Chapter 973

An oppressive aura suddenly appeared in Redfruit Town, enveloping the entire town. The mortals in the town suddenly felt suffocated, as if a mountain was pressing down on them. As for the cultivators, they felt a sense of danger, as if they could lose their lives at any moment.

This aura completely enveloped Redfruit Town. The clear skies of Redfruit Town were covered by dark clouds in the next moment, and not a single ray of sunlight could be seen.

The pitch-black Redfruit Town was like the end of the world. Everyone was panicking.

"This is the aura of the mortal origin realm! Someone has broken through to the mortal origin realm!"

Wu Zhen exclaimed. He'd once been a Core realm cultivator and had seen many things. Naturally, he recognized this aura. Moreover, he could feel that this aura belonged to an extraordinary mortal origin realm cultivator.

"What a powerful aura!" Wu Yu's eyes flashed. He stood up and looked into the distance.

"Is the person you're talking about living in a courtyard five miles away?" Wu Yu asked.

Wu Zhen nodded, "That's the place. Why? Is this aura coming from there?"

Wu Yu said, "It's a very powerful aura. He's definitely not an ordinary origin realm cultivator. Come, let's go take a look."

"Is it appropriate to go now?" Wu Zhen was shocked, and a trace of worry appeared on his face.

"It's fine. Let's go."

The two of them flew toward Zi Chen's residence. Wu Yu wasn't being reckless when he didn't ascertain the other party's strength. It was because he sensed an extremely familiar aura from this aura.

This aura belonged to a foreign race.

His expression didn't change as he flew forward, but countless thoughts flashed through his mind. If the other party really was a foreign race, then this matter couldn't be left unresolved. Humans and foreign races were mortal enemies. It was so in the past, and it was even more so now.

The two of them arrived outside Zi Chen's residence in a moment. They looked down. The aura that had enveloped Redfruit Town had come from here. However, Wu Yu only sensed the aura of the true origin realm in the room.

The oppressive aura lasted for a full fifteen minutes. During this time, the people of Redfruit Town lived in a world of terror.

A quarter of an hour later, the dark clouds in the sky dissipated, and the sun shone again. Redfruit Town was bright again, but the fear in everyone's heart didn't dissipate for a long time.

"I am the Wu Family's Wu Yu. I've come to meet you." After the oppressive aura in the room disappeared, Wu Yu spoke.

"Wu Yu." An extremely familiar voice came from the room.

Hearing this voice, Wu Yu's expression immediately changed. There was disbelief in his eyes because he was too familiar with this voice. He knew the owner of this voice too well. However, according to what Wu Yu knew, the owner of this voice should have died.

At this moment, the door opened and Zi Chen walked out of the room.

"Zi Chen, it really is you." The disbelief in Wu Yu's eyes deepened.

"Wu Yu, it's you. Why are you here?" Zi Chen was clearly surprised.

Logically speaking, when Wu Yu entered the Ancient Road, he would be at the Mortal Essence realm the next time he came out. However, the current Wu Yu was clearly only at the Core Essence realm.

When Wu Zhen heard that the two of them were familiar with each other, the worry in his heart dissipated.

"Kaka, Wu Yu." Suddenly, another voice came from the room. Then, a tall black figure walked out.

From this tall black figure, there was an extremely unstable aura. This aura was vast and boundless, giving people an unfathomable feeling.

Wu Zhen's relaxed mood tensed up again. Shock flashed through his heart. Obviously, there was not one person, but two. Moreover, one of them was at the Mortal Essence realm.

"Demon Ape, it's you."

Wu Yu's eyes flashed. He had felt a foreign aura before, but he did not expect it to be the Demon Ape. Humans and foreign races were mortal enemies, but the Demon Ape was not one of them.

Because the Demon Ape was Zi Chen's friend.

Wu Yu descended from the sky and asked almost at the same time as Zi Chen.

"Why are you here?"

"Why are you here?"

Then, the two of them looked at each other and laughed.

Bing'er suddenly ran out of the room and saw the two strangers. She knew one of them. It was Wu Zhen, Wu Mei's father, who had come to apologize a few days ago. She did not know the other one.

Wu Yu saw Bing'er and said, "This must be Bing'er."

Bing'er looked at Wu Yu, but did not speak.

Zi Chen said, "Come, Bing'er. Greet your Brother Wu Yu. He is my friend."

"Brother Wu Yu."

Wu Yu smiled, but did not mention anything about Wu Yu. He did not even introduce Wu Zhen to Zi Chen.

Knowing that this person was Zi Chen, Wu Yu knew that the reason he did not attack the Wu family was purely out of kindness. As for Wu Zhen's previous guess, it was completely wrong. Zi Chen was not someone from a big power. He was just a rogue cultivator.

Of course, this was only on the surface. But even so, Zi Chen and the Demon Ape were already more powerful than many big powers.

If one really wanted to talk about background, then Zi Chen had the ancient family behind him. This was a big family that was comparable to the Five Elements Families. His background was definitely strong enough.

The four of them entered the room, and the four of them sat down. Wu Zhen stood behind Wu Yu. He was Red Fruit Town's strongest expert, but he was unable to get a seat in front of Zi Chen.

