The disciples of the Heavenly Net Hall and the Heavenly Blade Gate stared at Ye Chen in utter disbelief.
The one who had just died was a Third-stage Profound Venerate! This disciple had a decent reputation among the younger generation of the Heavenly Net Hall’s Yunzhou branch. Yet, Ye Chen had smashed his skull with a single punch!
While the enemies were still stunned, Ye Chen struck again.
His white robes billowed, his long black hair whipped around him, and a torrent of savage spiritual energy surged from his body. His martial will burned like an inferno, radiating a brilliant divine light as he unleashed a devastating punch.
Ye Chen’s speed was blinding.
Boom!
A massive, bloody hole appeared in the chest of a Heavenly Net Hall disciple, who instantly dropped dead.
Boom!
Another punch!
Another Heavenly Net Hall disciple was instantly annihilated!
Seeing this, the Heavenly Blade Gate disciples were seized by boundless terror. Their bodies trembled, and their souls fled their bodies.
Before coming here, these Heavenly Net Hall disciples had boasted that killing Ye Chen would be as easy as slaughtering a chicken, and that they would wash him in blood! Who could have imagined they were the ones providing the blood for the washing?
They remembered that outside the Ancient Inheritance Secret Realm, their own Senior Brother had been instantly killed by Ye Chen, his blade destroyed and his life extinguished. What chance did they have?
They had been thoroughly screwed over by the Heavenly Net Hall!
“Run!” they screamed.
But Ye Chen was already upon the Heavenly Blade Gate disciples. “Fleeing without a fight? You don’t deserve to be blade cultivators!”
He slammed out a punch.
The force was immense, the dominance absolute.
Several Heavenly Blade Gate disciples trembled, raising their blades in unison to strike at Ye Chen!
Boom!
Crack!
Ye Chen’s fist clashed head-on with several streams of blade energy. His Martial Dao Furnace roared, instantly shattering the long blades in the disciples’ hands. Their palms were split open, blood gushing out, leaving them holding only hilts as the blades themselves dissolved into a thousand shards.
Ye Chen scoffed. His Martial Dao Furnace surged, and with a flick of his sleeve, a towering, irresistible force appeared, sweeping up the countless spiritual blade fragments.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
The fragments reversed course, embedding themselves into the bodies of the Heavenly Blade Gate disciples.
Blood splattered everywhere!
In an instant, the disciples screamed in agony and plummeted from the sky.
All dead!
In total, the dozen or so Profound Venerate realm cultivators who had come to ambush Ye Chen were all slain.
Ye Chen activated a spiritual art, collecting their storage rings.
Watching the scene unfold, Chen Changsheng’s lips curled slightly as he offered his critique. “Ye Chen’s combat is certainly clean and decisive! But it’s a pity he didn’t scatter their ashes, guide their souls to reincarnation, or even erase the battle traces here. Such poor attention to detail. Two and a half points out of ten! Anyone can kill, but resolving the karma is what truly matters.”
Just as Ye Chen was about to step into the spiritual mine entrance, dozens of divine rainbows appeared in the distance, streaking toward him like meteors.
Ye Chen paused, looking into the distance. He frowned slightly, quickly recognizing the newcomers.
They were all disciples of the Heavenly Net Hall!
Leading them was Luo Feng, the son of the Heavenly Net Hall’s Yunzhou branch master.
That day, outside the Inheritance Secret Realm, Luo Feng had wanted to team up with Qin Xiao to eliminate the Grand Dao Sect disciples, but Qin Xiao had refused.
A murderous intent flashed in Ye Chen’s eyes. He sneered, “Perfect timing!”
The Heavenly Net Hall had destroyed his Senior Sister’s Fuyao Dynasty; to him, they were a mortal enemy, a feud that would only end in death.
Any member of the Heavenly Net Hall he saw, he would kill!
In the distance, Luo Feng and his many Profound Venerate realm followers stood suspended in the void.
Gazing at the dozen corpses on the ground, Luo Feng let out a cold laugh. “They truly are a bunch of wastes. In the end, this Young Master still has to handle things personally.”
