Chapter 535: Miscalculation

When they arrived at the city center, Gu Santong was already there, sitting with his legs crossed, waiting leisurely.

Beneath his foot, a person lay sprawled on the ground, perfectly still like a dead pig. It was clear they had just been beaten by Gu Santong.

Ye Chen stepped forward slightly and clicked his tongue, looking at Gu Santong. "Weren't you the one who said we should keep a low profile? I step away for a moment, and you're already starting fights."

"How is that my fault? I was just minding my own business, walking along, and this guy jumps out to attack me. He's got some nerve." Gu Santong grumbled incessantly.

Hearing this, Ye Chen couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the person under Gu Santong's foot. In a place like this, picking a fight with Gu Santong of all people—if you didn't get beaten, it would be against the natural order.

They set off!

Gu Santong dusted off his backside and was the first to step into the teleportation array.

Seeing this, Ye Chen took a step forward and followed him in.

"It'll take about a quarter of an hour." Once inside the teleportation array, Gu Santong sat down cross-legged right away, cracking his knuckles with an eager look, as if he was ready to charge into battle on the spot. He seemed unable to hold back his pent-up rage from the past century to tear that evil thing apart.

With nothing else to do, Ye Chen sat down too and pulled out his bright spirit pearl to polish it, passing the time.

After a while, Gu Santong scooted over to him, first poking Ye Chen with a finger, then winking and saying,"Kid, if I can bring another Zhuntianjing expert into the Yan Huang, could you lend me your Tianlei for a couple more days to play with?"

Ye Chen's eyes lit up at these words. "Is that for real?"

"You bet." Gu Santong grinned, flashing a mouthful of yellowed teeth. "That person isn't as strong as me, but he's a genuine Zhuntianjing, at least a cut above that old fellow from the Su family."

"Sounds reliable. If you can really pull him into Yan Huang, lending you the Tianlei for a couple of days is no problem."

"Deal, then."

The two chatted back and forth, and before they knew it, they had reached the end of the spatial passage.

Woo woo!

As soon as they stepped out, Ye Chen heard the howling of cold winds. Listening closely, the winds carried what sounded like the wails of malicious ghosts, sending shivers down his spine just from the sound.

"This place is so eerie." Amid the whistling winds, Ye Chen couldn't help but shudder.

Gu Santong didn't respond. In his hand, he now held a luo pan.

Holding the luo pan, he was determining their direction, and more importantly, locating the hiding spot of that evil thing. A red dot on the luo pan marked the evil thing's position, and he needed to use it to find the exact spot.

"It's ahead." Gu Santong said, already striding forward and covering several hundred zhang in a single step.

Ye Chen shuddered again and hurriedly followed.

They walked and stopped intermittently, finally halting at the edge of a massive rift valley.

It was more accurate to call it a bottomless abyss than a rift valley, because when Ye Chen looked down, even with his strong mindset, he felt a sense of his spirit being pulled in and swallowed.

"I don't suppose that evil thing is down in this abyss!" Ye Chen turned to Gu Santong beside him.

"The luo pan shows it's right below in the abyss." Gu Santong put away the luo pan, his eyes flashing with icy killing intent, as if his long-suppressed anger was about to erupt.

"Kid, hand over the Tianlei." Gu Santong extended his palm.

Ye Chen understood and summoned the Tianlei with a thought, holding it in his hand before passing it to Gu Santong. It seemed to have a spirit of its own and didn't resist him, instead floating in Gu Santong's palm.

"Wait here for me." Gu Santong took the Tianlei and said no more, diving straight into the abyss.

Ye Chen wanted to follow, but he held back and stayed put.

Boom!

Soon, booming sounds echoed from the abyss, as if Gu Santong had found the evil thing and engaged in battle. The noise was tremendous, making the entire abyss and the surrounding land for thousands of zhang tremble.

Boom! Bang! Clang!

What followed was a series of such sounds, one after another. The fight was so intense that even Ye Chen had to retreat a bit.

"With the Tianlei boosting him, plus that magical weapon the iron sword, and Gu Santong's own power, he still hasn't taken down that evil thing." Ye Chen smacked his lips in astonishment. "Just how strong is that evil thing?"

"From what I can tell, it's at least on the same level as Dugu Ao."

"I never expected such a powerful being to be hidden in this abyss."

Muttering to himself, Ye Chen activated his Xianlun Eye to observe.

But the abyss was too deep, and a mysterious force obscured his vision, leaving him seeing only darkness.

Boom!

With another earth-shattering boom, Ye Chen saw a blurry figure fly out.

"Is that the evil thing?" Ye Chen rushed forward.

But as he got closer, he realized the blurry figure wasn't the evil thing—it was Gu Santong, covered in blood and bones, as if he'd been blasted out by a palm strike.

Ye Chen's expression changed dramatically; he hadn't anticipated Gu Santong's defeat.

Puff!

In mid-air, Gu Santong spat out a mouthful of fresh blood as he flew out of the abyss.

Ye Chen quickly flew over and used a gentle force to catch him before he hit the ground.

Puff!

Gu Santong spat out another mouthful of blood on the spot.

Go!

Then, Gu Santong grabbed Ye Chen with one hand and fled madly in a certain direction, his usually sly face now etched with unprecedented gravity.

Go? Can you even escape?

Soon, an incredibly cold and ethereal voice echoed through the heavens and earth.

Immediately afterward, nine blood-red pillars of light shot up from the ground, piercing the sky. Each pillar was covered in intricate runes that intertwined and connected, forming a massive barrier that trapped the fleeing Gu Santong and Ye Chen inside.

Following that, three figures slowly emerged from the abyss and floated up: a youth with blood-red hair, a demonic woman, and a three-eyed boy.

These three were truly strange, enveloped in a bloody aura, with faint sounds of malicious ghosts wailing from within their bodies. They trod on rolling waves of blood, like ghost kings.

"No wonder." Seeing them, Ye Chen instantly understood. "Three Zhuntianjing experts— no surprise you weren't a match."

"Kid, I've gotten you into this mess." Gu Santong struggled to stand, blood still dripping from his mouth, his face twisted in regret.

Indeed, he had miscalculated, been too careless. He thought with the power of the Tianlei, he could easily destroy that evil thing, but he never imagined there were three Zhuntianjing beings at the bottom of the abyss. Though the other two weren't as strong as him, facing three at once had forced him to retreat in defeat.

"Don't waste time on that." Ye Chen brushed off Gu Santong's apology with a curse, then glanced around at the barrier trapping them and asked, "Is there a way to break this barrier? Let's get out first, then regroup with more experts and come back for revenge later."

"This is the Wan Gui Ming Wang Jie Jie. Breaking it from the inside with just my strength alone would be tough." Gu Santong shook his head helplessly.

"So, that means it's two against three for us!" Ye Chen cracked his neck fiercely.