Chapter 666 - 360: Ancient King Retreats from the World, Morning Star Reigns Supreme

"Su Chen shattered the King’s Shadow with Tier Seven strength, yet he wasn’t recognized by a single dragon. Xiao Linfeng barely held on until now and seemed on the verge of losing to Han Xingliu, but he surprisingly gained a dragon’s recognition."

"Yeah, it’s truly strange..."

"..."

The voices were faint, and it was unclear who was speaking, but to Xiao Linfeng’s ears, they were no less than a resounding thunderclap.

"Su Chen shattered the King’s Shadow? What does that mean?" He swallowed hard. Could the King’s Shadow even be shattered? Furthermore, he had already advanced to Tier Seven? The amount of information wrapped up in those discussions was simply too much. Xiao Linfeng’s mind was already exhausted, and for a moment, he froze.

Yet, a faint sense of realization dawned on him—no wonder they were standing in such a formation; they must have been congratulating him. No wonder Sheng Huaixu and the others had that kind of look in their eyes. With such an unbelievable performance, Su Chen wasn’t recognized, but he was. It was also no wonder that Hanhai Emperor had yanked him out without hesitation. After all, the Star Head had already been born; whether he continued or not held no meaning.

"Then why wasn’t Su Chen recognized?" Thinking of this, Xiao Linfeng felt a bit of doubt in his heart. But then he secretly shook his head. The Spiritual nature was just like that—unfathomable. There had to be a reason why Su Chen wasn’t recognized.

Qin Yun stared at the weak Xiao Linfeng before him and asked in his mind, "If Su Chen couldn’t easily get recognized, what use do you have for his body? You’d be better off with this Xiao Linfeng."

Sun, however, did not think so. "You are dead wrong. Although I don’t know why Su Chen wasn’t recognized, it’s definitely not because the Spirit of Sun looked down on him. There’s another reason. As long as I get his body, I have my own ways to make him gain recognition and even be chosen."

"Moreover..." Sun shifted his tone, "Su Chen not getting recognized might not be a bad thing. It saves me a lot of effort. If only Su Chen had gained recognition, I would have had to rack my brains to keep him here. But now, this insignificant little guy doesn’t matter. Get ready!"

Qin Yun froze, a bad premonition rising in his heart. "Get ready for what?"

In the next instant, he saw the purple flame suspended to the side suddenly surge. Immediately after, with lightning speed, it darted toward Xiao Linfeng, who was close at hand.

Hanhai Emperor’s eyes narrowed slightly, and the other Ancient Kings also seemed to notice something.

Just as they were about to intervene, Sun’s voice rang out: "If you want to open a pathway without angering the Spirit of Sun, it must be done within these ten minutes of recognition, while that faint connection is still present."

The Ancient Kings frowned deeply; Sun had never mentioned this before.

Xiao Linfeng caught a flash in his peripheral vision. Before he could fully come to his senses, he saw a ball of flame rushing straight at him and plunging into his body.

Before he could even react, his pupils shrank uncontrollably. His entire body felt as if it had been plunged into a sea of fire. His skin, flesh, and bones were melting. His hair and beard whipped upward as he threw his head back and roared at the sky. A purple Fire Pillar erupted from his throat, piercing straight into the sky.

Qin Yun panted heavily, strands of mist-like Flowing Light wreathing his body and gradually merging into that pillar of light.

"What are you doing?" Hanhai Emperor’s voice was cold and stern.

From within the flames, Sun’s voice drifted out: "Naturally, I am using the recognized one as a sacrifice to open the pathway."

"As a sacrifice? You’re going to kill him?" Profound Celestial Ancient King looked displeased.

Sun seemed puzzled. "Do you care about this person? He doesn’t seem to belong to any of your factions. The spiritual sacrifice has already begun; if you want to interrupt it, you’d better act now."

"This isn’t the method you mentioned before," Hanhai Emperor said with dissatisfaction.

Sun explained, "That method was a bit too tedious. This person doesn’t seem important, and aren’t you all in a hurry?"

Hanhai Emperor fell silent and glanced downward. Even with Su Chen’s exceptional performance, he had failed to succeed, yet somehow Xiao Linfeng had gained recognition. Finding another one? Even if they turned the Dust Star Sea upside down, there was no guarantee they could find another. What he cared about was not Xiao Linfeng, but the fact that Sun had done something beyond their expectations. However, he did not stop Sun from continuing.

"What’s happening?" Xiao Linfeng’s miserable screams echoed out, leaving the crowd below in a state of shock and uncertainty.

