Chapter 716 - 717: First Encounter with an Acquaintance

Ye Xuan watched the brown-haired Martial Emperor disappear and shook his head helplessly. He knew that with his current cultivation, he might have been able to kill the Martial Emperor if the man hadn’t fled. But since he was determined to escape, Ye Xuan couldn’t be sure he could stop a Third Layer Martial Emperor.

A Peak of Seventh Grade Soul Sense, even with the enhancement of the Divine Spirit Gaze, was not enough to completely bewilder a Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperor.

In the midst of battle, the brief confusion caused by the Divine Spirit Gaze would have been enough for Ye Xuan to seize the opportunity to severely injure or kill his opponent. But when the man was focused on fleeing, there was nothing Ye Xuan could do.

’My Soul Sense is still too weak. If it could break through to the Eighth Grade, he definitely wouldn’t have escaped so easily.’

Shaking his head, Ye Xuan collected the Storage Rings from the two First Layer Martial Emperors, then turned to look at the Little Purple Mink.

The Little Purple Mink held its little paws, looking innocent. Its purple, gemstone-like eyes were fixed on a small hole in the mountain wall not far away.

Ye Xuan understood at once. The hole was about the size of a fist and must have once held some kind of Spiritual Object.

Clearly, the Little Purple Mink had discovered some treasure, but those three men had found it as well. Not only did they take the treasure, but they also tried to attack the Little Purple Mink, leading to the scene from just now.

’I’ve made another powerful enemy.’

With the brown-haired Martial Emperor having escaped, he was bound to be a future problem. After all, someone who could cultivate to that level was unlikely to be an ordinary person, even in the lower Third Heaven of the Profound Domain.

But he already had so many enemies, what was one more? With his current cultivation, he wasn’t necessarily afraid of the guy, so he decided it didn’t matter.

Next, Ye Xuan went over to Xiaohai and Erhei. The two creatures’ defense was truly terrifying; they had suffered such a ferocious attack yet were largely unharmed, though a few minor injuries were unavoidable.

They had been a great help this time, so Ye Xuan wasn’t stingy, taking out some Pills and feeding them.

Having spent their whole lives in this barren land, Xiaohai and Erhei had never tasted something as good as a Pill. As the warm medicinal power flowed through their bodies, a hint of excitement appeared in their eyes. They stared eagerly at Ye Xuan, clearly wanting more.

Ye Xuan was speechless. ’Is the taste of Pills really that appealing to Demon Beasts? That fellow Jin Lin was the exact same way back then.’

After giving the two beasts a few more Pills, Ye Xuan sat down cross-legged in the valley and began to heal his wounds.

Ye Xuan had sustained some injuries during his fight with the brown-haired Martial Emperor. This was especially true at the beginning, when the Martial Emperor had used a domain formed from his Domain Realm boundary and the Space-Stabilizing Bead to suppress him, causing fine cracks to appear on many parts of his body.

’If I were already a Martial Emperor and had mastered the profound mysteries of space, why would I fear the spatial suppression of a mere Third Layer Martial Emperor?’ Ye Xuan thought resentfully.

An hour later, Ye Xuan’s injuries were fully healed, and he set off once again.

To his confusion, however, he found very few Spirit Medicines in the depths of the valley. It wasn’t until he reached the other end that he realized why.

The valley had an entrance on both ends. He and the Little Purple Mink had entered from one side, while the three Martial Emperors had clearly entered from the other. As a result, the Spirit Medicines on that side of the valley had been completely plundered by them.

However, Ye Xuan didn’t find many rare Spirit Medicines in the Storage Rings of the two First Layer Martial Emperors. This suggested that any treasures the three of them had found must have been kept by the Third Layer Martial Emperor who had escaped.

Since there were no more treasures in the valley, Ye Xuan didn’t linger and soon left with the Little Purple Mink.

"Squeak squeak!"

This time, Ye Xuan had only traveled a hundred-odd miles when the Little Purple Mink suddenly appeared on his shoulder. It pointed excitedly to the front left, its eyes glowing with enthusiasm as it chittered wildly.

Its behavior stunned Ye Xuan for a moment before he realized what was happening—the Little Purple Mink had definitely sensed some kind of treasure.

Ye Xuan’s heart pounded with excitement. In all the time since entering this mysterious land, this was the first time he had seen the Little Purple Mink so agitated. The treasure this time had to be extraordinary.

Ye Xuan immediately mounted Erhei, transforming into a streak of light as he shot off in the direction the Little Purple Mink was pointing.

BOOM!

Ye Xuan had just flown for several hundred miles when he heard a muffled boom from up ahead, accompanied by a violent fluctuation of Profound energy.

BOOM, BOOM...

Before Ye Xuan could react, several more rumbles echoed from the front. By now, he could see clearly: a stretch of ancient ruins had appeared ahead.

The ruins must have once been magnificent, but after the passage of long ages, they had crumbled into a state of decay.

In front of the ruins, a crowd of Martial Artists had already gathered—at least twenty or thirty of them, many of whom were powerful Tier Eight Martial Emperors.

The ruined structure was protected by an extremely powerful defensive Restriction. To enter the ruins, one had to break it.

