Chapter 357: Wrath of the Red Lotus

After Chen Yuan and the other two finished refining the Vitality from the Endless Divine Tree, the peculiar fragrance emanating from their bodies felt a little awkward.

The three of them then spent another hour stabilizing their power before they finally managed to suppress the incredibly dense Vitality Power emanating from them.

Afterward, Chen Yuan told Cui Xuanye and Lu Chuanshan about the Longevity Hall, and the three of them headed straight for it.

As Chen Yuan and the other two were on their way, a Red Lotus enveloped in dim Chaos Power slowly rotated within the endless void.

The Red Lotus was magnificent and enormous, with forty-nine petals. Each petal was inscribed with complex and intricate runes that would make anyone who glanced at them feel dizzy.

However, of those forty-nine petals, more than half were damaged and missing, as if they had been forcefully torn off.

At that moment, in the center of the lotus petals, the Red Lotus Willpower surged, slowly forming a human face.

The face seemed male and female, old and young, like a Buddha and a Daoist. It was a single visage with a thousand expressions, constantly changing, before finally settling into one of pure fury.

“Who dares to devour my True Spirit!?”

The face on the Red Lotus roared, yet its voice was a soft whisper that sounded like both a Brahma Sound and a Taoist Scripture.

A moment later, the face on the Red Lotus suddenly shuddered, a look of disbelief in its eyes. “Him!? Impossible! He’s already dead! Completely vanished from this world, without even a trace of his True Spirit left behind!”

Then, four arms extended from around the face. Two were posed as if a Buddha was delicately holding a flower, while the other two formed Daoist Techniques for divination. Profound Red Lotus Willpower overflowed from it.

After a moment, the face on the Red Lotus heaved a sigh of relief. “It’s not him. It’s just a coincidence. The power signature and the Primordial Spirit Mark are both different.”

Then, the face became furious and savage once more. “To devour my True Spirit, kill my disciple, insult my Holy Sect, and defy my authority… you shall be purged by the Destructive Holy Fire, your flesh annihilated, your True Spirit extinguished!”

As its rage intensified, the Red Lotus began to spin rapidly. One of its petals suddenly broke off, transforming into a scarlet stream of light that flew into the Chaos, disappearing to an unknown destination.

Of course, Chen Yuan had no idea that the Red Lotus Saint Mother was fuming impotently in some extraterritorial land.

Whether it was a god or a demon, as long as it couldn’t appear before him in its true form, Chen Yuan had nothing to fear.

No matter how many more Holy Sons and Saintesses came, they would just be serving themselves up for slaughter.

By now, the three of them had passed through the Black Stone Valley and arrived in the space where the Longevity Hall was located.

Many places in the Endless Immortal Palace were named “Halls,” but they were actually small, independent worlds. Only the Longevity Hall was a true palace.

Upon stepping into the independent space of the Longevity Hall, they were greeted by a view of ethereal clouds and mist, with a majestic palace standing in the center.

The entire palace was built upon a foundation of Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade and Nine Heavens Profound Gold, giving it a platinum sheen. It was over a hundred zhang tall and a thousand zhang wide, shrouded in clouds and mist, truly resembling a celestial palace.

However, in front of the Longevity Hall, several dozen Martial Artists were currently fighting a group of ‘Celestial Soldiers and Generals’.

These Celestial Soldiers and Generals wore ornate suits of armor, their faces covered by visors. They wielded various weapons, the worst of which were Earth Soldiers, with some even at the Celestial Soldier Level.

When they attacked, there was no flow of True Qi whatsoever; they used only the purest physical strength.

But their strength was astonishing. Some unwary Martial Artists were directly sliced in two by these Celestial Soldiers and Generals.

Furthermore, their Battle Armor could defend against True Qi attacks, while their own weapons could tear through Protective True Qi. Thus, the hundred or so Celestial Soldiers and Generals on the field were currently overwhelming the Martial Artists present.

Chen Yuan scanned the area and saw that his people were among them. Gu Lichuan, Luo Lie, and Yue Ling’Er were there, as was Chu Hongshang.

However, among all the Martial Artists present, very few could actually harm these Celestial Soldiers and Generals.

Only Gu Lichuan and Luo Lie, along with Ming Chong of the Vajra Prajna Temple, could truly kill these Celestial Soldiers and Generals one-on-one. The rest, even Chu Hongshang, could only do their best to resist but found it difficult to land a killing blow.

Just then, Gu Lichuan unleashed three sword strikes at once, finally tearing through the Battle Armor of a Celestial Soldier. But what was revealed underneath wasn’t flesh and blood—or rather, not purely flesh and blood.

Not a single drop of blood flowed from the Celestial Soldier’s wound. Instead, a golden liquid brimming with astonishing Spiritual Qi trickled out. Its body contained no Meridians or bones, but a metal skeleton and something resembling plant roots, all still encased in flesh-like tissue.

Chen Yuan frowned slightly. ‘What is this thing?’

“These are the Flesh Puppets refined by the Endless Immortal Palace, the Celestial Soldiers and Generals in charge of guarding the Longevity Hall.”

“The Endless Immortal Palace believed all its disciples would eventually achieve immortality and live forever, so they couldn’t be used for menial guard duty. That’s why they created these Flesh Puppets to serve as their Celestial Soldiers and Generals.”

“These Flesh Puppets are a grand culmination of various arts: Arrays, Qi Refining, Alchemy, Puppetry Technique, the Blood and Flesh Secret Technique, and many other Secret Techniques of the Endless Immortal Palace.”

