Chapter 909: Flying Dragon in the Sky

"It’s not time yet," Chen Ling answered casually.

"The ring was destroyed. I can't return it to you."

"I know."

"...Then why are you looking for me?"

"Who said I was looking for you? I’m just passing by." Chen Ling’s lips curled up slightly. He pointed to the Path to the Throne in the distance. "I’m going there."

“……”

Li Fu’s expression was somewhat stiff. After saying "Oh," he buried his head and walked toward A-Qian’s location. As he brushed past Chen Ling, his heart raced, his pace quickened, and he felt incredibly nervous.

Seeing this, the smile on Chen Ling’s lips grew even wider...

He knew that the shadow of fear had been deeply planted in Li Fu’s heart.

Chen Ling, of course, didn't take the opportunity to ambush Li Fu.

Chen Ling’s attention was now entirely on "Flying Dragon in the Sky." He was curious: which Nine Lord had actually made a move against the Imperial Path Ancient Treasury... Was it one of the ones he was familiar with?

Chen Ling wanted to use the Imperial Fate Grid to ascend directly, but ever since that Nine Lord broke "Flying Dragon in the Sky," part of the authority of the Imperial Path Ancient Treasury had become ineffective. Chen Ling couldn't teleport directly, and the only path now seemed to be that golden Path to the Throne leading to the heavens.

The bright red opera robe stepped through the void, ascended into the clouds, and walked toward the only golden Path to the Throne.

Li Fu looked back at his departing figure, his gaze complex... He quickly found the place where A-Qian had been hiding in the alley. A-Qian was currently crouching in an abandoned large water vat, not daring to move.

"Brother Li, you’re finally back!" A-Qian’s eyes lit up when she saw Li Fu return.

"Yeah... let’s go quickly."

"Go? Are we going to find Sister Wu Qiong?"

Li Fu didn't answer.

Before this, he had indeed intended to entrust A-Qian to Wu Qiong, letting her take A-Qian out of this Ancient Treasury, but the situation was different now.

If Wu Qiong and the others wanted to ascend, they had to cross the Path to the Throne... And now, the Actor Emperor was also approaching that path.

With the Actor Emperor there, Wu Qiong and the others were destined to be unable to ascend, and this Ancient Treasury would not be able to produce a new [Emperor]. Entrusting A-Qian to Wu Qiong now was undoubtedly seeking death.

However, Chen Ling had promised that no matter what happened, he would ensure A-Qian left the Ancient Treasury, so Li Fu wasn't that worried. The most important thing now was to find a place to hide until everything was settled.

"We aren't going to find her anymore." Li Fu turned his head and looked at the golden path leading to the heavens.

"For now, we just need to keep ourselves safe."

……

Meanwhile, on the "Flying Dragon in the Sky" level.

Boom—!

A deafening roar rang out, startling Jian Changsheng, who was still asleep, awake!

Jian Changsheng felt his brain was a bit dizzy. Just as he sat up instinctively, he felt the world spin and rolled directly off the table onto the ground.

"What’s going on?!"

Jian Changsheng shook his head, trying to recall what had just happened.

Jian Changsheng remembered that after Chen Ling and Bai Ye split up to escape, he was left standing alone. When he turned back, he saw a majestic figure shrouded in dazzling golden light reaching out a palm toward him...

Then, Jian Changsheng remembered nothing else.

Jian Changsheng waited a while before looking around, discovering he was in a mysterious space. The sky here was chaotic like ink, and he couldn't see the ground below. In the empty world, there were only mountain peaks like Buddha statues in a temple, arranged neatly in two rows in the clouds.

These peaks were of various sizes, stretching to the end of the chaotic sky, densely packed with hundreds of them... And as far as Jian Changsheng could see, there didn't seem to be any peak higher than the one he was on.

"What exactly is this place?" Jian Changsheng was baffled.

He wanted to find Chen Ling and Bai Ye, but the peak he was on was too high. No matter which direction he walked, it felt like he would fall into an endless abyss, so Jian Changsheng didn't dare to act rashly and could only be trapped here.

Jian Changsheng didn't see the mysterious golden figure that had reached out to him earlier. Instead, on the other peaks, he could see the figures of Emperor remnants. Each of them stood on a peak, all looking solemnly toward a certain direction at this moment...

Jian Changsheng followed their gaze and saw that the chaotic sky there had been shattered, leaving a grotesque void scar. An indescribable aura surged within it, as if something was about to emerge from it soon.

Whoosh, whoosh—

Two Emperor remnants ascended from beneath the sea of clouds and landed on two peaks not far from Jian Changsheng.

One held a sword, the other a bowl. Even among these hundreds of peaks, the ones they stood on were magnificent enough to be in the top ten. At this moment, they also looked vigilantly toward the grotesque gap in the void.

From the pitch-black mouth of the bowl, two figures climbed silently to the edge, looking out through the cracks in the rim.

"Damn it... has Spade's bad luck been transferred to me?" Sun Bumian said, speechless. "It’s one thing to have my liver stolen, but now that I’ve just come back to life, I’m being trapped inside a bowl?"

"Don't panic. This bowl, just like those lingering thoughts, only retains a portion of the power it had during its lifetime; it’s not as sturdy as you might imagine... As long as the timing is right, I can take you and escape at any time."

Bai Ye was, after all, a veteran of the Twilight Society. Even while imprisoned in a bowl, he remained incredibly calm.

Sun Bumian had no other choice but to trust Bai Ye. He gazed at his surroundings and asked in confusion:

"Is this... 'Flying Dragon in the Sky'?"

"It is indeed the highest level of the Imperial Dao Ancient Treasury." Bai Ye pointed to the various mountain peaks of different sizes and said, "If I’m not mistaken, those should be the 'Monuments of Great Achievements' of the emperors throughout history, and also the dwelling places for those lingering thoughts within this ancient treasury."

"The greater the achievements these emperors left behind in their lifetimes, the taller their corresponding 'Monuments of Great Achievements' are. The one that captured us should be the Ming Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang. He was both the terminator and the founder of a dynasty, so even among more than four hundred emperors, his 'Monument of Great Achievements' is tall enough to look down upon all the others."

"It shouldn't be him, it *is* him—Zhu Chongba. I recognize him," Sun Bumian replied casually.

"...You recognize him?"

Sun Bumian smiled slightly and didn't delve further into the topic. His gaze swept across the other mountain peaks in the vicinity and landed on the deepest part of all the peaks, upon that exceptionally tall summit that everyone could only look up to...

Sun Bumian said thoughtfully, "That one, could it be..."

"Yes," Bai Ye nodded slightly. "That should be the Monument of Great Achievements of the First Emperor, Ying Zheng."

"It's so tall..."

Sun Bumian narrowed his eyes, trying to see the situation on that summit clearly. Suddenly, a familiar figure flashed across it.

Sun Bumian was stunned. He rubbed his eyes hard, wearing an expression as if he had seen a ghost...

"Am I seeing things... why do I see Spade up there???"