Ye Chen looked coldly at Luo Feng. “Are all the Heavenly Net Hall people here now?”
Luo Feng laughed outright. “You’re young, but your arrogance is boundless! What, you think you can kill all of us by yourself?”
Behind Luo Feng, the Heavenly Net Hall disciples burst into laughter. “Hahahaha! I’ve never seen such an arrogant fool!”
Ye Chen’s gaze turned icy. He wasted no more words, stepping into the air and channeling his martial will, charging toward Luo Feng and his group.
Luo Feng commanded, “Surround and kill Ye Chen! Go all out! Unleash every trump card you have!”
In an instant, over thirty Profound Venerate realm cultivators encircled Ye Chen.
Ye Chen’s body surged with terrifying battle intent. Spiritual energy roared like an ocean tide, and his martial will shone with a brilliant golden light, swirling around him.
“Desolate! Heaven! Art!”
A power akin to an ancient War God was poured into Ye Chen’s body, lending savage strength to his fists. Every punch he threw carried the force to uproot mountains, his peerless divine might sweeping forth in a vast wave.
Fighting thirty-plus Profound Venerates alone, he was like a white-robed War God descending to the mortal world, not falling behind in the slightest!
Heavenly Net Hall disciples were constantly having their heads exploded by Ye Chen, their blood staining the sky!
The disciples screamed in panic.
“Senior Brother Luo Feng, Ye Chen is too strong!”
“What kind of combat power does Ye Chen possess? We can’t even hold him off together!”
“Senior Brother Luo Feng, what do we do?”
Luo Feng’s face was ashen, his long hair flying. He continuously unleashed his most powerful killing techniques, his voice sinister.
“Hold the line! Buy me time! I’m activating a Supreme Secret Art!”
As he spoke, a terrifying aura began to gather around him like a raging storm, accompanied by swirling, mysterious black mist. With every breath, Luo Feng’s momentum grew exponentially stronger.
He watched Ye Chen continuously slaughter his disciples, yet he felt no fear, only a surging battle intent and a maniacal laugh.
Luo Feng’s eyes glowed faintly as he spoke, his voice booming like a great bell. “Ye Chen, excellent! Truly excellent! You have ignited my fighting spirit!”
Not far away.
Chen Changsheng watched the scene with great interest. Such a grand battle was exactly what he wanted.
He had investigated Luo Feng’s background; as the son of a branch master, Luo Feng was no simple figure.
It seemed the trump card Luo Feng was brewing would be enough to stall Ye Chen for a while.
He smiled faintly. Everything was unfolding exactly as his divinations had predicted.
Bloody battle, great opportunity... not a single thing missed!
He mused that the Heavenly Dao was, as always, looking out for him.
Chen Changsheng concealed his figure and aura, moving toward the entrance of the high-grade spiritual mine right under Ye Chen’s nose.
Ye Chen was completely unaware, and even Yao Yan, his protector, failed to notice.
Soon, Chen Changsheng arrived at the entrance, which was guarded by a dilapidated formation.
This was an ancient sealing restriction, worn down by the vicissitudes of time. Countless spiritual runes had dimmed, leaving many flaws.
Divine light flashed in Chen Changsheng’s eyes. He quickly found several pathways that wouldn't trigger the formation's reaction.
He thought, Fortunately, this ancient remnant formation is dormant, and fortunately, I know a thing or two about formations.
Everything was perfect, just right.
Chen Changsheng glanced back. Ye Chen was still locked in a fierce battle.
He turned and stepped directly into the high-grade spiritual mine.
All formations and restrictions were rendered meaningless to him.
The mine was pitch black and filled with a decaying aura.
Chen Changsheng took out an Ancient Jade Slip. With a thought, the slip emitted a soft, gentle light.
He looked around. Dust covered the steps of the mine, and many withered skeletons lay in the corners in various poses—standing, sitting cross-legged, even two stacked on top of each other...
Chen Changsheng moved slowly, his feet not touching the ground. The outer layers of the high-grade spiritual mine had already been mostly excavated.
He headed toward the deeper parts.
A faint breeze swept by, and the skeletons instantly crumbled into dust, scattering with the wind.