"Why are you here? The rumors say that you're dead. They've already sent out news that they're searching for your corpse in the western region," said Wu Yu as soon as they sat down.

"The western region? Why would they want to find me there?" asked Zi Chen.

Bing'er poured tea for them. Wu Yu took a cup and said, "The news says that you should be in the western region."

Zi Chen nodded. He was most likely referring to the Jin family's medallion.

Zi Chen looked at Bing'er. "I almost died. It was her and her grandfather who saved me. However, her grandfather was killed by the Martial Heaven Alliance's people, so I brought her out."

"The Martial Heaven Alliance? Did you provoke them?" Wu Yu frowned.

Zi Chen smiled carelessly. "It can't count as provoking them. Those scum deserve to die. Furthermore, I even dared to provoke their own families, so there's no need to mention them."

Wu Yu nodded and didn't say anything more. To tell the truth, Zi Chen had too many enemies. Other than the ancient races, practically every powerful family on the Martial Heaven Continent was Zi Chen's enemy.

Wu Zhen quietly listened to their conversation, his expression constantly changing. Inside, he was shocked by the content of their conversation.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be in the ancient path? It seems that when you came out, you became a Mortal Yuan expert. Could it be that you were also expelled midway?" asked Zi Chen.

Wu Yu bitterly smiled. He glanced at Zi Chen and then at the devil ape. "There was a change in the ancient path. The outsiders invaded, and I was accidentally sucked into a spatial crack. I luckily didn't die, but when I saw the light of day again, I found myself in the outside world."

"What? The outsiders invaded?!" Wu Zhen let out a startled cry.

Zi Chen exchanged a glance with the devil ape. "Didn't we destroy that thing? How could the outsiders still invade?"

Wu Yu shook his head. "No one knows. However, the outsiders invaded the ancient path, and a large number of them charged in. The laws of the ancient path are no longer complete, and the ancient path has become even more dangerous."

Wu Yu explained what had happened before and after the change in the ancient path. Zi Chen and the devil ape's expressions changed.

It had to be known that when they had been surrounded, the two of them had been on the verge of death. However, the earth had suddenly trembled, and the laws of space had twisted, giving them a chance to survive. Zi Chen had originally thought that this chance had been given to them by the Earth Yuan experts of the ancient races. But now that he thought about it, it should have been caused by the outsiders.

After that, Wu Yu explained a few things that had happened after the change in the ancient path. Then he told Zi Chen just how powerful the outsiders were.

"News of the outsiders' invasion has already spread to all the Martial Heaven Continent's powerful families. Many of them are actively organizing people to enter the ancient path. However, it's different from the past. Now, those who enter are all elites, and they have all reached a certain realm."

As the two of them chatted, they didn't mention Wu Yu's matter. It was as if Wu Yu had forgotten why he had come here. Hearing about the ancient path and the outsiders made Bing'er extremely curious.

However, when she heard that the weakest person to enter the ancient path was at the Origin Core realm, she stuck out her tongue.

"Did you come here for Wu Yu?" asked Zi Chen after a moment.

Wu Yu glanced at Bing'er. "I heard about Wu Yu's matter. This matter was originally his fault. However, in order to save me, Wu Zhen was heavily injured, causing his cultivation base to drop. If it weren't for that, he might have reached the Mortal realm."

Zi Chen nodded. "Since that's the case, then let's forget about this matter."

After that, Zi Chen looked at Bing'er. "Bing'er, what do you think?"

"You have the final say," said Bing'er with a smile.

In truth, Bing'er had been extremely happy these days. Although she had been schemed against by Wu Mei and Wu Yu, she was still extremely happy when she learned that Zi Chen had been paying attention to her.

Hearing that, Wu Zhen's expression became extremely excited. He said, "Many thanks for your magnanimity. Our residence has already prepared a meal. Would you like to have a meal with me?"

Originally, there had been an extremely high grade restaurant in the town. It was one of the Wu Family's businesses. However, it had been destroyed by Zi Chen, so they had to return to their residence to eat.

Zi Chen waved his hand. "There's no need for a meal."

A moment later, Wu Yu and Wu Zhen left. Zi Chen needed to enter seclusion. Now that the devil ape had broken through, Zi Chen needed to break through as soon as possible as well.

During this period of time, Wu Yu did not mention anything about the Lightning God Temple. Evidently, the other party did not know about it. He only regretfully informed them that the Mortal Energy Fruit had appeared, but something had happened. No one knew if it had been obtained by someone else or if it had disappeared on its own.

After the two left, Zi Chen went into seclusion to refine the Mortal Energy Fruit. This time, he was wholeheartedly in seclusion. As for Bing'er, she was left in the care of the devil ape.

After what had happened to Wu Yu, no one dared to have any ideas about Bing'er in Redfruit Town. Furthermore, because of what had happened the last time, Bing'er had spent more time playing than cultivating.

This time, Zi Chen had spent three months in seclusion. During these three months, he had been refining the Mortal Energy Fruit day and night. His essence, energy, and soul had reached a perfect state.