Chapter 870: Turning the Tables

In the grand hall, Ye Chen looked at the blood-robed elder with great interest.

"Can you tell me how you saw through it?"

The blood-robed elder sneered at Ye Chen. "Would the same person say the exact same words twice? You didn't expect this, did you? Just a few hours ago, Xue Zun said the very words you just used. He's the Xue Zun of the Shixue Dian—would he bother repeating the same lines to me?"

"You're quite the actor!" Ye Chen sighed in admiration. "I almost believed it. So, the Shixue Dian isn't full of just mediocrity after all."

"The flaws were everywhere—it's because you're too inexperienced," the blood-robed elder snorted coldly.

"I'll admit that," Ye Chen said, rubbing his brow. He had truly been set back today; he had been overly confident.

This time, impersonating Xue Zun was fundamentally different from when he had impersonated Yan Zun. When he posed as Yan Zun, he had Yan Zun's memories, but with Xue Zun, he had none, so he was left relying on bluffing.

As it turned out, bluffing alone could always lead to slip-ups. Even without Tianyan, his identity could still be exposed.

"Now, you can take off your mask," the blood-robed elder said with a faint smile, his blood-red eyes flickering with sinister bloodlight.

"In your dreams." Ye Chen turned and bolted.

"Where do you think you're going?" The blood-robed elder was faster, darting like the wind, swift as lightning, and caught up to Ye Chen in an instant.

"I was hoping you'd chase me." To the blood-robed elder's surprise, Ye Chen suddenly spun around, a crimson killing sword appearing in his hand as he unleashed Fengshen Yijian straight ahead.

"You—" The blood-robed elder's eyes widened in shock as he collided directly with it, unable to dodge at such close range.

On the spot, his chest was pierced by Ye Chen's sword, and the terrifying killing intent rampaged wildly through his body.

"How's that feel?" Ye Chen bared two rows of white teeth.

"You deserve to die." The blood-robed elder roared in fury, though he quickly began retreating.

But Ye Chen had already grabbed his arm, and an ethereal voice echoed, "Come on, let me take you to a nice place."

With that, the Liudao Xianlun Eye activated, a black vortex appearing as Ye Chen entered the Kongjian Heidong, dragging the blood-robed elder in with him.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

In the Kongjian Heidong, the two emerged one after the other.

Ye Chen was unfazed, being a regular in the Kongjian Heidong.

The blood-robed elder, however, was experiencing it for the first time. He stumbled upon entry, and when he saw the surrounding pitch-black world, fear flashed across his face.

"What in the world is this place?" the blood-robed elder asked, his voice trembling as he instinctively pulled out a luminous spirit bead for light.

Yet, even with it, the endless darkness around him sent a chill from head to toe, making him feel as if he were in the gloomy Diyu.

"You're clever, but you made a fatal mistake," an ethereal voice rang out, though the speaker was unseen. "You were too confident. That overconfidence kept you from summoning Yanluo Shan's experts right away."

"Who are you? Show yourself!" The blood-robed elder's face twisted in rage, but he didn't dare move, standing in place and roaring wildly.

"And because of that confidence, you're doomed never to leave this Kongjian Heidong." The ethereal voice continued as Ye Chen stepped out from the darkness. His hair had turned blood-red, with demonic patterns on his brow, and his entire body surged with bloodthirst, making him seem like a demon emerged from Diyu.

"The Kongjian Heidong? This is the Kongjian Heidong?" The blood-robed elder's expression changed drastically, as if he knew its notorious reputation.

What shocked him most was that someone could freely enter and exit such a place—this level of divine ability far exceeded his comprehension.

He had been careless! So careless!

As Ye Chen had said, he had been too confident. If he had summoned Yanluo Shan's experts the moment he realized Ye Chen wasn't Xue Zun, the situation would have been entirely different.

But he hadn't, and one misstep had led him into this irreversible peril.

"Does this count as me turning the tables?" Ye Chen stood not far away, arms folded, watching the blood-robed elder with interest. "My overconfidence made me full of flaws, but yours gave me the opening I needed."

"Who exactly are you?" The blood-robed elder glared at Ye Chen with savage eyes.

"Just call me Ye Chen." Ye Chen smiled and casually removed the Guiming mask covering his face.

"You..." Seeing Ye Chen's true appearance, the blood-robed elder's pupils contracted, and he instinctively stepped back, staring in disbelief. "Impossible. This is impossible."

"There's nothing impossible about it." Ye Chen's eyes turned cold as he lunged forward, punching the still-frightened blood-robed elder, sending blood and bones flying. "This is the grave I specially picked for you. I hope you like it."

"Even in death, I'll take you with me!" The blood-robed elder snapped back, his surging spiritual power blazing like fire as he swung a massive ancient seal toward Ye Chen.

"Yan Zun was crippled, and you think you can do better?" Ye Chen was overwhelmingly dominant, his bare fists infused with various secret techniques, shattering the ancient seal and forcing the blood-robed elder to stagger back.

"Was Yan Zun crippled by him too?" the blood-robed elder thought in retreat, his mind in turmoil.

"Spacing out in a fight? You'll die horribly." Ye Chen charged again, Chixiao Sword in hand.

Seeing this, the blood-robed elder lost all will to fight and turned to flee.

"Stay put!" Ye Chen's brow glowed as the Hundun Shen Ding and Jiuzhou Shen Tu flew out simultaneously, erupting with world-shaking divine power and making the blood-robed elder stumble on the spot.

Fengshen Jue!

Ye Chen struck in an instant, piercing the blood-robed elder's Dantian with a sword before he could steady himself.

Ah!

The blood-robed elder's scream was piercing, but in the vast Kongjian Heidong, even the sound echoed into nothing.

Originally, as a quasi-Tianjing expert, he wasn't without a chance to fight, but deep down, he was already cowed—that was his downfall, or he wouldn't have been defeated so swiftly.

Sou Shen!

Ye Chen pressed his palm to the blood-robed elder's head, his domineering Sou Shen technique forcefully seizing his memories.

The blood-robed elder wailed again, but with his cultivation destroyed, he was as helpless as an ant before Ye Chen, unable to resist.

Sometime later, the screams faded.

A few seconds after, Ye Chen, having absorbed the blood-robed elder's memories, slowly opened his eyes, his expression oddly surprised. "It really is in the Senluo Men Dian. What a surprise."

He had every right to be surprised. During their earlier mind games in the grand hall, the blood-robed elder had mentioned the Senluo Men Dian, and Ye Chen had thought it was a lie. Unexpectedly, it was true.

"Truth and lies—you play this game better than I do." Ye Chen glanced coldly at the blood-robed elder.