Chapter 748 749: The Oriole Behind

"Heh heh. Young Cave Master Qiu Yuan, what's the meaning of this? Are you trying to kill me? I wonder what I, Xuan Ye, have done to warrant such a ruthless attack."

Ye Xuan said with a smile.

His tone was nonchalant, but the killing intent hidden within sent a shiver down Qiu Yuan's spine.

'Impossible.'

Qiu Yuan was horrified. That last punch had contained sixty percent of his combat power. Even though he had only just broken through to the Martial Emperor Second Layer in this mysterious land, a single strike like that would have severely injured any ordinary Second Layer Martial Emperor. Yet Ye Xuan, a mere Tier Seven Martial King, was completely unscathed. He couldn't believe his eyes.

'Die!'

Roaring in fury, Qiu Yuan gathered all the Profound Yuan in his body, no longer daring to hold anything back. The terrifying energy condensed on his fist, forming a brilliant, iridescent light. A powerful gale whipped up as he swung a sweeping punch toward Ye Xuan's head.

BANG!

But before his iron fist could connect, a blur of motion flashed past. Ye Xuan's right hand was suddenly in front of him, clamping down on his incoming fist.

BOOM!

The two powerful forces collided in midair. Qiu Yuan felt as though he had punched a steel wall. A sharp pain shot up his arm, but his fist was stopped dead in its tracks.

"What?"

This time, Qiu Yuan's horror erupted like an uncontrollable flash flood.

'A punch with my full strength... was blocked so easily by a Tier Seven Martial King?'

He tried to pull his fist back and strike again, but to his horror, no matter how much force he used, his right hand, caught in Ye Xuan's grasp, felt as if it were locked in a steel vise. It wouldn't budge an inch.

Aboard Erhei, Ye Xuan squeezed Qiu Yuan's right fist, a faint, mocking smile playing on his lips.

"CRACK."

He applied a bit of pressure, and the faint sound of splintering bone echoed as he crushed Qiu Yuan's fist, twisting it out of shape.

"Ah!"

The intense pain contorted Qiu Yuan's face. He let out a piercing scream, his body twitching and struggling uncontrollably.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

He roared hoarsely, trying to resist, but felt a strange power surge into his body. SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! As if zither strings were snapping one after another, his Profound Veins began to disintegrate, starting from his right hand. The excruciating pain was like a blade churning inside him, unbearable.

"Stop! Let go of Yuan'er!"

Qiu Gong, finally realizing something was terribly wrong, his face paling, charged forward.

BOOM!

Qiu Gong was a Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperor, after all. Despite his severe injuries, his power was still extraordinary. The moment he struck, an astonishing spatial pressure descended, bearing down heavily on Ye Xuan.

At the same time, a suffocating surge of Profound Yuan swept toward him.

Old Man Qiu Gong's body erupted in black flames that took the form of a roaring, monstrous dragon. With a cold glint in his eyes, he shot forward like a bolt of lightning.

"Heh!"

Ye Xuan chuckled softly. Standing atop Erhei, he remained perfectly still, a cold smirk on his lips. He made no move to fight back.

'This kid has some nerve. But where does he get the strength and confidence to back it up?'

Old Man Qiu Gong's gaze was grim. He didn't understand the source of Ye Xuan's composure, but with his son in mortal danger, he had no intention of holding back.

However, before he could even reach Ye Xuan...

WHOOSH-BOOM!

A black shadow suddenly shot out from the ground below. It was as fast as a thunderclap, and an intense sense of crisis welled up in his heart.

'What the hell is that?'

Greatly alarmed, Old Man Qiu Gong abandoned his attack on Ye Xuan in his haste and slapped a palm toward the black shadow.

With a loud BANG, a violent impact shuddered through him. Already heavily injured, Old Man Qiu Gong felt a coppery taste in his throat and nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. The black shadow was sent flying by his palm strike, coming to a halt in midair.

'Another Demon Beast!'

Only then did Old Man Qiu Gong get a clear look at the black shadow. It was a pangolin-like Demon Beast, pitch-black from head to toe. Its gleaming Scale Armor radiated a sinister, chilling aura. A single glance into its savage black eyes was enough to make his blood run cold.

What terrified him even more was that his full-power palm strike had clearly landed on the pangolin Demon Beast's head, yet there wasn't a single mark on it. Not one of its scales was even cracked.

With its first strike failing to connect, Xiaohai's gaze grew colder. It moved again, launching another attack.

"Father, save me!"

Just then, with a慘scream, Qiu Yuan's chest exploded with a BANG, sending blood flying everywhere.

"Yuan'er!"

His eyes nearly splitting with rage, Qiu Gong roared in fury. A gray rope suddenly appeared in his hand. He threw it, and the rope, like a long snake, twisted rapidly, imbued with spatial power, binding Xiaohai so tightly it couldn't move.

'What a treasure.'

Ye Xuan's eyes lit up. He had seen Qiu Gong use this gray rope back in the sandy wastes; it had easily bound a Sand Giant. He hadn't expected it could also restrain Xiaohai with such ease. It was clearly an extraordinary treasure.

"You damn brat, I'll kill you!"

Having restrained Xiaohai, Qiu Gong roared with rage, his entire body erupting in black flames as he brought his attack crashing down on Ye Xuan.

Those flames were not fire in the truest sense, but a fire of Profound Yuan, a fire of pure rage, and in an instant, they were upon Ye Xuan's head.

