Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

With his current cultivation, Jiang Chen was already capable of flying at ten times the speed of sound.

After leaving the Heaven-Soaring Saint Sect, he flew southeast at his top speed.

The Black Emperor was perched on his shoulder.

The Black Emperor lazily lifted his gaze and asked, ”Jiang Chen, aren’t we going to the Profound Celestial Ice Field to find the Profound Celestial Ice Marrow? Why are we heading this way?”

Jiang Chen maintained his high speed, the mountains, rivers, and earth below receding at a dizzying pace. A cold glint flickered in his eyes as he said coolly, ”First, a trip to the Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers...”

”The Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers?”

The Black Emperor was taken aback for a moment, then said excitedly, ”This Emperor understands! You’re planning to get revenge on that Yun Jianshen, aren’t you?”

”Yes.”

Jiang Chen nodded.

Even though nearly two years had passed, throughout the hundreds of days and nights, Jiang Chen often dreamed of that innocent, kind little girl, and of the peaceful, harmonious life in Taoyuan Town.

But...

All of that was gone now.

Back then, Yun Jianshen had shattered Taoyuan Town with a single sword strike, causing the earthly paradise to crumble and vanish from the world completely.

And there was Aunt Yun, who had chosen to self-detonate to protect him and Xiao Qingyi.

Each of these was a blood debt that could only be settled by death!

”I promised Qingyi that I would personally kill Yun Jianshen and avenge Aunt Yun and the people of Taoyuan Town.”

Jiang Chen looked at the Black Emperor, his expression calm. ”By the way, Little Black, are Little White and Qingyi alright in your Devouring Space? There won’t be any problems, will there?”

”Hah, rest assured! This Emperor is the great Lord Black Emperor, the Purple-winged Heaven-devouring Bat, supreme across the Eight Desolates and Six Harmonies! Back in the day, I treated even True Dragon Divine Phoenixes like candy... As long as this Emperor lives, they will be perfectly safe!” the Black Emperor said, pounding his chest in a solemn vow.

”...”

Jiang Chen rolled his eyes, ignoring the first half of the Black Emperor’s speech. ”Just make sure they’re safe!”

「Not long after...」

They arrived at the Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers.

The entire Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers was still rife with slaughter and conflict.

While in mid-flight, Jiang Chen suddenly spotted a brutal massacre below. A group of thugs from the Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers was ambushing a merchant caravan.

The caravan had several hundred members, but they were all bound and forced to kneel on the ground.

A group of vicious-looking thugs, weapons in hand, were lopping off their heads one by one.

The thugs were laughing and joking, even playing a drinking game to decide who got to perform the next beheading. ”Five honors! Sixes high... Hahaha, I win! This one’s my turn!”

A thug roared with laughter as his Battle Blade swung down.

SQUELCH!

A head rolled onto the ground.

The bound experts from the caravan, their eyes nearly splitting with rage, roared, ”You animals! You’ll get what’s coming to you...!”

”What’s coming to us? Hahaha...”

”Old man, it seems you still don’t know who we are! We’re the experts of Cloud Dragon Valley! Our Valley Master, Yun Jianshen, is the top expert in the Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers. Even the Mansion Master of Yulan Mansion has to be completely respectful in his presence. What do you think you are?”

”Heh heh, I hear people who talk a lot have especially chewy tongues. Old man, stick your tongue out. Let me chop it off for a side dish with my wine!”

A bare-chested thug, who had just finished assaulting a woman, grinned menacingly and advanced on the white-haired old man with a dagger in hand.

”No...”

”Don’t hurt my grandfather...”

”Let the Clan Leader go...”

The experts of the caravan roared one after another.

But the thug’s expression was savage and indifferent. He shattered the old man’s jaw with a single blow, pulled out his tongue, and was about to slice it off with his dagger.

However, just as he was about to strike, a piercingly cold wind suddenly descended from the sky, enveloping him completely.

’This is bad!’

The thug’s expression changed drastically. He tried to flee, but just as he turned, a beam of light shot out and enveloped him with a BOOM. His head suddenly retracted, as if an irresistible force had shoved it into his chest cavity. Then, with a thunderous bang, the thug’s entire body exploded.

