Lord Xue Ying

Not just these servants, even Monarch Qi Hu who was currently within the small courtyard was influenced too.

And the huge Vermillion Nightmare God Bird fanned its wings behind Xue Ying, bringing down the cultivator controlling the protection array from within the palace. Monarch Qi Hu was struggling to stay awake, making it hard for him to direct any array at all. As a result, Xue Ying was able to easily break apart the arrays by controlling the void, causing the palace to appear from nothingness.

Xue Ying stepped on the void. With a step, he appeared right in front of Monarch Qi Hu who was located in a small courtyard deep in the palace.

“Damn, break for me, break for me…”

Monarch Qi Hu was currently feeling uneasy.

The illusory technique had arrived so suddenly, engulfing him entirely before he knew it. It felt similar to having nightmares when he was young. He had barely opened his eyes before falling yet into another nightmare. He struggled out before falling in, struggled out… Monarch Qi Hu honestly felt like he had returned back to the past even though he was stronger than even Black Chief Devil in terms of soul and heart realm.

Facing this illusory realm, he had not fallen into oblivion entirely. He was still conscious enough to know that he currently was immersed in an illusory realm and was trying to get out of it!

Indeed.

He had broken out of the illusory realm and could vaguely sense the surrounding courtyard. But closely following that, he fell into yet another illusory realm! He was doing his best to break out of it, but another would arrive shortly after. This made him transfer back and fro between reality and illusion.

“Hu hu hu~” The fiery-red airstream pervaded within the courtyard and also affected Monarch Qi Hu. He was pulled back into the illusory realm time after time.

That was how impressive the Vermillion Nightmare illusory realm was.

It was unlike the illusory realm unleashed using the laws and profound mysteries system. The illusory realm unleashed by the Vermillion Nightmare was a side-effect of its presence, and Xue Ying did not have to control it. Along with its presence, it would create an alluring aura that encompassed all enemies, pulling them into the illusory realm time after time. Even if Monarch Qi Hu had reached the higher ‘Heart as the World’ realm, he could only barely utilize 50-60% his full heart strength!

But Monarch Qi Hu’s current heart realm was only at the ‘Heart as Blade’ realm and was struggling to even get out of the illusory realm. He could barely ‘sense’ that there was an enemy within the courtyard–the white-robed teenager Xue Ying!

But the scene in the courtyard and the scene in the illusory realm was starting to fuse in his consciousness.

“No, no, how could this be? How…” Monarch Qi Hu felt unreconciled. Nevertheless, he felt cold in his heart since he understood that this was a dangerous predicament he had never encountered before.

In the past, he could still display his strength and resist against possible dangers while escaping with his life.

But at this moment, he was embroiled in a battle with the illusory realm and could not focus on the enemy at all.

‘Is it Dong Bo Xue Ying?’

‘He, how did he become so strong?’ Monarch Qi Hu did not dare believe, ‘The previous time we fought, he did not have such a frightening illusory realm technique.’

…

Within the courtyard.

Xue Ying watched as how Monarch Qi Hu was continuously trembling. He could not help but sigh inwardly: ‘The illusory realm technique might sometimes be inadequate, and yet it might be mighty at times.’

Facing cultivators with a weaker heart realm, the effects of the illusory realm were outstanding! It was much better than engaging in direct combat.

But its effects towards those with a stronger heart realm were weak.

And the ‘Vermillion Nightmare illusory realm’ was an ancient cultivation technique. It was stronger than just solely using illusory techniques. It could forcefully pull the enemies into the illusory realm continuously, influencing the strength of the enemies. Thus, just this technique alone could reach the sixth level Star Pagoda strength. Even those who could maintain awareness would be forced to multitask and fight against the illusory realm. They would naturally become weaker when engaging in combat!

‘Monarch Qi Hu is no longer able to resist.’ Xue Ying shook his head.

“Mercy, mercy…” Monarch Qi Hu barely shouted out. He could not even open his eyes. Clearly, he was still struggling in the illusory realm.

“Descend.”

Xue Ying did not show any mercy.

If it were an ordinary cultivator, it was impossible for Xue Ying to even agree to the transaction in the past. But because the two commanders of Chief Devil Cliff were infamous for being devils, Xue Ying chose to accept the conditions. Killing these huge devils would mean saving many weaker ones. The rules of the Great Void Heaven Temple also encouraged disciples to kill these devils. It was only within the region that World Ancestor governed that other holy grounds did not impose this rule on killing all devils.

Cultivators like Xue Ying who came fighting alone was not considered a huge matter.

Instead, if a large batch of experts were led by the Great Void Heaven Temple Palace Master in to kill all devils within the Myriad Ancient Sacred World, it would naturally rile the World Ancestor!

“Multi-Layered Dark World.”

“Hong~”

Multiple layers of Dark World descended and envelop around the body of the trembling Monarch Qi Hu. The illusory realm descended and turned into reality. It also began absorbing the surrounding World Energy greedily, forming waves of movement and causing the surrounding to fluctuate. There was a staggering total of 2,500 layers that could be perceived at the membrane of this dark world!

If one said that the power of 600 layers of Dark World was comparable to the Sky Punishment Edge, then a staggering 2,500 layers of Dark World far transcended a single Sky Punishment Edge! The reason why Xue Ying unleashed so many layers of Dark World was that he could completely converge the power of this move inside the Dark World without letting it spill over to the surroundings. If he threw in too many Sky Punishment Edges, it would affect a considerable area around him.

