Heaven-Dominating Martial Emperor

The Cyan-faced Demon Monarch had still looked like a young man back then. He never imagined that seven or eight years later, he would have aged into a middle-aged man, which was why Yu Xiaoran hadn't recognized him at first glance.

When he realized what a terrifying master of the demonic path this seemingly harmless middle-aged man truly was, Yu Xiaoran's heart turned to ice.

Before such a being, he didn't even have the will to struggle.

"How could this be?"

"Why would such a prominent demonic figure appear here?!"

The few young men and women were also filled with utter despair, their faces etched with terror.

They hadn't yet recovered from the deaths of their two junior martial sisters, and now they were faced with an evil cultivator whose very name struck fear into people's hearts. How could they possibly remain calm?

In contrast, Ye Chen and his two companions remained perfectly calm, seemingly unfazed by the man's fearsome reputation.

"The Cyan-faced Demon Monarch?"

"He's a man of some renown, I suppose. I'm surprised he'd resort to such boring little tricks."

Ye Chen said with a look of contempt, shaking his head.

The Cyan-faced Demon Monarch was taken aback, seemingly surprised that a mere boy would dare to speak to him with such an attitude.

But he quickly began to laugh. "Are you referring to those two female ghosts? Killing you all would be effortless for me. The reason I let those two ghosts out and had them hide among the crowd was, of course, for an entirely different purpose."

"What purpose?" Ye Chen's brow furrowed slightly.

"You ask too many questions, boy." The Cyan-faced Demon Monarch chuckled, but his smile quickly vanished, and he offered no answer.

"What surprises me is that, with my methods, it should have been impossible for anyone to notice anything amiss with those two ghosts. And yet, you did..."

A faint cyan light gleamed in the Cyan-faced Demon Monarch's eyes as he stared at Ye Chen, as if trying to see right through the boy before him.

However, upon noticing that the boy's cultivation hadn't even reached the Primordial Mansion Realm, he shook his head dismissively, deciding it wasn't worth looking into.

Of all the people present, only Song Yubing, a cultivator at the Seventh Layer of the Primordial Mansion Realm, was worthy of his notice.

And even then, just barely.

If they were to actually fight, he was confident he could easily suppress her within four or five exchanges.

"You haven't even broken through to the Divinity Transformation Realm. What's so praiseworthy about your methods? It's only natural that someone saw through them."

Sensing the turbulent aura emanating from the Cyan-faced Demon Monarch, Ye Chen's eyes flickered as he said with a sneer.

In fact, this was a weakness common among evil cultivators.

While evil cultivators progressed with astonishing speed, their comprehension of the Great Dao and cultivation itself would always be a step behind that of ordinary cultivators.

Thus, when they faced the bottleneck of a new Great Realm, they would remain stuck for a much longer time—it was even possible for them to be stuck there for the rest of their lives.

An evil cultivator might only need a little over half a year to cultivate from the First Layer of the Primordial Mansion Realm to the Ninth Layer.

As long as they could continuously absorb the blood essence of cultivators or mortals, their cultivation speed would never be slow.

But it was precisely because of this method of seeking quick, easy gains that once they reached the Ninth Layer of the Primordial Mansion Realm, their foundation and comprehension would prove sorely lacking when they faced the great hurdle of the Divinity Transformation Realm.

Because of this, they would often find themselves stuck at this stage.

Even if they spent eight or ten years exhausting all their effort and energy to finally break through the bottleneck, their foundation would still be far inferior to that of an ordinary cultivator.

And when the next Great Realm bottleneck arrived, they would be stuck for an even longer time.

The Cyan-faced Demon Monarch was a perfect example.

According to Yu Xiaoran, the Cyan-faced Demon Monarch had been able to escape from the hands of a Divinity Transformation Realm expert seven or eight years ago. Even if he had been aided by a unique treasure, his own cultivation level could not have been low—he must have been at least at the Sixth or Seventh Layer of the Primordial Mansion Realm.

Yet, seven or eight years had passed, and he was still only at the Half-Step Divinity Transformation Realm. He had ultimately failed to cross that threshold!

After hearing Ye Chen's utterly disdainful words, not only was the Cyan-faced Demon Monarch stunned, but even Yu Xiaoran and his group looked on in astonishment, almost believing they had misheard.

'What is he thinking, at a time like this?'

'How can this guy still be spouting such nonsense!'

'The Cyan-faced Demon Monarch is a Great Power, an evil cultivator at the Half-Step Divinity Transformation Realm! With so many of them here, they would all likely become his blood-fuel tonight!'

'And yet, instead of trying to placate their enemy, Ye Chen was spouting arrogant nonsense and provoking him without a second thought. Isn't that just asking to be killed?!'

"Ah, whatever..."

After his initial shock, Yu Xiaoran sighed in resignation.

In such a hopeless situation, it was useless no matter what they did. He couldn't be bothered to quibble with Ye Chen about his inappropriate words now.

"Boy, these others are too scared to even let out a peep. Where exactly do you get the nerve to be so disrespectful to me?"

The Cyan-faced Demon Monarch didn't get angry. He simply studied Ye Chen with a curious expression.

In all his years, this was the first time he had met a young man so unafraid of death.

"You're nothing more than a rat that can't see the light of day. Is it not perfectly natural for me to disrespect you?"

Ye Chen said with a faint smile.

A cold glint appeared in the Cyan-faced Demon Monarch's eyes. "That's true. I and you worldly cultivators are on opposing sides, after all. It's only normal for you to hold a grudge against me."

"However, I don't much care for your attitude."

"I can grant the others a quick death. But as for you, I'm going to slowly savor the pleasure of torturing you."

As the Cyan-faced Demon Monarch spoke, he began to walk slowly into the temple.

The red lantern in his hand emitted a faint red glow. A moment later, as if a tide of endless, vengeful ghosts was surging from within, a piercing, horrifying laughter echoed through the world, drowning out even the sound of the rain outside.

"SHIING!"

Song Yubing attacked. A flash of sword light cut through the night sky, vanishing in an instant and slaying the swarm of vengeful ghosts!

In response, the Cyan-faced Demon Monarch merely gave the red lantern in his hand a slight shake. A wave of red light spread out, instantly dissolving the incoming Sword Qi into nothingness.

"To have reached the Seventh Layer of the Primordial Mansion Realm at such a young age... interesting indeed. Such talent is rare in this world. You are certainly a cut above the loudmouthed boy beside you."

The Cyan-faced Demon Monarch gave Song Yubing a deep look.

What surprised him was that the blood essence within Song Yubing's body seemed less vigorous and abundant than Ye Chen's.

This situation was highly unusual.

As an evil cultivator, his perception of blood essence was exceptionally keen.

The stronger a cultivator was, the richer their blood essence would be. The more of it he devoured, the more his own power would increase.

Yet the situation before him was the complete opposite.

The blood essence of a Primordial Mansion Realm cultivator was actually inferior to that of a Spirit Sea Realm cultivator!