Inside the Shen Nong Sect's treasure vault.
Cang Juezi stared at the scene before him with a look of horror, his eyes filled with disbelief and profound reverence.
The Dragon-Severing Stone, weighing ten thousand jin, had actually been opened by Ying Chen!
No, to be precise, it wasn't opened, but broken!
The Dragon-Severing Stone had split in two from the middle, its cut surface as smooth as a mirror, as if it were not stone at all, but merely a block of tofu!
Cang Juezi looked suspiciously at the sword in Ying Chen's hand.
It was indeed the Xuan Pin Lie Que Sword he had forged!
How could he not have known that the Xuan Pin Lie Que Sword possessed such power?
Or had Ying Chen secretly used other magical artifacts, but deliberately used the Xuan Pin Lie Que Sword to mislead him?
Ying Chen sheathed the Xuan Pin Lie Que Sword and cast a cold glance at Cang Juezi. "What are you standing around for? Do you expect me to clear a path for you and escort you out next?"
At first, Cang Juezi didn't understand what Ying Chen meant, but in the next second, he jolted.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Ying Chen. "Did I hear that right? You mean... you're letting me out?"
"If you don't want to leave, you can stay here," Ying Chen said coldly.
"No, no, no, I want to, I want to!"
Cang Juezi quickly replied.
Then, he trotted forward and performed two hand seals.
Instantly, the phantom images of two powerful warriors appeared in the air.
"Mountain-Moving Warriors, heed my command!"
"Move mountains and clear the path!"
The phantom images of the two warriors immediately lunged at the split Dragon-Severing Stone. With a grating screech, the two pieces of stone were slowly pushed apart, revealing a gap wide enough for a person to pass through.
Ying Chen glanced at the gap and sighed inwardly.
Just now, he had borrowed the power of the Pure Soul Grass to forcibly enhance his spiritual power, which allowed him to cleave the Dragon-Severing Stone with a single sword strike.
However, although it was cleaved, the effect was far from satisfactory.
In the past, a single sword strike from Ying Chen would have pulverized the entire stone into dust.
Now, it could only be split in half, and in the end, he still had to rely on Cang Juezi's Mountain-Moving Warriors to push open a gap.
Indeed, no matter how powerful or influential one was, as long as they were within the great cage of heaven and earth, they were bound by its rules.
As heaven and earth changed and the laws of the Dao collapsed, even the strongest alchemist of the past was merely a pawn under the rules.
"I must find a way to recover my full strength as soon as possible," Ying Chen thought to himself.
And the first, extremely crucial step to recovering his strength was the Mountain Lord in the back mountain of the Shen Nong Sect!
Thinking of this, Ying Chen couldn't afford to delay for a moment.
He grabbed Cang Juezi by the nape of his neck and moved.
Instantly, the two of them shot into the sky, like a low-flying fighter jet, accompanied by a rolling surge of energy, heading towards the main hall of the Shen Nong Sect.
Cang Juezi, held in Ying Chen's hand, trembled with fear.
Such terrifying explosive power and speed made him unable to help but speculate.
Could Ying Chen be an existence even more terrifying than those at the Heaven Tier in terms of cultivation techniques?
But then he refuted his own guess.
As everyone knew, the peak realm for humans currently was the Heaven Tier.
As long as one was human, it was impossible to surpass this boundary.
Therefore, no matter how strong Ying Chen was, he couldn't be stronger than the Heaven Tier!
However, regardless of anything else, Cang Juezi was certain of one thing: Ying Chen was a formidable ally! An incredibly formidable ally!
If Ying Chen were truly willing to spare his life, then from that day forward, he would wholeheartedly and single-mindedly cling to Ying Chen's thigh and never let go!
...
Inside the main hall.
The Great Elder felt a sudden sense of foreboding as he heard the distant tremor.
He waved his hands repeatedly. "Quickly, quickly! Commence the execution immediately!"
However, the few disciples responsible for the execution seemed stunned by the tremor and didn't react for a while.
Seeing this, the Great Elder became furious.
He rushed forward, shoved aside the disciples carrying out the execution, and with one person in each hand, he swiftly tied Min Ziqing and the other three to the lamp posts.
*Crash!*
A large amount of oil poured down from the mechanism at the top of the lamp posts, drenching Min Ziqing and the other three.
A foul, pungent odor almost made Min Ziqing and the other three gag.
"I said you would die, and you *will* die!"
"No matter what happens, you will die!"
The Great Elder sneered.
Four fire talismans instantly appeared between his right fingers.
Faint sparks of fire pulsed from the patterns on the talismans. With a forceful flick of the Great Elder's wrist, the four talismans ignited.
They transformed into four balls of fire, flying towards the four people on the lamp posts respectively.
"No!" Min Ziqing cried out in anguish.
He had just found his niece and was about to be separated from her forever after less than ten minutes of reunion.
He was unwilling!
"Husband, I have no regrets in this life with you."
"Wife, I have no regrets in this life with you either!"
The couple also said to each other, their eyes filled with tears.
Professor Li, however, appeared exceptionally calm.
"I have been in this field for forty years. I treat every archaeological excavation as if it were my last. Therefore, death holds no fear for me."
"My only regret is that I did not die at the excavation site of the Afang Palace ruins, nor did I die at the excavation site of the tomb of Lord Wu'an, yet I am to die in such a place that prides itself as a sect of immortals but is actually utterly despicable."
"What a tragedy, what a pity!"
The four of them each uttered their final words and then closed their eyes simultaneously.
They awaited the flames to engulf their bodies, turning them into four brilliant sky lanterns!
But one second passed, two seconds passed, ten seconds passed...
The searing pain of flames they had imagined did not arrive.
There wasn't even the sound or temperature of burning flames.
"What's going on?"
The four of them thought, bewildered.
"Could it be that we are too weak to withstand this punishment designed for Xuanmen disciples, and we have already died?"
"That wouldn't be bad. At least we wouldn't have to endure the pain of flesh and blood."
The four of them were quite optimistic.
But the next second, they realized something was wrong.
Because a familiar voice sounded in their ears.
"Not coming down yet? Do you really want to become sky lanterns and ascend to heaven?"
It was Ying Chen's voice!
The four of them opened their eyes in unison.
Then, they were overjoyed to tears.
No wonder they hadn't felt any pain, no wonder they hadn't felt the presence of flames.
It turned out that Ying Chen had arrived at the critical moment and saved them!
Looking at the ropes binding them, they had already been severed by Ying Chen's sword.
The four of them struggled slightly, and the ropes fell away.
*Thump, thump,* the four of them fell to the ground from the lamp posts one after another.
Although their bottoms hurt from the fall, they all looked at each other and smiled, filled with joy.
"How... how could this be?"
The Great Elder stared at Ying Chen, who had descended from the sky, as if struck by lightning, and murmured.
He had only been the sect leader for less than twenty minutes!
Had he just obtained a sect leader trial card?
Ying Chen didn't even glance at the Great Elder. He casually tossed out the Xuan Pin Lie Que Sword in his hand.
"Go do what you want to do!"
"As you command!" Behind him, a hand caught the Xuan Pin Lie Que Sword.
It was Cang Juezi!
Earlier, Ying Chen had asked him in the treasure vault what he most wanted to do after coming out.
Cang Juezi had answered: to seek revenge on the Great Elder.
And now, the opportunity had arrived!
"No, Sect Leader, please listen to me... it's not what you think... I only accidentally triggered the mechanism, I only accidentally triggered it!"
The Great Elder looked at Cang Juezi, who was radiating murderous intent, his face filled with terror as he retreated repeatedly.