Eight or nine out of ten in the heavenly palace wanted to kill Xiao Chen. He already made preparations for that, but he had not expected that the first ones he would meet would be the Demonic Brilliant Two Elders, who had beaten him into a sorry state previously.
Within the sword formation, black sword Qi howled. A Secret Treasure floated above each of the Demonic Brilliant Two Elders, blocking the attacks of the Death sword Qi.
The hemp-robed old man had a flaming red fan above his head. Xiao Chen had once tasted the might of this fan. With one wave, it could change the color of the sky, burning it for fifty kilometers around.
The strength of these two was just slightly weaker than great grandmaster-level Martial Sages. However, they could still bring out the full might of a peak King Grade Secret Treasure. Compared to ordinary grandmaster-level Martial Sages, who could bring out only the might of an ordinary King Grade Secret Treasure, the difference was like clouds and mud.
The Secret Treasure of the middle-aged man was a scarlet military token. It contained the souls of many soldiers, materializing a strong killing Qi. Together with his Army Killing Fist, he could display puissant might.
The life King Grade Secret Treasures of the two were not defensive Secret Treasures; they could only match offense with offense. Faced with the attacks of the Death sword Qi, they could not put their all into the chase; they had to split some of their attention to blocking the sword Qi.
If the two had a strong defensive Secret Treasure, they could just rely on the might of the Secret Treasure and fully focus on subduing the pair of white wings; they would not have to put in as much effort as they did now.
“Whoos.h.!.+”
The pair of white wings behaved like it was alive. As it flapped gently, countless pure and bright feathers fell, giving off a crystalline light. Soon, it left the Demonic Brilliant Two Elders far behind.
“d.a.m.n it!”
Rage flashed on the middle-aged man’s face. He sent out a punch with boundless killing Qi, shattering all the sword Qi approaching him.
However, the sword Qi was unending. The area that the pair of white wings led them to was the danger zone of the formation. When the two arrived there, endless streams of sword Qi headed for them.
The flood was like a sinister army of death. As the sword Qi surged around and covered the sky, illusions appeared before the two’s eyes as if they were trapped in a battlefield at the ancient underworld river.
Hidden in a small restriction nearby, Xiao Chen felt excited. He was about to exit to s.n.a.t.c.h the Magic Treasure. However, just when he took a step out, he sensed four strong auras arriving, so he drew back.
“Hahaha! The somewhat famous Demonic Brilliant Two Elders of the Profound Domain is just so-so. Our Black Mountain Four Bandits will be taking this Magic Treasure that is equal to a King Grade Secret Treasure!”
Four old men leaped into the Death sword formation. The person leading them looked very spirited. His face was glowing pink with health, and his hair was black. He wore baggy black robes with wide sleeves.
This person’s cultivation was deep and unfathomable, no less than the Demonic Brilliant Two Elders’. As for the other three old men, they were slightly weaker.
Even so, these three old men were grandmaster-level Martial Sages. All of them held a King Grade Secret Treasure of decent quality and managed to destroy all the incoming Death sword Qi.
Lord Jiu, who was hiding with Xiao Chen in the restriction, said with a grave expression, “Unexpectedly, these four old fellows are here as well.”
Xiao Chen asked softly, “You know them?”
“Haha! I never met them before. However, most of the loose cultivators in the Primal Chaos Domain have heard of these four. Their boss, Meng Bai, ranks in the top twenty of the Evil Cultivator Ranking of the Primal Chaos Domain. His Demon Subduing Staff Technique has killed many aggrieved spirits.”
The Primal Chaos Domain was the lair of all the loose cultivators in the world. For this Meng Bai to rank in the top twenty of the Evil Cultivator Ranking of such a place, he had to be quite extraordinary.
Xiao Chen made some calculations in his mind. If it was just the Demonic Brilliant Two Elders, he was confident in killing them and s.n.a.t.c.hing away the treasure. However, with the Black Mountain Four Bandits now here, he had to make changes to the plan.
