Chapter 707 708: Great Slaughter

"Wait. Don't attack."

Seeing them about to strike again, Ye Xuan quickly said, "The three of you, I mean no harm. I just want to know where this place is and where you're from."

The three men looked stunned. They exchanged a glance, then burst out laughing.

"Young Master Luo, is this guy crazy or something? Asking a question like that… it's hilarious."

The young man, who seemed to have the highest status despite being the weakest, sneered, "Kid, are you messing with us? Don't tell me you didn't come from Celestial Yin Valley. Or what, did you get amnesia?"

Ye Xuan frowned, asking in shock, "Celestial Yin Valley? Are you saying this is the Celestial Yin Valley in the Profound Domain's Third Heaven?"

'At first, I thought this place was just similar to the Celestial Yin Valley in the Profound Domain, but I never imagined it actually *was* Celestial Yin Valley. Since when did it have a secret realm like this? How could I have not known about it before?'

Celestial Yin Valley was rich in resources, with some unique treasures not found elsewhere.

As a Peak of Eighth Grade Soul Refiner in his past life, Ye Xuan had of course visited Celestial Yin Valley—more than once, even. But he had never heard of a place like this within it.

"Hm?"

This, however, made the three men suspicious. Though they didn't really believe Ye Xuan, his expression was too genuine. His shock was clearly not an act.

"Kid, could it be that you didn't enter from Celestial Yin Valley?"

The middle-aged man said this with a sneer. He had only meant it as a casual taunt, but as soon as the words were out, a look of shock appeared on his face. After exchanging a sharp glance with the other two, a fervent glint appeared in their eyes.

Although they found it hard to believe that Ye Xuan hadn't come from Celestial Yin Valley, his expression planted a seed of doubt in their minds.

'What if this young man really didn't enter from Celestial Yin Valley?'

The thought that this mysterious land might have another entrance filled the three men's hearts with a feverish excitement.

This was the first time a treasured land like this had appeared in the Profound Domain, and Celestial Yin Valley was only open for three months each year. If this kid didn't get in through Celestial Yin Valley, didn't that mean they could come and go as they pleased in the future? And stay for as long as they liked?

If their faction was the only one that knew this secret, wouldn't they make an absolute killing?

"Seize him."

At this thought, the three men cast aside all other considerations. A vicious glint appeared in their eyes as they instantly surrounded Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan frowned. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Heh heh, what are we doing? Kid, you'd better surrender quietly. Then you can obediently tell us where you came from," the lead middle-aged man said with a vicious smile.

Ye Xuan's heart grew cold. "I came in through Celestial Yin Valley too," he said.

The middle-aged man laughed. "Kid, so *now* you came from Celestial Yin Valley? That's not how it seemed a moment ago," he sneered.

The young man at the side said impatiently, "Stop wasting time talking to this kid. Let's just capture him. We'll find out everything after some interrogation."

All three men radiated dense killing intent, their lips curling into savage smiles.

Ye Xuan's gaze grew cold. "Do you people always attack others so casually?"

"Casually attack others? Ha ha!" The young man couldn't help but roar with laughter. "Kid, which faction are you from anyway? Your cultivation isn't bad, but I didn't expect you to be so naive. In this world, might makes right, and you're talking to us about this? You couldn't be more childish."

"Young Master Luo, there's no need for you to lift a finger. I'm more than enough to take this kid down."

As the middle-aged man spoke, his longsword flashed out. It transformed into a brilliant streak of light, slashing instantly toward Ye Xuan's right hand. He clearly intended to sever it and destroy Ye Xuan's ability to resist.

Ye Xuan's gaze grew steadily colder. Without a word, his Sword of Judgment lit up with blue lightning as he unleashed the 'Star-Slaying Sword' technique.

The middle-aged man was a Martial King at the Tier Seven Triple Peak, with strength comparable to Tier Eight First Layer. He could have toyed with and slaughtered any ordinary Tier Seven Martial King. But unfortunately for him, he had just met Ye Xuan.

Back when he was only at the Tier Seven First Layer, Ye Xuan had killed a Tier Eight First Layer Martial Emperor. Now that he had broken through to the Tier Seven Second Layer, his strength had multiplied. Why would he fear a mere Tier Seven Third Layer Martial King?

What made it even more pitiful was that, out of sheer contempt, the middle-aged man didn't even use his full power. His sword strike held only seventy percent of its true strength.

This sealed his tragic fate.

The blue lightning from Ye Xuan's 'Star-Slaying Sword' collided with the man's brilliant streak. With a loud CRACK, the man's sword-light shattered. Unimpeded, the lightning from Ye Xuan's attack surged toward the middle-aged man.

The terrifying lightning-infused sword-light instantly shattered the man's Profound Shield.

