171: He went straight in!

Ten Thousand Bones Plaza was so quiet that a dropped needle could be heard.

Millions of gazes, like searchlights, were locked onto the entrance of the Ten Thousand Bones Arena.

Everyone saw with their own eyes that the two Nine Nether Demonic Cult guards, whose auras were as deep as an abyss and as lofty as a mountain and who were at least in the Saint King Realm, reached out their hands as the White-robed Young Master approached, seemingly intending to stop him according to the rules.

But then, an inconceivable scene occurred.

The two guards' bodies seemed to be instantly frozen by invisible Nine Nether Ice, stiffening in place.

The expressions on their faces were frozen in extreme terror and horror, as if they had seen in that man some kind of taboo existence that transcended even a Devil Emperor and was enough to cause eternal space-time to collapse!

Then.

Under everyone's incredulous gaze.

That Young Master in snow-white robes simply pulled along the masked, icy beauty with an ethereal temperament beside him, followed by two seemingly frail and harmless handmaidens, and strolled past the two petrified guards as if taking a leisurely walk in a courtyard.

He stepped onto the arena built from hundreds of millions of bones.

He walked toward the entrance of the Yellow Springs Secret Realm, which represented supreme Opportunity and slaughter.

Before stepping in, he even turned his head in boredom and scanned the dense crowd below, a slightly disgusted expression appearing on his face.

[Holy crap, with so many people staring, my social anxiety is about to act up.]

[This pressure is too much; it's practically a public execution!]

[My cheap father-in-law should have arranged everything! No wonder the guards didn't stop me! I need to get in quickly, find a corner with no one around, and peacefully enjoy the show.]

Su Chen ranted wildly in his heart, but his footsteps didn't falter for a second.

Pulling Ling Qingzhu, who was also somewhat uncomfortable with being the center of attention, he stepped into the pitch-black spatial rift that swallowed all light.

The figures of the four instantly vanished.

It wasn't until their silhouettes had been gone for a full dozen breaths.

Only then did those two statue-like Nine Nether Demonic Cult guards seem to wake from a nightmare that had shattered their Divine Souls.

"Thud!"

Their legs gave way, and they collapsed to the ground together like two fish out of water, gasping for air, their bodies already completely drenched in cold sweat.

And after this eerie silence, the entire Ten Thousand Bones Plaza erupted!

"W-what did I just see? T-they just... went in like that?"

The voice of a Demonic Cultivator trembled, unable to believe his eyes.

"No token! No payment! No trial! They just waltzed in like that?!"

"Are those two guards blocks of wood? Why didn't they stop him? Were they scared witless?!"

"Rigged! This is absolutely rigged! The Nine Nether Demonic Cult is practicing favoritism!"

The crowd was in a total uproar!

All the Demonic Cultivators felt as if their intelligence was being pinned to the ground by an invisible giant hand and repeatedly scrubbed with a poisoned steel brush.

They were here laboriously queuing, frowning over the one-billion-Spirit Stone ticket price, and struggling internally over whether to brave the life-or-death Heart Refining Array.

And yet, someone could just take the VIP-of-VIPs passage?

"By what right?!"

Countless Demonic Cultivators' faces were filled with anger and injustice; some hot-tempered ones even began to stir up trouble, attempting to storm the arena and demanding an explanation from the Nine Nether Demonic Cult.

"Silence!"

Just as the scene was about to spiral out of control, the figure of that Nine Nether Elder from before reappeared like a ghost.

A terrifying pressure from the Peak Great Saint Realm radiated from him, crashing down like a primordial demonic mountain and instantly suppressing the entire venue.

All the shouting Demonic Cultivators felt their Divine Souls sink, and even breathing became incredibly difficult.

The Elder's cold gaze swept across the crowd, finally landing on the two guards collapsed on the ground, his brow furrowed.

"What happened?"

The two guards struggled to get up and knelt on the ground, their voices trembling uncontrollably: "R-reporting to the Elder, w-we don't know either."

"When that person walked over, our... our Divine Souls felt like they were being strangled by a hand, almost collapsing on the spot! W-we couldn't move!"

"Pressure?" The Elder's frown deepened.

He had personally investigated them; aside from the White-robed Young Master's strange and inscrutable aura, the three women with him were only in the Saint Realm.

How could mere pressure scare two guards, who were also in the Saint King Realm, into such a state?

"Could it be... that the White-robed Young Master is carrying some taboo item similar to an Emperor Weapon?"

The Elder was filled with doubt and alarm, but he remained outwardly calm.

He cleared his throat, his voice reaching everyone: "Everyone, please calm down!"

"That Young Master just now has a special identity; he is... he is Her Highness the Saintess's honored guest! His direct entry was personally permitted by Her Highness! This is perfectly reasonable!"

For the sake of the Nine Nether Demonic Cult's reputation, the Elder had no choice but to bite the bullet and shift the blame to their Saintess.

In any case, the Saintess had always been willful; taking one more fall wouldn't matter.

"The Saintess's honored guest?"

"What kind of honored guest could have such a privilege?"

"Wait... someone treated so specially by Saintess Liu Ruyan... could it be that legendary... Divine Son of the Everlasting Su Family?"

In the crowd, someone whispered a comment.

This sentence was like a bolt of lightning, instantly clearing the Chaos in the minds of all the Demonic Cultivators.

A look of sudden realization appeared on everyone's faces.

"Of course!"

"Only the Saintess's legendary fiancé could explain that inconceivable scene just now!"

Having figured this out, the anger in the Demonic Cultivators' hearts was quickly replaced by even more intense envy and jealousy.

"So it's him! No wonder he's so handsome; he hardly looks like a Mortal!"

"Sigh, comparing oneself to others is truly infuriating! Here we are, painstakingly saving Spirit Stones, while he crosses the finish line in a single step!"

"Damn it! I want to be the Saintess's fiancé too!"

An impending riot was thus forcibly quelled by a piece of "romantic gossip."

In a shadowed corner of the plaza.

A group of Righteous Path undercover agents disguised as Demonic Cultivators witnessed it all.

"It's Su Chen! That woman beside him... is the 'Cold Moon Immortal'! Why are they together?"

The mysterious person from the Great Xia Divine Dynasty, serving as the overall commander of the operation, watched the direction where Su Chen had vanished, his eyes filled with gravity and confusion.

The Empress's order was to cooperate with the 'Cold Moon Immortal.'

But now the target had joined up with the Empress's nominal fiancé.

"This game of chess has been completely thrown into Chaos."

He pondered for a moment and issued a brief command.

"Don't cause any unnecessary trouble. Pay the money!"

"We must enter the Secret Realm as soon as possible, find the 'Cold Moon Immortal,' and find out exactly what happened!"

Thus, under the envious gazes of countless Loose Cultivator Devils, this group of Righteous Path undercover agents "tearfully" took out their private savings and began queuing to pay the "exorbitant ticket price" of one billion High-Grade Spirit Stones.