Chapter 4287: Zi Yan’s Bedevilment
“Die!”
Long Chen roared furiously and smashed his fist forward. However, all of a sudden, the world seemed to spin around him, causing him to lose his balance.
Long Chen was startled. Only now did he realize that the battlefield was gone, and he didn’t know where he was.
He found himself in a dusky world, surrounded by an endless expanse of mountain ranges. Strangely, not even a single blade of grass grew on them. Also, the landscape was desolate as far as the eye could see, giving the impression that this was the end of the world.
All the experts before him were gone, baffling Long Chen. He had no idea where he was.
“Long Chen!”
Just then, a voice rang out, filled with profound emotion, causing Long Chen's body to tremble. He slowly turned around in disbelief.
The violet-robed Zi Yan entered his gaze. However, when he saw her, he was filled with even greater disbelief.
“Zi Yan, you…!”
What made him hesitate to believe that this was the genuine Zi Yan was the unmistakable presence of the Devil Dao emanating from her. Moreover, this aura was thousands, even millions of times denser than the energy he had sensed from the devil race's experts during the Sage King Convention.
Long Chen was completely dumbfounded. How did Zi Yan suddenly become a member of the devil race? Even her bloodline and spiritual fluctuations possessed a strong aura of the devil race.
Seeing his gaze, Zi Yan felt a pang in her heart. She didn’t quite dare to look at Long Chen.
“Zi Yan, what happened? Did someone force you to join the devil race? If so, I will save you.” Long Chen grabbed Zi Yan’s hand. He was still bewildered.
Zi Yan was clearly an expert of the human race, so how did she become a devil? What was behind this?
Only when Long Chen grabbed her hand and she saw his anxious face did her heart warm up. It seemed that she had misjudged Long Chen.
“Long Chen, if I fall to the Devil Dao and become a devil woman, would you still want me?” whispered Zi Yan, looking at Long Chen.
“No matter what you become, in my heart, you will always be the woman I love,” declared Long Chen.
He didn’t know what had happened to Zi Yan. Nonetheless, despite their former enmity, they had ultimately come together. Long Chen’s heart had melded completely with Zi Yan’s.
Other than Meng Qi, it was Zi Yan who understood his heart the most. When Zi Yan played her zither, Long Chen could hear the melody of her heart within the music.
Because of this, while Long Chen wasn't a Music Dao master, spending time with Zi Yan did impart some of her knowledge to him. She was different from Tang Wan-er and the others, but as for how exactly she was different, Long Chen couldn’t say.
This firm response from Long Chen finally made Zi Yan smile. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she said, “I knew that you wouldn’t turn your back on me. You wouldn’t do that.”
After saying that, Zi Yan threw herself into Long Chen’s embrace, her head pressed tight against his chest. Upon hearing his powerful heartbeat, her tears gradually soaked his robes.
Long Chen was startled. He gently wiped away her tears and did his best to suppress his curiosity so that he could comfort her.
Eventually, Zi Yan got tired of crying and fell asleep in Long Chen’s embrace. Then, Long Chen gently held her and slowly sat down. Looking at her tender face, Long Chen felt extremely uneasy.
“In order to protect you, she chose to get stronger. She has gone through endless torment and suffering to turn herself into a devil, and the danger involved in such a thing cannot be described with simple words. It’s not something an ordinary person can imagine.” Just then, a voice rang out.
Long Chen turned to the source of the voice and saw a clump of black smoke around a figure. The silhouette of this figure could vaguely be seen as that of a woman.
However, her voice was icy without the slightest emotion. It was like the concentrated manifestation of the laws of some existence.
“Who are you?”
“I am Zi Yan’s contractual partner, and we have an agreement between us. She needs power, so she will listen to me for everything,” said that person.
“Was it you who turned Zi Yan into a devil?!” Long Chen’s expression sank.
“She did it voluntarily.”
“She is a member of the human race and should have all the rights and privileges that come with it! I hope you will be magnanimous enough to let Zi Yan go. If Zi Yan owes you something, I will help her repay her debt,” Long Chen stated, narrowing his eyes as he addressed the individual. His voice even carried a hint of a pleading tone.
Long Chen didn’t know what Zi Yan’s relationship with this person was, but he didn’t want to see Zi Yan become bedeviled. Long Chen didn’t want Zi Yan to sacrifice her humanity.
“The contract has been made, and no one can change it,” said that person coldly.
Hearing this, Long Chen was enraged. Space then quivered, and the Earth Cauldron appeared in his hands.
“Zi Yan is my beloved. If senior is not willing to be magnanimous, I can only offend you.”
“Offending me is meaningless. The contract has been made, and neither me nor Zi Yan can change it. Other than that, with your current power and the slumbering Earth Cauldron, a battle with me would be like an ant trying to shake a tree. Once you gather both the Heaven and Earth Cauldrons and awaken them, you can challenge me again,” said the person in the black mist.
Her voice was constantly cold, but this time, there was a kind of natural pride in it.
“Who are you?” demanded Long Chen.
“Who I am isn’t important. What’s important is that your time is almost up. Finding a way to awaken the Earth Cauldron should be your priority. I saw everything in the Sage King Prefecture. Your display was just like that person’s: the same careful yet brash actions, the same intelligent yet foolish choices. Despite being a clear fool, so many people are willing to follow you to death,” said that person, her voice drifting as if she was lost in memory.
“And who is that person?” asked Long Chen, his heart pounding hard.
However, she didn’t reply. After a moment, she said, “Zi Yan was in a critical state of her seclusion, but she was unwilling to stay put. She even interrupted her own cultivation to see you, which set her back by several months of progress. This meeting is over now. Take care of yourself.”
Suddenly, the Zi Yan in Long Chen's embrace began to turn transparent, fading until she mysteriously vanished. Long Chen was taken aback, and he urgently exclaimed, "Senior, senior! Please allow me a little more time to speak with Zi Yan!"
He hadn’t even managed to say anything of substance to Zi Yan, and he had no idea what she was going through. How could he rest at ease like this?
“Words are meaningless. Go do something meaningful instead. Your human race doesn’t have much time to waste any longer,” responded that person coldly.
After that, the black mist also faded away along with that figure, and this entire world began to shake.
“Hey! Wait!”
Long Chen shouted. He still had many questions that he hadn’t asked yet.
BOOM!
Abruptly, this world shattered, and Long Chen's surroundings transformed. Once more, he found himself on the battlefield.
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