Chapter 1437: Relic

Ye Chen also sprang into action. He crossed through the void three times and used the Earth-Shrinking Technique several times to reach that realm in an instant.

He summoned the golden bronze furnace he had seized earlier, pouring his surging vital energy into it and activating it to its fullest. With the furnace mouth facing downward and enhanced by secret arts, it absorbed the rampant Nianli like a whale swallowing water.

More and more people arrived, seemingly aware of the extraordinary nature of Nianli, and they deployed their own containers to collect it. The Nianli contained within the Buddha's Sheli was divided among the multitude of figures swarming the area.

However, the matter was far from over. Although the Nianli had been split up, the battles raged on. Cultivators who considered themselves powerful began seizing the Nianli that others had gathered, leading to bloody scenes once again.

"A bunch of lunatics." Ye Chen slipped away from the chaos in that realm, where powerful cultivators were unleashing divine abilities and magical tools everywhere, and he was caught in the spillover of the melee.

Even he ended up in a sorry state, let alone others—entire groups of people were reduced to blood mist. Greed had driven too many to lose their minds, fighting tooth and nail and forgetting about their own lives.

Like him, many others retreated. Unless one's combat strength could utterly dominate all sides, they risked being obliterated at any moment. It was best to know when to stop and not get too greedy.

"You people don't know how to rob properly." Ye Chen muttered under his breath as he gripped his iron staff and dashed off in one direction.

He had seen it clearly earlier—one person had collected a significant amount of Nianli, and moreover, it was an old enemy from back in the day. That individual had taken part in the ambush against him outside Donghuang Gucheng, so he couldn't let them go.

In the ruins of a dilapidated palace, a battle erupted. That person was no match for Ye Chen and was quickly defeated, their soul scattering on the spot. Ye Chen seized their treasures and Nianli.

Once he emerged, he crushed the palace with a single palm, then wandered through the ruins with his iron staff in hand.

Those targeted by him met a miserable fate. If they were enemies, he eliminated them outright. If they had no grudge, he might spare their lives, but their treasures always ended up in his pouch.

"Now that's what I call robbery." Ye Chen pocketed another person's treasures and vanished in the blink of an eye.

He stuck to his usual style, handling such sneaky deeds with stealth and caution.

More people suffered as a result, with dazed victims scattered everywhere and those with bad luck meeting gruesome ends.

But this wasn't Ye Chen's doing alone—many were engaging in murder and plunder, all for treasures and Nianli. That power was simply too formidable.

As night fell once more, Ye Chen entered a mountain cave and used secret arts to conceal his aura.

Only then did he take out the golden bronze furnace and transfer all the Nianli inside into the Hunlun Shending, where it merged with the chaotic energy. A surge of immense power immediately spread out.

Ye Chen marveled at the mystery of Nianli, a form of worship from all living beings that rivaled the Great Dao itself. He could clearly feel the Hunlun Shending's power growing stronger, as solid and unyielding as towering mountains.

In high spirits, he stored away the cauldron, and a series of storage bags flew out—one after another, all the spoils from today's battles. He removed the treasures inside, sorting them for future distribution.

"You coward, come out and fight fair and square. What's the point of ambushes?" Just as Ye Chen was tallying his gains, he heard shouts from outside the cave. The voice was familiar—it belonged to Xiao Jiuxian.

Ye Chen quickly stashed his treasures and peeked out from the cave entrance. Sure enough, it was Di Jiuxian.

The young girl gripped her immortal sword, her body entwined with Dao principles and various phenomena weaving into a profound world. But she looked disheveled, with three sword wounds on her body emitting a cold, eerie glow.

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow. He knew Xiao Jiuxian's strength well and wondered who could have injured her.

Suddenly, he activated his Six Paths Immortal Eyes and scanned the surroundings, spotting a ghostly figure—it was the Jimie Shenti, flickering in and out of existence.

"No wonder." Ye Chen murmured to himself. The Jimie Shenti possessed such capabilities, yet he was also impressed that Xiao Jiuxian had survived the Feilei Shenjue. The youngest saint was no empty title.