He decided to observe first. He withdrew his killing Qi and focused his Spiritual Sense in his eyes. Peering through the dense Death sword Qi, he watched the situation in the sword formation.
“Bang!”
Although the Demonic Brilliant Two Elders were trapped in a killing illusion, they were not completely unaware of what was happening outside. They felt powerful enemies approaching, so they stopped hiding their strength and put in some effort. They activated their Secret Treasures and broke out of the illusion in one go.
“Meng Bai, you old fogey, how dare you try to s.n.a.t.c.h a treasure from us, the Demonic Brilliant Two Elders? Are you tired of living?”
The middle-aged man’s temper was very fiery. The moment he leaped out, he threw a punch supported by the elite army in the scarlet military token. The Army Killing Fist was like a ma.s.sive army charging over.
Meng Bai chuckled and did not stop. He merely continued what he was doing, trying to grab the white wings.
Meng Bai’s three companions flew forward and used their various means. Combining the strength of the three, they blocked the middle-aged man’s tyrannical punch.
The scarlet soldiers got scattered within the sword formation. They easily shattered the lingering Death sword Qi in the air.
The nine black swords that made up the formation trembled slightly—which showed how tyrannical and mighty this punch was.
When Xiao Chen saw this scene, his eyes suddenly lit up. He stared at one of the black swords for a while before s.h.i.+fting his gaze away.
Just when Meng Bai was about to grab the white wings, a huge, realistic-looking, flaming hand with distinct palm lines on it descended from the sky, smas.h.i.+ng towards Meng Bai.
“Bang!”
Meng Bai cursed as a two-meter-long black Demon Subduing Staff appeared in his hand. The air trembled as he smashed the huge flaming hand into countless clumps of scattered flames.
As the hemp-robed old man held the flaming fan, he smiled and blocked Meng Bai. “Brother Meng Bai, it has been ten years since we last met. You are rather infamous now, even daring to s.n.a.t.c.h our, the Demonic Brilliant Two Elders’, things.”
A ferocious glint flashed in Meng Bai’s eyes. He smiled sinisterly. “You old dog. Ten years ago, this old man beat you up like a dog in the Profound Domain. Now, I will beat you until you beg for mercy.”
Meng Bai’s figure flashed, and the staff descended from above. Then, a colossal, ancient, metal Buddha statue with an angry expression and ferocious gaze appeared behind him.
This Buddha statue roared ferociously at the hemp-robed old man, causing the Death sword Qi around to tremble and shatter.
The hemp-robed old man calmly waved his flaming fan. Nine hundred and ninety-nine flame tornadoes surged out, blocking the Demon Subduing Staff’s sky-shattering attack.
Both the images of the hemp-robed old man’s burning clouds and Meng Bai’s Demon Subduing were already near Perfection, allowing their moves to contain supreme might.
When the two attacks clashed, the nine black swords buzzed and trembled.
The battle was extremely intense. However, the two’s eyes, as well as everyone else’s, were always focused on the pair of white wings.
Suddenly, an old man leaped out from a restriction at the side, wanting to benefit from the chaos and s.n.a.t.c.h the Magic Treasure away.
Taking advantage of the fight, this old man used a defensive Secret Treasure and easily caught up with the wings. A look of joy flashed in his eyes as he reached out to grab them.
“Boom!”
Both sides of the battle stopped at the same time. All sorts of Heaven Ranked Martial Techniques or attacks with King Grade Secret Treasures poured down on that old man like a gus.h.i.+ng waterfall.
Before that old man could say a word, the King Grade Secret Treasure protecting him shattered. His body turned into a splatter of red. With one sweep of the strong wind from the Death sword formation, all his life essence drained away.
Both sides were old men who had lived for centuries. They had a lot of experience and knew that there would be people in this heavenly palace leaping out at any moment to take advantage of the situation.
