Chapter 755: Yao Yue's Whereabouts

Her body was bound by layers of gray rope, her waist pulled into Ye Xuan’s embrace. The two were pressed extremely close, and a strong, masculine scent filled Princess Qing’s senses, making her entire body flush and her face turn red.

“I was being presumptuous.”

Ye Xuan also felt the position was rather inappropriate. He quickly let go with his left hand, backed away, and withdrew the gray rope, rubbing his nose in embarrassment.

“It’s nothing. Thank you for saving my life, sir.”

Princess Qing bit her lip, but her expression gradually turned cold.

As the Holy Daughter of the Celestial God Palace, this was the first time she had ever been in such intimate contact with a man. She felt both ashamed and angry, but since Ye Xuan had done it to save her, she couldn’t bring herself to say much.

“Oh, right. You’re from the Moon God Palace, correct? I was wondering, is Yao Yue Martial Emperor doing well?”

Although the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Ye Xuan couldn’t wait to ask the question burning in his mind.

“Palace Master Yao Yue?”

Princess Qing snapped her head up to look at Ye Xuan, her brow furrowed. “Why are you asking about Palace Master Yao Yue?”

“Well…” Ye Xuan hesitated. “I’ve heard that in the Profound Domain, Palace Master Yao Yue of the Moon God Palace is the number one beauty, so I was just asking.”

The moment Ye Xuan said this, the gratitude Princess Qing had felt toward him plummeted. A look of disgust flashed in her eyes; she never imagined he was that kind of person.

“Palace Master Yao Yue hasn’t been the Palace Master of our Moon God Palace for a long time now,” Princess Qing said coldly.

“What?” Ye Xuan was stunned. ‘Yao Yue is no longer the Palace Master of the Moon God Palace? How is that possible? The Moon God Palace is the sect she single-handedly founded. It wouldn’t be strange for others to leave, but there’s no way Yao Yue Martial Emperor would ever leave the Moon God Palace.’

Before Princess Qing could speak again, Ye Xuan impatiently demanded in a low voice, “How could Yao Yue not be the Palace Master of the Moon God Palace? She founded it! Who could possibly take her position away? And where is she now?”

Seeing his desperate expression, Princess Qing realized Ye Xuan’s interest in Yao Yue Martial Emperor wasn’t simple admiration.

Her disgust for Ye Xuan softened a bit. “It’s true, Palace Master Yao Yue is no longer the Palace Master of our Moon God Palace. And no one took her position—she resigned herself.”

“She resigned herself?”

Princess Qing nodded. “That’s what I heard from the Vice Palace Masters. They said that nearly a hundred years ago, Palace Master Yao Yue resigned her post, left the Moon God Palace to investigate something, and her whereabouts have been unknown ever since.”

“Unknown whereabouts? What do you mean, unknown whereabouts?” Ye Xuan asked, suppressing the anxiety rising in his heart.

“Unknown whereabouts means that no one has seen her.”

“How could that be? What about the current Palace Master of your Moon God Palace? Has she not seen her either?”

“Our Moon God Palace currently has no Palace Master, only two Vice Palace Masters. Even though Palace Master Yao Yue resigned her position, neither of the Vice Palace Masters succeeded her. They said that our Moon God Palace will only ever have one true master, and that is Palace Master Yao Yue. As long as she lives, the Moon God Palace will not have a new one. But ever since she left, she has never returned, so the Vice Palace Masters haven’t seen her again either. And as for me, that goes without saying.”

At this, a suspicious look crept onto Princess Qing’s face. “You just said you heard Palace Master Yao Yue was the number one beauty in the Profound Domain. Where exactly did you hear that? She hasn’t appeared in the Profound Domain for a hundred years. Outside of our Moon God Palace, no one even talks about her anymore.”

Ye Xuan’s heart sank. ‘Hasn’t appeared in the Profound Domain in a hundred years? A heaven-defying Martial Emperor renowned across the continent and the Profound Domain… how could she stay away for a century without even returning to her own sect once?’

‘There was only one explanation: Yao Yue Martial Emperor had fallen.’

‘Otherwise, why would she stay away from the Profound Domain and her sect for a century? Even to investigate the cause of my death, she wouldn’t do something like this.’

Ye Xuan staggered back a few steps, completely crestfallen. He felt a terrible, crushing weight on his heart.

All he wanted was to return to his peak and see Yao Yue Martial Emperor again, but he never imagined this would be the news he would receive.

“Are you alright?” Princess Qing asked, looking at him with confusion. She suddenly sensed an incredible aura of world-weariness from him, like that of an old man in his twilight years, cruelly cast aside by time. For some reason, it made her heart ache.

“You should try not to dwell on it. Our priority right now is to find a way out of here.”

Princess Qing shook off the feeling and scanned the great hall. After breaking through the Restriction to enter, she had found herself in this sealed space with no apparent exit.

“That’s not right.”

Just then, Ye Xuan suddenly cried out, grabbing Princess Qing with excitement gleaming in his eyes. “What was that you said about the two Vice Palace Masters of the Moon God Palace?”

“What about it?” Princess Qing asked, startled by his sudden action.

“You said the two Vice Palace Masters of your Moon God Palace said that as long as Palace Master Yao Yue is alive, the Moon God Palace won’t have a new master.”

