The assembled Soul Masters couldn't stop talking about the earth-shattering calamity in the Blue Silver Forest.
They first lamented that Bibi Dong had come all the way but returned empty-handed. Then, unsurprisingly, the topic shifted to Lin Chen.
Someone, holding a teacup, sighed, "Do you still remember that young man who proposed a new theory for Soul Masters? His name was Lin Chen. It's said that the Spirit Hall has even made his theory public, and even a Title Douluo personally said that every word of it is a gem, and it's incredibly useful!"
"It's more than just beneficial! It's knowledge that can rewrite the path of a Soul Master's cultivation! Now, everyone on the continent respectfully calls him Master Lin Chen!"
"What a pity, it's truly a case of the heavens being jealous of talent... Such extraordinary talent, if he had been given a few years, he might have been able to completely perfect the theory of Soul Masters, what a pity..."
"I heard that his talent was so great that even the heavens were jealous, which is why he awakened the useless Blue Silver Grass martial soul, and in the end, his fate was unknown."
Lin Chen ran his fingertips along the rim of the teacup, his expression calm and undisturbed.
All of this was within his expectations.
But then the tone of the discussion suddenly shifted, and a series of harsh words made his eyes turn cold.
"Did you know? Tang Hao has gone mad lately! He's been smashing up Spirit Hall branch halls everywhere, killing anyone he sees. Several members of the sub-branch halls have died. He's incredibly ruthless!"
"I've heard about it too! Everyone's saying that Master Lin Chen was killed by Tang Hao!"
"That's right! Tang Hao must be afraid that Lin Chen will become a threat to him in the future, so he simply killed him first! Now everyone says that Tang Hao is a bloodthirsty killer with wolfish ambitions!"
"It's a pity that Master Lin Chen, a genius of his generation, died at the hands of such a devil..."
The room was filled with accusations and curses, all directed at Tang Hao.
Lin Chen picked up the teacup, gently blew on the steam, and a cold smile flashed across his eyes.
Upon hearing this, Lin Chen instantly understood.
Why did Tang Hao raid the Spirit Hall's branch halls and wreak havoc all over the continent?
It wasn't a case of being a bloodthirsty killer at all; it was a deliberate attempt to draw fire and create a diversion.
His previous appearance in Notting City already made people think of Tang San's background.
The more trouble Tang Hao causes, the more the Spirit Hall will focus all its attention on him, the "Haotian Douluo," and will not delve into the inconspicuous young Tang San.
Thinking of this, Lin Chen sighed softly and muttered to himself:
"In the end, it's because I'm too weak right now. Otherwise, I would have gone directly to the Spirit Hall to report that Tang San is Tang Hao's son and seen how they would react."
But as soon as the thought arose, he immediately suppressed it.
Once Tang San is exposed, Xiao Wu's identity will definitely be revealed as well.
For the Spirit Hall, the 100,000-year-old Soft Bone Rabbit is a fatal temptation.
"Right now, I can't protect her."
Lin Chen gently shook his head, shaking off all these chaotic thoughts.
Xiao Wu's safety, Tang San's identity, Tang Hao's plans... these are all things he can't interfere with right now.
The only thing he can do, and must do now, is one thing:
Enter Thunder Forest, find the ruins of Thor, and rescue the Blue Silver King.
Lin Chen didn't linger any longer. He put down the Silver Soul Coins, got up, and left the teahouse.
Sunlight fell on him, and he concealed all his aura, looking just like an ordinary outer sect soul master.
After confirming that he was on the right track, he took a step and headed straight for the forbidden forest—the Thunder Forest—that was faintly shimmering with lightning in the clouds.
Lin Chen walked on foot the whole way, concealing all his soul power, not daring to reveal even a trace of the aura of the Blue Silver Wings and the Soul-Devouring Spider Spear—these two trump cards were the foundation of his survival, and once exposed, with his current cultivation level, they would surely bring about his death.
The closer they got to their destination, the more restless the air became, filled with faint electric sparks and the smell of burning. The vegetation on the ground gradually became sparse and blackened, and even the wind carried a subtle numbing sensation.
Finally, the Thunder Forest came into view.
The entire forest was shrouded in a faint purple lightning glow. The sky was perpetually overcast and inky, with tiny bolts of lightning constantly crisscrossing the clouds and emitting low rumbles of thunder. The trees were all rare ancient trees with lightning-patterned bark, their trunks a deep bluish-black, the patterns resembling twisted lightning bolts. The branches were bare, yet occasionally sparks of electricity would fly out. The ground was covered with charred gray moss and pebbles, and everywhere were boulders and dead trees split by lightning. The deeper one went, the more intense the lightning became, even the soul energy in the air carried a violent lightning attribute. Ordinary soul masters who stepped into it would be electrocuted and their bodies would go numb.