"AHHH!" With a bloodcurdling scream, the middle-aged man couldn't even process what had happened. Ye Xuan's Sword of Judgment had already sent his longsword flying. Countless streams of lightning pierced his body, erupting in clouds of blood mist.

Ye Xuan himself was a bit stunned. 'Star-Slaying Sword' was an astonishing sword art he had mastered in his past life, and its power was truly terrifying.

'But that middle-aged man was no pushover. I saw how he killed that Earth Dragon Demon Beast earlier; he was clearly a tough opponent. Who would've thought he'd be so fragile? I killed him in a single blow.'

Ye Xuan quickly realized, 'It was because he underestimated me. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to kill him.'

"All show and no substance."

Ye Xuan shook his head. He collected the man's longsword and Storage Ring, then turned to the other two. "To hear you talk so big, so eager to fight and kill, I thought you must be something special," he said coldly. "Turns out you're just a bunch of weaklings."

"You… you killed Wang Chong with a single strike!"

Only when Ye Xuan spoke did the remaining two snap back to reality, expressions of pure horror on their faces.

Their strength was a notch below Wang Chong's, yet Wang Chong hadn't even survived a single move against this Tier Seven Second Layer youth. Yes, Wang Chong had been careless and had underestimated him, but someone who could kill him so cleanly… even if the two of them joined forces, they might not be his match.

"Who… Who in the world are you…"

It finally dawned on them. The young man before them looked to be twenty at most, yet he was already a Tier Seven Second Layer Martial King. His background had to be extraordinary. How could a genius like that not have a few tricks up his sleeve?

"Run!"

The two didn't even have the courage to face Ye Xuan. They turned and tried to flee.

Ye Xuan scoffed. 'If I let them get away that easily, I might as well pack it in.'

With a mere thought, a black shadow shot out from the ground ahead. It moved so fast that it slammed into the other middle-aged man's chest in an instant.

It was the pangolin, which had been lying in ambush underground all along.

CRACK! The Profound Shield on the man's chest instantly shattered. The pangolin's hard body pierced through his chest and exited his back, followed by a sickening SPLURT and a spray of blood.

"AHHH!"

The middle-aged man screamed, spitting out fragments of his internal organs. His eyes instantly dimmed. He was as dead as could be. In an instant, only the young man remained in the air.

SWISH!

Ye Xuan's figure blurred. He appeared in front of the young man and lashed out with a kick.

"You… you can't kill me! I'm a disciple of the Celestial Fall Sect! If you kill me, the Celestial Fall Sect will hunt you down!"

The young man's face was a mask of terror. He screamed in panic right before Ye Xuan's foot slammed into his chest. Amid the sound of cracking bones, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and crashed heavily onto the ground.

"Did I say I was going to kill you?"

Ye Xuan landed before him, a mocking smile on his face.

'At this point, I was fairly certain they had come from Celestial Yin Valley.'

'I vaguely recalled hearing about the Celestial Fall Sect in my past life. It was a sect in the Profound Domain's Second Heaven, a second-tier power on par with the Celestial Capital Prefecture.'

The young man froze. "You… you're not going to kill me?"

Ye Xuan smiled faintly. "That depends on how well you answer a few of my questions."

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" the young man cried out, like a dying man grasping at a final straw.

"Alright then. How did you get here from Celestial Yin Valley? As I recall, there isn't a secret realm like this within the valley, is there?"

The young man's body trembled at Ye Xuan's question. A look of horror crossed his face. "You… you really didn't come from Celestial Yin Valley?" he asked, shocked. "How is that possible?"

Ye Xuan's eyes darkened as he radiated a dense killing intent. "You talk too much," he said in a frigid voice. "Remember, I'm the one asking the questions."

"Yes, yes!" The young man shivered in fright and hastily recounted everything that had happened in Celestial Yin Valley.

As he listened to the young man's story, Ye Xuan became lost in thought.

'Judging by the timeline, the passage between Celestial Yin Valley and this mysterious place must have opened after we entered the spatial turbulence. So, it's highly likely our actions triggered some kind of anomaly here, causing it to connect with Celestial Yin Valley.'

'However, the aura here is quite similar to that of Celestial Yin Valley, which suggests this mysterious land might have been connected to the valley in ancient times. Its actual location is probably in a pocket dimension deep within Celestial Yin Valley. The entrance we used in the Eastern Domain, on the other hand, is far from here and must be some sort of teleportation passage.'

Ye Xuan tried to reconstruct the truth in his mind.

The youth was quite cooperative during the subsequent questioning. He held nothing back, revealing everything he knew not only about this mysterious land, but also about recent events in the Profound Domain.

About fifteen minutes later, Ye Xuan had learned everything he wanted to know.