Ghost-Crying Ridge lived up to its name.
Jagged, grotesque rocks loomed like twisted ghostly silhouettes, baring their fangs and claws beneath the thin moonlight. Bitter, sinister winds threaded through the stone forest, their mournful howls like the weeping of countless wronged souls, unsettling the mind. Spiritual energy here was so sparse as to be almost nonexistent. Instead, a cold aura of deathly stillness permeated the place, making it one of the Blood-Baleful Wasteland's notorious killing grounds.
Ye Chen's steps remained unhurried, as though he were strolling through his own courtyard. His divine sense had long since spread like an invisible net, bringing everything in the valley ahead within his "sight."
More than twenty people lay hidden on each side of the valley.
Those on the left all wore tight black clothing that blended into the night. Their auras were barely perceptible, like venomous snakes lurking in the shadows. They were the Shadow Guards painstakingly trained by the Sacred Emperor Palace, experts in concealment, assassination, and coordinated attacks. Their leader was none other than Jin Wu, whom Ye Chen had encountered before. His gaze was icy, and he tightly gripped a Formation Disk that emitted subtle fluctuations. Clearly, he had come prepared.
Those on the right were shrouded in churning blood mist, their features indistinct. Only pairs of scarlet eyes flickered in the darkness, radiating a thick aura of blood and corrosion. These were the Blood Demon Sect's Bone-Eroding Shadows, whose very name struck terror into people's hearts. Elder Xue Li hid at the heart of the densest blood mist, holding a Skull Banner that continuously dripped foul blood.
The two sides remained as distinctly separated as two rivers, yet subtly formed a pincer, sealing the valley's only passage so tightly that not even water could escape. They had spread a net over heaven and earth here, waiting only for Ye Chen to enter its heart.
"He's here!" Through the Formation Disk in his hand, Jin Wu sensed Ye Chen walking into the valley at an unhurried pace. Ruthlessness and excitement flashed in his eyes. Today, I'll wash away that humiliation with blood! He refused to believe that the combined might of the Sacred Emperor Palace's Shadow Guards and the Blood Demon Sect's Bone-Eroding Shadows, reinforced by a meticulously prepared killing formation, would fail to subdue this arrogant fool!
Xue Li also licked his lips, greed intensifying in his scarlet eyes. If he could capture this man and force him to reveal the secret art of Baleful Intent Purification, his standing within the sect would rise like a boat on a swelling tide!
Seemingly oblivious to all of this, Ye Chen walked straight into the center of the valley, into the area firmly locked down by both sides' murderous intent.
The instant his foot settled—
"Activate the formation! Starlight Space Lock!"
Jin Wu abruptly crushed the Formation Disk in his hand and shouted fiercely!
Buzzzz—!
Above the valley, the once-dim night sky suddenly blazed with light! Countless brilliant silver rays of starlight appeared out of thin air, weaving into an immense luminous net that covered the entire valley! Runes flowed across the net, radiating a powerful sealing force that instantly froze and locked down the space within the valley! At the same time, more than twenty Shadow Guards of the Sacred Emperor Palace flickered like phantoms, taking positions in every direction. Their auras linked together to form a formidable battle formation, their keen killing intent cutting through the air as though it were solid!
"Blood Sea Soul-Devouring Formation! Rise!"
On the other side, Xue Li shook the foul-blood-stained Skull Banner in his hand!
Whooosh—
Like a river of blood bursting through its banks, thick, viscous crimson waves surged out of the banner, instantly flooding more than half the valley! The blood waves churned, revealing countless twisted, agonized faces of vengeful souls. Their piercing wails created a powerful mental assault and a field of corrosion! The Bone-Eroding Shadows merged into the sea of blood, their movements becoming even more uncanny and unpredictable!
Starlight Space Lock immobilized the body!
The blood sea devoured souls, eroding the spirit!
The two great killing formations—one targeting the physical body, the other the soul—complemented each other, instantly trapping Ye Chen in a certain-death situation! A force like this could surround and kill several spirit transformation peak cultivators, and could even bring an early-stage void insight cultivator to a bitter end!
"Ye Chen! This place will be your grave today!" Jin Wu stood at the heart of the starlight formation, his voice filled with the satisfaction of avenging a great wrong.
"Surrender and hand over the secret art, and perhaps we'll leave your corpse intact!" Xue Li's hoarse, savage laughter drifted from the blood waves.
Faced with this sudden death trap, Ye Chen finally stopped walking. He looked up at the starlight net sealing the space, then surveyed the surging crimson waves and the enemies flickering in and out of view around him. Rather than showing the slightest panic, his face betrayed a trace of... boredom.
"Is this all you have?" He sighed softly, seemingly disappointed. "I thought you might at least let me stretch my limbs a little."
His contemptuous attitude utterly enraged Jin Wu and Xue Li.
