Chapter 11: Rage

## Chapter 11: Wrath Ignites the Crown

Late into the night, within the vast expanse of the Flourishing Demonic Beast Forest, Chu Ling scoured a wide radius, yet found no trace of Ye Chen.

"Just you wait till I find you," Chu Ling muttered, her voice laced with resentment. The vivid, fragrant scene from moments ago replayed in her mind, and a blush once again crept across her cheeks. As a renowned jade maiden, she couldn't believe she had uttered such… lewd words.

"Ah... I'm mortified!" Stamping her foot, the bashful Chu Ling couldn't help but cover her burning face.

"Ling'er?" A voice called from behind. Chu Xuan, unable to shake her unease about her sister, had secretly followed. As she approached, she noticed Chu Ling's flushed face and was slightly taken aback. "What in the world happened to you?"

"N-nothing, nothing at all," Chu Ling stammered, her cheeks growing even warmer. Could she possibly confess to her sister that she had… intimately interacted with someone? And that person was merely a small cultivator at the first layer of Qi Condensation? The very thought was unspeakable.

"Then what exactly are you looking for?" Chu Xuan eyed her sister with suspicion, still scanning their surroundings. "Could it be you left a treasure here?"

"Where would I have left a treasure? I was just wandering."

"You're lying!"

"Ah! Let's go, let's go back! Our Head Teacher Senior Brother is still waiting for us." With a guilty heart, Chu Ling hurriedly nudged Chu Xuan away. As they departed, she couldn't resist glancing back towards the direction of the cave.

Side by side, the two figures soared through the air, quickly vanishing without a trace.

The night deepened, and the Demonic Beast Forest settled into silence.

Sometime later, in an unknown corner of the forest, a massive demonic beast corpse twitched.

Then, a hand, dripping with blood, clawed its way out.

It was a horrifying sight. How could someone swallowed by a demonic beast still be alive and crawling out?

Upon closer inspection, a large gash was visible on the beast's lower abdomen, and a blood-soaked figure was emerging from within.

This figure was, of course, Ye Chen.

Indeed! To evade Chu Ling's search, this fellow had actually hidden inside the belly of a demonic beast. If Chu Ling were to learn of this, one could only wonder if she would commend him for his resourcefulness.

*Huff!*

A ragged breath escaped his lips. Ye Chen fiercely patted his chest. "That was a close call."

Yet, the memory of the recent fragrant encounter brought a dry cough and a touch to his nose. Though his body reeked of blood, it couldn't entirely mask the lingering fragrance of Chu Ling, a scent that was utterly intoxicating.

"I did save her life, though, didn't I?" Ye Chen coughed again, finding a perfectly valid reason for his actions.

Still, thinking about the whole affair inevitably brought a touch of guilt. That was, after all, a cultivator of the Empty Nether Realm, and so incredibly beautiful. Even if it was involuntary, she had still lost her chastity. It would be difficult for anyone to accept such a thing quickly.

Should they ever cross paths again, he must not act rashly.

After a brief rest, Ye Chen looked at the sky. After a night of torment, dawn was approaching.

Fearing that Chu Ling might return to search, he wasted no time. With a flip and a jump, Ye Chen swiftly darted into the mountain forest. Before leaving, he didn't forget to drag away the nearby demonic beast corpse – a truly potent source of nourishment.

At this very moment, at the small spirit garden at the foot of the Heng Yue Sect mountain, sounds of weeping filled the air.

"Cry, cry some more for this old man!" A ferocious and malevolent voice rang out. Zhang Tao pulled a black cloth from his bosom, balled it up, and stuffed it into Hu Wa's mouth. Having done so, he didn't forget to kick Hu Wa once more, cursing, "Cry, why aren't you crying?"

Hu Wa was truly miserable. Since Zhang Tao had brought his people the previous day, he had been hanging there for an entire day, his body covered in footprints.

"Zhang Tao, you summoned me for something?" An old, weak voice spoke. Zhang Fengnian, also hanging, was in an even more pitiful state.

His body was covered in bloody welts left by a whip, and his old face was swollen from palm prints. At over seventy years old, his cloudy eyes held little more than a dim gaze.

"Summoned you? Good!" Zhang Tao let out a cold laugh, drawing a whip from his waist once more and approaching menacingly. The whip lashed through the air.

*Pa! Pa!*

With every strike of the whip, a new blood mark appeared on Zhang Fengnian's body.

"Let's see you refuse to give me the Heavenly Spirit Curse, let's see you refuse to give me the Heavenly Spirit Curse!" With each lash of the whip, Zhang Tao roared viciously, like a madman, as if he wanted to flay Zhang Fengnian alive.

*Woo woo! Woo woo!*

Seeing Zhang Fengnian being beaten, Hu Wa, his mouth gagged, whimpered loudly, his eyes brimming with tears.

*Gua! Gua!*

Even the small eagle spirit beast cried out. It too was hanging, its wings pierced by an iron hook, fresh blood dripping.

In the small spirit garden, besides Zhang Tao, there were two other Heng Yue disciples. Although their cultivation was also at the second layer of Qi Condensation, their aura was not as vigorous as Zhang Tao's, appearing to have advanced only recently.

Seeing Zhang Tao's deadly hand, the two Heng Yue disciples quickly stepped forward to advise, "Senior Brother, please show some restraint! Don't actually beat him to death, or if the higher-ups blame us, we won't be able to bear it."

"A waste, who would care?" Spitting a mouthful of saliva, Zhang Tao glared hatefully at Zhang Fengnian, but ultimately stopped his hand.

However, even though he stopped, Zhang Tao's heart still burned with anger. Zhang Fengnian could no longer be beaten. His malicious gaze fell upon the hanging small eagle. He roared, "You all treat it as family. Today, this old man wants to boil it right in front of you! You two, take this dead bird and chop it for me!"

"Right!"

The two Heng Yue disciples immediately rolled up their sleeves, having already taken out their shimmering short knives. They headed straight for the giant bird. "We've been tossing and turning all night, we're actually a bit hungry."

"You..." Zhang Fengnian's gradually dimming gaze suddenly flashed with a cold light. Before he could utter a word, a mouthful of fresh blood spurted out.

*Woo woo! Woo woo!*

Hu Wa struggled violently, his face covered in tears.

Although the small eagle was a low-grade spirit beast, they had been together day and night and treated it as family. Now, having to watch their family member being killed, their hearts felt as if they were being gouged out by a knife.

However, just as the two Heng Yue disciples were about to make their move, the door of the small spirit garden was pushed open, and Ye Chen, covered in blood, stumbled in.

"Senior, I'm back..." Before he could finish his sentence, Ye Chen's words caught in his throat as he stared blankly at everything in the garden.

It was a scene dripping with blood. Zhang Fengnian hung, dripping with blood, Hu Wa was also covered in wounds, hanging, and even the low-grade spirit beast, the small eagle, was pierced through the wings by an iron hook.

"Ho ho! You actually dared to come back!" Seeing that it was Ye Chen, Zhang Tao suddenly leaped up, his eyes filled with hatred, and he let out a vicious laugh.

"Zhang Tao," a bone-chilling voice escaped Ye Chen's lips. His black pupils instantly turned blood-red. He strode forward, his surging killing intent already uncontrollable, his expression even more vicious than Zhang Tao's.

"Today, no one can save you."