Blood and gore flew everywhere.

”Who is it?”

”How dare you kill someone from our Cloud Dragon Valley? Are you courting death?”

The Cloud Dragon Valley thugs roared in anger, their killing intent flaring as they looked up at the figure descending from the sky.

It was a young man dressed in tight-fitting black clothes.

His black hair stirred without a wind, and his cold eyes swept over the hundred or so Cloud Dragon Valley experts. ”You’re from Cloud Dragon Valley?”

”That’s right!”

”Kid, you knew we were from Cloud Dragon Valley and you still dared to kill our man? You’re asking to die!”

”Our Valley Master is the Overlord of the Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers! No one who dares to offend Cloud Dragon Valley has ever met a good end!”

”Noisy.”

Faced with the incessantly shouting Cloud Dragon Valley experts, Jiang Chen frowned, let out a cold snort, and his icy gaze swept over them.

POP! POP! POP!

The several hundred Cloud Dragon Valley experts all stiffened, and then their heads began to explode one by one, like a display of brilliant fireworks.

Blood gushed like fountains!

With a single glance, he had annihilated all several hundred experts!

HISS!

The experts from the caravan all gasped in shock.

Every one of them stared at Jiang Chen in utter horror, as if gazing upon a Divine Spirit.

Jiang Chen glanced at the caravan experts and, with a flick of his finger, freed them all from their bonds. They immediately fell to their knees before him. ”Thank you for saving our lives, Benefactor!”

”All of you, rise.”

Jiang Chen looked at one of the experts, a master at the Martial Arts Ninth Stage, and said, ”Let me ask you, where is Cloud Dragon Valley located?”

”My lord, Cloud Dragon Valley is on Cloud Dragon Mountain, in the center of the Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers,” the expert said quickly.

Jiang Chen grunted in acknowledgment and continued, ”Is Yun Jianshen in Cloud Dragon Valley?”

”Y-yes, he is!”

The caravan expert hastily explained, ”After the incident at Yunxian Valley back then, the ten major bandit factions were dealt a heavy blow. With Yun Jianshen also breaking through to the Heavenly Destiny Realm, he became completely unmatched in the Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers. It only took him two months to unify the entire region. Ever since then, he has remained in seclusion within Cloud Dragon Valley, rarely ever leaving!”

’Unified the Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers? With Yun Jianshen’s strength, he’s certainly capable of that. But...’

Jiang Chen frowned, a puzzled expression on his face. ’Knowing Yun Jianshen’s personality, after lying low for so many years to finally become the Overlord of the Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers, shouldn’t he be continuing to expand? With his ability, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to destroy the Yulan Clan and make himself the Mansion Master of Yulan Mansion. Why would he act so abnormally and never leave Cloud Dragon Valley?’

The caravan expert shook his head. ”We don’t know either.”

Jiang Chen frowned. ”Then do you know of any other strange happenings in Cloud Dragon Valley?”

”Strange happenings?”

The expert paused, thought for a moment, then shook his head.

But the old man with the shattered jaw and blood-filled mouth spoke up, ”I... I know... After Yun Jianshen unified the Hundred Beasts Mountains and Rivers, he seemed to send his men everywhere searching for something. But about a year and a half ago, they stopped. It was from that point on that Yun Jianshen remained in Cloud Dragon Valley. And... I’ve heard that every month, young boys and girls are sent to Cloud Dragon Valley, though for what purpose, no one knows!”

’Young boys and girls? And sending people everywhere to search for something? It seems this Yun Jianshen has quite a few secrets,’ Jiang Chen thought to himself.

Jiang Chen nodded to himself.

The old man quickly added, ”My lord, we are from the Zheng Family Commerce Association in the Imperial Capital. May we please have your name? We will be sure to repay you generously in the future!”

”That won’t be necessary.”

Jiang Chen waved his hand dismissively.

If he hadn’t heard that those men were from Cloud Dragon Valley, he wouldn’t have bothered saving this caravan.

With a flicker, Jiang Chen shot into the sky and sped away in the direction of Cloud Dragon Valley...