Chen Sheng pondered:

"The fortune of blue and red isn’t weak, but what level does it truly hold in this world?"

Luck has never had a fixed standard of measurement, and without comparing to others, it’s impossible to judge one’s own level.

He intended to expand the scope of his secret technique for Qi observation to watch the fortunes of others, when the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of something in the southeast direction.

There, an extremely faint strand of black Qi was quietly sneaking in, wrapped in malice like a venomous snake weaving through the web of fortune, aiming straight for the Pan Sword Sect, targeting the chamber where he was!

"Observing Qi to foresee disaster, this is an assassination attempt targeting me!"

Chen Sheng’s heart stirred, and with a gentle grip of his right hand, a green light darted out from his sleeve.

...

In Southeastern Qingzhou, by the Broken Soul Ridge.

This place is a desolate area on the border of two states, with grotesque rocks resembling fierce beast claws, dead trees inserted slantingly into rock crevices, even the wild grass carries the yellow death Qi.

The Treasure Mirror True Monarch suspended over a giant rock in the center of the ridge, surrounded by thirty-six palm-sized array banners floating up and down.

The banner faces were scarlet, painted with twisted flame runes, each banner nailed to a concealed Earth Vein node, faintly forming a surrounding posture.

"Using array to forge an array, borrowing the fire of the Earth Vein to create a channel, after forty-nine days of fruition, it will be the moment the Pan Sword Sect’s array breaks!"

The Treasure Mirror True Monarch muttered incantations, flicking sparks from his fingertips that landed on the array banners.

Each spark fused in, and the runes on the banner slightly brightened, thirty-six red lights surged out from the array banners, interwoven in the sky into a massive fire net.

Under the fire net, the ground of Broken Soul Ridge began to feel faintly hot, wisps of black smoke seeped out from the cracks, indicating the fire of the Earth Vein has been stirred.

He gazed towards the northwest at the Pan Sword Sect, his eyes fierce:

"Just a Sword Cultivator, how could they comprehend the intricacies of my array? Once the Mountain Protection Array is breached, what of the High Grade Golden Core? For the sect’s foundation, it must be killed!"

Before he could finish speaking, he swiftly executed a spell, thirty-six array banners simultaneously emitted a dazzling red light, enveloping him as if surrounded by a sea of fire.

"Oh? To kill me?"

A calm voice suddenly sounded from behind, breezy yet it made the True Monarch shiver all over.

His pupils shrank to pinpoints, and his Nascent Soul inside leaped urgently, almost breaking through the sea of consciousness — as a Nascent Soul True Monarch, his spiritual sense already covered a hundred miles, yet this person approached stealthily, without triggering his spiritual awareness at all!

The Treasure Mirror True Monarch spun around, first stunned on seeing the visitor, then burst into laughter, filled with bloodthirsty excitement:

"Hahaha! Seek everywhere and find nothing, yet gain it without effort! Zhang Ling, you dare to venture alone into the land I established as an array hub, truly a self-destructive path!"

He swiftly sealed with his hands and shouted fiercely: "Die!"

Suddenly, the void behind him twisted, a golden Treasure Mirror with a diameter of several feet slowly appeared, engraved with blazing sun runes on it, the emitted heat distorted the surrounding air.

As the mirror rotated, dozens of flaming Flood Dragons, as thick as barrels, burst forth from the mirror, dragon claws wrapped in sparkles, dragon mouths spewing fierce flames, lunging at Chen Sheng.

This "Celestial Yang Fire Flood Dragon Seal" was his signature skill, having slain three Spirit Realm Cultivators with this technique in the past, now used against a Golden Core Cultivator, deploying eighty percent of his mana, highlighting his caution.

Facing the incoming sea of flames, Chen Sheng retained an unchanging expression, merely flicking his fingers lightly.

The green light in his hand darted out and suddenly divided in mid-air into thirty-six thin strands of sword light, each precisely meeting a flaming Flood Dragon.

