Chapter 790: One Inch, Ten Thousand Feet

After returning from Ji Ning Shuang, Ye Chen went directly to Yu Nu Ge.

Along the way, he subconsciously glanced around. Xuan Nu, Bi You, and Shangguan Han Yue were all sitting cross-legged on clouds, meditating. Meanwhile, Luo Xi and Shangguan Yu Er were sprawled out on their beds, snoring away, and their sleeping postures were far from graceful.

Ye Chen cleared his throat and quickly darted to the front of Yu Nu Ge, only to be stunned to find the entire pavilion sealed with restrictions.

"What's the meaning of this?" Ye Chen eyed Chu Ling Er, who was sitting in the loft, breathing in and out essence.

"I'm in seclusion. Don't disturb me." Chu Ling Er's voice echoed through divine sense, without even opening her eyes, and her tone was clearly irritated.

"What a great excuse." Ye Chen grimaced, shaking his head as he walked away dejectedly. Normally, he would have kicked the door open without a second thought, but tonight was different. If he did that, the whole Yu Nu Peak would erupt into chaos in an instant.

"Maybe I should be a bit more of a playboy." Musing to himself while stroking his chin, Ye Chen stopped in an open area on Yu Nu Peak.

Soon, he summoned Zi Xuan.

Zi Xuan was currently in a puppet state, standing as straight as a spear, completely motionless with vacant eyes and a dull expression. Strangely, she was absorbing the light of the stars and moon on her own.

"Senior?" Ye Chen leaned in close, waving his hand in front of Zi Xuan's face, hoping to awaken the divine spirit within her.

However, she showed no response to his call, remaining as still as a corpse.

"It won't take much of your time." Ye Chen called out again, hoping the divine spirit inside Zi Xuan would wake up. That way, he might learn her many secret techniques, such as Shifting Heaven and Earth, Shrinking the Ground to an Inch, and Turning the Universe to Dust. These three divine abilities were incredibly powerful and could save his life in critical moments.

Yet, his repeated calls still yielded no response from Zi Xuan.

Disappointed, Ye Chen slowly stepped back and stood aside, racking his brain based on his memories.

Although he had the Immortal Wheel Eye, which could deduce secret techniques and divine abilities, he still couldn't master the great divine powers that Zi Xuan used.

One thing was certain, though: those three heaven-defying abilities were all related to space. For example, Shifting Heaven and Earth involved swapping spaces, exchanging two areas to catch the enemy off guard. That day, Zi Xuan had used this heaven-defying technique to trap and kill countless experts.

At some point, Ye Chen entered a meditative state, focusing on comprehending Shrinking the Ground to an Inch. Compared to Shifting Heaven and Earth and Turning the Universe to Dust, he thought this technique might be easier to grasp.

The night sky was deep, and the world was tranquil.

Ye Chen stood there like a statue, as still as Zi Xuan, fully immersed in his understanding of Shrinking the Ground to an Inch.

"The greatest wonder of this technique is instantly contracting and then expanding space." Sensing Ye Chen's thoughts, Tai Xu Ancient Dragon spoke leisurely from deep beneath the Zhengyang Sect's underground world. "Contract ten thousand zhang of space into one inch, and in the next instant, expand that one inch back to ten thousand zhang. That's the essence of Shrinking the Ground to an Inch. There's a delicate balance between one inch and ten thousand zhang—it can't be more or less, or it might cause space to become chaotic. In the worst case, you could suffer backlash from spatial rifts. So, this is an extremely dangerous secret technique. If you haven't mastered space principles, it's best not to try it. This involves the laws of space."

"One inch, ten thousand zhang; contract, expand." Ye Chen closed his eyes slightly, drawing the essence from Tai Xu Ancient Dragon's words.

"First, you need to understand that Shrinking the Ground to an Inch is different from spatial teleportation." Tai Xu Ancient Dragon continued. "My Tai Xu Ancient Dragon clan excels at space secret techniques, but their true principles can only be comprehended, not explained. Mastering space isn't easy."

"I understand." Ye Chen took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind.

