"Brother Chen Fan, I'm so sorry I can't protect you. You must win!!"
"No!!!!!" Chen Fan, who was just a thread away from successful fusion, felt infinite rage. The chains of the nascent god early stage shattered as the golden silk cicada armor fused. A powerful surge of energy instantly swept through the entire main tomb chamber.
Chen Fan was, in fact, a true mid-stage nascent god.
"Lord Zuo Shen Dian, there's another one here." Behind Zuo Shen Dian lay all the members of District Thirteen, their true qi drained by the formation.
Zuo Shen Dian looked over. Although the previous surge of energy had startled him, in his eyes, Chen Fan, no matter how strong, was merely a peak Nascent Soul cultivator. Even a bit stronger, he'd be at best a nascent god early stage, like them, having taken boosters. This thought brought Zuo Shen Dian a sense of reassurance.
"I am at the peak nascent god stage. Little Chen Fan, come down and die!" Zuo Shen Dian taunted.
Suddenly.
Chen Fan teleported in front of Zuo Shen Dian and, with one hand, lifted him up.
Zuo Shen Dian never expected that Chen Fan, with such a formidable aura, would possess such power.
"Guess what my realm is..." Chen Fan mimicked Zuo Shen Dian's earlier tone when he was teasing Bai Zhannian, mocking him.
"You... Who exactly are you?" This time, Zuo Shen Dian was truly terrified by the immense power.
"Me?... I'm just Bai Zhannian's elder brother."
"And remember this, I am a genuine mid-stage nascent god!!!"
"Xuan Tian Finger!"
An explosion, once again, swept through the ancient tomb. It seemed as though something remained, yet nothing was left. All the corpses turned to ash and dust in this final strike...
"Cough... cough..." Not far from the ancient tomb, a figure was coughing violently, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"My own rage-fueled, life-risking strike is this difficult to endure." The person was Chen Fan.
It turned out that after Chen Fan acquired the treasure, he received guidance from the divine artifact.
Following the artifact's instructions, he discovered that among the ancient craftsmen, each would leave a secret escape route for themselves when nearing the end of constructing a tomb. After Lord Chaotian Zhenren's death, this "Golden Silk Cicada Armor" had been stored here. Over time, the spirit within this artifact had discovered a way to leave this ancient tomb.
After the final explosion, the tomb chamber cracked and shook more violently. Guided by the artifact, he directly escaped through the escape passage.
However, the powerful backlash of the explosion still affected Chen Fan. Despite his strength, he was still injured, his liver damaged by the immense explosive force.
"Zhannian, I will find your body," Chen Fan roared towards the sky.
"Zhannian died to protect my final fusion with the divine artifact. How could I abandon his remains? Even in death, I must see your body." This was Chen Fan's inner resolve.
"It's all Bai Lin's faulty intelligence. Zhannian, I will avenge you and utterly destroy the entire District Thirteen." Chen Fan pondered.
"Where could I find any clues about Zhannian? After sinking into the deep pool, an exhausted Bai Zhannian was almost certainly dead. With the flow of the heavy water, where could he have been carried? After all, last time we fell into the deep pool, we almost died due to our insufficient abilities. Would we be so lucky this time?" Chen Fan dared not be overly optimistic.
"After all, any outcome for Bai Zhannian was death. Perhaps he was already killed by the collision's explosion, or if he was still conscious, he drowned in the heavy water after falling into the deep pool. To take it a step further, even if Bai Zhannian survived the impact of the collision and fell into the deep pool with enough residual strength to survive the heavy water with his boosted cultivation, what were the chances of survival in an ancient tomb that was collapsing and filled with traps?" Chen Fan himself was seriously injured and dared not venture back into the tomb rashly.
"Right, Kunlun Secret Realm." The thought suddenly struck Chen Fan.
"Yes, every disciple of the Kunlun Secret Realm leaves a Life Lamp within the realm. By following the guidance of the Life Lamp, can I successfully find Bai Zhannian?"
With this thought, Chen Fan immediately prepared to rest and set out for the Kunlun Secret Realm the next morning.
"Bai Lin, our entanglement is far from over. When I return, I will take your life."
A few days later...
Somewhere in China.
"It's still the same here."
Chen Fan, dressed in casual attire – a pair of brightly patterned shorts and a pair of cheap flip-flops he'd bought from somewhere – appeared in the city below Kunlun Mountain.
The city was ablaze with lights in the evening.
Returning to the city, Chen Fan looked at the familiar cityscape, the bustling traffic, the aroma of food wafting from distant streets, the sight of people rushing home from work or heading to their offices, and the sounds of children playing.
"If only I were an ordinary person."
Chen Fan felt a flicker of longing for a normal life. Although he possessed immense wealth and had dealt with numerous business rivals in the mundane world, deep down, Chen Fan only wished for a warm home with Su Yingxue, a family of his own, children, and to grow old together. This was the ending Chen Fan truly desired.