Chapter 803: Fragile

Chapter 803: Fragile

In the early morning, the warm sunlight bathed the entire Hengyue Zong.

The screening of the four halls' army from Zhengyang Zong was still ongoing, with the whole spiritual mountain bustling with people, everything proceeding in an orderly manner.

At that moment, the grand hall of Hengyue Zong was also filled with people, including the high-level members of Hengyue, the high-level members of Yanhuang, and the heads of various major families.

In addition to them, representatives from Beichu Muyu Family, Ouyang Family, and Nangong Family had also arrived, and even Dancheng had sent Dan Yi. There were also leaders from some second- and third-tier cultivation families, with the weakest among them at the ninth level of Kongming Jing, and the lowest in status being chief elders.

They had all gathered today for the great war against Zhengyang Zong, and each had brought their own cultivator armies.

However, with so many formidable figures assembled here, they were all idle because Ye Chen had not yet arrived.

"I said, for such a big alliance matter, what is that kid up to? If he doesn't show up soon, I might lose my temper," someone spoke up. It was an old man, quite sleazy, on par with Zhuge Yu. Upon closer inspection, it was Huang Daogong, one of the strong experts Ye Chen and his group had recruited at the Zhengqi Hall.

"According to my calculations, you're just trying to show off!" Wuyao Daoren began fingering his calculations again, giving Huang Daogong a meaningful look.

"Don't mess around; I'm just speaking plainly." Huang Daogong cleared his throat. Even if he had a hundred times the courage, he wouldn't dare to show off here—this could leave him crawling out if things went south.

"Friend Huang, please be patient. He might already be on his way," Zhong Jiang said with a stroke of his beard, sounding much more serious than Wuyao Daoren.

"That makes sense." Niu Shisan squatted on a chair with his hands tucked in his sleeves, like a typical rogue. "We should understand. The young couple finally got a chance to go out and relax, so we should give them some time."

"Speaking of the Xuanling Body, I'm really impressed by that kid's tactics," Wu Sanpao chimed in, smacking his lips in admiration. "I've roamed through Great Chu for over a hundred years and never seen such an outstanding junior."

"Just get used to it; you'll get used to it."

"Little Lingling, I dreamed about you last night." While the old folks were chatting nonsense, Long Yi, that sleazy guy, grinned at Dongfang Yuling with a smile that could only be described as lecherous.

Dongfang Yuling completely ignored his words—or rather, she had been ignoring this shameless jerk from the start.

"I'm serious about it." Long Yi looked at Dongfang Yuling with a straight face. "The bed was soaking wet."

"Get lost." Dongfang Yuling glared at him fiercely.

"Get lost." From a few meters away, another scolding voice rang out. It was Murong Miaoxin yelling, and the target was, of course, that sleazy Long Wu.

"Those two baldies are quite entertaining." The old folks in the hall all stroked their beards, watching Long Yi and Long Wu with meaningful expressions. It was worth noting that their shiny, bald heads were quite a striking sight in this solemn hall.

"Wow!" Just as everyone was focusing on Long Yi and Long Wu, Gu Santong, who had been silent, suddenly exclaimed. His outburst was so abrupt that most people jumped in surprise.

In the next instant, all the old folks in the hall turned their gazes toward the outside in unison, their expressions more dramatic than the last.

Outside the hall, Ji Ningshuang and Ye Chen had returned. Ji Ningshuang was as cold and composed as ever.

As for Ye Chen, his state was far from harmonious. One of his legs was bound by a ribbon, and he was hanging upside down like a frog, being dragged along. The sight left the crowd of old folks staring in disbelief.

It wasn't just them—the entire Hengyue Zong had seen it, and everyone's eyes followed Ji Ningshuang's path, their movements strikingly synchronized and their expressions hilariously vivid.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ji Ningshuang entered the Hengyue Zong grand hall, casually retracted the ribbon, and then turned and vanished into the hall.

The hall fell into an instant silence until Ye Chen awkwardly climbed to his feet, at which point the old folks' mouths twitched. Their three-army commander had been dragged back like this?

