Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 260 - 139: If You Want to Live, You Can’t Care About Your Face

Chapter 260: Chapter 139: If You Want to Live, You Can’t Care About Your Face

In the Ancient Array.

Faint halos created a blurry vista.

Within that vista, bone fragments piled up like mountains.

The scent of bright crimson blood spread throughout the space, still appearing somewhat vibrant. The whining wind had grown very cold.

Cold, just like Qin Lan’s rigid smile at that moment.

Fallen leaves of unknown origin fluttered down, landing on the rugged path of the Ancient Array.

White bones, withered leaves, faint halos, and Blood Qi endowed this place with an indescribable chilling coldness, just like the cold stillness of this world.

Qin Lan’s gaze was fixed unblinkingly on Zhou Yan, and on the seemingly ordinary sword in his hand.

That sword, right now, was something none present could withstand, a fact already established.

Qin Lan naturally understood this fact.

And now, that sword had suddenly appeared in Zhou Yan’s hand, its tip already raised, pointed directly at her head.

Faint light reflected on the black blade, casting a ghastly, blood-red reflection. The sword seemed destined for slaughter.

She had thought, by submitting, with her status, demeanor, and appearance, to take a man down would be easy. Therefore, even though she felt fear, she still held some belief inside.

But now, facing the aura of that sword, her last vestige of belief melted and disappeared as quickly as spring snow under the blazing sun.

Suddenly, she felt an indescribable, intense fear from her soul; under this fear, her delicate body began to tremble.

"Zhou... Zhou Lingzhe, I’m sorry. I, I’m willing to pay any price, please show mercy. Before, Qin Lan was short-sighted..."

Trembling, Qin Lan finally broke down, her resolve collapsing as she earnestly pleaded for mercy.

This time, she was ready to kneel.

But she couldn’t kneel.

Because Zhou Yan, in that instant, unleashed an energy of Sword Intent, stopping her from kneeling.

"Bring out all your possessions. If they are of use to me, I’ll spare your life, and you can continue following. If they’re useless, you either leave or die."

Zhou Yan looked at Qin Lan coldly, delivering an icy answer.

His voice was as cold as the frigid winds of heaven and earth, yet everyone thought it normal.

Without such capabilities, the one kneeling wouldn’t be Qin Lan, but rather Zhou Yan himself.

The weak have no right to sympathy or to be sympathized with.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Fairy Qin Lan, having heard this, breathed a sigh of relief and without hesitance took out three Qiankun Rings from her person.

She didn’t want to face Zhou Yan, because this man was even more terrifying than the barbaric Fierce Beasts.

In fact, she would rather face a cruel, ruthless, or even violent Fierce Beast. She didn’t know why she was so afraid of Zhou Yan, but she clearly understood that if she fell into Zhou Yan’s hands, she likely couldn’t live or die as she wished!

So, if she wanted to live, she could not afford to keep her dignity.

She had already cast aside her pride, tossed it away without any second thought.

Whether or not she could survive now depended on whether the treasures she owned could satisfy Zhou Yan.

If she had known this would happen, why bother in the first place.

But sadly, things to regret are always just a sigh, as past events cannot be done over.

If she had such a chance to do it over, Qin Lan believed, she would definitely be the first to offer up a Qiankun Ring.

...

Qin Lan thought much, yet her heart was still uneasy, because even she wasn’t confident about what Zhou Yan might value.

However, seeing Gongcheng Diewu being the first to bring out a Qiankun Ring, Qin Lan once more saw him in a new light—his judgments in all aspects were almost always flawless.

To be a Domain Master in one realm, indeed, this man was truly not simple.

Perhaps, following such a person, at least, she wouldn’t suffer much harm.

Qin Lan thought this and so she acted.

All the Cultivators saw it, but no one mocked her, for they didn’t know if they’d have done the same in such a situation.

Genius indeed has dignity, but dignity and life, the latter is more important. To be alive is to have dignity. If one can’t even stay alive, then dignity is nothing but a useless concept.

Qin Lan of course understood this principle and knew others secretly shared similar thoughts. So, she no longer felt ashamed, because when the gap in strength reaches a certain degree, admitting defeat is not something disgraceful.

At this moment, she was very nervous, very nervously taking out all her treasured possessions, letting Zhou Yan inspect them, not daring to harbor a hint of disrespect.

What kind of person Zhou Yan was, she had seen very clearly on this journey.

This is undoubtedly a ruthless person, also definitely someone who will do whatever it takes to achieve her goals, without caring whether the other party is a woman or a man, and certainly not likely to have any sympathy or pity.

She could only hope that her treasured collection over the years could help her get another chance at life.

