Chapter 618: Skull Stronghold

"Huh."

Just as Ye Xuan was about to give up, he suddenly discovered a strange circuit within the Vast Light Grand Thousand Mirror’s Restriction.

This circuit was extremely well-hidden. If his comprehension of Restrictions hadn’t deepened after his experiences in the Floating Light Secret Realm and with Jin Lin, even his past self might not have noticed it was there.

Curious, Ye Xuan immediately began to work on cracking the circuit.

However, the circuit was exceedingly difficult, and Ye Xuan could only rely on his profound mastery to crack it, one piece at a time.

After three days of work, Ye Xuan had only managed to crack a third of it.

’What in the world is this treasure? Why does it contain such a terrifying Restriction circuit?’

Ye Xuan had always been supremely confident in his mastery of formations and Restrictions; you could count on one hand the number of people on the continent who were better.

The only thing he lacked now was cultivation level, but even with insufficient cultivation, his insight and mastery remained.

Yet the Restriction within this Vast Light Grand Thousand Mirror seemed mysterious and powerful even when viewed through the lens of his past life.

’The Zhenyuan Stone, the Vast Light Grand Thousand Mirror, and even the Floating Light Secret Realm are all filled with mysterious Restrictions. Just what heights did the Celestial Profound Continent reach in this field during the Ancient Era?’

’Does the legendary Celestial Realm truly exist? Is there really a realm beyond Martial Emperor?’

In his past life, limited by his martial soul, Ye Xuan had been unable to glimpse the peak of the Martial Dao and had spent all his time painstakingly conducting research in the Profound Domain.

After being reborn, though Ye Xuan hailed from a small place, his horizons had broadened considerably. He was discovering that this world was far from being as simple as he had imagined in his previous life.

Then again, it made sense. In his past life, he was an orphan, naturally arrogant and conceited. Frustration on the Martial Dao had driven him to immerse himself day and night in auxiliary professions like Soul Refining, Alchemy, formations, and Artifact Refining. In truth, his understanding of the continent hadn’t been that extensive.

’A Profound Treasure like this is impossible to create with the continent’s current mastery of Artifact Refining. The Ancient Era is truly inspiring.’

Ye Xuan sighed inwardly but continued to focus all his efforts on cracking the circuit. Before he was even halfway done, the Alchemy Flying Ship jolted violently and came to a sudden halt. It began to shudder as if caught in a storm.

"HAHAHA! Where did you country bumpkins come from? Leave this Alchemy Flying Ship and hand over your Storage Rings, and this Great King will spare your lives."

The wild laughter was accompanied by a chorus of jeers and taunts.

’What’s going on?’ With that thought, Ye Xuan flickered and appeared in the sky above the Alchemy Flying Ship.

In front of the Alchemy Flying Ship, a dozen or so experts had them completely surrounded, their faces contorted in vicious sneers.

The three men leading them exuded terrifying auras. The foremost was a Tier Seven Second Layer Martial King, while the two behind him were both at the Tier Seven First Layer.

The remaining Martial Artists were all around the Tier Six Third Layer. Their robes, emblazoned with a black skull, gave them a cold and sinister air.

At that moment, everyone who had been inside the Flying Ship emerged onto the deck.

"What’s going on?" Su Xiuyi’s figure flashed, and he appeared beside Ge Puzi and the others.

"Su Xiuyi, we’ve been stopped by these bastards," Ge Puzi, who had been piloting the Flying Ship, said angrily.

He had been piloting the Flying Ship smoothly when a volley of attacks suddenly shot up from below. If he hadn’t reacted quickly and activated the defenses in time, the entire Alchemy Flying Ship would have been blown to bits.

After all, while the Alchemy Flying Ship was fast, its Defense Power was only equivalent to the Tier Seven First Layer at most.

Ye Xuan immediately understood. They’d run into bandits.

The group of bandits watched as Martial Artists streamed out of the Alchemy Flying Ship. At first, they were unfazed, but when Jiuchen, Elder Dong, and the rest emerged, the bandits’ expressions immediately soured.

He couldn’t see through the cultivation levels of many people in the other party.

"Skull Stronghold?"

Su Xiuyi frowned, his eyes sweeping over the robes of the men opposite them, and he spoke coldly.

The lead bandit flinched but quickly adopted a cold tone. "Gentlemen, since you know the name of Skull Stronghold, you should know our rules. I don’t know which power you belong to, but if you obediently hand over the Alchemy Flying Ship and your Storage Rings, we might consider letting you live."

Su Xiuyi scoffed. "Is that so?"

BOOM!

He unleashed the full force of his Tier Eight Martial Monarch cultivation. The intense pressure and fierce winds sent the large group of Martial Artists opposite him stumbling and falling over each other.

"What? A Tier Eight Martial Monarch!"

The lead bandit’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull in terror.

For a bandit, a keen eye is paramount. He had noticed the Alchemy Flying Ship bore no special markings and assumed it belonged to some minor merchant guild or small faction. That was why he’d decided to rob it. Who would have thought a Martial Monarch would suddenly appear?

Su Xiuyi didn’t make a move himself. Instead, he looked to Master Qingfeng, Tianlun, and the other academy students. "A few of you, kill them all."

