After exchanging blows with the Dark King, Lu Jun took the opportunity to recover. He had been wondering how to exit the stage, but thankfully the Dark King helped him, allowing for a perfect exit.
As for why the Dark King attacked him, he could guess some of the reasons.
The main instigator was probably Wen Tai's clone. He had destroyed Wen Tai's wife, Salan, killed his pawn, Izsiha, and even seized the Parthenon's soul.
It would be unbelievable if Wen Tai hadn't reacted with anger.
In a desolate wilderness outside Athens, space distorted, and Lu Jun's figure staggered down, his condition dire, his aura rapidly declining.
The ancient king's armor gradually sealed, and the boundless power receded. An unprecedented sense of weakness and illusion overwhelmed him, leaving him extremely uncomfortable.
Not only that, but under the corrosive influence of the ancient king armor, his skin became dry and rough, like an old man whose life force had been completely drained. His face was covered with dense, dead spots, exuding a deathly aura, much like a living dead.
Fortunately, the phantom of the goddess within the Star River of the Psychic Element automatically emitted a holy blue radiance, continuously overflowing with boundless life force to repair the host's body.
Lu Jun's skin quickly returned to its fair and vibrant state, and he became handsome and dashing again.
However, he keenly sensed that the [Athena's Divine Soul] was restless, as if it wanted to transcend and escape from his body.
Fortunately, the Psychic System's Li Fan Flower Mark shone brightly, hanging down thousands of strands of illusory power, tightly binding the divine soul and continuously eroding and refining it, imprinting it with his own mark.
"Hmph! You think you can just leave after you've got it?"
He chuckled lightly. Ever since the Undead Emperor slaughtered his way across the land, causing an uproar throughout the world, the evil ones regarded him as a faith, and the righteous ones hated evil as if it were their enemy, creating wave after wave of faith.
With his vast power of imagination, he would eventually be able to refine the soul.
Lu Jun checked his condition; the seal on the Ancient King's Armor had loosened somewhat after this outburst.
Originally, the limit was to master the Forbidden Cruse Spell before the age of twenty-five to completely refine the seal. Later, after learning various methods in the Dream Return to Inca, under the suppression of the power of imagination and the power of time, this deadline was extended to twenty-seven or twenty-eight.
Now, this sudden outburst felt like returning to the pre-liberation era.
But Lu Jun was not panicked, because as the soul within his Psychic system calmed down, a vast and mysterious aura permeated his entire body, actually suppressing the Ancient King's Armor in reverse.
The two used his body as the battlefield, repeatedly pulling and fighting, giving him ample time.
The only cost was that Lu Jun's aura was extremely unstable, sometimes appearing aged like a living dead, sometimes full of vitality like a youth, his appearance fluctuating between old age and youthful innocence, filled with an eerie feeling.
"A mere trifle. With the Divine Soul and the Nether Soul in hand, I rule the world!"
Lu Jun was unconcerned, peering into the turbulent, boiling galaxies of the Psychic and the Curse in the spiritual world, a surge of pride rising within him.
Although he hadn't managed to completely destroy the Parthenon Temple this time, it was now practically defunct. The next time he cultivated to the level of forbidden spells, he would dare to openly use his Divine Soul to build an Eastern 'Parthenon'.
If the Parthenon was sensible enough to ignore him, that would be fine; but if it protested even slightly, he wouldn't hesitate to launch a second attack, at which point it would surely perish.
Furthermore, Lu Jun's gains didn't stop there. The magical energy of the two magic systems sealed by his Divine Soul and the Nether Soul was steadily increasing.
The Curse system, influenced by the Ancient King's resurgence and having absorbed the skeleton, had accumulated enormous energy, about to break through the super-tier barrier and advance to the [Star Sea] level. Now, the galaxy was constantly changing and expanding.
The same applies to the Psychic System. With Parthenon's divine soul residing there, it released immense mental energy, infused with vast waves of faith, causing its magical power to surge and simultaneously advance to the Super-tier.