Since both sides had already fought to this extent, they naturally did not wish for such an outcome. If some opportunist made a move, it was predictable that both sides would tacitly work together to destroy the interloper.
When Lord Jiu saw this, his heart thumped wildly; he was flabbergasted. “A grandmaster-level Martial Sage, who can summon wind and call rain, died just like that! This is really cruel. Fortunately, this Lord Jiu did not rush in.”
Xiao Chen’s expression turned grave as well. He felt that this situation was somewhat tricky to handle. Only a great grandmaster-level Martial Sage or someone of similar strength could find an opportunity to jump in and s.n.a.t.c.h the treasure.
Capitalizing on the chaos would not be easy, especially before a group of experienced old men. If one was not careful, one might end up dying without a complete corpse.
“Brother Xiao, let’s try our luck elsewhere.” The death of that grandmaster-level Martial Sage spooked Lord Jiu.
However, Xiao Chen shook his head and did not say anything. If they could not clear this now, how could they gain any harvest by going farther in?
There was a total of ten strong restrictions in the inner region. The compet.i.tion in each area was incredibly intense.
Just based on the ground littered with desiccated corpses in the sword formation in front, one could imagine what kind of a fight the Demonic Brilliant Two Elders had been through for them to survive until now.
The ones able to survive farther in would definitely be no weaker than the Demonic Brilliant Two Elders. In fact, they might even be stronger.
“Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!”
The two sides clashed once more in the formation. The statue roared ferociously as the staff swept out into the surroundings, hacking apart the flame tornadoes.
The nine black swords again trembled intensely, sending out horrifying sword Qi as they buzzed.
“Now!”
Xiao Chen suddenly punched, shattering the restriction around himself. Then he charged upwards on an electric light.
Moving extremely fast, he appeared like flickering light and pa.s.sing shadows. His target was not the white wings. Instead, it was the king-like existence within the sword formation—the black Death sword that ruled the other eight black swords.
He lunged straight for the sword, giving the white wings at one side only a glance before completely ignoring them.
By the time the others noticed him, his right hand already had a firm grip on the sword handle.
“Xiao Chen!”
A white figure with long hair and a blue Sea Monarch Headscarf on his head—the familiar getup and the delicate facial features allowed the Demonic Brilliant Two Elders to recognize Xiao Chen immediately. Overwhelming flames of rage and murderous intent immediately surged in their eyes.
When the middle-aged man saw that Xiao Chen grabbed the Death sword, he laughed loudly, “What an idiot! The Death Qi in that sword can instantly suck a person dry if they’re not a Ghost Race or Corpse Race cultivator.”
When the hemp-robed old man saw Xiao Chen appear, a murderous intent burned in him. He abandoned Meng Bai to eliminate Xiao Chen. However, when he saw Xiao Chen recklessly grabbing the handle of the Death sword, he instantly smiled and stopped moving.
“So, he is Xiao Chen.”
The Black Mountain Four Bandits stopped at the same time. They also cast their gazes at this outstanding talent of the Kunlun Realm, the Azure Emperor’s descendant who would be conferred King half a year from now.
When the Black Mountain Four Bandits’ attention landed on the Immortal Spirit Ring on Xiao Chen’s left hand, they all revealed greedy eyes as they sized up Xiao Chen, viewing him only as a human-shaped treasure trove.
The Three Holy Lands were not backing Xiao Chen; this was something that was known long ago. If the Black Mountain Four Bandits killed Xiao Chen, they could not only obtain his treasures but also use his head to claim rewards from various sects.
Furthermore, the Black Mountain Four Bandits could use Xiao Chen to establish their fame and might. Once the news spread that they were the ones to kill the Azure Emperor’s descendant, their glory would be boundless.
“We, the Black Mountain Four Bandits, will be taking his head!” Meng Bai smiled, and the sinister and ugly Buddha statue behind him revealed a horrifying smile along with him.