Chapter 61: HEAVENLY CLOWN(2)

High above the fractured firmament, the gargantuan jester’s face stretched across the sky, a terrifying distortion of painted white and black skin. Its kaleidoscopic eyes—shifting violently between toxic dark green, crimson red, and glacial blue—swept across the secret realm, diving deep into the spiritual sea and conscious memories of every living soul connected by the white threads.

The Clown’s ethereal consciousness ripped through Kael’s agonizing trauma, scanned Seraphina’s cold, calculating thoughts, and plunged into Arthur’s burning ambitions. It hunted aggressively for the parasite, tracking the residue of stolen fate and altered destiny through every memory, every cultivation channel, and every drop of spiritual blood.

Suddenly, deep within the tangled web of memories, the Clown’s awareness locked onto a figure. It was a silhouette draped in shadow, moving like an architect of chaos behind the scenes, systematically harvesting the realm’s greatest treasures.

Yet, when the Clown attempted to pierce the shroud and reveal the true face of the thief, a thick wall of absolute, world-suppressing fate energy blocked its vision. The figure’s face remained entirely blurred, hidden behind an impenetrable veil of cosmic concealment.

*SCREEECH—!*

The Heavenly Clown let out a soul-shattering, distorted laugh that echoed across dimensions. Enraged by its inability to unmask the thief, the colossal jester’s face twisted into an expression of unadulterated, murderous fury. The sky itself seemed to bleed dark red around its painted eyes as its grin split open to reveal endless rows of void-like teeth.

If it could not identify the parasite, it would simply erase the entire container.

*RUMBLE-KABOOM!*

The sky tore open completely. Instead of normal clouds, an apocalyptic torrent of twisting, jagged black-and-white lightning rained down across the secret realm. The divine retribution of the Heavenly Will struck with absolute, indiscriminate destruction. Mountains crumbled into fine dust within milliseconds, the earth split open into gaping chasms of molten black lava, and violent shockwaves obliterated everything in their path.

The ordinary cultivators, mercenaries, and independent mages who had managed to enter the lower levels didn’t even have time to scream. Struck by the chaotic black-and-white bolts, their bodies instantly disintegrated into fine ash, their souls completely wiped from the fabric of existence. The ancient structures that had stood for tens of thousands of years crumbled like brittle glass under the relentless assault of cosmic anger.

Realizing that the secret realm was rapidly collapsing into a graveyard of divine punishment, the panicked Heavenly Will desperately activated emergency extraction protocols to save its remaining core assets.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Three blinding pillars of golden spatial light descended from the heavens, forcibly locking onto the three surviving Chosen Ones.

Deep within his illusionary sector, Arthur felt space violently buckle around him. A massive spatial shockwave tore through the fabric of reality, dragging his body away from the collapsing peak. Simultaneously, Kael—still battered, broken, and weeping from his horrific psychological torment—was yanked violently into a spatial rift that closed behind him. Across the realm, Seraphina was likewise enveloped in a blinding flash of silver light that completely neutralized the surrounding destruction.

With a final, concussive shockwave that completely leveled the remaining landscape, the three Chosen Ones vanished from the destroying realm, swallowed by chaotic space telemetry while the rest of the pocket world collapsed in on itself.

***

Outside, in the ancient, desolate ruins surrounding the monumental entrance of the secret realm, the atmosphere was thick with suffocating tension. Hundreds of faction leaders, academy elders, high-ranking guild directors, and elite mercenaries waited anxiously for the trial to conclude, expecting their respective young masters and geniuses to emerge victorious with rare relics.

*Flash! Flash! Flash!*

Three violent spatial tears ripped open in the center of the broad stone plaza, dropping three figures heavily onto the cold pavement: Arthur, Kael, and Seraphina.

For a moment, absolute silence gripped the entire plaza. The surrounding crowd strained their necks, waiting for the rest of the trial participants to follow. Seconds passed into agonizing minutes, but no other portals opened. The massive stone gateway behind them groaned loudly, its ancient runes turning dark as it collapsed into a pile of inert, lifeless rubble.

