Chapter 1108: I Give In

Boom! Bang!

Outside Youdu city, the void sky rumbled with an enormous battle raging on. Ye Chen remained full of vitality and fought even more fiercely, having already slain over thirty Huang Jing experts by his count.

As for the remaining less than twenty Huang Jing experts, they all looked ferocious and disheveled, utterly miserable as Ye Chen toyed with them from all directions. By this point, not only had they failed to capture him, but they had also suffered heavy losses.

This scene left the onlookers utterly shocked—a Tian Jing cultivator slaying over thirty Huang Jing experts in a single day was an extraordinary feat.

"You insolent brat, why don't you surrender and face execution!"

Amid the exclamations of shock, an ethereal yet authoritative voice echoed through the heavens. As soon as it sounded, everyone turned their gaze to the void sky, but no one could pinpoint its source or identify the speaker. All they felt was a powerful pressure descending, making their hearts tremble with dread.

Ye Chen halted his attacks, his eyes narrowing as he stared at a section of the void sky.

The remaining dozen or so Huang Jing experts also stopped, their twisted faces showing wild joy, for a supreme expert had finally intervened.

Under the watchful eyes of all, a figure appeared in the void sky, clad in a blood robe and standing atop a sea of blood, with a black dragon coiling around him. His eyes were deathly still, and deep within them, faint visions of mountains of corpses and rivers of blood could be seen.

"Huang Jing pinnacle!" Ye Chen furrowed his brow.

"It's actually a Huang Jing pinnacle expert." The onlookers were startled.

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be the guest elder under Ku Yue: Xue Yan."

"The Xue Yan who nearly advanced to Zhun Sheng ten years ago?"

"Besides him, who else could it be? They've even sent him into action." The older cultivators frowned, their eyes filled with wariness, as if they knew all too well how terrifying Xue Yan was.

The entire world grew oppressively heavy with Xue Yan's arrival, due to the suffocating pressure he exuded.

Mu Wanqing and Nian Wei frowned as well, seemingly aware of Xue Yan's fearsomeness, and they quickly sent messages to Ye Chen urging him to retreat to Youdu. But Ye Chen refused.

Unaware of their concern, even Ruo Tian Zhuque in the ninth heaven of Youdu frowned.

Ruo Tian Zhuque stood at the peak of a mountain, glancing first at Xue Yan outside Youdu, then toward the eighth heaven of Youdu, as if she could see through the layers to Ku Yue meditating on Ling Dan Mountain.

Ruo Tian Zhuque hadn't expected Ku Yue to dispatch Xue Yan at all—after all, Youdu's Huang Jing pinnacle experts were only mobilized during wars.

"Ku Yue, you're being utterly reckless!"

A flash of cold light passed through Ruo Tian Zhuque's beautiful eyes. After a final glance at Ku Yue, she turned her attention back to outside Youdu city. She didn't intervene; she wanted to see just how much potential Ye Chen truly had.

Outside Youdu city, Xue Yan remained suspended in the void sky, his dead eyes fixed on Ye Chen.

It was clear that Xue Yan's gaze held a greedy glint—whether it was Ye Chen's true fire, bloodline, or the Chaos Grand Cauldron, all of it was something he desired. They were all treasures.

Ye Chen gently wiped the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth and met Xue Yan's stare from across the sky, his momentum not faltering in the least. He had slain a Tian Mo Emperor before; how could he bow to the pressure of a mere Huang Jing pinnacle expert? He possessed the power to clash directly with one, and if pushed to madness, he might even unleash Tian Zhao to destroy him.

"Ignoring Youdu's laws and committing senseless slaughter—you deserve to be executed!"

Xue Yan moved, his cold snort like thunder as he took a step through the sky and pressed down with a withered palm, vast enough to cover the heavens.

"Alright, I'm chickening out!"

Without another word, Ye Chen turned and fled, his escape speed unmatched, leaving the onlookers and even Ruo Tian Zhuque in the ninth heaven stunned.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Xue Yan shouted coldly and was the first to give chase.

"Where do you think you're going!"

The experts under Ku Yue pursued as well.

"Where do you think you're going!"

The followers of the eight princes joined the hunt, swarming in a massive group.

"Quick, quick, quick!"

The onlookers rushed after them in droves.