Lin Chen stopped at the entrance of the forest and took out a black fighting spirit mask from his spatial ring. The mask was similar in style to the one used in the fighting arena, only revealing a pair of cold eyes, which could perfectly cover his face.
He gently put on the mask, the cold touch against his face.
This face will have to travel across the continent in the future, and will have to face the Spirit Hall and various forces. If it can be hidden even a little bit now, it will be a little bit safer.
After putting on his mask, Lin Chen no longer hesitated and stepped into the Thunder Forest.
Upon entering the forest, he silently deployed his Blue Silver Domain. The gentle blue silver aura blended seamlessly with the forest environment, neither triggering any lightning disturbances nor hindering his perception of any movement within a radius of several thousand meters, including the rustling of grass, the aura of spirit beasts, and any terrain traps. While using the domain to explore, he completely concealed his own aura, moving silently through the ancient forest, which shimmered with lightning, like an invisible shadow.
Lin Chen had already put his nerves on edge, taking each step with extreme caution. He was fully prepared to encounter lightning-attribute ferocious beasts, trigger divine restrictions, or even perish on the spot. However, as he ventured deeper into the area, none of the dangers he had anticipated materialized.
Deep within the Thunder Forest, the lightning grew increasingly intense, with tiny purple-blue lightning snakes roaming freely across tree trunks and in mid-air, accompanied by incessant rumbling thunder. However, none of this posed the slightest threat to Lin Chen, whose aura was perfectly enveloped by the Blue Silver Domain.
His domain can blend with the heavens and earth, plants and trees, can shield the divine soul from detection, and can distort his own aura. Unless it is the mental power crushing of a Title Douluo or the instinctive perception of a soul beast over 100,000 years old, there is no being in this forest that can lock onto his location.
There were no soul beasts blocking the way, no traps being triggered, and no soul masters spying on us.
The journey was smooth and unobstructed.
Lin Chen himself was somewhat surprised, but he did not let his guard down. He continued to stay close to the shadows and use the thunderwood for cover, silently penetrating into the core area.
He knew very well that the calmer the place, the closer it was to the true forbidden zone where Thor had fallen.
The real test is yet to come for him.
After passing through the last patch of ancient trees interwoven with lightning patterns, the red dot on the system map finally overlapped with the ground beneath our feet.
What came into view was not the ruins of the divine palace as imagined, but a vast mountain range shrouded in lightning.
This mountain range is completely different from the Thunder Forest outside. Instead of rampant, violent lightning, it exudes a deathly, majestic aura. The mountain is a deep, dark purple, as if forged from solidified lightning. Its cliffs are covered with enormous cracks resembling dragon scales, and occasionally, a faint flash of silver-blue lightning appears deep within these cracks, vanishing in an instant. The mountain peaks are shrouded in thick, leaden-gray clouds, even the wind seems to be imprisoned; only when the mountain wind passes through the valleys does it utter a mournful wail, like the whisper of an ancient thunder god.
At the foot of the mountain, there was no grass or tree, only fragments of thunder crystal stones covering the ground. Stepping on them produced a crisp cracking sound, and the air was filled with a dense, almost tangible, aura of thunderous origin. Inhaling it into the lungs, even one's soul power couldn't help but stir.
Lin Chen's eyes were sharp, and he quickly spotted an extremely unusual spot at the foot of the most majestic mountain in the very center—
It was a cave partially obscured by a massive amethyst rock. The entrance was small, allowing only one person to pass through at a time. Ancient, blurred lightning patterns were carved into the surrounding rocks, as if they had been naturally integrated into the entire mountain range. If it weren't for the precise location provided by the system map and the faint spatial fluctuations detected beneath the rock by the Blue Silver Domain, even a Title Douluo would have mistaken it for an ordinary crack in the mountainside.
Without hesitation, Lin Chen turned and crawled into the cave.
The deeper one ventures, the fainter the thunderous sounds become, until finally not a sound can be heard at all, leaving only utter silence, so quiet that one can clearly hear their own heartbeat and breath. The cave walls are not naturally formed, but rather polished smooth as a mirror by human hands, and are also covered with thunder patterns, though these patterns have long since lost their luster, resembling a sleeping dragon.