Her gaze fell on the three Qiankun Rings in her hand, wishing for the first time that the more things Zhou Yan liked, the better.

Under her extremely nervous gaze, Zhou Yan picked up the three Qiankun Rings and began to sense them.

At that moment, Qin Lan felt as if time had frozen, and it seemed there was no moment in time that passed slower than this one.

This was torment—until Zhou Yan took out three pitch-black stones and a golden leaf-like object from her Qiankun Rings, allowing Qin Lan to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

She knew, at least for now, that her life was spared.

She was very clear that within this Ancient Array, without Zhou Yan leading the way, she would not be able to enter. And in the current environment, it was also not possible to safely retreat.

Going back alone, not to mention that she would likely be killed on the road, the mysterious dark tidal waves of attack would also be unavoidable.

"The things are somewhat useful, so follow along."

Zhou Yan’s voice remained cold, but to Qin Lan, it was the most pleasing sound she had heard, and at that moment, she felt Zhou Yan was really charming, and as a person, not bad either.

Of course, if she were to be rejected or still abandoned, Qin Lan probably would not think so.

But a woman, especially a beautiful woman, always has somewhat wishful and assumptive ways of dealing with problems.

"Thank you, thank you."

Qin Lan was behaving, nodding continuously; the Fairy had now turned into an ordinary woman.

Zhou Yan’s gaze swept past her face, leaving her slightly stunned, and then his gaze shifted away.

Turning around, Zhou Yan’s gaze focused on the Ancient Array in front of him, as if he was daydreaming.

But at this moment, no one dared to say anything.

This Ancient Array was too ferocious, and Zhou Yan’s mastery of it far exceeded their imagination.

Beside Qin Lan, Zhou Yuntian looked at her oddly and then shifted his gaze from Zhou Yan to Zhou Ying.

At that moment, Zhou Ying’s demeanor was somewhat desolate, walking disorientedly, clearly flustered.

Being flustered at this time was akin to seeking death, yet she seemed to not care at all.

"Waste!"

Zhou Yuntian did not speak, but Zhou Gucheng coldly snorted towards Zhou Ying after seeing Zhou Yuntian’s expression.

Zhou Ying shuddered, looking at Zhou Gucheng incredulously, only to see Zhou Gucheng’s frigid gaze also directed at her.

In that moment when their eyes met, Zhou Ying seemed to suddenly understand something, her complexion growing even paler.

"Some people are like the sword in my hand, their edges will never change! Don’t think too much, thinking too much is useless! Mind yourself!"

Zhou Gucheng said coldly.

Zhou Ying’s body trembled, then she revealed a miserable smile.

But by this time, her mind seemed to no longer be in turmoil.

Her expression became as ruthless and cold as Zhou Gucheng’s.

Zhou Yan knew about all of this but did not intervene or speak. Because the strength of these people, even Qin Lan could not match, let alone compare with Zhou Yuntian.

And to Zhou Yan, Zhou Yuntian was just a temporarily useful dead man.

These people were no longer his opponents, as they were still worried about their own lives. Their lives were in Zhou Yan’s hands at the moment, so they did not qualify as opponents.

While continuing forward, Zhou Yan put the three Black Stones and the golden leaf into the Purple Flame.

The Purple Flame began to burn, and within it, many very pure ancient energy breaths emerged.

These energies, deriving ancient purple Runes, danced like strange Elves, entering into the inner Flame of the purple fire. Inside the blue-purple Inner Flame, there seemed to be a Space, somewhat faintly flickering.

"Is there really a Space there? Can I enter it? If I enter, can I find Yanyan?"

Zhou Yan thought involuntarily, his mind always focused on Yanyan, not really caring about the lives of everyone else.

But the moment he thought about entering this Flame Space, the very second this thought appeared, Zhou Yan felt a crushing impact as if he would completely die if he confirmed this decision.

The feeling was intensely stark and directly emerged, deeply startling Zhou Yan.

His heart somewhat alarmed, he carefully sensed the Purple Flame again. But the three Black Stones had already finished burning, and the flames no longer danced, thus he could no longer see those flickering Space-like vibrations.

"This place should be accessible, but my strength is low and not enough to enter; that’s one point. Second, it seems that a large number of ’Black Stones’ are needed to create those mysterious vibrations. These Black Stones have traces of Heavenly Mechanism Soul Stone’s essence... which means, if it’s possible to obtain a Soul Stone of higher purity, perhaps the range of the vibrations could be expanded, and the chances would be greater."

Zhou Yan began to contemplate deeply, feeling that he might have discovered a huge secret of the Purple Flame Void.

As long as there was a way to enter the world within the Purple Flame, everything about Yanyan might be resolved.