Chapter 1461: Coming In to Take the Spoils
“It’s different now. Big sisters Yan and Yun have already recovered most of their cultivation, and I have the divine weapon Sun Slaying Bow. We’ll have a chance even if we’re fighting against the Fiend Emperor,” Zu An said confidently.
Yun Jianyue rolled her eyes and said, “You’re already overestimating your capabilities after merely obtaining a divine weapon. Do you think the Fiend Emperor and the human emperor, who dominated an entire age, are that easy to deal with? Even if that stone cold woman and I were at our peak, we’d still be a few cultivation ranks below him. Even with you and the Sun Slaying Bow, we still aren’t his match.”
Yan Xuehen nodded and added, “That is. unless you can hit him with a single shot of your Sun Slaying Bow. Otherwise, with his cultivation, he will not give us a second chance.”
All of them felt some pressure. They knew that with the Fiend Emperor’s power, it wasn’t too likely for them to shoot him down with a single attack.
Zu An said with an awkward chuckle, “We’ve met so many powerful enemies. I miscalculated a bit after getting used to them.”
Ever since he had entered this Unknown Region, he had encountered so many cultivators at the earth immortal rank. There were some among them that were even stronger than the Fiend Emperor. His standards had unwittingly gone up without him realizing it.
However, he still said, “Still, that’s just how things are now. Even if we know that there’s danger, we have to take the risk. Otherwise, we’ll never leave this dungeon.”
Yun Jianyue nodded. She patted his shoulder to console him, saying, “You’re right. If we aren’t willing to accept defeat, we’ll just have to do it!”
She was the Devil Sect Master, and that was just her personality. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have boldly charged into the Imperial Palace to face Zhao Han.
In contrast, Yan Xuehen and Yu Yanluo were more cool-headed. However, they knew that staying where they were without doing anything would just be blindly wasting time. If the Fiend Emperor dealt with the formation core first, they would all be done for. As such, after weighing the pros and cons, they also concluded that heading over to the Fiend Emperor’s location was the most sensible choice.
As such, Zu An summoned his Wind Fire Wheels. He said to the three women, “I’ll bring all of you. Don’t waste your own energy on flying. Make sure to save every ounce of your energy for recovery.”
The three women didn’t reject him. They had previously helped Zu An shoot down the nine suns and almost collapsed as a result. Even though it had already been some time, they still hadn’t made a complete recovery. They were going to face the Fiend Emperor soon, so the more strength they recovered, the higher their chances of victory would be.
As for Zu An holding their hands and even wrapping his arm around their waists, after everything they had experienced, they were already used to it.
Zu An brought the three women with him as he rushed toward where the energy wave had come from. His hands acted very properly the entire time, however. At the moment, the only thing on his mind was what to do in the near future. He didn’t have any time to think about inappropriate things.
The Wind Fire Wheels were truly heaven-grade weapons; even with a few more people, their speed wasn’t affected at all. That made a great deal of sense; experts from the cultivation world could easily topple mountains and overturn seas. The weight of a few women was completely trivial at that level.
The three women took the chance to circulate their energies and recover. Meanwhile, the group gradually got closer to the explosive battle auras after flying for some time.
Zu An surveyed an unending mountain range that extended like a slumbering dragon, and couldn\'t help but voice his surprise.
“What is it?” Yan Xuehen asked, opening her cool and pretty eyes and staring calmly at him.
She had been looking forward to eliminating the ‘Love Is More Solid than Gold’ ability for so long. Now that she had finally been freed, her thoughts had been untangled.
However… Why didn’t she feel that different from before? The biggest difference was that she felt a bit empty inside, as if she had lost something.
When he sensed that Yan Xuehen’s aura had become as cold as when they first met, as if they had experienced some kind of estrangement, Zu An sighed inwardly. The two of them wouldn’t necessarily be able to return to how they had been ever again.
However, he didn’t have the time to worry about those things. He sorted out his thoughts and said, “This mountain range is dense. It’s an absolutely outstanding land of treasure in terms of feng shui. It’s the most suitable location for an emperor’s tomb.”
