My writing speed isn't fast; two updates a day is normal, three is a burst of effort, and five means I'm burning out my life force..." This grind is self-mutilation, so, Heng-heng, vote for me with monthly passes!

"What formation?" the enchanting woman asked lightly. Novel Net

The Dark Prince's eyes flashed with icy menace, "The Nine Hells Ice Prison!"

The enchanting woman and the winged man’s pupils contracted, yet they dared not speak further, standing silently to the side. The Dark Prince’s expression turned ferocious; with a sweep of his hand, he tore open a spatial rift. He reached inside, and after a moment, pulled out nine beams of light. He guided his palm, and nine tearing sounds echoed through the air...

Whoosh, whoosh...

Streams of blue light shot out from the spatial tear, hovering in mid-air like nine instruments around the Dark Prince’s body. As the light converged, they slowly solidified into nine foot-long ice cones. They were crystal clear, emitting a faint glow around them, much like glow sticks, yet covered in tiny black specks, radiating an aura of profound mystery.

The enchanting woman gazed upon that dark space with deep envy. "That’s folded space. Only Marquises and royalty can utilize such a precious asset. It embodies extremely high spatial folding technology, allowing one to collapse an alternate dimension and carry it on their person. It's simply too convenient for ambushes and plunder outside!"

"Nine Hells!" The Dark Prince looked at the nine ice cones, his voice cold and tinged with veiled savagery. "Set up the ultimate killing array. Lock down an area with a one-mile radius. If any life form appears, immediately unleash the most violent attack to obliterate it!"

"Don't worry, Master," a childlike voice sounded from within the nine ice cones. Immediately, the cones brightened slightly, and a phantom projection slowly materialized from them—a small, extremely plump bat monster, its eyes burning with cruel light. It licked its lips, saying, "Which blind fool dared to provoke the Master again... Little Nine will take care of him right away!"

The Dark Prince looked at it, his expression softening slightly, though still distant. "That bastard hid himself within this dimension of folded space. After one Chen (Note: Chen is a unit of time in the Dark Creature world, equivalent to twenty-four standard hours!), he will emerge."

"Got it!" The little bat chirped happily. "I will definitely make him taste the might of the Nine Seraphim Demon Light! This has transcended lasers; it's composed of extremely intense ultraviolet rays channeled through specialized spatial superposition. Heh heh, even if he were a Ghost God Realm expert, he would be heavily wounded. This thing can harm Gui Qi (Ghost Energy) too!"

The Dark Prince displayed a look of satisfaction.

...

The three of them, plus one system AI lifeform, meticulously set up the array and settled in to wait...

Time slowly drifted by...

In the blink of an eye, a full day passed.

"He's coming out soon!" The Dark Prince mentally tracked the time, rising to his feet. His eyes were fixed excitedly on the "Nine Hells Ice Prison," awaiting Ye Chen's voluntary entrapment. His mind was already racing... Once he captured that damnable, deserving-of-death scoundrel, how should he torture him? Should he kill him instantly, or subject him to slow torment?

Though called the Nine Hells Ice Prison, the surrounding area remained unchanged. The nine ice cone-like instruments were discreetly placed at nine cardinal points, nearly impossible to detect.

Throughout this day, surrounding monsters approached, but all were slaughtered by the Dark Prince and his company.

Just as the three waited with focused tension...

Time flowed sluggishly, and half a day more slipped by.

"Hmm?" The Dark Prince's expression grew gloomy. He clenched his teeth, his fists cracking audibly... "Why hasn't this bastard emerged? The previous two times, he always came out after one Chen. Why is this time stretching past one and a half Chen?"

Inside the Rune Space, Ye Chen had long since awakened and finished resting. Thus, he used his vital energy as flame to cut up the monster corpses he had refrigerated in the ship's hold, beginning to roast them. After the previous battles, his stamina was heavily depleted; how could he manage without sustenance?

Ye Chen slowly grilled his meal. The old Green Rune Man sat beside him, looking utterly aggrieved, constantly mumbling and complaining about Ye Chen not letting him go outside. However, Ye Chen simply filtered out these words.

"Tastes quite good, but not as delicious as when cooked over firewood." After finishing his meal, Ye Chen wiped his mouth, then stood up. Instead of activating the ruins, he walked to a comfortable spot, leisurely stretched out, and yawned.

"What goes around, comes around. That Dark Prince definitely knows the time I leave the ruins. Unless his intelligence is below that of a normal person, he must have laid a trap, waiting for me to step into it!" Ye Chen picked at his teeth. "Given his status and possessing a throne-shaped flying vessel, he must be one of the wealthier types among the Dark Creatures. He definitely has powerful weaponry."

"In that case, I'll wait a bit, catch up on some rest, and fully restore my internal vital energy first." Ye Chen made up his mind and began seated meditation to recover his strength.

Time drifted by...

In a flash, another day and a half passed.

"That should be enough." Ye Chen stood up, stretched his spirit, then proceeded to roast some more beast meat and eat. After all, he hadn't reached the Bigu (Grain Avoidance) realm yet; once engaged in combat, his body's energy consumption was staggering, requiring massive food replenishment.