“Yes, that’s what the two Vice Palace Masters said.”

“Then in all these years, have your two Vice Palace Masters appointed a new Palace Master?” Ye Xuan demanded, his gaze searing. His eyes burned like twin suns, making it difficult for Princess Qing to look at him directly.

“No, they haven’t.”

“Haha! Excellent! I knew it! I knew Yao Yue hadn’t fallen! With her level of cultivation, how could she? She must be trapped somewhere or has gone to some mysterious place.”

Ye Xuan couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Ye Xuan knew very well that when Yao Yue founded the Moon God Palace, she had left a Soul Scroll there. As long as she was alive, the Soul Scroll would remain intact.

So many years had passed, and the Moon God Palace still had no new master. This was clear proof that Yao Yue Martial Emperor’s Soul Scroll had not shattered.

“Haha.” Ye Xuan laughed excitedly in the Spirit Marrow Pool.

‘This guy…’

Princess Qing shot Ye Xuan a cold glance. If he hadn’t just saved her life, she’d probably think he was insane.

Ye Xuan saw the disdain and exasperation in Princess Qing’s eyes, but he paid it no mind. What other people thought was irrelevant; all that mattered was knowing Yao Yue was still alive.

“Doesn’t seem to be an exit here, huh?”

Only now did Ye Xuan take a look around the Spirit Marrow Pool. Hearing his remark, Princess Qing couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes.

She couldn’t understand how this slow-witted fellow had managed to break the Restriction outside, get into the Spirit Marrow Pool, and even cleanse the black Demonic Qi from her body.

But before the thought could even fully form, Ye Xuan suddenly summoned a Profound Treasure the size of a small mountain and slammed it violently into the ceiling of the Spirit Marrow Pool.

DONG!

The entire Spirit Marrow Pool shook violently. Fine cracks appeared in the demonic patterns inscribed on the walls, and chunks of stone began to fall.

“What are you doing?” Princess Qing cried out, startled and angry.

“Since there’s no exit, we’ll just have to smash our way out. Unless you’d rather stay here forever?”

Ye Xuan pursed his lips. As soon as the words left his mouth, he directed the Zhenyuan Stone to bombard the rock wall again and again. DONG! DONG! DONG! The entire Spirit Marrow Pool shook violently as rubble rained down with a great CRASH.

Princess Qing considered this and decided Ye Xuan had a point. An ancient bell, several meters tall, appeared in her hand. With a sudden tremor—KLAANG!—a deafening soundwave radiated outward. The entire Spirit Marrow Pool shook violently, and the demonic patterns on the ceiling shattered layer by layer, crumbling and falling like flaky pastry.

‘What a terrifying ancient bell,’ Ye Xuan thought, shocked. Princess Qing was obviously controlling it, trying to keep the shockwave from hitting him, but the intense impact still made the Profound Energy in his body surge and his blood boil.

‘Worthy of her title as the current Holy Daughter of the Moon God Palace. If she used this bell against an enemy, a single light tremor would instantly pulverize any ordinary First or Second Layer Martial Emperor.’

Under the repeated attacks from both Ye Xuan and Princess Qing, the entire Spirit Marrow Pool shook nonstop, threatening to collapse at any moment.

Meanwhile, outside on the altar, the numerous Martial Emperors working to break the Restriction also sensed that something was amiss. The altar beneath their feet began to shake violently, and they could faintly hear the sound of a bell tolling from deep within.

CRACK! CRACK!

Thin cracks spiderwebbed across the altar’s surface. The Martial Emperors all flew back in alarm, staring at the altar from a distance with shock and uncertainty. ‘Could some bizarre transformation be happening inside?’

Inside the altar, Ye Xuan and Princess Qing were still relentlessly attacking.

As they attacked, Ye Xuan was also continuously refining his Zhenyuan Stone. The stone was of an extremely high tier, and he hadn’t been able to fully refine it when he was only at Tier Seven. Now that he had broken through to Tier Eight, his cultivation had soared, allowing him to naturally unlock more of its internal Restrictions.

As more of the Restrictions within the Zhenyuan Stone were undone, hazy rays of light bloomed from its surface, releasing an astonishingly powerful pressure.

Initially, the power of the Zhenyuan Stone’s impacts couldn’t compare to Princess Qing’s ancient bell. As time went on, however, the stone’s power grew until it was finally on par with the bell in her hands.

What shocked Ye Xuan was that this wasn’t even the Zhenyuan Stone’s full power. He still hadn’t unlocked all of its Restrictions, which meant he had yet to unleash its true might.

‘A Ninth Grade Profound Treasure! This Zhenyuan Stone had to be a Ninth Grade Profound Treasure.’

He was secretly astonished. Although his Soul Sense was only at the mid-Eighth Grade, with his Soul Refining cultivation, there shouldn’t be any Eighth Grade Profound Treasure he couldn’t fully refine. Therefore, the Zhenyuan Stone had to be a Ninth Grade Profound Treasure.

Princess Qing watched Ye Xuan with a complicated expression. She had always considered her talent to be heaven-defying, believing she had few true rivals. But seeing a mere Tier Eight First Layer Martial Emperor release power on par with her own dealt a tremendous shock to her heart.