Supreme of the Heavenly Realm
Chapter 282 - 279: The Secret of the Altar

Chapter 282: Chapter 279: The Secret of the Altar

Seeing Ye Xuan instantly breaking free from the control of the Illusion Technique, a trace of mild surprise flickered in Yu Wuxin’s eyes. Seeing the dragon-shaped Palm Force from Ye Xuan approaching, she too daintily tapped her foot and, like a wispy smoke, counterattacked with a palm, her Palm Force twisting like water, exceptionally soft.

Boom!

The two Handprints collided fiercely, the overwhelming Qi Force sweeping out instantly. Yu Wuxin’s seemingly frail and boneless palm had ingeniously resolved Ye Xuan’s Dragon Essence Palm.

"Triple Sword Power!"

Ye Xuan knew he couldn’t easily defeat Yu Wuxin, and after one palm strike failed to take effect, he drew the Spiritual Edge Sword and swung it, stacking the powers of the third level of sword light, slashing out three shadows of sword light.

The layers of Sword Qi reflected in Yu Wuxin’s beautiful eyes, closing in rapidly, and then at her forehead, a strange purple rune appeared, and her body burst out with a like-real, like-illusory intense fluctuation. In that instant, her body also seemed to become much more ethereal, elusive, and the fierce Sword Qi assault quickly collapsed before her.

"How strange, is it an Illusion Technique or an Evil Skill?"

A shard of bright light also gathered in Ye Xuan’s eyes, and as the bright light gathered, Yu Wuxin’s body became much more solid, after which he thrust out with his sword, aiming straight for Yu Wuxin’s throat.

The sword light shuttled through the air, sparking amazing ripples, existing between the imaginary and the real, as if both illusionary and tangible, destined to strike surely.

Yu Wuxin’s delicate face changed slightly, her onion-like fingers pinched the sword light, yet the unstable sword light still flew past her face, almost grazing it.

And Ye Xuan, evidently not intending to be merciful to her beauty, swiftly unleashed a second sword stroke, attacking the same vital spot once more.

Yu Wuxin tip-toed lightly, her slender, graceful figure drifting up from the ground like a pristine flower. In the next moment, two strands of Purple Silk shot out from her sleeves, seemingly sentient, colliding with Ye Xuan’s sword light.

And Ye Xuan merely pushed Yu Wuxin away from the altar, then quickly moved to the side of the altar, and took out a jade bottle from the Qiankun Ring to seize the Holy Essence Liquid stored in the groove.

However, he had only taken a drop of Holy Essence Liquid when Yu Wuxin’s Purple Silk burst forth aiming to seize the jade bottle in Ye Xuan’s hand.

Pressed into desperation, Ye Xuan had no choice but to temporarily give up continuing to gather the Holy Essence Liquid, and countered with a sword slash, streaks of dark red flames leaping upon the blade, clinging to the Sword Qi that touched Yu Wuxin’s Purple Silk, then igniting it with crackling sounds.

Yu Wuxin furrowed her brows, then swung out a hand chop, cutting through the burning Purple Silk and dropping it twenty meters in front of Ye Xuan.

"I agree to split the Holy Essence Liquid with you."

Just as Ye Xuan was about to strike again, Yu Wuxin retracted her Qi, "Continuing to fight won’t result in an outcome and might advantage others who follow. There are eleven drops of Holy Essence Liquid in total. Let’s divide them by first come, first served—I’ll take one extra drop, no issue, right?"

"No problem."

Ye Xuan, seeing that Yu Wuxin was willing to compromise, also sighed with relief. Missing one drop was just one drop fewer, as she had said, really fighting on might only benefit others who followed. Moreover, facing the victor of the Mist Sea here, he wasn’t too confident either. Her strength, compared to that of Sikong Xin and others, was perhaps only stronger, not weaker.

"Then you fetch it first."

Yu Wuxin said indifferently. No one would mind having more Holy Essence Liquid, but she wasn’t sure she could win against Ye Xuan, though she still had some tricks up her sleeve, she couldn’t guarantee Ye Xuan didn’t have any either. It wasn’t the most critical moment yet, showing her hand too early wouldn’t be good for her.

"Alright."

Ye Xuan nodded and then took out the jade bottle again, positioned it at the sole outlet of the groove, and carefully squeezed out the Holy Essence Liquid with his True Qi.

Although Yu Wuxin had agreed to share it equally, Ye Xuan didn’t completely let his guard down. In this place, there was no such thing as trust, although he was a man who kept his word, he couldn’t ensure that the Holy Daughter did too. From her previous actions, she didn’t seem to be entirely straightforward.

"He really is a cautious fellow."

Yu Wuxin could see Ye Xuan’s wary defense, and of course, she wouldn’t mind taking action if there was a chance, but with Ye Xuan’s current state, he was clearly not giving her any opportunity.

Five drops of Holy Essence Liquid were quickly gathered. The rest would belong to Yu Wuxin.

Though both were guarding against each other and neither harbored good intentions, neither found an opportunity—in the end, they had to let it go.

