Chapter 471 - 469: Surprise Attack

Chapter 471: Chapter 469: Surprise Attack

"Looks like my luck is pretty good..."

Shen Changchuan’s face was filled with delight as he browsed through the pile of Jade Slips he had just dug up.

It was just as he had expected.

This Treasure Map was related to the Li Family of Heaven’s End Valley!

What’s more,

the very thing he had failed to obtain after the great battle at Heaven’s End Valley had now been made whole for him here!

His initial guess had been right all along!

’The heavens are smiling on me!’

But in truth, Shen Changchuan’s guess wasn’t entirely based on blind luck.

When he had examined the information on the Treasure Map multiple times before, he had already noticed a few clues.

There were subtle hints revealing that the map’s creator was extremely familiar with Heaven’s End Valley!

For example,

the coordinates used for positioning

used a landmark deep inside Heaven’s End Valley as a reference point.

As a reclusive Demon Cultivation Clan, the Li Family’s members rarely ventured into the outside world.

Outsiders couldn’t even find a way in.

Given this,

no one would believe that the map’s creator didn’t have a deep connection to the Li Family!

Furthermore,

people instinctively choose familiar locations as reference points.

Therefore, the map’s creator was most likely one of the Li Family’s own people.

This was also why,

before even setting out, Shen Changchuan had dared to speculate that the Treasure Map was connected to the Li Family!

It was what had prompted this journey.

Now, it seemed,

his initial guess had been correct!

’So it was internal strife within the clan... A good thing, too. Otherwise, solving the problem of how to control the Flying Heaven-Splitting Spirit Ant King would have likely taken me a great deal of time.’

After conquering Heaven’s End Valley a while back, Shen Changchuan had learned a few things from some of the low-level Li Family Demon Cultivators who survived.

Specifically, that there had been an internal conflict within the Li Family ten to twenty years ago.

A direct-line branch of the upper echelon had apparently launched a decisive rebellion after losing a power struggle. Although the traitors were ultimately suppressed and executed by Li Changzun and the Li Family Ancestor, some items went missing in the chaos.

It seemed now,

that this Treasure Map must have been left behind by those Li Family traitors.

What surprised Shen Changchuan, however, was that,

according to internal Li Family rumors,

Pan Yunfei had been involved in that affair!

The very same famous Ghost Shadow Pan Yunfei whom Shen Changchuan had killed several years prior—the one from whom he had obtained the Void Escape Gu and the Minghuan Gu Scripture Fragment!

According to the Li Family’s investigation, Pan Yunfei had appeared near Heaven’s End Valley in the past,

and had maintained some form of secret contact with the traitors.

It was possible that Pan Yunfei had instigated the event from the shadows and gained something from the rebellion.

To this,

Shen Changchuan could give a definitive answer.

The Li Family leaders’ suspicions were most likely correct!

The proof was the Void Escape Gu that Ghost Shadow Pan Yunfei had possessed!

Pan Yunfei must have obtained the Flying Heaven-Splitting Spirit Ant during that incident, refined it into the Void Escape Gu shortly after, and made a name for himself from then on.

As for how Pan Yunfei had contacted the Li Family traitors, how they started the rebellion, how the traitors managed to bury the items here, and how the Treasure Map ended up in Shi Miaoying’s hands—

—all these specific details,

Shen Changchuan couldn’t care less about.

The people involved were mostly dead anyway.

He wasn’t some famous detective, compelled to uncover the truth behind every secret.

As long as he got what he came for,

that was enough!

He released Xiaofeng,

sat cross-legged on its back,

and had it fly directly toward Broken Soul City.

However,

at that very moment,

BOOM!

Suddenly,

the entire sky seemed to collapse!

A darkness so deep you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face enveloped an area of a thousand zhang above him!

A mortal crisis,

descended in an instant!

"Die!"

Along with a cold snort that shook the void,

a figure of a young man appeared high above. He had a handsome, jade-like face, long hair as white as snow, and was dressed in a long black robe.

The young man flipped his hand into a palm strike,

and it was as if a god from the Ninth Heaven was bringing down a massive hand. It suppressed heaven and earth, descending with boundless might!

In an instant,

Shen Changchuan was struck with terror.

’A Divine Travel Realm expert!’

’That was a terrifying power, from a being on a completely different level of existence!’

’Just the aura he’s emitting is enough to freeze my thoughts!’

The sky-blotting hand pressed down, and it felt as if the entire firmament was caving in!

At that moment,

Shen Changchuan’s blood ran cold.

He couldn’t move a single finger, able only to watch helplessly as that world-destroying hand descended!

An unprecedented despair flooded his heart!

At this moment,

’Perfection-level Tier Two Top Level Skills, Spiritual Artifacts, Divine Techniques—they were all meaningless in this instant!’

In the face of absolute power,

even with his countless methods,

even though he could fight above his station at the Soul Emergence Seventh Layer and possessed power comparable to the Ninth Layer,

it was all utterly meaningless!

At this moment, Shen Changchuan

felt like an ant facing a giant.

When the giant’s finger descended,

no matter how many weapons or advantages the ant possessed compared to other insects its size, it was useless. Its only fate was to be crushed!

This was an attack from a higher dimension of power!

’It’s over...’

This was the most hopeless danger Shen Changchuan had faced since his rebirth.

Once,

back when he was in the Qi Introduction Realm and faced a Soul Emergence Realm Demon Cultivator for the first time,

he had felt a similar sense of despair.

Back then,

the gap had been immense,

but he had still been able to put up a desperate fight.

Relying on his past accumulations, he had unleashed power far beyond his Cultivation Realm and withstood his opponent’s attack!

But now,

the chasm between them

turned all of Shen Changchuan’s prized trump cards into a joke!

’Is my life going to end here?’

In that instant,

countless memories

flashed before his eyes.

Death was upon him.

There was no escape,

no hiding!

But,

in the final moment before death arrived,

"To bully the weak, and my own disciple at that? You’re courting death!"

A cold snort boomed through the void.

A familiar voice rang in Shen Changchuan’s ears.

Before Shen Changchuan could even react,

a vast power surged from the void and instantly enveloped him.

Then,

the terrifying power that suppressed the nine heavens

was instantly shattered by this immense force!

The dark, hopeless canopy of death vanished in an instant!

"Master!"

Shen Changchuan saw the figure of Master Wandering Dragon, who had appeared beside him at some unknown point.

His face was a mask of astonishment,

which was quickly replaced by the immense joy of surviving a disaster!

He wasn’t dead.

He had survived!

Having walked the very edge of death, even with his resolute temperament, Shen Changchuan felt an overwhelming urge to cry with joy!

"Rest assured. I was always here."

Master Wandering Dragon nodded toward him, his voice gentle and comforting.

Then,

his gaze shifted to the void ahead.

"Wan Zunli of the Corpse Refining Sect? I heard you recently broke through your bottleneck and ascended to the Divine Travel Realm. A joyous occasion for you, to be sure."

"But what you absolutely should not have done is used your status as a Divine Travel Realm expert to personally ambush my disciple!"

"You have sealed your own fate!"