156: Desperate counterattack, the road to return

Outside the Primordial Ancient Palace, the chaotic void was deadly silent. Xiao Chen collapsed on the deck of the damaged flame dragon flying boat, covered in blood, his aura extremely weak.

Forcibly detonating his Origin Qi to fight against the mysterious black shadow, although he miraculously saved his life and a trace of Source Qi Origin, it also cost him a heavy price.

His cultivation had fallen to the early Eight-Star Dou Zun, his soul was injured, his meridians were damaged, and his combat power was less than one-tenth of what it once was.

At this moment, even an ordinary Five-Star Dou Zun could threaten his life.

"I must leave here as soon as possible..." Xiao Chen endured the tearing pain in his soul, struggled to sit up, and swallowed a handful of healing pills.

The pills entered his body, transforming into a warm current that nourished his battered body, but the recovery speed was extremely slow.

The backlash from the Origin Qi self-detonation was far beyond ordinary injuries.

He dared not stay here for long. Although the mastermind behind the Heavenly Secret Pavilion had been severely injured and forced to retreat, no one knew if it would return or if there were other ambushes.

Deep in the Chaos Sea, dangers lurked everywhere, and in his current state, encountering even a powerful chaotic beast would be a disaster.

He painstakingly controlled the damaged flying boat, cautiously heading towards the outer perimeter of the Chaos Sea, following the direction he remembered coming from.

He dared not go too fast, lest he aggravate his injuries, and his soul perception was fully extended, alert to all movements around him.

The days of travel were monotonous and agonizing. The chaotic energy in the Chaos Sea continuously eroded his protective Dou Qi, and his injuries recovered extremely slowly.

Even worse, he felt an ominous sense of crisis following him like a shadow, as if a pair of eyes was constantly watching him from the dark.

The Heavenly Secret Pavilion would never let him go easily.

Several days later, the flying boat was about to exit the core area of the Chaos Sea and enter the relatively stable outer region.

However, just as Xiao Chen breathed a slight sigh of relief, an unexpected change occurred!

The seemingly calm void ahead suddenly twisted and folded! A black and white destiny chessboard phantom, covering the sky and sun, appeared out of thin air.

On the chessboard, lines of karma crisscrossed, and destinies were clearly visible, completely sealing off the entire void! A figure enveloped in gray mist, whose aura was almost integrated with the Chaos Sea, quietly appeared in the center of the chessboard.

His aura had astonishingly reached the Peak Eight Star Dou Zun, and he was even more profound and eerie than Xuan Mingzi before, as if he himself was the embodiment of rules!

"Heavenly Secret Pavilion... Lord of Fate Manipulation?!" Xiao Chen's pupils constricted, and his heart sank to rock bottom.

The opponent was able to precisely intercept him here, clearly having calculated his retreat in advance! Moreover, this person gave him a more dangerous feeling than Xuan Mingzi; his control over the laws of destiny had reached an inconceivable realm!

"Xiao Chen, your destiny has deviated too far." The gray-misted figure spoke with an emotionless voice, like a heavenly decree, "Stealing Origin Qi, defying the heavens, you shall suffer the punishment of destiny's backlash!"

Before he finished speaking, countless causal lines on the chessboard wriggled like living things, instantly entwining him, not attacking his physical body, but directly binding Xiao Chen's destiny and soul origin!

Xiao Chen immediately felt his luck rapidly draining, his thoughts becoming sluggish, and his Dou Qi circulation also becoming obscure! It was as if an invisible giant hand was tampering with the very foundation of his existence!

"Bastard!" Xiao Chen was both shocked and enraged, forcibly activating his remaining Dou Qi, and the Heaven Opening Axe Intent erupted, slashing at those causal lines!

But the axe light passed through, and although the causal lines rippled slightly, they were incredibly tough and difficult to sever! Instead, his own attack was refracted and twisted by the chessboard formation, striking back at him!

"It's useless. Within the destiny chessboard, your struggles will only accelerate your demise." The gray-misted figure said indifferently, tapping the chessboard with his fingertip, and a black chess piece fell.

"Destiny Grafting, Calamity Transfer!"

"Pfft—!"

Xiao Chen was hit hard, a huge wound appearing on his chest out of nowhere, blood gushing out! It was as if the power of his previous attack had been transferred to himself!

At the same time, he felt his bad luck surge, the space around the flying boat suddenly collapsed, and a violent chaotic lightning tribulation struck without warning!

"Crack!" The already damaged defense of the flying boat instantly shattered, and Xiao Chen was struck by the residual lightning tribulation, adding injury to injury, almost passing out!

"Do you see? This is the consequence of defying destiny." The gray-misted figure, like a cat playing with a mouse, made another move, "Luck Deprivation!"

Xiao Chen felt his vision darken, his soul seemed to be pulled out of his body, and his perception of heaven and earth energy became blurred!

This was a sign of his luck being forcibly stripped away!

"I can't go on like this!" Xiao Chen roared in his heart, his consciousness wildly operating amidst the intense pain and despair.

The opponent's methods were too bizarre, directly attacking destiny and luck; conventional methods were completely ineffective! He had to find another way!

"Destiny... luck... The Heavenly Secret Pavilion thinks it controls destiny, but my path is to go against the heavens! My destiny is mine, not heaven's!"

In his desperation, Xiao Chen's will was instead pushed to its limit! He suddenly remembered a description of Origin Qi in the ancestor inheritance: Origin Qi, transcending laws, towering above destiny, the origin of all things, the source of karma!

