Ou Yi’s speed was simply too fast. Ye Chu could not catch up to him at all. Though he followed the footprints all the way, Ou Yi’s trace eventually vanished. As Ye Chu ventured deeper, he occasionally encountered desiccated corpses. While he avoided most of them, some forced him to act.
The deeper he went, the more strenuous it became. Not only were there desiccated corpses, but the murderous qi gradually thickened, drifting out in strands from time to time. The cave was profoundly eerie. Even with Ye Chu’s strength, he felt a chill.
At this depth, ordinary people would not dare enter casually. If not for his special physique, Ye Chu would not have dared walk here either. The silent, insidious murderous qi was enough to give even great cultivators a headache.
“What exactly is Ou Yi trying to do? Could this cave lead to the core of the Ancient Nightmare Forbidden Land?” The mere thought made Ye Chu’s heart pound wildly.
After venturing deeper, a terrifying sound suddenly erupted in the cave. It carried roars and howls like a wild beast. The noise shook one’s primordial spirit as though it would shatter. Ye Chu’s ears rang with thunderous booms. His primordial spirit felt on the verge of cracking.
This terrified Ye Chu. What kind of monster was this? To possess such penetrating power with sound alone—it was horrifying.
Ye Chu retreated, but the roars grew even more terrifying, crashing over him like tidal waves. His primordial spirit felt as though it would rupture. Just as he felt himself about to faint, strands of cyan light emerged from the black iron. They wrapped around his primordial spirit. The tearing sensation vanished, replaced by clarity.
Ye Chu breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to withdraw. But the roars drew closer. Soon a monster appeared before him. Its body was blood-red, shrivelled and withered. Its appearance was ferocious. Two long fangs gleamed like steel blades, flashing with heart-shaking light. An astonishing aura emanated from it. A pungent, bloody stench rolled off its body. In this sinister environment, it felt like facing a demon god. Ye Chu’s heart throbbed violently.
“Roar…”
The blood-red, ferocious monster howled. Yin energy erupted violently. Between surges, it carried peerless might. Power rushed towards one direction but was blocked by dazzling light from a jade bracelet.
Ye Chu looked over and was stunned. He had not expected to encounter her here again.
The woman was peerlessly beautiful, with moon-like features and jade-like skin. She was pure and pristine, her eyes crystalline and translucent. A faint fragrance surrounded her. She possessed a unique icy elegance. Her flawless, indifferent face carried an intimidating cold pride. Yet paired with her graceful figure, even a single glance was enough to stir one’s soul and bones.
“How is it her?” Ye Chu had not expected to meet Ji Die here again. This woman, who had obtained the golden book, had now appeared in this place. What was she after?
Ji Die seemed to sense an outsider. Her gaze flicked towards Ye Chu. Seeing it was him, she paused briefly. But the pause was fleeting. She quickly turned away, her attention returning to the monster. She paid Ye Chu no further mind. Once again, he was ignored by her.
Ji Die held her jade bracelet. It erupted with the power of heaven and earth. Radiance surged. Scorching light shone forth, falling on the monster and producing hissing sounds, as though burning it.
“Roar…”
The strike enraged the monster. It howled fiercely. Terrifying energy surged out. Bloody, yin-cold qi rolled forth, sweeping in all directions. The rocks around it shattered.
This was a terrifying monster. Its erupted power far surpassed that of a great cultivator. Ji Die drove her jade bracelet, using its heaven-and-earth power to resist. Yet even so, beads of sweat appeared on her delicate brow.
Ye Chu did not dare linger here. He moved swiftly, circling around both sides and shooting deeper once more.
Blocking Ye Chu’s path were several desiccated corpses. Perhaps influenced by the monster’s yin-cold qi, these corpses were exceptionally ferocious. They lunged towards him.
“Get lost!” Ye Chu roared. Murderous qi exploded from his hand. Desiccated corpses could not be killed by ordinary means—only murderous qi could corrode them.
The multicoloured-patterned murderous spider’s qi struck the corpses, reducing them to nothing but bones. Ye Chu shot forward. Because of the battle between the monster and Ji Die, he had lost Ou Yi’s trail.
“Damn it!” Ye Chu cursed. With no other choice, he picked a direction at random and dashed towards it.
Ye Chu had no idea how far he had gone. Only when he reached a certain spot and felt his blood suddenly churning did he stop.
The sudden turbulence in his blood made Ye Chu frown. His gaze turned in one direction. The closer he approached, the more violently his blood roiled.
This strange sensation made Ye Chu grit his teeth and head that way. He stepped into a cave. The moment his foot crossed the threshold, the world spun. Everything around him twisted. A vast aura erupted. The endless mountain ranges vanished. Before Ye Chu stood only a single peak. This peak was enormous—tens of thousands of metres tall and wide. It loomed before him like a colossal entity.
“Ancient Nightmare!”
On the massive peak were carved two blood-red characters. The words were scarlet, as though dripping with fresh blood.
If not for the cyan light from the black iron enveloping his primordial spirit, Ye Chu would have had his primordial spirit seized by those two characters in that instant.
At the base of the enormous peak was a massive entrance. The opening was pitch-black. Nothing could be seen within.
But what truly shocked Ye Chu was not the entrance. Outside it stood countless stone tablets. And every single one of these tablets was crafted from Mysterious Stone. Each one radiated brilliant light.
Ye Chu felt no joy at this sight. Because every tablet carried a terrifying will realm. Each will realm was enough to easily slay him.
Ye Chu’s gaze swept across the tablets. “Tian Lingzi!”
“Wind Venerable!”
“Old Ancestor Nan Kui!”
“…”
Each tablet bore a name, and nothing more.
But these names made Ye Chu’s heart pound wildly.
“Tian Lingzi: Three thousand years ago, a supreme powerhouse who reached the pinnacle of creation. He dominated an entire region, unmatched in his era. An absolute powerhouse and the Holy Lord of the Tianyu Clan! Mysteriously vanished three thousand years ago!”
“Wind Venerable! The mortal enemy of the Tianyu Clan. As descendants of a Supreme Being, the Tianyu Clan hunted him for a hundred years yet failed to kill him—proof of his terror. Likewise vanished three thousand years ago.”
Ye Chu had never heard of Old Ancestor Nan Kui, but the will realm surging from his tablet was no weaker than the other two.
Any one of these figures, if still alive, could shake the continent. Yet now their tablets stood here. Could it be… they had died inside? Were these their tombstones?
While Ye Chu’s heart trembled, his gaze fell on another tablet. On it were only two words: “Ye King!”
These two words made Ye Chu’s heart nearly leap out of his chest. Ye King—this was the title of the Ye family’s founding ancestor!