Chen Changsheng paused, murmuring, “I still need to be careful.”
If all these white bones turned to ash, Ye Chen might realize that someone had entered ahead of him and stolen his opportunity.
With this thought, Chen Changsheng changed his spiritual art. With a flick of his sleeve, he captured a wisp of the mine’s ancient aura and wrapped it around himself before continuing.
This time, his presence no longer caused any strange phenomena in the mine.
Before long, Chen Changsheng, like a ghost, stepped into the depths of the high-grade spiritual mine.
Suddenly, a flicker of excitement, almost imperceptible, crossed his face.
Spirit Crystals!
This wasn't a high-grade Spirit Stone mine; it was a high-grade Spirit Crystal mine!
Spirit Crystals were purer and far rarer than Spirit Stones!
Chen Changsheng mused that this was a pleasant surprise.
However, he also grew more cautious.
Chen Changsheng recalled a hidden secret: when powerhouses of the Ancient Era entered dormancy, they would often use the Hand of Creation to seal their bodies within Spirit Crystals to resist the erosion of time.
The Spirit Crystals contained terrifying spiritual power, enough to sustain them through endless years until the opening of the Ultimate Path.
But since the external formation of this high-grade mine was completely shattered, the ancient cultivators sealed within these Spirit Crystals had likely already perished, their forms and spirits annihilated.
Thinking this, Chen Changsheng didn't drop his guard. He flicked his sleeve, and four wooden puppets appeared, transforming into four cultivators—male, female, old, and young. They stood guard around him.
Each held a scroll of the Scripture of Salvation.
Suddenly, Chen Changsheng felt a chilling wind brush the back of his neck, and it seemed as if something sinister was gently stroking his heels.
“Hiss…”
An ominous, inauspicious sound drifted on the breeze.
Chen Changsheng remained calm, not turning his head, and continued his slow advance.
With a thought, the four puppet cultivators began to chant, their bodies radiating a brilliant, golden light. Profound Buddhist principles surged forth.
“Om Mani Padme Hum!”
The soft golden light illuminated the Spirit Crystal mine, and all the ominous sounds vanished without a trace.
Chen Changsheng sighed wistfully, “Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. All is past, the end of the Ultimate Path is nothing but withered bones! Fellow Daoists, please pass on!”
He knew these were once ancient powerhouses. Their lifespans were limited, forcing them to self-seal in the Spirit Crystal mine to endure the long years.
Alas, the Ultimate Path only opened once every countless eons, and even the immense spiritual energy of the Spirit Crystal mine couldn't sustain their vitality.
When eroded by the power of time, these ancient powerhouses would generate the Ominous Power.
The so-called Ominous Power was the force derived from forcibly resisting the supreme principles of Heaven and Earth, giving rise to a power fundamentally incompatible with the world’s Heavenly Dao. Once afflicted, the Ominous Power would cling to them forever.
The Ominous Power is like the wind, always accompanying them!
This was why there were rumors in the Southern Wilds that Peak Great Emperors were afflicted by the Ominous Power in their twilight years.
Even Peak Great Emperors eventually reached the end of their lifespan. When they resisted the supreme principles of Heaven and Earth, unwilling to perish, they became tainted by the Ominous Power.
This was also why Chen Changsheng held such a deep obsession with "longevity."
Can a Great Emperor achieve eternal life?
No.
If one cannot achieve eternal life, then everything is meaningless.
Chen Changsheng felt no fear toward the ominous entities in the high-grade Spirit Crystal mine.
In his view, they were merely failures on the path of cultivation, nothing more.
If anything, he held a sliver of reverence for the Ominous Power itself.
After all, these were once supreme powerhouses!
As he continued his advance, the entire Spirit Crystal mine was purified.
Wherever Chen Changsheng went, the chilling spectral energy dissipated, and the eerie sounds fell silent.
Chen Changsheng mused, Taking Ye Chen’s opportunity is the cause; now, dispelling the Ominous Power for him is the effect. The karma is now settled. I won't take too much of this Spirit Crystal Mine. Ye Chen and I... we'll split it five-five!