Chapter 441: Detonating All the Explosives

Xu Lei immediately used the Round Tube Magical Artifact from before to teleport it all away. He sent all the spoils back to the cave on the ground beneath the Celestial Palace where he stashed his things.

Xu Lei had tested it before. This Spatial Magical Artifact was still pretty badass; it could even teleport things through the Celestial Palace. Of course, it could only teleport items, not people.

And just as Xu Lei finished, a voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire Secret Realm. It was the AI-like Artifact Spirit of the Celestial Palace speaking.

It announced that Xu Lei, Zhao Xin, and Qing Lian had all passed the trial of the Second Heaven and could ascend to the Third Heaven.

This was because the three of them had lasted long enough after entering and hadn’t frozen to death.

The Celestial Palace’s Artifact Spirit, despite having a certain level of intelligence, was not human-like. It still operated based on a set of procedures.

It had ignored Jue Gen being killed, as well as the fight between Jue Gen and Xu Lei.

But now that Xu Lei, Zhao Xin, and Qing Lian had passed the trial, it reacted.

‘It’s as if their actions had triggered a command in its programming. Of course, this is just my understanding; I don’t know the actual principles behind it,’ Xu Lei thought.

Afterward, the three of them were teleported out, returning to the assembly area for the Second Heaven’s trial.

Then, the AI-like Artifact Spirit of the Celestial Palace sent down a small vial of Spiritual Liquid for each of them.

Naturally, the three of them accepted it.

Afterward, three spiral staircases descended.

Without a word, the three of them stepped onto the staircases, which took them straight to the Third Heaven.

They had arrived at the third layer of the Ninefold Celestial Treasure Tower.

Although Xu Lei knew that killing Jue Gen would definitely bring Yuan Kong’s insane retaliation, he didn’t care.

‘First, let’s get to the Third Heaven and see what the situation is like.’

On this day, to Xu Lei’s surprise, he saw a familiar face not long after he arrived: Hui Ming.

Hui Ming was actually here on the Third Heaven, stuck.

Hui Ming now looked to be around fifty years old.

After all, he had Ascended many years ago.

Back when he finished Crossing Tribulation and Ascending, he had actually de-aged to look about forty.

But now, he had aged back to around fifty.

This was because the Spiritual Mist inside the Ninefold Celestial Treasure Tower had extended his lifespan and slowed his aging process.

At this moment, however, Hui Ming didn’t recognize Xu Lei. After all, Xu Lei had been reincarnated many times.

Hui Ming had never known that Xu Lei could reincarnate.

However, Hui Ming of course recognized his own daughter, Zhao Xin. He immediately rushed over, his eyes filled with tears as he stared at Zhao Xin in disbelief.

Although Zhao Xin no longer looked like the fourteen-year-old girl she once was, but rather a mature woman of about thirty, she was still his daughter. Her facial features hadn’t changed, nor had her build, so of course he recognized her.

Tears also welled up in Zhao Xin’s beautiful eyes as she looked at Hui Ming. “Father,” she cried, and the two embraced.

Qing Lian stood by, stunned for a moment. Zhao Xin had never told her about her father.

Of course, Qing Lian quickly understood. She had seen familial relationships like fathers and daughters or mothers and sons among the Ascenders before.

“Father, this is my Dao Companion, Liao Chen.” Zhao Xin then introduced Xu Lei to Hui Ming.

She didn’t reveal that Xu Lei was the reincarnation of Wu Tan.

After all, Xu Lei had said that the fewer people who knew about this, the better.

“Junior Brother Liao Chen, thank you for taking care of my daughter.” Hui Ming didn’t object, simply smiling as he spoke.

“It’s an honor, Senior Brother Hui Ming. I’ve long heard Senior Sister Jin Xin speak of you,” Xu Lei said with a smile.

Although Xu Lei was tempted to reveal that he was the Wu Tan of the past, he thought better of it and decided against it.

‘Just exchanging a few pleasantries like this is good enough. After all, I’m already a dead man. Yuan Kong will never let me go.’

At that moment, Xu Lei noticed a female cultivator, also around forty years old, standing behind Hui Ming. He guessed she was likely Hui Ming’s Dao Companion.

‘After so many years in the Ninefold Celestial Treasure Tower, Hui Ming must have gotten lonely and found himself a Dao Companion.’

And sure enough, Hui Ming introduced her as such shortly after.

Zhao Xin, in turn, introduced Qing Lian to Hui Ming.

Qing Lian also exchanged a few words with Hui Ming.

