399: Follow the boat (ask for monthly ticket)

At this moment, the Fang Family Old Ancestor was covered in blood, radiating an astonishing Evil Qi!

His eyes were bloodshot, filled with a hysterical madness and fury, like a malevolent spirit ready to devour someone!

All the other Fang Family disciples were dead, including Fang Tangjing, who had fled south with him.

The two of them encountered an ambush by demons in the south, with more than five Great Demons in pursuit. Fang Tangjing, who hadn't even successfully refined a Divine Repository, was killed by a Great Demon in one of the encirclements!

However, this Fang Family Old Ancestor, relying on his Half-step Dragon Tiger Realm, forcefully carved out a bloody path and returned.

After several bloody battles with the demons, his body was on the verge of exhaustion, unable to maintain his Peak state, and would ultimately end up perishing in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Thus, he turned back, hoping for one last gamble—to fight his way into the night ferry, even if it meant death, to secure a final chance at survival!

But now, the glimmer of hope he had always sought was gone.

This was his escape route cut off!

Fang Shiqing, the Fang Family Old Ancestor, was filled with extreme hatred at this moment; he understood what had happened afterward.

It was Ninth Mountain Zhonglang General!

It was this damned fellow who deliberately exposed their Fang Family to the demons' sight, making them scapegoats.

What a ruthless and despicable method!

With his cunning, he should have realized this trick, but at the time, he was eager to possess the night ferry. Moreover, Chen Yuan and the two others had left under his nose, and he had them locked down with his Divine Ability. He hadn't expected them to play a trick right under his eyes.

Damn it!

Damn it!

Fang Shiqing's bloodshot eyes stared at the empty riverbed, a roaring fire raging in his chest.

He wasn't angry about the dead Fang Family disciples; he was furious that the ferry was gone, and his escape route was cut off.

Yes, when the demons attacked, the ferry must have been discovered. It must have been taken by the demons!

Thinking of this, Fang Shiqing, the Fang Family Old Ancestor, looked up to the north, his bloodshot eyes piercing through the blood-stained Ze Geng River water, filled with intense madness and ferocity.

In the northern night, three colossal demonic figures, radiating blazing demonic light, howled towards them!

Their chilling demonic eyes, like blood moons in the sky, gazed across the Void Realm and the blood-reddened waters of the Ze Geng River, meeting the Fang Family Old Ancestor's gaze from afar!

"Human Race old fellow, tell me, where is Ninth Mountain Zhonglang General?"

A demonic roar shook the sky, immensely powerful, even causing huge waves to erupt on the water surface. As water droplets vibrated, the sound clearly reached the riverbed and Fang Shiqing, the Fang Family Old Ancestor's ears.

Fang Shiqing's veins bulged on his eyelids. These demons' target was Ninth Mountain Zhonglang General Chen Yuan, because he had killed too many of their kind. And he himself was merely considered to be on their side, successfully taking the blame!

You want to ask? This General also wants to ask.

Fang Shiqing, the Fang Family Old Ancestor, was overwhelmed by shock and fury. His entire body's Qi surged wildly, and tendrils of black flame leaped from his body. Soon, the surrounding water became like boiling water.

The next second, a loud "boom" echoed,

accompanied by a giant wave tens of meters high.

The Fang Family Old Ancestor shot out of the river like a cannonball. His originally hunched and thin figure now appeared as majestic as a mountain, hundreds of feet tall. His gaunt, wrinkled skin inflated as if filled with air, becoming plump and full of unparalleled power. Black flames bathed his entire body, and he held a green lamp in his hand. His eyes were sinister and violent, and he was enraged as he looked at the three Great Demons rushing towards him.

"You feathered beasts!"

"This General said This General doesn't know!"

"There was a ferry here. Was it captured by you?"

One was looking for a person, the other for a ferry. They were completely at odds and both in a fit of rage. How could they not fight?

Soon, the Fang Family Old Ancestor and the three pursuing Great Demons once again engaged in a earth-shattering battle, causing this water area to boil once more!

...

"You're saying this Saintess of the Western Regions Holy Sect isn't real, or rather, the monster on this Saintess is ever-changing, and no one knows its true form?"

On the southern border of Luwu Mountain, inside a cave, by the fire, Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, supporting An Ge, looking at the firelight as he spoke, then shifted his gaze.

"Within the Western Regions Holy Sect, 'Saintess' is like a code name. Those who inherit this Martial Soul lose their sense of self and transform into different people every so often, including male, female, old, and young. The longer the time passes and the deeper the Fusion, the more they might not even recognize themselves until they die. However, this Martial Soul inherits part of the previous Saintess's will and Divine Ability. It is rumored to be unfathomable and eerily unpredictable. But as for the specific situation, this concubine has only come into contact with some superficial aspects of the Western Regions Holy Sect and heard some rumors, which have not been verified, so it's difficult to explain in detail."

