blankly."

Su Chen turned around and casually tossed a few pieces of golden crystals (angel core fragments) that the Hun Tian Demon Lord had not yet fully digested to him.

"This is very nutritious for you, eat it quickly."

"The remaining three hundred smaller giants are yours to deal with."

"Remember, we're here to buy goods, not for tourism. Scrape the ground clean!"

"Yes, my lord!!"

The Demon Lord of Chaos caught the crystal, his eyes filled with fanaticism. Following a leader like this, even hell could become heaven!

"Kill them all!! Eat them all!!"

The demon army and the native allied forces launched another attack. This time, with Su Chen leading the way and the lure of the crystals, their morale reached its peak.

……

After dealing with the "watchdog," Su Chen didn't linger.

His gaze pierced through the battlefield and looked towards the edge of the Divine Palace Plain.

There, there stands a majestic, breathtaking golden mountain range.

Its entire body is composed of translucent golden blood and flesh crystals, and its surface is covered with a thick network of blood vessels, each of which is like a rushing river.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A dull, powerful vibration came from inside the mountain range.

With each tremor, the entire inner domain of the Divine Palace would rise and fall, and the energy in the air would surge like the tide.

That was... a heartbeat.

This mountain is the heart of the ancient god!
"Still alive?"

Su Chen walked to the foot of the Heart Mountain Range, feeling the overwhelming vitality that rushed towards him.

"No, that's not right."

"The body is still alive, even maintaining basic physiological functions. But the soul is dead, or rather... trapped in a kind of vicious cycle of slumber."

"This is a body that looks like it's in a vegetative state."

Su Chen reached out and pressed his hand against the thick outer wall of his heart.

It felt warm to the touch, even a little hot.

The [origin branch] trembled wildly within him, seemingly yearning for something inside.

"The Emperor's Decree... is inside."

Su Chen took a deep breath.

This heart is the core of the ancient god's ruins and the end of the "sixth realm deception".

"Where is the entrance?"

Su Chen activated the [Eye of Origin] and scanned the surface of the heart with his gaze.

He quickly discovered a huge, vortex-shaped entrance at the junction of the heart's aorta. It was shrouded in a thin layer of gray mist, from which emanated a familiar... decaying odor.

"found it."

Su Chen flashed forward, braving the immense sonic pressure from his pounding heart (each beat was equivalent to the sonic wave of a full-force attack from a Great Luo Golden Immortal), and charged toward the entrance.

"Hun Tian, ​​you all stay outside and absorb the energy here to cultivate."

"That's a forbidden zone within a forbidden zone; you can't hold it off."

After leaving behind a single sentence, Su Chen plunged headlong into that vortex.

……

As Su Chen passed through the thick blood vessel wall, he felt as if he had passed through a curtain of water.

The scene in front of me suddenly became clear.

This is no longer the interior of a bloody, mangled biological structure, but rather... a starry sky.

Yes, the starry sky.

Inside the heart of the ancient god, a world of its own had emerged, evolving into a small universe.

In the center of the starry sky, a magnificent palace floats.

The palace is entirely cast from a material called "Primordial Stone," exuding an ancient, weathered, and eternal aura.

Above the palace gate hangs a plaque with three large characters written in divine script:

【Emperor's Palace】.

"What a generous gesture."

Su Chen lingered in mid-air, heading towards the palace.

"Use the heart as the boundary, and the palace to suppress the soul."

"This ancient god was probably a madman who only wanted to attain eternity in his previous life."

As Su Chen stepped onto the plaza in front of the palace, the surrounding starlight suddenly converged.

There were no guards or traps.

Only a gentle voice, full of compassion and allure, rang in Su Chen's ears, or rather, in his heart.

“Child…you’ve finally come.”

“I have waited for you... for three eras.”

……

"child?"

Su Chen stopped and stood in the empty square, a mocking sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Making connections with relatives indiscriminately is not a good habit."

"Who are you? An ancient god? Or... a mushroom growing from this corpse?"

The voice did not become angry because of Su Chen's rudeness; instead, it became even gentler, like a kind elder tolerant of a naughty junior.

"It doesn't matter who I am."

"The important thing is... who you are."

hum!
The void in front of Su Chen rippled slightly, and countless starlight condensed into a huge mirror.

Su Chen's figure was reflected in the mirror.

But that's not just about the Su Chen of today.

The "Su Chen" in the mirror wore an imperial robe woven from the laws of myriad paths, with a flawless World Tree floating above his head and countless worlds beneath his feet. Every breath he took created and destroyed the universe.

That's... the sixth realm! A perfect form that even surpasses the sixth realm!
"Look at yourself."

The voice was full of temptation.

"You possess the seed of origin, you possess the talent to devour all things. You are the perfect vessel, and the only hope in this universe."

"Your path has been too difficult. You've been schemed against, manipulated, and used as a pawn."

Don't you want to... rise to the top in one step?

"As long as you enter this palace and sit on that throne."

"You will be able to inherit this perfect sixth-realm body. You will have endless lifespan, invincible power, and even... break free from the prison of this universe and go to the true other shore."

"Come...accept my gift..."

If it were an ordinary cultivator, or even a Great Luo Golden Immortal, they would probably succumb instantly to such a temptation that directly targets the heart of the Dao.

After all, that's the sixth realm! The ultimate goal that countless people dream of!
Moreover, no cultivation is required; all that's needed is inheritance!
But Su Chen...

He simply looked quietly at his "perfect self" in the mirror, and then raised his hand.

Snapped!
He slapped the mirror until it shattered.

"Gift?"

Su Chen blew on his palm, his eyes as cold as knives. (End of Chapter)