Ye Chen was oblivious of Xie Zhiqiu's thoughts, but even if he did know, he wouldn't care. Meeting the latter here actually didn't evoke much consideration in him. Just as soldiers were to be dealt with arms and water with weirs, Ye Chen's response for him would depend on the latter's attitude. If the latter looked for trouble, Ye Chen could only reply with a tooth for a tooth.
At this moment, the benefits of Undying Body's first layer were clearly shown. His sore body and the subtle injuries in his channels were healed instantly.
Taking in a deep breath. Ye Chen turned around and headed toward Yan Fengfeng and company.
"Congratulations, junior brother Ye." Yan Fengfeng smiled.
"I was lucky." Ye Chen had already seen his ranking.
"This luck of yours is truly powerful. Dugu Jue and Tantai Mingyue had been openly fighting, and now, you've also joined the fray."
Dugu Jue and Tantai Mingyue were known as the twin stars of Sky Martial Region. Two stars would naturally try to outshine each other. And now adding in Ye Chen, it would be three stars competing, making the scene much more splendid.
Hai Wuya walked over and cupped his fists toward Ye Chen, "My humble self is Hai Wuya, the elder disciple of Sky Ocean Sect and a good friend of Yan Fengfeng. Brother Ye, we should get together more often."
Although Sky Ocean Sect wasn't one of the nine sects under the heavens, it was a powerful fifth-grade sect. For him to take the initiative toward Ye Chen as the elder disciple of Sky Ocean Sect, it clearly showed that he had already considered the other a big shot.
Ye Chen was also not the kind of person to shun away from people. If others wished to befriend him, he wouldn't mind. Not to mention that Hai Wuya seemed to be friends with Yan Fengfeng, and thus, should have an upright character. Thereupon, the two chatted for a bit, gaining a little understanding of each other.
"True Spirit Continent has countless forbidden zones, some of which have already appeared while some have yet to do so. Among these forbidden zones, some even require Life and Death Kings to heavily consider their options. There are also forbidden zones that could even kill a Life and Death King, known as Absolute Zones. Of course, a majority of them are those where we can adventure and seek opportunities. If there is a chance, we should cooperate in exploring some."
This was another advantage of a faction. If one were to go explore alone, they would certainly be able to maximize profits for oneself, but at the same, the danger would also increase by many folds. A genius should know that a dead genius was no longer a genius.
"Sure!"
Ye Chen wasn't being perfunctory. He had long since heard about the dangers of these forbidden zones. Not to mention that he was merely an ordinary Sea of Souls realm Master, even if he were to be a reputed one, he would still have faced great danger while exploring a forbidden zone alone. In comparison, Blood Demon Battlefield seemed much safer.
"The test is over, so let's head back!" Yan Fengfeng said with a smile. Thereupon, the group left Sky Martial Pavillion, moving downhill.
On a hillside near Sky Martial Pavillion, five young elites had appeared at some point. All the five had a cultivation base of Sea of Souls realm. The lowest cultivation base was that of peak early Sea of Souls realm, while the highest was peak mid Sea of Souls realm. The group was headed by two individuals; the left individual was a handsome, green-haired young man in a green leather-armor outfit and a red cloak while the right individual seemed to be prematurely aged with gray hair. He was carrying a battle blade, and an invisible blade Qi was being emitted even before he moved, causing the plants and trees nearby to wither away. Beside the two was another bulky youngster in gray clothes. This youngster's appearance resembled that of Yuwen Ye and Yuwen Hao: the same huge stature and a tyrannical aura.
"Yuwen Jie, I heard that your Yuwen clan suffered a huge loss a few months ago. Not only had your nephew Yuwen Ye his fiancée snatched away, he himself was heavily injured." The handsome youth and the gray-robed youth seemed to have a deep relationship as they spoke without holding anything back.
The gray-robed youth snorted, "Consider him lucky. If he runs into me, he won't get off without kneeling and begging for forgiveness."
The gray-clothed youth was, in fact, the youngest uncle of Yuwen Ye, Yuwen Jie. He was currently thirty-eight years old. He had left his clan to roam the outside world at a young age. Later on, he met with handsome youth and joined his faction. Two months ago, when he returned to his clan and discovered what had happened, his face turned black and blue, and he inwardly swore that he would have Ye Chen suffer the greatest of humiliation.
As for how the handsome youth came to know about this matter, he didn't know. The two had agreed to meet here and had just met.
"Alright! You and Lin Ku wait here a bit, I'll go have my junior's aptitude tested."
The handsome youth headed uphill, heading toward the Sky Martial Pavillion as his two juniors followed close behind him.
On the stairs, their group ran into Ye Chen's group.
"Oh, I know who it is, Feng Sect Yan Fengfeng and Hai Sect's Hai Wuya!" The handsome youth recognized the two at a glance and softly chuckled. Hai Wuya creased his brows and said, "What a coincidence, running into world-renowned Duan Lengya of Ice Spirit Sect!" Both had the character 'Ya' in their names, but their temperaments were like fire and ice.
"We should have a nice chat sometime. I'm really thankful for the last time."
Duan Lengya was not apprehensive of Hai Wuya at all, but Yan Fengfeng was not afraid of anyone either. Her speed was regarded as number one in the Sea of Soul realm. She spoke a few words rather complacently and Duan Lengya's group brushed past Ye Chen's group.
"Humph!"
