Chapter 2536: The Grand Elder of the Empyrean Demon Cult
“Yaxi Lian, you cannot forget my previous words. No matter how great your grievances with Jian Chen were in the past, you need to forget them all. Do you understand?” The old woman who accompanied Yaxi Lian suddenly looked at her as she spoke sternly.
“Yes, master!” Yaxi Lian bit her lip and agreed reluctantly. She felt humiliated.
In the past, she was publicly humiliated by fairy Hao Yue in the Xuandao Empire of the northern region of the Cloud Plane. She had already become filled with hatred. Fairy Hao Yue was too powerful, so there was nothing she could do about her. As a result, Yaxi Lian shifted all the blame onto Jian Chen.
She was about to see Jian Chen again, but her master had ordered her to hide any and all of her hatred. Yaxi Lian naturally felt wronged after everything she went through.
Although her original form was a nine-tailed fox, a species publically renowned for their promiscuity, she truly guarded her integrity well, contrary to the rumours.
This was because when she absorbed the essence of men, she did it by planting her hand on their heads. There was no close contact at all.
In Jian Chen’s case, Yaxi Lian wanted to join with him because of his Chaotic Force. She wanted to use that method to absorb his Chaotic Force. However, when she reached a critical moment, fairy Hao Yue interrupted her.
“Sigh, even if I want to settle my grievances with him, what can I do? He’s no longer the puny Overgod that I could kill in the past. I’m not his opponent anymore.” Yaxi Lian seemed to think it all through and sighed gently inside. She felt embittered.
The Empyrean Demon Cult had branches across the Saints’ World, so they were extremely knowledgeable. Yaxi Lian possessed a rather high status in the Empyrean Demon Cult, so she knew quite a lot.
She had heard a relatively high number of rumours regarding Jian Chen.
Yaxi Lian arrived outside the cave where Jian Chen and the others gathered as she experienced these feelings.
“Commander Yaxi Lian, we meet again.” Jian Chen walked out from the cave. Behind him were Xu Ran and the protectors of the Tian Yuan clan.
At this moment, Jian Chen seemed like an important figure. Primordial realm protectors stood to his left and right, which enhanced his bearing.
Jian Chen could not help but think about what had happened when he first met Yaxi Lian as he looked at her.
Back then, Yaxi Lian was the commander of the seventh army of the Empyrean Demon Cult, a great late Godking, while he was only an Overgod. Yaxi Lian was so powerful that she was undefeatable in his eyes at that time. As a matter of fact, he could not even escape from her.
Now, a few decades later, he had already become a Primordial realm expert, possessing the ability to kill late Infinite Primes, while Yaxi Lian remained as a late Godking. This matter amazed Jian Chen.
Yaxi Lian said nothing. However, the old woman beside her clasped her fist towards Jian Chen politely. “I am the Fox Saint Elder of the eight elders of the Empyrean Demon Cult. Greetings to the patriarch of the Tian Yuan clan!”
“Fox Saint Elder, you probably came especially for me. May I ask why you are looking for me?” Jian Chen looked at the Fox Saint Elder. He could vaguely sense her cultivation. She was roughly a Ninth Heavenly Layer Infinite Prime.
“Under the grand elder’s orders, I’ve come to invite the patriarch to our branch on the Delight Plane as a guest,” said the Fox Saint Elder.
Jian Chen was interested and asked, “Who’s your grand elder?”
“The grand elder’s name is Cheng Ming.”
“Cheng Ming? I don’t know him.”
“The grand elder said that if the patriarch is unwilling to come, I should show the patriarch this,” said the Fox Saint Elder before taking out a small and exquisite hairpin.
Jian Chen’s heart leapt when he saw the hairpin, as it was something that Xiao Ling always used. She had brought it up with her from the Tian Yuan Continent.
“Xiao Ling is there?” Jian Chen struggled to remain composed.
The Fox Saint Elder nodded.
“Let’s go. Lead the way immediately,” Jian Chen said rather eagerly.
“Patriarch, you must think it through. They’re the Empyrean Demon Cult,” added many elders from behind Jian Chen. They were clearly in fear.
There was basically no one from the Cloud Plane who did not fear the Empyrean Demon Cult. In particular, the Tian Empire had been as prominent as the midday sun a few decades ago and were about to conquer the entire plane, but they were destroyed by a single palm strike from the great elder of the Empyrean Demon Cult in the end.
From then onwards, the Empyrean Demon Cult became the most terrifying organisation in the eyes of all the Primordial realm experts on the Cloud Plane.
As a result, some of the protectors became extremely unsettled and fearful now that they met members of the Empyrean Demon Cult.
“You don’t need to worry.” Jian Chen comforted everyone. Others did not know about the details of the Empyrean Demon Cult but he did.
The great elder of the Empyrean Demon Cult that all the peak experts of the Cloud Plane feared was senior Mo Tianyun.
Afterwards, Jian Chen made his way towards the branch of the Empyrean Demon Cult established on the Delight Plane under the Fox Saint Elder and Yaxi Lian’s lead.
This branch of the Empyrean Demon Cult was located towards the edge of the central region, on some extremely barren plains.
This branch of the Empyrean Demon Cult was a completely-black divine hall. It was of an impressive quality and possessed extremely great defences. Within a range of a million kilometres around the divine hall, demonic aura surged as dark clouds, blotting out the entire region permanently.
Under the Fox Saint Elder’s lead, Jian Chen’s group entered the divine hall smoothly.
As soon as they entered the divine hall, the protectors of the Tian Yuan clan immediately felt like they had just entered the belly of the beast. They could not help but experience chills.
Jian Chen and Xu Ran remained composed as they followed behind.
Along the way, Yaxi Lian would glance back at Jian Chen time and time again. Her eyes were filled with mixed feelings, as well as resentment that was very well hidden.
“Brother, are you confident in all this? Surely we’re not just striding into the belly of the beast, right?” Nubis asked secretly at this moment. He was in fear. Even he felt no confidence about all this.
Jian Chen shot him a glance to tell him to stop worrying and said nothing.
The group travelled straight up, arriving on the highest floor of the divine hall very soon. In the end, they stopped within a rather gloomy hall.
“Grand elder, I have brought the patriarch of the Tian Yuan clan, Jian Chen,” the Fox Saint Elder said politely.
“You are dismissed.” An obscure voice drifted out in the hall. It came from everywhere, making it impossible to identify where the person was.
“Yes, sir!” The Fox Saint Elder bowed once again before leaving politely with Yaxi Lian.
After the Fox Saint Elder had left, a deep, blue light suddenly appeared in the gloomy hall.
This was the glow of a soul. Only souls at a certain level of strength could emit such light.
An illusionary old man appeared before Jian Chen silently. He seemed to be nothing special at all, where he would not stand out at all if he was thrown into a crowd.
At this moment, his eyes were fixed on Jian Chen. He studied him carefully. He directly ignored the people behind Jian Chen, including even Xu Ran.
It was as if only Jian Chen existed before him, where even Xu Ran struggled to raise any of his attention despite being a Fifth Heavenly Layer Chaotic Prime.
“A soul?” Jian Chen stared at the ‘grand elder’ and was surprised.
He could tell with a single glance that the grand elder before him did not have a body. He was just a soul, not even the clone of a soul.