Outside Black Wind Mountain, a murderous chill filled the air.
Jin Wu wore the Sacred Emperor Palace's regulation Silver Armor, a broadsword at his waist. His face was grim as he stared at the mountain ahead, shrouded in hazy five-element radiance. Behind him stood twenty formidable Silver-Armored Guards, all at the nascent soul middle stage or above. They formed a battle array, their murderous aura soaring into the clouds. He regarded his previous humiliation at Ye Chen's hands as a disgrace beyond endurance. Now, ordered by the Inspector to "pay a visit," he seethed with anger and harbored thoughts of using his backer's power to force submission.
On the other side, the Blood Demon Sect elder looked far more sinister. A loose black robe enveloped his entire body, revealing only a pair of eyes flickering with scarlet light. The thick stench of blood clung to him, as though he had just walked out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Only four disciples in fitted blood-red outfits followed him, but their eyes were numb and their auras uncanny. Clearly, they practiced exceptionally vicious demonic arts.
The two men represented two of the greatest powers in the Primordial World. Yet, drawn by the same target, they now stood temporarily "shoulder to shoulder" outside the Heavenly Star Pavilion's mountain gate.
"Elder Xue Li, it seems the Heavenly Star Pavilion puts on quite a show of importance. We've come in person, yet no one comes out to greet us?" Jin Wu snorted coldly. Infused with spiritual power, his voice rolled across the wilderness like muffled thunder, deliberately attempting to cow the Heavenly Star Pavilion from the outset.
The black-robed elder named Xue Li gave a hoarse laugh, like the cry of a night owl. "Why the impatience, Commander Jin? Perhaps the newly appointed Pavilion Master Ye knows how shallow his foundations are and doesn't dare show his face?" His words carried both provocation and disdain.
The two played off each other, their voices carrying into the mountain. The Heavenly Star Pavilion disciples guarding the Mountain Gate grew tense and tightened their grips on their weapons. Most were former members of the Blood Skull Stronghold who had submitted, or newly recruited rogue cultivators. When had they ever seen envoys from such towering powers as the Sacred Emperor Palace and the Blood Demon Sect arrive together? They could not help feeling anxious.
Shi Meng was in charge of guard duty that day. After receiving Ye Yun's message, he strode to the mountain gate. Looking at the two groups outside, he widened his great bell-like eyes and bellowed in a voice like a booming bronze bell:
"Hey! What bastards dare make a racket outside our Heavenly Star Pavilion? If you want to see my young master, follow the rules! Submit a visiting card first, then wait quietly outside the mountain gate!"
His language was coarse, but his brazen, devil-may-care manner gave neither power any face.
Jin Wu's expression darkened. "Insolence!" I am Commander Jin Wu, serving under the Sacred Emperor Palace's Inspector, and this is Elder Xue Li of the Blood Demon Sect! Go inform Ye Chen at once and have him come out to receive us!"
Xue Li also spoke with sinister menace. "Junior, don't bring ruin upon yourself. The Blood Demon Sect doesn't concern itself with etiquette the way the Sacred Emperor Palace does."
Shi Meng picked at his ear, looking utterly unconcerned. "I don't care what damned palace or sect you're from. Once you're on Heavenly Star Pavilion territory, you follow Heavenly Star Pavilion rules! The young master is in seclusion. He has no time for stray cats and dogs like you! Wait if you want to, or get lost!"
"You!" Jin Wu flew into a rage, his hand already pressing against his sword hilt. Behind him, the Silver-Armored Guards stepped forward in unison, bristling with murderous intent.
Bloody light flashed in Xue Li's eyes. The stench of blood around him abruptly thickened, as though countless vengeful souls were wailing.
Just as the tension reached the point of drawn swords and taut bows, a cool voice came from inside the mountain gate:
"Who is making a commotion here?"
Before the words had faded, Ye Yun quietly appeared beside Shi Meng. He still wore blue robes, with the Ancient Sword on his back. His face was stern, his gaze like ice that had endured ten thousand years as it swept over Jin Wu and Xue Li.
Both Jin Wu and Xue Li felt their hearts tighten beneath his gaze. His aura was concentrated, his sharpness held within. He actually gave both of them a sense of danger.
"I am Ye Yun, Guardian of the Heavenly Star Pavilion." Ye Yun spoke evenly, but with unquestionable authority. "The Pavilion Master is in seclusion and is not receiving visitors. If you have urgent business, leave your visiting cards and state your purpose. The Pavilion Master will decide once he emerges. Otherwise, please leave."
His attitude was considerably better than Shi Meng's, but the cold indifference that kept others a thousand miles away was even harder to bear.
Jin Wu forcibly suppressed his anger and said gravely, "Guardian Ye, I have come on the orders of Inspector Jin Sheng of the Sacred Emperor Palace. There are important matters I must ask Pavilion Master Ye about in person, concerning the stability of this realm. Please make an exception!"
Xue Li also said hoarsely, "The Blood Demon Sect is quite curious about Pavilion Master Ye as well. We have come especially to pay our respects and seek instruction in the method of baleful intent purification and generating spiritual energy. We hope Pavilion Master Ye will generously enlighten us." His words were polite, but "enlighten us" carried an unmistakable weight of greed and coercion.