“It’s only because ten thousand years have passed and much of the Golden Spirit Jade Liquid that serves as their energy source has evaporated or been consumed that the strength of these Celestial Soldiers and Generals has weakened by ninety percent.”

“According to ancient records, at their peak in antiquity, these Celestial Soldiers and Generals guarding the Longevity Hall had strength comparable to a Primordial Pill Realm Grandmaster.”

Behind Chen Yuan, Qingchen had appeared from the passage at some point.

He seemed to have noticed Chen Yuan’s confusion and quietly explained.

“At its peak, how many of these Flesh Puppets did the Endless Immortal Palace have?”

Qingchen shrugged. “As long as they had enough materials, they could make as many as they wanted.”

“Nowadays, the Primordial Pill Realm is known as the level of a Martial Arts Grandmaster. Yet in ancient times, they were inferior to even puppets. Frightening, isn’t it?”

“So there are definitely more than a hundred Flesh Puppets inside the Longevity Hall. Even if we could kill all of these, more would just run out from inside. Heaven knows how many guards the people of the Endless Immortal Palace prepared for themselves.”

“So, how about we join forces and deal with these Flesh Puppets first?”

“How does Daoist Qingchen propose we join forces?”

Qingchen looked at a gateway on the left side of the Longevity Hall and said in a low voice, “That’s where these Flesh Puppets are stored. I have the Taiyi Sealing Array from the Yellow Court Temple. If we can successfully set it up, we can seal the gateway where the Flesh Puppets are stored for a short time.”

“However, although these Flesh Puppets lack sentience, they have powerful combat instincts engraved into them by an Array. The moment I get near the gateway, I’ll inevitably face a frenzied assault from them.”

“Therefore, I need that peerless swordsman, Brother Gu, and Brother Luo of the Sun-Swapping Alliance to draw their fire and clear a path for me to approach the gateway.”

“Brother Cui from Celestial Official City will assist me in setting up the Array. Finally, when a large wave of Flesh Puppets emerges from the gateway, Master Ming Chong and you, Brother Chen, will strike. You must use your absolute power to obliterate the Flesh Puppets about to swarm out, not letting a single one escape. Only then can we successfully set up the Array and seal it.”

As Qingchen spoke, a peculiar look appeared in his eyes as he gazed at Chen Yuan.

Unknowingly, within the entire Endless Immortal Palace, Chen Yuan’s group had become the most powerful faction.

No matter what plan he devised, he needed Chen Yuan and his people’s cooperation to succeed.

Although on the outside, Chen Yuan seemed to have made countless enemies, appearing as someone everyone wanted to kill, he actually had a considerable network of connections as well.

Chen Yuan looked back at Cui Xuanye, who nodded at him, indicating that Qingchen’s plan was feasible. At the same time, he sent a secret voice transmission: “The Taiyi Sealing Array of the Yellow Court Temple is an extremely high-level sealing Grand Array. The Yellow Court Temple even used it to suppress rioting Divine Artifact Demon Soldiers. Using it to temporarily seal the gateway for these Flesh Puppets should be no problem.”

“Setting aside Daoist Qingchen’s combat prowess for a moment, his power reserves are astounding.”

“The energy consumption in the instant an Array of this level is deployed is staggering. Even a Primordial Pill Realm Array Dao Grandmaster could have their power completely drained in a flash.”

“Yet he’s confident he can deploy an Array of this level. His power reserves are terrifyingly deep.”

Chen Yuan nodded and said, “Daoist Qingchen’s plan is good. I have no problem with it. The main issue lies with that Monk from the Vajra Prajna Temple.”

Chen Yuan had actually wanted to say “bald donkey.”

But then he thought that cursing a “bald donkey” in front of a Daoist might be like calling Daoists “ox-noses,” so he changed his wording.

Qingchen smiled gently. “Brother Chen, the misunderstanding between you and Master Ming Chong runs rather deep. In truth, although Master Ming Chong has a fiery temper, he despises evil.”

“Then I suppose I’m the evil he hates.”

Chen Yuan said coolly, “The Vajra Prajna Temple is used to being tyrannical. Whoever they say is evil, is evil.”

“I never wanted to be an enemy of the Vajra Prajna Temple. It’s just that this bunch of Monks insists on making an enemy of me.”

Qingchen shook his head helplessly. He had no intention of resolving the conflict between the two.

With a flash of movement, Qingchen appeared before Ming Chong and said something. A moment later, Ming Chong shot Chen Yuan a vicious glare but still chose to nod in agreement.

After the incident with Han Chang, he was less resistant to the idea of joining forces with Chen Jiutian.

Although his Vajra Prajna Temple had a grudge against this Chen Jiutian, at least Chen Jiutian hadn’t betrayed and sneak-attacked them like Han Chang.

Since everyone had decided to join forces against the enemy, Chen Yuan said no more. He just called over Gu Lichuan and the others to explain the situation.

Once everyone was on the same page, Qingchen took out a huge Array Plate from his Qiankun Bag.

Normally, Array Plates are miniaturized arrays designed for portability. Most are only palm-sized, and one or two chi across is already considered large.

But the Array Plate Qingchen took out was a full zhang wide. Heaven knows how large the capacity of his Qiankun Bag was to be able to store such a massive Array Plate.

“Brother Cui, help me activate the Array Plate.”

Cui Xuanye nodded and immediately formed a Seal Technique, pouring his power into the Array Plate.

Qingchen also formed a Daoist Technique. In an instant, a vast amount of Dao Essence Power poured into the Array Plate, unleashing an Array Power several times greater than Cui Xuanye’s.

Chen Yuan glanced at Qingchen. ‘This man’s power reserves are even greater than what he has shown.’