Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Without hesitation, Lu Chao sped toward the river.

The moment he neared the riverbank, all the walking dead besieging him halted, ceasing their pursuit.

It was as if this was a sign that he had passed the second trial.

Lu Chao let out a long sigh of relief, but he also turned his wary gaze to the pale yellow river before him.

But then... HISS!

When he got a clear look at the water, even Lu Chao couldn’t help but gasp. His scalp tingled. The river was filled with ghastly white bones and riddled, pitch-black Heavenly Destiny Bones.

Suddenly, a sinister, terrifying voice echoed in his ear, "Do you... wish to cross the river?"

The hair on his body stood on end. Lu Chao scanned his surroundings, frantically searching for the source of the voice.

Then... CRACK... CRACKLE.

The riddled Heavenly Destiny Bones in the river slowly assembled into a humanoid skeleton. It was massive, at least ten meters tall. Its empty eye sockets seemed to stare right at Lu Chao. "Do you... wish to cross the river?"

Staring intently at the giant skeleton, Lu Chao clenched his fists slightly. "I want to leave this place. Is there another way?"

’His thoughts turned to the saying, "Nether Spring is like the Yellow Springs." This river certainly sparks the imagination...’

The giant skeleton seemed incapable of answering, asking again, "Do you... wish to cross the river?"

Lu Chao stood frozen, his eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

But as he hesitated, gusts of sinister wind suddenly billowed up from the riverbank. Then... WHOOSH!

A streak of red light shot out from behind him, binding him tightly as if to drag him back. When Lu Chao still didn’t answer, a second streak coiled around him...

It was obvious. If he answered that he didn’t want to cross, he would be dragged back.

He would have to resume the endless slaughter against the surrounding walking dead.

In other words, he had no choice.

Finally, as streaks of red light covered his body, he replied softly, "I... wish to cross the river."

The words had barely left his mouth when... BUZZ!

The red light dissipated. A force surged from the river, enveloping Lu Chao and pulling him into its waters.

The giant skeleton appeared beneath his feet, carrying him forward across the river.

AWOOOO...

Maddened, bizarre cries echoed from the river. Waves of terrifying, shrill sounds crashed directly into the depths of Lu Chao’s soul.

A sudden pain shot through Lu Chao’s mind. He thought, ’It seems there’s another test?’

’Is this river the third trial?’

The thought had barely formed when, with a BUZZ, Lu Chao was plunged into darkness...

In the space of a single breath, his surroundings brightened once more. Lu Chao found that his environment had changed. He was no longer in the horrifying river of bones but seemed to be standing in a sun-drenched meadow.

Lu Chao couldn’t help but stare in a daze, asking himself blankly, "Where... is this place?"

The words had just left his mouth when... SQUELCH!

A sword suddenly burst from his back, piercing straight through his chest and emerging, dripping with blood.

A strange, soft female voice sounded from behind him. "Brother Chao, I’ve finally killed you."

It was a familiar voice—Lu Hanyan’s.

Lu Chao stared fixedly at the sword tip protruding from his chest, feeling the pain.

Then, he actually laughed, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth...

"I don’t know what kind of trick this is, nor do I know what sort of being you are, Array Master."

"I don’t know what you hope to accomplish by setting up this Illusion Array in the Nether Spring Mountain Range, but these kinds of illusory tricks are useless against me..."

"Clearly, you’re trying to extract my memories to create illusions of my enemies or loved ones, anything to cloud my mind and pierce my soul."

"But I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. I don’t want you seeing any of my memories."

Of course, Lu Chao wasn’t speaking to the so-called Lu Hanyan behind him.

He was speaking to the one attacking him with these illusory methods.

It might be the Array Master, or perhaps some bizarre entity the Array Master left behind for the third trial.

But Lu Chao despised anyone trying to extract his memories. He loathed anyone trying to unearth his secrets.

Most of all, he detested people using his own memories to harm him.

Perhaps it was because his childhood memories were sealed, or because of the secret of the Life-taking Star-devouring Bone, or the secret of how Xiao Su’er brought him back from the dead. In any case, his secrets were numerous and immense.

Any one of them, if revealed, would cause a monumental uproar.

So he resisted instinctively, breaking free from the illusion in an instant.

Of course, it could also be that having died once before gave him a natural resistance to this sort of illusion. He turned to face the thing behind him that was producing Lu Hanyan’s voice...

As he turned, Lu Chao said, "You can’t extract my memories. So what exactly are you?"

He had been caught off guard for a moment, allowing the memory of "Lu Hanyan’s voice" to be extracted. But now, Lu Chao was resisting with unshakable will. Therefore, the phantom behind him could not possibly be Lu Hanyan.

He turned around. What he saw was a humanoid thing with a distorted face.

It was as if the humanoid thing was desperately trying to form Lu Hanyan’s appearance, but couldn’t, because it lacked Lu Chao’s memories.

"RAWR..."

A roar suddenly erupted from the humanoid thing. "Such powerful will! To be able to seal your own memories before this venerable one. But it’s useless. I can make you break even without your memories."

As the voice faded... BANG!

The environment before Lu Chao’s eyes vanished.

After a moment of darkness, he was back on the river, still being carried across by the giant skeleton.

A cold glint flashed in Lu Chao’s eyes. ’Did I just lure out the mastermind? Was that voice just now the Array Master from thousands of years ago?’

’That voice called itself "this venerable one," after all.’

Before he could react... "AH!"

A bloodcurdling scream rang out from behind him. Lu Chao instinctively turned his head.

He saw that at some point, the six remaining Yan Soul Guards had also begun to cross the river, each carried by their own skeleton. But now, one of the Yan Soul Guards had died, screaming atop his skeletal ferry.

The Yan Soul Guard tumbled into the river and was instantly reduced to ghastly white bones that floated to the surface.

The other five Yan Soul Guards, however, were completely oblivious. They stared forward with vacant eyes, looking utterly lost.

’The Yan Soul Guards have fallen into the same trap I did. They’re being killed by the illusions forced into their minds.’

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than another Yan Soul Guard let out a bloodcurdling scream and tumbled into the river.

Suddenly, a hoarse voice echoed from the distant riverbank again. "Do you... wish to cross the river?"

Lu Chao froze and looked toward the riverbank...

Three figures had appeared on the bank where he had started: Chi Xingxun, Lu Dingtian, and Chi Yuan.

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