Ye Yun frowned slightly and was about to refuse again.
Suddenly, a gentle yet astonishingly clear voice rang out as though beside everyone's ear, drowning out every other sound:
"Oh? The Sacred Emperor Palace? The Blood Demon Sect?"
The voice came from the Heavenly Star Pavilion's main peak, where Chen Hall stood!
The next moment, a figure appeared soundlessly inside the mountain gate, in front of Ye Yun and Shi Meng.
He wore simple dark robes, his figure tall and straight, his features handsome. His eyes were calm and unfathomable, as though they held an endless starry sky. Who else could it have been but Ye Chen?
He released no earth-shaking aura. Yet the instant he appeared, all the restless spiritual energy around the mountain gate seemed to settle, and even the howling wind softened. The murderous chill Jin Wu had brought and the bloody stench surrounding Xue Li seemed to meet an invisible barrier before him, unable to advance an inch.
He merely stood there casually, yet he seemed to have become the center of heaven and earth.
"Young master!" Ye Yun and Shi Meng hurriedly bowed.
Jin Wu's and Xue Li's pupils abruptly contracted, and towering waves of shock surged through their hearts! They had not sensed how Ye Chen appeared at all! It was as though he had been standing there all along, one with heaven and earth.
"P-Pavilion Master Ye?" Jin Wu suppressed his shock and struggled to maintain his composure. "You've emerged from seclusion?"
Ye Chen's indifferent gaze passed over the two men, as though they were two objects of no consequence. "I had barely emerged from seclusion when I heard unwelcome guests had come to my gate. What is it? Do you think my Heavenly Star Pavilion is easy to bully, or do you think I, Ye Chen... can no longer lift a blade?"
His tone remained mild, but his final words carried an icy chill that made Jin Wu and Xue Li feel as though they had plunged into an ice cavern!
Jin Wu, in particular, had witnessed—or rather, experienced—Ye Chen's unfathomable strength firsthand. Now, pinned beneath Ye Chen's gaze, he felt his entire body stiffen. Even breathing became difficult.
Xue Li was equally horrified. He discovered that he could not gauge this young man's depths at all! The impression Ye Chen gave him was even more terrifying than that of some elders in his sect who remained in seclusion!
"You misunderstand, Pavilion Master Ye!" Jin Wu hurriedly spoke, an involuntary note of respect entering his voice. "We came with absolutely no ill intent! We were merely ordered to ask about a few matters and... and invite Pavilion Master Ye to Greenstone Valley for a conversation." In the end, he had not dared say "present yourself for an audience."
Xue Li also reined in his earlier arrogance and said hoarsely, "Pavilion Master Ye possesses extraordinary abilities. Improving this land's environment is truly a deed of immeasurable merit. The Blood Demon Sect also wishes to befriend you and explore the Great Dao together."
Circumstances outweighed personal pride. Before Ye Chen's absolute strength, the two envoys, ordinarily so lofty and superior, had no choice but to lower their heads.
Watching their earlier arrogance turn to deference, Ye Chen's lips curled into a faint, mocking smile.
"Questions? An invitation? Friendship?" He shook his head lightly. "The Heavenly Star Pavilion has established itself here. We do not cause trouble, but we certainly do not fear it. You have no standing to interrogate me about my origins or my methods, and I have no need to explain them to you."
His gaze suddenly sharpened, like two tangible beams of sword light piercing Jin Wu and Xue Li:
"Go back and tell Jin Sheng. Tell those old monsters in the Blood Demon Sect."
"Where I, Ye Chen, stand, I am the law."
"If you wish to be my enemies, bring everything you have."
"If you wish to befriend me, show sufficient sincerity instead of sending two small fry to test me."
"Now, scram."
That single word fell, as though his speech itself had become Word Becomes Law.
Jin Wu and Xue Li felt an irresistible, overwhelming force crash down upon them and every follower behind them!
Thud! Thud!
Including Jin Wu and Xue Li, nearly thirty people from the two great powers were hurled backward off their feet without the slightest ability to resist. Like dumplings being dropped into a pot, they landed in a miserable heap hundreds of zhang away, throwing clouds of dust into the air!
The two struggled to their feet, their faces deathly pale and their eyes filled with boundless terror and humiliation. Yet they dared not utter another threat. Taking their subordinates, they fled in panic without looking back, as though a moment's delay would cost them their lives.
Peace instantly returned to the mountain gate.
Shi Meng stared, dumbstruck, before splitting his broad mouth into a grin and roaring with laughter. "Hahaha! Young master, you're mighty indeed! That's exactly how those blind fools should be dealt with!"
A trace of admiration also flashed through Ye Yun's eyes.
Ye Chen stood with his hands behind his back, gazing deeply in the direction the two groups had fled.
He knew this was only the beginning. He had dispatched two small fry; the real trouble would soon come hard on their heels.
But he did not care.
His gaze had already turned toward the distant north.
The Profound Ice Plains, the next fragment, and the secret of transcendence hidden within the mists of history awaited him.
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