Chapter 699: The Dream Is Over, But There's No Returning Home

The Chaos Emperor Lotus, his spirit keenly surveying the dim world around him, spoke with a voice that carried an unsettling chill.

He knew well that the ancient bronze coffin was Yun Xiao’s ultimate safeguard!

The situation now turned troublesome.

The Chaotic Spirit World was his dominion, yet entering this ancient bronze coffin felt like stepping into Yun Xiao’s territory, where the young man turned the tables, making the guest the master.

BOOM!

The Chaos Emperor Lotus struck the coffin lid, but failed to break it open.

Unknown to him, each blow he dealt drained a vast portion of Yun Xiao’s riches.

And so, the situation remained perilous!

“Truly a fine coffin…” The Chaos Emperor Lotus, spinning within, cast a ghastly glow.

“You’ve grown greedy,” Yun Xiao said.

“I have a premonition,” Lu Fan spoke amid the coffin’s mist, finding the young man in white and saying earnestly, “Defeating you, I will soar anew, escaping this petty mire, unstoppable through eternity.”

“Is that so? If I defeat you, it would merely please my Senior Sister Zhao for a few days,” Yun Xiao replied.

“Hehehe… You have a knack for being nauseating,” Lu Fan laughed.

What he didn’t realize was that Yun Xiao spoke the truth—already, heroes from the factions of Risen Nobodies and Reborn Immortal Emperors had been sent to amuse Zhao Xuanran.

Now, it was the System trying to take a shot at him. At his core was a Chaos Soul.

“Show me what you’ve got; turn-based games can be quite fun,” Lu Fan said calmly.

“Spend some money to play him a

requiem

,” Yun Xiao suggested to those around.

“A song to think…” Lu Fan was scoffing when the requiem began to play within the coffin.

His first reaction was that it was unbearable, grating like wood on wood, clearly sung by Red Moon.

But soon, waves of gray mist, accompanying the requiem, sprouted from the coffin’s walls and crept toward the Chaos Emperor Lotus.

SIZZLE!

As the mist touched the Chaos Emperor Lotus, the petals of his spirit began to smoke, decay, desiccate, and rot.

“Are you mad, dragging someone into a coffin then dousing them with soul acid?” Lu Fan was alarmed.

Yun Xiao grinned. “Just say if it worked or not!”

It was plain to see whether it was effective or not.

Amidst the thick swirling miasma, the petals of the Chaos Emperor Lotus wilted and decayed swiftly.

Blue Star and Red Moon were, with all their might, furiously spending fortunes to secure this foe for Yun Xiao.

"GAHH!" Lu Fan's cries of agony rose quickly.

The sensation of being splashed with

acid

was undeniably agonizing. The Chaos Emperor Lotus trembled wildly, its fully bloomed petals contracting fiercely back into a bud... but even this was futile!

Under the devouring gray mist, even the bud was riddled with holes.

This sudden, devastating blow was undoubtedly beyond the Greatest War God's expectations; he went from ecstasy to agony in a mere moment!

Lu Fan's

expression

darkened completely.

"Is this local nobody really that strong?"

Yun Xiao's defiance of the heavens once again surpassed Lu Fan’s imagination to a baffling extent.

He had no idea what this gray mist was, only that it uniquely countered his own Chaos Emperor Lotus!

"System, isn’t the Chaos Emperor Lotus supposed to be indestructible, immune to all harm?"

Lu Fan

sweated

profusely as he endured the excruciating pain, his head throbbing and vision blurring.

The gray mist also possessed a hallucinatory power, shaking his resolve and stirring up the unrest and numbness within him!

"AGHH!!" He began to scream heartrendingly within the ancient bronze coffin, the sound shaking the coffin violently, causing Blue Star and Red Moon to silently grimace.

They were burning through fortunes every second, and they were weary too!

Why hadn’t it finished him off yet?

With their trump card played, there was no turning back!

From polite conversation to a struggle for survival, it all happened in an instant.

The Chaos Emperor Lotus contracted into a golden-black sphere, making its final stand. Its chaotic soul power vibrated wildly, pushing Yun Xiao back and even bending his Buddha's Treasure Spirit!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The coffin continued to tremble.

"How about now?" Yun Xiao frowned.

"It's tough! I'm all in!" Blue Star gritted out.

