Ye Chen looked up, fixing him with a gaze… After a moment, he said slowly, “This matter does not require your concern.”
Nantian sneered and retorted, “…Since that is the case, if you are hijacked again next time, do not blame me for not warning you. Don’t come crying for help then!”
Ye Chen’s expression was calm, “Thank you for your kindness. …”
Nantian hummed, saying no more.
Youyue looked at Ye Chen, and suddenly her eyes shifted. A warm smile bloomed on her face. “Brother Ye Chen, after passing the assessment, with your ability, it probably won’t take you three years to reach the Demigod Realm. You’ll be my junior brother in the future.”
Ye Chen looked at him… and did not respond.
Youyue coughed lightly. “Senior and junior brothers must support each other. I saw that during your fight just now, the ghost energy in your body was completely depleted. Now, even someone at the first rank of Ghost God could harm you. Coincidentally, I have two pieces of top-grade Ghost Stones here. Each of these stones can replenish fifty thousand points of ghost energy… enough for you to recover.” Saying this, she flipped her palm… a faint light flashed, and two ghost stones materialized out of thin air in her palm.
These two ghost stones were entirely pitch-black, containing faint purple specks of light, marking them as the finest grade among ghost stones!
Ye Chen glanced at them, nodded slightly, but did not take them, looking at Youyue with a placid expression, “Thank you, Captain.”
Seeing that Ye Chen hadn’t accepted them, Youyue looked somewhat awkward and chuckled, “Nonsense… I just wanted to ask you, what secret manual did you use when you killed that Lost Soul? Its power was astonishing!”
Ye Chen’s expression remained mild, “…Nothing much, just a cultivation method I stumbled upon. If you like it, I can copy a version for you next time.”
Youyue’s eyes brightened, “Really?…”
Ye Chen nodded.
Really… Hardly!
If the secret manual were cultivated to its peak, it could amplify destructive power by ninety times. Such a manual, if sold on the Ancient Continent, could certainly be exchanged for countless top-grade Ghost Stones, Demigod Stones, and untold numbers of Pseudo-Demigod Stones!
To just give it away for free? How could that be possible?
Youyue saw Ye Chen’s sincere demeanor and was secretly delighted. She guessed inwardly… He must fear her Demigod Realm strength, hence this gesture of goodwill. He was certainly an astute fellow!
In high spirits, she tossed the two top-grade Ghost Stones in her hand toward Ye Chen… chuckling, “…Since Junior Brother has said so, I cannot be stingy. These two top-grade Ghost Stones are for you. Additionally, I’ll give you ten top-tier Ghost God Talismans… and one primary-level Demigod Talisman!” As she spoke… she flipped her palm… a faint light warped… a stack of black talismans and one pale gold talisman appeared out of nowhere.
Ye Chen’s heart stirred. ‘This person possesses a spatial folding bag that she can open freely. There must be a Realm-Securing Stone inside! One Realm-Securing Stone… is worth over a hundred Demigod Stones! This person is only a primary-level Demigod expert yet possesses over a hundred Demigod Stones; she likely has a strong background…’
At this moment, Youyue waved her hand, already passing the stack of talismans to Ye Chen, and smiled gently, ‘Work hard. I know there’s a cavern about ten kilometers west of here. There aren’t many demonic beasts nearby, so hiding there for a month should be simple…’
‘Youyue!’ Nantian shouted, ‘Don't abuse your authority!’
Youyue stuck out her tongue and smiled at Ye Chen, ‘I’ll be waiting for you.’
Ye Chen gripped the stack of talismans in his hand, feeling them extremely soft… as if they were silk. They were dotted with starlight, indicating they were crafted using precise instruments from the Rune Civilization, arranged according to specific orientations with great meticulousness.
‘These talismans…’ Ye Chen’s gaze sharpened, then he let out a silent chuckle internally. ‘The Ghost God Talismans can resist a single strike from an ultimate Ghost God expert. If used offensively, their power is halved, capable of killing a peak Ghost God expert! And this Demigod Talisman can withstand an attack from a primary-level Demigod expert!…’
‘…You fear I might die here?’
‘If I die, that secret manual will be lost too. A complete set of the Nine Palaces manual… even if it only unleashes an eighty-times increase in combat power, it would be enough to drive Demigods mad…’
Ye Chen scoffed inwardly but kept his outward expression unchanged, nodding, ‘Thank you. …’
The Snake-man and the other two watching nearby saw Ye Chen receive such a bounty… and noticed how polite Vice-Captain Youyue was toward him. Their faces darkened, knowing that if Ye Chen ever became successful, he certainly wouldn't forget today’s events, and a chilling killing intent filled their hearts.
‘Let’s go!’ Bai Yijun said indifferently upon seeing everything concluded, then her figure flickered, and she vanished.
Nantian shot Youyue a glare, hummed, and also turned to leave. Youyue smiled at Ye Chen… waved, and followed Nantian out.
For a time, only Ye Chen and his group of four remained.
Ye Chen tucked the talismans inside his clothes, pressing them against his chest, then gripped the two top-grade Ghost Stones. A wave of devouring power rose in his palm… drawing the pure ghost energy within the stones into his body.
‘Hmph, you got lucky!’ the Snake-man snorted. Since the masks were off, he wouldn't hold back now—it was all or nothing… go all the way!
