Embers of Sword

Chapter 681 The Great Venerable
Thousands of miles away.

The Demon Kingdom, a desolate snow-capped mountain.

A dark door slowly opened, and a handsome demon with only one arm fell out of the door, his back hitting the ground heavily, splashing a puddle of snow.

"call……"

Cui Zhen lay in the heavy snow, exhaling a long breath of stale air.

No matter how top-tier the teleportation array is, it requires a large amount of vital energy to perform ultra-long-distance void teleportation.

Besides.

Those who join the formation also need to have sufficient physical strength.

With Cui Zhen's strength, he could naturally "traverse the void," but this time, activating the array talisman and crossing tens of thousands of miles... resulted in him suffering a serious injury.

Because most of their mental energy was used to deal with those annihilating intents that had seeped into their very bones.

Cui Zhen had no time to erect a barrier of Dao intent, nor to protect her physical body; she could only withstand the torrent of void.

This is a crossing of thousands of miles.

His skin was covered with hundreds or even thousands of scarlet marks from being cut.

A faint trace of demonic blood spread out, staining the area within several feet red, but these wounds quickly healed completely. Even without the "Fountain of Immortality," he still possessed top-tier self-healing and regeneration abilities.

Cui Zhen closed her eyes, breathing in the cold air of the demon kingdom.

"Great One..."

A soft voice suddenly sounded behind me.

"How did you get so badly injured?"

A woman had been waiting there for a long time without saying a word. Now she knelt down, took out a clean silk cloth, and carefully wiped the bloodstains from Cui Zhen's cheek.

Cui Zhen silently enjoyed the woman's services.

He didn't open his eyes, as if he were in a semi-dormant state, with the previous scene replaying in his mind.

After a while.

Cui Zhen suddenly laughed and said, "Xie Xuanyi is indeed powerful... Wu Jiu is definitely no match for him. No wonder even someone of 'Red Carp' level suffered a loss..."

"Xie Xuanyi..."

The woman spoke softly, gazing at the severed arm of the handsome demon, and said with resentment, "Was it him who cut off your arm?"

"Ah……"

Upon hearing this, Cui Zhen was not angry; instead, she chuckled softly.

He tried to lift the severed arm.

Thick steam rose from the shattered flesh and wounds, followed by a whoosh as endless corrosive energy surged from the wounds, and a blurry arm materialized, growing bone and flesh at an extremely "slow" pace.

"That's it."

Cui Zhen slowly moved his arms, clenching and unclenching his fists.

The reason he severed his arm was because the location of the duel was too terrible. He had to seize the time to get rid of the sword energy of [Sickness] and could not afford to linger in the fight.

After unleashing the killing move.

Cui Zhen couldn't guarantee that Xie Xuanyi would still crush the Lotus Token and not call for outside help.

That desolate ridge is only a dozen miles away from the Sword Palace.

With the ability of a Yang God level expert to traverse the void, once they receive the Lotus Order, it only takes a few breaths from setting off to arriving at the battlefield.

If it were Zhao Chunyang, the speed would only be faster, and he could probably complete the spatial blockade in the blink of an eye.

"I've heard that Xie Xuanyi is a genius that appears only once in a thousand years among humans."

The woman spoke softly again, "He... is only at the Yin Spirit Realm now..."

"good."

Cui Zhen chuckled easily, "He is indeed only at the Yin Spirit Realm."

Some time ago, the news that the three Yang Gods of the Heavenly Phoenix Palace had traveled south to retrieve the throne caused quite a stir and was known to everyone.

Wu Jiu, Si Feng, Chi Ru.

The three great sages, joining forces, traveled south and successfully reclaimed the throne, but at a considerable cost...

It is said that the red carp is still healing its wounds.

The battle at Jinli Mountain brought Xie Xuanyi's name back into the sights of the great cultivators of the Demon Kingdom.

"The 'throne' that the Heavenly Phoenix Palace brought back seems to have an unusual connection with him as well..."

As the female demon spoke, her expression turned resentful, and her tone became more hateful: "Are those fools in the Heavenly Phoenix Palace really insane? A bastard who has been wandering outside for decades is worthy of sitting on the throne? Great Venerable, they should have left the 'throne' to you; it was originally yours."

"..."

Cui Zhen's expression remained unchanged.

He simply chuckled and extended his hand, gesturing for the woman to move forward a little.

The woman knelt in the heavy snow, quickly moved closer, used herself as a pillow, and embraced Cui Zhen. She stretched out her snow-white fingers and gently pressed the head of the handsome demon.

"Great Master."

After a moment's thought, the woman spoke again: "If you wish to reclaim the throne of the Heavenly Phoenix Palace, Ye Ling is willing to follow you with her life."

"Yoriya".

Upon hearing this, Cui Zhen shook his head and said wearily, "Is the throne of the Heavenly Phoenix Palace something very precious?"

Ye Ling was stunned.

The throne of the Heavenly Phoenix Palace... is the highest honor in the Demon Kingdom.

Just like the emperor of the Great Chu?
Who wouldn't want to be above all others in the demon kingdom?
Over the past millennium, how many people have been able to reach the top, how many have sat on the throne?
"I have lost everything."

Cui Zhen said softly, "Of all the things I've lost... the throne is the least important. I'm fortunate to have another chance, and this time I don't want anything to do with the 'throne' anymore. As for the Heavenly Phoenix Palace, I don't want to have any contact with it either."

The snowflakes swirled and fell upon that incomparably beautiful face.

Compared to that face, the falling snow seemed filthy and dirty.

This handsome demon, who once held the highest position in the world, was now so beautiful that it was breathtaking.

"..."

Ye Ling silently looked at the handsome face in her arms, but felt somewhat unaccustomed to it.

I have followed the Great One for so many years.

In her memory, the Great Lord was decisive and ruthless, spirited and ambitious, with the power to conquer mountains and rivers.

But now, it's as if a swordsman has broken his sword and a knife master has discarded his precious blade, and what he exhales from his chest is nothing but a deep sense of depression.

"You don't need to worry."

Cui Zhen seemed to have guessed Ye Ling's thoughts. He suddenly opened his eyes and said lazily, "What I want to do hasn't changed. I still want to conquer this world... but this time, I won't be as foolish as I was in my previous life. I won't wade into the muddy waters of the Heavenly Phoenix Palace again."

Yoru looked directly into those eyes.

It was dark and deep, like an ink-black sea, but in its deepest part, a blazing fire burned.

Just this sentence.

She then knew that the Great Venerable was still the same Great Venerable.

"understood."

Ye Ling laughed. She stopped mentioning the Heavenly Phoenix Palace and changed the subject, asking with concern, "Is that human swordsman named Xie Xuanyi a reincarnation like you? Someone who can defeat you in the Yin God Realm must be a monstrous genius who reached 'extreme perfection' in his previous life, right?"

"Who said I lost?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Zhen raised an eyebrow with a smug look on his face.

He raised his arm and looked through the gaps between the fingers of this newborn hand at the increasingly raging snow, and said with a meaningful smile, "I used the 'Nether Feather Fan,' and this kid's injuries... will only be more serious than mine."

(End of this chapter)