"Truly fierce." Yun Xiao thought he was close to dealing with Lu Fan, but even with his trump card played, the kill was proving laborious.

He stared intently, seeing the golden-black sphere roaring like a titanic beast of the soul amidst the gray mist.

"I’ll pay, just take the money, stop hurting me..."

"Please, I’m begging you, I’ll pay back the money right away."

"Mom! Mom! You must wait for me, I'll come home. I have money now, I can cure your illness..."

"Mom!" His voice was hoarse with crying, trembling with the weight of his innermost demons, the same fears he couldn't escape even as he faced death in his previous life.

"System! System!" Lu Fan roared, a flicker of spirit returning, "I don't want to die, I want to go home! Please, give me a way out!"

DING!

In front of him appeared a line of golden text—

「

System Alert: At a dead end, an additional three souls and six spirits are required to survive. Please choose.

Option One: Accept.

Option Two: Agree.

」

"Uh." Lu Fan shuddered with horror.

The two options unveiled his deepest panic completely.

His whole world darkened, with death looming before him, only the glittering gold of the two options shone in his eyes.

"Mom, wait for me..." Lu Fan clenched his teeth, struggling and crawling, his hands pressing on both options simultaneously.

?ι══????????══ι?

"The timing is just about right!" Blue Star exclaimed excitedly.

Yun Xiao focused his gaze and saw that the golden-black sphere had been reduced significantly.

Lu Fan's influence was fading!

"Is this victory? Just a bit of money did it?" Yun Xiao was still somewhat dazed.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred.

The black and gold sphere exploded suddenly, a beast-shaped cloud of mist roaring as it burst through the fog, slamming the coffin lid open with brute force!

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Chaos Soul!" Blue Star sneered.

The beast-shaped mist burst out of the ancient bronze coffin, and in an instant, the entire world twisted and tore apart!

BUZZ!

The spatial fabric of the Great Dao Celestial Realm surged like a torrent, rushing into Yun Xiao’s vision!

"It's escaped!" Yun Xiao instantly lost track of the Chaos Soul, realizing the opportunity had slipped away. He swiftly retracted the ancient bronze coffin.

BUZZ!

The world returned to normal.

Yun Xiao stood in the empty expanse of heaven and earth.

Looking into the distance... the Great Dao Celestial Army, the Free Immortals, demons, and devils, they were all still there!

Beneath the dark canopy, except for those who had perished, everything remained.

Even Lu Fan's Nine Dragons Agarwood Chariot still floated in the sky!

However, many of the strong foes who had besieged them lay dead, with the surviving wounded anxiously awaiting the outcome.

When they saw Lu Fan had vanished and Yun Xiao appeared unscathed, it was as if the sky had fallen and the earth had split open in their hearts!

Yet, Yun Xiao paid them no heed.

"It escaped?" he asked Blue Star again.

"If the Chaos Soul chose to reveal itself, then it's definitely gone," Blue Star replied listlessly.

The gray mist might have seemed simple, but it had nearly depleted all the fortunes he'd amassed earlier. Powerful, yes, but certainly costly!

"What now?" Yun Xiao asked further.

"From here, the Chaos Soul takes the lead, making it tougher to deal with. It will grow stronger and drop any pretense," Blue Star said.

"Alright."

Disgusting as it was, this was an inevitable conclusion. In the System's

game

, the otherworld travelers were but age-old puppets, with the System itself being the true ruler.

Had Yun Xiao not interfered, the Chaos Soul wouldn’t have needed to expose itself so soon. The fatter the pig, the better the handover.

Now the pig was still lean, forced by Yun Xiao to show its hand, tearing apart the charade... The Chaos Soul had to be raging!

"If there’s no escape, then I'll continue to play this out with you."

Honestly, Yun Xiao had hoped his adversary would be Lu Fan, at least he was a flesh-and-blood being.

Regrettably, it seemed Lu Fan's dream had ended.

Looking into the distance, Yun Xiao took a deep breath.

"Regardless, the first problem is resolved. Next, while there’s time, I'll set the Celestial Court's affairs in order, addressing the matter of the incense offerings..."

His gaze moved to the Nine Dragons Agarwood Chariot and the numb and listless Great Dao Celestial Army, Free Immortals, demons, and devils.

Behind him, a pair of blazing eyes watched!

Yun Xiao knew whose they were...