‘Go!’ The man from the Superpower Civilization glanced at Ye Chen, frowned, and gave a low shout before his figure flickered, heading into the distance.
The Snake-man and the Bruu man cast icy glares at Ye Chen before following suit and leaving, disappearing in just a few quick shifts.
Ye Chen watched the direction they left… his eyes flashing. After a brief moment of thought, his figure vanished as well. At the 150-kilometer mark, on a tree trunk.
Nantian and Youyue returned and sat down cross-legged. Nantian glanced at Youyue and sneered, “You’re playing tricks, trying to buy this person off with a handful of talismans? Hmph, he might not even give you that secret manual when he gets back!”
Youyue’s expression was calm, but an icy glint shone in her eyes… “…He won’t give it to me? Then he has no need to exist…” At worst, I can craft a replication talisman from the Rune Civilization and directly extract his brainwaves. That way, I can know what he’s thinking and naturally obtain that secret manual.”
Nantian sneered and remained silent.
Behind the tree trunk, Bai Yijun suddenly stood up, giving the two a calm look. “You two stay here… I need to go somewhere.”
Nantian was surprised, “Where are you going?”
Bai Yijun’s expression was serene, “You don't need to know.”
A white light flashed from her body, and an identical figure slowly walked out from within her, standing next to the tree trunk.
“This is my clone; it possesses the strength of a high-level Demigod. If anything major happens, she can handle it!” Bai Yijun looked calmly at the two, then her figure flickered, and she vanished.
Nantian and Youyue exchanged glances, their eyes filled with shock.
“Just a clone has the strength of a high-level Demigod?”
“…What kind of power does she possess herself?”
“Is the information we have on her from the Sect incorrect?”
“Even the Sect Master doesn't inquire about her movements. She actively requested to come to this star fragment this time. I wonder what scheme she's running…”
Their mental exchange was inaudible to Bai Yijun’s clone nearby; even if she heard it, she would likely ignore it.
Outside the monitoring range of Nantian and the others, at an open slope about fifty kilometers away.
Ye Chen struck out with a punch, blasting a small pit into the hillside. Then his figure flickered, and he walked inside. He sat down cross-legged, waved his hands, and sand and stones tumbled down to completely seal the cave entrance.
He sat quietly in the absolute darkness.
Ye Chen could hear his own breathing; in this world, he was completely alone.
He reached out and took the Soul Crystal from his embrace. In the darkness… two beams of light flared from his eyes. He clenched the Soul Crystal tightly, activated the intense devouring power within his body, enveloped the crystal, and began the process of ingestion…
Absorption!
Refinement!
This process repeated incessantly, and time flowed quietly…
In the blink of an eye… one day passed.
Outside the cave where Ye Chen was in seclusion, three streams of light suddenly shot across the sky from afar. After landing, the light receded, revealing three figures—they were none other than the Snake-man and his two companions.
“…He’s in here.” The man from the Superpower Civilization stared at the buried hillside, intense killing intent in his eyes.
“…This is the only chance,” the Bruu man gritted his teeth. “This person is too strong—he could even defeat a Lost Soul at the Pseudo-Demigod Realm, and that one was an Angel from the Angel Civilization!”
“He obtained that Soul Crystal and found such a secluded place, so he must be absorbing the energy from the crystal!” The Snake-man said sinisterly. “Judging by the battle process with that Lost Soul, that crystal is most likely light-element energy, but the manual he used is fire-element!”
“What an attribute snob!…”
“He definitely can’t devour and absorb it yet. He must wait until he returns to Azure Water City to exchange it at a shop for a fire-element Pseudo-Demigod Soul Crystal before he can ingest and absorb it.”
“…At this time, he is probably absorbing those two top-grade Ghost Stones to replenish his depleted energy!”
“Furthermore, the two top-grade Ghost Stones, totaling 100,000 points of energy, are enough to expand his meridians to the point where his Ghost God ultimate realm ghost energy reaches 100,000 points…”
“At a normal rate…”
“It takes two days to devour one top-grade Ghost Stone, so two stones require four days!”
The Bruu man smiled wickedly, “He’s only been inside for one day—he has likely only just started absorbing the first Ghost Stone! It is most dangerous to be disturbed while cultivating…” Once one enters a state of cultivation, it takes at least five minutes to withdraw… Otherwise, forcing an exit from the cultivation state could result in severe injury, or even Qi Deviation, leading to madness!”
“In a state of cultivation, he can’t do anything, even if he has a Demigod Talisman on him, he cannot use it…”
“This is our only chance!”
“Kill!”
The three exchanged glances, roared low, and charged toward the hillside.
Suddenly, Boom!
The hillside shook violently from within, dust flying and gravel shattering. A black figure stepped out from inside, standing on the open ground, one hand behind his back, his eyes fixed coldly on the three figures present.
Who else could this be but Ye Chen?
The Snake-man cried out in shock, “…You aren’t cultivating?…”
Ye Chen glanced at them, “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. I didn't expect you to be so slow.”
With his intelligence, it was impossible not to guess the intentions of the Snake-man and his group. Combined with his previous encounter, he knew the man from the Superpower Civilization could observe extremely distant events. Therefore, he deliberately left the monitoring range of Nantian and the others to enter this place for secluded cultivation.