Hai Wuya's face hardened. Duan Lengya's thanks was actually disgracing him. Last time, he and a group of his faction had discovered an ancient ruin and found a lot of good things inside. However, the latter's group was tailing them and ended up snatching away a majority of the harvest. Although he was not afraid of Duan Lengya, the latter's strength was slightly superior to him, and thus he had no choice but to concede.
"Brother Hai, who is this guy?" Ye Chen didn't know much about the geniuses of Sky Martial Region.
Yan Fengfeng helped Hai Wuya with the introductions, "This person is the principal disciple of one of the fifth-grade sects Ice Pavilion, the Ice Soul Master: Duan Lengya. He isn't on par with the young tyrants, but is only second to them. His fame and strength are quite high, once freezing a three hundred li with one palm move."
Jing Aoxuan and Li Xiaoyun sucked in a breath of cold air. Freezing a lake of three hundred li was a feat beyond their imagination. It seemed they still had a long road to tread. At the very least, their distance from the reputed geniuses in the Sky Martial City was not small.
At the mountains' feet, Hai Wuya was about to bid farewell to Ye Chen and Yan Fengfeng and return to his sect with his disciples when a loud shout came, echoing in all directions.
"Ye Chen, stay right there."
In the distance, a gray figure rushed over, stopping in the air hundred meters away. It was a youth in gray-robes carrying two rapiers on his back.
Ye Chen turned his head and inspected the former. 'Temperament like Yuwen Hao…a member of Yuwen clan?' Ye Chen immediately knew the former's purpose.
The young elites coming to Sky Martial Pavilion were too numerous. However, it was already past noon at this point, and most of the people had already left. Thus, when Ye Chen arrived at the bottom, he was immediately spotted by Yuwen Jie.
"You're from Yuwen clan?'
Yuwen Jie gave an apprehensive glance to Hai Wuya and Yan Fengfeng. At first, his eyes were fixed on Ye Chen, and thus, he failed to notice that the latter had two big young geniuses of Sky Martial City by his side. "That's right, I'm Yuwen Clan's Yuwen Jie. Ye Chen, you sure have some guts, daring to trespass my clan and injure my nephew. If you don't give an explanation today, don't think about leaving."
"Why are you making such a fuss? Who are you even?"
Hai Wuya was not in a good mood, and his gentle temperament seemed to have instantly changed. The entire world seemed to have changed into a great water expanse with him as the focal point. As his oppressive aura spread out, the young elites who were looking forward to watch some fun retreated one by one with appalled faces. Yuwen Jie, who took the full brunt of his aura, had his face completely pale as he retreated.
"Hai Wuya, this is a matter between Ye Chen and Hai Wuya. Please don't interfere!" Yuwen Jie sucked in a deep breath and said solemnly.
"I'll give you three breaths of time… Get lost!" Hai Wuya gave no face to Yuwen Jie at all.
"You!" Yuwen Jie's complexion turned unsightly as he stared at Hai Wuya resentfully.
"Yuwen Jie, what happened?"
Right at this moment, a figure arrived overhead. With his every movement, a desolate blade lightning spread out, cleaving through the aura of Hai Wuya. Moreover, the ground underneath everybody's feet started to wither, leaving behind botched dark spots.
"Hai Wuya's aura is integrated with the water profound while this person's blade aura is integrated with the withering of plants. This is a domain where I haven't stepped in yet."
Ye Chen knew that he was still quite far off from these two. The road of martial arts had no end, and he had just begun. Any of these two individuals could beat him; one could directly tell by their auras.
"Withered Blade Lin Ku!" Hai Wuya's eyes squinted.
The gray-haired youth glanced Hai Wuya and Yan Fengfeng, ultimately returning to Hai Wuya,"Was it you just now telling Yuwen Jie to get lost?"
"So what?"
"Then I'll tell you to leave some of your stuff behind."
"Hehe…Others might fear the Withered Blade Master, but I don't. If you have some tricks up your sleeve, let 'em out." Hai Wuya was originally sticking up his head for Ye Chen, but he himself was being targeted now, so how could he retreat?
"I just happened to make a little progress. Let me test it on you." Lin Kui's aura was extremely dull, carrying a trace of deathly stillness.
Rumble!
As the two auras clashed with each other, a volcanic aura erupted. Under this aura, it seemed as if the earth's crust had split open, shooting molten lava; it was Yan Fengfeng. As a principal disciple of the Mysterious Sect, Yan Fengfeng's strength and fame were both strong.
"Lin Kui, why don't you let me have a taste of your blade arts?'
With a cyan flame igniting between her brows, Yan Fengfeng advanced step-by-step. Her noble outlook dissuaded others from looking straight at her. Under her flaming aura, the ground all around her seemed to be giving off a green smoke. Even Lin Kui's blade aura seemed to be pushed back.
"Phoenix Master, Yan Fengfeng…you are indeed worthy of my blade."
The huge blade behind Lin Kui was shaking, ready to be unsheathed at any moment. A powerful blade Qi erupted, leaving behind fine blade scars in the void.
"Let it be, Lin Kui. I only want to teach that kid Ye Chen a lesson. It has nothing to do with other people." Yuwen Jie knew that Lin Kui wouldn't be able to deal with the two, and his objective had always been Ye Chen.
Hearing these words, the blade behind Lin Kui stopped shaking. He looked at Ye Chen and said, "Ye Chen, get in here."