Chapter 1970: The Canglan Realm

"I'm not running," Ye Chen chuckled, stepping backward while laughing. Though the Xie Mo was smiling charmingly, that smile felt utterly chilling to him. There was no helping it; the infamous reputation of the Xie Mo preceded her, and a simple beating would be getting off lightly.

"Is it that scary?" The Xie Mo's smile became even more enchanting.

"A bit... yeah," Ye Chen replied with a dry laugh, retreating to the base of a large rock. With nowhere else to go, he finally stopped, his entire body covered in a cold sweat. The woman before him was a great deity of the Chi Mei clan, a peerless queen in her prime, on par with the Hong Lian Empress before she became an emperor.

"No time for jokes. I'm here to ask you: Where is Fu Xi?" The Xie Mo sat down, casually crossing her legs.

"He's off wandering in the Taixu," Ye Chen answered, not daring to move an inch.

"Since you're not telling the truth, this deity will send you to hell for some training." The Xie Mo pulled out a small mirror and began to fix her hair as she spoke, her tone light and casual.

Her words made Ye Chen feel an urgent need to relieve himself. He thought to himself that this Xie Mo was difficult to fool and kept scaring him. He had every reason to believe that this woman might actually strike him down with a single palm.

"Where is the Ren Wang?" The Xie Mo smiled at Ye Chen again.

"He's gone dream-walking," Ye Chen replied with a chuckle, handing over a purple jade slip. Inside, it contained some images related to the Ren Wang – this wasn't a bluff; it was the truth.

The Xie Mo took it, crushed the jade slip, and glanced at the images within. She didn't doubt it, but sat there with her delicate brows slightly furrowed.

Seeing this, Ye Chen tiptoed, attempting to seize the opportunity to escape.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he took two steps, the Xie Mo grabbed him back. To prevent another escape, she even placed a genuine quasi-emperor level seal on him.

Now, Ye Chen was completely subdued, like a docile lamb. In the presence of the Xie Mo, he had no chance at all.

"What about Chu Qing?" The Xie Mo parted her lips slightly, her words sounding melodious.

"Chu Qing?" Ye Chen was taken aback, puzzled. "Who is Chu Qing?"

"The master of the Jiu You Xian Yan," the Xie Mo said in a distant, ethereal tone.

Upon hearing this, Ye Chen raised an eyebrow, quickly guessing who the Xie Mo meant by Chu Qing – the previous owner of the Jiu You Xian Yan, the purple-robed elder who had been slain by Yan Luo.

"Don't play dumb. Answer my question," the Xie Mo said leisurely.

"He's dead," Ye Chen coughed, not daring to breathe a word.

"The Dan Sheng wiped out the Dan Huang – kid, you've really made something of yourself."

"Dan Huang?" Ye Chen was shocked. He wasn't foolish and could tell that the purple-robed elder named Chu Qing was the Dan Huang himself, whose fame and alchemy skills stood shoulder to shoulder with Dan Zun.

"No wonder, no wonder he dared to refine a nine-pattern dan," Ye Chen sighed, feeling a bit caught off guard. Without meaning to, he had ended up eliminating the Dan Huang. If they met in the underworld, the Dan Huang Chu Qing and Dan Zun Qi Ye would surely have plenty to talk about – one perished in the calamity of fate, the other died from being ganged up on.

"While you're muttering, I need you to refine the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Dan." The Xie Mo spoke again, her words laced with an alluring demonic power.

"You're giving me too much credit, senior," Ye Chen said with an awkward smile. "That's the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Dan – I'm not capable of refining it. You should find someone else; there are plenty of alchemists out there."

"With Dan Zun fallen and Dan Huang dead, that calamity has nearly wiped out the peak alchemists across the myriad realms of the heavens. Who else would I ask if not you?" the Xie Mo said irritably.

"But I still can't do it," Ye Chen shook his head, speaking the plain truth. With his current cultivation, refining a nine-pattern dan was far beyond him.

"Just because you can't now doesn't mean you won't in the future. You're the Dan Sheng, after all!" The Xie Mo smiled charmingly, her slender jade finger sliding across Ye Chen's face in a wickedly enchanting manner.

Ye Chen's hairs stood on end, his heart pounding wildly.

Though the Xie Mo was smiling, it made his whole body feel icy cold, as if half of him was already in the gates of the underworld. Before this evil deity, he could be destroyed at any moment – this wasn't a joke; the Xie Mo meant business.

The Xie Mo stood up, grabbed Ye Chen with one hand, and stepped into the starry sky.

From a distance, the majestic emperor of Da Chu looked like a little chick being carried by the Xie Mo – utterly ridiculous.

Ye Chen hung limp, his hands and feet dangling, wearing an expression of utter despair. Even a fierce one who had slain emperors before could end up in such an awkward situation. There was no help for it; she was a quasi-emperor, after all.

The Xie Mo strode through the void, completely ignoring him, her steps like lotus blooms shifting in space.

No wonder she was the Xie Mo – she never did anything normally, not even walking. People walked in straight lines with upright bodies, but this woman tilted her body and didn't go straight, each step a massive drift.

Still, there was no denying that her movement technique was mysteriously elusive, disrupting the laws of space with every step, as if she were treading on the river of time itself – utterly dreamlike and illusory.

This profound footwork was on par with the Ren Wang's. If they raced, the Ren Wang might still fall short. Being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the pre-ascension Hong Lian Empress, the Xie Mo's title was well-earned.

"Great deity, where are you taking me?" Ye Chen asked listlessly.