Tai Xu Ancient Dragon said no more, gently closing his dragon eyes. He wanted to guide Ye Chen step by step, but space secret techniques were profound and mysterious. Ye Chen would have to grasp their secrets on his own.

The world fell silent once again.

After some time, Ye Chen slowly took a step, but it was just a simple, ordinary one.

Then, he shook his head helplessly and retracted his foot, continuing to comprehend.

From then on, with his eyes closed, he occasionally lifted a foot, only to pull it back quickly. He repeated this hundreds of times, but with no success.

Sometime later, his foot finally showed a subtle change. The space beneath his feet began to distort, and the space around his body twisted chaotically.

Only then did he truly start walking, step by step, in a calm and unremarkable manner. But with each step, the space around him buzzed and trembled restlessly, and spatial rifts occasionally appeared.

"Not bad, kid. If I'd known your comprehension was this terrifying, I would have taught you space secret techniques earlier." Tai Xu Ancient Dragon, with his eyes closed, glanced at Ye Chen's avatar from the corner of his eye, as if he could see what was happening here. He was genuinely surprised by the subtle changes in Ye Chen's steps.

Late at night, in the grand hall of Zhengyang Sect, a massive water screen stood there, with many figures gathered in front of it. Cheng Kun, Yin Zhou, and the Zhengyang Sect ancestors were all present, their expressions filled with excitement.

"It's finally starting." Cheng Kun clenched his fists, his eyes flickering with unrestrained murderous intent.

"Let South Chu tremble before this power!" Yin Zhou bared his two rows of white teeth.

"After tomorrow, Qingyun Sect will cease to exist." Zhengyang Sect's old ancestor smiled faintly. "Once Qingyun is destroyed, the next target is Hengyue. As for the other major families, they can be ignored entirely."

Whoosh!

As they spoke, a ghostly figure appeared in the hall, exuding an overwhelmingly powerful aura. The yin and deathly energy radiating from him was suffocating, even making Empty Nether Realm experts shiver involuntarily.

"We greet the Ming Wang!"

Cheng Kun and the others bowed respectfully. The newcomer was undoubtedly Ming Wang.

"Any news on the Xuan Ling Body?" Ming Wang glanced at the water screen before turning to Cheng Kun.

"Not yet." Cheng Kun replied hastily, his voice trembling. "Our Zhengyang Sect's intelligence network was severely damaged recently and is still being rebuilt. Once it's reestablished, we'll quickly track down the Xuan Ling Body."

"Handle this as soon as possible." Ming Wang said coldly, then turned and vanished.

Shrinking the Ground to an Inch!

As dawn approached, Ye Chen on Yu Nu Peak suddenly opened his eyes and took a step forward, disappearing in an instant.

Boom!

In the next second, a deafening roar echoed from a mountain peak ten thousand zhang away. Ye Chen, who had just taken the step, had only grasped the basics of Shrinking the Ground to an Inch and misjudged the direction and control, crashing straight through a pavilion on the mountain and creating a huge hole.

Ouch!

With a cry of pain, Ye Chen clutched his head and grimaced as he climbed up.

When he looked up, he was met with a stunning sight. In front of him stood a graceful figure, holding a discarded robe in her hand, clearly in the middle of changing clothes. Her flawless, bare skin was exposed over half her body, especially the pair of firm jade peaks, which were particularly eye-catching.

Ye Chen felt a warm rush in his nostrils, and a trickle of blood flowed out. He wasn't sure if it was from the impact or something else, but what was funniest was that it was only from one nostril, making him look utterly ridiculous.

Quickly regaining his senses, Ye Chen looked up at her face. It was Hong Chen Xue.

For a moment, the pavilion with its gaping hole fell into dead silence, both of them frozen in place.

A second or two later, Ye Chen's mouth twitched violently, while Hong Chen Xue's cheeks flushed red at a visible speed. Her clear, bright eyes ignited with fury.

"This... this is a misunderstanding." Ye Chen forced a dry laugh and stepped back instinctively, his smile more awkward than a cry.