Chapter 2072: The Demonic Half-Immortal

A loud boom erupted from within Ye Chen's body. Qin Mengyao's blood contained an immense power that nearly burst his body apart. The issue was that he was currently in a mortal form, lacking a Dan Hai to hold the vast essence, so it only circulated through his meridians, risking explosion at any moment.

Fortunately, his foundation as a Ban Xian was quite profound, barely managing to bear this power and instantly dispelling Ling Tian's pressure.

In that instant, Ye Chen suddenly straightened up, using Qin Mengyao's bloodline power to transform into a long bow and divine arrows. He drew the bow like a full moon and loosed an overwhelmingly dominant arrow that pierced through the heavens, shooting toward the old man in the blood robe.

The martial arts legend made his move!

The people of Zhu Xian Zhen were overjoyed, struggling to lift their heads to gaze at the vast sky.

Hmm?

The old man, who was still devouring living beings, frowned involuntarily. He sensed that the arrow was extraordinarily powerful. Without hesitation, he withdrew his blood-swallowing technique and ascended to retreat through the sky. It wasn't fear of the arrow, but because he was in a weakened state during blood-swallowing and could suffer backlash from it.

With his retreat, the oppressive force enveloping the heavens and earth plummeted instantly.

Ye Chen snorted coldly, stamped his foot on the ground, and spread a layer of immortal light, shattering the old man's pressure. All the mortals who had been pulled toward the virtual sky fell back down, caught steadily by a gentle force Ye Chen summoned.

"Child."

Yang Ge Lao and Xia Lan regained their mobility and hugged Xiao Yang Lan, while other people retrieved their family members, their faces pale and ashen. If not for Ye Chen's intervention, their loved ones would mostly have turned into blood mist.

Ye Chen stepped forward and landed on the roof, staring coldly at the vast sky.

In the virtual sky, the old man in the blood robe halted, slightly lowering his eyes to gaze down at Ye Chen. Shooting such a powerful arrow proved Ye Chen's exceptional nature, but upon closer scrutiny, the youth who had attacked him was clearly just a Ban Xian.

It was only after three to five seconds that he uncovered the truth: it was due to Ye Chen borrowing an external force, which he found extremely intriguing.

"Old dog, single combat."

Ye Chen shouted, stepping on the air and flying out of Zhu Xian Zhen to avoid harming innocents. If they fought there, the entire town would be razed. A cultivator of Ling Xu Jing on this ancient star was a supreme existence.

"Interesting."

The old man in the blood robe smirked, licked his scarlet tongue, and chased after Ye Chen. Compared to these mortals, he was more interested in Ye Chen. After killing him, he could return to devour living beings—it wouldn't take much time.

Below, the people of Zhu Xian Zhen were mostly slumped on the ground, trembling uncontrollably. Too many had died, and cries of grief echoed through the heavens and earth.

"Is that what an immortal is?"

At that moment, even Ling Feng and the others felt their hearts tremble. These martial arts experts were like ants before the old man in the blood robe, not even qualifying as such.

"Shall we go help?"

Yang Xuan glanced at the other two.

But as soon as he said it, he realized he sounded foolish. With their cultivation, going would only cause chaos, providing no help and adding a burden to Ye Chen.

"Save people."

Shangguan Jiu withdrew his gaze from the void and rushed to aid the injured civilians. Though he couldn't assist Ye Chen, treating the people was within his capabilities.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen flew through the air and entered a mountain range.

The old man in the blood robe arrived soon after, his pressure vast and surging, causing mountain peaks to collapse with booms.

"You ant, you can't escape."

The old man sneered sinisterly, his eyes gleaming with a greenish light like a malicious ghost. He chased at a steady pace, seeming to enjoy the sensation. Killing with a casual wave would be too dull.

Ahead, Ye Chen's movements were mysterious, ignoring the old man's words as he secretly compared their strengths. The opponent was in Ling Xu Jing, while he was only a Ban Xian. Though he borrowed Qin Mengyao's bloodline power, it was still external, at most allowing him to reach Zhen Yang peak. Moreover, the bloodline power diminished with each use, so he needed a quick resolution.

What relieved him was that the old man hadn't formed his Yuan Shen; otherwise, even with the bloodline power, he'd still be an ant. The opponent could kill him instantly with just one Yuan Shen sword.

The trickiest part was that he couldn't fully control the bloodline power. Since it wasn't his own, it clashed with his body, and a single misstep could trigger backlash, leading to self-destruction without the old man needing to act.

"Cang Lan, Cang Lan."

Ye Chen's calls continued without pause. He didn't know why the evil demon was so unreliable this time. If countermeasures had been left earlier, Zhu Xian Zhen's villagers wouldn't have suffered such disaster, and he wouldn't have to risk using the bloodline power.

"How boring."

The old man's sinister laugh echoed from behind. He'd lost patience and stepped across the virtual sky, swinging a palm at Ye Chen. Before the palm print even landed fully, mountain peaks were exploding.

Ye Chen halted abruptly, clenched his golden fist, and merged the nine paths of the Eight Wastelands in an instant, blasting through the heavenly palm print in reverse. Even the old man was shaken back with a muffled hum.

