Empress Xuan

Run! Run for your life!

Ye Chen knew that even if he reached the peak Qi Cultivation Realm Tenth Layer, he would still be no match for the Scorpion-Tailed Demon Wolf. The gap of an entire realm was not so easily bridged. As for Lin Qi, the third disciple of North Snow Manor, being able to defeat Swift Blade Wu Wanshan, that was mainly due to his advantages in cultivation techniques and martial arts. North Snow Manor was a Seventh-Rank Great Sect. What did a Seventh-Rank Great Sect mean? It meant a colossal force that had developed over centuries, even millennia, possessing countless secret manuals and treasures, with foundations too deep to fathom. Swift Blade Wu Wanshan, meanwhile, was merely a lone wanderer. Even his strongest blade technique had been self-created, showing just how little foundation he had.

Ye Chen had long cultivated the Golden Goose Steps to perfection. Once he exerted it with all his strength, his feet barely touched the ground as he skimmed over grass and trees. In every instant, he could dart more than ten meters forward, no less swift than a true wild goose.

Awoo!

Before Ye Chen could let out a sigh of relief, a powerful mass of Demonic Energy shot toward him from behind.

Without even looking, Ye Chen knew it was a demonic energy projectile spat out by the Scorpion-Tailed Demon Wolf. Any martial artist below the True Condensation Realm who was grazed even slightly would have their blood wither and their limbs go numb.

Relying on his powerful Soul Force, Ye Chen's figure flickered, easily evading it.

Bang!

The ground to his right front was blasted into a pit, and the nearby grass and trees withered in an instant.

"What a powerful demonic energy projectile. This Scorpion-Tailed Demon Wolf's Inner Core must be incredibly potent. If I could obtain it, it would save me at least half a year of bitter cultivation. No, what am I thinking?" Ye Chen found his own thoughts laughable. Whether or not he could escape was still a question, yet he was already eyeing the Scorpion-Tailed Demon Wolf's Inner Core. He truly did not know the difference between life and death.

Bang bang bang...

Masses of demonic energy projectiles came hurtling from behind. Ye Chen always found the optimal route to evade them, giving off the impression that he was strolling through a hail of bullets.

The Scorpion-Tailed Demon Wolf was enraged. It stopped firing demonic energy projectiles and instead pursued the human before it with all its might, gradually closing the distance.

Fifty steps!

Forty-five steps!

Forty steps!

Ye Chen's scalp tingled. He hurriedly tossed the bulging leather sack high into the air, accurately landing it in the crown of a towering tree. It would be difficult to spot from below, and it would make it easier for him to retrieve it later.

Whoosh!

After throwing away nearly a hundred jin of Demonic Beast materials, Ye Chen's speed surged. He was no less swift than a True Condensation Realm Early Stage martial artist, and with his powerful Soul Force to aid him, his movements became unfathomable as gods and ghosts.

Yet even so, the Scorpion-Tailed Demon Wolf continued to slowly gain on him, though only by a tiny margin.

One pursued and one fled, and before they knew it, they had entered the depths of the Silent Mountain Range. The surroundings were utterly quiet, deathly still.

The Scorpion-Tailed Demon Wolf chasing behind seemed somewhat afraid. Its pursuit slowed considerably, and its enormous head constantly looked from side to side.

Suddenly, an enormous black shadow sprang from the grass beside it and bit down on the Scorpion-Tailed Demon Wolf's neck. Its speed was so great that the wolf's body scraped along the ground and slid more than ten meters away.

The Scorpion-Tailed Demon Wolf struggled frantically and let out a terrified roar.

But the black shadow was far stronger than the Scorpion-Tailed Demon Wolf. With a single swipe of its claw, it smashed the wolf's head apart, sending blood splattering everywhere.

When Ye Chen turned his head, he met the black shadow's gaze. Those blood-red eyes were sharper than blade edges, brimming with evil.

"Level Four Demonic Beast: Crimson Blood Evil Beast!"

Ye Chen felt bitter beyond measure. He had never expected that just after escaping one Scorpion-Tailed Demon Wolf, an even stronger Crimson Blood Evil Beast would appear. If that were all, there might still have been a thread of hope for survival. The crucial issue was that he had gotten lost, and he did not know whether he had entered the depths of the Silent Mountain Range.

