Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 1437 The Vast Expanse of the Universe Today

Ming Chengzi originally thought that there was little hope of capturing or killing Emperor Wenguang, because the latter's ascension to immortality was tantamount to abandoning the entire old dynasty.

As for the Great Shun, they only need to wait for him to leave to smoothly take over Youdu, and even the entire Old Dynasty. There's no need for them to rush to fight Emperor Wenguang, who is protected by many immortals and gods.

If he were to incite others, he might not end up in a good position, so he took the initiative to back down.

But now Chen Chuan was determined to destroy them, and he was also excited.

He immediately bowed respectfully and said, "Since Xuanji wishes to restore order to the land and cleanse the world, what do I have to fear? I will help Xuanji break this ritual, fight against the immortals and gods, and destroy the false emperor!"

Chen Chuan nodded slightly and said, "Master Gao, this battle is not just between you and me."

He looked at the nearly twenty fighters from the Dongxuan Temple behind him, "With so many comrades helping us, what is there to fear from those extraterrestrial demons, false gods, and fake immortals?"

Ming Chengzi's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and a surge of heroic spirit welled up within him. He said, "Exactly! Xuanji, just watch my methods."

Their mental conversations may seem lengthy, but the information exchange is extremely rapid, lasting only a moment.

On the other side, Ming Chengzi took out a dragon-shaped incense burner from his sleeve, made a few strokes at his brow, drew out a bit of spiritual light and put it into the burner, then lifted it up.

He was really determined; if he had just followed the established procedure to break the ritual, it might have taken quite some time.

This is a relic he brought from the sect. It was created by combining several relics using the Fulong Sect's techniques. It can connect to a field that matches the secret ritual, with one end extending into the real world, so that everyone can enter it.

However, this requires a large amount of rare materials collected by the predecessors of the Fulong Sect. These materials are used up as they are used, so the price to pay may be that this treasure can no longer be used.

But the sooner they break through, the more opportunities they can gain, so he no longer cares about that.

As he commanded, a stream of mist spewed from the dragon's mouth, rushing towards the secret ritual object. Where the mist passed, a passage seemed to appear in the place that had previously seemed to be separated from the world they inhabited.

Upon seeing this, Ming Chengzi immediately sent his clones inside to show that passage was possible. At the same time, he pointed and shouted, "Xuanji, this path leads to the inner chamber of the secret ritual!"

Chen Chuandi nodded, placed his hand on the hilt of the Snow Lord's Blade, and said to the crowd, "Everyone, follow me!"

He leaped forward, transforming into a beam of light and rushing into the passage, followed by more than ten Dongxuan Temple fighters who also transformed into beams of light.

Once inside, it felt as if you had entered a void.

This is because although they broke through the ritual and were able to go deep inside, they also rushed into that anomaly.

This place can be considered an independent space, because it involves the aspiration to ascend to immortality, so looking around, it seems as if there is a real void, magnificent and vast, infinitely wide.

Ming Chengzi then positioned himself behind Chen Chuan so that he could be informed of any developments at any time. He then transmitted a message mentally:
"This method uses a secret ritual to manipulate the upper levels and utilizes the inner demons to facilitate communication, thus constructing this path to immortality. This method could only be established with the assistance of people from the Xuanmen sect."

At this moment, he couldn't help but think of that young Xuan Shi. That person was suspected to be a disciple of the Duan Chen Sect, so it was very likely that it was a method used by the Duan Chen Sect.

Chen Chuan looked ahead and saw a beam of light that stood out in the distance. It was a spiral-shaped pillar of light that, from their perspective, gradually narrowed from bottom to top and led to an unknowable place.

Within that vortex of light, one could see many immortals and gods surrounding a carriage as it ascended.

The carriage was the first to head towards the upper level, like a beacon. Unless it was eliminated, this thing could not be removed. Behind it, there was a purplish-red ball of light, and you could vaguely see a person standing inside.

After taking a few glances, Ming Chengzi said with certainty, "Xuanji, that must be Emperor Wenguang."

I suspect that Emperor Wenguang is currently occupying the body of one of his princes. I don't know which prince it is, but he must be someone with a bloodline secret diagram, so that his divine aura can be protected from being disrupted.

Chen Chuan nodded, his eyes fixed on the figure. After observing for a moment, he urged his mind and suddenly accelerated, rushing towards the spot of the pillar of light. The person behind him quickly followed.

Although they were scattered far apart, in this boundless void, they still seemed like a cluster of flowing light gathered together.

However, they had only flown halfway when they suddenly heard various ethereal celestial sounds and chanting.

Looking up, they saw goddesses and immortals appearing in the void. These immortals and gods were all enormous, and they were passing through the middle of them.