The Blue Silver Domain was fully deployed, and strands of Blue Silver Grass soul power spread along the cave walls and ground, thoroughly exploring the outline of the entire cave and every corner.
After descending for several hundred meters, the cave finally came to an end.
Lin Chen stopped and looked at the scene before him, his brows furrowing slightly.
This place turned out to be an empty stone chamber.
The stone chamber was about a hundred feet square, with smooth walls and no decorations. There were no divine tablets, no divine artifacts, no soul bones, and not even a trace of the Thunder God's residual aura could be sensed. The ground was covered with only a thin layer of dust, clearly indicating that no one had set foot there for countless years.
It's empty, nothing but emptiness.
It was as if no deity had ever fallen here, and it was just an ordinary cave abandoned by people.
Lin Chen stood in the center of the stone chamber, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes, but no sign of panic. He didn't believe the system map could be wrong, nor did he believe the place where Thor fell would be so desolate.
He slowly closed his eyes, pushed the Blue Silver Domain to its limit, and at the same time mobilized his mental power, cooperating with the devouring properties of the Soul-Devouring Spider Spear, to explore every inch of the stone chamber little by little.
Lin Chen pushed his Blue Silver Domain to its limit, and strands of Blue Silver Soul Power covered every corner of the stone chamber like a spider web, leaving no stone crevices or rock textures untouched. Soon, his spiritual power encountered a strange barrier directly below the stone chamber—it wasn't solid rock, but a turbulent chaos, like a swamp shrouded in thick fog. No matter how his spiritual power penetrated and probed, he could only sense a distorted void, unable to detect even the slightest spatial fluctuation.
"There's definitely something wrong." A glint flashed in Lin Chen's eyes, and he instantly understood the key point. "How could the place where Thor fell be content to be hidden under an ordinary cave? It must be a demi-plane space of its own, sealed by powerful divine power."
Without the slightest hesitation, a heavy hammer, entirely black and covered with lightning patterns, appeared in his hand—it was the Black Iron Hammer he had obtained in his early years. Although it was not a top-grade soul tool, it was superior in its hardness and could withstand the impact of extreme force.
Lin Chen stepped to the center of the stone chamber, firmly planted his feet, and poured all his soul power into the hammer. The dark hammer instantly emitted a faint blue light, merging with his Blue Silver Emperor soul power.
"Bang!"
The first hammer blow sent a dull thud echoing through the empty stone chamber, stirring up dust on the ground but leaving only a faint white mark.
Lin Chen was not discouraged. He knew that the last time the ancient ruins were broken out of the space, he had to borrow the power of the heavenly tribulation. Now he could only rely on himself and take a gamble to hit the key node of the space seal.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Hammer after hammer, the rhythm steady and powerful. The hammer flashed, the wind howled, and the air in the stone chamber distorted slightly. The white marks on the ground deepened, gradually revealing fine cracks. Sweat beaded on Lin Chen's forehead, and his arms throbbed with a tingling numbness, but his eyes grew ever more resolute—for the sake of the Blue Silver King, he had to take this step.
He had hammered countless times, and just as his soul power was nearly half depleted, he was preparing to try a different method—
"Snap!"
A crisp sound, like glass shattering, suddenly rang out.
Lin Chen was overjoyed and abruptly withdrew his strength, looking down. He saw that the ground beneath his feet was spreading out in a spiderweb-like golden crack from the point where the hammer had struck. The crack was not the mark of broken rock, but rather like a transparent film being torn apart. Deep within the crack, faint purple-gold lightning surged, and a vast, ancient divine power of thunder quietly overflowed along the crack.
"It's done!"
Lin Chen gripped the black iron hammer tightly, his heart pounding faster than usual.
But the next second, he frowned, a doubt arising in his mind: Is this too easy?
As the supreme deity, Thor's place of fall should have been protected by powerful restrictions even after the erosion of time. How could it have been broken by him with just an ordinary heavy hammer in a mere half hour?
There was no time for him to think it through. The golden rift was expanding at a visible speed, and a powerful spatial suction force came from the rift, pulling at his body.
Lin Chen took a deep breath, retracted the black iron hammer into his body, and activated the Blue Silver Domain to completely conceal his aura, preparing to deal with any unexpected situation.
"Whether it's a trap or an opportunity, let's take it all!"
Read 30+ Advanced Chapters At Pa Treon.
patreon.com/FictionPower
Remove@ to a
(End of Chapter)