Though he held onto a faint hope, Ye Chen rationally concluded that this was indeed the depths of the Silent Mountain Range. Otherwise, a Level Four Demonic Beast would not have appeared.

Seeing the Crimson Blood Evil Beast give chase, Ye Chen forced himself to remain calm. His sharp gaze swept the surroundings before finally settling on a rocky mountain to his left front.

There was a broad horizontal fissure there, as if someone had forcibly cleaved it open with a blade. It was unfathomably deep.

He could no longer worry about what dangers might await him. Ye Chen stomped his right foot against the ground, sending his body shooting out at an angle as he plunged into the great fissure like a young swallow returning to its nest.

Bang!

The rocky mountain trembled. The Crimson Blood Evil Beast was too large to follow Ye Chen inside, but its immense force still shattered earth and stone, scattering fragments in every direction.

Ye Chen did not believe the entrance outside could stop the Crimson Blood Evil Beast. He reached into his robes and took out a luminous pearl. By its faint glow, he clearly examined his surroundings, then walked deeper inside.

He did not know how long he had walked, but Ye Chen could no longer hear any commotion from outside.

Drip!

A droplet of water fell, and Ye Chen instinctively dodged.

"I never knew my reactions were this fast. I actually sensed even a falling droplet and avoided it so easily." In the past, even if Ye Chen sensed a droplet falling, his body would not have been able to react in time. Now that he had cultivated the Pure Origin Skill, his body and mind had nearly become one.

After walking a little farther, Ye Chen felt a current of air brush against his face. His spirits immediately lifted. As he quickened his pace, he drew the Fine Steel Sword with his right hand, Internal Energy gathering within him, ready to erupt at any moment.

Whoosh!

A gust of chilly wind swept past, and Ye Chen's vision suddenly opened up.

Before him lay a vast space, four or five zhang high, with its length and width impossible to measure. It was actually an underground world.

There was a river, trees, and stone chambers in the underground world. Outside the stone chambers stood a stone pavilion, within which sat a stone table and four stone chairs.

"Could someone have lived here?" Ye Chen was filled with uncertainty. He had thought he had found an exit, only to arrive underground instead.

Splash splash!

Water splashed in the river, as though fish lived within it, breaking the surface from time to time. The trees, meanwhile, were strange. Unlike the great trees aboveground, their gray trunks resembled rock. They bore only several dozen dull gray leaves, hanging there all alone, their vitality drawn inward.

Not daring to let down his guard, Ye Chen walked toward the stone chambers.

"Is anyone there?" Ye Chen called out when he arrived outside one of the stone chambers.

He called several times in succession, but no one answered.

Ye Chen drew a deep breath, pushed open the door, and entered the stone chamber.

The stone chamber was not large, only about one zhang in length and width. Night Glow Stones the size of longan fruits were embedded in the surrounding walls, illuminating the room brightly.

The first thing that caught his eye was a huge portrait on the wall directly opposite him. It depicted an immortal beauty, her black hair cascading like a waterfall and her eyes like stars. She was like a spirit in the wind, like the sovereign of a hundred flowers, possessing an ethereal air alongside a bearing that looked down upon the world. One such beauty could not be found among ten thousand.

In the lower-right corner was the inscription—Empress Xuan.

At the sight of this name, Ye Chen was utterly shocked. It was actually Empress Xuan.

There were countless powerful experts on the True Spirit Continent, but only a handful truly ruled the world, such as the Void Emperor, the Evil King, the Dragon King, and Empress Xuan.

As the sole woman among those supreme figures, Empress Xuan's life could be called legendary.

At eleven, she became a True Condensation Realm martial artist. At fourteen, she reached the Primal Origin Realm; at eighteen, the Star Extremity Realm; at twenty-five, the Spirit Sea Realm; and at thirty-five, she comprehended the Life and Death Threshold, becoming the youngest Life and Death Realm expert in a thousand years. Her power reached through heaven and earth, and she was revered as an Empress Xuan of her generation.