The air at the Northern Border of the Tianyuan Continent trembled violently, carrying a chill capable of freezing the blood of ordinary practitioners. Above the shattered stone hills left behind by the battlefield, dozens of gigantic flying warships hovered rigidly in the air. Magnificent flags bearing the emblems of the Three Great Sects—the Sky God Sect, the Immortal Sword Sect, and the Green Cloud Sect—fluttered proudly in the night wind.
More than fifty senior elders clad in gold and white robes stood in formation, hovering in midair. Each of them radiated a terrifying aura ranging from the Pure Soul Realm to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. The Heaven and Earth Slaughtering Array, composed of thousands of mystical swords, had already been deployed, surrounding the dimensional rift to the Demon Realm as it began to shake violently.
"Watch every movement!" shouted the Grand Envoy of the Sky God Sect, the same man Xiao Chen had rejected earlier. His eyes were fixed on the dimensional rift, filled with hatred and vigilance. "That young demon has been inside the Demon Realm for several days. If he hasn't already been chopped to pieces by Demon King Mo Zun, then he must have allied himself with the demon clan to invade our continent!"
"Exactly!" agreed the Great Elder of the Immortal Sword Sect, an old man with silver hair and a massive sword hovering behind his back. "That young man is incredibly arrogant and poses a threat to the order of the Tianyuan Continent. The moment he shows himself, we'll activate the Slaughtering Array and crush him into ashes!"
Suddenly, the enormous dimensional rift above the northern sky was forcibly split in two!
*CRACK! BOOOOOM!*
A streak of purplish-golden light shot out of the rift at tremendous speed, destroying the center of the Heaven and Earth Slaughtering Array in the blink of an eye! Hundreds of mystical swords protecting the formation exploded into fine fragments. An incredibly powerful wave of soul pressure swept across the entire fleet of flying warships, causing the ten warships at the front to lose their balance and crash into one another!
"AAGHHH!" The hysterical screams of the elite disciples echoed as the energy shockwave hurled their bodies into the air.
Through the smoke of the dimensional explosion, a golden-eyed young man descended gracefully through the air. Not a speck of dust stained his black-and-gold robes. Xiao Chen gazed coldly and contemptuously at the dozens of Great Elders surrounding him, as though the strongest experts on the continent were nothing more than piles of paving stones.
"You've prepared quite a grand welcome for me," Xiao Chen's voice echoed flatly, yet it was powerful enough to make everyone's eardrums tremble.
The Grand Envoy of the Sky God Sect stepped forward and pointed at Xiao Chen with a trembling finger. "Demon brat! You finally dared to come out! Tell me, where is Demon King Mo Zun? Did you sell your soul to the demon clan to obtain that forbidden power?!"
Xiao Chen let out a mocking chuckle, a cold laugh that made the elders' hair stand on end.
"Mo Zun?" Xiao Chen raised his right hand, revealing a trace of sulfurous black ash remaining in his palm. "The Demon King you fear has already become fertilizer in his own palace. His energy core has now merged with my cultivation pathways."
"WHAT?!"
Xiao Chen's casual statement sent the entire battlefield into an uproar! Killing Demon King Mo Zun in his own domain was something even the three leaders of the Three Great Sects could not accomplish together!
"Lies! Don't let this brat's bluff affect you!" roared the Great Elder of the Immortal Sword Sect. "He's only bluffing! Release the Array's full power! Kill this brat right now!"
The fifty senior elders moved as one. Various high-level techniques—heavenly lightning, enormous sword slashes, and fire dragons—were launched toward Xiao Chen simultaneously. The night sky instantly blazed with the explosions of thousands of lethal energies.
However, Xiao Chen neither moved nor tried to evade the attacks. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes and crossed both hands in front of his chest.
"It's time..." Xiao Chen whispered softly.
*BZZZZZZT!*
The Qi Lake within Xiao Chen's body, which had already reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, Seventh Level, suddenly began spinning madly. The massive energy absorbed from Mo Zun's Demon Core and his mother's treasured artifact condensed at the center of his Dantian. The lake of energy compressed, crystallized, and radiated golden light that pierced through every pore in his skin!
*BOOOOOM!*
Thick black clouds gathered above the borderlands. Purplish-golden Heavenly Tribulation Lightning streaked across the sky amid deafening thunder. An incomparably mighty pressure from the natural order descended upon Xiao Chen, destroying all the attacks from the fifty sect elders before they could even touch his robes!
"Heavenly Tribulation Lightning?!" cried the Great Elder of the Green Cloud Sect, his face deathly pale. "He... he's breaking through to the Golden Core Realm in the middle of battle?!"
"Not an ordinary Golden Core!" the Grand Envoy of the Sky God Sect whispered shakily. "This lightning aura... This is the Ancient God-Demon Golden Core, which appears only once every million years!"
Amid the raging Heavenly Tribulation Lightning, Xiao Chen opened his eyes, which now radiated flawless, pure golden light. A fist-sized Golden Core marked with the symbols of a dragon and a demon floated above his head, absorbing every bolt of heavenly lightning and transforming it into its own energy!
[Golden Core Realm, First Level!] [Golden Core Realm, Second Level!] [Golden Core Realm, Third Level... Perfectly Formed!]
Xiao Chen's aura exploded like that of a war god newly awakened from a long slumber. He looked down at the dozens of elders from the Three Great Sects, who were now kneeling in terror beneath the pressure of his Golden Core.
"Now..." Xiao Chen said as he drew the God-Demon Sword from his back, "it's time to settle the score with your blustering sects!"