153. Japanese Pirate Attack

As the magical monsters dissipated, the colors within the vast pocket dimension began to shift. The bronze-hued radiance faded, eventually reverting to its original true colors, though everything within had fallen into total decay.

Chen Fengyun finally reached the cross-realm teleportation array at the center of the city, discovering that two-thirds of the massive array was completely destroyed, though one-third of the foundation pillars remained intact.

He gathered up the undamaged pillars, along with more than twenty thumb-sized spiritual stones. Combined with the cross-realm teleportation array foundation he had previously retrieved from the Changbai subterranean palace, he now possessed half of a complete cross-realm teleportation array foundation.

At the same time, Chen Fengyun studied the teleportation array for a short while, but the intricate lines and patterns were far too complex. Moreover, with the majority of it ruined, he could make neither head nor tail of it.

Later, he spent 90 attribute points to directly elevate his array-formation knowledge to the late-stage Yellow rank. Only then was he able to comprehend a tiny fraction of it. He then sketched down the remaining patterns, leaving them for careful study in the future.

When Chen Fengyun finally departed the pocket dimension, he noticed it beginning to slowly shrink. It seemed the space would collapse before long, leaving him with no choice but to sigh and take his leave.

"Ah—!"

The moment Chen Fengyun reappeared beneath the hanging coffin, a sudden exclamation rang out in his ear. Having been missing for two full days, quite a few historical and archaeological experts from across the country had been conducting research right there. The abrupt appearance of a person startled the one standing nearest to him into a shrill shriek.

"Chen Fengyun, you're back? Where on earth were you for the past two days? What happened?" At that moment, Chen Fengyun spotted his professor among the crowd, who rushed forward and asked with palpable anxiety.

"Rumble..."

Suddenly, however, the hanging coffin began to sway violently. The crowd scattered in all directions, and before long, the suspended coffin plummeted downward, crashing heavily into the ground—a massive, weighty bronze sarcophagus.

Yet, Chen Fengyun sensed no aura of the Bronze Demon King emanating from within the heavy bronze coffin. Furthermore, the instant he emerged, his divine sense had swept across a radius of several miles, focusing intently on every single ancient bronze artifact in the vicinity, and he detected no trace of the Bronze Demon King's aura either, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

Naturally, Chen Fengyun's sudden disappearance for two days followed by his abrupt reappearance caused a stir among all the experts gathered at Sanxingdui. Many rushed over to ask him what had transpired and where he had been over the past forty-eight hours.

However, Chen Fengyun merely shook his head, saying that he had only felt a sudden bout of dizziness at the time, after which he lost consciousness entirely. When he regained awareness of the outside world, he had simply found himself beneath the hanging coffin, completely unaware that he had ever vanished.

"Everyone, please stop asking. We need to take student Chen Fengyun to the hospital for a check-up to avoid any unnecessary complications." The accompanying professor from Peking University hurriedly led Chen Fengyun away.

Fearing that Chen Fengyun's health might have suffered some hidden damage, the professor took him to the West China Hospital in Chengdu for an examination. Following a battery of tests using various medical devices, no abnormalities were found. In fact, all his vital statistics were remarkably healthy, causing the professor to let out a sigh of relief.

"Professor, my home is right here in Chengdu. Could you grant me half a day's leave? I'd like to head home for a bit and then rejoin you afterward." The archaeology students' field trip had not yet concluded, with the Sanxingdui ruins remaining on the itinerary.

"Very well. Are you certain you're truly feeling alright?" the professor asked, nodding doubtfully.

"I'm genuinely fine, please don't worry. And thank you, Professor, for bringing me for a check-up." After expressing his gratitude, Chen Fengyun headed home.

However, before he even reached his house, he suddenly sensed that the protective jade talisman on his father had been activated. At the same time, he perceived a massive surge of spiritual energy erupting from a specific direction within Chengdu.

"Not good! Father is in danger!" Chen Fengyun instantly summoned his flying sword. Disregarding the shock he might cause the mortal world, he cloaked his body in a brilliant beam of light and shot straight into the sky, hurtling on his sword toward his father's location.

Fortunately, after his cultivation had broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, he had remade protective talismans for his parents capable of withstanding a full-strength blow from an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and they could sustain even an assault from a Grandmaster of Martial Arts for roughly ten minutes.

Based on his sensing, the assailant attacking his father must be a formidable Martial Arts Grandmaster. Rage blazed fiercely within Chen Fengyun's heart. Which audacity-ridden martial arts grandmaster dared to target his family? It seemed a heavy toll of bloodshed would be necessary to set things right.

"Whoosh..."

Riding his flying sword at full speed, Chen Fengyun traversed half of Chengdu in the blink of an eye. Yet, by the time he arrived, another Martial Arts Grandmaster had already reached the scene and was locked in intense combat with the attacker.

Chen Fengyun descended in a secluded, deserted spot nearby, then moved swiftly to his father's side, supporting him as he asked, "Dad, are you alright?"

Chen Zhian was sitting slumped on the ground, staring in a daze at the jade Guanyin pendant his son had given him, which hung around his neck. When he had been attacked moments earlier, the jade Guanyin had emitted a dazzling burst of light, forming a protective barrier around his body that shielded him completely from harm.

"Son, why are you here? I was just walking along when someone suddenly lunged at me with a sword, trying to strike me down. But this jade Guanyin you gave me suddenly began to shine, and I didn't get hurt at all!" Chen Zhian said excitedly.

"Dad, as long as you're safe, that's all that matters." Supporting his father, Chen Fengyun looked toward the two figures locked in fierce combat. One of them was none other than Feng Tianbao, while the other turned out to be a Japanese national.

As it happened, Feng Tianbao had been close by and had all along covertly assigned people to watch over Chen Fengyun's parents. Upon discovering that someone was assaulting Chen Fengyun's father, his subordinates had immediately reported the matter to him, prompting him to rush to the scene without delay.

Even if Feng Tianbao had not arrived, however, Chen Zhian would not have come to harm before Chen Fengyun got there, as a Martial Arts Grandmaster would have needed to bombard the defensive barrier continuously for at least half an hour to even crack it.

Nonetheless, knowing that a Japanese person had dared to target his father filled Chen Fengyun with boiling fury. Seeing that his father was completely unhurt, he immediately launched himself toward the two combatants.

"Take my father home."

A terrifying aura swept past, and before Feng Tianbao could fully register what was happening, he heard Chen Fengyun's voice. The Japanese opponent he had been facing was effortlessly snatched by the neck like a helpless chick as Chen Fengyun grabbed him and soared rapidly away.

"Looks like that Japanese fellow is completely finished. Daring to lay a hand on Chen Fengyun's parents—these Japanese are truly out of their minds." Feng Tianbao shook his head, then stepped forward to converse with Chen Zhian.

After subduing the Japanese martial arts grandmaster, Chen Fengyun quickly departed the scene. Because there were numerous onlookers and even people recording videos with their phones, conducting an interrogation right there was out of the question.

Shortly afterward, Chen Fengyun brought the Japanese martial arts grandmaster down into a small grove on the outskirts of the city. He immediately cast the Conversion Scripture to subjugate the man's mind, compelling him to confess everything.

"I am a disciple of Kazuo Yasui. Hearing that our master perished in Chengdu, China, I came here alongside my fellow disciples to investigate. Through our informants, we managed to track down this lead.

However, estimating that we might not be a match for Chen Fengyun directly, we decided to target his family first, making him experience the agony of losing his loved ones before dealing with him in the end."