The route to the Falling Snow Sect passed through the Black Mountain Range. Ye Chen wanted to stop in the mountains and capture a few reasonably strong demonic beasts to guard the Ye Lineage after he left.
So instead of heading straight to the Falling Snow Sect, he teleported to the outskirts of Black Mountain with a thought.
A sweep of his divine sense happened to catch several people discussing the Falling Snow Sect and the Ye Lineage.
"Who are you?"
Ye Chen asked coldly.
The five were startled by the sudden voice and hurriedly turned around.
When they discovered it was a young man, they flew into a rage.
"Brat, you're courting death!"
"Who are you to ask about our identities?"
"Get lost if you don't want to die!"
"Why waste so many words? Just kill him!"
The young sect master's gaze turned vicious. He feared that Ye Chen had overheard what he had just said, so he wanted to kill him to silence him.
The other four were used to throwing their weight around and were about to attack.
Who would have thought that one glance from Ye Chen would make those four vanish as though erased from thin air, as if they had never been there?
The young sect master was scared out of his wits and stared at Ye Chen as though he had seen a ghost.
He had never seen or heard of such a method. Even the sect's ancestor probably couldn't do this!
"You... who are you? I... I'm the young sect master of the Breeze Sect. Don't... don't do anything rash!"
He stared at Ye Chen in utter terror while trembling and backing away.
Bright yellow liquid kept dripping onto the ground beneath his feet.
Ye Chen gave him a disgusted glance, and he too vanished as though erased, as if he had never appeared.
"Breeze Sect, you refused the open road to heaven and insisted on barging into a hell with no gates!"
Putting together what they had said earlier, Ye Chen could already guess the gist of what had happened.
He thought no more of it and turned toward the mountain range before him.
He would deal with the Breeze Sect later. For now, he would capture a few demonic beasts to guard the Ye Lineage.
Black Mountain, as its name suggested, was black all over.
The flowers, grass, and trees on the mountains, the soil on the ground, and even the rocks were all pure black.
Legend had it that a hundred thousand years ago, a Demon Emperor had fought someone and been beheaded by a single sword strike. Demonic blood had gushed out in torrents, spilling entirely over Black Mountain.
That was what had given Black Mountain its present appearance.
Black Mountain was the largest mountain range in Heavenly Profound Province, home to countless demonic beasts. Even sacred beasts appeared in its core region.
Of course, it also held countless rare treasures. It was not only a training ground for the young disciples of many factions, but also a place where many earned extra money through murder and robbery.
At that moment, a young man in dark robes, covered in blood and deathly pale, was fleeing through the dense forest at tremendous speed.
Five assassins pursued relentlessly behind him.
Towering Sha Qi shrouded all five assassins. One look was enough to tell that they had killed countless people.
Their leader's presence surged like a rainbow, and terrifying fluctuations of spiritual power swept outward, forming a vacuum within a hundred meters of him.
Each had a skull tattooed on his arm.
It was the mark of Yama Hall, the Eastern Domain's foremost assassin organization.
"My lord, this brat really can run!"
"To think he could run so fast and make it deep into Black Mountain with such severe injuries. He truly deserves to be called Luo Chen, Azure Province Academy's strongest heavenly prodigy!"
"Hmph, so what if he's their strongest heavenly prodigy? He'll still die at our lord's hands!"
"Enough chatter. Hurry up and finish the mission!"
Their leader had spoken, so the others dared say no more and gave chase at full speed.
Although Luo Chen was severely wounded, his mind grew increasingly clear.
The leader of the assassins pursuing him was terrifyingly powerful, having reached the Dharma Form realm, while he himself was still only in the Spirit Refinement realm.
With a gap of two major realms, plus four other Heavenly Palace realm experts, Luo Chen had used almost every trump card he possessed just to escape with severe injuries. Yet if this continued, he would still undoubtedly die.
Then he raised his head and looked toward Black Mountain's core region, a trace of ruthlessness and resolve entering his eyes.
Without further hesitation, he flew toward the core region with all his strength.
Meanwhile, the five assassins stopped when they saw the direction the young man was running, their eyes filled with solemnity and hesitation.
"My lord, this brat was running in circles just now. Why is he heading for the core region now?"
