Xie Zixuan did not mind the difficulty. This Astral Banner would be his soon. No matter how powerful the Secret Treasure was, his opponent’s energy would eventually run out.

“Receive my saber strike! Avici Hell, Eight Division Heavenly Ghost!” Xie Zixuan shouted and took eight steps in the air. With every step he took, he left behind a lingering ghostly figure. His aura rose continuously.

After eight steps, the saber light in Xie Zixuan’s hand attacked supernaturally, shaking the sky and ground.

Qing Cheng’s expression turned grave. The might of this saber strike was enough to tear through the barrier of the starlight and injure her.

Even though Qing Cheng wanted to leave, she could not. So she could only clench her teeth and hold on. She circulated the Law Energy in her body, preparing to use all of it block this saber.

“Whoosh!”

Just at this moment, Qing Cheng suddenly felt that the Cycle Banner stopped obeying her orders. She looked and saw a white figure flash by, grasping the Cycle Banner.

With one casual move, the seven Astral Pearls returned. Xiao Chen used his Law Energy and brought out the full power of Massacre, Death, and Ruin in Dubhe, Merak, and Phecda.

Three ancient words for Massacre, Death, and Ruin formed and came out from the Astral Banner’s pole. A tricolor light mixed with the starlight and manifested a vast sea with huge waves.

A killing intent, the sound of ruin, and silent death reverberated everywhere, howling without end, bringing out the full might of the Cycle Banner.

A loud explosion resounded in the air and blocked Xie Zixuan’s Eight Division Heavenly Ghost.

Joy appeared on Qing Cheng’s face. Xiao Chen finally arrived. If he had come any later, the consequences would be hard to imagine.

Xie Zixuan turned around, and the afterimages left by Eight Division Heavenly Ghost merged into his body. Slight shock appeared on his face. He had not expected the Cycle Banner to be able to erupt with such might.

However, after Xie Zixuan found his footing and saw Xiao Chen’s cultivation, he calmed down. Then, he looked at the Eight Ghost Palanquin behind Xiao Chen. Now, he understood what was going on. These two swapped Secret Treasures.

Xie Zixuan’s lips could not help but curl up. The disciple that the Ghost Empress Xi Xun was proud of actually chose a human, a human that was only a Superior Grade Martial Sage.

If they did not have a close relationship, why would they exchange Secret Treasures?

[TL Note: In classic Wuxia stories written by Jinyong, exchanging swords is a sign of love and commitment.]

“Qing Cheng, this is the reinforcement you spoke of? There are so many outstanding talents in our Ghost Race, yet you actually chose a human?”

Xiao Chen was slightly stunned. He did not understand what this person was talking about. Then, he passed the Cycle Banner back to Qing Cheng and said, “Go save Xiao Bai and the others. Leave this place to me.”

“Thinking of leaving? Have I even agreed to that?!”

Xie Zixuan’s figure split into eight again, each one holding a weapon. A vague image of Avici Hell descended from the sky. Surging Death Qi poured out, looking very horrifying.

Xiao Chen could not help but turn grave. This Saber Technique was really strange. He wondered how it was practiced to actually materialize such a realistic mysterious phenomenon.

However, he did not have time to think about how to break this. He could only resort to brute force.

A divine light descended from the sky. Xiao Chen executed the Myriad Heaven Divine Fist’s Deities Descending.

Now that Xiao Chen was capable of three Dragon Force, his physical body limited him; he did not dare to raise his combat prowess by tenfold. So he held back some and unleashed only twenty Dragon Force with his punch.

Twenty heavenly dragon images appeared behind Xiao Chen, roaring nonstop. Dragon Might spread, surging endlessly.

“Bang!”

Before Xie Zixuan’s incredulous gaze, the might of this punch shattered the vague image of the Avici Hell, causing it to collapse completely.

The eight figures fell to the ground at the same time and vomited blood before merging back into him. His pale face turned ashen as he coughed incessantly. He felt that all his internal organs had ruptured.

