The atmosphere froze, and it became oppressive and deathly silent.
“I apologize for the offence earlier, we didn’t know Nether Spring Grand Emperor was here. I’m Cui Ruyin, I hope that Grand Emperor can let us off out of consideration for my clan’s ancestor.” The white haired boy broke the oppressive silence, and his clear voice shook through the heavens and the earth.
“The Cui Clan’s ancestor? Hmph! Presently, the Punishment Bureau is covered in a foul atmosphere and endless internal strife, and it’s all because of dirty trash like all of you. Even a divine artifact like the Netherworld Disk couldn’t be protected. If I didn’t have important matters to attend to, I’d want to go ask Cui Zhenkong if he intends to offer up the Punishment Bureau to others.” The low and deep voice resounded out once more, and it carried an oppressive imposing aura.
Cui Zhenkong!
The Cui Clan’s ancestor, a supreme expert that lived in seclusion. It was precisely with his presence that the Cui Clan still firmly controlled the Punishment Bureau while under a situation of ceaseless internal strife.
Since that voice dared to directly address Cui Zhenkong by name, it caused Cui Ruyin and the others to be even surer that the owner of the voice was undoubtedly the Nether Spring Grand Emperor Qi Shanhe!
It was precisely because of this that everyone became silent like cicadas in the winter, and they didn’t dare make any rash movements.
“Fuck off! Vanish right now from the Nether Spring Region!” The low and deep voice sounded out once more.
“Grand Emperor, this woman is…” The white haired boy, Cui Ruyin, summoned up the courage to speak.
Pu!
A muffled bang sounded out as the body of another Earthly Immortal Realm expert exploded and perished on the spot. This was a warning, and so long as one wasn’t an idiot, one would be able to perceive the meaning behind it.
Cui Ruyin didn’t dare hesitate anymore. He glared fiercely at Bei Ling before tearing space apart and leaving hastily with the others.
Bei Ling heaved a sigh of relief when she saw this, and she said respectfully, “Thank you, Senior, for saving me from this predicament. I’m eternally grateful.”
“Hmph! I didn’t intend to save you. Hmm?” The low and deep voice grunted coldly, and then seemed to have noticed something and vanished abruptly.
Swish!
Right at this moment, space shattered as Chen Xi’s tall figure appeared, and he couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief when he saw Bei Ling was safe and sound. He said, “What happened earlier? Why did you crush the message talisman?”
As he spoke, he swept the surroundings with his gaze and noticed two piles of blood on the ground while the air still carried a strand of the smell of blood drifting through it, so he couldn’t help but frown.
Obviously, two people had died here earlier.
Bei Ling organized her thoughts before she told him about the incident from before.
It turned out that in the afternoon today, she was cultivating in the secret base of the Cui Clan in Rahu City when people suddenly trespassed into it, and they proclaimed their intentions of capturing Cui Qingning.
She didn’t dare hesitate to flee along with Cui Qingning right away. Unfortunately, she was still stopped here.
Due to their strengths being too formidable, she could only crush the message talisman in her helplessness. After that, the Nether Spring Grand Emperor made a move and drove Cui Ruyin and the others away…
“The Nether Spring Grand Emperor?” Chen Xi was shocked in his heart. He never imagined that this unexpected event would actually involve such a supreme figure.
“Where’s Young Miss Cui?” asked Chen Xi.
“I placed her within a treasure of mine, so she’s fine for now.” Bei Ling replied before she frowned and said, “But, I suspect that Gu Tian might have suffered misfortune. Otherwise, why would Cui Ruyin be the first to come here looking for her?”
Chen Xi sighed lightly and said, “I thought of this as well. But there are still another seven days from the 10 days that were agreed upon. We should still wait for some time. I hope Brother Gu is blessed and didn’t suffer any misfortune…”
“What if he did?” Bei Ling couldn’t refrain herself from asking.
