Eastern Continent
The southern part of the Eastern Continent is comprised of a huge plateau, with various mountain ranges and large plateaus. Due to heavy rainfall all year round and the low population in this area, this place is covered with dense tropical rainforest.
The whole region is known as the Misty Jade Plateau, and from the same name, the forest is also locally popular as the Misty Jade Forest.
Around ten years ago, Jin Huang appeared in this forest and created a giant array formation covering a vast area.
Not long ago, this formation triggered, causing a large-scale threat to the Spiritual Beasts residing in it. It was to the point that even a Rank 8 Beast was alarmed.
Spiritual Beasts' intelligence is far lower than humans' and Warriors'. They need to reach at least Rank 8 to attain human-level understanding. However, when it comes to battle strength, they can surpass normal humans of the same level.
Misty Jade Forest is a very important place for the Eastern Continent because of the presence of wild Rank 8 Beasts. It is even considered a forbidden zone since most humans and Warriors are forbidden to visit.
This incident alarmed the entire Heavenly Dragon Sect.
Long Tianchan and Long Tianfeng both immediately left to survey the area. It was such a dangerous situation that no one else could be ordered besides the Rank 8 Monarchs themselves.
As soon as they arrived, they contacted each other.
After meeting, they discussed what they had seen.
Both of them immediately deduced the cause and effect of the matter.
"It was a human-made crisis!" Long Tianfeng said deeply. "The Soul Inheritance is about to open, and now someone caused this. It can't be a coincidence. They want to attack Heavenly Dragon Sect."
It was quite an obvious deduction.
One Rank 8 Warrior had been sent to keep watch on the Soul Emperor's Inheritance, and now two Rank 8s were needed here to deal with these Beasts. Not just two Rank 8s — they also needed to deploy many disciples to stop the rampage, otherwise beast hordes would destroy countless important cities, killing at least billions of people.
In such a situation, who would protect the Sect?
Long Tianfeng sighed and said lightly, "Go. I will handle this."
Long Tianchan was shocked. "You—"
Long Tianfeng interrupted coldly. "Go. Protect the sect. Use your life to protect the sect."
He immediately took out a token and gave it to Tianchan. He said softly, "You are now appointed as the new Patriarch. Don't worry, I won't perish here. I worked so hard to cultivate, not to perish so easily."
He gazed upon the giant beast; his eyes sharpened. His aura tensed as he laughed. "I cultivated my entire life, not to lose to a mindless beast. I will WIN!"
Long Tianchan understood the importance of this token. He also understood Long Tianfeng's meaning.
He must return to the sect as soon as possible and deploy the defensive formation.
It is a sect developed by the Soul Emperor in his heyday. Once the formation is deployed, no one has the capability to take over the Heavenly Dragon Sect. This Sect has stood for so many eras; it is not that easy to seize.
Long Tianchan immediately used the Law of Space to teleport to the Heavenly Dragon Sect.
However, something unexpected happened.
There was still half an hour before dawn, half an hour before the Soul Emperor's Inheritance opened.
Long Tianchan frowned. He teleported toward the Heavenly Dragon Sect but appeared in a bizarre place.
During his teleportation he felt a sudden spatial fluctuation, was thrown away from the spatial node mid-teleport, and fell at this place.
He glanced around and found a young woman sitting at a table. She looked at him and smiled. "Come, have some tea."
He tried teleportation again, but it failed.
Long Tianchan looked at the woman and frowned. "Aren't you Jin Huang? What did you just do?"
Long Tianchan had seen her when she last came to the Eastern Continent to meet her husband Ji Changchen. At that time he had already guessed her identity.
Jin Huang looked at him lazily and said slowly, "I just want you to accompany me for tea—sit here obediently for a few hours. Is that hard?"
Long Tianchan narrowed his eyes. "You do know why I am in a hurry, don't you?"
Jin Huang nodded. "I have no intention to harm any member of Heavenly Dragon Sect. In fact, they will flourish even more in the upcoming era."
Long Tianchan understood her underlying meaning. He said lightly, "I won't allow it."
He already understood that there was some formation here which isolated the spatial nodes of this space from the space outside the formation. It was possible to enter the formation using teleportation but not to exit it. However, he could still forcefully exit this formation with his cultivation, without using the Law of Space.
The Law of Space is a materialized law. It manifests itself into countless Dimensions. To teleport, a Warrior senses and connects two Spatial Nodes through the shortest path, using it to travel from one point to another.
In this process, fluctuations ripple across many neighboring Spatial Nodes. Jin Huang simply took advantage of those fluctuations, creating a formation along his 'shortest path' to interfere with his teleportation and trap him here.
