Chapter 887: The List

"Sword's Death Song!"

In the cultivation room, killing intent filled the air.

A mass of black sword qi roamed throughout the room, causing subtle spatial ripples wherever it passed, and the surrounding walls emitted a violent, fluctuating sound.

"This 'Killing Sword Art' truly lives up to its reputation—it can release killing intent in such a manner! A month has passed, and I've only grasped a mere fraction of the first layer!"

Eighteen days was too short. After the time was up, Ye Yuan extended it by another twelve days, barely managing to grasp the rudiments of the Sword's Death Song.

For Ye Yuan, given his mastery of the Supreme True Intent of Slaughter, spending a month cultivating a martial technique and only grasping a sliver of its essence was extremely rare.

This 'Killing Sword Art' was profoundly deep, its difficulty no less than the supporting martial techniques of the 'Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art.'

It seemed that Siyin's words were not false.

If this martial technique were cultivated to its peak, it might indeed grant power comparable to the Ten Great Divine Kings!

But if Siyin knew how fast Ye Yuan was cultivating, she would be utterly shocked.

Others cultivated this technique in units of years; Ye Yuan had only taken a month to achieve initial entry—such comprehension was terrifying.

The Ten Great Divine Kings were prodigies of their age, but even the fastest among them took over five hundred years to reach this level.

Achieving such a realm was no overnight affair.

However, Ye Yuan himself was still dissatisfied with this pace.

"Time is pressing! This cultivation speed is far too slow. It seems I need to find a way to get some Chaos Crystals," Ye Yuan sighed as he walked out of the cultivation room.

Exiting the room, Ye Yuan found Sun Qi already waiting outside, but his gaze was evasive, clearly troubled by something he couldn't say.

With Ye Yuan's keen perception, he immediately noticed that Sun Qi had suffered severe internal injuries.

"What, injured in a spar? Where's the Demon King?" Ye Yuan asked with a frown.

Since Nalan Chu didn't use his real name here, Ye Yuan naturally wouldn't expose his background. But Ye Yuan was a bit surprised—if there was something to discuss, why send an injured Sun Qi?

"The Demon King... he... he..."

Sun Qi's hesitant speech gave Ye Yuan an ominous feeling.

"Speak!"

Sun Qi suddenly spoke with indignation: "The Demon King... he was severely beaten, on the verge of death!"

Ye Yuan's expression changed sharply. "When did this happen? Why didn't you inform me sooner?"

"I... I wanted to inform you earlier, but the Demon King forbade it! He said your matters were of utmost importance, and not to disturb your seclusion unless absolutely necessary!" Sun Qi said with a bitter face.

"Nonsense! His life is hanging by a thread—what matter could be more important than that?" Hearing this, Ye Yuan was deeply moved and grew unusually agitated.

Ye Yuan understood Nalan Chu's thinking, but he hadn't expected such blind loyalty. Even on the brink of death, he wouldn't let his subordinates call Ye Yuan out of seclusion.

In Nalan Chu's heart, Ye Yuan was the young master of the Chixia Sacred Land, its future.

One of the greatest taboos in martial cultivation was having one's seclusion interrupted. A sudden interruption could, at best, cause one's insights to be lost, and at worst, lead to qi deviation, sowing hidden dangers for future breakthroughs.

Nalan Chu didn't want to affect Ye Yuan because of himself, so he forbade Sun Qi from disturbing him.

Seeing Ye Yuan furious, Sun Qi cowered on the side, not daring to speak.

Ye Yuan casually tossed a pill to Sun Qi. "Take this and take me to the Demon King."

Sun Qi caught the pill and his expression changed.

A top-grade Linghua Yulu Pill!

This was an extremely rare seventh-grade healing pill, unavailable on the market. Ye Yuan's casual generosity was utterly extravagant.

Sun Qi swallowed the pill without taking time to refine its medicinal power, then led Ye Yuan to Nalan Chu.

Seeing Nalan Chu lying unconscious on the bed, Ye Yuan's fury blazed.

Nalan Chu's heart meridians were nearly shattered; he was barely alive, on the verge of death at any moment. Ye Yuan also detected a strange force within Nalan Chu's body, causing severe damage to his internal organs.

Clearly, the opponent had deliberately held back, intending to torment Nalan Chu.

In martial duels, life and death were common. But such methods were excessively vicious.

Ye Yuan's anger rose within him.

However, such injuries were no challenge for the Alchemy Emperor Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan expelled the strange force from Nalan Chu's body, used his Yuan power to repair the internal injuries, then fed him a pill and helped refine its medicinal power.

After his ministrations, Nalan Chu's complexion gradually turned rosy, and his breathing became even.

Ye Yuan rose and gestured to Sun Qi to step outside to talk.

Sun Qi had watched Ye Yuan's work in awe, utterly amazed.

Over the past few days, he had called in countless favors and invited many alchemists, but none could do anything for the Demon King's injuries.

Yet Ye Yuan, in just a single hour, had pulled the Demon King back from the gates of hell.

Such skill was nothing short of miraculous!

"Now, tell me exactly what happened."

Ye Yuan's question was calm, but beneath that calm lay a seething rage.

Sun Qi steadied himself and recounted the events of the past few days.

It turned out that the various forces on the third level had always maintained a relative balance.

But not long after Ye Yuan entered seclusion, for some unknown reason, the factions under Heavenly Dang Sovereign and Blazing Fire Sovereign joined forces against Nalan Chu's group.

The enemy had superior numbers and kept challenging Nalan Chu's people.

With two major forces united, Nalan Chu simply couldn't withstand them. Over ten days, he lost many men, and even the formidable Sun Qi was severely injured.

Nalan Chu couldn't stand by and watch his subordinates be beaten, so he stepped forward to challenge Yan Shan, a subordinate of Blazing Fire Sovereign.

Yan Shan's ranking on the Earth Fiend List was lower than Nalan Chu's, so the battle should have been a sure win—yet disaster struck!

In that duel, Yan Shan had made a great leap in strength and cultivated a strange force. Nalan Chu, unaccustomed to it, was severely wounded.

Ye Yuan was silent for a long time after hearing this, then said to Sun Qi, "Make me a list of the top ten from each of these two factions—twenty people in total."

Sun Qi's expression changed, and he quickly guessed what Ye Yuan intended. "Lord Ye Yuan, even a strong man can't fight a crowd! I know you're powerful, but setting aside the others, Yan Shan and Bai Meng under Heavenly Dang Divine King are both unfathomably strong! Especially Bai Meng—he's the number one on the third level! No one knows just how strong he really is."