“Then I’ll bring Young Miss Cui to the Six Path Royal Region.” Chen Xi answered without the slightest hesitation. “No matter if it’s for the sake of returning a favor or for the sake of obtaining clues about the Netherworld Disk, I have to do this.”
Bei Ling nodded.
Chen Xi couldn’t help but asked when he saw this. “What about you? Do you still intend to play the part of my maidservant and follow by my side?”
Bei Ling replied with a question. “Why not?”
The thoughts of this woman that was cold like ice was impossible to guess.
But Chen Xi couldn’t be bothered to guess. The appearance of Cui Ruyin and the others and the unknown fate of Gu Tian caused him to smell an indescribable feeling of danger, and he didn’t have the time to care about other things.
“Take these four Paramita Fruits. Take it as the compensation for being my maidservant.” Chen Xi pondered for a moment before passing over the remaining Paramita Fruits to Bei Ling.
Bei Ling was obviously stunned, and she stared fixedly at Chen Xi for a long time before she took them in the end. “Thank you. I’ll always play my role well.”
Chen Xi couldn’t help but be dumbfounded when he heard such a reply because he’d never thought of bringing Bei Ling along with him forever. After all, he didn’t belong in the Netherworld, and he would be leaving right away upon finding Qing Xiuyi.
“The heavens illuminated by fire and Paramita descended into the world. Young Brother, you’re the first person I’ve seen attain perfection in the Paramita Dao Insight in a few thousand years.” Suddenly, a low and deep voice resounded once more in the heavens and the earth.
Accompanying this voice was an old man that wore black clothes and was thin like a bamboo, and he kept his hands behind his back as he walked through space. His expression was chilly, his eyes deep like two abysses, and his aura was flat, yet he carried an aura that awed the soul.
It was a bearing of seeing through reality and returning to simplicity. It wasn’t shocking, yet it caused others to be unable to estimate exactly what extent his cultivation had arrived at.
The Nether Spring Grand Emperor!
When they saw the appearance of this person, Bei Ling and Chen Xi instantly guessed his identity, and they were slightly surprised and were unable to guess his motives for making an appearance.
Especially Chen Xi. He’d killed many members of the Nether Spring Hall three days ago, so he was slightly nervous when facing this supreme overlord of the Nether Spring Hall at this moment.
“According to my knowledge, it’s impossible to attain perfection in the Paramita Dao Insight by relying solely on Paramita Fruits. May I ask you where you comprehended the Paramita Dao Insight from?” Even though his tone was flat, every single word he spoke and every single move he made carried a force that struck directly at one’s heart, causing one to wish for nothing more than to prostrate themselves before him.
This was a type of even more terrifying imposing aura that was capable of affecting the soul and consciousness of others through one’s own bearing, and it was extremely terrifying.
“Senior, Junior learned it by accident as well.” Chen Xi took a deep breath before he spoke.
“You’re lying!” As the eyes of the Nether Spring Grand Emperor opened and closed, it seemed like lightning shot out and descended coldly onto Chen Xi, and it seemed to intend to see through him from inside out.
Under the focus of such a gaze, Chen Xi felt his entire body stiffen while he felt an extraordinary pressure that struck the soul. If it wasn’t for the cultivation of his Dao Heart having attained the state of Heart Soul, he would have probably been unable to endure it in an instant and admit obediently.
A wisp of imperceptible surprise flashed in the depths of the Nether Spring Grand Emperor’s eyes as he seemed to have never expected that Chen Xi would actually be able to endure it, and then he withdrew his gaze and said, “Don’t worry, even though you’ve killed some good for nothing subordinates of mine, they didn’t die unjustly, so I won’t make it difficult for you because of this.”
As soon as these words were spoken, a slight ripple arose in Chen Xi’s heart while he was extremely shocked inwardly. He never imagined that the Nether Spring Grand Emperor was aware of everything he’d done in Rahu Gorge.
