Chapter 144: Underground Tomb
"What a powerful punch!"
Ye Chen raised an eyebrow, and the people present were either quasi-son-level or son-level in strength, yet they couldn't even block a single punch, with half of them dead or injured.
"Ah! A high-ranking player from the Dragon List has arrived!"
"Fist strength like a mountain, this person is Lin Yue, ranked 70th on the Hidden Dragon List."
"Run quickly!"
The decade-long journey to the Tianmeng Ancient Land, more than 60% of the sect's disciples were killed by the high-ranking experts on the Hidden Dragon List. Only a small number of people died in the hunt of ancient monsters. In the eyes of the sect's disciples, each of the high-ranking experts on the Hidden Dragon List was a killing star, and they had to run into them, otherwise, it would be a dead end.
It was unclear who started it first, but the survivors scattered in all directions like birds and beasts, and soon the hall was left with only Ye Chen and seven or eight corpses.
Thud, thud... The footsteps grew clearer and clearer, and a majestic figure slowly appeared in Yedu's line of sight. The opponent was over 2.2 meters tall, sturdy as a mountain, and was none other than Lin Yue, the seventh son of the Dragon Tiger Gate, a seven-star sect of Xiangshan Country, and also the seventieth ranked expert on the previous Hidden Dragon List.
Lin Yue glanced at the corpses on the ground and turned his head to look at Ye Chen, slightly surprised: "Why didn't you run?"
In his eyes, Ye Chen was just a late-stage Condensing True Realm warrior, not even reaching the peak of the late stage. Although those who could enter the Ancient Sky Dream were all top-notch disciples from their respective sects, they were still not worth looking at. With his own cultivation at the early stage of the Embracing Yuan Realm, who would care about a late-stage Condensing True Realm warrior?
Ye Chen smiled faintly, "I'm also interested in the treasure inside, why should I run?"
"Oh, looks like you're quite confident! Unfortunately, your abilities aren't enough. People with inflated confidence usually die early and never get to stand out." Lin Yue had his hands behind his back, not putting Ye Chen in his eyes at all, nor was he afraid of a sudden sneak attack.
"Why don't you just try it?"
Ye Chen knew that saying more would be useless. Everything had to be proven with strength, otherwise the other party would only treat him as a soft persimmon and bully him at will.
Lin Yue's eyes flashed with a strange color, and the other party clearly knew that he was a high-ranking expert on the Hidden Dragon List. He was still full of confidence, but he didn't understand where his opponent's confidence came from. Did they really think they could rival him, or were they just feverish?
The latter possibility is that his surname is very small, how could the other party's sect let a hot-headed person in, isn't that sending him to his death?
Lin Yue burst out laughing at this thought.
"Alright, you're quite bold. If you can withstand one punch from me, Lin Yue won't bother you again."
"One punch? I'll take it."
Ye Chen didn't plan on resisting his opponent head-on either, because he wasn't confident in being able to kill them. Of course, it was also unlikely that the other party could kill him.
Clang!
The sword is out of its scabbard, Ye Chen's aura has changed, the astonishing sharpness is gathering, condensing, sublimating, transforming, and the whole person seems like a divine sword that is about to be unsheathed, piercing through nothingness.
"What a sharp sword move! No, it seems to have a hint of sword intent. Has this person already grasped the essence of the sword?"
Lin Yue didn't quite believe that Ye Chen had grasped the sword intent, thinking it was an unusual change brought about by his cultivation of a special sword technique. He let out a loud shout and struck out with one fist.
"Shatter!"
The mountain-like fist strength had yet to strike, the ground surface was already compressed and cracked, the nearby walls made a crackling sound, and were abruptly broken.
This punch is enough to kill an ordinary early-stage Wu Zong practitioner on the spot, shatter a small mountain over 100 meters high, and its power is boundless.
Ye Chen's hair and clothes fluttered backward, rustling loudly, as if they would be blown away by the fist wind at any moment, shattered by the fist.
His eyes were sharp, and his sword was drawn out of its scabbard.
Hmph!
A thin line of sword energy appeared in the air, extending straight towards the fist. At that moment, all the crystal lamps in the hall seemed to lose their color, leaving only this one sword.
Crackling and popping!
The air was filled with hundreds of explosive sounds at an extremely fast frequency that almost pierced people's eardrums, and then a sudden clap of thunder burst forth, causing the two to retreat separately.
"Sword intent, indeed it is sword intent!"
Steady yourself, Lin Yue's face was filled with incredulity.
As the man was still in mid-retreat, Ye Chen had already skillfully sheathed his sword and floated gently to the ground, raising his head to say: "I concede."
Lin Yue Dao: "I keep my word, I won't make things difficult for you again. However, don't think that relying on sword intent will allow you to roam freely. In the previous Hidden Dragon List competition, there were also a few disciples from the Zongmen who understood sword intent, but in the end, they didn't have an invincible momentum."
"I naturally know this."
Ye Chen didn't foolishly think that sword intent was everything, and could easily kill Lin Yue. He knew that among the three thousand great paths, the path of the sword was just one of them, and sword intent was only a sublimation within the path of the sword, not representing the qualification to look down on the world. After all, those who looked down on the world, which one's cultivation wasn't earth-shattering? No one could transcend boundaries and achieve transcendence.
Tap, tap, tap... The two men didn't intend to continue fighting and were about to open two of the three large doors when faint footsteps echoed from another passageway.
The footsteps were extremely regular, each time they sounded and ended, then sounded again, the time was always the same, not a second difference, as if it was intentional, but also as if it was natural, if you had to use one word to describe it, that would be duplication, no mistake, only duplication can perfectly explain the other's footsteps regularity.
Although they hadn't seen anyone yet, Ye Chen and Lin Yue's expressions had changed.
