84: Chapter 84 The Heavenly Demon's Secret: Trying to Kill Me to Silence?

Heavenly Dao Secret Realm, Phoenix Fall Slope.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood.

Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect knelt in the pile of rubble, the cold blade at his neck making every hair on his body stand on end.

As the Ye Family Divine Son, he had never been so close to death.

"Speak."

Lin Que's voice betrayed no emotion, only the dual flames of ice and fire dancing on the starfall mo dao made a sizzling sound, as if eager to drink blood.

"I'll speak! I'll speak!"

Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect swallowed hard, his face pale and his eyes darting around. "The so-called Saintess Selection... is actually a facade!"

"The high-level members of the Zhengdao Alliance decided the winner long ago! What they need isn't a leader, but a cultivation vessel with the 'Innate Pure Wood Spiritual Body'!"

Lin Que frowned slightly and looked at Su Qingyu, who was standing guard with her sword not far away.

Innate Dao Body, Wood attribute.

Wasn't that Su Qingyu?

"A cultivation vessel? For what?"

Lin Que pressed further.

"For... a blood sacrifice!"

Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect's voice trembled, and he spoke rapidly: "The Seal on the Canglan Water Mansion in the Southern Commandery has loosened. That is the place used in ancient times to suppress the left arm of the 'Heavenly Demon Venerable'. The Heavenly Demon Cult promised my father that as long as we helped them find a suitable Pure Wood Spiritual Body to break the Seal, they would help my father Breakthrough to the Soul Transformation Stage once it's done!"

"Su Qingyu... is that sacrificial offering!"

At these words, Su Qingyu felt as if she had been struck by lightning, and the sword in her hand almost fell to the ground.

"A sacrifice? The Zhengdao Alliance... the Ye Family... they want to kill me to sacrifice to a demon?"

The cold light in Lin Que's eyes surged.

As expected, they were a group of sanctimonious hypocrites. The Blood Fiend Sect causing trouble in the Southern Commandery was the prelude, and this Ye Family holding the selection in the Central State was the core. One link after another, what a grand scheme!

"I've already told you everything I know!"

Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect looked at Lin Que's increasingly cold gaze and screamed in terror: "Let me go! I am the only child of the Ye Family! If you kill me, my father will never let you go! As long as you let me go, I promise not to pursue this..."

"Promise?"

Lin Que sneered, preparing to swing his blade.

Suddenly.

Buzz!

At the center of Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect's brow, an eerie black rune lit up without warning!

A wave of destructive Soul fluctuations instantly erupted within his Sea of Consciousness.

"Oh no! It's the 'Soul-Locking Restriction'!"

Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect's eyes bulged, his face full of despair: "Father... you placed a Restriction in my Soul?! I die as soon as I leak the secret?!"

This was the contingency plan the Ye Family Patriarch had left on his own son to prevent secrets from leaking. Once Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect spoke the words "Heavenly Demon Cult," the Restriction would automatically detonate the Divine Soul to kill him and silence the witness!

"Trying to play at self-detonation in front of me?"

Lin Que snorted coldly, his left hand pressing onto the crown of Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect's head like lightning.

[Detected high-level Soul self-detonation sequence!]

[Source: Nascent Soul Stage Divine Sense Restriction (Ye Family Patriarch).]

[Eruption Countdown: 1 second.]

[Negative Outcome Judgment: Sea of Consciousness rupture, Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.]

[Transfer initiated! Logic reorganization—Trace back to Origin!]

[Target Locked: Caster (Ye Family Patriarch).]

[Multiplier: Karma Critical Strike!]

"This fatherly love is too heavy, better give it back to your old man!"

Boom!

The terrifying Soul Power that was about to blow Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect's head apart was instantly redirected by Lin Que's System. Following the invisible thread of Bloodline Karma, it rushed toward the outside of the Secret Realm at the speed of light!

...Outside the Secret Realm, Tiandao Plaza.

On the main viewing platform.

Ye Family Patriarch Ye Nantian was sitting upright in a grand chair. Although his Luck had been slashed and his Clone destroyed earlier, he was still a Nascent Soul powerhouse after all. At this moment, he still maintained his majesty, waiting for the results of the Secret Realm.

"Hmph, although that Lin Que has some tricks, Chen'er has the trump card I bestowed upon him. He should be fine..."

He was calculating how to clean up the mess.

Suddenly.

Buzz!

Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, a loud bang echoed without warning!

It was as if someone had taken a massive hammer and slammed it hard against his Soul Origin!

"Ah!!!"

Ye Nantian let out a shrill scream, black blood spurting from his seven orifices simultaneously. He rolled directly off his chair and onto the ground, twitching as he clutched his head.

"Patriarch?!"

"Brother Ye! What's wrong with you?!"

