The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 466 Heavenly Gang Escape Technique
Although Wu Chang had already guessed from Emperor Zhaoning's words that the premature appearance of the Demon Realm was the work of Lü Changgeng, he still couldn't help but sigh when Emperor Zhaoning confirmed it, realizing that Lü Changgeng had played a rather big game.

It's obvious that only a very few people know about this, and even Yin Sheng, Lü Changgeng's loyal henchman, might not know the inside story.

The fact that the operation was concealed so thoroughly and that the people of Tianlan Province were not evacuated is probably part of the plan to bring the Demon Realm to the world ahead of schedule.

He even had reason to believe that the gathering of the Great Xuan Demons towards Liuyun City was likely the work of Lü Changgeng and the Bright Society.

They sacrificed half the population of Tianlan Province, and with the help of the soaring demonic energy, forcibly awakened the demon realm from its seal ahead of schedule.

Tianlan Province has 49 cities, over 100 counties, and tens of millions of people.

Using half of it as bait to try and open the gates of heaven—Lu Changgeng's move was quite audacious.

Based solely on the "Immortal's Decree" combined with the inferences from the Book of Earth, this step could be taken without hesitation.

In contrast, An Rong, the chosen one of this world, whose luck surpasses that of Lü Changgeng by ten or a hundred times, doubts himself and hesitates because of some insignificant setbacks.

No wonder he is the leader of the Humanitarian Alliance, while An Rong is treated like a tool within the alliance.

An Rong still needs to practice before he can stand on his own.

Wu Chang asked aloud:

"Your Majesty, since Alliance Leader Lü's plan has failed and no remains of immortals were found in the sacrificial altar, can the Heavenly Gate still be opened?"

His question was a reminder to Emperor Zhaoning not only to look at other people's fun, but also to look back at his own situation.

The bargaining chip Emperor Zhaoning used to recruit him was to help him open the Heavenly Gate and ascend to the Immortal Realm.

Now that the remains of the immortals have disappeared, and there is no powerful immortal force from the ancient times to reopen the gates of heaven, can the promises made back then still be fulfilled?
If that's not possible, then quickly switch to another stake, or add more money as soon as possible.

Although he helped Emperor Zhaoning with the intention of betting on both sides, he was not prepared to work for nothing.

Emperor Zhaoning understood Wu Chang's meaning and calmly said:
"Rest assured, sir, there is no other way to open the Heavenly Gate than by brute force."

"As long as the demon race is eliminated by the celestial beings, I will possess the destiny of humanity and be able to restore the Heavenly Gate to its proper order by reopening the sacrificial ceremony. Why should we break down the Heavenly Gate?"

After hearing this, Wu Chang pretended to be relieved and continued to ask:

"Your Majesty, what should we do next?"

Emperor Zhaoning pondered for a moment and said:
"The disappearance of the immortal's remains is actually beneficial to me and my husband. Without the immortal's remains as a support, we will need to rely on the human race's energy to lure out of the Heavenly Gate."

"Let's wait and see how things develop. When it's time for you to take action, I'll send someone to invite you."

Wu Chang nodded in agreement and immediately prepared to take his leave.

As Wu Chang turned around, Emperor Zhaoning suddenly called him back and asked:

"Sir, today's auspicious signs suggest that celestial beings will soon enter the Great Mystery in large numbers. Are these celestial beings trustworthy?"

Wu Chang countered, “Your Majesty, there are more than one immortal mountain overseas. Although the Great Xuan refers to us all as celestial beings, I have never even met most of them.”

"Not to mention the different thoughts between celestial beings, even among immortals, there are different thoughts, so I cannot give any specific advice."

After saying this, he gave Emperor Zhaoning a meaningful look.

Judging from the information provided by Emperor Zhaoning, he knew of the existence of the immortal, which means that in addition to Guangming's contact with Lü Changgeng and others, he should also have had contact with him.

Despite both being decrees from the immortals, Lü Changgeng and his group showed no interest in playing along with Emperor Zhaoning, instead secretly plotting against the Heavenly Gate with their small group.

In this situation, it is clear that the so-called immortals are not truly harmless and also harbor ulterior motives.

Emperor Zhaoning, whether he understood or not, spoke in a calm tone:
"Thank you for reminding me, sir. I understand now."

Emperor Zhaoning strolled back to his desk in the main hall, picked up a pen, and began to write something on the paper.

"Sir, your exploration of the Demon Realm has been extremely fruitful. If it weren't for your presence, Tang Wuchang and the others would not have been able to enter the sacrificial altar. The fact that the immortal's remains do not exist will probably only be discovered when we officially attack the Demon Realm."