The gods and immortals all looked down, their eyes revealing no emotion, creating an immense sense of oppression.

Chen Chuan merely glanced at it, maintaining his original direction and speed, and paid no attention to it.

The martial artists behind him followed without looking away, rushing forward like a rainbow. These were merely absurd representations of deities from an anomaly; though they appeared ordinary, they could not possibly possess divine power. Furthermore, most of them were ancient gods recorded in ancient texts, likely no longer existing.

Those true ancient gods should be protecting Emperor Wenguang at this moment, and they will naturally confront him later.

As they drew closer to the pillar of light, Ming Chengzi felt a certain accessory at his waist tremble. He immediately said in a low voice, "Xuanji, be careful."

Suddenly, a large patch of light appeared in Chen Chuan's eyes. It was a series of spiritual shocks rushing towards them, and the vast majority of them were heading towards him.

Upon seeing this, instead of retreating, he accelerated his ascent. Xuejun's sword was drawn with a clang, and at the same time, a huge phantom appeared behind him, holding a long mace in one hand and a long sword in the other, and charged forward.

With a single strike of his sword, he cleaved the spiritual impact in front of him, while his spiritual mace slashed left and right from behind, dispersing the impacts one by one, and his forward speed did not slow down at all.

From a distance, he appeared like a sharp arrow, tearing apart the ever-converging light and leading everyone forward.

But at that moment, the scenery in front of them suddenly disappeared, turning into a vast expanse of empty space. The group then discovered that the spiral beam of light had appeared behind them!

For a moment, it was unclear whether they had gone in the wrong direction from the start, or whether the other side was able to change its position.

At this moment, Ming Chengzi picked up the dragon furnace in his hand, swirled it around, and a thin wisp of smoke drifted out and pointed in a certain direction. He looked up and said, "Xuanji, go this way."

Chen Chuan knew this direction was correct because the remnant he had implanted inside his body suddenly heated up and also pointed in this direction.

After all, the things that Emperor Wenguang carried on his person must have been the most numerous and valuable, while the lost items were not affected by these factors.

So he followed the plume of smoke without hesitation, unaffected by the beam of light behind him, while the people behind him maintained absolute trust in him, none of them hesitating.

As they pressed on, the secret technique was broken, and the spiral beam of light reappeared in their direction.

Based on these two attacks, he also figured out the location and approximate number of those ancient gods. There were probably four of them, and maybe one or two more were hiding. There wouldn't be many more, and they might not even be willing to put in any effort.

Otherwise, with the addition of those former generals from the old dynasty, the combination of terrain and ritual would not be enough to fight a direct battle with them, nor would it be enough to hold them off for a longer period of time, allowing Emperor Wenguang to make arrangements more leisurely.

In other words, the lost items from earlier were used up; otherwise, they could have been released now to learn about the true nature of these ancient deities.

But it doesn't matter. Now that they have a numerical advantage, they can hold this group off as long as they engage. So we can confidently hand them over to our teammates later.

His only goal was Emperor Wenguang!

He focused his gaze on Emperor Wenguang within the pillar of light, listening to the information constantly being transmitted from Mingchengzi while rapidly analyzing it in his mind.

Judging from the methods he has shown before, he should be the one with the divine countenance, without a doubt.

He was familiar with the techniques of the Divine Appearance. Most of the methods used by those who had contact with the Old State Religion, or who were members of the Old State Religion, were similar to the legendary supernatural powers and spells.

This is normal, because the path of the divine form relies most on various secret teachings, which are usually accumulated over generations. Without these, one can only manipulate some separation and combination changes.

For Emperor Wenguang, being an emperor, finding these things would not have been difficult.

And since it needs a protective body, it must be either an alien form or a human form. Combining the two forms may result in greater power, which is its human advantage.

However, there is also a clear drawback: the ascension ceremony cannot be interrupted, which means that from the beginning to the end of the ceremony, Emperor Wenguang must stay obediently inside the pillar of light and cannot leave.

This means that the person must face his attack and has no way to dodge it.

This was a surprise attack, leaving no room for probing, but he didn't need to either. The advantage of his human nature became apparent at this moment; he didn't need to overthink things, just trust his own strength and unleash it.

Inside the pillar of light, Emperor Wenguang stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky, as if he were standing in the flow of the Milky Way. Behind him was the boundless deep space, dazzling and magnificent, with palaces and buildings below and a huge vortex above.

Once he crosses this threshold, he can use the lost artifacts to ascend to immortality and rise to a higher level.

But then he sensed something, turned his head and looked over, immediately noticed the crowd, his expression darkened slightly, and a strange light flashed in his eyes.

……

……

(End of this chapter)