This palace contained many other servants, though they were forcefully captured by Monarch Qi Hu. They were just some of the weaker cultivators, and there was no point letting this battle affect them.

“Hong!”

At the same time when he displayed the Vermillion Nightmare illusory realm, 2,500 layers of Dark World was the limit of what Xue Ying could unleash.

This Dark World rapidly shrunk onto Monarch Qi Hu and soon exploded. Everything within the Dark World was annihilated. The body of Monarch Qi Hu had turned into a stream of water amidst the explosion.

The surroundings regained its usual peace after that.

But the distorting flow of water soon turned back into Monarch Qi Hu’s original humanoid appearance. His aura was clearly much weaker.

That time he had withstood three Sky Punishment Edges, but firstly, the Sky Punishment Edges bombarded on him individually. This time, the power of the Multi-Layered Dark World far transcended even the power of the Sky Punishment Edges. It also converged onto one point. Secondly, Monarch Qi Hu could teleport and shave off the incoming impact, but now, he no longer had the concentration to resist against the attack.

Naturally, this strike greatly injured him.

“I, I am unreconciled…” Monarch Qi Hu let out a sound. His eyes could no longer open.

“Hong.”

Xue Ying once again sent down multiple layers of Dark World.

One time, two times, three times.

Every time Xue Ying would send a total of 2,500 layers of Dark World. Once he unleashed the attack five times later, the body of Monarch Qi Hu was utterly destroyed.

‘Such a powerful body. If not for the illusory realm, he could unleash his full potential… even if he stands there and let me attack, as long as he takes the initiative to dissipate the incoming force, he should be able to resist a few dozen of my technique.’ Xue Ying felt dumbstruck. Xue Ying himself would likely die from a single strike if he did not control his body and let it be struck by it.

“Sou.”

Xue Ying waved his hand, causing the treasures left behind by Monarch Qi Hu to fly into his hand. His vision unknowingly landed on a piece of stone mirror. Even as Monarch Qi Hu fell into the illusory realm, he was still grabbing hold of this stone mirror tightly.

‘Stone mirror?’ Xue Ying faintly felt that it was something unique and could not help but begin to scrutinize it thoroughly.

…

Myriad Ancient Sacred World, within the World Ancestor palace.

It was located in a hidden location. Finding it without someone pointing the way was impossible. There were currently two figures standing within the World Ancestor Palace. One of them was Black Emperor, and the other was a thin and small male wearing an azure robe. His eyes contained some slight innocence, and his mouth was huge. When he smiled, it was exceptionally bright.

But there was nobody who thought that he was an amusing person.

Because this was an existence whom countless cultivators across the five great sacred worlds and primal chaos void actually looked up to! His strength was only secondary to Sacred Master! He might not have as many techniques as Ancestor Sorcerer, and neither was he someone like Ancestor Mother who only hid in his turtle shell back at his territory. He was someone who dared to fight head-on with the Sacred Master. His physique was so powerful that it reached an unfathomable stage.

He was the World Ancestor!

He was the person who spread the devour-class cultivation system around the world. Countless devils were wantonly devouring other beings, and the absolute majority of them did so because of this devour-class system!

However, none dared to criticize ‘World Ancestor’, since those who dared to do so would suffer from a mad pursuit by World Ancestor himself!

“Interesting, interesting.” The thin World Ancestor chuckled with an ear-piercing screech. There was a scene which twisted and formed in the space ahead showing Xue Ying checking out the stone mirror.

“Such coincidence?” Black Emperor was slightly startled. He then chuckled, “Senior Disciple Brother, it seems that the fate of this Dong Bo brat is intertwined quite closely with our lineage. After cultivating the inheritance I left, he has even gotten the treasure you left to the world.”

If the conversation between the two of them were publicized, it would absolutely incur a huge sensation.

Because Black Emperor had never shouted World Ancestor as ‘Senior Disciple Brother’ before.

“Since it landed in his hands, we should see how he fares in the future.” The thin and small World Ancestor laughed mischievously.

This treasure.

It had many names. ‘Stone Heart’, ‘Brutal Shield’, ‘Scale’, ‘Ancient Armor’… the names might seem ordinary, though it had appeared in the hands of many ancient cultivators before. Many had discovered how unique this treasure was, allowing it to become famous over time. There were even many bloody fights which started between cultivators vying for this object! After that, World Ancestor stealthily took it away, changed its appearance before sending it stealthily into the hands of a few ancient cultivators.

It would usually be passed on from cultivator to cultivator over the years. After a period, World Ancestor would transform its appearance before sending it back circulating between more cultivators.

This time, the treasure was changed into the shape of a ‘stone mirror’. It had only been circulated around five Unity realm experts, so it had not gained its reputation in this current timeline yet. At this moment, this stone mirror landed in the hands of Xue Ying.

“Our lineage has two branches. He had gotten my branch of inheritance before obtaining the treasure that Senior Disciple Brother passed on. With his comprehension ability, it is likely that he would walk far in this path of ancient cultivation.” Black Emperor chuckled, “He might even be qualified to join our sect.”

“Hmph, this darling treasure of mine has been passed on for so long, yet there are only three of us including the Little Disciple Brother of ours.” The thin and small World Ancestor sneered, “Just based on this brat?”

“It is hard to say.” Black Emperor felt smug.

The thin and small World Ancestor sneered before shaking his head. He waved his hand before causing the scene ahead to disappear.