420: Chapter 420 The Thirteen Needles of Gods and Demons - The Ninth Needle!

Zhong Buhui stared at Ye Chen for several seconds, his breathing rapid and heated.

"Can you really... save me?"

Ye Chen stood with his hands behind his back and smiled slightly.

"If I say I can, I can."

"It just depends on whether you want to live or not."

Zhong Buhui fell silent.

He had lived for over sixty years and had seen too much intrigue and treachery.

But this young man before him, although incredibly arrogant, conducted himself with an air of poise.

At least so far, he had followed through on everything he said.

Zhong Buhui closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened them again, much of the unwillingness and malice in his eyes had dissipated.

"Fine."

"This old man will tell you."

Ye Chen nodded. "Speak."

Zhong Buhui looked at Zhong Li with difficulty.

"Li'er... give it to him."

Hearing this, Zhong Li's face was filled with struggle.

That was the Zhong Family's greatest secret!

It was his and his adoptive father's final trump card!

Just hand it over like this?

But when he saw Zhong Buhui lying in a pool of blood, on the verge of death, he swallowed the words he was about to say.

The next second.

He gritted his teeth, pulled an envelope from his robes, and stepped toward Ye Chen.

"Here... for you!"

Ye Chen took the envelope and glanced at it. He didn't rush to open it, instead looking at Zhong Buhui.

"Tell me, what's inside?"

Zhong Buhui gasped for breath, speaking one word at a time.

"The Zhong Family... knows of two places where the keys to the bronze gate might be hidden."

"One is Ailao Mountain."

"The other is Shennongjia."

As soon as he finished, Yan Qingwu, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but interject.

"Do you take us for fools?"

"Legends about keys in Ailao Mountain and Shennongjia have been circulating for decades!"

"Who in the circle doesn't know that?"

"But after all these years, has anyone found anything? No!"

"Are you trying to fool us with such common knowledge?"

Hearing this, a bitter smile tugged at the corner of Zhong Buhui's mouth. "What I'm saying... isn't common knowledge, but specific coordinates."

Ye Chen narrowed his eyes. "Since you have specific coordinates, why didn't you go get them yourselves?"

Zhong Buhui sighed.

"It's not that we didn't want to, but that we couldn't."

"Those two places have indeed always had rumors of keys."

"But what the world doesn't know is... the keys are actually there, just sealed away."

"Our Zhong Family found the exact locations decades ago, but we've never been able to break the seals."

"Over the years, we've invited many Formation Masters and spent countless resources and manpower, but the result..."

He paused, his bitter smile deepening.

"...was that they all returned empty-handed."

"Because those seals are too strong—so strong that even with the Zhong Family's full power, we couldn't budge them an inch."

"Those Formation Masters said the seals aren't something that can be broken by arrays of the secular world. They require specific techniques or... specific bloodlines."

After listening, Ye Chen's gaze fell on the envelope.

He reached in, pulled out the letter inside, and unfolded it.

On it were two simple maps marked with two red dots.

The point at Ailao Mountain was labeled 'Bottom of Soul-Severing Cliff, Beside the Abyss.'

The point at Shennongjia was labeled 'Deep within Savage Valley, Inside an Ancient Cave.'

Furthermore.

They both had precise coordinates; it didn't look fake.

Ye Chen stared at the two locations, his brow arching slightly.

Soul-Severing Cliff, he knew of it.

It was the most dangerous place in Ailao Mountain, shrouded in mist year-round. It was said to be bottomless, and no one who fell down had ever come back alive.

Savage Valley was the most mysterious area of Shennongjia, with countless legends of wild men; ordinary people didn't dare approach it.

These two places were each more dangerous than the last.

Ye Chen put away the letter and looked toward Zhong Buhui, about to speak...

Suddenly!

Zhong Buhui's entire body convulsed violently, and mouthfuls of black blood gushed from his mouth!

His eyes bulged as he stared fixedly at Ye Chen, his lips trembling as he tried to say something, but not a single word came out!

"Adoptive Father!!!"

Zhong Li's heart-wrenching scream suddenly erupted!

He lunged to Zhong Buhui's side, his hands trembling as he tried to support him, but he could only watch helplessly as the man's body quickly stiffened and the light in his eyes rapidly faded.

In just a few seconds.

Zhong Buhui's body became completely still.

His eyes were wide open; he had died with grievances.

Everyone was stunned.

Huh?

Dead?

Zhong Buhui, a Heavenly First Realm Expert, just died like that???

Kneeling beside Zhong Buhui, Zhong Li completely broke down.

"Ye Chen!!!"

"Didn't you say you could save him?"

"I gave you the items! I told you the secrets! And now my adoptive father is dead!"

"You... you didn't keep your word! You untrustworthy bastard!!!"

He roared, his voice trembling, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Ye Chen said indifferently, "He just died for a moment. What's all the fuss about?"

