94. Preparations

Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace.
Supreme Hall.

This was where the Palace Master secluded herself for cultivation.

Outside the grand hall, space rippled, and a green light appeared, transforming into a green lotus.

On the lotus stood a graceful figure—Ling Qingzhu.

At that moment, she stumbled into the hall, disheveled, her jade-like hand clutching her left arm. A hint of crimson stained her snowy fingers.

She was injured!

She could feel her life force slowly draining from the wound. Though it was a slow drain, over time, it left her feeling weak.




"No wonder even Master struggled against it—Junior Brother Chen’s sword is indeed weird!"

Ling Qingzhu bit her lip in pain and sat cross-legged, attempting to circulate her inner power to dispel it.

She failed.

Then, she tried using the Supreme Art.

Failed again.

She tried various techniques, but every single one failed.

How could this be? Ling Qingzhu frowned as a faint, dark glimmer flashed in her eyes.

She was shocked to realize the life force loss seemed to follow a pattern—spreading throughout her body in sync with the flow of her inner energy, draining her life.

What if… she gave up her inner power? Would it stop then?

Ling Qingzhu hesitated. She had worked so hard to reach her current strength. If she abandoned it now, wouldn’t she lose her biggest chance to win back Junior Brother Chen?

But if she didn’t abandon her power, she feared she would soon suffer the same fate as Shen Qing.

What should she do?

Only then did she remember that she had succeeded in sensing the Supreme energy.

From now on, couldn’t she just cultivate the Supreme art alone?

With that thought, Ling Qingzhu didn’t hesitate any longer and decisively dispersed all her inner energy.

However, to her horror, the life force drain continued.

She began to panic. Had she sacrificed her power for nothing?

In desperation, she quickly activated the Supreme Sensing Technique.

Immediately, she discovered, with surprise, that the Supreme Sensing Technique countered the life-draining force.

And, compared to cultivating inner energy, cultivating the Supreme art led to rapid progress!

Switching to the Supreme Force alone provided a pure power that was even stronger than balancing both forces.

This made her ecstatic.

Junior Brother Chen, oh, Junior Brother Chen.

You never expected this, did you? A twist of fate has actually increased my strength!

She vaguely recalled her master’s final words: that the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace was known in ancient times as the Supreme Palace. With her successful sensing of the Supreme energy, she was, in a sense, the ninth disciple of the Symbol Ancestor

This identity should be enough to make him abandon the idea of divorcing her.

Besides, she no longer cared about his so-called secret technique for increasing strength.


---

Western Xuan Region.


In the heart of the Western Xuan Desert.

A towering city stood tall.

It was the most bustling place in the Western Xuan Region, filled with people, lively and vibrant.

But deep beneath the city, at a depth of ten thousand meters, lay a massive cavern. Within the cavern, several dark shadows loomed.

They all stared at the unconscious one-armed young man lying before them.

A thin young man with a peculiar expression spoke, “Boss, do you think this is fate?”

“Perhaps.”

From a short distance away, a faint voice drifted from a coffin on the dark river.

“However, it seems he’s been poisoned—his life force is draining rapidly,” the thin young man said, a grave expression on his face. His appearance seemed innocent, but his eyes held a chilling, sinister aura.

“No matter. Our emperor left behind a treasure; it should save his life.”

With that, the man in the coffin slowly stood up. With a wave of his sleeve, he moved the one-armed young man to a mysterious altar. The altar was surrounded by thick, dark energy.

The mysterious man took out a dark green jade stone and placed it on the young man’s chest. After reciting an incantation, the jade emitted a burst of black light, releasing a terrifying black gas that seemed to come alive, seeping into the young man’s heart.

Soon, the thick black gas enveloped him entirely. Once they confirmed that his life force had stabilized and was no longer being drained, the group breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, the thin young man asked, “Boss, do you think we’ve been discovered?”

A faint unease flickered in his eyes.

“Ha! Don’t worry. On this continent, no one except the Symbol Ancestor Eight Disciples can threaten us. Even if someone finds us, it doesn’t matter,” the mysterious man said casually.

“True. Besides, among the Eight Disciples, the Devourer is already dead, and the Masters of Life and Ice have been reincarnated, their whereabouts unknown,” the thin young man nodded, adding with some concern, “But who knows where the Ice Master's reincarnation is or whether they’ll awaken?”

“Kehehe, what’s there to fear? Without the Symbol Ancestor, even the Ice Master can’t stop us. And now that we have this young man, nothing will stand in our way!” the mysterious man cackled, a look of confidence on his face.

“After thousands of years of waiting, our race will finally control this land. I can’t wait,” the thin man said, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Their voices echoed slowly through the dark cavern.


---

Within the Great Desolate Monument.

Chen Xuan had successfully communicated with the spirit of the monument.

“Senior, may I ask if it is indeed the Nine Kings Hall of the Otherworldly Devils that is sealed here?”

“How do you know of that?” The monument spirit was shocked. The young man before him was no older than twenty. It was unlikely he even knew of the Otherworldly Devils, let alone the Nine Kings Hall.

Yun Yun was also surprised—how did Chen Xuan know this? And what intrigued her even more was that, as their friendship grew, Chen Xuan seemed to know a lot about her too.


It was as though there was nothing in this world he didn’t know, which only made her more curious to learn about his secrets.

While she was lost in thought, Chen Xuan and the monument spirit continued their conversation.

Chen Xuan learned that the Nine Kings Hall was indeed sealed beneath the Great Desolate Monument, and he now knew a way to eliminate them.

“Don’t worry, Senior. This Nine Kings Hall will be eradicated!” Chen Xuan declared.

“My young friend, you are only at the Nine Yuan Nirvana Realm. Where does your confidence come from?” the monument spirit asked.

Before Chen Xuan could respond, the spirit continued, “In the past, even Black Eyed Elder, a Reincarnation Realm expert, was killed by them.”

“Senior, if I weren’t fully prepared, I wouldn’t be seeking to work with you,” Chen Xuan replied with a confident smile.

Seeing that Chen Xuan wasn’t joking, the monument spirit decided to take the risk and join him.

“I, too, have waited a thousand years. Very well, young one. I’ll take this chance with you!”