An hour later, Ye Yu arrived at the area with the most markers on the map.
As he had guessed, this place was once a glorious Divine Alliance.
Now, only ruins remained, desolation on every side.
Everything testified that an incomparably brutal battle had taken place here.
It seemed to have happened a very long time ago; weathering marks were everywhere.
Much could no longer be recognized, only rough outlines were left.
Ye °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Yu could not tell which Divine Alliance it had been.
No matter. In this state, the alliance’s god clan had likely been wiped out.
For him, that was a great convenience.
The only worry was whether the divine bodies would be unusable because they had fallen too long ago.
That was a problem full of variables.
But Ye Yu did not dwell on it.
Study it, then.
Practice is the only truth.
While Ye Yu carefully searched for the corpses of the strong, a pair of eyes hidden in the dark watched him coldly.
The watcher was none other than Heng Xuanzhen, who had once crossed paths with Ye Yu.
This broken, barren place was Heng Xuanzhen’s former Divine Alliance: Ancient Sword Gorge.
In truth, with her cultivation she could have rebuilt this place long ago.
Yet Heng Xuanzhen had kept the ruin and barrenness on purpose, to remind herself never to forget her blood-deep vendetta against Tongtian Pavilion.
She had finally attained the peak of the Ancient God Realm.
Heng Xuanzhen had planned to annihilate Tongtian Pavilion in one stroke, then shoulder the task of restoring Ancient Sword Gorge and returning the alliance to its former state.
After all, she was the alliance’s last hope and ought to bear the responsibility.
But the plan failed as soon as it began.
Why had Liu Yuenong appeared at Tongtian Pavilion?
Hadn’t she been silent and unseen for a long time?
Did her sudden appearance mean Tongtian Pavilion was about to rise again?
At that thought, Heng Xuanzhen felt crushing pressure.
As Tongtian Pavilion’s strongest of the second generation, Liu Yuenong’s strength was not something Heng Xuanzhen, as she was now, could compare to.
Even so, Heng Xuanzhen did not retreat. She decided to keep cultivating and, once she stepped into Divine Lord, make another trip to Tongtian Pavilion.
That was a plan for later.
The urgent matter now was to heal her injuries.
Though Liu Yuenong had struck casually, Heng Xuanzhen had absolutely been unable to withstand it.
Under the burn of demonic flame, her divine body suffered grievous damage.
If not for a divine artifact guarding her body, she would likely have fallen already.
Spent to her last thread of strength, Heng Xuanzhen returned to Ancient Sword Gorge to heal.
Yet even after half a month, her injuries were still very serious.
It was no exaggeration to say even basic movement was difficult.
A full repair would take at least a hundred years.
This tormented Heng Xuanzhen.
Worse, at her weakest moment, she ran into the fiend god she had seen earlier at Tongtian Pavilion.
Heng Xuanzhen had been deeply impressed by him at the time.
A fiend god appearing inside a Demon-clan Divine Alliance...
He could not be anything good.
Why had this person come here? To eradicate the roots?
Heng Xuanzhen narrowed her eyes; her expression grew solemn.
In the past, she would have cut with her sword at once and killed Ye Yu.
Now, in a special period, she had no combat ability at all.
She would have to handle this carefully.
Propping herself up with one hand, Heng Xuanzhen began inching forward.
Fortunately, her robe was of high enough grade. Though badly damaged, so long as she did nothing drastic, Ye Yu—at his current cultivation—could not possibly detect her.
In that case, she needed only to move twenty more meters to reach the designated point and activate the array she had set in Ancient Sword Gorge, killing this fiend in one stroke.
Closer—closer.
Dragging her badly wounded body, Heng Xuanzhen finally reached the point.
She was just about to use the last traces of divine power to activate the array.
The next second, she froze.
Ye Yu had stepped out to the very edge of the array and stopped on the north side, cheek propped on one hand, as if pondering something.
Heng Xuanzhen felt wretched.
Why? Why did he step out of the array’s range so quickly?
Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to crawl here?
No matter.
There is an array over there as well.
Any who intrude into Ancient Sword Gorge shall be slain, however far they are.
Heng Xuanzhen cheered herself silently and started crawling again.
At last, after a stick of incense, she reached another array’s activation point.
She looked up—
Ye Yu had moved again.
And once more he stood just outside the array’s range.
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
Heng Xuanzhen gnashed her teeth in anger.
She still refused to give up and struggled forward again.
This time it took even longer.
With every movement, her injuries worsened and waves of pain crashed over her.
In such a state, every second was torture.
Luckily, she reached the activation point again.
And this time, Ye Yu was still in place.
In that case—go die.
A second before Heng Xuanzhen triggered the array, Ye Yu suddenly stepped left.
That single step spanned hundreds of meters.
No doubt about it—he had stepped outside.
Seeing this, Heng Xuanzhen collapsed inside.
Again he walked out at the last moment?
Once or twice might be luck. Three times or more meant it was absolutely not a coincidence.
This guy had definitely sensed something.
Had he already found her?
Hidden behind a boulder, Heng Xuanzhen cautiously peeked out and caught Ye Yu’s profile.
He smiled. He was smiling.
Was he mocking her repeated failures?
Yes—of course he was.
Bastard.
Since you already discovered me, why not come finish the job? Does watching me this wretched really give you such a sense of achievement?
Just as Heng Xuanzhen was about to stand and meet death with some semblance of dignity, she suddenly saw Ye Yu form a seal with both hands—and dazzling light bloomed from the ground.