"There are sacred beasts there. How does he dare?"
"We've pressed him too hard. Running there is his only sliver of hope!"
"Then do we keep chasing him or not?"
They looked questioningly at their leader.
A trace of ruthlessness flashed through their leader's eyes, and he said grimly, "After him!"
"Hmph! Does he think sacred beasts can scare me?"
"Use your secret arts and pursue at full speed. The sooner we catch him, the better. If we alarm the sacred beasts inside, things will get troublesome!"
"Yes!"
Holding nothing back, they each used secret arts and sped toward the core region.
By then, Luo Chen had reached the very heart of Black Mountain.
He had previously read the academy's records on Black Mountain. They stated that Black Mountain held many extremely powerful demonic beasts, particularly in its core region, where there were tenth-tier beasts-in other words, King-level demonic beasts.
Even sacred beasts had appeared before.
Although Azure Province Academy was a seventh-grade faction and one of Azure Province's two overlords, its strongest expert was only in the Shattering realm.
But he had no other options now. Only by entering death's jaws could he find life.
If he could lure the assassins behind him into those powerful demonic beasts' territories, he would still have a chance to escape.
Just as he was about to venture deeper, he saw a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Ahead of him, a young man around his own age stood high in the air with his hands behind his back.
The young man was strikingly handsome, peerlessly graceful, and possessed an otherworldly bearing, like an immortal banished to the mortal world.
His gaze looked down upon all, and the imposing might surrounding him resembled heaven's authority, soaring into the clouds. Had he not controlled it so well, the entire core region of Black Mountain would likely have crumbled beneath that pressure.
He slowly extended his palm. A massive vortex of Spiritual Qi instantly formed high in the sky, blotting out the heavens and the moon, terrifying beyond compare.
The Spiritual Qi within a radius of ten million li was drained dry in an instant.
Then, at the very center of the Spiritual Qi vortex, a towering palm radiating astonishing might and five-colored light slowly emerged.
Beneath the giant palm, an ape a hundred zhang tall was roaring.
The ape was pitch-black, its entire body encased in thick scales, with a pair of demonic horns growing from its head. Terrifying lightning flickered over its body, and a single strike from it held the power to destroy heaven and earth.
"That... that's a Primordial Demon Lightning Ape that has awakened a trace of its bloodline power!"
Luo Chen could not help crying out.
A Primordial Demon Lightning Ape could become a sacred beast simply by reaching adulthood.
Although this one gave off no sacred might, its presence far surpassed the academy master's. It had clearly already reached the ninth tier.
Although its bloodline was impure, demonic beasts were inherently stronger than humans of the same tier.
With the trace of bloodline power it had awakened as well, it was by no means weak even among those in the King realm.
Yet this terrifying demonic beast, whose demonic might towered to the heavens, had no power to fight back against that five-colored giant palm in the sky.
It roared and struggled violently, its cries capable of piercing metal, splitting stone, and shattering the void. Yet it was all futile. An unknown force held it firmly in place, leaving it unable to move.
It could only watch helplessly as the giant palm approached.
The giant palm seemed to move slowly, but was actually as swift as lightning.
In the blink of an eye, it picked up the demon ape as though grasping a doll, then casually tossed it into something resembling a storage pouch.
Under Luo Chen's utterly horrified gaze, the young man casually put away the storage pouch and flew deeper inside.
"A... a Saint!"
Luo Chen was stunned. He had never imagined that he would actually see a living Saint!
In fact, that demon ape had already reached the peak of the ninth tier, only one step away from the Saint realm.
Even an ordinary Saint realm expert might not have been able to subdue it.
But within Luo Chen's understanding, the Saint realm was already an unimaginable existence. He did not even dare think of anything higher.
He looked in the direction the Saint had flown, hesitated, then gritted his teeth and followed.
The five assassins behind him also followed.
The surge of Spiritual Qi, the demon ape's roars, and the five-colored giant palm in the sky had nearly scared them into wetting their pants.
Clearly, supremely powerful experts were fighting ahead.
However, this mission was hell-level, the kind where only success was permitted and failure was not.
So they gritted their teeth and followed anyway.
Now, seeing Luo Chen alone, they felt greatly reassured and desperately gave chase.