The nearby Qingyun Sword Sect Master and Heaven Burning Valley Master were shocked.

What was going on with Ye Nantian? He was sitting there perfectly fine, so how did it suddenly look like someone had scrambled his brains?

"Brat... how dare you... break my Restriction..."

Ye Nantian's eyes were bloodshot, and his Divine Sense was severely damaged. He couldn't even speak a complete sentence, only able to let out a venomous roar in his heart.

He sensed it; that was the backlash from the Restriction he had placed on his son!

This meant... something had happened to his son! And the opponent's methods were heaven-defying!

...Inside the Secret Realm.

With the Restriction transferred, Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect had narrowly escaped death.

He slumped on the ground, gasping for air, his pants already soaked through.

"Not... not dead? I'm not dead?"

He looked up at Lin Que with an extremely complex gaze.

Was it the man before him who had saved him?

"Thank you... thank you for not killing..."

Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect was just about to kowtow and beg for mercy.

Pfft!

A fine head, bearing an expression of dazed disbelief, flew high into the air.

Blood gushed out like a fountain, staining Lin Que's battle robes red.

Lin Que held the dripping mo dao, his expression indifferent: "I saved you so that your father's filth wouldn't splash onto me."

"But that doesn't mean I'm letting you go."

"Devil... you are a devil..."

As Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect's mangled body fell, a golden light flew out from his Dantian—it was his Golden Core, carrying his Divine Soul in an attempt to flee.

"A devil?"

Lin Que reached out and snatched that Golden Core directly into his hand.

Within his palm, the Arhat Golden Body and the Undying Blood Body activated simultaneously, turning into a flesh-and-blood furnace.

"You're right."

"I am a devil."

Crackle!

In front of Su Qingyu, Lin Que crushed that Golden Core directly!

Countless amounts of pure spiritual energy and Soul Power were forcibly devoured by him, turning into nutrients to nourish his own three-colored golden core.

[Devoured Early Stage Peak Golden Core Cultivator!]

[Obtained: Partial insights into the Ye Family's 'Imperial Shocking World Scripture', spiritual energy reserves increased.]

[Current Realm: Early Stage Golden Core (Stable) → Early Stage Golden Core (Advanced).]

"Whew..."

Lin Que exhaled a breath of turbid air, put away Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect's storage ring, and turned to look at the already terrified Su Qingyu.

At this moment, Lin Que was surrounded by Evil Qi, a fierce aura accumulated from having just slaughtered over thirty prodigies, making him even more terrifying than a real Devil Head.

"Are you afraid?"

Lin Que wiped the blood off his blade, his voice returning to a calm tone.

Su Qingyu's body trembled as she looked at the headless corpse on the ground, then back at Lin Que.

She took a deep breath, and her gaze gradually became firm.

"I'm not afraid."

"If it were before, I would be. But now..."

She tightened her grip on the sword in her hand; it was the sword path Lin Que had taught her.

"They wanted to sacrifice me to a demon, and you saved me. If you are a devil, then they... are worse than devils."

Lin Que was stunned for a moment, then smiled.

This naive girl had finally grown up.

"Let's go."

Lin Que looked up at the teleportation vortex in the sky. The trial time was up.

"Those old fogies outside must be getting impatient."

"Since the Ye Family has practically handed their faces to us to be slapped, then let's... go out and give them a surprise."

Buzz!

The teleportation light descended, enveloping the two figures... Tiandao Plaza.

"They're out! Someone's coming out!"

"I wonder who the champion is?"

Hundreds of thousands of gazes were fixed intently on the exit.

As the light dissipated, two figures appeared.

A man and a woman. The man wore a black robe and carried a black blade on his back, his temperament cold and sharp; the woman wore a green dress and held a long sword, her beauty peerless.

It was none other than Lin Que and Su Qingyu.

And behind them... there was no one else.

Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect, the Ye Family Saintess, the Qingyun Sword Sect's chief disciple... none of those thirty-plus prodigies who had gone in to surround and kill them had come out!

The entire field fell into a deathly silence.

"Where is Chen'er?! Where is my Chen'er?!!"

Ye Nantian, who had just caught his breath, rushed to the front of the stage with disheveled hair, letting out a roar of despair.

Lin Que stood on the high platform. Facing the wrath of a Nascent Soul powerhouse, he not only didn't retreat but instead casually pulled an object from his storage ring and threw it at Ye Nantian's feet.

It was half of a broken jade crown. One of Ye Chen, Sacred Son of the Eternal Evergreen Sect's personal belongings.

"Patriarch Ye, stop shouting."

Lin Que's voice spread throughout the arena, carrying an overbearing aura of a supreme ruler:

"Your son wanted to kill and rob in the Secret Realm, but unfortunately, his skills were lacking."

"He has already been..."

"Released to the afterlife."