Tianlun and the others were stunned for a moment but quickly recovered. With determined glints in their eyes, they charged at the bandits.

"Your Excellency, we can talk about this!" the lead bandit said in a desperate, low voice.

But Tianlun and the others gave him no chance to talk, attacking without hesitation.

"Retreat!"

The lead bandit roared and turned to flee.

"Hmph." Ge Puzi and the others snorted coldly, descending with a crash to block the lead bandit’s escape.

Left with no choice, the lead bandit was forced to fight Qingfeng and the others.

A fierce battle erupted. Ye Xuan’s side had overwhelming numbers. In just a few moments, the dozen or so bandits were either dead or grievously wounded, with only a handful still standing.

The Tier Six Martial Venerable bandits in particular couldn’t withstand more than a few exchanges with Tianlun and his group before being cut down one after another.

The three Martial King bandits were a different story. They fought as a cohesive unit, balanced in offense and defense, their attacks ruthless. Although Qingfeng, Luo Min, and the other Martial Kings ganged up on them with double their numbers, they couldn’t immediately take the trio down.

However, Ye Xuan’s side had the advantage of numbers. Eventually, with the combined efforts of Dongfang Xuan and the others, one Martial King was blasted into a mist of blood, and another was gravely wounded.

"Damn it! Skull Stronghold will not let you get away with this!" the lead bandit roared. His body suddenly flared with a hazy light, and with a strange flicker, he broke out of the encirclement and shot into the distance.

But he hadn’t gotten far when a giant palm descended from above. A surge of powerful Profound energy obliterated him, blasting him to pieces.

It was Su Xiuyi, who had suddenly struck and killed the man.

He addressed the shaken crowd, "The reason I had you fight was for no other reason than to give you a taste of what the Celestial Capital Prefecture is like."

"Our Dream Realm Plain, aside from the incident with the Profound Mystery Sect, is an extremely peaceful place for the most part. While there’s occasional friction between the major powers, it’s all just minor squabbling."

"But it’s not like that in the Celestial Capital Prefecture. Here, there is no mercy, only the law of the jungle. If we hadn’t been strong enough, those bandits would have done more than just rob us. They would have killed every last one of us."

Seeing Su Xiuyi’s grave expression, the crowd nodded in silence, taking his words to heart.

Back inside the Alchemy Flying Ship, Ge Puzi couldn’t help but ask, "Su Xiuyi, there was a Tier Seven Second Layer Martial King among those bandits. With that kind of cultivation, why would they need to become bandits?"

Everyone turned to look. Ge Puzi had voiced the question on all their minds. In the Dream Realm Plain, a Tier Seven Second Layer Martial King was an incredibly dominant figure, powerful enough to establish a first-rate faction. Ge Puzi and the others simply couldn’t comprehend why such an expert would resort to banditry.

Su Xiuyi shook his head. "Is a Tier Seven Second Layer Martial King really that impressive? In truth, that man’s Skull Stronghold is an extremely powerful bandit group outside the Celestial Capital Prefecture. Their chieftain is a Tier Eight Martial Monarch."

What? The crowd was dumbfounded. A Tier Eight Martial Monarch working as a bandit? ’Has he lost his mind?’

But Su Xiuyi’s expression made it clear he wasn’t joking.

Su Xiuyi explained, "You may not understand it, but this is perfectly normal in the Celestial Capital Prefecture."

"Then what about the people we just killed? If Skull Stronghold finds out..." Ge Puzi said with a frown.

Su Xiuyi said nonchalantly, "It doesn’t matter if they find out. Skull Stronghold runs rampant in this region; they’ve offended countless powers, and this isn’t the first or second group of their bandits to be killed. If Skull Stronghold manages to wipe us out, we can only blame ourselves for being too weak."

"Remember," he said sternly, "the Celestial Capital Prefecture is a world where the strong devour the weak. There is no right or wrong, no justice or evil. Only by being strong enough can you hope to survive."

The crowd fell silent, their hearts shaken.

In their minds, the Celestial Capital Prefecture, a hegemon of its region, should have been a place of greater peace, prosperity, and order. Reality, however, had just shattered that illusion.

Among them all, only Ye Xuan truly understood.

’A Tier Eight Martial Monarch is nothing. In some places, even a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor might turn to banditry.’

’And as for Infinite Mountain and their ilk, they were basically just bandits too, albeit more respectable ones.’

’This was simply how the world worked. Everyone fought for the resources to survive, leaving no room for mercy.’

The attack by Skull Stronghold was merely a brief interlude. Before long, calm returned to the Alchemy Flying Ship.

However, after the incident with Skull Stronghold, everyone seemed to practice their cultivation with renewed diligence, putting their all into it.

The Skull Stronghold attack had interrupted Ye Xuan while he was cracking the Restriction circuit in the Vast Light Grand Thousand Mirror. The first thing he did once things settled down was to resume his work on it.

Three days later, Ye Xuan finally cracked the Restriction circuit completely.

BOOM!

The moment the Restriction circuit was broken, a vast and powerful aura flooded into Ye Xuan’s mind.