Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

They looked at Jiang Chen sitting there imposingly, then at the members of the Six Mountains Dynasty, whose cultivation had been sealed before they were bound and hung from earthen pillars.

Zhao Hongluan gulped inelegantly, "..."

Zifeng Hanshuang touched her forehead, a look of bewilderment on her face, "..."

The corner of Zifeng Jun’s eye twitched. "..."

In their minds, Jiang Chen had always been a peerless genius—decisive and ruthless, constantly maintaining a cold and aloof demeanor.

But now...

’How has he turned into a common highwayman?’

’Wait, no!’

’He wasn’t just a highwayman; he’d stolen another gang’s turf and taken over their operation!’

"Sister Hong Luan, tell me this isn’t real!" Zifeng Hanshuang said.

Zhao Hongluan wore a strange expression, utterly speechless.

Jiang Chen, however, was completely unconcerned. He pointed to a few other chairs and smiled, "Come on over. I just got a lot of good stuff off them. See if there’s anything you can use."

As he spoke,

Jiang Chen lined up over a hundred Storage Rings in a row in front of the three of them.

The three of them froze, hesitating.

Jiang Chen said, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and choose! More people will be here soon!"

"Huh? Oh!"

The three of them walked over, still somewhat bewildered, and began to inspect the Storage Rings one by one.

With every Storage Ring they inspected, the expressions on their faces grew more and more incredible.

"H-How can there be so many treasures?"

"This is a Fourth-grade Spiritual Medicine, a Flowing Cloud Golden Ginseng Fruit! My father once offered a billion Lower-Grade Spirit Crystals for this Spirit Fruit and still couldn’t buy it..." Zhao Hongluan exclaimed in delight.

"Brother, look! Haven’t you always wanted an ice-attribute Spear Technique? This is the Celestial Tier High-level Spear Technique, ’Floating Frost Flying Snow Spear’! It’s perfect for you!" Zifeng Hanshuang said, waving a Secret Manual in her hand before giving it to Zifeng Jun.

Faced with a huge pile of treasures,

the three of them cast aside their reservations, cheering and jumping for joy as they began to pick out treasures for themselves.

Jiang Chen smiled with satisfaction. "That’s more like it. A horse can’t get fat without midnight grass, and a man can’t get rich without a windfall."

"Exactly! If we stick with Jiang Chen, we’ll be rolling in it!" Zifeng Hanshuang said excitedly.

Zhao Hongluan was a bit more reserved, but she too had an eager look on her face.

Zifeng Jun was even more direct.

He strode over to the nine surviving experts from the Six Mountains Dynasty, Long Spear in hand, and demanded viciously, "Spit it out! Are you hiding any other treasures on you? Listen carefully. Hand them over, and I might let you live. But if you dare hide anything and I find out, your heads will roll!"

"We wouldn’t dare! We wouldn’t dare hide anything!"

"There’s really nothing left..."

The experts from the Six Mountains Dynasty had faces full of misery, inwardly on the verge of collapse.

’Damn it!’

’Who are the real bandits here?’

「Not long after...」

When more experts arrived, Zifeng Jun leaped out before Jiang Chen could even speak. "This path is mine, these trees I grew! If you want to pass, your toll is due!"

"..."

The group of ten experts stared at Zifeng Jun with odd looks on their faces.

Their leader was none other than Zhang Ruhai.

Anger crossed his face, and he sneered, "Zifeng Jun, a piece of trash like you dares to rob me?"

Zifeng Jun replied fearlessly, "Zhang Ruhai, I’m no match for you, but if you don’t hand over your Storage Ring today, you can forget about getting past!"

"Hmph, I’d like to see what you’ve got to stop me!" Zhang Ruhai sneered.

Zifeng Jun grinned.

He took a step back. Under Zhang Ruhai’s confused gaze, Jiang Chen slowly walked forward, looking at him coolly. "And do you think... I have what it takes to stop you?"

"J-Jiang Chen?"

Zhang Ruhai’s eyes widened, a look of pure terror flashing within them.

On the other side of the Icebound Corridor, he had been utterly thrashed by Jiang Chen. It was because of the injuries he’d sustained in that fight that Zhang Ruhai, ranked twenty-ninth on the Human Venerable List, had been delayed for so long.

The memory of Jiang Chen’s methods was seared into his mind.

「A moment later...」

Zhang Ruhai and his group handed over their Storage Rings. With grim expressions, they stepped into the Ice Corridor.