Long Tianchan immediately moved to leave, but the moment his feet shifted, an abstract arrow suddenly came out of nowhere and pinned him to the ground.
Jin Huang smiled faintly. "You can't leave. If I wish to stop you, no one in this world can help you."
Suddenly, a very rough, low-pitched voice echoed.
"Even I can't?"
At that moment, as if welcoming his presence, the entire sky above this place shrouded in clouds.
A heavy rain suddenly poured down.
In the dark, a seven-foot silhouette appeared. He had a dense beard, though not long enough to flutter in the wind.
His appearance was ordinary, but his demeanor was extraordinary.
Jin Huang frowned at the newcomer, and at one glance she failed to see through his identity. Given his arrogance and ability, she had some guesses, but she needed more clues to narrow them.
Jin Huang asked lightly, "You are?"
The man smiled faintly. "Why don't you guess?"
His gaze was as deep as an abyss and a playful smile curved his lips. "Even the great you can't guess?"
Jin Huang didn't speak.
The man suddenly disappeared and appeared behind Jin Huang.
Jin Huang's pupils dilated.
Splash!
Blood spattered and sprayed.
Her right hand fell, and she didn't even realize what had just happened. She only felt emptiness and huge pain from her right side.
She murmured faintly through clenched teeth, "Elemental Emperor!"
Meanwhile, Soul Emperor's Inheritance
Everyone started entering the Inheritance.
Ji Changchen had arrived earlier than everyone else and made arrangements beforehand in order to create a matchup with Li Gang.
After making his arrangements, he waited for Li Gang's arrival.
Only after Li Gang entered the Inheritance did Ji Changchen count every Warrior entering; at a certain point he entered as well.
After a certain number of people arrived, the Inheritance activated automatically.
All Warriors were matched one after another.
Ji Changchen waited patiently. Soon it was his turn. He smiled and murmured faintly, "Let's see who my opponent is."
Even though he expected it to be Li Gang as per the plans, the unknown is always the most dangerous.
And, as expected, his worry came true.
He appeared again, and his opponent was the same one he had foreseen in the future shown by the System.
His gaze deepened as he asked, "Who are you?"
The man looked young, in his twenties, but Ji Changchen had never seen him or heard of him.
Even though he asked that, it was just a psychological deception.
He understood two points from this incident.
First, this guy interfered with his plan. Not only did he know about Ji Changchen's plan, he also knew Ji Changchen was aware of him and was planning to counter his interference. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to be his opponent again this time.
Second, this guy knew Ji Changchen could see the future.
At the same time, Ji Changchen asked inwardly, "System, show me his status."
But there was no response.
This made Ji Changchen completely shocked.
He asked inwardly again, "System—"
Still no response.
Ji Changchen glanced at the young man in front of him and finally understood: this man was not simple.
The young man finally smiled. "Why involve yourself in this meaningless Inheritance? Do you lack resources?"
Ji Changchen narrowed his eyes. "What does it have to do with you?"
The young man continued, as if he hadn't heard him. "You don't lack resources, nor do you need Destiny Points in the short term. Don't rely too much on the System."
Ji Changchen was shocked. He stood and asked sharply, "Who are you?"
He wasn't afraid even in this situation. He was amazed that someone knew about the System's existence.
Today, he realized that dependence is one of the deadliest slow poisons. During his journey, he had gradually become too dependent on the System.
The young man glanced at him and said softly, "Your only opponent is Li Gang. I will take care of his allies on the other side. You take care of him as you have planned. Do it quickly—you don't have much time. It might not be possible even for you, but remember, this is your only opportunity to eliminate a potential threat. If you can't do it now, you will never be able to in the future."
Saying that, he waved his hand. Ji Changchen was instantly thrown outside the formation.
After sending him away, the young man thought inwardly, If I had the ability, I would have taken care of him. But that thing inside him would be triggered the moment an Immortal tries to act against him.
In the Western Continent:
A man lying on a swinging bed suddenly opened his eyes.
He immediately sat up as a meaningful smile formed on his face.
His wife beside him felt the change and woke. She looked at him puzzledly. "What happened?"
The man smiled at his wife and said in a soft voice, "Nothing. I just sensed a rival of mine."
His wife was puzzled.
The man soothed her. "Go back to sleep."
He was He Fan.
His gaze deepened and pierced through all obstacles, directly fixing on the young man in the Eastern Continent.
He smiled faintly. "You finally appeared?"
The young man, sensing something, glanced at the gaze and smirked. "Not yet."
He Fan withdrew his gaze as he murmured softly, 'A clone.'
He calculated inwardly, 'Defeating her with a clone? It won't be easy. If he can catch her off guard and deal advantageous damage, it would make things easier.'