The Holy City was a sea of people, most of them young men and women who had come to take the holy land's entrance assessment.
Ye Chen rented a huge courtyard in the most luxurious district of the city.
The courtyard was enormous and fully equipped, even boasting a protective formation of no low grade that could withstand a blow from a King Realm expert.
Yet the rent was only a thousand supreme-grade spirit stones a day.
It was still rather cheap!
Inside the courtyard, in a room decorated like an immortal paradise, Ye Chen sat cross-legged.
He took out a blood-red longsword.
At once, towering Sha Qi surged forth.
Had Ye Chen not suppressed it with all his strength, this Sha Qi would surely have destroyed the entire Holy City.
Looking at the blood-colored runes dancing across the blade, Ye Chen could not help smiling.
This was none other than the Demon Slayer Immortal Sword the Seventh Ancestor had given him.
Since coming to the lower realm, he had been busy with other matters and had yet to truly refine it.
With his current strength, he was capable of opening Demon Slayer's first seal.
He acted without delay. Following the method the Seventh Ancestor had given him, Ye Chen silently recited the incantation and formed seals with both hands.
In an instant, waves of mysterious blood-colored runes emerged from Ye Chen's body.
Before long, his entire body was concealed beneath these endless blood-colored runes.
The flowing runes writhed and swam wildly like tiny blood-red tadpoles.
With a flick of Ye Chen's fingers, the endless tiny blood-colored runes abruptly poured into the Demon Slayer Immortal Sword as though they had received an order.
In an instant, red light blazed.
A terrifying presence that made heaven and earth tremble and ghosts and gods weep emanated from the sword.
Killing intent rolled forth like towering, crashing waves, unstoppable.
Ye Chen's eyes were utterly cold as he extended both hands and clenched them fiercely.
Clang!
The longsword trembled violently, its red light blazing brighter, as though it would pierce heaven and earth and annihilate everything.
Outside Heavenly Origin Holy City, a dark-skinned, lean but spirited youth arrived at the city gates.
His clothes were still ragged, but his eyes shone with even greater vitality.
He was none other than Ye Tian.
Ever since his chance encounter with Ye Chen last night, when Ye Chen's fingertip had touched his forehead, his body seemed to have undergone an enormous change.
His formerly frail body had become exceptionally strong and sturdy.
Most importantly, he discovered that his cultivation had actually begun rising rapidly.
Within just a few hours, he had stepped into the Xiantian Realm.
This shocked him beyond measure. Only after carefully examining his body and finding nothing wrong did he relax.
Recalling the tap of Ye Chen's fingertip before he left, he finally realized what had happened.
Ye Chen must have used some immortal art to let him cross an entire major realm.
He had never imagined he would actually encounter one of the immortals of legend.
His heart was filled with excitement and gratitude.
But whenever he thought of his reaction at the time, he felt deeply regretful.
He only hoped he could meet Ye Chen again someday and roast more rabbits to repay him.
At the city gates, he carefully took out two supreme-grade spirit stones before entering the city.
Just as he was about to find somewhere to stay, the crowd ahead began to stir.
Before long, the roars of demonic beasts rang out.
Everyone ahead scattered to either side of the road.
A little girl became separated from her elders amid the chaos and crouched alone in the middle of the road, crying loudly.
Just then, four horse-shaped demonic beasts covered in flames appeared at the far end of his vision.
The four demonic beasts pulled an extremely luxurious carriage. A vicious-looking servant aboard it held a whip, lashing at the surrounding crowd.
The little girl went pale with fright at the sight. She cried loudly while backing away, but she was far too slow.
Seeing that the little girl was about to be struck, Ye Tian acted in fury, punching at the four demonic beasts.
The four demonic beasts neighed in pain and stopped abruptly, sending the carriage behind them flying forward.
It hit the ground and shattered.
The vicious servant had jumped off first, so he did not fall to the ground.
He flew into a rage. "You're courting death!"
