Chapter 731: Battle Against Zhan Shang

Chapter 731: Chapter 732: Battle Against Zhan Shang

“Ancestor, that’s not necessarily true,” Xu Ping said, unconvinced. “That Xuan Ye is just a Tier Seven Martial King, yet he obtained such a treasure and dared to enter this hole. I’m a Tier Eight Second Layer Martial Sovereign, so why should I be afraid? Xu Zhen, you look after the Ancestor. I’m going in to investigate.”

The moment he finished speaking, he didn’t wait for Xu Guanglin’s reply, rushing into the black hole with a WHOOSH.

“Ancestor, I’ll go with Xu Ping and take a look.”

Seeing this, Xu Zheng, who was standing nearby, gave a low shout and followed Xu Ping into the black hole.

“Those two bastards.”

Xu Guanglin trembled with rage, and with a SPLAT, he coughed up another mouthful of blood. He hadn’t expected that after being so severely injured, the two core elders, Xu Ping and Xu Zheng, would completely disregard his commands.

“Ancestor, let me help you out of here.”

Xu Zhen sighed at the sight and helped Xu Guanglin leave the ruins.

Never mind Xu Guanglin’s despair. After rushing into the black hole, the Blood Sword Martial Emperor was taken aback.

Before him lay an enormous underground grand hall, filled with countless carved stone statues.

The creatures depicted by the statues were tall, covered in black Scale Armor, and had sharp horns on their heads. A sinister aura filled the air.

‘What in the world is this place?’

The Blood Sword Martial Emperor was secretly alarmed. As a Martial Emperor, he had explored countless secret realms and perilous lands across the Celestial Profound Continent, but this was the first time he had ever seen a place so bizarre.

‘This place suddenly bordered the Celestial Yin Valley; it’s most likely a secret land from ancient times. And with so many treasures here, it must be something extraordinary.’

Thoughts flashed through the Blood Sword Martial Emperor’s mind, but his immediate priority was to find the Martial King who had obtained the Earth Fire.

The Blood Sword Martial Emperor greatly coveted the Earth Fire in Ye Xuan’s possession.

However, when he swept his Profound Sense across the entire hall, he couldn’t help but be startled. He saw rows of tunnels surrounding the hall, dozens in total. Each one was pitch-black, making it impossible to see inside, let alone determine which one Ye Xuan and the others had entered.

‘Damn it.’

The Blood Sword Martial Emperor’s heart sank. If he had rushed down immediately, he might have been able to sense which tunnel Ye Xuan had entered, as a Martial Artist’s flight always leaves behind some Profound energy fluctuations.

But he had wasted too much time outside. By the time he came down, the Profound energy fluctuations had long since vanished. How was he supposed to find them now?

“Hmph, does that brat think he can get away just by hiding his tracks? I refuse to believe he can hide from my Spirit-Seeking Blood Rat!”

The Blood Sword Martial Emperor snorted coldly. A small, blood-red rat suddenly appeared in his hand. SQUEAK SQUEAK. The little rat scurried around the hall twice before stopping in front of one of the tunnels.

“This one?” A glint flashed in the Blood Sword Martial Emperor’s eyes. Without further delay, he recalled the Spirit-Seeking Blood Rat and instantly darted into the tunnel ahead.

As a powerful Martial Emperor, his skill made him bold. He was naturally not as cautious as Diao Minghuang and the others had been during their exploration.

After the Blood Sword Martial Emperor vanished from the hall, Diao Minghuang, Jiang Chonghuang, and the others all flew in as well.

Upon seeing the scene in the great hall, they all gasped.

They hadn’t expected such a massive underground palace to exist beneath the ruins. Judging by its scale, this was definitely no ordinary place.

“Let’s go!”

A moment later, they selected a tunnel and cautiously flew inside.

Not long after, the figures of Xu Ping and Xu Zheng also appeared in the great hall. After a moment of hesitation, they too chose a tunnel and swiftly entered.

Meanwhile, deep within one of the tunnels, a figure was sprinting at top speed. Only after covering an unknown distance did it finally stop.

This sprinting figure was none other than Ye Xuan.

He had been inside the Flowing Light Forbidden Element Array, preparing to ambush Jiang Chonghuang and Diao Minghuang, when he sensed the arrival of the Blood Sword Martial Emperor. He had immediately broken the Array and charged into this underground palace.

‘No matter which power this arriving Nine Heavens Martial Emperor belongs to, as soon as he meets Diao Minghuang and the others, he’ll inevitably learn that I have the Earth Fire. With my current strength, I might not even fear a Tier Eight Triple Peak Martial Sovereign, but against a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor, I would have no ability to resist whatsoever.’

Ye Xuan was well aware that the gap between a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor and a Tier Eight Martial Sovereign was not just a matter of levels.

That was why Ye Xuan had fled the main hall without a moment’s hesitation. What he hadn’t expected was that the suddenly-appeared Martial Emperor would be so fixated on him. If he had known, he certainly wouldn’t have stopped here.

Phew!

Letting out a small sigh of relief, Ye Xuan suddenly turned around and spoke coolly to the dark tunnel behind him, “You’ve been following me for so long. You’re not still planning on hiding like a coward, are you?”

“Jye jye jye, I didn’t expect a brat like you to discover my pursuit. It seems your strength has improved quite a bit lately, hasn’t it?”