"How boring."

Ye Xuan shook his head, his gaze turning cold. He kicked Qiu Yuan, sending him flying. Amid the sound of shattering bone, Qiu Yuan crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and smoke.

Then, Ye Xuan and Erhei soared into the sky to battle Qiu Gong.

WHOOSH!

A terrifying Sword of Judgment slashed out, crackling with endless arcs of lightning. It shredded the fire of Profound Yuan released by Qiu Gong and cut into his body.

PTUI!

Qiu Gong spat out a mouthful of blood, his face a mask of shock and fury as he was sent flying backward.

"How can you be this strong?"

He couldn't understand. How could a mere Tier Seven Martial King like Ye Xuan possess such power? Even though he was heavily injured and had less than thirty percent of his strength left, he was still a Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperor. Yet here he was, being hunted and thrashed by a Tier Seven Martial King.

Besides, if Ye Xuan was this strong all along, why had he given them the supreme-grade Profound Stone? With his abilities, if he had been determined to flee with the stone, he would have stood a good chance of escaping.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Under Ye Xuan's assault, Qiu Gong retreated again and again. Before long, he was covered in wounds and dripping with blood.

And the poisonous mist spat out by Erhei left him with no way to dodge.

BANG!

Finally, with one last strike, Qiu Gong lost all strength to resist and fell heavily to the ground.

"You brat, what exactly do you want? If you kill me, my Lingkong Cave's Ancestor, the Void Martial Emperor, will never let you go! It won't just be you—your family, your friends, all of them will die! Even the Xiao family of Celestial Capital Prefecture won't be able to protect you."

Qiu Gong said viciously, his face a mask of blood and grime.

Ye Xuan sneered. "The Void Martial Emperor? Heh. If I kill you, how will he know who did it? He'll just think it was those Third Layer Martial Emperors from earlier. When the time comes for revenge, he'll naturally look for them. Why would he ever suspect me?"

"What?" Qiu Gong's heart seized in shock. He said in horror, "Don't tell me you planned this all along... That supreme-grade Profound Stone—you gave it to us on purpose."

He suddenly understood. No wonder Ye Xuan had given the supreme-grade Profound Stone to Qiu Yuan. He wanted those other men to be his scapegoats.

Ye Xuan gave a cold smile. "What else did you think? Lingkong Cave is a major second-tier power; how could it not have a Martial Emperor watching over it? Qiu Yuan most likely even has a Divine Thought avatar on him. So, all I had to do was give you the supreme-grade Profound Stone, and it would naturally trigger a conflict between your two groups."

Ye Xuan said coolly, "If you had shown even a shred of mercy just now, I might have spared you. But since you clearly didn't give a damn about my life, I certainly won't give a damn about yours."

As his voice fell, Ye Xuan thrust a finger forward.

"You..."

Before Qiu Gong could say anything more, his head exploded with a SQUELCH, and he died on the spot.

Ye Xuan then unleashed the Purple Wound Flame, and the terrifying blaze immediately incinerated Qiu Gong's body, leaving nothing behind.

After collecting the Storage Ring, Ye Xuan walked over to the barely-breathing Qiu Yuan. Amidst the young man's terrified and horrified gaze, he killed him in an instant and burned his body to ash.

Ye Xuan collected all the Storage Rings, then left the area with Erhei and Xiaohai.

SWOOSH!

High in the dark sky, Ye Xuan sat cross-legged on Erhei's back, speeding forward.

He was also secretly sorting through his recent spoils. The sheer amount of treasure within shocked even him.

The Tier Eight Second Layer Martial Emperors were one thing, but in the Storage Rings of Third Layer Martial Emperors like Wei Zifu and Luo Mingjiang, there were several million medium-grade Profound Stones alone. The other rare treasures and Spirit Medicines were too numerous to count, much to Ye Xuan's pleasant surprise.

But what surprised Ye Xuan even more were the Storage Rings from Lingkong Cave.

Aside from the supreme-grade Profound Stone he had dug up himself, the treasures in Qiu Gong's Storage Ring were also incredibly numerous, especially the rare Spirit Medicines.

All the Spirit Medicines that Lingkong Cave had obtained in the sandy wastes and the hazy lands were inside. Apparently, they hadn't been handed over to Lingkong Cave's Void Martial Emperor yet, which was another pleasant surprise for Ye Xuan.

In addition, there were various secret manuals, Profound Soldiers, and Profound Treasures.

However, there were some items that Ye Xuan didn't dare to use recklessly.

Take Qiu Gong's gray rope, for example. It was exceptionally exquisite, and he had no idea how it was forged. It could easily restrain Martial Emperor Level experts, making it extremely difficult for even a Third Layer Martial Emperor to evade.

But Ye Xuan could only set it aside for now. If he were to use it and word got back to the Void Martial Emperor, the Emperor would immediately know that he was the one who had killed Qiu Gong.

The current Ye Xuan could contend with a Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperor, but against a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor, he would still be utterly powerless.

Thinking of this, Ye Xuan couldn't help but feel a little grateful to Qiu Gong and the others from Lingkong Cave.

If Qiu Gong and his men hadn't arrived, Ye Xuan would have likely clashed with Wei Zifu and the other Third Layer Martial Emperors over the supreme-grade Profound Stone. The thought of the two Explosive Yin Beads on Wei Zifu and the black talisman on Luo Mingjiang still sent a secret shiver of apprehension through him.