Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

After leaving Cyan Flower Garden, Jiang Chen and the Black Emperor slipped into the shadows, stealthily making their way toward the Fourth Elder’s private courtyard.

This was the same courtyard behind the grand hall Jiang Chen had visited during the day.

The Black Emperor whispered, ”Jiang Chen, didn’t you say that Pei Yuan is a Human King Realm powerhouse? Someone at the Human King Realm is on a completely different level from the Union Palace Realm. Unless you can raise your cultivation to the Union Palace Realm Seventh Stage or higher, you don’t stand a chance against him!”

The path of the Martial Dao began with the Martial Arts Realm, followed by the True Martial Realm, the Heavenly Destiny Realm, the Union Palace Realm, and so on.

Each realm represented a major leap in power.

This was especially true starting from the Human King Realm. The gaps between the Human King Realm, Human Emperor Realm, and Emperor Realm were as vast as the difference between heaven and earth.

With Jiang Chen’s current strength, he could slay even an ordinary master at the Union Palace Realm Ninth Stage if he unleashed his full power.

But if he came up against a Human King Realm powerhouse, his only option would be to run for his life.

After all...

Upon reaching the Human King Realm, a cultivator’s Martial Soul would undergo a fundamental transformation, becoming a domain.

For example, the Martial Soul of a Human King Realm expert with a flame affinity would evolve into a flame domain. A Sword Martial Soul, after its evolution, would become a Sword Dao domain, and so on.

Within the domain of a Human King Realm powerhouse, anyone whose comprehension of Law was not strong enough would find it impossible to even summon their Mystical Power.

’How could anyone fight against that?’

Jiang Chen waved his hand dismissively and chuckled. ”Don’t worry, I’m not so hot-headed that I’d try to assassinate a Human King Realm expert. It’s just that Pei Yuan interfered with my plans and even tried to kill me. I can’t just let that go without collecting a little interest!”

”Interest?”

The Black Emperor froze for a moment, then his expression turned to one of excitement. ”I get it! You’re planning to steal his treasure?”

Jiang Chen said with a perfectly straight face, ”Steal? We’re not stealing. We’re robbing. As in, robbing the rich to give to the poor!”

”...”

The Black Emperor rolled his eyes.

Jiang Chen was a Fourth-Grade Grandmaster of Divine Thought, and with the Black Emperor’s assistance, the pair quickly located the Treasure Vault within Pei Yuan’s residence. The Black Emperor’s cultivation had now reached the Tier Four High-Level, giving him combat strength comparable to the Union Palace Realm Ninth Stage and allowing him to use a wider array of techniques.

The ability to change his size at will was one such Dharma Technique.

With this ability, he could freely alter his size. He could become large enough to shroud the sun and sky, his wings like clouds hanging from the heavens, or as small as a speck of dust, invisible and intangible.

The Black Emperor stealthily slipped into Pei Yuan’s Treasure Vault.

’Tsk, tsk, there’s a lot of good stuff here! It’s a good thing the Eastern Continent doesn’t have many Artifact Refiners skilled in Space Runes, so they can’t make any high-capacity Storage Rings. Otherwise, why would a mighty Human King Realm powerhouse leave his treasures in a vault, basically giving it all to me and that Jiang Chen kid for free?’

The Black Emperor didn’t hesitate. With a wave of his claw, he swept everything into his Devouring Space.

”How did it go?” Jiang Chen asked as the Black Emperor returned from the Treasure Vault.

The Black Emperor grinned. ”Don’t worry, I’ve completely cleaned out that old bastard’s Treasure Vault. I have to say, those in the Human King Realm are seriously loaded! Just in Spirit Crystals alone, there were eight billion Lower-Grade Spirit Crystals, one billion Middle-Grade Spirit Crystals, and over 130 million Upper-Grade Spirit Crystals. Not to mention all the other materials, Profound Weapons, and so on. It’s almost as much as all the wealth in the Heaven-Soaring Saint Sect’s Treasure Vault!”