"You crazy woman, just wait for me, huh?" The silence in the hall was finally broken by Ye Chen's grumbling, but he stopped mid-sentence and let out a light sound of surprise, his eyes darting around.

"I feel like a lot of people are watching me." Although Ye Chen couldn't see, he still scanned the area.

"This act of his is refreshingly unique." The group of old folks all stroked their beards, looking at Ye Chen with a knowing air.

"Hold on." A second later, Tianzong Laozu was the first to stand up and step over to Ye Chen. He glanced at Ye Chen before instinctively waving his hand in front of Ye Chen's eyes.

"Senior Chu, is that you?" Ye Chen asked tentatively.

"You can't see?" Tianzong Laozu frowned at Ye Chen.

"I had a little mishap and ended up blind." Ye Chen gave an awkward cough.

As soon as he said that, all the old folks in the hall stood up at once, surrounding Ye Chen in layers, their brows furrowed and eyes narrowed as they examined him like some curiosity.

"It's not just his eyes that are affected." Zhong Jiang pondered aloud, seeming to sense something amiss. "His Shengti, soul, and divine sense have all suffered terrifying damage."

"What's going on with you?" Manshan scratched his head, staring at Ye Chen in astonishment.

"It's hard to explain in a few words!" Ye Chen fumbled around, trying to find a chair to sit on, but gave up due to his vision issues and simply plopped down on the ground, looking utterly deflated.

"I ran into some demon clan members and got beaten up." As Ye Chen spoke, he popped a handful of spirit pills into his mouth, conveniently blaming the whole thing on the demon clan and skipping over the sword incident.

"Demon clan?"

"It was a dragon, and a big one at that."

"Even with you and Ji Ningshuang together, you ended up half-disabled? How many from the demon clan showed up?" Gu Santong grimaced.

"Not many, but each one was incredibly powerful." Ye Chen shook his head. "Let's not talk about it. The more I say, the sadder I get."

"What about your body?" Hongchen Xue asked tentatively.

"I need some time to recover, but it's not a big problem." Ye Chen said, tossing another spirit pill into his mouth. "Anyway, let's get to the main business. I sense that the seniors from Ouyang Family, Muyu Family, Dancheng, and Nangong Family are all here. I'm sorry to have troubled you all by bringing your troops just in case."

"Since we're allied, we're family." The Nangong family head smiled warmly. "To minimize casualties, some precautions are necessary."

"Then I'll have to ask you seniors to rest here at Hengyue for now." Ye Chen stood up from the ground and took a deep breath. "When Dao Huang senior emerges from seclusion, that will be the day we declare war on Zhengyang Zong."

"Leave this to us; you should focus on healing in seclusion first." Tianzong Laozu gently patted Ye Chen's shoulder.

"I do need to heal." Ye Chen gave a dry laugh, then cupped his hands in respect to the group of old folks before turning to head outside.

However, his steps were unsteady. Due to his blindness and the severe damage to his soul and divine sense, he was truly like a blind man, facing only darkness, like a black hole in space, with no way to anticipate what might come next.

In the end, as he stepped out of the hall, he tripped over the threshold and nearly face-planted.

A waft of fragrance came from behind, and a jade-like hand gently supported him, followed by a soft yet slightly cold voice near his ear: "Can't you ask someone for help?"

"I have to admit, this time I was hurt pretty badly." Ye Chen coughed awkwardly, his expression embarrassed, as if he could discern from the scent who was helping him.

"Let's go." Chu Lingyu said indifferently, supporting Ye Chen as they walked outside.

"The world-renowned God of Killing—I’m seeing him so vulnerable for the first time." Watching Ye Chen and Chu Lingyu fade into the distance, Wuyao Daoren took a deep breath, his expression completely serious.

"He's holding back from us." Tianzong Laozu stroked his beard thoughtfully. "With his current cultivation and combat power, plus the Chaotic Dao's outer path dharma and all those heaven-defying divine abilities, even if a demon clan demon king showed up, there's no way he'd be beaten this badly."

"What on earth did they encounter?" Zhong Jiang and the others all furrowed their brows.