"By then, it might really be too late."

"Sir, you come from a fairy mountain overseas. You naturally look down on worldly things like gold and silver, mansions and beauties. Even the magical artifacts forged by the Great Mystic are overshadowed by the mechanical arts of the fairy mountain overseas."

Emperor Zhaoning put down his pen, waited for the ink to dry on the paper, and then handed the edict he had written in his own hand to Wu Chang, saying:

“From what you’ve said, the spells practiced by cultivators on overseas immortal mountains differ from those of the Great Xuan lineage. Although the Great Xuan lineage is not as powerful as that of overseas immortal mountains, the secret techniques preserved by various sects may offer you some inspiration.”

"Although the Great Xuan Dynasty is not a reclusive sect, when our ancestors pacified the world, many of the powerful figures they wiped out were from reclusive sects. After their families were exterminated, their collections of magical records were treated as ancient treasures and stored in the Great Xuan Treasury."

"With this edict, you may enter the Great Xuan Treasury and take any spell with you."

Wu Chang took the imperial edict, and a notification popped up in front of his eyes.

"The player has completed side quest 1: Join the exploration team of Tang Wuchang, the leader of the Tang Clan, and go to the Demon Realm to investigate."

"Player receives reward: One copy of the Great Xuan Ancient Secret Technique."

"After completing a special mission, the player's current faction changes to the Great Xuan Royal Family, and the player's main dungeon questline changes."

"Main quest four has been changed to: help the Great Xuan royal family master both the Heaven and Earth worship ceremonies, and help Emperor Zhaoning control the Heavenly Gate."

The first three main quests are general quests and do not conflict with joining a faction. The original main quest four was the most general one, which was to subdue demons and protect the righteous path and trigger the Great Immortal Fate. It really changes with the faction.

If the original "Great Immortal Fate" in the main quest referred to the Heavenly Gate, then the revised main quest four is equivalent to further refining the requirements. Simply activating it is not enough; it must also be activated and controlled by Emperor Zhaoning.

Undoubtedly, this change has increased the difficulty of completing the dungeon.

However, there is one fair aspect to the Abyss game: as the difficulty increases, the rewards also increase.

For example, the first side quest he just completed, which was his initial quest after joining the Great Xuan royal family, allowed him to enter the Great Xuan Treasury and choose any secret technique.

Judging from Emperor Zhaoning's generosity, its value is no less than the first-class merit of the Demon-Slaying Army.

It's important to know that the first-class merit of the Demon-Slaying Army is a reward for completing hidden side quests, but Emperor Zhaoning only issued ordinary side quests.

Wu Chang accepted Emperor Zhaoning's edict and said:

"Your Majesty is endowed with the destiny of humanity and is the common ruler of the Great Xuan Human Race. What I have done is merely in accordance with the will of Heaven. I am truly unworthy of Your Majesty's reward."

As he left the main hall, he saw the eunuch who had brought him to Zhenyue Villa, dressed in a bullfighting outfit, waiting outside the door.

"Your Excellency Peace, this way please. His Majesty has instructed me to take you to the Great Xuan Treasury."

Wu Chang cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your trouble, sir."

Zhenyue Villa is a temporary palace, but since the revival of spiritual energy, its importance has been continuously elevated because it is the site of the earth-worshiping ceremony.

Not only did Emperor Zhaoning frequently linger here, but he also moved the entire Great Xuan Treasury to the Zhenyue Villa.

The Great Xuan Treasury is heavily guarded and managed by the Taichang Temple. The array protecting the treasury is linked to the earth-worshiping ceremony, making it one of the safest places in the Great Xuan.

To break into the Great Xuan Treasure Vault is equivalent to directly shattering the Ziwei Exorcising Array, a difficulty no less than entering the Demon Realm to single-handedly defeat the Four Demon Kings and forcibly breaking through the four inheritance sites of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind.

If they truly possessed such strength, they wouldn't need to covet the treasures within the Great Xuan Treasury.

Wu Chang entered the treasury, revealed the imperial edict in his hand, and sensed the aura of Emperor Zhaoning within it. The treasury door slowly opened.

The eunuch stopped outside the treasury and said:

"Your Excellency Peace, the treasury is protected by an array. The fortune contained in the edict is only enough for you to take one item. Do not take more than one item by mistake, which may trigger a counterattack from the array and injure you."

Wu Chang thanked him again and then entered the treasure vault.

The Great Xuan Treasury truly lives up to its reputation as the repository of the Great Xuan Dynasty's treasures and essence. A single glance reveals that even the most inconspicuous objects are imbued with a radiant glow.