Xie Zixuan looked at Xiao Chen with some horror before getting up and fleeing in a sorry state.

Xiao Chen did not bother to give chase. He looked at the cracked skin on his hand, feeling some pain coming from the bones under the flesh. Frowning slightly, he muttered, “It looks like ten Dragon Force is all my body can bear for now. If I add another ten Dragon Force, my body will not be able to bear it for long. I can only use it twice at best.”

Qing Chen, who went to help the rest and had not gone very far yet, saw Xie Zixuan running away in a panic. Her mind froze for an instant. How come the moment I turned around, the situation changed so greatly?

The five gigantic Ice phantoms had been summoned out through a combination of Xie Zixuan’s secret techniques and some one-time-use Secret Treasures. Now that he was defeated and fleeing, the summoned Ice Phantoms naturally left as well.

Even Xiao Chen felt wary about the five-hundred-meter-tall Ice Phantoms. He did not know how Xie Zixuan summoned them.

Xie Zixuan’s final move was also very strange. If not for a fortuitous encounter resulting in Xiao Chen’s Vital Qi increasing tremendously, even if he used Subduing Dragon Profound Slash, he would not have managed to break it so straightforwardly. At best, he would have been slightly stronger—not enough to make the other party retreat right away.

When Xiao Chen rejoined Xiao Bai and the others, he heard about what happened. Then, he stared at Qing Cheng’s beautiful face.

The two problems they encountered in the Nine Layers of Purgatory were both due to her.

Qing Cheng felt guilty when stared at. She said, “Don’t look at this lady like that. Who could have known that Xie Zixuan would just so happen to make a breakthrough and run into us in the Nine Layers of Purgatory?”

However, Xiao Chen did not say anything. He stretched out his hand and quickly poked Qing Cheng’s forehead.

Before she could react, she felt the cold saber Qi restriction he had left in her being pulled away.

After Xiao Chen removed all the cold Qi, he retracted his hand, which now held a crystalline ice flower.

Qing Cheng exhaled in relief. Then, she gave him a strange look and asked, “What are you thinking of doing?”

Xiao Chen smiled faintly and countered, “What do you want me to do?”

Seeing a smile on Xiao Chen’s face that did not appear to be a smile, Qing Cheng blushed. After a while, her expression recovered to normal. She asked, “Why did you remove the restriction? Are you not afraid that I will run away?”

“Go, then. We do not need you to go to the Yellow Springs Road.”

Right after Xiao Chen said that, the rest could not help but feel that this was strange, not knowing why he made such a decision. Qing Cheng herself was surprised. Even so, she was overjoyed. She said, “You said it yourself. You can’t take that back now. This lady did not renege on her promise.”

Xiao Chen said calmly, “If you still don’t go, I might change my mind. I’ll still lend you the Cycle Banner, and I’ll hold on to the Eight Ghost Palanquin. After I come out, we will exchange them back.”

Qing Cheng smiled happily. She took the ice flower from Xiao Chen’s hand and said, “That matches my intent. I’ll hold on to this flower. Treat it as my reward. Here is some advice: don’t look back on the Yellow Springs Road.”

Melodious laughter resounded in everyone’s ears as Qing Cheng’s figure drifted far away. She disappeared from Xiao Chen’s and the others’ sight in a few breaths.

“Xiao Chen, why did you let her go? We definitely could use her on this journey,” Kong Yuan said, unable to understand.

The others had suspected that it was not friendship that bound Xiao Chen and Qing Cheng. Now that he had shown his hand, they did not feel surprised. However, they found it strange that he let Qing Cheng off.

Xiao Chen explained softly, “The previous two problems that we encountered were due to her. I don’t know if they were coincidences or tricks that she played. In any case, she is not willing to go. So, I’ll just let her be. This matter is of great importance. I am not willing to gamble on it.”

Everyone thought about what he said; the problems were indeed too coincidental. If such coincidences kept occurring on this journey, it would be very troublesome.