Everyone's eyes widened, their minds going blank.

Ha?

Did they hear that right?

He just... died for a moment?

What does 'died for a moment' mean?

When someone is dead, they're dead. What do you mean 'died for a moment'???

Yan Qingwu's mouth twitched slightly, and her gaze toward Ye Chen was filled with oddity.

Pei Donglai, Pavilion Master of Tianji Pavilion knelt on the ground, completely bewildered.

The Wolf Cubs looked at each other, highly suspicious that the Chief Instructor was saying such things just to humiliate the corpse...

Kneeling beside Zhong Buhui, Zhong Li was even more dumbfounded.

He looked up at Ye Chen, his eyes full of despair.

"You... what kind of nonsense are you talking?"

"He's dead! He's dead!!!"

Ye Chen looked down at him and said coolly, "I know he's dead. I don't need you to remind me."

He paused and raised his right hand.

*Slap!*

A crisp, loud slap landed hard on Zhong Li's face.

Zhong Li was spun around by the force of the blow and stumbled to the ground.

The next moment.

He clutched his face, staring at Ye Chen in utter confusion.

"The thing you need to do most is shut up."

Ye Chen withdrew his hand and, without even glancing at him, walked over to Zhong Buhui's body.

Then.

He crouched down, flipped his right hand, and several gold needles as thin as hair appeared between his fingertips.

Under the sunlight, the gold needles shimmered with a faint light.

Everyone present held their breath.

Ye Chen spoke calmly.

"I said, if I want to save someone, even the King of Hell cannot take them."

The moment the words left his mouth, he lightly raised his right hand.

First needle!

Piercing the Baihui point!

Second needle!

Piercing the Shenting point!

Third needle!

Piercing the shanzhong acupoint!

Fourth needle!

Fifth needle!

Sixth needle!

...

His movements were as fast as lightning.

Each needle landed, precisely piercing the corresponding acupoint without the slightest error.

Within a few breaths, nine gold needles were all inserted into Zhong Buhui's major acupoints.

Nine needles applied at once!

If anyone understood the needle technique, they would find that this was actually...

...the long-lost...

...Ninth Needle of the Thirteen Needles of Gods and Ghosts: [Soul Return]!

Ye Chen withdrew his hand, stood with his arms behind his back, and looked down at Zhong Buhui on the ground.

Everyone watched this scene, their faces filled with shock and uncertainty; no one even dared to take a breath.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Suddenly!

Zhong Buhui's body suddenly convulsed!

"Ah!!!"

Someone cried out in terror and instinctively backed away several steps.

The Wolf Cubs turned pale, their legs going weak, nearly kneeling on the ground.

A... a walking corpse? Or is he alive???

However.

Before anyone could react, Zhong Buhui snapped his eyes open!

Those eyes held a hint of confusion.

"Just now..."

"...wasn't I dead?"

Ye Chen looked down at him and smiled slightly.

"Dead?"

"I didn't give you permission to die, so how could you be dead?"

At these words, Zhong Buhui suddenly looked toward Ye Chen.

That old face was written with shock, bewilderment, and disbelief!

He had clearly died just now.

He could feel his consciousness dissipating, falling into an endless dark abyss.

He had even heard his son being slapped by Ye Chen at the very end.

That wasn't a hallucination; it was the final moment after death when the senses gradually fade, yet one can still feel the world's temperature...

But at the very moment his senses were about to vanish...

a warm power suddenly surged into his body, dragging him back from the abyss by force!

That... that was...

He glanced down at the gold needles inserted into his body, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

Needles?

Ye Chen used a few needles to drag him back from the Gates of Hell???

How is this possible???

He had never heard of anyone being able to bring the dead back to life with just a few needles!

Even those old monsters in the Kunlun Ruins who were hailed as divine physicians with heavenly medical skills couldn't do it!

But this young man before him...

He looked up at Ye Chen's harmless smiling face and suddenly felt like he had lived his entire life in vain.

"Who... who exactly are you?"

He didn't know why he asked such a question.

But he believed...

...that Ye Chen was definitely not the Ye Chen shown in the files.

More likely than not, he was also a peerless genius from the Kunlun Ruins.

But as for who exactly...

...he didn't know.

He really didn't know!

Ye Chen stood with his hands behind his back and spoke calmly.

"Who I am isn't important."

"What's important is that the deal between us is over."

"You can take your son and daughter-in-law and leave."

Zhong Buhui fell silent.

He could indeed take his people and leave.

But, having been strong-willed all his life, he understood very well that he owed Ye Chen a life.

A life dragged back from the Gates of Hell.

Zhong Li, who had been dazed by Ye Chen's slap, scrambled up and threw himself at Zhong Buhui, hugging him tightly.

"Adoptive Father! You're alive! You're really alive!"

"This is wonderful!"