"Back then, this concubine almost became one of those with this code name. It was because this concubine sensed something was wrong that this concubine managed to escape."

When An Ge spoke of this matter again, there were no emotional fluctuations as there had been before, as if time had erased the hatred.

Chen Yuan frowned upon hearing about the strangeness of this Martial Soul, feeling a chill and a sense of eeriness.

What Martial Soul? It's merely a monster that grows by residing within a human body!

And according to An Ge's description, the so-called "Saintess" doesn't refer to a specific person, but rather to the "monster" itself. The so-called Saintess is merely a vessel, a host, for cultivating this monster, constantly growing stronger by absorbing the Divine Abilities and Divine Souls of successive hosts.

Therefore, it can be inferred that this so-called Western Regions Holy Sect might be Puppets controlled by a group of "monsters," and the so-called Divine Ruins is a strange and bizarre place filled with oddities.

Chen Yuan's thoughts drifted far, but soon returned. The move he made by leaving Gongsun Yang was intended to scare off this monster and also deter some petty individuals. As for tomorrow's matters, they would be dealt with tomorrow.

With that thought, Chen Yuan lowered his head and gently stroked An Ge's slightly bulging abdomen, feeling the thumping of the small life within her belly, quietly enjoying their brief time together.

An Ge also gently rested her head and dark long hair on his shoulder. The bright yellow firelight illuminated both their faces, making them bright and warm. The two of them leaned against each other quietly.

After a while, ripples appeared in An Ge's aqua-blue eyes, and she suddenly spoke,

"This General, if you didn't have to fight, and this concubine had no family hatred, and this world was at peace, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just live a reclusive life in the countryside, bathed in the gentle breeze?"

A woman's heart is always soft, especially when she is about to become a mother.

Upon hearing this, the firelight in Chen Yuan's eyes flickered. Who wouldn't want that? Better to be a dog in times of peace than a human in times of chaos.

He had fought his way through, and sometimes his mind was weary, but he had no time for melancholy. Chaos was fought into existence, and peace was also fought into existence.

What An Ge wanted was what he was doing now.

"That day will come!"

He said softly, the firelight in his eyes so bright.

The two of them leaned by the fire for three hours, until An Ge slowly woke up on Chen Yuan's shoulder, opening her eyes. She had unknowingly fallen asleep!

"Awake now?"

"Mm!" An Ge hummed lazily through her nose.

"Go in, I also need to attend to my own matters." Chen Yuan said softly, then repeated his previous action, gently tearing at the Void Realm with both hands, and a man-high, pitch-black crack was torn open.

An Ge nodded, and as she stepped forward, she turned her head and gave Chen Yuan's cheek a light, fleeting kiss, then her purple figure stepped into the Hutian Space, quickly disappearing from sight. Then, the pitch-black crack also closed, a flash of light, and the space in front of him returned to being smooth as a mirror, as if nothing had happened.

But at the moment the Hutian Space closed, this ripple of spatial fluctuation allowed Chen Yuan to sense a subtle difference.

Compared to before, it seemed a bit more stagnant!

As someone well-versed in this Dao, Chen Yuan keenly caught this subtle change, especially in his current situation. He immediately became alert, his brows slightly raised.

He calmly activated his Dharma Eye golden light, concentrating it in his pupils, then slowly surveyed the pitch-black cave.

Under the operation of his Dharma Eye, the surrounding darkness appeared as bright as day in his eyes. Even the Taisui Mountain Three Taibao, hidden throughout this mountain and isolated by Restrictions, appeared as blurred outlines in his vision.

The three of them were sitting cross-legged, seemingly without any abnormality!

Chen Yuan slowly frowned but still patiently surveyed the entire mountain. Outside the mountain, the sky had already brightened. The lush, vast mountain forest, with roaring beasts and giant predators, was the most common sight in the Ten Thousand Mountains, appearing very calm.

Could it be that This General was being overly suspicious?

Chen Yuan thought, and the golden light in his pupils slowly receded. But the next second, he closed his eyes, swept his sleeve towards the fire in front of him, and the burning firelight shattered into sparks. Instead of rising, they pressed downwards.

Seeing this, Chen Yuan's eyes snapped open, and then his body instantly sank into the ground.

Three or four breaths later, Chen Yuan arrived at an underground river about a hundred meters beneath the mountain. This underground river was not wide, only about four or five zhang. Then, his third eye between his brows opened directly, radiating a blazing golden light that illuminated the underground river, making it clear and transparent.

