Chapter Seventy-Two: The Realm of Ants, the Realm of Companions, the Realm of Elders

Four thousand miles along the Immortal Path, Xu Chen paused for the first time.

Before him stood a giant, ten feet tall, clad head to toe in silver armor, his hand resting on a black greatsword, radiating a fierce and intimidating aura. Xu Chen did not charge in recklessly.

"Kid, you’ve got some skill. To make it all the way here, you’ve earned the right to be my adversary."

The giant swung his massive sword, barreling toward Xu Chen like a heavy truck.

Xu Chen responded by unleashing his full strength, striking with his palm.

A phantom of raging waves and stormy seas appeared, a colossal surge crashing toward the giant.

"Waves Towering to the Sky!"

Like waves pounding upon rocks, the armored giant’s figure only faltered slightly.

He pressed forward, slashing his sword at Xu Chen.

Xu Chen evaded with ease, slipping past the giant and continuing on his way.

"I thought it’d be tougher than this!"

"Not even as challenging as the Six Forms of the Sacred Ape."

The giant's sword slammed into the earth, and then he seemed frozen in place.

Soon, blood began to seep from the gaps in his armor.

By then, Xu Chen’s figure had already vanished into the distance.

Outside the teleportation gate where Xu Chen emerged, Li Chengfu stared open-mouthed at the fallen armored giant.

"I still underestimated my brother’s strength!"

On the Path of Heaven, every thousand miles after the four-thousandth, one encounters a formidable gatekeeper.

At five thousand miles, a winged stranger hovered above Xu Chen, looking down with contempt.

"Another one? Have you decided how you want to die?"

The stranger suddenly beat his wings, sending dozens of feathers like flying blades toward Xu Chen. Their force was immense, embedding themselves deep in the earth after Xu Chen dodged.

The winged being darted through the sky at incredible speed, occasionally launching feathers to harass Xu Chen.

Xu Chen dodged the incoming feathers, studied the airborne opponent, and decided to withdraw from the Immortal Path.

He simply had no way to deal with this creature at the moment—he hadn’t brought any poison, nor had he prepared a bow.

So, for now, he had no means of handling this skyborne adversary.

Xu Chen stepped out from the teleportation gate, immediately met by a dozen or so people, their eyes alight.

"Brother, would you be interested in joining our Divine Wood Continent’s Tianshan Sect? Elder Xuanxian would take you as his disciple directly!"

"Brother, how about entering the Human Sovereign Continent’s sects? Join our Three Sources Chamber of Commerce, and we’ll arrange everything for you."

"How about the Illusory Flower Sect? It’s filled with sisters who can cultivate alongside you."

...

Xu Chen hadn’t even had time to react before he was surrounded, but soon Li Chengfu pulled him out of the crowd.

"They all saw it," Xu Chen asked.

"Yes, after you breezed through the four-thousand-mile checkpoint, they all caught wind and came running."

"If that winged race was easy to deal with, why not push a bit further?" Li Chengfu asked, puzzled.

"No point. I’ve learned some archery. Once I’m prepared, I can shoot it down at any time."

"Do you have a bow? Want me to gift you one?" Li Chengfu began rummaging through his storage pouch.

"No need. I’ll pick out something suitable from the Treasure Pavilion myself," Xu Chen quickly declined, not wanting to owe favors.

"Alright, let’s head to the Treasure Pavilion then."

Inside the Treasure Pavilion of the capital, Xu Chen spent fifty thousand spirit coins on a magical-grade bow, capable of withstanding the strength of thirty dragons, and acquired a hundred special arrows.

"Want to go back and give it a try?" Li Chengfu was curious to see how far Xu Chen could advance now.

"I’ll return to the sect to train for a while first. There’ll be another chance," Xu Chen thought, feeling that cultivation was more important at the moment.

Besides, he had just begun practicing the Sacred Sun Divine Body and hadn’t yet explored the Sacred White Space.

"Then let’s return to the sect."

The two took the Thunder Province capital’s teleportation array back to Daxi Sect.

Outside Xu Chen’s home, as he rode his Spirit Wind Bird down, he spotted a golden figure moving about on the small plaza.

"Senior Niu is back!"

The Spirit Wind Bird landed, and Xu Chen looked toward the distant golden figure.

The golden figure heard the commotion and turned to face Xu Chen.

"Senior Niu."

"Junior Xu!"

Xu Chen looked at Niu Dali, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time. Aside from a few new scars on his face and body, there was little change.

"Junior Xu, you’ve grown stronger," Niu Dali sensed the scorching vitality in Xu Chen, like the rising sun.

"We’re all making progress."

"Where’s Little Fox Yue? Isn’t he usually cultivating at this hour?" Xu Chen scanned the plaza.

"Chief Bai tailored a special task for him. He should be out on his assignment now," Niu Dali replied gruffly.

"It’s not easy to gather everyone," Xu Chen chuckled.

"Senior Niu, keep training. I’ll head home. Tomorrow, let’s cultivate together."

"Alright."

Back home, Xu Chen couldn't wait to enter the Sacred White Space.

Within the Sacred White Space, four doors stood around Xu Chen at the center.

In front of him towered a golden door, three yards wide and five yards tall, its frame and panels inscribed with intricate runes, radiating a sacred sun aura.

"Wow! A golden legend!"

"Looks like the doors go in order—wood, bronze, silver, gold. I wonder what comes next."

"Luckily, thanks to Brother Li, I was able to get started. Otherwise, I’d have no idea how much longer it would take to train."

Xu Chen pressed against the door, but it wouldn’t budge. He gradually increased his strength, and finally the door slowly opened.

Stepping through the golden door, Xu Chen was hit by an unimaginably scorching aura.

Sacred Sun Fire burned within this world; his avatar stood within it, back to Xu Chen.

Even from behind, Xu Chen sensed the avatar’s proud, aloof demeanor.

Xu Chen gently closed the door.

As it shut, a surge of Sacred Sun Fire, like a crimson dragon, engulfed Xu Chen, reducing him to ashes.

His consciousness condensed again in the Sacred White Space.

"So cold, doesn’t even say a word," Xu Chen remarked, looking at the golden door, then turned and entered the bronze door of the Cicada Metamorphosis Three Laws.

A paradise of mortals, a sea of seven-colored flowers. By the lakeside, a man identical to Xu Chen sat playing the zither, exuding an air of extreme elegance.

The music was gentle, like the warmth of March, like a spring stream flowing through the heart.

"Brother, that’s quite the refined mood," Xu Chen said, smiling as he approached.

"Not bad, but judging from your expression, you must’ve entered the golden door," the avatar stopped playing, took out a tea set, and invited Xu Chen to sit.

"Yes, as soon as I entered, the avatar didn’t say a word before burning me to ashes," Xu Chen complained.

"Three realms: the Ant Realm, the Fellow Daoist Realm, the Senior Realm."

"If a trivial insect blocks your path, you wouldn’t even spare it a glance—you’d step on it without hesitation."

The tea was brewed; the avatar pushed a fragrant cup to Xu Chen.

"So, it’s just a matter of being too weak."

"Still, it has a face, couldn’t it at least show a little respect?"