Lu Jun's aura surged, feeling that after a period of secluded cultivation, both his magic elements would break through to the Super-tier.
Overall, this was a very fruitful experience.
Then, recalling the Dark King from earlier, his expression turned solemn. The opponent's strength was somewhat unbelievable; even across a world, his power, after being eroded through numerous layers, still caused Emperor-level damage upon reaching the magical plane.
If his true form were to descend, it would be disastrous.
Fortunately, the Dark Dimension was far away, beyond the reach of the Dark King, and the Magic Dimension repelled him, leaving him powerless to interfere much in the mortal realm.
Suddenly, Lu Jun closed his eyes slightly, entering a state of enlightenment, reflecting on the ups and downs of his recent journey—from sweeping to the top of the National Tournament, to falling into a deep straitened situation, and then transforming into an invincible emperor who swept away his enemies—a truly wondrous experience.
Within the Dark Universe, a long, moon-white river flowed mightily, with a perfectly round Qiankun Stone floating in its center. Its surface was crystal clear and flawless, displaying a bluish-yellow hue, with nine hidden orifices, and it was approximately 3.65 inches in size.
At this moment, electricity crackled in the void, and an invisible blade flashed past.
The Qiankun Stone was slightly altered, marking the "second cut," and a faint life force was born within the stone itself. The second contract, the unborn mythical beast, was one step closer to birth.
Lu Jun opened his eyes, exhaled a breath of pent-up energy, and controlled the stars. The void trembled slightly, and a black and red hell furnace appeared.
Within the raging flames of the curse, a phantom spirit twisted in agony.
Dulank's soul opened its eyes, witnessing Lu Jun's appearance, its mind reeling: "Wasn't I bound by the Undead Emperor? How come..."
In an instant, it understood everything, its face filled with regret, its voice weak as it pleaded, "I never expected it to be you... I... I was wrong, please have mercy on me."
Lu Jun sneered, putting away the Hell Furnace, and said indifferently, "You can spend your life repenting inside. Why force me?"
After a moment, he patiently waited for the changes in his body to subside before setting off back to Athens.
The mental image he had left behind didn't have much time left. Using the last bit of power from the Ancient King's Armor, he activated the spatial coordinates left on the image.
Buzz!
Lu Jun's figure blurred, as if time had reversed, silently transforming into a stream of light and disappearing into the void.
Meanwhile, in Athens, Shao Zheng, Zhu Meng, Tang Yue, and even Jun Yaojin gathered together.
Suddenly, Lu Jun's body trembled, his gaze shifting from somber to bright and clear. No one noticed, except for Tang Yue beside him, who seemed to sense it, turning her pretty face to look at him with a half-smile.
Lu Jun felt a pang of guilt; Tang Yue might have noticed, but it wasn't a big deal, she would cover for him.
Upon returning, he heard the crowd's discussion.
Shao Zheng said gravely, "It's confirmed, it's our ancient capital's ancient king. This time, he'll likely face questioning from the Holy City and the Parthenon."
"Heh heh," Zhu Meng scoffed, "So what? An emperor is free; where he goes is none of our business."
"Besides, the Holy City is probably secretly gloating over such a major incident at the Parthenon Temple, how can they truly reprimand him? As for the Parthenon… heh heh heh, after this ordeal, it's in dire straits."
Old Man Song nodded in agreement.
Lu Jun remained calm, completely unconcerned about being recognized. The Ancient King had ample motive for his appearance, and he had deliberately only used his mental and spatial powers.
Aside from a very few familiar with him, no one else knew he possessed these two abilities.
Meanwhile, the power emanating from the demon Mo Fan in the sky gradually faded. He flew towards the plaza of Goddess Peak and, in front of Haylon, the Temple Mother, and the others, openly and brazenly carried Xin Xia away, with no one daring to stop him.
Mo Fan placed his hands under Xin Xia's legs, lifting her in a princess carry, and whispered gently, "Let's go home!"
Xin Xia buried her pretty face in Mo Fan's chest and nodded slightly, "Mmm!"
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