267: My house was robbed

"Yuan Chenling, I have returned."

As Zhou Yan landed once more, he felt a bit more confident.

Although the Saint and Saintess of that allied sect were indeed capable, they were, after all, only at the Nascent Soul Stage.

Facing the Law he had mastered, the gap in cultivation Realms was not insurmountable; at the very least, they could do nothing to him before his Power of Law was exhausted.

Of course, it wasn't to say that he could easily take them down either.

Bai Ling's techniques were too bizarre, and Xuanyuan Qingyao's stats were too high. Furthermore, since they had achieved what they had, they must certainly have trump cards—at the very least, they were much stronger than they appeared on the surface.

Ultimately, it was because the Law of the Heart was not versatile enough and lacked substantive offensive means. Since he had not yet achieved the Soul Transformation Realm, he could not directly command the Power of Law to attack.

But looking at the big picture, he ultimately had more cheats. As for that so-called Eastern Extreme Secret Realm, this Heavenly Venerable Zhou might just be able to break through it.

Just as Zhou Yan was about to step through the gate, he suddenly stopped, the smile on his face vanishing.

He took a step back, golden light glimmering in his eyes, his Aura suddenly turning sharp.

"Who?"

As the words fell, the previously intact house instantly turned dilapidated, and the surrounding sky was shrouded in twilight.

Zhou Yan appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, he was fully circulating his Dao Heart.

Who is this? So arrogant?

Could it be some old monster who had been dormant for many years, waking up just to use me as a test subject?

It couldn't be that the random place I picked just happens to be suppressing some demon, could it?

But those great experts were all still in the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven at the moment; why would the other party be in such a rush to make a move?

"Boom—!"

Zhou Yan threw a punch, colliding with a hand wreathed in black smoke.

The two forces clashed, and the resulting shockwave completely destroyed the already dilapidated courtyard.

Zhou Yan's brows furrowed tightly. He looked at his own health bar, which had shrunk by a chunk, and then glanced at the information revealed by the opponent, his heart sinking.

【Mysterious Black-Robed Man】

【Realm: Late Nascent Soul Stage】

【Vitality: 296w / 30w】

【Mana: 1123w / 20w】

Is this health bar reversed? How could it overflow by so much?

When Zhou Yan had first entered the courtyard and found no response from Yuan Chenling, he realized he might be away, so he subconsciously opened his mini-map and scanned with his Divine Sense.

Immediately, he sensed someone hiding on the roof.

The opponent displayed as a friendly unit, but their actions were suspicious, and he could not view their panel. So, for the sake of caution, he had called out into the room.

He just hadn't expected that after engaging, the panel would appear like this.

"I wonder which Fellow Daoist has come to visit? Since you bear no ill will, could you reveal your true form so we may talk?"

Zhou Yan sensed with the Law of the Heart once more, noticing that the opponent had almost no Heart Demon and was nearly impossible to influence, yet that friendly emotion was real, which meant the other party indeed might not hold hostility.

However, since the other party could not communicate, he dared not guarantee anything.

After testing the gap between them, a special force field spread out from the Black-Robed Man.

Zhou Yan could clearly feel himself being enveloped within it.

Not good, it's a Nascent Soul Domain!

This Domain, filled with killing intent and resentment, was completely different from the feedback from the mini-map and the Law, making it difficult for Zhou Yan to judge the situation for a moment.

Considering that reality is often more absurd than novels, Zhou Yan prepared for the worst.

He prepared Zhou Yans Marvelous Array, ready to use Dragon Transformation for a surprise attack at any moment, and even included the immature concept of swapping positions with his Yin and Yang Incarnations into his contingency plan.

Right now, he needed to sacrifice one life to trigger Berserk, test the opponent's depth, and gather more intelligence.

"Since you will not speak, Fellow Daoist, then I must offend you."

Just as Zhou Yan was about to strike, the ground was suddenly covered in a layer of viscous dark red. Plants withered and shrank, and the sounds and colors of the world seemed to be swallowed, leaving only a sluggish sense of oppression.

The Black-Robed Man stood in the center of the Domain, sleeves fluttering without wind, the surrounding space faintly distorting.

Zhou Yan felt his body sink, as if falling into a blood-colored quagmire, his movements slowing by a fraction. But as the Power of Law circulated within him, that sense of sluggishness immediately dissipated.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, crushing the red soil beneath his feet with a single step, his entire person slamming toward the Black-Robed Man like a cannonball.

The Black-Robed Man raised her arm to block. Zhou Yan's fist smashed into the forearm covered in blood-light, producing a muffled sound like metal striking metal. Shockwaves exploded, and the ground beneath them cracked and sank.

Following this was a storm-like exchange of blows; fists, elbows, knees, and legs turned into afterimages. Each collision triggered low, booming sounds, shaking the blood mist within the Domain.