“I heard you mention that Yu the Great was the Xia Dynasty’s founding ruler. Just now, though, the Fiend Emperor’s fighting aura came from here too. Does that mean this is Yu the Great’s tomb?” Yun Jianyue asked curiously.
Zu An was stunned. He hadn’t thought of that before, and had just wanted to find the Fiend Emperor and gain some intelligence. After being reminded of that fact, he quickly concluded that it was likely to be the case.
Soon afterward, the group landed in front of a cave. The aura fluctuations came from inside. They hesitated for a moment before carefully entering.
The cave didn’t seem that big from the outside, but the inside was full of winding and complicated paths, as well as many forks in the path. Fortunately, they were able to follow the shockwaves from the battle to gauge where to go. Otherwise, they would still have no idea how long it would take.
The entire cave shook continuously. From time to time, sand and stone fell from the ceiling, as if it could collapse at any moment. From time to time, the path ahead was blocked by boulders, but that was no problem for Zu An’s group, and they simply blasted open new paths.
While walking at the forefront, Yan Xuehen suddenly said with a frown, “Something is wrong with this mountain.”
“What is it?” Zu An asked, startled. He wondered whether they had fallen into some sort of trap.
Yun Jianyue explained, “In a battle between earth immortals, there’s no way an ordinary cave could endure such power. It would have collapsed a long time ago. But even though some stones fall from time to time, this cave is still intact overall. That doesn’t make sense.”
Yu Yanluo said just then, “I feel as if the intense power in this cave is being absorbed and transmitted into the surrounding mountain vein. It’s almost as if the entire mountain vein is collectively bearing the burden of the battle. That’s why this cave can remain intact.” The Medusa bloodline made her more sensitive toward the earth element, letting her sense the changes.
Yan Xuehen couldn\'t help but remark with a sigh, “Just how ingenious is this design? It can actually neutralize the aftereffects of an earth immortal-level battle! I do not think I could do it myself. No one in the entire White Jade Sect would be capable of that.”
Zu An actually felt happy, rather than alarmed. He replied, “That means that we’ve come to the right place!”
There were quite a few people in this world who could accomplish such a thing, but Emperor Zhuan Xu had recently severed the path between heaven and man. Those divine beings had already been separated from the mortal world and couldn’t interfere with it. In that case, who else could do such a thing but Yu the Great?
The battle’s shockwaves gradually grew weaker and weaker. Then, a pained cry of grief and anger rang out. Zu An’s group had never heard the voice before; it was enough to make those who heard it tremble even from far away. Anything that could make such a sound was definitely no ordinary monster.
Yun Jianyue quickly said, “The battle there has already come to an end. Let’s hurry and head over!”
Whether it was exploiting the opportunity or negotiating for cooperation, the best chance they would have was when both sides were seriously injured. Otherwise, if either side recovered, it would become dangerous for the group. Thus, they didn’t hesitate any longer and quickly rushed inside.
Soon afterward, the space ahead suddenly opened up to reveal a large chamber, with a giant door in the distance. Up ahead, there was a structure that resembled an altar, covered with a variety of sinister monster statues. The statues lay scattered and in disarray, clearly affected by the previous battle.
There was a grand flight of stairs in front of the door, but it had been greatly damaged, covered with bloodstains that had clearly been left behind very recently.
In the very center of the chamber lay a giant monster. It resembled a tiger with a pair of wings. Its face was sinister and terrifying, to the point that one wouldn’t dare to look straight at it.
However, its current appearance was quite miserable. Its body was covered in wounds; one wing was torn off, and blood dripped from the stump.
Zu An was alarmed. He recalled the Golden Crow Crown Prince’s Ardent Sun Sword Formation. All of the crown prince’s feathers could turn into golden sword ki. The same move had clearly been used by the Fiend Emperor, making it countless times stronger.
The monster lay dying, its belly rising and falling quickly and its tail curled up powerlessly.
A short distance away, the Fiend Emperor sat, seemingly treating his injuries. He also seemed to be in bad condition. His crown was nowhere to be seen, and his hair was in total disarray.