When the dust finally settled, the horrific reality set in. Thousands of elite cultivators had entered the secret realm days ago.

Only three had walked out alive.

Gasps of pure disbelief rippled through the gathered crowd, quickly turning into a heavy, oppressive murmur of suspicion and rage. Instantly, a suffocating, hostile aura descended upon the plaza like a dark cloud. Representatives from the powerful Merchant Guild, the ruthless Shadow Guild, and various imperial noble houses stepped forward, their eyes gleaming with cold, predatory greed and mounting fury.

"Only three?" a high-ranking elder of the Shadow Guild sneered, stepping forward as dark energy crackled around his fingers. "Thousands of talented disciples entered that realm, including my guild’s top geniuses! And only you three walked out? You must have monopolized all the ancient treasures, or worse... ambushed and murdered everyone else to secure your gains!"

"Hand over whatever legacies and spatial rings you obtained in there!" a representative of the Merchant Alliance demanded, drawing his gilded sword with a menacing grin. "Such supreme wealth cannot possibly belong to mere juniors. If you do not cooperate, we will search your souls by force!"

Arthur gritted his teeth, his body aching as he pushed himself to his feet, glaring at the surrounding predators with unyielding rage. Seraphina stood completely silent, her right eye—the piercing sapphire Eye of the Abyssal Sovereign—hidden beneath her silver bangs, though a chilling aura radiated quietly from her small frame. Kael lay crumpled on the ground, still trembling from his ordeal, his eyes completely hollowed out as he stared blankly at the sky, indifferent to the chaos around him.

Seeing the mob close in, the Royal Academy Principal stepped forward, throwing his wide, embroidered sleeves outward to shield the three youths behind him. He channeled his core aura, letting out a blast of pressure that forced the nearest guild guards back.

"Back down, all of you!" the Principal barked, his voice echoing with majestic authority across the plaza. "The secret realms of heaven and earth choose their own masters through trial and peril! These three survived through their own merit, luck, and strength. Are you suggesting the Royal Academy will stand idly by while you threaten our students in broad daylight?!"

"Luck? Merit?" a cold, mocking voice cut through the Principal’s speech, freezing the blood of every single cultivator in the plaza.

The sound was not loud, yet it carried an unnatural, absolute resonance that shattered the surrounding defensive barriers like thin crystal.

"Do you truly believe a mere twist of luck justifies the slaughter of my royal bloodline?"

The space directly above the central plaza violently distorted, cracking like a mirror.

An overwhelming, suffocating imperial pressure descended from the high heavens, crushing the stone pavement beneath everyone’s feet and instantly forcing veteran cultivators and guild leaders to drop to their knees, gasping for air under the immense weight.

From a golden-lit spatial rift, the sovereign ruler of the empire stepped forth—the **Emperor**.

He was a towering, majestic figure draped in heavy, intricately forged black-and-gold armor engraved with roaring dragon motifs. A heavy imperial crown rested upon his head, framing a face chiseled from cold, unforgiving stone. His silver-streaked hair whipped wildly in the atmospheric disturbance, but it was his eyes that terrified everyone: twin pools of blazing, blood-red fury that burned with the unquenchable grief and absolute wrath of a monarch who had just lost his successors.

The Emperor swept his icy, oppressive gaze across the trembling crowd, his voice ringing out with the terrifying weight of supreme authority.

"My son... and my daughter, Princess Vespera," the Emperor whispered, each word dropping like a mountain upon the silent ruins. "Both of their soul-tablets shattered inside that realm just moments ago. Their life lights are extinguished."

He slowly turned his blazing, blood-red eyes directly onto the three surviving youths—locking onto Kael, Arthur, and Seraphina with a gaze that promised absolute annihilation.

"...Which one of you animals slaughtered my royal children?"