Secret Buyer

At this moment.

In front of the city gate, a figure dressed in a blue-grey robe stood with hands behind the back — Taiping Daoist.

His face was ancient and simple, and his eyes were cloudy as he slowly surveyed the hundreds of family teams and lone travelers that had passed the first level,

Taiping Daoist’s gaze lingered momentarily on figures like [Emperor Xuanyuan] and [Commander-in-Chief Chiyou], then he slowly cleared his throat,

His ethereal voice sounded like the ringing of a great bell, resonating in the ears of every living being:

"In this second stage of the contest, it will determine whether you can withstand the refinement of the Divine Furnace; those who cannot can retreat, but the last eleven beings who persist may enter the Central Extreme Imperial City."

"At that time, they will compete for the position of the Lord of Zhongji City."

The grand sound echoed, Kong Shentong squinted:

"Fellow Daoist, where is the Divine Furnace?"

Even though some families summoned ancient ancestors from the old world, he was still seventy percent confident in his victory,

The reason is quite simple — the Celestial Court’s blessing.

Only he knew, with the Celestial Court’s blessing, his abilities were far beyond what they once were!

At this moment, the rest of the family members and crowd whispered among themselves,

The elder of the Zhang Family cupped his hand and softly said:

"Old Ancestor, the Patriarch has remained in the depths of the starry sky, searching for a peculiar Taoist Palace..."

He wanted to say more, but was stopped by Zhang Fusheng’s hand, who was in the guise of the Human Ancestor.

The familiar aura.

The Human Ancestor wrinkled his brow, smelled something familiar, yet somehow unspeakable, unaware of its origin — then at this moment.

Under the stunned gaze from inside and outside the Nine Nether Stronghold,

The Central Extreme Imperial City shook violently, divine fire like rosily clouds burst forth, covering the sky!

In the next instant,

From within the divine fire, a Taoist Palace was drawn in, the door open wide, revealing an ancient furnace!

Douluo Palace, Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Outside the Nine Nether Stronghold, the Daluo True Spirits hidden and concealed were shocked and changed color,

Even Zhang Fusheng’s pupils contracted slightly, is this... Tai Shang Laojun’s method?

He stared intently at the Eight Trigrams Furnace, clearly seeing the lid of the furnace was already lifted, revealing its empty insides!

Grandmaster Xundu, nowhere to be seen.

"Is it Fellow Daoist Xuanqing?"

A thought flashed through his mind, Zhang Fusheng’s brows furrowed even tighter, in that case,

Fellow Daoist Xuanqing and Grandmaster Xundu are likely beginning to merge in some unknown place,

Although it’s unclear how long it will take, it certainly won’t be short.

However, he himself also needs time.

"The longer the night, the more dreams, if Xundu and Xuanqing merge early, and attempt to transcend... then it will be troublesome."

"I must be suppressed ahead by the Sixteen True Realms Kill Array, and seal the Netherworld ahead before that..."

As he whispered in his heart.

"Fall."

Taiping Daoist shouted, and within the deep Douluo Palace, the Eight Trigrams Furnace descended with a roar,

The great furnace turned over, the lid facing downward to cover!

The divine fire also poured down.

In just an instant, many venerate and great powers couldn’t withstand it, one after another exited the Nine Nether Stronghold,

Among the tens of thousands who entered, only a few hundred remained in just a short moment,

After a while,

These hundreds were further reduced by ninety percent, leaving only a dozen!

Among the ten great Divine Power Users and ancient ancestors of the old world, there were a few external great Divine Power Users, and the most conspicuous was a handsome young man — Zhang Wentian.

He too withstood the Six Ding Divine Fire.

"Senior Dixin... Can you manage?"

Zhang Wentian asked sternly in his heart.

"No problem."

Dixin’s voice resounded in his mind:

"The wonders of Map of Mountains and Rivers, unless a flawless Daluo arrives personally, even those Daluo True Spirits cannot spot the flaw."

"You borrowed the Map of Mountains and Rivers, displaced your form into a phantom timeline to avoid the might of the Six Ding Divine Fire, naturally won’t be detected."

Zhang Wentian gulped, looking at the Six Ding Divine Fire surrounding him,

These divine fires seemingly next to him, were actually not in the same dimension at all — his form seemed to be here,

But he had already escaped into the Map of Mountains and Rivers, into the phantom timeline.

There were even fewer on the field now.

In the end, fourteen were left, of which ten came from the ten great Divine Power Users,

Such as Kong Shentong, Meng Qingtian, as well as [Xuanyuan], [Zhuge Kongming], and others,

Plus Zhang Wentian and another near True Saint-level great Divine Power User, and a mysterious figure shrouded in a black robe whose appearance couldn’t be seen.

The divine fire continued to burn.

The near True Saint-level great Divine Power User couldn’t endure and silently exited the Nine Nether Stronghold,

Taiping Daoist raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling on Zhang Wentian, mind started to doubt,

What’s the situation with this person?