After dividing the eleven drops of Holy Essence Liquid, both unexpectedly kept a touching tacit understanding and stayed in front of the altar, neither moving.

"All the Holy Essence Liquid has been collected, why haven’t you left yet?" Yu Wuxin furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Ye Xuan.

"Why don’t you leave then? I just got injured when I broke through the Array, and I’d like to stay and heal for a while."

After speaking, Ye Xuan smiled and then sat cross-legged in front of the altar, actually starting to cultivate.

"Injured? The Stone People Formation outside does not attack those who break through; how could you possibly be injured? Ye Xuan, let’s not beat around the bush—you see something unusual about this altar, don’t you? Waiting for me to leave so you can secretly search the altar’s mysteries?" Yu Wuxin’s eyes showed a hint of unnaturalness, as the man in front of her was too astute, seemingly able to see through any secret.

"Hehe, that must be what you’re thinking. This altar is the core of the entire suspended Ancient City. Even if there are any secrets, how could they be so easily discernible? I certainly don’t have that kind of ability," Ye Xuan said with a half-smile.

Seeing Ye Xuan’s expression, Yu Wuxin suddenly felt an urge to beat him up. The more he spoke like this, the more she suspected that Ye Xuan had a trick up his sleeve. After pondering for a moment, she stared intensely at Ye Xuan, "Ye Xuan, if you can find a way to activate this altar, and something valuable is discovered inside it, how about you get an extra ten percent share?"

"I eighty, you twenty."

Ye Xuan touched his nose, displaying a contemplative expression.

"No deal, I want at least thirty percent."

Yu Wuxin’s eyes lit up; this guy indeed had a way, but at the same time, she felt a bit angered. This guy’s heart was truly too dark.

"Deal," Ye Xuan immediately agreed.

Since the altar was connected to the real nerve center of the suspended Ancient City, it would be too dangerous for him to break in alone. Having Yu Wuxin with him could do no harm.

"Jerk."

Yu Wuxin secretly clenched her teeth. If disciples from the Mist Sea heard such words from her mouth, they would be shocked speechless since from their Holy Daughter, one rarely heard words tinged with emotion. Yet now, Ye Xuan kept provoking her infuriatingly.

Yet, while angry, Yu Wuxin was also curious and even somewhat hopeful. Even she had not noticed where the trickery in the altar lay, yet Ye Xuan acted so confident. Could it be that, aside from his proficiency in Martial Arts, he was also remarkably skillful in Arrays and Prohibitions?

Impossible! Even for her, who had always studied extensively: astronomy, geography, and even specifically Apprecticed under a famed Array Master, could Ye Xuan possibly surpass her?

"This altar has nine mechanisms, each sealed with a layer of Prohibition. They can only be unlocked one layer at a time, and then the mechanisms activated. One wrong step, and the Stone People Formation might be completely locked, trapping those inside the formation, and possibly us as well, never able to leave again."

Ye Xuan walked up to the altar and, after carefully examining it for several minutes, concluded thus. His expression also became gravely serious.

"It’s that severe?"

Yu Wuxin could hardly believe Ye Xuan’s words were true, suspecting that he might just be trying to scare her off on purpose.

"Don’t believe it then, I’m starting to break the Prohibition now; keep your distance," Ye Xuan knew with this woman’s clever nature, she would not easily believe him, but regardless, he had to activate the altar. Only by doing so could he enter the true main hall of the suspended Ancient City.

There, the very residence of the ancient saint of the suspended city and the real secret of this ancient city should be located.

"I won’t make a sound, nor will I interfere with you." Seeing Ye Xuan’s somewhat ’disdainful’ look, Yu Wuxin felt a twinge of annoyance, yet still exhibited excellent composure with a slight smile.

"I’m worried you might take the chance to attack me."

"You!"

Yu Wuxin felt an urge to smack Ye Xuan, but she held back, taking a deep breath to calm herself down before stepping back five or six paces to increase the distance between them.

Seeing Yu Wuxin retreat to a safe distance, Ye Xuan then began to concentrate. His soul power at the level of the Xuan Realm was fully activated, guiding his True Qi, which he then extracted as threads, slowly seeping into the altar in front of him.

Like threads of silk, the True Qi extended from the tips of Ye Xuan’s fingers, making him resemble a Puppet Master manipulating a puppet, intricately operating on the altar.

"He can manipulate True Qi to such a delicate extent; his soul power must have already reached the Xuan Realm level."

Yu Wuxin watched Ye Xuan’s actions, becoming more certain. Previously she had only speculated, as the Xuan Realm soul was extraordinary, and even she was still a step behind. Ye Xuan, this enigmatic man, had already moved ahead of her, the favored daughter of heaven.

It seemed that many of her prideful advantages completely lost their luster in front of Ye Xuan, becoming substantially dimmer.

Crack!

At that moment, a layer of light on the surface of the altar suddenly broke apart, and the ground below started to tremble violently, a nearly indiscernible crack quickly spreading across the ground of the square.