If they were really coincidences, that would be fine. If they were not, then the situation would be very frightening.

“We will rest here for tonight, then. We can continue on our journey tomorrow.”

Having gone through a great battle, the three would definitely be somewhat fatigued. Xiao Chen had also surpassed what his body could endure, using twenty Dragon Force. His body also needed time to recover.

The Sin Mirroring Hell was a mirrorlike glacier; it did not distinguish between day or night. When Xiao Chen said to rest for the night, that was just their habit of using the time differentiation of the continent.

The group remained silent, starting to circulate their energies.

Xiao Chen looked at the cracks on his skin; his wounds had not healed yet. There were also many small cracks on the bones under his flesh. Occasionally, pain pricked him.

After his absorption of the Flood Dragon Scissors, his strength had increased by a gratuitous two Dragon Force. However, his body had not taken in that much divine materials, so it could not keep up with his Vital Qi.

Otherwise, if Xiao Chen raised his combat prowess by tenfold, sending out thirty Dragon Force, he would have every confidence that he could hold his own against that Ghost Race great grandmaster-level Martial Sage. He could even severely injure the other party.

On the surface, the divine materials that Xiao Chen absorbed in the Heavenly Ruin Wasteland only increased his strength by one Dragon Force. However, as he fought, they somehow strengthened his physical body.

If not, Xiao Chen would not have dared to use ten Dragon Force with his Rank 3 Sage Body.

That Ghost Race great grandmaster-level Martial Sage was a similar case. His physical body clearly already reached peak Rank 4 Sage Body. He could casually send out ten Dragon Force. However, he still found it tiring to use fifteen Dragon Force.

If the Ghost Race great grandmaster-level Martial Sage’s physical body could keep up, given his hundreds of years of accumulations, he should be able to amplify his combat prowess threefold and send out thirty Dragon Force.

Unfortunately, the other party did not have a heaven-defying Cultivation Technique like the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art. His body had reached a bottleneck. Without a fortuitous encounter, he would not be able to improve further.

Xiao Chen thought to himself, The auction for the Longevity Fruits that Ying Qiong is helping me hold should already be over. After I go out, I should use that huge sum of Astral Coins to buy Secret Treasures containing dragon souls to raise my Dragon Energy.

Then, I will be able to achieve ten Dragon Force sooner and break into the second layer of the Azure Dragon Body Nourishing Art. Once I enter the second layer, my body should be able to advance to Rank 4 Sage Body.

---

After Qing Cheng traveled fifty kilometers away, she stopped by an ice mountain. She looked around expressionlessly and silently moved her lips.

Cryptic information quickly spread out in the air in all directions.

Soon, two figures flew to her. One of them was Jiang Chengzi, whom Xiao Chen defeated. The other was an old man, who was a bona fide great grandmaster-level Martial Sage.

“Congratulations, Young Miss on getting free,” the two said happily when they landed on the ground.

Qing Cheng nodded slightly. “How did Xiao Chen’s strength suddenly improve so much? He managed to shatter Xie Zixuan’s Avici Hell in one punch. Did you do discover anything when you followed him?”

Jiang Chengzi answered honestly, “He seems to be cultivating a strange Cultivation Technique. He can consume Secret Treasures to increase his strength. After he consumed the Flood Dragon Scissors, his strength increased explosively.”

So, that is what happened. Qing Cheng fiddled with the ice flower in her hand. Her thoughts were inscrutable.

Jiang Chengzi asked, “Young Miss, since you are free already, should we attack Xiao Chen? Elder Han is still observing them from afar.”

Death Qi was rife in the Nine Layers of Purgatory, which restricted a cultivator’s range of detection significantly. However, Ghost Race cultivators were not affected, enjoying a great advantage.

When Qing Cheng entered the Mute Desert, she had used the secret language of the Ghost Race to inform the experts of the Ghost Empress’s faction in the Nine Layers of Purgatory to follow them.

Given the limitations on Xiao Chen’s Spiritual Sense and her covert actions, he had not discovered what she had done.

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