Wu Chang's intuition told him that the item that could be placed inside would be at least C-grade. When he entered, the eunuch said he could only take one item, without specifying whether it was a spell.

So if he wants, he can take other items with him.

However, due to the protection of the array, no corresponding information popped up in front of him when he touched the items in the treasure vault. Only when he came to the library area and came into contact with the recorded spells would the corresponding information appear in front of him.

His fighting style doesn't actually rely on skills.

In terms of functionality, the Five Thunder Technique, the Spatial Domain, and the Mystic Domain are enough for him to deal with most enemies. For those who are more difficult to deal with, he also has two A-level skills: Blind Abyss and Heart Flame.

If you encounter even more powerful enemies, those with divine abilities, ordinary skills will be difficult to use.

To truly fight against a master, you still need to rely on their title, talent, stats, and items.

Compared to these four, offensive skills seem insignificant.

Therefore, his ultimate goal in entering the Great Xuan Treasure Vault this time was to find functional support skills.

He looked around and finally focused his attention on a scroll of bamboo slips.

Item Name: True Explanation of the Heavenly Gang Escape Technique

Item Level: A

"Item Description: After use, you can learn the A-level skill, Heavenly Dipper Concealment Technique. This spell is learned by visualizing the movement of the Big Dipper and has the ability to conceal one's presence and escape."

In the game Abyss, commonly used functional skills are mostly categorized into four types: healing, buffing, stealth, and movement.

With Eileen, a god of light, around, he doesn't need to learn ordinary healing and buffing skills; stealth and movement techniques are what he needs.

As dungeon difficulty increases, D-rank social anxiety and B-rank elite stealth have gradually become obsolete. They no longer require divinity, and even when facing enemies with Root Force-level abilities, these two skills are difficult to conceal from the opponent.

Especially when infiltrating the private space of the Light Society with the hunters, he became more aware of the gap in stealth skills, so acquiring stealth skills that matched his progress became a top priority.

The Heavenly Gang Escape Technique not only combines stealth and movement techniques, but it also originates from visualizing the trajectory of the Big Dipper, making it seem tailor-made for him.

There are no S-grade items or spells in the Great Xuan Treasure Vault; A-grade spells are already the limit.

Wu Chang didn't need to look any further and immediately selected it.

Seeing that Wu Chang had finished selecting so quickly, the eunuch was somewhat surprised and advised:
"Your Excellency Peace, His Majesty's decree does not set a time limit. As long as you have not chosen the magic of your choice, you may enter the treasury at any time to select one. There is no need to rush."

Wu Chang laughed;

"Thank you for your kindness, sir. This spell suits me perfectly, so there's no need to choose another one."

Seeing that Wu Chang was determined to do so, the eunuch stopped trying to persuade him and instead said:

"There is a quiet room in the villa for the exclusive use of guest elders. The quiet room is connected to the earth-worshiping ceremony and can enhance one's understanding through the energy of the earth's veins. If you wish, you may enter the quiet room to cultivate."

Wu Chang said, "That would be perfect."

Led by the eunuch, Wu Chang entered the stone meditation room. The moment he activated the inner mechanism and closed the door, he felt as if he were instantly cut off from the world around him, and everything became quiet.

His mind, which had been contemplating the future of the world instance and finding it difficult to concentrate, naturally calmed down.

In the center of the quiet room was a futon. He sat cross-legged on it, unfolded the bamboo slips, and the contents recorded on the bamboo slips automatically flooded into his mind.

He placed the bamboo slips beside him, slowly closed his eyes, and as he pondered the skill, he suddenly heard the sound of flowing river water.

The sound was inside, not outside. He lowered his consciousness, searching for the sound within his body. Following the sound, his consciousness traveled downwards through his body, and his pitch-black vision instantly brightened.

To his surprise, he discovered that the sound of water he heard was actually the sound of the entire Ziwei Exorcising Array circulating its energy.

The eunuch had previously mentioned that the meditation room was connected to the earth-worshiping ceremony. At this moment, his consciousness entered the Ziwei Exorcising Array, and with the help of the earth's veins, he quickly comprehended the spells.

The core of the Ziwei Exorcising Array is the Big Dipper, which, in some mysterious way, meets the conditions for creating the Tiangang Escape Technique, allowing him to rapidly advance his comprehension.

As his comprehension progressed, he began to find the Heavenly Gang Escape Technique incredibly profound. To truly understand it, he would need at least ten days to half a month, similar to comprehending a Lord-level mysticism.

