Chapter 1545: Shangri-La

The dark night was restless, with howling cold winds piercingly cold.

Overlooking the world, the Zhongzhou lands were plagued by bloodshed in many places.

Ye Chen moved like a ghost, appearing and disappearing in one location after another: ancient cities, taverns, and immortal mountains.

Wherever he went, bloodshed followed, and at least one person was captured and crippled each time.

All those individuals had participated in the siege against him nine days earlier, and they were caught one by one, then crippled without mercy.

A few families were defiant, and a couple of factions were fiercely loyal, protecting their descendants.

Ye Chen showed no pity; anyone who resisted had their entire clan exterminated.

The bloodshed intensified, draping the pitch-black night in a veil of blood.

Yet, he did not linger, continuing his elusive appearances as before.

As dawn broke, Zhongzhou was in an uproar. In the ancient cities, taverns, and teahouses where cultivators gathered, voices of astonishment filled the air.

"What on earth happened? So many places suffered bloodshed in just one night, and quite a few faction divine children were abducted."

"The Yang family and Xue family in the east were completely wiped out."

"I saw the memory crystal footage that was sent back—piles of corpses and rivers of blood. How ruthless!"

"Who could have done this, carrying out such widespread slaughter?"

"Could it be that person from the forbidden zone?" As soon as the words were spoken, everyone around couldn't help but shudder.

Ye Chen pressed on through the dust, entering another grand tavern.

Soon, a private room on the third floor of the tavern exploded.

The tavern staff were shocked, and even people on the street below looked up. "What's going on? Another fight?"

Under the watchful eyes of all, Ye Chen ascended into the sky from the third floor of the tavern, dragging a bloodied figure whose cultivation had been crippled.

He continued his journey, appearing in one corner after another.

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and half a month had gone by.

In that half month, his black robe had been stained red with fresh blood.

Day and night, he never stopped, capturing people everywhere and leaving trails of bloodshed, stirring Zhongzhou into chaos.

On another quiet night, he stepped into a secluded Taohua Yuan.

The place was serene and peaceful, with mountains, water, and forests, free from the world's noise, everything tranquil.

Deep in the Taohua Yuan lay a serene lake.

By the lake stood a woman in white, painting a portrait of someone Ye Chen knew all too well.

She was an ordinary mortal, without any spiritual aura, yet bathed in moonlight, she appeared pure and flawless, like a banished immortal.

Sensing someone's arrival, the woman in white slowly turned around. Her clear, beautiful eyes were like water, untainted by any worldly impurity.

"Don't mind me, keep painting." Ye Chen said lightly, taking out a wine flask and sitting under a tree.

"I can tell you're an immortal." The woman in white said with a smile.

"Then what?" Ye Chen took a swig of wine.

"Did he... offend you?" The woman in white asked softly.

"Since I can't find him, I'll just wait here." Ye Chen's words were calm, his expression neither joyful nor worried.

"Please, spare him." The woman in white knelt down at once, tears welling in her eyes, her face turning pale as she kowtowed repeatedly. "Please, spare him."

"If I spare him, who will spare my family?"

"Then kill me instead."

"Begging won't help." Ye Chen raised his hand and flicked out a strand of immortal light, which entered the woman in white's body, making her fall into a deep sleep.

Taohua Yuan fell silent, with only Ye Chen quietly drinking and the leaves rustling in the wind.

Soon, a figure flew in from the horizon.

The person had blood-red hair, his immortal robes fluttering, his physique robust and full of vigor, his blood energy surging, and his divine eyes encompassing the heavens and earth.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed Tian Can.

"Who are you?" Tian Can landed and immediately spotted Ye Chen, as well as the woman in white lying on the cloud bed.

"The noble Tian Can divine child, actually falling for a mortal woman. How interesting." Ye Chen said leisurely.

"Who are you? Exactly who are you?" Tian Can roared, his divine eyes flashing with blood-red veins, radiating cold light, his face twisting into a ferocious expression.

"What do you think?" Ye Chen removed his ghost mask, revealing an aged face with a long beard.

"You... Ye Chen." Tian Can staggered back a step, his eyes bulging and pupils contracting in disbelief. "You're still alive? That's impossible, absolutely impossible."

"Nothing's impossible." Ye Chen's words were ice-cold as he stood in front of the woman in white, his fingertip swirling with chilling light.

"This is between you and me. I was the one who killed your old friends; she's innocent. Let her go." Tian Can roared.

"Don't you find this scene familiar? I once said the same words, and felt the same agony as you do now." Ye Chen looked at Tian Can with a smile. "Back then, I was just like you."

"She's just a mortal."

"So what? My friends were living beings too."

"You..."

"Hand over your bloodline, origin, natal artifact, and storage bag, and I'll let her go." Ye Chen said with a smile.

"Dream on." Tian Can gritted his teeth.

"Very well." Ye Chen's lips curved slightly as he thrust a sword into the woman in white's lower abdomen, blood gushing out and staining her clothes.

"Ye Chen..."

"The next sword will be at her neck."

"I'll hand them over, I'll hand them over." Tian Can lowered his proud head.

As he spoke, immortal light flashed from his brow, and a blood-colored killing sword flew out—it was his natal artifact—followed by his storage bag, and then his bloodline and origin emerged together.

His aura plummeted instantly, his steps unsteady, blood spurting from his mouth, and he no longer held his lofty demeanor.

"How touching." Ye Chen took Tian Can's various divine items, his laughter echoing faintly. "Who would have thought the noble Tian Can divine child would give up everything for a mortal woman? She must be very happy."

"I've handed them over. Let her go." Tian Can's eyes were bloodshot.

"Let her go?" Ye Chen laughed, his laughter carrying a hint of malice and bloodlust, making him seem like a devil.

He swung his sword, severing the woman in white's heart meridian with one strike.

"Ye Chen, I'll kill you." Tian Can howled in rage, shattering the ground with a step and striking at Ye Chen with a heaven-shaking palm.

Ye Chen's expression was icy as he raised his hand slightly, sealing the surrounding void.

Tian Can, in mid-air, was instantly immobilized, frozen in the pose of his descending palm, unable to move.

A divine light shot from Ye Chen's fingertip, piercing Tian Can's dantian and completely crippling his cultivation.

Ah!

Tian Can roared in fury, screaming hysterically, his face streaked with bloody tears, overcome with grief.

"Does it hurt?" Ye Chen watched Tian Can with interest. "At the foot of Zhutian Mountain, I felt the same pain as you."

Ah!

Tian Can continued to roar like a madman.

He regretted it deeply, regretting ever provoking Ye Chen. He had no grudge against Ye Chen, yet he had joined that siege, leading to his downfall and dragging down the one he loved most.

He was filled with remorse and heartache, driven mad and losing all reason.

Ye Chen said nothing, simply waving his hand to knock Tian Can unconscious.

He did not kill Tian Can; instead, he intended to make Tian Can kneel at the foot of Zhutian Mountain, using his head to honor the spirits of his reincarnated friends.

Taohua Yuan fell silent once more.

A gentle breeze blew, and the woman in white's delicate body trembled on the cloud bed, flickering with immortal light as she transformed into a stone.

She was not the real woman in white but an illusion created from a stone.

The scene of her being killed was fabricated to make Tian Can truly feel the pain—it was the price he had to pay.

The real woman in white had already been released by Ye Chen and was sleeping peacefully, unaware of the bloody events that had unfolded.

He had not killed her; grievances had their origins, and debts had their owners.