"You're at death's door, yet you still dare act so arrogantly! Starlight Demon-Slaying Arrows!" Jin Wu roared and formed seals with both hands. The starlight filling the sky instantly condensed into countless razor-sharp silver arrows, pouring down on Ye Chen like a torrential storm! Every arrow contained terrifying power capable of piercing mountains!
"Ten Thousand Souls Devour the Heart!" Xue Li also drove his banner with all his might. Within the sea of blood, countless vengeful souls condensed into an enormous ghostly claw. Carrying vicious power that could erode souls and defile magical treasures, it viciously snatched down at the crown of Ye Chen's head!
Before the attacks even arrived, their terrifying pressure had already cracked every inch of the valley floor, reducing loose stones to powder!
Yet faced with attacks powerful enough to drive any cultivator of the same realm to despair, Ye Chen merely raised his right hand slowly.
He formed no seals and chanted no incantations. He simply spread his five fingers slightly and pressed gently toward the space before him.
"Still."
With that single word, his command became law!
In an instant, time seemed to congeal and space to freeze!
The starlight arrows pouring down from the sky abruptly halted thirty feet from Ye Chen, as though trapped in an invisible mire. They hung frozen in midair, unable to advance an inch!
The enormous ghostly claw formed from ten thousand souls likewise stopped just before it could touch Ye Chen, as though blocked by an invisible barrier. It remained suspended in midair, howling in defiance, yet unable to advance even a fraction!
Throughout the valley, apart from the wind that still moaned, everything—the attacks, the blood waves, and even the expressions on the faces of Jin Wu, Xue Li, the Shadow Guards, and the Bone-Eroding Shadows—seemed to have been paused, frozen utterly still!
"H-how is this possible?!" The savage grin froze on Jin Wu's face, giving way to boundless horror and disbelief! He could feel that his connection to the great starlight formation remained, yet its power had been forcibly immobilized by something higher and more fundamental! This lay completely beyond his understanding!
Xue Li was even more terrified, his soul nearly fleeing his body. His previously unstoppable Blood Sea Soul-Devouring Formation could not even get close to the man? What kind of divine ability is this?!
"Does the light of a firefly dare compete with the radiant moon?"
Ye Chen spoke indifferently. As his words fell, the countless starlight arrows suspended in midair all turned around, locking onto their original masters—the Shadow Guards of the Sacred Emperor Palace!
The enormous claw of vengeful souls also burst apart with a shrill, agonized wail. The backlash made Xue Li grunt, a trickle of foul blood spilling from the corner of his mouth!
"No!" Jin Wu and Xue Li were terrified out of their wits. They tried to retreat, only to discover that they were like insects trapped deep within amber. Even moving a single finger had become incredibly difficult!
"Perish."
Ye Chen uttered another single word.
The reversed starlight arrows seemed to gain lives of their own, turning into bolts of silver lightning that shot unerringly toward every Shadow Guard of the Sacred Emperor Palace!
Thud, thud, thud, thud—!
The sounds of blades piercing flesh rang out in rapid succession! Those well-trained Shadow Guards, masters of coordinated combat, were utterly powerless against the attacks formed by their own formation. In an instant, they were riddled with holes, their souls annihilated along with their bodies! Jin Wu's eyes nearly split at the corners. He desperately activated his protective magical treasure, but several especially thick arrows of light struck him. His treasure wailed, and he flew backward, coughing blood, grievously wounded and on the brink of death!
Meanwhile, the disintegrating blood sea and vengeful souls encountered what seemed to be their natural bane. An invisible purifying force swept over them, making them sizzle as they rapidly dissipated and evaporated! The Bone-Eroding Shadows merged within the blood sea did not even have time to scream before turning into wisps of smoke along with it! With a crack, countless fissures split the foul-blood-stained Skull Banner in Xue Li's hand, and all its spiritual radiance vanished!
In the flick of a finger, the deadly ambush crumbled like earth collapsing and tiles shattering!
From beginning to end, Ye Chen had not moved so much as a step.
His calm gaze swept over the wreckage strewn across the ground and the only two survivors—the gravely wounded Jin Wu and the stupefied Xue Li—as though he were looking down upon ants.
"Go back and tell your masters."
His voice was not loud, yet like the resounding decree of the Heavenly Dao, it branded itself clearly into the depths of their remaining souls:
"If they dare reach out their claws again, it won't be small fry like you who come next time."
"I'll personally visit the Sacred Emperor Palace and the Blood Demon Sect, find the ones in charge, and have a proper 'talk' with them."
With that, he paid no further attention to these two ants who had escaped death by sheer luck. He took a single step, and his figure vanished from the spot, as though he had never appeared.
Only the thick stench of blood, the shattered formations' lingering light, and two ashen-faced survivors whose Dao hearts had nearly collapsed remained in the valley.
The night wind blew past. Ghost-Crying Ridge's mournful cries continued, yet they seemed to carry a little more reverence.
Purple qi came from the east, sweeping away the demonic miasma. After this night, Ye Chen's name was destined to spread throughout the Primordial Wilderness in an even more terrifying fashion.
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