225: Chapter 225 The Scheme of the Lord of the Heavenly Fiend Abyss

Chapter 225: The Master of Tiansha Abyss's Scheme. Tiansha Abyss, Main Hall.

Blood-colored candlelight flickered in the empty hall, casting a dim, shifting glow over the runes covering the walls, like silent ghost fire dancing in the depths of the netherworld.

Ye Chen sat on the main seat, his dark red robe draped messily over him, its hem stained with dried blood.

In his hand, he held an amber jade cup, the wine inside reflecting his extremely sinister face.

A figure knelt in the hall. It was the white-haired Elder who had previously been ordered to investigate the Southern Territory. At this moment, he lay prostrate on the ground, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

“So, you found out absolutely nothing about that person's background?” Ye Chen spoke, his voice hoarse and calm, yet it sounded like a dull knife slowly scraping against bone, making one's scalp tingle with fear.

“Abyss Master, please forgive me... Your subordinate deployed all of Tiansha Abyss's hidden agents in the Southern Territory, and even mobilized our internal informants within Yinxian Village and the Burning Flame Ancient Land. Yet, we still found nothing regarding that 'Blood Rain Pavilion.' That person seems to have appeared out of thin air, with no past, no master, and without leaving behind a single trace.”

“Appeared out of thin air...” Ye Chen murmured, slowly swirling the jade cup in his hand as the amber liquid rippled eerily under the candlelight.

Silence spread through the hall like something tangible.

Cold sweat dripped from the white-haired Elder's forehead onto the jade floor, but he did not dare raise his hand to wipe it.

Ye Chen suddenly let out a soft chuckle.

The chuckle was very soft, yet it made the white-haired Elder's spine instantly stiffen, as if pricked by a needle.

“Where is Xuan'er? Have you found him?”

“Your subordinate... has not yet found any trace of the Young Lord. After the Sacred Tower disappeared, the spatial fluctuations in that area became extremely chaotic. The void rift the Young Lord was thrown into seemed to lead to an exceptionally stable independent space. I sent men to investigate, but... none of those who entered ever returned.”

The jade cup in Ye Chen's hand stopped moving.

His narrow, dark red eyes slowly squinted, and the temperature in the hall seemed to drop instantly, causing even the flickering candlelight to shrink back.

“A Sacred Tower, two Quasi-Emperor corpses, plus my own son.” Ye Chen's voice remained calm, yet every word was like a poison-dipped needle piercing the white-haired Elder's heart. “And you tell me you found nothing?”

The white-haired Elder's forehead pressed against the floor. “Abyss Master, please appease your anger...”

“Appease my anger?” Ye Chen stood up, his dark red robe dragging across the jade floor with a soft rustling sound.

He slowly walked over to the massive map of Cangxuan hanging in the hall. His gaze fell upon the desolate region of the Southern Territory, yet it seemed to pierce through the landscape, landing on that lazy young man.

“I have plotted for hundreds of years. Just when it was time to reap the harvest, someone beat me to it. The Quasi-Emperor corpses were stolen, the Sacred Tower was taken, and even my son's life is uncertain. You want me to appease my anger?”

The white-haired Elder buried his head even lower.

Ye Chen stood before the map with his hands behind his back, remaining silent for a long time.

The only sounds in the hall were the faint crackle of the burning candles and the Elder's extremely suppressed breathing.

After a moment, Ye Chen suddenly spoke, “Is there any movement from the Zangtian Ruins?”

“Everything in the Zangtian Ruins is as usual. After that Senior returned to the underground palace, he never emerged again. However...”

“However what?”

“However, the people I sent to monitor the Zangtian Ruins sent back word that an extraordinary aura has appeared within the ruins. It is extremely terrifying, vaguely reaching a level that... surpasses anything before.”

Ye Chen's brow twitched slightly.

Even stronger than before?

That old man was already an existence at the Peak of the Quasi-Emperor Realm. If he is even stronger... what Realm would that be?

Ye Chen's fingertips tapped twice gently on the map as he fell into deep thought.

He had run the Tiansha Abyss for thousands of years, with eyes and ears spread across the Five Territories. Although he had not lived as long as those reclusive old monsters, his understanding of the world's grand trends was far deeper than most would imagine.