If he were to break free from this state now, his Heavenly Gang Escape Technique would come to an end, but if he didn't, he wouldn't have that much time to waste.

He needs a higher level of comprehension.

With that thought in mind, he used his remaining consciousness to control his body, took out a Dragon-Slaying Pill from his personal space, and swallowed it.

In a trance, he entered a state of spiritual wandering, and his mind became extremely active. What was originally a profound and clueless problem became a starting point in his eyes.

He not only had a grasp of the Heavenly Gang Escape Technique, but he also applied it to other areas, combining the principles of social anxiety, elite stealth, and even lightning and shadow skills with the Heavenly Gang Escape Technique.

It helps him quickly master the spells while also integrating the four skills into one.

When~
Accompanied by a bell-like sound, a prompt popped up in front of him.

Skill Name: Heavenly Gang Escape Technique

Skill Level: A

"Skill Description: This technique is created by visualizing the trajectory of the Big Dipper. When used, it has two abilities: "Concealing Form" and "Star Escape".

Concealing Form: Adjusting one's aura and form to create a shimmering starlight illusion. This can alter one's aura and appearance to a certain extent and significantly reduce one's presence, preventing others from noticing.

When concealed, the first attack will not reveal the true form, but will instead create a phantom image at a designated location to confuse the enemy. If the enemy is confused, the second attack will deal 20% additional damage.

Star Escape: Creates a starlight phantom with the original's aura and a 15% damage bonus. When Star Escape is activated, the phantom's position can be swapped. Maximum number of phantoms: Energy/100. Each phantom can be swapped once.

"Note: In the process of integrating the four abilities, you gained unique insights into the art of stealth, and vaguely touched the door to the power of the source of existence."

After Wu Chang comprehended the Heavenly Gang Escape Technique, he awoke from his wandering immortal state.

The Heavenly Gang Escape Technique combines the characteristics of four skills into one, the first of which is to reduce the presence of people with social anxiety.

After his transformation, he might not be able to hide his true form from a real lower-level god, but a demigod who has just gained divinity can only barely sense his presence if he knows in advance that he is there.

Next is Elite Stealth, which retains the evasion and reconnaissance skills of Elite Stealth, and will only reveal itself after successfully dealing damage. It has evolved to the point where it will not reveal itself after the first time it deals damage, and can even create a phantom to create an opportunity for a second sneak attack.

This upgrade adds offensive effects to what were originally functional support skills.

The final fusion of the Lightning and Thunder Shadow Technique evolved into the Star Escape Effect, which can actively create afterimages to confuse the opponent, just like the original Lightning and Thunder Shadow Technique. It can also be combined with the afterimages generated by Convergence.

He could already imagine that when facing an evenly matched opponent, he would enter a concealed form to launch a sneak attack, and then create a phantom image of himself escaping.

If the opponent is fooled by the illusion, he will launch a second sneak attack. If the opponent is not fooled and remains vigilant, he will switch positions with the illusion, disengage from combat, and wait for his skills to cool down before launching another sneak attack.

The Heavenly Gang Escape Technique was not only powerful, but it also made good use of two low-level skills, which made him very satisfied with the result.

He retracted his previous statement; the side quest reward given by Emperor Zhaoning was not only no less than a first-class military achievement, but far exceeded it.

Emperor Zhaoning truly deserves to be called a chosen one of destiny, possessing the aura of humanity even greater than that of Anrong. Following Emperor Zhaoning is indeed far more promising than following someone like Lü Changgeng, who follows evil and crooked paths.

He emerged from the quiet room, greeted Emperor Zhaoning, and then left Zhenyue Villa to search for clues about the traitor at the Xuancha Division.

When he comprehended the Heavenly Gang Escape Technique, Emperor Zhaoning seemed to have issued some decree. When they met again, the officials of the Xuancha Division were not only polite to him, but also showed a lot of flattery.

This time, the Xuancha Division did not disappoint him. In just ten minutes, they investigated and found out the identities of the four rotating cultivators who had arrived in Shuanghu City before them that day.

Two of the cultivators came from the Crimson Tiger Gang and the Qimen Palace, both of which were ordinary gangs, much smaller than the Golden Scale Sect. The rotating cultivators were all senior elders within their respective sects.

The other two cultivators on the list, one from Renxin Pavilion and the other from Blood Eagle Valley, were carrying elder tokens with them in order to gain the trust of the Azure Feather Bird, which makes their backgrounds somewhat sensitive.

He pointed to the four people on the list and said to the officials of the Xuancha Division:
"I need you to get me their intelligence without alerting the Humanitarian Alliance."

(End of this chapter)