Then he swung a fist at Ye Tian's head.
Seeing this, Ye Tian threw a punch of his own.
Their fists collided, and each took a step back.
A trace of surprise flashed through the servant's eyes. "Xiantian Realm!"
A Xiantian Realm martial artist this young had probably come for the assessment. If he was a disciple of some major power, the servant could not afford to offend him.
He therefore shot Ye Tian an angry look before hurrying toward the carriage.
Before long, a young man in splendid robes slowly rose with the servant's support.
The young man had a pale face, slightly sunken cheeks, and heavy dark circles beneath his eyes.
One glance was enough to tell he suffered from kidney deficiency.
But the instant the young man appeared, Ye Tian's eyes widened, and he stared fixedly at him.
If looks could kill, that young man would already have died countless times.
The young man had also been furious and was just about to teach that outrageously brazen brat a proper lesson when he realized he actually knew the person before him.
Their relationship simply was not very good!
"Well, if it isn't you, you mud-legged peasant!"
The richly dressed young man's face was full of mockery.
Indeed, this young man was the killer who had wiped out Ye Tian's sect.
Back then, he had taken a fancy to Ye Tian's junior sister, so he had killed Ye Tian's master and forcibly abducted her.
He had wanted to kill Ye Tian as well, but that old bastard had kept holding him back, and his lust had become unbearable, so he had not bothered giving chase.
"Where's my junior sister?"
Ye Tian clenched his fists and bit his lip hard.
"Oh, you mean her! What a taste. So juicy!"
"Where is my junior sister!!!???"
Ye Tian spoke each word distinctly, his voice bone-chillingly cold, as though it came from the Nine Nether Hells.
The richly dressed young man sneered at the sight.
An ant's fury was not worth mentioning.
He was Zhang Yue, the only son of the head of the Zhang Clan, one of the Holy City's four great clans.
His clan had experts as numerous as clouds, and its ancestor was a mighty King Realm cultivator who served as an elder in the Heavenly Origin Holy Land.
What could this Ye Tian possibly use to fight him?
Looking at the pitiful wretch before him, he teased him again. "Her? I got bored after playing with her a few times, so I sold her to a brothel! What, do you want a turn?"
"I'll play with your mother!"
Unable to endure any longer, Ye Tian swore for the first time in his life and lunged forward.
Zhang Yue himself had only barely entered the Xiantian Realm. Years of indulgence in wine and women had long since hollowed him out, so he was probably no match even for someone in the Qi Sea Realm.
Moreover, Ye Tian struck so quickly that he could not react at all and took the punch squarely.
Bang!!!
With a tremendous crash, Zhang Yue slammed hard onto the side of the street.
Only then did the servant react, hurriedly moving to help Zhang Yue up.
But Ye Tian's heart was filled with rage. Giving Zhang Yue no chance to rise, he hurled another punch at him.
Just as the servant was about to block him, a cold voice suddenly rang out.
"Enough!"
Then, as though something had struck him, Ye Tian's body smashed into the ground like a cannonball.
In an instant, spiderweb cracks spread across the hard paving.
Then a martial artist clad in regulation armor appeared.
He was none other than the commander of the Holy City's City Guard.
He glanced at Ye Tian in surprise, then said indifferently, "This matter ends here!"
Hearing this, Zhang Yue immediately said through gritted teeth, "I don't agree! Only by slicing this brat into a thousand pieces can I vent the hatred in my heart!"
The commander frowned slightly at his words.
The Zhang Clan's ancestor was an elder of the holy land, someone he could not readily offend. But the Holy City's rules forbade fighting within the city, and he could not openly violate them either.
It was all that worthless brat's fault for having such hard bones.
His strike just now had been enough to instantly kill any early Xiantian Realm martial artist, yet this brat simply would not die.
Just as he was about to speak again, a weak yet exceptionally tenacious voice rang out first.
"I don't agree either!"