The moment Chu Tian was enveloped by the dark light, he knew it was happening again.
He had experienced this sensation of being teleported more than once.
In that fleeting instant, he had felt his physical body ionized into countless parts.
Moments later, this feeling vanished.
Chu Tian saw his body re-materialize.
A wave of nausea washed over him.
However, when he spotted the monster lying on the ground.
He immediately adopted a defensive stance.
That monster had pursued him for several hours.
Now it lay on the ground.
There was no health bar displayed.
"Hey... hey... little brat, where are you looking?"
As Chu Tian was still disoriented, feeling utterly wretched in his chest and abdomen.
A raspy voice suddenly echoed from behind him.
Startled, he reacted.
Chu Tian then surveyed his surroundings.
His feet were planted on a dark rock.
And the area around him was a fiery red expanse of churning magma.
Hearing the voice, Chu Tian turned around.
Two colossal stone pillars rose from the magma, entwined with countless chains.
In the center of these pillars.
A person was suspended.
This individual had a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks, his eyes burning with fire.
He was staring at Chu Tian, a grin plastered on his face.
Chu Tian felt he was smiling, but the fellow's expression was more grotesque than a sob.
What's more, he had four fangs.
Two above and two below, resembling those of a monkey.
Upon seeing this, Chu Tian's eyes widened.
Was that truly a person?
"You..." Chu Tian was about to speak.
The fellow chuckled.
"Are you... the little fellow that Du Kang was looking for?"
His words made Chu Tian falter even more.
Who was Du Kang?
With his constant use of "little fellow" and "little brat," he had thoroughly confused Chu Tian.
"Heh heh... it seems you don't know that little guy's real name! He should be called... what was it?
Oh... Dao Tian!"
"Dao Tian?" Chu Tian repeated the last two words, his voice trembling.
His eyes bulged, his pupils nearly popping out of their sockets.
Simultaneously, his mind raced.
Du Kang, loved drinking, always carrying a wine gourd.
The Wine God...
Born in the Xia Dynasty, he was its ruler!
Legend had it that he attained enlightenment through wine and was deified.
Though it was a legend, no one had ever found Du Kang's tomb to this day.
Thus, many claimed he had ascended and was never buried, never died.
It seemed the legend was true.
"True my ass... that kid drank wine brewed by a woman and passed out drunk, accidentally breaking free from the shackles of the Heavenly Dao!
Afraid of others knowing his name, he gave himself a stupid moniker like Dao Tian!
Heh heh heh... makes me laugh my head off!
You all still consider him the Sage of Wine, the God of Wine!
Bullshit..."
Hearing his words, Chu Tian realized.
This fellow could read his thoughts.
Coupled with his fiery eyes.
And his monkey-like mouth.
Though he couldn't see behind him.
Chu Tian guessed he must have a tail.
"Uh... is your surname Sun?"
"Heh heh, you've got some discerning eyes!
Do you know why you were brought here?"
Seeing that his surname was confirmed, Chu Tian was naturally filled with shock.
It was this great deity, his childhood idol.
Hearing his question.
Chu Tian quickly and respectfully replied.
"Perhaps you want me to rescue you from here?"
"Hahahaha..."
The person burst into uproarious laughter, as if he had heard the greatest joke.
"With your frail body, you think you can get me out of here? If you could, this wouldn't be Maya Hell!
Alright, enough of this... I'm annoyed. Those cowards don't dare to say some things.
I'm not afraid. Coincidentally, I left a hair on the ancestral star. Otherwise, Du Kang wouldn't have been able to stir up so much trouble."
As he spoke, Chu Tian felt a sudden gust of wind behind him.
Turning, he saw that the body lying on the ground had vanished.
It had transformed into a strand of golden, shimmering hair.
"Take this hair. It can be used one more time, use it wisely...
Also, I brought you here because I want to tell you, remember to be careful of those bird-people!
If you can kill them, kill them all... Aah..."
Crack...
The moment he uttered the words "bird-people," lightning flashed on the two pillars.
All the lightning converged on this individual.
A scream erupted from his mouth.
"Heh heh... your grandpa has lived as long as heaven and earth. Do you think these minor tricks can eliminate me? Dream on!"
After the lightning subsided, the fellow grinned, tilted his head towards the sky, his expression full of defiance.
"Dead monkey, still spewing filth even as a prisoner, I've slept for several hundred years, it's time I tormented you properly!"
Suddenly, in the fiery sky, a golden light pierced the fiery clouds and a person slowly descended.
No, it was a bird-person...
A bird-person with two pairs of wings.
"Dead monkey, who are you talking to?"
As the fellow spoke, his gaze fell directly upon Chu Tian.
Chu Tian's heart pounded violently, unsure of what to do.
Today he had met his childhood idol and seen a radiant angel.
But the monkey had warned him to be wary of bird-people.
Chu Tian instantly tensed. This being's power was surely heaven-defying. Did he still have a chance to live?
However, the four-winged angel bird-person swept his gaze back and forth across Chu Tian's position.
Yet, his eyes never met Chu Tian's, and he finally turned away.
The monkey hanging from the pillars indeed grinned and spat.
"Pah, you little bird, if your Grandpa Sun wasn't trapped here, would you dare to speak before me? One of my pees could turn you into dust!"
"Damn monkey, sharp-tongued... Heavenly Lightning!"
The bird-person waved his hand, and a gleaming golden longsword appeared in it.
Boom...
A bolt of heavenly lightning pierced the fiery clouds and struck the sword.
Then, the lightning was whipped like a whip and savagely lashed the monkey.
The next moment, a flash of white light filled Chu Tian's vision.
He felt his body being decomposed again, teleporting once more.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself outside the Heavenly Dao world.
Before him was the door to his virtual cabin.
Fighting through the pervasive discomfort, dizziness, and nausea.
He pushed open the cabin door and stumbled to the ground.
"What's going on? That guy couldn't see me?"
Chu Tian lay on the ground for a long while, his body gradually recovering. He got up and rushed into the bathroom.
After a thorough wash, he emerged from the villa.
The sky was already bright.
Chu Tian found no one in the villa.
Luo Luo, Zhang Chengcheng, Chen Yuer, Old Yang, Wei Du, and the others were nowhere to be seen.
A sweep of his divine sense covered a ten-kilometer radius...
It was eerily quiet. What had happened?
The only thing that brought him comfort was that the Shattered Star still hung in the sky above.
As he stepped out of the villa, he suddenly froze.
"What's going on? How long have I been gone?"
Something he hadn't noticed during his divine sense scan.
In the villa garden, lush greenery abounded!
He distinctly remembered that it had been the dead of winter when he entered the Heavenly Dao world yesterday.
He reached out and touched the small blades of grass on the ground.
Chu Tian confirmed that all of this was real.
It was not an illusion!