The booming explosions from before were the sounds of the Martial Emperors present attacking the ruin’s Restriction.

’It seems the treasure that has the Little Purple Mink so excited must be inside these ruins.’

He immediately began to descend toward the front of the ruins.

At the same time, his gaze swept over the twenty-odd people on the scene.

The vast majority of them were experts at the Tier Eight Martial Emperor level. There were only one or two Tier Seven Martial Kings.

’It’s Xu Zhen and the others!’

What excited Ye Xuan even more was that he actually saw people from the Xu family of Celestial Capital Prefecture. The ancestor Xu Guanglin, as well as core elders Xu Bo, Xu Zheng, and Xu Ping, were all there, carefully studying the Restriction.

This was the first time since entering this mysterious land that Ye Xuan had encountered experts who had entered from the Eastern Domain with him—and they were old acquaintances, at that.

Ye Xuan immediately flew toward Xu Zhen and his group.

But before he could get close to the ruins, a middle-aged Martial Artist in a brocade robe blocked his path from the periphery. He said coldly, "Halt. This is no place for you. Scram."

This person was a First Layer Martial Emperor. With a look of arrogant disdain, he glanced contemptuously at Ye Xuan, clearly scornful of his Tier Seven Second Layer cultivation.

Ye Xuan’s gaze turned cold. "What do you mean by that?" he asked impassively. "Don’t tell me this mysterious land belongs to you?"

The middle-aged Martial Artist clearly hadn’t expected Ye Xuan to talk back. His disdainful expression immediately darkened, revealing a trace of killing intent. He said icily, "Kid, you’re trying to get to those ruins, aren’t you? The esteemed lords have already decreed that no one below the Martial Emperor level is qualified to enter. Scram obediently, or you’ll have only yourself to blame."

As his voice fell, a terrifying pressure erupted from his body and slammed into Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan immediately understood. To prevent too many people from competing for the treasure, the twenty-odd people in front of the ruins had established a rule: no one below the rank of a Tier Eight Martial Emperor was allowed to enter.

If this were an ordinary ruin, Ye Xuan wouldn’t have bothered trying to enter. But how could he just leave a place that made the Little Purple Mink so excited? Besides, he had also seen Xu Zhen and the others here.

"And if I say no?" Ye Xuan sneered, urging Erhei to descend toward the ruins.

"Hmph." A vicious glint appeared in the middle-aged Martial Emperor’s eyes. He snarled, "Kid, you’re courting death. Don’t blame me for being ruthless when you get to hell."

As his voice fell, he thrust a palm directly toward Ye Xuan. Thick Profound energy rapidly formed a giant hand of Profound energy, while the Domain Realm boundary power of a First Layer Martial Emperor enveloped Ye Xuan’s entire body.

A savage, excited light flashed in the middle-aged Martial Emperor’s eyes. Honestly, with his normal temper, he would never have bothered reasoning with a Martial King like Ye Xuan; he would have just slapped him to death long ago.

It was just that the few lords in front of the ruins who had set the rules had warned him to do his best to drive other Martial Artists away and not to attack anyone casually. That was the only reason he had tolerated Ye Xuan for so long.

He never thought Ye Xuan would show him no respect at all and still try to force his way in. Now that he had an excuse to act, he was instantly thrilled.

BOOM!

The giant hand swept down, stirring up a powerful gale. Ye Xuan’s eyes went cold. ’These guys are completely lawless, resorting to lethal force at the drop of a hat. But he also knew this was just the way of the Profound Domain.’

Remaining motionless atop Erhei, Ye Xuan sent a thought. Erhei let out a croak, its right claw instantly enlarging as it swatted forward.

RIP!

To the middle-aged Martial Emperor’s horror, the claw of the brown toad Ye Xuan was riding on instantly tore through his hand of Profound energy. A heart-stopping claw aura descended from the sky and slammed viciously into his chest, ripping apart his protective layer of Profound energy.

’How is that possible? How can the Spirit Pet of a Tier Seven Martial King be so strong?’

His eyes widened in disbelief as he spat out a mouthful of blood. He was sent flying backward, landing with a THUD on the open ground before the ruins.

"What’s going on?"

"What happened?"

"Who’s causing trouble here?"

Several cold, angry shouts rang out, and Ye Xuan felt several terrifying auras from the front of the ruins rapidly descend upon him.

’Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperors.’

Ye Xuan’s gaze hardened. Only now did he sense that besides the Xu family’s ancestor, Xu Guanglin, there were two other Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperors in front of the ruins, both with extremely terrifying auras.

"My lords, this kid is merely a Tier Seven Martial King, yet he violated your rules and tried to force his way in! My lords, you must seek justice for me!"

The middle-aged man didn’t even bother to treat his injuries after landing. He just roared in fury, his bloodshot eyes filled with a hatred so intense he looked like he wanted to tear Ye Xuan in half.

"Hmph. You can’t even handle a Tier Seven Martial King, and you still have the nerve to cry for help? What a waste."

One of them snorted coldly, then said in a frosty voice, "Which fellow martial artist is willing to step up and kill this kid for me?"