A cold, evil voice rang out. From the darkness, Zhan Shang’s figure slowly emerged, his face beneath his cloak radiating a sinister feeling.

“Hmph, so it really is you. I bet you’ve been wanting to kill me every second since you first saw me.”

Ye Xuan sneered.

“That’s right. I have long coveted this body of yours. I’ve seen many powerful humans, but it’s rare to find one whose physical body can compare to yours.” Zhan Shang’s gaze was cold and sinister, staring at Ye Xuan with a ravenous expression that made Ye Xuan’s skin crawl.

“Even though you’ve broken through to the Tier Eight Second Layer, do you really think you can kill me?”

With a wave of his hand, Ye Xuan summoned Xiaohai and Erhei, who appeared before him and fixed their cold eyes on Zhan Shang.

“Heh heh, your two little pets might scare others, but they can’t scare me. You might as well put them away.”

Zhan Shang sneered. The moment he finished speaking, he wasted no more words and shot toward Ye Xuan.

SWOOSH!

His figure was like a streak of black light, arriving in front of Ye Xuan in an instant.

“You’re courting death.”

Seeing this, Ye Xuan’s gaze turned cold. At his command, Xiaohai transformed into a black streak of light and shot toward Zhan Shang.

“You little brat, trying to ram me? Get lost.”

Zhan Shang waved his hand. His human palm suddenly turned pitch-black, emitting a foul, evil stench as it slammed onto Xiaohai’s body with a BOOM.

With a BANG, Xiaohai cried out in pain. A pitch-black palm print instantly appeared on its Scale Armor—armor that not even a Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Sovereign could break—sizzling with black smoke. At the same time, its entire body was sent crashing into the nearby wall.

What? Ye Xuan was stunned. ‘Xiaohai’s defense is definitely on par with a typical Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Sovereign, yet it couldn’t even block a single palm strike from Zhan Shang?’

PUFF!

At that moment, Erhei also sprang into action. It opened its mouth and spat out a cloud of poisonous mist, which rapidly spread to envelop the entire space before Ye Xuan.

If Zhan Shang wanted to get to Ye Xuan, he would have to pass through this poisonous mist.

However, to Ye Xuan’s astonishment, Zhan Shang didn’t even try to avoid the poison mist spat out by Erhei. He charged right through it, his pitch-black palm striking viciously at Erhei’s head.

GURK!

Erhei let out a strange cry. A cold glint appeared in its eyes as it rapidly swiped out with its claws.

BOOM-CRACK!

Erhei’s massive body was immediately sent flying by the immense force, crashing heavily into a wall not far away, just like Xiaohai. Black smoke rose from its claws, its expression one of agony.

Meanwhile, despite having been sprayed by Erhei’s poisonous mist, Zhan Shang was completely unscathed. He wasn’t harmed in the slightest.

‘How is this possible?’ Ye Xuan’s gaze hardened. ‘Even a Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Sovereign would fear Erhei’s poison, yet Zhan Shang is completely fine?’

“Heh heh, surprised, aren’t you, brat? A Spirit Demon Beast’s poison is highly corrosive to human Martial Artists, but it’s far from enough to deal with me.”

Zhan Shang let out a sinister laugh. As his laughter faded, a stream of black mist shot out from the Skull Staff in his hand. It moved like a living rope, incredibly agile as it rapidly coiled toward Ye Xuan’s body.

‘Spirit Demon Beast?’

A flicker of confusion passed through Ye Xuan’s mind, but the current situation gave him no time to dwell on it.

“Break!”

With an angry roar, the Sword of Judgment on Ye Xuan’s back was instantly unsheathed. CRACKLE! A pale blue bolt of lightning emerged, stabbing into the black mist like a thunder spear.

The black mist faltered for a moment but immediately shot forward again, its speed undiminished as it continued to coil toward him.

“Heh heh, your Sword of Judgment may be powerful, but with your level of cultivation, you can’t even begin to unleash its true might. Besides, you can’t summon Celestial Thunder in here. How will you fight me?”

Zhan Shang’s triumphant laughter rang out, filled with ridicule for Ye Xuan’s actions.

“Hmph, is that so? If the Sword of Judgment won’t work, then what about this?”

Ye Xuan sneered. A scorching flame suddenly appeared on his palm. The moment it appeared, the entire tunnel was brightly illuminated, and the searing power of the Fire Element quickly burned toward the black mist coiling before him.

Under the searing heat of the Endless Molten Flame, the black mist rapidly melted, letting out a sizzling sound as it burned away.

“How did your Celestial Fire get so much stronger?”

Zhan Shang demanded, his expression a mixture of shock and anger, his face grim.

“What do you think?”

Ye Xuan sneered. During his time in the Celestial Capital Prefecture, he had been constantly improving his Celestial Fire. Although his Celestial Fire had not yet reached its mature form, its power was on a completely different level compared to when he was in Ancient Yang City.

Not long after he first arrived in the Celestial Capital Prefecture, Ye Xuan’s Celestial Fire had already been enhanced to the point where it could burn a Second Layer Martial Sovereign like Mo Qianshan. Later, after the Profound Light Pavilion opened, Ye Xuan obtained numerous Fire Element Spirit Medicines and treasures, elevating his Endless Molten Flame to an entirely new stage.

The scorching Endless Molten Flame instantly transformed into a torrent of fire, sweeping madly toward Zhan Shang.