Chapter 152 Almost Stumbled in a Gutter

However, Lu Chen naturally knew it was no dream; that terrifying pressure a moment ago had instantly given him the sensation of standing at death's door.

He could confirm that if the robed figure were to strike, he would have no power to resist whatsoever.

Therefore... the robed figure truly existed.

Could he be the legendary Lord Tongtian?!

A storm of thoughts erupted in Lu Chen's mind. After pondering for a moment, he shook his head again.

Lord Tongtian could not possibly exist here.

According to the prehistoric myths and legends of his past life, to attain the Hunyuan realm was to become a saint.

Saints govern the cosmos and the universe, enduring countless kalpas without perishing, untouched by karma and untainted by cause and effect.

They exist as long as heaven endures and coexist with the Dao.

Omniscient and omnipotent.

A saint is, in essence, the "Dao."

They can comprehend all things and all phenomena across the boundless worlds; they can observe the past, present, and future; within their palms, they can manifest spacetime, creation, destruction, and reincarnation.

How could a mighty being of such a realm exist within this misty space?

In Lu Chen's eyes, this alternate space might seem boundless and vast.

Yet to the lofty and supreme saints, it was merely a tiny pond—incapable of concealing even a true dragon, let alone accommodating a saint who is birthless, deathless, and transcends spacetime.

Everything he had just experienced should simply be a lingering imprint of the Dao of the Sword, left behind here by Lord Tongtian after he cleaved an extraterrestrial bronze spaceship.

Perhaps... when Lord Tongtian swung his sword, he was not even within this misty space at all.

Lu Chen vaguely recalled that the robed figure had countless stellar regions arrayed behind him, a sight clearly inconsistent with the environment here.

Even though it was merely a lingering imprint of the Dao, having survived countless years, its divine might remained unchanged.

This alone showed how year-by-year desirable a saint's realm truly was.

When Zhang Sanfeng had traveled here in the past, he must have perceived the existence of this sword-dao imprint, leading him to ultimate enlightenment and allowing him to leave behind a set of cultivation techniques.

As for himself... Lu Chen could sense that something seemed to have been added to his consciousness.

Yet when he inspected it closely, he found nothing at all.

Was he simply too foolish, or was his realm not yet high enough?

Pausing for a moment, Lu Chen had no choice but to put the matter out of his mind. To him, the existence of the system was his greatest fortune and cheat code. While the opportunity left by Lord Tongtian was wonderful, it might not necessarily suit him.

To gain it is my fortune; to miss it is my destiny.

Let everything follow the flow of fate.

Moreover, Lu Chen had no intention of studying the Dao of the Sword.

After all, his current physical form was that of a saltwater crocodile. The most crucial task right now was to excavate his own potential and continue raising his bloodline ancestral reversion ability; that was the proper path.

If he were to change direction and pursue the sword path like a human, he would be straying entirely onto a mistaken road.

Of course, once his realm reached a certain level in the future, Lu Chen might perhaps ponder deeply upon the fortuitous opportunity of Lord Tongtian.

Right now, however, Lu Chen felt a sense of mockery toward Dong Mingjun and the others for their lack of discernment. A group of humans had stayed here for over ten days in the past, pouring all their mental effort into the sword cultivation techniques left by Zhang Sanfeng, entirely failing to notice that an even greater fortune was waiting for them.

All of that amounted to picking up sesame seeds while losing a watermelon—standing right at the doorway of a treasure house without realizing it.

Running another three to four hundred miles forward, the mist grew dense once more, and the power of the sword-scratch imprints gradually faded.

Fortunately, Lu Chen had left unique markers along the way, so he was in no danger of getting lost.

With his current strength, even getting lost would not matter.

With the sword-dao pressure diminishing, the living creatures in the mountains along the way gradually increased.

At first, there were sparse, strange little grasses and shrubs, followed by overlapping jungles of gigantic trees.

Among them, various albino aberrant beasts also existed.

After hunting a few, Lu Chen completely lost interest. The energy points contained within their flesh and blood were far too few—inferior even to the mutated creatures back on Blue Star.

However, many of the plants and vegetation displayed bizarre behaviors. As he traveled along, he frequently witnessed them quietly hunting animals. Moreover, their methods were extremely strange, launching attacks under the cover of the mist, making them nearly impossible to guard against.

Just as before, whenever Lu Chen encountered plant life forms showing anomalies, he would snap off a few branches and toss them into his internal space for cultivation.

He hoped that, much like the demon-devouring tree sapling, they might bring him different surprises in the future.

Suddenly, Lu Chen felt something was amiss.

His brain grew heavy and muddled, filled with a deep drowsiness, making him want to collapse onto the ground and sleep soundly right away.

Realizing that something was wrong, Lu Chen did not hesitate. He quickly summoned the swampy black mud from his internal space, boarded the flying boat, and leaped into the air to escape.

At the same time, he applied the accumulated energy points from his system panel to various attributes. Claw strength, speed, bite force, heart enhancement... all the data indicators leaped crazily.

He had barely flown a few hundred meters away when he felt the sleepiness grow heavier and his body gradually slip out of control.

Lacking the injection of energy laws, the flying boat soon failed to maintain its state, and his massive body tumbled and crashed down into the jungle.

At the moment before losing consciousness, Lu Chen managed to command the swampy black mud to form a massive spherical armor, wrapping himself entirely within it.

After that, he closed his eyes.

How much time passed, he did not know, but his consciousness finally began to recover.

Damn it... nearly capsized in a drainage ditch.

Feeling his body regain its vitality, Lu Chen was filled with lingering fear.

The misty space held immense fortune, but it was also accompanied by terrifying dangers.

Despite exercising extreme caution, he had never expected to fall victim to a trap and almost die here without even knowing why.

His usual trusty instinctive sense of crisis had failed to function.

Fortunately, right before losing consciousness, he had made the wisest move: frantically replenishing energy for his body.

This was a hidden function of the system panel that Lu Chen had figured out not long ago.

By continuously adding energy points, he could enhance his combat power or physical constitution in an extremely short time, similar to a rapid heal skill in a game. This was also one of the reasons he was able to regain consciousness so quickly.

What on earth had happened just now?

Carefully recalling what he had experienced before losing consciousness, Lu Chen gradually came to an understanding.

It must have been some kind of hallucinogenic poisonous mist... while passing through a patch of shrubbery, he had caught a faint fragrance, but simply hadn't thought much of it. Consequently, his body began to react abnormally shortly after.

Fortunately, upon realizing something was wrong, he immediately turned and retreated; otherwise, he would have died without knowing how it happened.

This also proved his hypothesis once more: aside from sustaining daily consumption and increasing the numerical values of various attributes, the energy points accumulated in the system panel also served as a hidden protective amulet.

When facing critical situations, they could be used to heal.

Just like now, as long as his HP pool was deep and his defense high, what could mere toxins possibly do to him?

This also meant that until his energy points were completely exhausted, he was virtually unkillable.

He repeatedly checked with his consciousness and confirmed that his body was completely unharmed.

To verify his hypothesis, Lu Chen captured two more aberrant beasts from the misty jungle, held his breath, and returned to the vicinity of that shrubbery.

Then, he broke the limbs of the two beasts and threw them in.

At first, the two little creatures continuously let out shrill, miserable cries.

Their voices grew fainter and fainter until they finally lapsed into a deep sleep.

Soon, several tree branches silently approached.

They formed two thick wooden cages, wrapping the prey tightly, before the branches pierced into their bodies and began sucking their blood.

Having obtained the desired result, Lu Chen snapped off two branches as usual and tossed them into his internal space.