He was never in the plan...

In a moment of astonishment.

The Human Ancestor, who had been standing silently, enduring the blaze of the Six Ding Divine Fire, suddenly lifted their head,

Zhang Fusheng, manipulating the body of the Human Ancestor, looked at Zhang Wentian, opened his mouth, and blew a breath.

A gentle breeze wafted by.

Zhang Wentian’s pupils contracted, but he remained unperturbed—he was in another temporal dimension!

However.

As the breeze approached, he suddenly realized something was wrong... he was actually being blown away!

Di Xin’s horrified voice echoed:

"How is this possible?? You’re in an illusory epoch, within the Map of Mountains and Rivers, this person, this person..."

The breeze tore open a rift in the void, and under the astonished eyes of many, that young man was swept into the rift.

"It’s nearly done."

Zhang Fusheng, controlling the Human Ancestor’s body, spoke calmly:

"Only eleven remain."

He had no time to linger here, fearing that Fellow Daoist Xuanqing might complete the fusion ahead of schedule... that would truly be a wasted effort.

"Good."

The Taiping Daoist waved his hand, and the Eight Trigrams Furnace turned upside down and returned, crashing into the Douluo Palace,

under the solemn gazes of many, the Douluo Palace closed with a boom, vanishing into the void.

"What is the origin of this person..." The Ci Haodao Ren squinted his eyes from a distance: "Even the Douluo Palace answers his call and retreats at his command..."

The Taiyi Daoist exhaled:

"If I’m not mistaken, it should be related to The Three Pristine Ones? Or perhaps... the severed connection with the ’Tai Shang Laojun’?"

"Tai Shang Laojun?" The Ci Haodao Ren’s eyes flashed: "Are you saying this one is an enemy or an ally?"

"It’s hard to say."

As the two Great Divine Power Users conversed, within the Nine Nether Stronghold.

The Taiping Daoist waved his horsetail whisk, smiling as he spoke:

"Congratulations to the eleven of you, having passed the second test. The third one is quite simple too."

"You only need to enter the Central Extreme Imperial City, and the city will choose its master."

"However, before that..."

The Taiping Daoist’s gaze fell on the man in the black robe, speaking calmly:

"Is it not time for you to reveal yourself?"

Many eyes turned to the black-robed man, Zhang Fusheng also curiously scrutinized him—unable to see through.

He recalled for a moment, this guy had always been among the crowd, yet his cause and effect were very vague, utterly indistinct,

and when Zhang Fusheng attempted to use the authority of the ’Oldest One’ to trace back through time to uncover this person’s origins,

he was shocked to discover that this person did not exist in a singular ’past.’

Or rather.

He appeared in reverse cause and effect—emerged a moment ago, emerged after he had severed that majestic Celestial God,

yet at the moment of his emergence, he simultaneously appeared earlier in the past!

Thus, from ’suddenly appearing,’ he transformed into a constant presence in this spot!

History was altered once from the moment he appeared.

Zhang Fusheng’s heart sank.

At the same time.

The black-robed man chuckled softly:

"It is not impossible."

He calmly removed his cloak, revealing his true form, which appeared to be nothing unusual, just an ordinary middle-aged man.

The Taiping Daoist furrowed his brows tightly.

Meanwhile, seated outside the Nine Nether Stronghold, Zhang Fusheng’s eyes flashed with a golden sea—the Fire Eyes Golden Gaze.

Utilizing the Fire Eyes Golden Gaze and various divine techniques, he attempted to discern the true form of this middle-aged man, attempting to ’break the illusion’—and indeed, he succeeded somewhat!

The middle-aged man was not a singular entity.

More precisely, he was a ’part’ of a person—the true form seen through breaking the illusion with the Fire Eyes Golden Gaze was clearly a severed arm!

A severed hand had become a spirit??

Zhang Fusheng was somewhat bewildered, but then his heart sank—something was wrong!

As he had the thought, sure enough, a mighty sound resounded in his ear.

"Now is the moment!"

Thunder erupted on all sides, and the many True Gods seated in the heavens turned in astonishment, witnessing majestic figures emerging from afar,

someone atop an imperial chariot with the Big Dipper overhead, another holding aloft a jade pure bottle as a Celestial Venerate,

as well as Buddhas like blazing suns, and the ancestor of a world surrounded in pure glaze!!

One by one, the True Spirits of the past, with auras nearing Daluo, surfaced,

Zhang Fusheng inwardly smiled bitterly, with no other recourse, he could only quietly call out the few ’Daluo True Spirits’ he had replaced,

’Huanglong Celestial Venerate,’ ’Chijing Celestial Venerate,’ ’Daoxing Celestial Venerate’....

One by one, the True Spirits of the old world stood in all directions,

The Great Sun Buddha let out a commanding shout, pointing a finger at that middle-aged man:

"This person must be Zhang Fusheng... Form the array!!"

A mighty sound like thunder.