Zifeng Hanshuang looked at the pile of Storage Rings in her hands, her smile growing wider and wider. "Is making money really this easy?"

"Easy?"

Zifeng Jun retorted, "Only because Brother Jiang is here to back us up. Who do you think we could rob on our own?"

「As time passed...」

More and more experts made it through the Icebound Corridor, and Jiang Chen’s group of four took a toll from every single one.

Anyone who refused was simply beaten into submission.

As more and more experts arrived, the number of earthen pillars around them grew from ten to over sixty. A person hung from each one, all of them beaten black and blue. These were the ones who had refused to hand over their Storage Rings and tried to force their way through, only to be captured by Jiang Chen.

"Brother Jiang, we’ve looted a total of 3,625 Storage Rings. We’ve got over eight trillion Lower-Grade Spirit Crystals alone!" Zifeng Jun said excitedly.

Jiang Chen nodded. "Let’s hit one or two more groups, then we’ll head through."

"Right!"

Zifeng Jun nodded.

Five days had passed since the Icebound Corridor opened, and the strongest groups had already made it through.

Those who remained were a cut below in terms of both strength and talent.

To Jiang Chen and the others, who had already reaped a massive harvest, what was left was mere pocket change.

However...

Just as Jiang Chen was preparing to call it quits, he encountered a group that caught his interest.

It was a group of over twenty experts from the Royal Family and the Ice King Race!

The Royal Family’s Sixth Prince, Bing Feng; the Fifth Prince, Bing Sheng; and a group of high-level members of the Ice King Race.

"Dammit, we finally made it through that blasted Icebound Corridor!"

"That wasn’t easy!"

"Hurry, hurry! Once we reach the main hall ahead, we’ll get the reward for clearing the first trial..."

"Prince, y-you all, look..."

Bing Feng and the others, their faces flushed with excitement, stopped dead in their tracks. They all looked ahead, and their expressions changed abruptly.

There stood Jiang Chen, Zifeng Hanshuang, Zifeng Jun, and Zhao Hongluan in a single line, broad, meaningful smiles on their faces as they watched them.

"GULP!"

Bing Feng and his men swallowed hard. "H-holy hell, what’s Jiang Chen doing here?"

The corners of Jiang Chen’s mouth lifted into a taunting smile. "Well, speak of the devil. I recall saying I would kill any member of the Royal Family I encountered—kill one if I find one, kill a pair if I find two! Bing Feng, Bing Sheng, which of you brothers wants to be first?"

"You..."

"Jiang Chen, don’t you go too far!"

Bing Feng and Bing Sheng’s faces darkened as they roared in anger.

Jiang Chen said coolly, "Me, going too far? When Bing Qianchi, a grand expert of the Human Emperor Realm, sneak-attacked a junior like me from the Union Palace Realm, was *he* not going too far? Enough talk. None of you are leaving here today!"

WHOOSH!

Jiang Chen shot forward.

He pointed a finger through the air.

Star-Breaking!

A colossal finger of light, like a pillar supporting the heavens, descended with crushing force, flattening five experts from the Royal Family into meat paste.

Bing Feng and Bing Sheng dodged out of the way, their faces paling. "We have to fight him!"

"Kill!"

The two brothers charged forward together.

Jiang Chen smirked coldly. His cultivation had already advanced to the Seventh Stage of the Union Palace Realm, causing his power to skyrocket. Facing Bing Sheng and Bing Feng was a complete mismatch. His palm bloomed with a dark golden light, forcefully shattering their attacks. With two sharp CRACKS, he grabbed both of them by the neck.

He lifted them high into the air.

Bing Sheng and Bing Feng struggled violently, roaring, "Jiang Chen, don’t kill us! We beg you, don’t—"

"If you dare kill us, forget our father—our first and second brothers will never forgive you...!"

The two of them roared hysterically.

"Bing Long and Bing Xu? They won’t have to lift a finger. I’ll send them to join you soon enough!"

Jiang Chen responded calmly as he suddenly unleashed his Heaven-Swallowing Secret Technique. Amidst their agonized screams, Bing Sheng and Bing Feng’s bodies rapidly withered, turning into two desiccated corpses.

Jiang Chen’s icy gaze swept over the remaining experts from the Royal Family and Ice King Race. With a flicker of his Divine Thought, he commanded, "Thunder Realm!"

BOOM!

Thunder roared, filling the sky and land.

The remaining experts from the Royal Family and the Ice King Race were all reduced to ash, not a single one left alive...