101: Play a game

"Where... where am I..."

Inside a cramped, enclosed space, Xie Chen slowly regained consciousness.

He opened his eyes, but all he saw was pitch darkness.

He instinctively raised his hand, only to press against a piece of cold, frigid wood.

"Hm? What is this..."

Xie Chen groped around along the cold wood.

However, everywhere his hands reached, he felt only coldness.

He tried to turn over, but found cold wood on both his left and right sides as well.

"Where on earth am I?"

In an instant, Xie Chen panicked, an intense wave of fear washing over him.

He began to scramble with his hands and feet, feeling around wildly.

Until his arm, broken by Shen Lian, touched a cold and familiar stone.

"A Firefly Stone?"

Xie Chen hurriedly grabbed the Firefly Stone, pressed it against his chest, and channeled a wisp of Spiritual Qi into it.

The next moment, the Firefly Stone emitted a faint glow, illuminating Xie Chen's surroundings: a rectangular enclosed space, tightly sealed on all sides by ironwood, looking exactly like the inside of a coffin.

"Am I in a coffin?"

Thinking of himself being in such an ominous place, Xie Chen was overcome with anxiety. He immediately began to force his damaged dantian sea, intending to shatter the structure and escape.

But just as he channeled his Spiritual Qi, a palm-sized Medicine Cauldron appeared before his eyes, instantly absorbing all the Spiritual Qi he had gathered.

"No, let me out! Let me out!"

At this moment, Xie Chen was completely panicked, relentlessly pounding on the coffin lid, trying to force it open with brute strength.

However, the coffin lid felt like a massive mountain; no matter how much brute force he used, it wouldn't budge.

Buried alive!

A terrifying thought spread through his mind like weeds.

"Ahhh—"

Xie Chen collapsed mentally, ignoring his severe injuries, and continued to channel his power, slamming his palm against the coffin lid again and again.

However, as soon as he channeled his power, the phantom of the palm-sized Medicine Cauldron would appear before him, unhesitatingly absorbing all the power he emitted.

"No! Someone help! Save me!"

"I don't want to die here! No!"

"Sob, sob..."

Truly, heaven did not respond, and the earth did not answer. Xie Chen could only pound on the coffin in agony over and over again...

On Guyue Peak, Shen Lian sat alone in front of the old Xie Family residence, waving his Folding Fan, watching the contrary gale blowing back and forth through One-Line Sky.

"Shen Lian!"

Just then, a cold, deep shout came from behind him.

Accompanying it was an extremely icy Sword Qi.

"Hmph."

Shen Lian stood up and dodged the Sword Qi to the side.

The Sword Qi struck the old Xie Family residence behind him, instantly coating it in a solid wall of ice.

Shen Lian remained composed, putting away his Folding Fan as he watched the ice mist spreading in the distance.

The next moment, the ice mist dispersed, and Liu Yixue appeared before Shen Lian with a cold expression.

"Where is Xie Chen!"

The moment she saw Shen Lian, Liu Yixue demanded sternly.

"You really came."

Shen Lian curled his lips, his eyes full of mockery and teasing.

Only then did Liu Yixue realize that the eyes with which Shen Lian used to look at her—filled with trivial fawning—had completely lost their warmth.

"Shen Lian, hand over Xie Chen, and I can let bygones be bygones regarding the grievances between us."

"Let bygones be bygones? Hahahaha, Liu Yixue, where on earth do you get the confidence to say those words to me?"

"Shen Lian, as long as you return Xie Chen to me, I can guarantee that I won't hold you accountable for destroying the Heavenly Feather Sect!"

"What a huge joke. Do you think that just because the Heavenly Feather Sect has been destroyed, this matter is over? I can tell you clearly that the matter between me and you seven bitches is not over. It is destined to be a fight to the death between us!"

Liu Yixue gritted her teeth: "Shen Lian, do you really hate me that much?"