Suddenly, Chen Yuan looked to one side of the underground river, his gaze fixed, and his brows couldn't help but furrow in surprise. Then, a blazing golden light shot out from his third eye, landing on that part of the river surface.

"Get out!" Chen Yuan shouted.

Only a loud explosion was heard from that part of the river surface, and white waves surged.

After that, apart from the splashing sound of water droplets hitting the surface, there was no other movement.

"Do I have to drag you out?"

Chen Yuan's face was cold.

As soon as he finished speaking, a large amount of white bubbles churned beneath the gurgling water, as if the water below was boiling. Then, those bubbles could be seen floating to the surface and bursting, emitting a large amount of white mist.

The white mist spread out, instantly filling the space of this underground river.

Under Chen Yuan's Dharma Eye, he saw a two-story small boat faintly visible within the mist.

Aside from its size, it was exactly like the night ferry that had previously run aground!

This thing, surprisingly, hadn't been caught by the demons along with the Fang Family. Instead, it had silently followed Chen Yuan here at some unknown time.

If Chen Yuan hadn't sensed the subtle differences in the space here, coupled with his cautious nature, he wouldn't have detected the anomaly and thus caught this ferry in the act of revealing itself!

Chen Yuan had always found this ferry strange, because he had personally entered it for training. Later, he realized that this ferry had its own consciousness. So, when the Fang Family Old Ancestor coveted this ferry and sought the so-called Dragon Tiger opportunity, he had no interest whatsoever. Instead, he left the ferry with his people without any reluctance, and even exposed the ferry along with the Fang Family members.

In Chen Yuan's mind, for something he couldn't grasp, it was better to keep a suitable distance. Perhaps it could even create some trouble for the demons.

Now, this ferry had actually sought him out. The numerous suspicious points made the cold light in Chen Yuan's eyes flicker.

How did this thing find him?

And what was it doing secretly following him?

"Come out!"

He spoke to the mist, his eyes flickering.

But the small boat in the mist remained unchanged.

Chen Yuan grew a bit impatient. He flicked one hand downwards and backward, and a Three-Pointed, Double-Edged Spear materialized. The spear hummed and vibrated, emanating a chilling light.

"If you don't come out, This General will force you out. Let This General see what kind of divine being this thing, that everyone flocks to, is?"

Cold light flickered in Chen Yuan's eyes. His action would undoubtedly cause a great commotion, but so what?

This night ferry had appeared several times like a hanging ram's horn, completely unexpected. Now it seemed to have targeted him. Such an uncertain factor was better eliminated as soon as possible, even if it meant driving it away. At least he wouldn't have to fear this thing suddenly causing trouble at a critical moment, especially now that he was still in the Ten Thousand Mountains, where demons were everywhere.

So, even if it caused a commotion and exposed his whereabouts, it didn't matter!

As his words fell, the long spear in his hand spun, producing a sharp whistling sound. At the same time, three powerful Qi presences rapidly descended from above, arriving at this underground river.

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

Three figures appeared almost simultaneously around Chen Yuan. They were the San Taibao of Tai Sui Mountain.

The three of them were originally following Chen Yuan's instructions, patiently waiting for the subsequent plan, meditating and healing. However, they were startled by the recent commotion and thus rushed down.

"Deputy General Chen!"

"What is this?"

The three of them came to Chen Yuan's side, looking suspiciously at the white mist on the river surface not far away. They didn't react immediately.

"That ferry followed us!" Chen Yuan directly blasted out a golden light from his Dharma Eye, piercing through the white mist and revealing the true appearance within the mist.

Jin Yu Mountain and the other two were startled when they saw it.

It really was!

Immediately, the three of them also frowned to varying degrees, and the same question as Chen Yuan arose in their minds.

"This General is preparing to force whatever is inside out. It's been lurking sneakily. If This General wasn't sensitive to spatial fluctuations, This General wouldn't have noticed this thing had followed us."

Chen Yuan transmitted his voice to the three.

"This ferry has its own consciousness, and its origin is still a mystery. Anyway, the rumor is that it's a secret Divine Repository left by a Dragon Tiger Realm mighty expert!" Jin Yu Mountain said with a frown.

"This General will listen to Deputy General Chen. Let's force this thing out. Whether it's human or ghost, it needs to be pulled out to show its true colors!" Huyan Qing opened his big eyes wide and spoke in a muffled voice.

Chen Yuan didn't say much. He stomped his foot, held the Three-Pointed, Double-Edged Spear, and transformed into a burst of Qi, rushing forward.

"Act!"

Seeing this, the San Taibao didn't hesitate either, transforming into three afterimages and rushing forward.

Just as the four of them transformed into Qi bursts and rushed into the white mist, heading straight for the small boat, a "creak" sound was heard, and the previously tightly closed cabin door suddenly opened. (End of this chapter)