Page 118

Just as Ye Zhenzhen ran out of the Demon Venerable's Sacred Palace and prepared to mount the great black dragon, fierce fighting erupted inside. Violent collisions shook space-time and sent out waves of black light.

Ye Qingchuan's cultivation was already formidable, but could he defeat the Netherworld Clan's vast army and escape? The thought left her faintly worried.

She told herself to keep going and get away, yet her feet carried her toward the fighting. She wanted to make sure he was safe before she left in peace.

Inside the Demon Venerable's Sacred Palace, Ye Qingchuan stood at the center of the storm, surrounded by four Demonlight Stage experts. Deep, blazing demonic light swirled around him.

His lips curled in disdain. "You think you can kill me?"

Ten years earlier, he had followed the gravely wounded Old Demon Venerable to the Demon Realm and offered him the Phoenix-Pattern Treasure Cauldron to win his trust. But the Old Demon Venerable had remained wary of him and refused to name him as his successor.

He trained relentlessly in demonic arts until his cultivation surpassed that of the Old Demon Venerable's useless sons. At last, he earned the old man's favor. The Old Demon Venerable kept him close and entrusted him with important duties.

Then an opportunity came. When the Old Demon Venerable suffered a backlash while using the Phoenix-Pattern Treasure Cauldron to cultivate demonic arts, Ye Qingchuan transferred the backlash he had accumulated into him as well. Using the cauldron's hidden power, he drained the Old Demon Venerable's formidable cultivation and leaped straight to the highest stage of demonic cultivation, the Foundation-Forging Stage, equivalent to the Cultivation World's Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

The First Prince had long maintained close ties with all Three Great Clans of the Demon Realm, while Ye Qingchuan had