“Wait.” In the next moment, the Nether Spring Grand Emperor seemed to have realized something. He raised his head once more and shot his gaze onto Chen Xi as if he was scanning an unknown object, and he alternated between frowning, deep contemplation, surprise…
After a long time, his expression finally returned to a calm state.
During this entire process, Chen Xi’s breathing almost stopped. It couldn’t be helped, the pressure the Nether Spring Grand Emperor gave him was too great. It was simply even more terrifying and awful than when he faced a Mysterious Immortal Realm expert like Liang Bing.
Due to this, he was able to vaguely determine that the Nether Spring Grand Emperor’s strength was absolutely not inferior to a Mysterious Immortal Realm expert!
This caused his heart to be slightly heavy. In terms of the strength of their forces, the Punishment Bureau that the Cui Clan controlled wasn’t the slightest bit inferior to the Nether Spring Hall that the Nether Spring Grand Emperor was in control of.
Then exactly how formidable was the cultivation of the Punishment Bureau’s Grand Minister?
Chen Xi was very well aware that if he wanted to obtain clues about the Netherworld Disk, then he was unable to avoid the great powers in the Netherhell, whereas if he wanted to rescue Qing Xiuyi, then he might have to enter into conflict with Grand Minister level existences like the Nether Spring Grand Emperor.
In that way, his advantage would be completely non-existent.
Fortunately, he wasn’t alone, and he could rely on the tiny cauldron’s strength.
When he thought up to here, Chen Xi felt much more confident.
“This is my Nether Spring Token. It can save you once when needed.” Suddenly, the Nether Spring Grand Emperor spoke while raising his hand to flick a command token to Chen Xi, and then he glanced deeply at Chen Xi before turning and leaving.
“I hope I didn’t misjudge you.”
This was the last thing the Nether Spring Grand Emperor said before he vanished.
All of this caused Chen Xi to be bewildered, and he was slightly stunned because he didn’t understand what it meant. But the command token clearly told him that all of this had really occurred.
The command token was only palm sized, and it was bright and smooth like jade. It was warm and refreshing to the touch, and its surface revealed a divine ray of light that lay across the sky as if it was burning. Shockingly, it was the path illuminated by fire.
At the back of the command token was only three gorgeous and ancient words that were like soaring dragons — Qi Shanhe!
Obviously, this was the name of the Nether Spring Grand Emperor.
“He seems to have noticed something unusual from you.” Bei Ling glanced at Chen Xi while a wisp of extraordinary splendor flashed past her eyes.
“In any case, it isn’t a bad thing.” Chen Xi heaved a long sigh of relief before carefully putting the command token away.
He was similarly able to sense that the Nether Spring Grand Emperor had noticed some secrets of his, yet he didn’t dare confirm exactly what secret it was. It couldn’t be helped, he possessed too many secrets.
For example, the Netherworld Register, Condemn Evil Brush, River Diagram fragments, his fate that was concealed by the workings of the heavens, and the existences of the tiny cauldron could all possibly be one of the things the Nether Spring Grand Emperor had noticed.
But for now, it would seem like the Nether Spring Grand Emperor didn’t have any ill intent, so Chen Xi wouldn’t speculate too much about it. There were some things that one would naturally understand when the time came and wasting time to think about it when one couldn’t understand it was only an unnecessary creation of troubles for one’s self.
“Let’s return to Rahu City. We’ll set out to the Six Path Royal Region if Brother Gu doesn’t return in seven days.” Chen Xi stopped hesitating and brought Bei Ling along as he flashed and vanished on the spot.
Even though it was merely seven days of time, it was already sufficient for him to completely recover his cultivation to its peak state. At that time, he could deal with most dangers even without relying on the tiny cauldron’s strength.
Moreover, the command token the Nether Spring Grand Emperor bestowed to him gave him an extra sense of confidence towards heading to the Six Path Royal Region to search for clues about the Netherworld Disk.