Just as Zhao Xin was about to tell Hui Ming about Xu Lei killing Jue Gen and discuss the matter with him—though Xu Lei felt it would be useless.

‘Hui Ming is stuck on the Third Heaven; he probably can’t help much anyway.’

But unexpectedly, at that very moment, Yuan Kong appeared, flying into view.

High above the Third Heaven, his face twisted with rage, he roared the name “Liao Chen” and shot toward Xu Lei.

Xu Lei, however, just turned and calmly watched the approaching Yuan Kong.

He had long been mentally prepared for this.

“Get back,” Xu Lei sent a telepathic message to Qing Lian and Zhao Xin.

“Senior Brother Yuan Kong, are you here to kill me?” Xu Lei then dashed forward a few steps to put distance between himself and Qing Lian and Zhao Xin before stopping and speaking deliberately.

“My son, Jue Gen, did you kill him?”

Yuan Kong roared in fury, “I placed a Jade Token on him! I could feel it when he died! How dare you murder a fellow disciple within the Celestial Palace?! You’ve violated the Celestial Palace’s rules! I will act on behalf of the Saint Master and erase you!”

“I did kill him. So what.”

Xu Lei replied coldly, “Yuan Kong, don’t stand there acting all high and mighty. If you hadn’t given your son some strange Array to ambush and kill me in the Second Heaven’s trial Secret Realm, why would I have killed him in self-defense? You even said you would listen to the Venerable, stay out of this, and not make things difficult for us. And yes, you didn’t make things difficult for me—you just gave your son an Array instead. You gave him the plan, told him to ambush me, and ordered him to go for the kill. I had no choice but to fight back. The one who got your son killed wasn’t me—it was you!”

As Xu Lei was saying this, Yuan Kong bellowed, “Shut up!”

Then he charged ferociously, intent on killing Xu Lei.

But Xu Lei stepped on his Lotus Treasure Fragments and shot into the air, dodging Yuan Kong’s attack.

At this moment, the exchange between Xu Lei and Yuan Kong, as well as the commotion they were causing, had left every Ascender on the Third Heaven completely stunned.

Many who had been in their Cultivation Rooms or resting in their houses, who hadn’t planned on going out, now swarmed out to watch.

It was only then that Xu Lei noticed there were actually quite a few Ascenders on the Third Heaven.

A quick glance revealed several hundred of them.

He had no idea what dynasties they came from.

“Is that guy crazy? He actually provoked Senior Brother Yuan Kong?”

“He killed Senior Brother Yuan Kong’s son? What a badass!”

“Didn’t you hear him? He said he was forced to kill in self-defense.”

“Senior Brother Yuan Kong does dote on his son excessively. It’s entirely possible.”

“That was Senior Brother Yuan Kong’s only son. This guy is a dead man for sure.”

“But this Liao Chen is so young, and he’s already on the Third Heaven. His aptitude must be incredible. Shouldn’t he be a prized seedling for grooming?”

“He has a promising future, right? If Senior Brother Yuan Kong kills him, won’t the Venerable and the Saint Master be furious?”

“This Liao Chen is just a seedling who *might* pass the trials of the Nine Heavens. But Yuan Kong is someone who has *already* passed. Who has more value? Who do you think the Venerable and the Saint Master will side with?”

“Either way, this Liao Chen is done for.”

The onlookers were all buzzing with discussion.

Zhao Xin wanted to rush out and help, but Qing Lian held her back.

After all, Xu Lei had instructed them before to let him bear all responsibility.

“I’ll kill you!”

Yuan Kong, his eyes bloodshot, had now caught up to Xu Lei. “And then I’ll go beg forgiveness from the Venerable and the Saint Master. Brat, you die today!”

He didn’t even bother to refute Xu Lei’s accusation of him being high and mighty.

He was simply determined to kill Xu Lei by brute force.

Once again, he summoned the same giant palm as before and swatted at Xu Lei.

“Yuan Kong, you think I’m afraid of you?”

At this, Xu Lei also roared, “You want to kill me? Then I’ll take you down with me!”

After all, the previous two times Yuan Kong had killed him, it was only because he hadn’t had explosives on him.

This time, he had barely used any explosives when killing Jue Gen, and he still had plenty left in his storage space.

Therefore, instead of retreating, Xu Lei charged forward, shooting through the air.

This unexpected advance allowed Xu Lei to dodge the swat of Yuan Kong’s giant palm.

He then rushed into close proximity with Yuan Kong.

“Come on, let’s die together.”

Xu Lei roared as he charged Yuan Kong.

He detonated the massive amount of explosives he was carrying!