Zhou Yan's right fist was wreathed in thunder, aiming straight for the opponent's face.

The Black-Robed Man did not dodge or evade; her palm condensed a mass of viscous Evil Qi, meeting the attack head-on.

"Boom—!"

Lightning and Evil Qi burst apart, and both retreated three steps, leaving deep pits on the ground with every step.

A section of the Black-Robed Man's sleeve shattered, revealing an arm as white as jade but covered in eerie patterns.

A female. Her body had been modified, and special array patterns were inscribed on her arm. If this was not the work of the Truth Cult, it was certainly close to it.

To prevent those patterns from hiding some strange effect, causing her to turn into a suicide bomber or something, he had to increase the distance now!

The collision of Spells erupted the moment their physical bodies separated.

Zhou Yan pushed his hands forward. Dozens of thick water dragons suddenly appeared in the air behind him, dragon roars echoing, and they surged toward the Black-Robed Man, carrying boundless water vapor.

At the same time, he pressed his left hand downward in the air. Countless thorny, dark green vines shot out from the ground, wrapping around the opponent's legs like living snakes.

The Black-Robed Man spread her arms. Thicker blood-colored Evil Qi surged from her body, transforming into a ferocious ghost face, roaring as it entangled and killed the water dragons. Water vapor steamed, Evil Qi churned, and the sound of "hissing" corrosion rang out where they collided.

The vines withered and turned black as soon as they touched the blood-light, but new shoots kept sprouting from the broken ends, wave after wave.

Taking advantage of the moment the vines restrained the Black-Robed Man's movements, Zhou Yan leaped into mid-air, holding his hands high. A blinding purple thunder spear rapidly formed between his palms, its leaping electric arcs forcing the surrounding blood mist back several feet.

"Go."

The thunder spear shot out silently, the air scorching wherever it passed, leaving a vacuum trail behind.

The Black-Robed Man looked up; beneath the shadow of her hood, ghostly fire seemed to flicker.

She gave up on resisting the vines and suddenly clapped her hands together in front of her chest. A ripple that made the Soul tremble spread out. Seven semi-transparent, pale Soul shadows rushed out from her body, shrieking as they faced the thunder spear, layering like a shield!

Thunder and Soul shrieks mixed and exploded.

Although thunder countered Soul spirits, the Soul spirits could also act as a taunt, absorbing more of the thunder damage.

The thunder spear's power greatly diminished after piercing through four Soul shadows; it was held firmly by the fifth Soul shadow, and finally, they annihilated each other.

The remaining two Soul shadows, their momentum undiminished, lunged straight at Zhou Yan in mid-air.

Zhou Yan landed quickly and pressed one hand down.

"Rise!"

The stagnant water and shattered plants beneath his feet rose in response, weaving into a rotating barrier of water and wood in front of him. The Soul shadows crashed into it; although they penetrated most of it, they were obstructed and dissolved by the trace of Power of Law contained within.

The two pulled apart again, in a brief standoff.

The blood mist within the Domain grew increasingly dense, constantly trying to erode Zhou Yan, but it was consistently kept at bay by the Power of Law.

The Black-Robed Man looked down at her fingertips, which were charred black from being grazed by the lightning, and then looked at the layer of invisible force around Zhou Yan—tenuous, yet stubbornly resisting the pressure of the Domain.

Her gaze lingered on that barrier for a moment.

Then, she made a move that caught Zhou Yan by surprise.

She slowly raised that charred hand, fingers spread, palm facing outward—a simple and clear gesture indicating a ceasefire.

The churning blood mist Domain suddenly solidified, then retreated like a tide, withdrawing back into the Black-Robed Man's body.

The withered earth returned to its original state, leaving only pits and cracks all over the ground, bearing witness to the brief and dangerous clash just now.

The Black-Robed Man remained silent, standing in the wreckage with her hand raised, as if waiting for a response.

On Zhou Yan's side, he hadn't yet used the golden bow or yuanwu xielü, and his health was still healthy. He truly hadn't expected the other party to suddenly stop at this moment.

Because he still had several lives in reserve, and the opponent had already withdrawn the Domain, Zhou Yan also stopped his movements and looked at the other party.

Just as he was preparing to open his mouth to question the other party.

The other party was a step ahead of him, lifting her hood and removing the hungry ghost mask from her face.

She shook her head slightly, her three thousand strands of dark hair swaying, making her appearance even more moving.

But what shocked Zhou Yan the most was that the face was extremely similar to Shi Suiyan's, only the person before him was taller, her figure more slender, and her features possessed a bit more intellectual and mature charm.

"Senior Brother, do you still remember what I said before?"

On Shi Suiyan's face, which carried a sense of vicissitudes, a gentle smile bloomed that did not match her age.