He knew that more than one old monster at the Quasi-Emperor level slumbered within the Zangtian Ruins, and that old man was merely one of them.

Yet now, even that old man had suffered a setback and had even begun secluded cultivation to undergo a transformation. This indicated that the strength of the young man in the Southern Territory was even more terrifying than he had previously estimated.

Quasi-Emperor...

Ye Chen clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

He was only a single step away from the Quasi-Emperor Realm.

Yet this single step had trapped him for an entire thousand years.

If he could not cross this threshold, he would forever be forced to linger on in that person's shadow.

The Opportunity of the Quasi-Emperor corpses had been snatched, and that Senior from the Zangtian Ruins was too busy looking after himself. What else could he rely on?

Just then, a flurry of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.

Immediately after, a grey-robed Disciple rushed into the hall, dropping to one knee while holding up a dark-gold Jade Slip: “Abyss Master! Urgent news from the Northern Plains!”

Ye Chen turned around, his gaze falling on the Jade Slip. “Speak.”

“The Cangming Clan of the Northern Plains suddenly sealed off their ancestral land recently, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving. It took three years for our subordinate's hidden agent to infiltrate the Cangming Clan, and he risked his life to send back this message. The letter says... the Cangming Clan has discovered a drop of emperors blood deep within their ancestral land!”

“emperors blood?!” Ye Chen's pupils constricted sharply, his voice suddenly rising in the empty hall.

“The hidden agent guaranteed with his life that the news is absolutely true. That drop of emperors blood is rumored to be the essence blood left behind by an ancient Great Emperor before his passing. It was sealed in an altar deep within the Cangming Clan's ancestral land, kept sealed by a secret technique passed down through successive clan heads, completely unknown to outsiders. However, not long ago, for some reason, the Seal loosened, allowing a trace of the emperors blood's aura to leak out, which was then detected by our agent.”

Ye Chen took the Jade Slip and swept his Divine Thought into it. A moment later, an unprecedented glow appeared on his face.

“emperors blood.”

That was the essence blood left behind by a Great Emperor before his passing, containing the dao rhyme and Laws of a Great Emperor's entire lifetime of cultivation!

It was far purer and more complete than a Quasi-Emperor's corpse!

If he could obtain a drop of emperors blood, refine it, and comprehend the Great Emperor's Laws within, his chances of breaking through to the Quasi-Emperor Realm would increase by at least fifty percent!

No, more than fifty percent!

The dao rhyme contained within the emperors blood was far more refined than the residual Laws in a Quasi-Emperor's corpse. If he could completely absorb it, he might even step into the Quasi-Emperor Realm in a single bound, and perhaps even catch a glimpse of the Great Emperor threshold!

Ye Chen's breathing quickened slightly, his narrow, dark red eyes filled with an uncontrollable fanatical fervor.

Heaven had not abandoned him!

The Opportunity of the Quasi-Emperor corpses had been snatched, but the news of the emperors blood had been delivered right to his doorstep!

“What is the current situation of the Cangming Clan? Have the other forces in the Northern Plains noticed anything?”

“In response to the Abyss Master, after sealing their ancestral land, the Cangming Clan claimed to the public that it was an internal Family matter. Although other forces in the Northern Plains have doubts, they did not investigate further.

The Cangming Clan has always kept a low profile in the Northern Plains, and being located in an extremely cold, desolate region, the news has not leaked out for the time being.”

Ye Chen nodded, walked back to the main seat with his hands behind his back, and slowly sat down.

His gaze fell upon the massive map of Cangxuan in the hall, landing on the snow-covered Northern Plains, and a cold arc slowly curled at the corner of his mouth.

The Northern Plains, the Cangming Clan.

Ordinarily, although his Tiansha Abyss was a top-tier force in the Central Plains, rashly acting against an ancient Family of the Northern Plains would ultimately alert various other forces.

Although the Cangming Clan kept a low profile, they had a Legacy of ten thousand years and deep foundations, making them by no means an easy target.

But things are different now...

“This emperors blood, I am determined to obtain it.”

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