Now, the area outside Youdu city was in complete chaos. Ye Chen led the way, followed by Xue Yan, then the forces of Ku Yue and the eight princes, and finally a huge crowd of thrill-seekers. The scene was incredibly grand.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The heavens and earth echoed with continuous roars, and from afar, mountains collapsed one after another.

Ahead, Ye Chen shot like a streak of light into an endless mountain forest.

Behind him, Xue Yan, the forces of Ku Yue, the eight princes' people, and the spectators all poured in en masse.

However, once everyone entered, they lost sight of Ye Chen.

"Where did he go?"

The spectator cultivators scratched their heads in confusion. How could so many people lose track of him?

"Search for him!"

Xue Yan roared in anger, his voice like thunder, stunning the weaker cultivators on the spot. This proved that even watching the show required sufficient strength—don't get involved in everything.

Immediately, whether it was Ku Yue's people or the eight princes' followers, they spread out in groups of three or five, conducting a thorough, inch-by-inch search for Ye Chen. Their numbers were substantial.

It wasn't surprising they were so determined; it was all because of the treasures on Ye Chen. Those items were incredibly valuable—what Ku Yue wanted. If the scattered cultivators could seize them, it would bring them great opportunities, while the eight princes could offer them to Ku Yue for his support.

Another key reason was Youdu's ban on private duels. Outside the city, they couldn't touch Ye Chen, but now that he had come out, they wouldn't let him return alive.

As for Ye Chen, he was currently hiding in a space black hole.

It wasn't that he didn't want to fight; he just didn't dare. If it were a one-on-one, he feared no cultivator below Zhun Sheng, but the enemy wasn't alone—they even had Xue Yan, a Huang Jing pinnacle expert.

With such a lineup, even if he were arrogant, he wouldn't rashly charge in. Who knew how many more Huang Jing pinnacle experts lurked in the shadows?

Most importantly, his goal was achieved: he had successfully diverted the attention of Ku Yue and the eight princes to himself, creating the illusion that he was no longer in Youdu.

This way, he could sneak back to Youdu and carry out his next plan.

In fact, he had already done so. Escaping through the space black hole, he carefully chose his position and emerged in a deep mountain wilderness.

"Catch me? You're far from it!"

Ye Chen glanced back at the mountain forest, then donned a black robe and used Zhou Tian Evolution to conceal his aura.

"Keep looking!"

Ye Chen sneered and slipped into the void space, heading toward Youdu.

Along the way, in the void space, he saw groups upon groups of figures rushing toward that mountain forest—clearly more of Ku Yue and the eight princes' people. Evidently, Ku Yue and the eight princes weren't taking any chances and had sent reinforcements, including several Huang Jing pinnacle experts.

Witnessing this, Ye Chen couldn't help but sigh in amazement. To chase down a single Tian Jing cultivator, they had mobilized such a massive force.

An hour later, Ye Chen, fully cloaked in his black robe, returned to Youdu without drawing any attention.

In the third-level small world of the Mu family gambling house, Mu Wanqing and Mu Lao waited anxiously. They hadn't followed the chase, as Ye Chen had messaged them in advance, and even if they had gone, it wouldn't have helped.

In contrast, Nian Wei seemed quite composed.

As a reincarnated soul from Da Chu, how could she not know the myths and legends of Da Chu, all scripted by Ye Chen?

In Da Chu, he had faced even larger forces than this, like a killing god from hell or a war god conquering myriad realms. His path was paved with blood and bones.

"Nian Wei, why don't you go find your ancestor?" At some point, Mu Wanqing tentatively glanced at Nian Wei.

"He's the Holy Lord of Heaven Court; he'll be fine." Nian Wei smiled.

"But..."

"There's no but." Before Mu Wanqing could finish, her words were interrupted by a laugh from outside the door. Ye Chen, cloaked in black, walked in.

"My friend, you're truly a miracle worker!" Seeing Ye Chen return safely, Mu Lao exclaimed in admiration as he looked at him.

"It's nothing much." Ye Chen waved it off casually.

"This isn't nothing much at all." Mu Lao stared at Ye Chen like he was some kind of monster. "A Tian Jing cultivator slaying over thirty Huang Jing experts—your record is heaven-defying. And with that huge pursuit, how did you get back?"

"I run fast."

"You don't say, you do run pretty fast."

"You always have to make things so thrilling—can't you just stop?" Mu Wanqing shot Ye Chen a fierce glare.

"I can't deny that this approach successfully diverted their attention."

"That it did."