"Come out, don't make me lose my temper." Outside the cave, Xiao Jiuxian continued to shout, her feet treading on a brilliant immortal sea that spread in all directions. She was clever, using this to erase the Jimie Shenti's spatiotemporal marks, clearly understanding the flaws of the Feilei Shenjue and clearing the area in advance.

"Di Jiuxian of the imperial clan, your reputation is well-deserved." A sinister, ethereal laugh echoed from the void, its source impossible to pinpoint. Or perhaps the Jimie Shenti was shuttling back and forth through spatiotemporal marks without any pattern, making it hard even for Ye Chen to fully track.

"You shameless tricks aren't half-bad either." Xiao Jiuxian snapped back in frustration, her words unfiltered. Anyone would be furious after being ambushed.

"Today, I will end you." The Jimie Shenti laughed eerily and lunged at Xiao Jiuxian like a ghost, wielding a pitch-black killing sword for a deadly strike without mercy.

Xiao Jiuxian wasn't one to back down. She sealed the heavens and forced the Jimie Shenti to materialize, but before she could strike, he vanished, only to reappear the next second.

Xiao Jiuxian shifted in a flash, barely dodging the fatal blow, and countered with a palm strike.

However, the Jimie Shenti was elusive, having already teleported far away via spatiotemporal marks.

Xiao Jiuxian wised up, employing the Illusory Steps to dart all over, leaving afterimages everywhere to avoid becoming a stationary target.

This tactic worked—the Jimie Shenti struggled to leave a spatiotemporal mark on her, and the two zipped around the realm, a dazzling display that left Ye Chen mesmerized.

"The great Di Jiuxian, is all you can do is run?" The Jimie Shenti sneered, his voice cold and terrifying.

"Treating scum like you, I'm already being nice by not cursing your ancestors. Don't let me catch you." Xiao Jiuxian shot back as she shifted again, instantly fleeing a hundred zhang away.

No sooner had she left than the spot where she stood was cleaved by the Jimie Shenti's sword. At the same time, she spun around and unleashed a palm, but before it connected, he disappeared.

The two fought on like this—the Jimie Shenti's Feilei Shenjue was peerless through the ages, but Xiao Jiuxian reacted swiftly, dodging kill shots and even countering when she could, handling the situation with relative ease.

"If they keep this up, it won't end till dawn." Ye Chen simply squatted down, his eyes wide as he followed their frantic movements. He had no intention of joining in—with Di Jiuxian's strength, she might not defeat the Jimie Shenti, but self-preservation was well within her capabilities.

And indeed, the Jimie Shenti moved like a specter but failed to land a hit on Di Jiuxian.

Xiao Jiuxian, too, unleashed secret arts and divine abilities nonstop, yet couldn't strike the Jimie Shenti.

This balance shattered with the arrival of a third party—a figure in black robes with a chilling aura, their form elusive, wielding a chain covered in divine patterns.

The newcomer immediately unleashed the chain, binding Xiao Jiuxian and assaulting her primordial spirit.

"Another shameless one." Xiao Jiuxian cursed loudly, shattering the chain with a shake and sweeping out with her small hand, sending the black-robed figure staggering back with a grunt of pain. She then used secret arts to flee a hundred zhang, knowing the Jimie Shenti lurked in the shadows—lingering a second longer could mean death.

"Underestimated you." The black-robed figure licked his crimson lips, hurling the chain like a dark serpent wreathed in icy lightning, coiling toward Xiao Jiuxian.

"People of the Hunzu, I'll remember you." Xiao Jiuxian swung her sword, severing the chain. In that brief moment, the Jimie Shenti's Feilei Shenjue strike arrived—a sword of annihilation.

Xiao Jiuxian was wounded, a bloody gash opening on her jade shoulder. In a one-on-one fight, she feared no peer, but facing two opponents, especially with a formidable Jimie Shenti, was a different story.

Seeing Xiao Jiuxian injured, the black-robed Hunzu figure revealed a sinister grin, unleashing nine Soul-Locking Chains that sealed the void around her, causing her movement to stall.

In that split second, the Jimie Shenti seized the opportunity and lunged toward her.

But before his sword could fall, a golden divine light pierced through with devastating force, targeting his primordial spirit—a lethal strike.