For this, he paid a heavy price: his fist was mangled with flesh and blood, many bones fractured, and his internal meridians torn, causing agonizing pain.

"I underestimated you."

The old man sneered, genuinely surprised. A mere Ban Xian, even with external aid, shouldn't repel a Ling Xu Jing cultivator. Today, he'd broadened his horizons. But the more intriguing it was, the more excited he became, coveting the power within Ye Chen. If he could fuse it, he might break through to Kong Ming Jing—a great fortune, far more useful than devouring living beings' blood.

Opposite him, Ye Chen had landed on a mountain peak, his face pale and his arm dripping with fresh blood.

With a clang, an illusory sword materialized in his hand, faintly present and evolving endless Dao insights—it was a Dao Sword that could ignore physical defenses and attack the origin.

The old man was full of contempt, vanishing in an instant like a ghost. When he reappeared, he was before Ye Chen, poking a finger toward his forehead—this was a killing great technique, an absolute divine ability.

"The power is good, but the speed is lacking."

Ye Chen said indifferently, dodging the finger with a teleport and slashing the old man back with a sword flip.

"How is that possible?"

The old man was incredulous, staring at the sword in Ye Chen's hand. Though illusory, it was no ordinary weapon, cutting at his origin. Even with Ling Xu Jing cultivation, he was caught off guard.

In that instant, Ye Chen had closed in, his sword like the wind god, striking straight at the old man's head.

The old man snorted coldly, raising his hand to grab the sword tip. No matter how hard Ye Chen tried, it wouldn't advance further.

"Ants are still ants in the end."

The old man grinned maliciously, his other hand inscribed with a secret art, ready to blast Ye Chen with one palm.

However, what met him was a divine light from Ye Chen's forehead—it was the Shen Shang attack, a mystic art of cultivators and a secret technique of mortals, an incomplete Shen Shang.

At such close range and speed, the old man couldn't dodge and took it head-on, spitting blood as he retreated, his mind buzzing, head on the verge of splitting, vision darkening, and blood flowing from his seven orifices.

Seizing the opportunity, Ye Chen pressed on, wielding the Dao Sword and slashing relentlessly without style, leaving the old man covered in bloody gashes. The most critical damage was to the old man's origin, struck repeatedly.

"You deserve to die."

The old man howled shrilly, enduring Ye Chen's sword to catch his breath, then teleported into the high sky. Disheveled and wretched, he no longer had his previous lofty demeanor, his face ferocious like a demon, sinister and terrifying.

Pfft!

Below, Ye Chen spat blood from the bloodline power's backlash.

It could be said that every time he injured the old man, the bloodline power injured him in turn. This battle was one of mutual destruction—harming the enemy at a cost of a thousand for eight hundred to himself—the drawback of borrowing external force.

"Be suppressed by me."

The old man's roar shook the firmament. He activated his life-bound artifact, a silver pagoda inlaid with ninety-nine divine beads, each shining with divine light, descending from the sky and crushing mountain peaks.

Ye Chen's face darkened as he tried to flee, but he was a step too slow, swallowed into the pagoda.

"I will refine you into a puppet, serving as my dog for eternity."

The old man laughed grotesquely, unrestrained like a mad dog howling hysterically.

But before he could retrieve it, the pagoda began to buzz and tremble.

Cracking sounds followed, and cracks appeared on it.

In the next instant, with a boom echoing through the heavens and earth, his life-bound pagoda exploded violently, forcibly burst by an illusory great cauldron. Fragments of the silver pagoda fell like a rain of light, scattering in the mountains.

Pfft!

The old man spat blood and flew out horizontally. With his life-bound artifact destroyed, he suffered terrible backlash as its owner, his chest bursting open mid-flight to reveal his beating heart, a shocking sight.

Pfft!

Ye Chen also spat blood; he wasn't much better off. Earlier, inside the pagoda, he'd used the bloodline power to manifest the outer form of the Hun Dun Ding, enlarging it infinitely to burst the pagoda. Though he escaped suppression, he suffered backlash, his body covered in bloody wounds.

"Impossible, this is impossible."

The old man roared in fury. That was his painstakingly refined life-bound artifact, a Ling Xu Jing level one, actually broken by a Ban Xian—how could he believe it?

Ye Chen didn't respond, staggering on the ground, barely able to stand for the fight. Inside his body, everything was a mess, with countless meridians broken. Even so, Qin Mengyao's bloodline power still rampaged within, impossible to suppress.

"Kill."

With a roar, the old man charged down, spitting out a blood-colored killing sword, its edge ice-cold and carrying terrifying penetrating power, intent on slashing Ye Chen with one strike.

Ye Chen barely stood his ground, not moving, just quietly looking up at the void.

Until the blood sword was only an inch away, he suddenly vanished, and at that spot, the old man suddenly appeared.

"This..."

The old man's expression changed abruptly, his pupils contracting.

That's right, Ye Chen had used Yi Tian Huan Di, swapping their positions.

However, that descending blood sword wouldn't stop just because of the position swap.