"This guy is formidable. Listening to his footsteps, I feel like I've heard them somewhere before." Lin Yue's eyebrows furrowed into a '川' shape as he racked his brains trying to remember.
Next moment!
Lin Yue suddenly called out, "It's 'Demon Young Master' Yin Wuqing!"
'Magical Boy' Yin Wuqing!
Ye Chen's mind quickly surfaced the other party's information, Tian She Nation's seventh-grade sect - Man Mo Sect's eldest disciple, last season's hidden dragon list ranking forty-fifth, among the nine nations' thirteen hidden dragon list experts, one of the two who had not yet broken through to the Bao Yuan realm.
"Isn't this person still at the stage of not breaking through to the Embracing Yuan Realm?" Ye Chen had been wondering about this for a long time. Luo Hanshan said that basically all the top 50 on the Hidden Dragon List were martial artists in the Embracing Yuan Realm, so how did Yin Wuqing manage to break into the top 50, and that was still a year and a half ago.
Lin Yue asked in doubt, "Haven't you heard of the name 'Demon Young Master' Yin Wuqing? He's an existence that even early-stage Bao Yuan realm warriors fear. Neither 'One Knife No Blood' Jiu Wu Xue nor 'Killing Eagle' would dare to clash with him head-on."
Ye Chen shook his head. He had only recently reached this realm and wasn't very well-informed about outside news. Perhaps the four great princes of Tianfeng Country knew more.
"Like the Demon Sect and the Evil Blood Sect, they are both demonic sects that cultivate demonic martial arts. The martial art cultivated by Yin Wuqing is even more unique, called 'Earth Demon Tempering Body Great Method', which specializes in refining the flesh to make it as hard as gold and iron, immune to knives and guns, water and fire. In addition, those who cultivate this martial art will progress very slowly, but every time they advance a step, their strength will skyrocket, making them terrifyingly powerful. Relying on the Earth Demon Tempering Body Great Method, he actually defeated several Early Yuan Realm warriors in the Hidden Dragon Ranking competition, taking 45th place. Now that we have all entered the Yuan Realm, no one dares to underestimate him."
Ye Chen asked: "I don't know what level is the Demon Earth's Tempering Body Great Technique?"
Lin Yue said: "It's said to be a mid-tier prefecture-level."
"A mid-grade Earth-level martial art, no wonder it's even higher than my Tempering Jade Body Technique by a whole grade. It seems that the Sect Master Luo Xinglie's martial art is also only mid-grade Earth-level." Ye Chen thought to himself.
The footsteps stopped, and a young figure appeared in the line of sight of the two men. The opponent was neither tall nor short, with a slender body that seemed almost thin from his build alone. But when he fell into Ye Chen's and Lin Yue's eyes, the flavor was different. This person just stood there, giving people an invincible strong feeling, as if he himself was a weapon.
"Lin Yue, you want to stop me."
The young man looked at Lin Yue with a cold gaze.
Lin Yue burst out laughing and said, "How dare I block the 'Demon Young Master's' path? It just so happens that there are three doors here, let's each take one."
"How could he be qualified too."
Yin's ruthless gaze fell on Ye Chen.
Lin Yue shook his head. "Don't underestimate him, he has already grasped the sword intent. Just now, we exchanged a move and neither of us gained the upper hand."
"Oh, that's qualified." Yin Wuqing was somewhat unexpected. Those who could understand the sword intent were all ruthless people. He had already experienced it in the Qinglong Competition and would not underestimate his opponent.
"We mind our own business and don't interfere with others; otherwise, I, Lin Yue, wouldn't be afraid of anyone."
While speaking, Lin Yue walked towards the door in the middle.
The demon boy walked towards the door on the right.
Ye Chen didn't care which door he chose, anyway, before it was opened, who knew what was inside.
"Huh?"
On the other side, Lin Yue let out a soft hum, and in front of the door, an invisible barrier blocked him, preventing him from opening the door.
"Give me change!"
One punch was thrown out, and the tyrannical fist strength condensed into shape, blasting on the invisible barrier.
Buzz!
The barrier has not been broken, and waves are rising in all directions.
Lin Yue didn't believe in evil, his whole body's true energy surged forth, and he threw out three punches in a row.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The invisible barrier was violently shaken and quickly twisted, with signs of shattering. Then, Lin Yue threw out his fourth punch, which shattered the barrier at once.
On the other side, Mo Gongzi Yin emotionlessly sneered, his smooth jade-like palm stretched out, clenched into a fist, and without releasing even a single thread of true energy, directly smashed onto the invisible barrier.
Bang!
The invisible screen sank down a piece, and before it had time to bounce back, Yin Wuqing's second punch, third punch landed.
The fourth punch didn't land, and Yin Wuqing's two hands clamped down on the recessed area, tearing it apart to both sides.
Splash!
The invisible barrier was torn apart by him, the enormous brute force made Ye Chen look at it with shock and awe, secretly thinking that he couldn't compare to him.
As soon as they entered the gate, Ye Chen drew out the Yun Yin sword and struck the same point three times in a row.
Hmph!
Invisible barriers were shattered and vanished into thin air.
With an iron spear on his back and a sword in his right hand, Ye Chen opened the door and stepped inside.
There was nothing in the room except for a black coffin placed right in the middle.
"Is this a tomb?"
Ye Chen had a bad idea because the coffin gave him an eerie feeling as if there was something terrifying inside.
Ah!
Just then, angry shouting came from Lin Yue's room.
Immediately followed by a shocking and intense fight, shaking the room along with the hall.
Creak!
The thick coffin lid suddenly shifted slightly to the side, revealing a crack. From within, two green beams of light shot out, like malevolent spirits.
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