News of the complete slaughter of fifty senior elders, along with dozens of flying warships belonging to the Three Great Sects at the Northern Border, spread like a thunderstorm shattering the tranquility of Tianyuan Continent. Word that a mysterious young man named Xiao Chen had killed Demon King Mo Zun, absorbed all of his energy, and spontaneously broken through to the Golden Core Realm while surrounded by enemy forces became a terrifying nightmare for every practitioner in the Mortal Realm. The name Xiao Chen, once unheard of among the elite, now echoed through every corner of the cities, sects, and black markets as an unstoppable, cold-blooded monster.
Atop the highest mountain of the Heavenly God Sect, shrouded in eternal clouds, the three leaders of the Great Sects—the Heavenly God Sect, the Immortal Sword Sect, and the Green Cloud Sect—gathered for an extremely secret emergency meeting. Their usually calm, elegant, and dignified faces were now filled with blazing fury, mingled with deep anxiety and fear. The three of them knew that the vicious secret they had concealed for thousands of years—their use of the ancient seal energy belonging to Empress Dowager Mu Rong—was now in danger of being fully exposed to the public.
"That damned mortal brat... not only did he slaughter our forces, he actually succeeded in forming the legendary Ancient God-Demon Golden Core!" shouted Prince Feng, leader of the Heavenly God Sect, slamming his trembling hand down until the enormous jade table in the meeting hall shattered into fine dust. "If we let him move freely and obtain the final seal-map fragment, all of Tianyuan Continent will kneel beneath his feet, and our sects will be utterly destroyed without a trace!"
"The only way is to lure him out of the darkness and trap him in neutral territory," replied the leader of the Immortal Sword Sect, his eyes flashing with cruelty and cunning. "I heard that his late mother once had close blood ties with the surviving members of the Mu Rong Family hiding in Imperial Alchemy City. The city is holding the Grand Relic Auction tomorrow night. The third map fragment that we've been taking turns holding... we'll put it on display there and use it as bait!"
The leader of the Green Cloud Sect nodded in agreement, his expression cold. "We'll set up a Ninth-Level Soul-Killing Formation around the auction hall. The moment that brat steps inside to take his mother's map, the three of us and thousands of elite disciples will combine our strength and bury him alive in that city!"
Meanwhile, at the main gate of Imperial Alchemy City...
The enormous city, encircled by thick black-stone walls covered in golden carvings, looked majestic and bustling from afar. In stark contrast to the barren, foul-smelling Demon Realm filled with sulfurous poison, Imperial Alchemy City was filled with the fragrant scent of high-grade medicinal herbs, the delicate smoke rising from alchemy cauldrons, and the comings and goings of wealthy cultivators, royal princes, and merchants from every corner of the continent. The city gates were heavily guarded by fully armed soldiers who carefully inspected every visitor.
Among the tightly packed crowd waiting to enter, a young man in a plain black robe walked with relaxed yet steady steps. The God-Demon Sword, wrapped in coarse cloth, was secured neatly across his back and did not radiate the slightest trace of energy. It was Xiao Chen. Using a high-level soul-concealment technique taught by the sword spirit Xue Ling'er, Xiao Chen had successfully hidden the golden glow of his God-Demon Golden Core, making himself appear like an ordinary practitioner in the early Foundation Establishment Realm.
"Master," Xue Ling'er's soft voice whispered gently within Xiao Chen's mind, carrying a clear warning. "I can sense an extremely dense presence of the third map fragment's energy inside the Imperial Grand Auction Hall. But... the aura surrounding this city is highly abnormal. The walls of the buildings, the stone streets, even the rooftops of the residents' homes have been planted with dozens of high-level killing arrays, all ready to explode at any moment."
Xiao Chen wore a faint, mocking smile beneath his hood. The warning did nothing to slow his footsteps.
"What cheap and predictable bait from those rotten old fossils of the Three Great Sects," Xiao Chen muttered, his voice utterly flat yet filled with killing intent. His golden irises flashed coldly beneath the shadow of his hood. "They think they're clever for setting traps in a public place and luring a little fish into their net... When in reality, they're unknowingly inviting a hungry ancient dragon to destroy the house sheltering them."
Xiao Chen swept his gaze toward the center of the city, where a magnificent building shaped like a gigantic golden dome stood in all its splendor—the Imperial Grand Auction Hall. He could sense hundreds of hidden eyes belonging to the Three Great Sects watching every corner of the city from the rooftops and tall windows.
"Excellent," Xiao Chen whispered inwardly. "The more experts they gather in this city, the fewer pieces of trash I'll have to hunt down one by one at their headquarters later."
Without the slightest hesitation or fear, Xiao Chen strode through the crowds of Imperial Alchemy City, walking straight into the heart of the trap to wreak havoc at the Grand Auction, slaughter the sect elders, and reclaim the final fragment of his mother's map!