"If I don't hate you, should I cherish you instead?" Shen Lian laughed mockingly. "Liu Yixue, put away your hackneyed rhetoric. I will never forget everything you did to me. Unless I completely slaughter you all, my resentment will never be quelled!"

Liu Yixue felt a chill in her heart. It seemed that Shen Lian, once weak, easily bullied, and regarded as a simp, had truly changed.

"Fine, if you want to hate me, then target me. Why target innocent people? Xie Chen is innocent, why harm him?"

"Innocent! Hahaha!" Shen Lian was amused again. "Have you truly forgotten how that trash Xie Chen bullied me back at the Heavenly Feather Sect, or are you deliberately avoiding mentioning it?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yixue recalled that when she returned to the Heavenly Feather Sect, she had brought Xie Chen to live there for a period of time.

It was true that during that time, Xie Chen had bullied Shen Lian.

She had later found out about this, and fearing that Shen Lian would reveal her relationship with Xie Chen, she had beaten Shen Lian up, hoping to make him shut up and not mention the past.

Thinking of this, Liu Yixue said: "Shen Lian, I didn't expect you to be so narrow-minded. Xie Chen was just playing around with you; surely you don't need to hold a grudge over this, right?"

Shen Lian chuckled: "Liu Yixue, you are just as shameless as I thought. Playing around by pushing me off a cliff? Playing around by poisoning me with Ye Fan? So in your heart, this is what you call playing around, is it? Since that's the case, let's play a game. If you can clear this game, I will let you and your disciple live happily ever after, and the grievances between us will be completely wiped clean. Do you dare to play?"

Liu Yixue frowned coldly: "What do you want to play?"

Shen Lian held up a finger: "Aren't you looking for your little disciple? I can give you a hint: he is currently buried alive somewhere by me. You can use any means necessary to find him, but remember to be quick. His cultivation has issues, and the Spiritual Qi he can use is extremely limited. Counting the time, in twelve hours, he will die of suffocation."

Liu Yixue was shocked: "You buried Chener alive?"

"Hahaha! Compared to everything you did to me, mere burial is nothing—is it worth being this surprised?"

Liu Yixue immediately checked Xie Chen's life soul in the depths of her Divine Sense.

Fortunately, Xie Chen was indeed still alive.

Just then, Shen Lian tossed over a sound transmission stone.

After Liu Yixue caught it, she heard Shen Lian continue: "This is the only way for you to contact Xie Chen. As long as your love is stronger than gold, you will surely live happily ever after. Time is tight; you'd better hurry, hahaha."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yixue did not dare to delay in the slightest; she took the sound transmission stone and turned to leave.

"Hmph."

Shen Lian snorted coldly, put away his restless aura, and returned to the front of the old Xie Family residence.

"Twelve hours is enough."

Witnessing the scene of the contrary gale sweeping through One-Line Sky, Shen Lian decisively manifested the crouching dragon marrow.

"Over the past few days, the crouching dragon marrow has been fully refined. Success or failure rests on this single move."

Having said this, he threw the crouching dragon marrow directly into One-Line Sky.

In an instant, the crouching dragon marrow made contact with the contrary gale and actually transformed into a golden Dragon, beginning to circle and writhe.

Immediately, the wind and clouds changed color, and strange phenomena emerged in heaven and earth.

Shen Lian immediately raised his hand and set up an isolated array around One-Line Sky.

After the crouching dragon marrow had been entangled with the contrary gale for a moment, the emitted Dragon Qi instantly transformed into specks of starlight.

Just at this moment, a crack slowly opened in the Void Realm.

The next moment, an extreme aura of Chaos rushed directly toward Shen Lian.

"Has it finally arrived?"

A look of excitement appeared in Shen Lian's eyes.

He immediately stamped his feet on the ground and raised both hands. Instantly, his left hand channeled Yang, and his right hand held Yin; the Yin and Yang Qi transformed into the two poles, fully absorbing the incoming power of Chaos.