The Xie Mo said nothing, her expression indifferent – or perhaps unpredictable. She had been chatting and laughing just moments ago, but now she was like an icy beauty.

Ye Chen felt awkward and stopped asking; staying silent was the safest bet.

It wasn't long before the Xie Mo carried him into an ordinary mortal ancient star.

This ancient star was less than a tenth the size of Zhuque Star, obscure and unremarkable, with faint starlight and thin spiritual energy, yet it harbored living beings.

The carried Ye Chen occasionally lifted his head, glancing around, wondering why the Xie Mo had brought him to such a mortal ancient star.

Before long, the Xie Mo had entered a deep mountain and descended into the earth. A gate of light suddenly materialized, and she stepped inside.

Ye Chen felt a flash before his eyes, and when his vision cleared, what appeared was a scene straight out of an immortal realm. Divine splendor swirled, immortal light flowed, vast rivers stretched on, spiritual mountains rose high, and the grass and trees were all enveloped in immortal energy. Immortal trees bore translucent spiritual fruits, emitting fragrance and vast essence.

Ye Chen stared in astonishment, never expecting that within an ordinary mortal ancient star lay such a hidden wonder, concealing this immortal realm.

Ye Chen's insight was keen; he knew this immortal realm was extraordinary, veiled by mysterious forces that even a quasi-emperor at their peak might not penetrate. To create such a realm required a being of great divine ability – and that being was the Xie Mo.

"This must be Canglan Jie," Ye Chen thought to himself, having heard tales of the Xie Mo of the boundless Canglan. Her skill in creating immortal realms was unmatched.

Soon, the Xie Mo entered a bamboo grove. Deep within the bamboo, shrouded by the foliage, stood an ancient stone bed covered in dust.

Only then did the Xie Mo stop and set Ye Chen down. She said nothing, merely gazing quietly at the stone bed.

Ye Chen stood steadily and, like her, quietly observed the stone bed.

On the stone bed lay a person – a white-haired youth with an ancient divine mark etched on his forehead. Waves of ancient aura rushed forth; he was in a deep slumber, or more accurately, he had been dead for who knew how many years.

Ye Chen remained silent, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the white-haired youth.

Though the white-haired youth was deceased, his body still exuded a terrifying pressure, like a massive mountain making it hard to breathe, and his bloodline was incredibly dominant.

"Mu Liuqing, your life is mine." The Xie Mo spoke, her words lacking their usual enchanting power, more hoarse instead. Her tone was laced with sorrow and longing.

Hearing this, Ye Chen shifted his gaze from the white-haired youth and subtly glanced at the Xie Mo. Though he could only see half of her face, he clearly caught the tenderness in her eyes, where mist gathered and slowly formed into frost.

"The Xie Mo – she must have a story too," Ye Chen murmured inwardly, having pieced together about seventy or eighty percent of it. This great deity of the Chi Mei clan and the white-haired youth named Mu Liuqing must have shared an ancient romance, stretching from the Honghuang era to the present, weathered by the ages.

Having guessed at that romance, Ye Chen also figured out why the Xie Mo sought the Ren Wang – it was to have him save Mu Liuqing.

Unfortunately, the Ren Wang was in seclusion, nowhere to be found, so the Xie Mo had to settle for the next best thing: have him refine the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Dan to revive Mu Liuqing. With no Dan Zun or Dan Huang left, and peak alchemists scarce, he, Ye Chen, was the only one with a real chance.

"The materials needed for refining the dan, just say them – I will find them for you," the Xie Mo said calmly, addressing Ye Chen.

"This might not be easy to find," Ye Chen handed over an ancient scroll, listing the materials required for the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Dan.

The Xie Mo glanced at it and frowned. She seemed to recognize them all, and indeed, each one was incredibly precious. A few might have already vanished from the world.

In the Honghuang era, these materials would have been straightforward to obtain, but after endless years, too many rare herbs and treasures had gone extinct. Even as a great deity, she felt powerless.

"Even if we find the materials, I'm still not capable of refining the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Dan. In my view, senior, you'd be better off seeking the Ren Wang. Reversing fate is his specialty – he might just have a way," Ye Chen said.

"He's been dead too long. Not even the Ren Huang could help much now. I lean more toward the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Dan than the Ren Wang," the Xie Mo shook her head helplessly.

"Then you'll have to wait many years. I'm skilled at refining eight-pattern dans, but for the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Dan, my cultivation is still ten thousand miles short," Ye Chen said.

"I've waited millions of years; a few thousand more won't hurt."

"You're not the one in a hurry – I am!" Ye Chen almost blurted out. I'm trying to get home, but you've dragged me here, and it looks like you plan to lock me up for thousands of years?

"I'm going to relieve myself," Ye Chen said, turning and leaving the bamboo grove. It wasn't to escape; he had other business to attend to.

That "other business" was the Emperor Dao Tongming. He might not beat the Xie Mo, but that didn't mean Yan Luo couldn't. If one wasn't enough, he'd call two – this was something a group could handle.

He dashed all the way until he reached an orchard, where he waved his hand to offer fresh blood, followed by the Tongming seal, executed with great familiarity.

As the blood sank into the ground, his seal stabilized, and the earth trembled with a hum. Three stone coffins slowly rose.

However, as soon as the three stone coffins emerged, they collectively retracted and vanished without a trace, as if they had never appeared.

"What the heck?" Ye Chen was stunned – this was abnormal.

"Don't bother; your Emperor Dao Tongming is useless in Canglan Jie." From the void, the Xie Mo's voice echoed ethereally.

PS: There's another chapter; it'll be late.