Supreme of the Heavenly Realm
Chapter 358 - 355

Chapter 358: Chapter 355

"Long Guihai, what are you doing?!"

Seeing Long Guihai suddenly making a move, Yu Yi’s face drastically changed as she fiercely shouted.

However, Long Guihai turned a deaf ear to her shouting, a smile growing thicker on his face as the hidden darts were about to hit Ye Xuan.

It seemed like the next moment, he would witness Ye Xuan’s death.

As for Yu Yi, after dealing with Ye Xuan, she naturally had to be taken care of; when asked later, he could pin everything on the Ghost-faced Man, as nobody else knew that the Ghost-faced Man was Ye Xuan.

But just as the hidden darts were about to strike Ye Xuan’s face, he suddenly opened his eyes and tilted his head, miraculously dodging the three darts. The blade grazed by, cutting off only a strand of Ye Xuan’s hair, which then floated to the ground.

"How is that possible, did you do that on purpose?"

The moment he missed, Long Guihai’s expression changed. At such a close distance, if one were completely unprepared, it would be impossible to dodge, but Ye Xuan had dodged, meaning he had been pretending to heal, actually concentrating intensely, just waiting for his surprise attack.

In the blink of an eye after the darts passed, Ye Xuan counterattacked. From his glabella, soul power surged out, and a blade of condensed soul power slashed out tangibly.

Caught off guard, Long Guihai was hit by Ye Xuan’s subsequent attack. He spat out foam and was sent flying backward, crashing into two large trees.

"Let’s go!"

After injuring Long Guihai with a surge of soul power, Ye Xuan immediately grabbed Yu Yi’s arm, taking her and storming in the direction behind Long Guihai.

"Seeking death, Elder Sima, kill them quickly!"

Although Long Guihai’s head was splitting and he was almost fainting, his blurred consciousness thought he saw Ye Xuan and Yu Yi attempting to escape, and he immediately shouted loudly to the grey-robed elder.

Elder Sima, initially unresponsive and caught off guard, only reacted hen Ye Xuan and Yu Yi reached behind him. His eyes turned cold, then he leaped forward, charging violently toward the two.

The distance that had originally separated them was instantly closed.

"Elder Sima, you are an Elder of Sky Demon Mountain, not Long Guihai’s personal enforcer. He wants to harm us, do you also intend to abet tyranny?"

Seeing Elder Sima catching up, Yu Yi’s face also tensed, and she immediately shouted loudly.

But to her fierce shout, Elder Sima remained indifferent, as if he hadn’t heard anything. He raised his palm, sending a blood-colored Palm Blade flying through the air at the speed of a blink toward Ye Xuan’s back.

Sensing a powerful attack from behind, Ye Xuan discarded Yu Yi’s hand, immediately turned around, and crossed his arms in front of his chest. A layer of Dragon Scales rapidly emerged from his arms, emitting a metallic luster.

Boom!

The Palm Blade struck Ye Xuan, the fierce Qi Force scattering in all directions, and Ye Xuan himself was blown back dozens of meters, scraping a deep trace on the ground.

"Hmm? To think you could take a hit from my Palm Blade."

When his attack hit Ye Xuan but did not cause major damage, Elder Sima’s expression also showed surprise. His Palm Blade might not kill Ye Xuan, but it could easily slay an ordinary Seventh Grade Demon King. Unexpectedly, when it landed on Ye Xuan, the effect was minimal.

"Indeed, a strong being of Half-step Demon Venerable caliber, even a casual Palm Blade has such astonishing power."

Not only was Elder Sima surprised, Ye Xuan was also extremely shocked. The strength of a Half-step Demon Venerable exceeded his expectations. Even though both his arms transformed into dragons, he didn’t expect to still be blown back several dozen meters, his body’s vital energy roiling.

"Elder, are you alright?"

Yu Yi looked at Ye Xuan with some concern. She hated that her own strength was insufficient to help Ye Xuan. Even though she had already reached the Seventh Grade Demon King Realm, she was still no help against a genuine Half-step Demon Venerable like Elder Sima.

"Forget about me, go first! I’ll follow shortly!"

Ye Xuan glanced at Yu Yi and then shouted, Elder Sima’s power was extraordinary, and Yu Yi being here could become a burden which might hinder him. Only if she left him would he be unfettered. Although he couldn’t defeat his opponent, self-preservation shouldn’t be a major issue.

"But..." Yu Yi seemed hesitant.

"Don’t ’but’ me, just do as I say!"

Ye Xuan roared impatiently; now was not the time for hesitation. Even he couldn’t control the situation anymore. Facing a Half-step Demon Venerable whose strength was unprecedented, he had to give it his all just to cope.

His harsh scolding made Yu Yi bite her silver teeth and stop hesitating; she immediately turned and dashed away in the direction behind her.