The sword light glowed emerald like jade, clashing with the red fire dragons, emitting "sizzle" sounds, raising large waves of white mist.

The True Monarch’s eyes glint with slight disdain:

"Sword Light Division? Interesting technique!"

"Yet in the face of my Nascent Soul magical power, it’s just ants shaking a tree!"

He rapidly transformed the spell with his hands, chanting continuously, the golden Treasure Mirror instantly exploded with even brighter light, the Fire Flood Dragons expanded by thirty percent in size, the flames spewing from their mouths turning from crimson red into stark white flame, with the temperature soaring several times.

Yet the next second, the True Monarch’s smile stiffened on his face. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Those seemingly fragile green sword lights did not disperse under the burning white flames, but suddenly erupted with fierce sword intent.

The green glow around the sword light dissipated, revealing the condensed white sword threads within, the threads pulsing with an aura of annihilation, like the celestial blade of the galaxy falling from the nine heavens.

"Puff, puff, puff!"

A series of soft sounds echoed, several Fire Flood Dragons fell silent before they could scream, cleaved in half by the sword threads, disintegrating into countless fire sparks.

"Sword Intent Formation! You’ve cultivated to such a realm?"

The True Monarch was shocked, his first impulse was to flee.

The wind and fire wheels at his waist shot forward instantly, hovering beneath his feet, just the mana needed to transform into a streak of firelight to flee a thousand miles.

But just then, the thread of fortune imbued by the Celestial Venerable at his brow suddenly heated, arousing a strong sense of responsibility, suppressing his survival instincts.

Should he flee, there’d be no one left at the Celestial Yang Sect to balance against Chen Sheng, and the thousand-year foundation would crumble in an instant!

"Youngster, with your talents, you’d undoubtedly become a grave threat to the Celestial Yang Sect, today you absolutely cannot remain!"

The True Monarch’s face turned stern, eyeing decisively.

He opened his mouth abruptly, a streak of golden light darted out, turning into a three-inch tall Nascent Soul, outfitted in a miniature red gold Daoist robe, it was his life-bound Nascent Soul.

As soon as the Nascent Soul left the body, it transformed into a radiance, displaying a rudimentary teleportation technique, appearing instantly ten miles away in mid-air, forming a pincers position with the True Monarch’s main body.

This world isn’t connected to the Great Void, Nascent Soul Cultivators practice here without comprehending the Path of Void, merely mastering a highly crude teleportation technique.

Moreover, the Nascent Soul’s magical power in this world is far inferior to that of the same tier in the Spirit Realm, with halved combat power.

If Chen Sheng meant business, he’d need merely a single sword to annihilate the inferior Nascent Soul.

Yet at present, he nonchalantly wielded his flying sword, streams of sword light flowing like water, effortlessly blocking the joint assaults of the main body and Nascent Soul.

Much of his attention was spent activating the "True Explanation of Beidou Fortune Movement" Qi observation secret technique with agile fingers.

In his view, the True Monarch was enshrouded with an ominous aura of dense red killing disaster Qi.

And at his brow, a thin golden thread quietly injected by the Celestial Treasure Mirror’s original energy from the nine heavens!

"Truly problematic."

Chen Sheng understood within, deliberately slowing his attack pace, parrying the True Monarch’s attacks while carefully probing the trajectory of the golden thread.

Simultaneously feeling the fluctuations of the surrounding fortune web — he sought to follow this golden thread to identify the manipulator’s hand behind everything.

Ten miles away, the Nascent Soul teleported once more, the miniature Treasure Mirror exploded with blinding light.

The True Monarch’s main body simultaneously activated thirty-six array banners, the fire net descended, attempting to trap Chen Sheng within.

But in Chen Sheng’s eyes, this seemingly perilous siege was merely a slow-motion, full of flaws.

The flying sword gently swirled, a concentrated sword light surged to the sky, instantaneously tearing apart the fire net, forcing the True Monarch’s main body and Nascent Soul both to retreat.