Heaven-Dominating Martial Emperor

The guards couldn't be bothered with the mother and daughter, quickly letting the pair enter the city.

"Phew... We're finally in the city. To think we used such a villain to escort us the whole way. We really have some nerve."

The middle-aged woman let out a long sigh of relief.

Although she was worried Ye Chen would target her for retaliation, this was Luoyun City, a place controlled by the Yan family!

As long as they didn't leave the city, they would remain perfectly safe!

Besides, the city had long been on high alert. It would be impossible for that Ye Chen to sneak inside!

"Mother, does this count as us punishing evil and promoting good?" the daughter asked her mother sweetly.

"Of course it does!" The middle-aged woman nodded. "A villain like that, connected to the Demon Dao and wanted by the Yan family, must have committed some heinous crime!"

"Making him our free escort counts as him doing one good deed, but it's not nearly enough to atone for his sins!"

"If only those two guards at the gate had been a little quicker and captured that criminal!"

"Then we would've gotten a huge reward! And only then could you say that criminal had finally done something of value!"

The pair rounded a corner, entering a narrow alley.

The alley was deserted and eerily quiet.

A dark figure suddenly dropped from above, giving the chattering middle-aged woman a terrible fright.

When she got a clear look at the person's face, a bone-deep chill instantly made her freeze in place.

"It's you?!!"

She was about to scream, but Ye Chen was faster, his hand clamping around her throat.

The middle-aged woman's face flushed crimson and her mouth fell open. She struggled desperately, but only gurgling sounds came out.

"You villain! Let my mother go!"

The little girl was furious. She lunged forward, punching and kicking at Ye Chen.

She remembered her mother's words: inside the city, villains like him wouldn't dare to cause too much trouble for fear of the Yan family.

Therefore, she was certain Ye Chen wouldn't hurt her, which was why she acted so brazenly.

Her fists rained down on Ye Chen's body, but it was like she was just tickling him.

Ye Chen's expression was impassive, his tone so cold it could freeze the air. "I escorted you this entire way, and this is how you repay me?"

"Villain! You really are a villain! Truly good people don't expect anything in return!"

"Escorting us was just you atoning for your own sins! It's what you should have done!"

Seeing her mother struggling to breathe, the little girl grabbed Ye Chen's arm and, in a panic, bit down hard.

However, Ye Chen suddenly put forth his strength, giving his arm a slight shake.

"AIIEE!"

The immense force instantly shattered the little girl's teeth. She collapsed to the ground, clutching her bleeding mouth and sobbing loudly.

This time, not a trace of pity remained in Ye Chen's eyes.

"No one who uses me meets a good end."

"Go on, back to where you came from!"

With that, Ye Chen grabbed the middle-aged woman in one hand and the little girl in the other. In a flash, he was speeding toward the city outskirts.

Moving at full speed, it wasn't long before he returned to the spot where he had first met the mother and daughter.

Ye Chen took out a thick rope and tied the mother and daughter to a large tree.

After he was done, he lightly dusted off his hands and admired the scene before him with a satisfied look.

"Bastard! What are you doing?!"

The middle-aged woman's expression changed drastically as she realized her predicament.

The little girl, however, just clutched her mouth with tear-filled eyes, still crying out in pain.

"I escorted you this whole way. Not only did you not offer a single word of thanks, you turned around and sold me out."

Ye Chen gave the pair an indifferent glance.

"I am loath to kill mortals who have no cultivation."

"However, since I was the one who helped you, I naturally have the right to take that help away."

"You were being hunted by Iron-Gray Wolves and were trapped here, were you not?"

"In that case, you can just stay right here."

With that said, Ye Chen even dragged over the nearby corpses of the Iron-Gray Wolves.

The thick stench of blood instantly began to spread in all directions.

A rustling sound, RUSTLE RUSTLE, came from the surrounding grass... Faintly, it seemed some wild beasts, drawn by the scent of blood, were now peering toward them.

Seeing Ye Chen turn to leave, the middle-aged woman shrieked in terror, "No! You can't do this!"

"Let us go! Aren't you afraid the Yan family will investigate this and throw you in prison?"

Ye Chen paused and glanced back at her.

His impassive expression seemed filled with mockery for her.

"No! Don't go! I'm begging you, please, let my daughter and me go!"

"I was wrong! I'm willing to make amends, I'll do anything you ask! I'll repay you properly!"

The mother begged, her voice choked with sobs.

"You're a villain! Mother was right, you really are a villain!"

the little girl shouted, sobbing.

'Demon Dao...'

'In this world, are the lines between the righteous and the Demon Dao really drawn so clearly?'

Ye Chen looked up at the distant sky, and for a moment, a strange sense of melancholy washed over him.

He paid no mind to the cries and pleas behind him, simply walking out of the woods.

Before long, the low roars of wild beasts drowned out all other sounds.

The voices of the mother and daughter grew faint, until they could no longer be heard at all.

...

He entered Luoyun City once again, but this time, Ye Chen had changed his clothes.

He wore a conical bamboo hat and a black cloak. The attire wasn't exactly low-profile, but it wasn't overly conspicuous either.

It was similar to the attire of a wandering knight-errant.

'To form a golden Spiritual Sea, I'll need Shadow Fruit, Dragon Blood Grass, Yama Mushroom, and a Thunder-Sound Spiritual Root...'

'These ingredients are all relatively easy to find.'

With a thought, Ye Chen retrieved a bottle of pills from his Storage Ring.

A vigorous energy seemed to surge within it, and it even resonated faintly with Ye Chen's own constitution.

'The Five-Elements Pill...'

Sizing up the pills in the bottle, Ye Chen couldn't help but shake his head in slight disappointment.

'Didn't the Luoyun Sect go to all that trouble, draining my very blood and marrow, just to refine these Five-Elements Pills?'

'I never expected that these Five-Elements Pills, crafted by the hand of Xu Yingwu, would be of such poor quality!'

After receiving the legacy of the Demon God Creation Skill, Ye Chen's skill in alchemy had already reached a divine level, unparalleled in the world!

He could tell with a single glance how inferior the Five-Elements Pills in his hand were.

For most Cultivators, even this bottle of low-grade Five-Elements Pills would be a potent tonic.

But Ye Chen was not satisfied.

He would refine high-grade, or even Top Grade, Five-Elements Pills!!!