Oh no! My grandmother made me shoulder the responsibility for eight households!

Chapter 550 Heroic Spirits Battle the Heavens

The third level of the nine-story Chaos Tower is the Hall of Heroes.

One after another, illusory figures floated in mid-air, some male, some female, some old, some young.

Their eyes were closed, as if they were asleep, or as if they were waiting.

Lin Chen's divine sense swept across the Hall of Heroes, looking at each one one by one.

Land immortals, celestial beings, and true lords—all can be skipped at a glance.

The Holy One glanced at it briefly, then skipped over it.

What he was looking for wasn't these things; what he was looking for was a trump card that could help him block the one that existed deep within the void.

Finally, Lin Chen's divine sense stopped in front of a phantom.

It was a middle-aged man wearing tattered armor, covered in knife marks and sword holes, some parts of which were soaked in blood and dried into a dark brown color.

His body was covered with wounds, some new, some old, some deep, some shallow. The most shocking was the penetrating wound on his chest, which ran from his left shoulder to his right rib, and you could see the broken bone inside.

His hair was disheveled, his face was covered in blood, but his back was ramrod straight.

Even as a phantom, even in slumber, his indomitable will still emanated from him, dimming the surrounding phantoms.

Lin Chen's divine sense paused on him for a moment, and the aura made his pupils shrink slightly.

Half-step Great Emperor peak, no, more than that.

That aura was stronger than that of a peak half-step Great Emperor, and only a step away from becoming a Great Emperor.

Lin Chen instantly received the person's information in his mind, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

He failed to become emperor, but remained defiant to the death and was pulled out of the river of time by the master of the Chaos Tower.

This was the person he was looking for.

Lin Chen's divine sense gently touched the illusory figure.

The phantom suddenly opened its eyes, a glint of light flashing in them like two bolts of lightning streaking across the night sky.

For a fleeting moment, the entire Hall of Heroes lit up.

His gaze fell on Lin Chen, paused for a moment, and then he spoke.

"Who are you?"

"Lin Chen, the current master of the Chaos Tower."

The phantom was silent for a moment, then sighed softly:

"The Chaos Tower has a new master again? Tell me, what do you need me to do?"

Lin Chen looked at the illusory figure directly, without beating around the bush.

"Help me hold off someone who is at least at the peak of the half-step Great Emperor, or even a Great Emperor. I am not his match yet."

"Great Emperor?" The illusory figure sighed softly, "I can give it a try, but I can't guarantee a win."

"The difference between a Great Emperor and a Half-Step Great Emperor is not just cultivation level, but also level."

"I failed to become emperor; my path is flawed, and my power is insufficient. But at most, I can withstand three attacks for you."

Lin Chen chuckled lightly: "That's enough."

The illusory figure solidified slightly, then walked up to Lin Chen and stood still.

"My name is Zhan Tian."

Lin Chen silently repeated the name in his mind, then clasped his hands in a salute: "Senior Zhan Tian."

Zhan Tian waved his hand, "Don't call me senior, just call me by my name. You are the successor of the Chaos Tower, it is only right that I risk my life for you."

"Besides, I don't have any other skills in this life, except that I can fight."

That senior pulled me out of the river of time; I owe him a life, a life that no longer belongs to me.

Lin Chen looked at Zhan Tian and remained silent.

"Aren't you curious about my past?" Zhan Tian suddenly asked.

Lin Chen smiled slightly: "If you want to talk, I'll listen."

Zhan Tian smiled, walked to the edge of the Hall of Heroes, looked at the sleeping phantoms, and said softly:

"I was born in a very small world. My family was the most powerful family in that world, and my father was the strongest person in that world."

Zhan Tian paused, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly, not in a smile, but in a self-deprecating way.

"I've been very strong since I was a child. I'm so strong that no one my age can withstand three of my moves. I'm so strong that my elders are unwilling to spar with me. I'm so strong that my whole family regards me as the hope for the future."

"Ten-year-old celestial being, fifteen-year-old terrestrial immortal, twenty-year-old celestial immortal, thirty-year-old true lord, fifty-year-old holy venerable."

"At one hundred years old, I'm half a step into the Great Emperor realm; at one hundred and fifty years old, I'm aiming to become a Great Emperor."

Zhan Tian's voice deepened, as if it came from a very, very deep place.

"I failed, not because I wasn't strong enough, but because I went astray."

What I pursue is power, not the Way; what I want is to surpass everyone else, not to become myself.

"At the moment I became the emperor, I encountered my inner demons. I looked at myself standing in front of me and suddenly realized that I didn't recognize him."

Zhan Tian's gaze fell on his tattered armor.

"That penetrating wound wasn't inflicted by someone else; I stabbed myself."

"When he failed to become emperor, his path collapsed, his power crumbled, and his life hung by a thread."

But I was not resigned to it. With my last breath and the last drop of my lifeblood, I charged into the battlefield.

"In that battle, I killed seven peak half-step Great Emperors, repelled two others, and was riddled with bullets myself."

"Before I died, I saw that senior."

He stood in the river of time, looking at me, and asked, "Do you want to live?"

I said, "I don't want to, but I don't want to die like this."

He said, "Okay."

"Then they pulled me out of the river of time and placed me in Valhalla, where I've been for hundreds of thousands of years."

Lin Chen looked at Zhan Tian and suddenly asked:

"Zhan Tian, ​​you said you were pulled out of the River of Time, so what was pulled out of the River of Time was just a fragment of your soul?"

Zhan Tian nodded. "The physical body is destroyed, and the soul is shattered."

What that senior retrieved from the river of time was merely the last fragment of me before I vanished.

"The path to becoming an emperor is fierce. If you survive, you will become a great emperor; if you fail, your soul and spirit will be destroyed, leaving no trace in the river of time."

"Even a god can't do it?" Lin Chen pressed.

Zhan Tian paused for a moment, then looked at the chaotic light at the top of the Chaos Tower.

"No, only transcendence, transcending this world, transcending this time and space, transcending all constraints."

At that time, you can step into the river of time and retrieve what you want from the endless fragments.

Zhan Tian paused, looking at Lin Chen.

"But that is a realm beyond, above the Great Emperor, above the God Venerable, a vague and ethereal legend."

That predecessor failed to transcend, and thus vanished into the world.

You think he didn't want to live? He wanted to live more than anyone else, but he failed.

Lin Chen's pupils contracted slightly.

Transcending realms, the river of time and space, fragments of the soul, eternal life, immortal and indestructible.

These things were like keys, unlocking a door in his mind that had never been opened before.

Lin Chen looked at Zhan Tian and chuckled, saying:

"If one day I can transcend, I will find the other fragments for you and let you live a second life."

Zhan Tian was stunned for a moment. Was this kid just making empty promises to him?

Lin Chen glanced at Zhan Tian, ​​then turned and walked out of the Hall of Heroes.

Zhan Tian chuckled softly and followed behind Lin Chen, his illusory figure solidifying as his footsteps became very light.

Lin Chen walked out of the nine-story Chaos Tower and stood in the square in front of the Hehuan Hall.

The moon was round and bright, illuminating the entire valley in a silvery light; everything was perfect.

Zhan Tian stood behind Lin Chen, looking up at the moon in the sky.

Is a world on the verge of collapse worth it?

Lin Chen didn't reply. "If that being is truly an Emperor, how long can you last?"

Zhan Tian paused for a moment, thought carefully, and then said a number:

"One stick of incense, or two sticks if you're really going all out."