"I still have a trace of Source Qi Origin in my body! Although weak, its essence is extremely high! Perhaps... it can resist this power of destiny!"

Thinking of this, Xiao Chen's eyes erupted with a determined light! He no longer tried to attack the causal lines, but instead immersed all his mind into his body, frantically communicating with and stimulating that wisp of Source Qi Origin deeply hidden in his bloodline!

"With my blood, I sacrifice my soul! Source Qi Origin, heed my command! Defy destiny!"

He burned most of his essence blood and part of his soul origin, transforming them into a resolute will to defy, fiercely impacting that dormant wisp of Origin Qi!

"Buzz—!"

It was as if a sleeping giant dragon had been awakened! That faint wisp of Source Qi Origin suddenly erupted with an indescribably brilliant white light!

The light was not dazzling, but it carried a supreme artistic conception of disregarding all rules and transcending all restraints! Where the white light passed, the causal lines entwined around Xiao Chen's destiny, like ice and snow encountering their nemesis, made "hissing" sounds and melted and broke apart!

"What?! The power of Source Qi Origin?! You can actually use it?!" The gray-misted figure for the first time let out a shocked cry, the mist enveloping him violently churning!

The destiny chessboard he controlled actually began to become blurry and unstable under the illumination of the Origin Qi white light!

"Impossible! Origin Qi is a taboo of heaven and earth; forcibly activating it before reaching the Emperor Realm will inevitably lead to backlash! You are courting death!" The gray-misted figure shrieked, trying to stabilize the chessboard.

"Death? Then let's die together!" Xiao Chen, appearing like a madman, blood gushing from his seven orifices, countless cracks appearing on the surface of his body, but the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter!

He guided the erupting Origin Qi white light, not to attack the opponent, but to inject it all into his own destiny and soul origin!

"With Origin Qi, I reshape my destiny! Destiny, defined by me!"

"Boom—!"

Xiao Chen's destiny, under the washing of the Origin Qi white light, underwent an incredible transformation! The luck that had been stripped away instantly returned, even more vast!

The calamities and curses imposed on him were forcibly reversed and rebounded by the power of Origin Qi!

"Pfft!" The gray-misted figure was hit hard, grunting, and a corner of the enveloping mist exploded, revealing a terrifying face covered in bizarre runes, neither human nor ghost!

The destiny chessboard beneath his feet even let out a "crack," and a crack running through the chessboard appeared!

"Destiny's backlash?! How could you trigger destiny's backlash?!" The gray-misted figure let out an incredulous roar, his aura instantly chaotic!

"Now!" Xiao Chen seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, condensed all his remaining power, along with the rebounded calamity power and vast luck, onto his fingertip, and pointed at the crack in the chessboard!

"Chaos Return to Void Finger—Sever Karma!"

Under one finger, it was not an energy explosion, but an erasure at the law level! Where the fingertip passed, the crack on the chessboard rapidly spread, and countless causal lines broke!

The connection between the gray-misted figure and the destiny chessboard was forcibly severed!

"No—!!!" The gray-misted figure let out a desperate shriek, his body becoming ethereal, clearly suffering severe damage to his origin!

"Explode!" Xiao Chen showed no mercy, with a thought, the remaining Origin Qi white light and the chaotic finger power violently detonated in the center of the chessboard!

"Boom—!!"

Amidst the earth-shattering roar, the destiny chessboard completely shattered! The gray-misted figure let out a tragic scream, his body exploding into countless gray fragments of destiny, dissipating into the chaos!

The Lord of Fate Manipulation of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, fallen!

The aftermath of the explosion sent Xiao Chen flying again, heavily smashing onto the wreckage of the flying boat, completely losing consciousness.

Before he fell unconscious, he vaguely saw a faint black and white light among the collapsing destiny fragments escaping into the void and disappearing.

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Chen slowly awoke from a deep coma. He found himself floating in a relatively stable void sea, the flying boat beneath him completely scrapped.

His injuries were still severe, his soul weak, but that wisp of Source Qi Origin in his body seemed to have merged more deeply with him due to this "passive" eruption, slowly releasing a faint vitality, nourishing his injured body.

"Still alive..." Xiao Chen managed a difficult smile. This time, he truly had a narrow escape, almost dying here.

The Heavenly Secret Pavilion's Weird and power were far beyond imagination.

He checked himself; his cultivation still remained at the early Eight-Star Dou Zun, but his realm seemed more stable, and he had a vague understanding of ethereal powers like destiny and karma.

This might be the greatest gain from this desperate battle.

He took out a spare flying artifact, identified the direction, and continued his journey back towards the Pill Tower Holy Domain, where the Anti-Alliance was located.

This time, the voyage was much calmer. Perhaps the Heavenly Secret Pavilion had suffered continuous losses of experts and was temporarily unable to pursue, or perhaps it was the deterrence of the Origin Qi aura; there were no further obstructions along the way.

Months later, when the familiar outline of the star tower in the Pill Tower Holy Domain appeared in his sight, Xiao Chen breathed a long sigh of relief.

Finally... he was back.

However, he also knew that the real storm might have just begun. The Heavenly Secret Pavilion's conspiracy, the secret of Origin Qi, ancient grudges... all awaited him to uncover.

And his return would undoubtedly bring new variables to this continent!

His figure transformed into a streak of light, plunging into the starlight. A new chapter was about to begin.