Just as Zhang Chen was about to employ the Visualization Technique and enter the Second Heaven of the Spiritual World, the overwhelming energy from the Ascension Pool within his Life Chart surged forth, breaking free from the Marriage Line’s confines, escaping the Divine Lady’s grasp, and pouring into Zhang Chen’s soul, vanishing within.
At this moment, Zhang Chen’s soul was like a bottomless pit, devouring the surging energy. The Ascension Pool, buried within the Ancestral Vein, seemed to sense something and emitted vibrant multicolored light. These lights turned tangible, streaming through the Feng Shui Grand Array, directly inundating Zhang Chen’s soul.
The Divine Lady inside the Sea Calming Divine Pearl was shocked, staring blankly at the transformation within Zhang Chen’s soul, eyes filled with disbelief: "The soul remains, but the consciousness has vanished? How could this be! His Life Chart and consciousness have disappeared into thin air? And what’s happening to the energy that broke free from my control?"
The Divine Lady stood dazed within the Sea Calming Divine Pearl, sensing Zhang Chen’s mental changes, her eyes filled with horror.
Moreover, she noticed the energy surging from the Ascension Pool had increased a hundredfold, overwhelmingly sweeping across the heavens and earth, as if the Ascension Pool was actively channeling energy into Zhang Chen. The Feng Shui Grand Array had lost control, turned by the Ascension Pool into a tool for transmitting energy.
The Divine Lady’s shock about Zhang Chen remained unknown; meanwhile, Zhang Chen’s consciousness fluctuated, wandering through endless darkness, as if stepping into the Meditation Void for the first time.
In that endless darkness was a glimmer of light, flickering like a firefly. If not for the profound void, Zhang Chen might not have noticed that speck of brightness in the darkness.
"Could that be the world barrier of the Second Heaven of the Spiritual World?" Zhang Chen pondered as he stood in the endless darkness, gazing at the glimmer of light.
Then, Zhang Chen took steps toward the light in the darkness, having experienced such a process before when he first entered the Spiritual World.
However, Zhang Chen now was countless times stronger than before, with far sharper vision and understanding. His steps in the darkness were steady, and unlike before, he felt no fatigue, as if a vast energy from the void was continuously nourishing and replenishing his soul’s essence.
In the chaotic darkness where time was immeasurable, Zhang Chen had no idea how long he walked until the light grew nearer, finally halting before a grand, imposing curtain transforming from that light in front of him.
The curtain was silver-white, with mysterious runes flowing across it, countless symbols forming interwoven Order Chains, appearing extraordinary.
"A world barrier?" Zhang Chen showed a thoughtful expression as he looked at the light curtain before him.
But Zhang Chen was different now from the past and intended to employ different means before this curtain.
With a smile, Zhang Chen said to the silver curtain in front of him, "I won’t follow the old steps this time, entering bit by bit."
Saying this, Zhang Chen extended his hand, and the Golden Scissors appeared in his grasp. With recent days of restoration and the nourishment from the Black and White Brush, the wounds on the Golden Scissors had healed significantly.
"I wonder if my Golden Scissors can cut through the Order Chains before me," Zhang Chen encouraged himself, holding the Golden Scissors in one hand. "It should work; after all, the Princess once used the Golden Scissors to pierce through the barrier between the Material Realm and the Spiritual World. One must know that the barrier between different parts of the Spiritual World is at least dozens of times weaker than the barrier between the Material Realm and the Spiritual World."
As Zhang Chen’s words fell, five hundred years of Magical Power surged into the Golden Scissors, transforming them into a black-and-white airflow. With a spin and twist before the world barrier, the countless Order Chains were severed, and the world barrier was cut open by the Golden Scissors.
Zhang Chen was overjoyed at the sight: "The Golden Scissors are indeed a supreme Divine Artifact, they didn’t disappoint me!"
However, the countless Order Chains were continuously repairing themselves, resisting the yin and yang qi the Golden Scissors had transformed into. Zhang Chen, sensing this, charged towards the opening.
Just as Zhang Chen rushed through the opening and broke into the world on the other side, he heard thunder crash, a billion strands of purple lightning filled the sky, striking down at Zhang Chen, presenting an endless sea of lightning before his eyes.
"Damn! Did I offend Heaven? What crime, what sin, warrants such purple lightning against me," Zhang Chen cursed aloud.
The power of the purple lightning was overwhelming, and under its force, Zhang Chen’s soul trembled. He had a premonition; if struck by even a single bolt, he would be utterly annihilated, with no alternative outcome.
At this moment, despite Zhang Chen’s myriad of techniques, the purple lightning ocean left him helpless, a profound sense of powerlessness engulfing him. The relentless thunder was simply something he couldn’t withstand.
As Zhang Chen was about to be destroyed by the lightning, the Golden Scissors, sensing his crisis, transformed into black-and-white streams, wrapping around his soul, voluntarily recognizing him as their master.
Then the Golden Scissors, carrying Zhang Chen’s soul, charged head-on into the sea of purple thunder, endlessly slashing the lightning with the black-and-white qi.
Yet the level of lightning was too high. Even just its aura had immobilized Zhang Chen’s soul. Against the unknown caliber of thunder, even the Golden Scissors’ qi was rapidly depleting.
Desperate, Zhang Chen urged the Golden Scissors to retreat, but as they flew back a distance, he only found an endless ocean of purple thunder, with no sign of the world barrier in sight.
It was as if the world barrier Zhang Chen cut through had never existed.
Seeing no exit, Zhang Chen set aside the reasons and directed the Golden Scissors to charge toward the edge of the lightning sea.
"Quick! Rush! If we break through the lightning sea, there will be new hope!" Zhang Chen felt his heart pounding, filled with tension as he saw the black-and-white streams struggling through the thunder.
He had to either break through the lightning sea or be obliterated by it.
Meanwhile, Zhang Chen cursed: "What kind of crime deserves such terrifying thunder? How come every time I come to the Spiritual World, nothing good happens? The grand array in the First Heaven of the Spiritual World was one thing, but now, reaching the Second Heaven, I face even more terrifying lightning?"
Perhaps it was his imagination, but Zhang Chen found the aura emitted by this purple lightning even more terrifying than the Princess’s, sending chills through his heart.
"No wonder the Spiritual World is so dangerous!" Zhang Chen muttered to himself, thoughts racing, contemplating a way to break the predicament.
"The Buzhou Mountain Stone possesses Divine Power, capable of suppressing ten thousand techniques; I wonder if it can suppress this thunder from heaven and earth," Zhang Chen mused, intending to summon his Buzhou Seal, only to find it had lost its connection, vanished from his soul.
"Damn it, where is my Buzhou Seal!" Zhang Chen cursed angrily; truly, troubles come in troops — everything bad seemed to happen at once.
"Damn, truly damn it! It’s just accumulated sins!" The black-and-white streams that Zhang Chen had transformed into streaked through the thunderclouds, but the endless lightning showed no end. The light on the Golden Scissors dimmed, the streams reduced from dozens of meters to just about a meter, and not just its size; even the speed of the Golden Scissors’ flight continually diminished.