"Feng’er!"

At the edge of the crowd, the old man who had previously looked extremely excited now froze. Just as he was about to leap up, he felt an unfathomable power forcefully pin him in place, rendering him immobile. A flash of terror darted across his eyes.

"What is that thing?"

Someone pointed upward. They saw that the world-spanning purple pillar of light had torn open a purple vortex in the starry sky, which was gradually expanding. At its center, a rift faintly opened. It wasn’t large, but a boundless expanse of palaces could vaguely be seen through it.

"It actually opened?" Su Chen’s brow twitched slightly. Unlike last time, the Spirit of Sun truly showed no reaction this time; it was extremely quiet. "This Residual Spirit..." He paused. Having already witnessed the Residual Spirit’s methods, he wasn’t too surprised. "However, Xiao Linfeng’s fate doesn’t seem too good." Hearing the other party’s voice gradually fade away—clearly not a sign of improvement—Su Chen couldn’t help but shrink back a little.

Zhenwu Ancient King looked up, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "Everyone, I’ll go on ahead!"

He couldn’t wait any longer. Leaping into the air as if shouldering the entire sky, he dragged a mighty storm along with him and plunged directly into the pathway.

"Zhenwu!" Hanhai Emperor shouted sternly, but it was too late.

Holy Cauldron Ancient King’s eyes flickered, and he sighed. "Everyone, I am going as well."

He was the oldest. Although he hadn’t reached the end of his lifespan, the succession of Ancient Kings couldn’t wait until one was at death’s door. A suitable successor had to be chosen in advance, and he had to use his own influence on the Spiritual to make them the Chosen One. Then, when no one was aware, he would sacrifice himself to give his successor the chance to advance. Everything had to be done in secret. In reality, he didn’t have much time left.

With two people already plunging inside, Star Dome Ancient King’s eyes flashed slightly. His figure was enveloped in starlight, and he disappeared silently.

"These guys..." Profound Celestial Ancient King looked helplessly at the two remaining in front of him, then also transformed into a streak of Flowing Light and plunged into the channel.

Down below, only Bronze Ancient King and Hanhai Emperor remained.

"Hurry, this won’t hold for much longer."

A voice came from within the Fire Pillar. In just a brief moment, Xiao Linfeng had been burned to ashes. The pillar of light was shrinking, and the pathway was shrinking along with it.

Hanhai Emperor’s eyes flickered, looking somewhat infuriated. "Damn it!" He grabbed the ball of flames and dove straight into the channel.

Without anything to sustain it, the pathway abruptly shrank.

Bronze Ancient King sighed softly in his heart. With a flick of his finger, he shot out a streak of Flowing Light that landed at the Creation Copper Heart Department. In the instant the pathway completely disappeared, he plunged into it as well.

All of this happened in a flash. By the time the crowd recovered their wits, the pillar of light had already dissipated. The six Moonlight Tier powerhouses, who were supreme beings in the Dust Star Sea, had long vanished without a trace.

They all went in?

Su Chen’s heart trembled slightly. He could see that several of them hadn’t wanted to enter so hastily, but since Zhenwu Ancient King and the others had already gone in, they couldn’t just stand by and watch. They could only be swept along and enter as well.

While the others had yet to process what happened, Su Chen had a decent understanding of the sequence of events. He couldn’t help but wonder in his heart, "Was the Residual Spirit’s only goal to send those few into the Flame Space? And then what? Besides, it’s easy to get in, but hard to get out."

His eyes flickered. The Fire-igniting Ash Energy consumed to exit the Flame Space was about the same as entering it, meaning the difficulty of both was similar. Since the Ancient Kings found it difficult to force their way in, they would naturally find it difficult to force their way out. Moreover, there were no recognized ones inside to clear a path for them.

Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. "Could it be that I’m overthinking it? The Residual Spirit’s goal is actually very simple—it just wants to send these Ancient Kings inside."

Su Chen frowned deeply. If the six Moonlight Tier experts couldn’t come out for the time being, who knew how many unforeseen events it would trigger... But as he thought about it, his expression gradually became odd. This didn’t seem like a bad thing. Of the six Moonlight Tier experts, only Bronze Ancient King treated him well. The other five were by no means good people.

He had quite a few secrets. Putting everything else aside, just the exposure of his identity as the ’unknown expert’ would originally mean facing threats up to the Ancient King level. Even if his nominal master fought one against five, the disadvantage would be huge. But now... if the Dust Stars reigned supreme, he glanced at the numerous trump cards on his interface—his methods of dealing with the situation were plenty.