"Dou Emperor..."
Emerging from the depths of his mind, Zhou Chen slowly opened his eyes, murmuring to himself.
Just now, in the virtual space set up by the system, Zhou Chen had the rare opportunity to witness the ancient training footage left by the Golden Emperor of the Gu Clan for his descendants, thousands of years ago.
After demonstrating the Mountain Opening Seal and Sea Turning Seal, this Golden Emperor went on to showcase the Earth Overturning Seal, Heaven Annihilating Seal, and Ancient Emperor Seal!
Each of these subsequent seals was exponentially more powerful than the one before.
By the time the Golden Emperor executed the fifth seal—the Ancient Emperor Seal—a mere gesture caused the collapse of space across tens of thousands of miles!
"Ding... Demonstration complete, virtual space closed, Imperial Seal Technique cultivation complete!"
The system's notification brought Zhou Chen back to reality.
Thanks to the system's assistance, the cultivation secrets of the Imperial Seal Technique were now deeply ingrained in his mind.
His body, too, felt as though it had practiced the Imperial Seal Technique hundreds of times, with his muscles developing mechanical memory.
Looking outside, Zhou Chen saw that dawn had arrived, painting the sky with a pale light.
"Phew..."
Rising from the sofa in the living room, Zhou Chen exhaled wearily. Staying up all night to cultivate Dou Techniques was truly exhausting.
Perhaps a bit more sleep would be good.
Just as Zhou Chen turned to head back to the bedroom, he heard a sudden "whoosh" from three meters behind him!
Someone was there!!
This unexpected situation made Zhou Chen's hair stand on end.
Instinctively, he extended his left hand, instantly forming an earthen energy hand seal, and spun around to push it towards the suddenly appearing figure!
Imperial Seal Technique, first form: Mountain Opening Seal!
"I am the Holy..."
"Boom!"
Before the words were finished, the Mountain Opening Seal descended like Mount Tai, crushing towards the figure with overwhelming force, causing panic.
In desperation, her second, fifth, and sixth soul rings lit up, releasing three soul skills in succession!
The figure's second soul skill, named Guardian, was a purple shield. But as soon as it appeared, it was shattered by the Mountain Opening Seal, only slightly slowing Zhou Chen's attack.
However, this slight delay allowed her fifth soul skill to activate.
Instantly, Zhou Chen felt his strength and soul power severely weakened, slowing his movements by seventy to eighty percent.
This was a weakening soul skill capable of reducing an opponent's attributes by eighty percent for one second, usable once a day.
Then, the figure activated her sixth soul skill, Blink.
This skill allowed her to teleport within a two hundred meter radius, usable five times a day.
Yet, just as she activated it, she found herself unable to move!
She didn't know that the Imperial Seal Technique, created by a Dou Emperor, could lock down space, rendering her spatial teleportation skill useless!
"Boom!"
The next moment, the sound of thunder echoed as the figure clashed hastily with Zhou Chen, forced back more than ten steps, her palms split, and blood trickling from her lips.
Clearly, the figure had suffered a significant injury, and this was with Zhou Chen's Mountain Opening Seal weakened by eighty percent!
Had it been at full power, she would have been pierced through.
"Oops, wrong target."
Seeing the figure's appearance, Zhou Chen was bewildered.
This figure was that elusive female Soul Saint responsible for protecting Hu Liena!
"What are you doing?!"
The female Soul Saint was furious; Zhou Chen's attack had nearly scared her soul out of her body.
Had it not been for her fifth soul skill's ability to weaken Zhou Chen, she would be lying there today.
It was just bad luck.
Because she possessed a Blink skill that allowed her to bypass detection from abilities like Heavenly Vision, Zhou Chen couldn't identify her in time and had already attacked.
The imposing hand seal had left a psychological scar on the female Soul Saint.
She couldn't fathom how a seemingly teenage, handsome boy had the power to repel a level 72 Soul Saint.
Could it be that his strength had reached Title Douluo level, allowing him to regain his youth?
For instance, Her Eminence the Pope, in her fifties, appeared as a youthful twenty-year-old, standing with the Holy Maiden like sisters.
The more she thought, the more alarmed she became, convinced of Zhou Chen's identity.
What a pity.
Thinking that such a handsome boy might be older than her filled the female Soul Saint with regret.
What pained her more was the apparent close relationship between the Holy Maiden and this young man...
"Creaaak..."
At that moment, the bedroom door swung open, and two graceful figures leapt out—it was Hu Liena and Zhu Zhuqing.
"What happened? An intruder?"
Seeing Zhou Chen and the female Soul Saint, Hu Liena was perplexed.
"Nothing."
Zhou Chen immediately lied.
The female Soul Saint also shook her head, claiming nothing was wrong. She had no desire to anger the mysterious person before her.
"That's good."
Hu Liena patted her chest, relieved.
Then she turned serious, looking at the female Soul Saint with curiosity, asking, "Why are you in my room in the middle of the night?"
"Your Highness, it's nearly morning," the female Soul Saint explained, then, feeling aggrieved, added, "I came to inform you that your brother Xie Yue and Yan have arrived with the Pope's Hall's experts."
"What? Weren't they supposed to arrive tonight? How are they here in the morning?"
Hu Liena's expression changed as she asked urgently, "Where are they now?"
"When I came to report, they had just entered Silvis City. Now... they're likely already at the hotel," the Soul Saint replied.
"Damn!"
Hu Liena cursed.
Her brother's sudden arrival left Hu Liena unprepared.
She had planned to discuss with Zhou Chen during the day, creating a plausible identity for him to avoid suspicion from the Spirit Hall.
Now she had to improvise.
"Dismissed," Hu Liena waved, irritated.
"Yes, Your Highness."
With that, the female Soul Saint vanished from the room.
Then, Hu Liena pulled Zhou Chen and Zhu Zhuqing to the sofa in the living room, speaking softly, "The main force of the Spirit Hall is arriving, led by my brother, Xie Yue. He, Yan, and I are the strongest among the young generation in the Spirit Hall, known as the Golden Generation."
"Sister Nana's talent is amazing," Zhu Zhuqing complimented, though as a level 79 Soul Saint, praising a level 49 Soul Ancestor seemed a bit strange.
"It's thanks to the Spirit Hall's resources," Hu Liena modestly waved her hand, then turned serious, "To avoid your identity being exposed, Zhou Chen, we need to disguise you."
After thinking it over, Hu Liena slowly said, "From now on, you're Ji Chen, a 16-year-old genius soul master from a secret soul master family in the Balak Kingdom, who volunteered to be my personal guard due to admiration."
"Mhm, mhm."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded, agreeing with Hu Liena's plan. She knew it was to protect Zhou Chen's safety.
Zhou Chen, on the other hand, was bewildered by Hu Liena's fabrication. This girl was even better at making things up than he was.
Truly, the prettier the girl, the better the liar.
"Oh, right."
Hu Liena suddenly remembered something, adding, "Zhou Chen, as my guard, there will be times when you need to act, but you can't reveal your golden humanoid martial soul. The Spirit Hall has records of it."
"So I suggest using your second martial soul, the Xuanyuan Sword. No one else has seen it besides us, right?"
"No one has."
"Perfect."
Hu Liena nodded in satisfaction.
Hearing this, Zhou Chen's mouth twitched, just about to speak when he heard a commotion nearby.
Using his Heavenly Vision, he saw over twenty people approaching the top floor.
All of them wore the emblem of the Spirit Hall on their chests.
"Your brother and the others are here."