Seeing Yu Yi flee, Elder Sima did not pursue her. His target was Ye Xuan. As for Yu Yi, it didn’t matter if she escaped since even if she returned to Sky Demon Mountain and spoke of today’s events, without evidence, her words would carry no weight. Besides, as he himself was a Half-step Demon Venerable and entrusted by the Demon Dragon Venerable, who in Sky Demon Mountain could touch him?

Killing Ye Xuan was all he needed to complete his mission.

"Ye Xuan, should I say you’re honorable or foolish? Do you think you still have a chance to survive on your own here?"

At this moment, Long Guihai, with his senses fully recovered, stared ominously at Ye Xuan, a chilling murderous intent surfacing on his face as if he was looking at a dead man.

"Taking my life might not be as easy as you think."

Ye Xuan’s expression remained unchanged. With Yu Yi gone, he no longer had any distractions and could fight with all his might.

"It will be very simple."

Long Guihai said with a hint of disdain, then turned to Elder Sima, "Elder Sima, don’t hold back. If you can kill him, it would be a great achievement. My father will surely reward you heavily and pass on the experience of advancing to First Grade Demon Venerable."

During the first part of the sentence, Elder Sima’s expression remained unchanged, but upon hearing the latter part, his face lit up with a gleam in his eyes, and he nodded. His aura then began to soar rapidly.

Seeing this, Ye Xuan knew that what Elder Sima really desired was not some honor or merit but the experience of advancing from Half-step Demon Venerable to First Grade Demon Venerable. Such orally transmitted knowledge was exceedingly rare. Elder Sima had agreed to join Long Guihai on this mission in the Eastern Desolate Island Domain just because of this promise from Demon Dragon Venerable.

It was unexpected that mere experience of advancing to the Demon Venerable Realm would make Elder Sima work so zealously for Demon Dragon Venerable, even to the point of becoming his loyal henchman.

Ye Xuan secretly shook his head. He had plenty of such experiences, not just for advancing to the Demon Venerable Realm but even to the Demon Saint Realm. However, he could not simply reveal this as nobody would believe him, and it was too shocking. One would wonder how a young member from Sky Demon Mountain could have experience advancing to Demon Venerable or Demon Saint Realm—only those who had truly reached such levels could possess it.

"Don’t worry. I always keep my promises. This kid, he won’t be able to escape."

Elder Sima’s face was grim with murderous intent. A scorching red light erupted from his body, and in that instant, he moved sharply and struck towards Ye Xuan with a palm. The blazing red demonic power seemed like flames, instantly turning the space in front of him into a sea of fire.

"Demon Fire Scorches the Plains!"

His Palm Force sealed off the space, sweeping towards Ye Xuan from all directions like an unavoidable natural disaster.

The domineering strength of a Half-step Demon Venerable was undoubtedly displayed.

Having reached the level of Half-step Martial Venerate, the True Qi within his body had transformed into a higher form of energy, True Yuan, which was ten times purer than True Qi. This led to the power of a Half-step Martial Venerate vastly exceeding that of a Seventh Grade Demon King, despite only a small gap in their realms.

The Half-step True Essence within a Half-step Martial Venerate is not pure due to remaining True Qi, so it’s only called Half-step True Essence, yet it’s still about five times purer than normal True Qi.

True Qi needs refining before it can be transformed into Half-step True Essence. And this Half-step True Essence still requires refining before it can fully become True Yuan.

When that process is completed, Half-step Martial Venerate ascends from Half-step Demon Venerable to First Grade Martial Venerable.

However, simply transforming from True Qi to Half-step True Essence is not enough to reach Martial Venerable Realm. Martial Arts Golden Core will shatter, and within the Dantian, a Martial Soul will form. The Martial Soul, far more powerful than the Martial Arts Golden Core, can mobilize more energy and itself constitutes a powerful energy aggregate. High-rank Martial Venerates can even detach their Martial Souls from their bodies to battle foes.

Human Martial Venerates have Martial Souls and True Essence, while members of the Demon Clan have Demon Souls and Demon Essence.

However, due to his cultivation technique, although Ye Xuan had not developed Half-step True Essence, his True Qi was almost on par with Half-step True Essence.

"Taiching Spirit Void Step, Clone Slash!"

Ye Xuan did not confront Elder Sima directly. He made incredibly mysterious and misty maneuvers, creating multiple clones that broke through the fire sea, while his real body quickly broke through this demonic fire ocean. Beneath his feet, streams of sword Qi condensed into exceptionally pure and sharp sword light, which he trod on, shooting forward at an astounding speed, breaking through the waves like the wind.

"Fire Dragon Seals the Heavens!"

Elder Sima’s eyes flickered rapidly. He clasped his hands together, and the vast sea of fire energy transformed into a giant flaming dragon that soared into the sky, opened its massive jaws, packed with tremendous ferocity, and snapped at Ye Xuan, making the ground tremble incessantly.