”As expected of an Upper Grade Dynasty. A Human King Realm powerhouse is truly wealthy!”

Jiang Chen nodded in agreement, a strange smile playing on his lips. ”I’m really curious to see the look on Pei Yuan’s face when he discovers his Treasure Vault is completely empty!”

”He’ll probably go ballistic!”

”Hahaha...”

With that, the man and beast departed.

「A short while later...」

They arrived at Nine Swords Valley. At night, there wasn’t a soul in sight; all that could be seen were raging Void Storms tearing through the air.

These Void Storms moved with astonishing speed.

They crisscrossed through Nine Swords Valley, darting about in every direction.

By the dim moonlight, one could even see the void itself occasionally being torn open, revealing chaotic fissures and rifts in space.

”Such powerful Void Storms?” the Black Emperor commented with the air of a seasoned expert from his perch on Jiang Chen’s shoulder. ”It seems whoever opened the spatial passage here had only just advanced to Human Emperor. Otherwise, there’s no way they would have left behind such terrifying void turbulence!”

Jiang Chen said, ”Stay close to me.”

”Right.”

The Black Emperor nodded.

He, too, knew how terrifying spatial turbulence and Void Storms were.

In his prime, he could devour True Dragons and feast on Divine Phoenixes, so naturally he wouldn’t be afraid of this. But as he was now, he had only just recovered his strength to that of a Tier Four High-Level Demon Beast.

A single stray Void Storm could tear his small body to shreds!

’Tianshu, Xingxiu, Dongwei...’

The path Beis Ming had taken through Nine Swords Valley during the day surfaced in Jiang Chen’s mind, and he began to cross, following it without a single mistake.

This was only possible because Jiang Chen possessed the Eyes of the Heavens, which gave him a perfect, eidetic memory.

Any other expert might have been able to remember the steps, but none could have replicated the precise placement of each one with such flawless accuracy.

Jiang Chen moved quickly. In just a few flashes of movement, he passed through Nine Swords Valley and appeared in the Teleportation Hall.

Thanks to the protection and natural barrier provided by Nine Swords Valley, the Jiuhua Celestial Sect was extremely confident in the Teleportation Hall’s security. They didn’t dispatch any experts to guard it, aside from a single Rotating Elder who was replaced every three months.

Moreover, there had never been a single security breach in the Teleportation Hall.

Even the Rotating Elders on duty would usually just enter a state of cultivation, only occasionally sweeping the hall with their Spiritual Sense rather than expending the mental effort to monitor it constantly. Jiang Chen had already noted this during the day, which was precisely why he dared to make such a bold move now.

”The Teleportation Array is right ahead. It’ll activate as long as we feed it enough Spirit Crystals. Little Black, you know how to lock in the coordinates, don’t you?” Jiang Chen asked.

”That’s easy,” the Black Emperor said with a nod. ”I’ll go lock in the coordinates right now!”

Back when he followed the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable, many factions had requested the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable’s help in constructing Teleportation Arrays.

The Black Emperor had been right there beside him during those times.

So, he naturally understood the basic principles and how to operate them.

「A short while later...」

The Black Emperor returned, looking smug. ”Coordinates locked. We’re going to Icebound City in the Profound Celestial Ice Field!”

”Alright.”

Jiang Chen nodded and brushed his hand over his Storage Ring, preparing to withdraw the Spirit Crystals to activate the Array. But the instant he accessed the ring, the Mystic Sect Sword Order within it erupted in a blinding red light. The entire Sword Order began to vibrate violently as the light grew brighter and brighter, enveloping Jiang Chen.

”This is bad!”

The expressions on both Jiang Chen’s and the Black Emperor’s faces changed drastically.

Neither of them had ever imagined that the Mystic Sect Sword Order would suddenly act up at a time like this.

At almost the exact same moment the Mystic Sect Sword Order flared up, a roar filled with a mixture of fury, ecstasy, and excitement suddenly echoed from within the Teleportation Hall.

”Who’s there?! Get out here!”