Outside.

The Dark Prince’s eyes were bloodshot... his snake-like hair seemed ready to collapse. He stared fixedly at the Nine Hells Ice Prison, grinding his teeth so hard they nearly shattered, the fury in his heart threatening to incinerate him whole.

How could he not be enraged? He had confidently declared that the human would emerge after one Chen in front of his subordinate AI! But now, three Chen had passed!

Moreover... considering the situation from the human's perspective, he could mostly guess why this detestable person hadn't come out—it was precisely because he knew about the trap he had set.

Three days of waiting for nothing!

And he had to maintain constant mental focus, terrified that Ye Chen would slip away the moment he relaxed his guard.

"I refuse to believe you can stay hidden in there forever!!!" The Dark Prince’s fury burned within him, a sudden urge to throttle someone rising up.

Just then—

Swish!

A black spatial vortex suddenly tore open, then instantly sealed shut again. A wisp of black smoke flashed past. Even with the Dark Prince's vision, he could barely capture a trace of the afterimage. Startled, he immediately entered Ghost Transformation State Beta and focused his gaze.

"Target acquired! Ice Prison activating!"

The Nine Hells intelligent system, covering a one-mile radius, transmitted data symbols to the main brain in less than four tenths of a second, initiating the "Nine Hells Ice Prison!"

The moment Ye Chen emerged, ice walls erupted from the nine points surrounding him. This was no ordinary ice, but unique energy contained within another dimension, possessing a temperature far below absolute zero, and incredibly resilient—even a standard Level Ten expert could not shift it in the slightest!

"Ice Prison activated! Experts below Demigod level will find no escape, even with wings!" The Dark Prince’s lips curled into a sinister grin.

"Nine Seraphim Demon Light firing!" The Nine Hells intelligent system launched its attack sequence the instant the Ice Prison sealed. Instantly, billions of chaotic light beams swept wildly across the enclosed space, dyeing the entire area purple—dazzling and blinding.

"Die!" The Nine Hells intelligent system, resembling the plump little bat, grinned maniacally, but the smile abruptly froze. A beat later, a soft thwack sound was heard.

Whoosh!

A fierce gust of wind swept from one side of the Ice Prison, rushing into the distance and vanishing. On the surface of the formerly solid Ice Prison, a distinct, man-shaped crater was visible. Stray purple light beams occasionally shot out, piercing the ground to create small holes. If one were to measure them, these holes would be discovered to be thousands of meters deep!

What did thousands of meters imply? Even if Ye Chen activated Ant-Man Mode, he couldn't guarantee blasting a thousand-meter-deep hole with a single punch, as in the physics of force application, the ground was too yielding to maximize power, and the surface area of a fist was far larger than that of a beam of light!

This meant the power of these light beams was sufficient to instantly annihilate any expert below the Demigod level! Even the Dark Prince himself, if caught inside the Nine Hells Ice Prison, would perish, as the Nine Seraphim Demon Light was capable of damaging Gui Qi!

"Bastard, how did he escape!" The Dark Prince stared at the massive hole, stunned for a long moment, then roared in savage anger. After all his plotting and deploying his ultimate weapon, the enemy had still slipped away!

Little Nine cautiously flew over, tilting its head. "It must be that this person possesses some kind of protective shielding tool, right?"

"Trash! All of you are trash!!" The Dark Prince’s face was contorted with rage. He glared at the enchanting woman and the other man. "What are you standing there for? Go chase him!"

The enchanting woman and the other man startled, quickly rising to give chase.

"I will kill you!!!"

The Dark Prince clenched his fists, his eyes blazing with unprecedented hatred. As a high-ranking prince, he had been played for a fool by a mere human—one who hadn't even reached the Ghost God Realm, only someone possessing a powerful combat secret art that amplified his strength.

He flipped his hand, retracting Little Nine, then shot forward with intense killing intent. Every monster he encountered along the way was ruthlessly slaughtered, leaving rivers of blood and piles of corpses in his wake.

Ye Chen flew at top speed, a thin sheen of cold sweat on his brow. As soon as his Superman Mode ended, he immediately entered the Rune Space to recuperate. He had taken a small loss in that strange space, struck by a few purple light beams that felt like being stabbed by steel needles—intensely painful.

"Damn it! When I get the Xuanyuan Divine Sword, I'll beat you until your guts spill out!" Ye Chen ground his teeth internally. Having suffered a loss, he naturally intended to retaliate doubly!

He then took several deep breaths, calming his emotions, and entered a restorative state.

In the following days, Ye Chen recovered, then immediately activated Superman Mode, left the Rune Space, and sped toward Sichuan. Once the mode expired, he instantly dove back into the Rune Space to recuperate.

This cycle repeated itself. Both the Dark Prince and Ye Chen were filled with mounting fury, infuriated with each other—two relentless individuals had collided, each wishing to swallow the other whole and grind them to dust!

After a relentless journey spanning several tens of days, Ye Chen finally arrived at a famous mountain in Sichuan Province. This mountain was named Mount Hemeng! (Novel reading and download available at Chinese Network Novel: :~~~~)