Heaven and earth instantly fell into silence!
The Spring Autumn Sect’s people, still praying moments before, froze, forgetting even to breathe.
Wide-eyed, they stared at Xue Kui, who a second ago had radiated terrifying power, now reduced to a mist of blood with not even a corpse left behind.
This crowd was stunned, unable to process the sight for some time.
For Chen Fan, killing Xue Kui—a Heavenly Star realm expert—was trivial. He would have simply ignored Xue Kui had he not been a blood demon.
Chen Fan’s figure blurred, disappearing from the sky.
Finally, the crowd came back to their senses. They felt as if they had lost their souls, murmuring among themselves.
“I’m not dreaming, am I? Xue Kui, that terrifying blood demon, was killed in one move...”
“It was too fast! It feels like a dream.”
Feng Baiyu, Yun Tu, and Wei Buyu exchanged glances and smiled bitterly.
They had been worried that Chen Fan would be defeated; evidently, their worries were unfounded.
“Say, what exactly is Chen Fan’s current cultivation level?” Wei Buyu asked.
Feng Baiyu replied with a bitter smile, “Who knows? He obliterated a Heavenly Star realm expert in one move. Effortlessly, too. He must be in the Heavenly Star realm himself—or Xue Kui wouldn’t have died so easily.”
High Elder Yun Tu also said with a sigh, “It looks like we’ve all grown old, and our blood has gone cold. All we think about is protecting what little we have and avoiding the outside world.”
Feng Baiyu said helplessly, “I wanted to make him the next sect leader, but he rejected me. Looking back, his ambitions had already grown far beyond the Great Chu Empire. The title of sect leader, which others see as supreme honor and authority, would be nothing but a chain for Chen Fan.”
“That’s right. Fortunately, he did not accept the position back then. Otherwise, he might still be struggling to reach the Divine Nascent realm.”
As Chen Fan killed Xue Kui, far away in the Blood Demon Cave, Xue Kun received word immediately—the shattering of Xue Kui’s soul jade tablet told him all he needed to know. [1]
“What? Xue Kui is dead!”
The Heavenly Star realm blood demons were shocked. Although his strength ranked near the bottom among them, he was still in the Heavenly Star realm. Who in the measly Great Chu Empire could kill him?
“King Kun, what do you think about this matter?” asked a Heavenly Star realm blood demon.
The Great Chu Empire had given them too big of a surprise.
The blood demon army was gone, and Xue Kui was dead. It was a clear warning—someone powerful was protecting the Great Chu Empire.
Xue Kun’s eyes flickered, and he said, “Based on what we know, the Great Chu Empire likely has a Heavenly Star realm expert. And to kill Xue Kui, they have to be at the third level at the very least. They could be some hermit wanderer hiding deep in the mountains.”
“Then what do we do now? Should we send someone even stronger?” asked one of the demons.
Xue Kun shook his head and said, “No need for now! All this is just our speculation. We still don’t know if it’s true. If that person isn’t in the third-level Heavenly Star realm, but an even stronger martial artist, won’t we be sending someone to their death again?”
“Are we just letting it go?” asked someone indignantly.
“Let it go?” Xue Kun smiled coldly and said, “What’s the rush? Once Sir Man Guardian fully recovers, our blood demon army will be invincible. We’ll crush the Great Li Imperial Court first, and then wiping out the Great Chu Empire will be no harder than turning a hand.”
“Our priority is Sir Man Guardian’s recovery. Everything else can wait. Understood?”
“Yes!” answered the Heavenly Star realm blood demons.
Time passed, with Chen Fan waiting for news from Li Yao’s side in the Spring Autumn Sect. Another half month went by.
One day, a powerful aura approached at great speed.
Chen Fan awoke from his meditation, opening his eyes. A luster flashed across his eyes.
Had he found the Blood Demon Cave’s lair?
Feng Baiyu, Yun Tu, and Wei Buyu also sensed Li Yao’s powerful aura, which was no weaker than Xue Kui’s. They all rose into the air vigilantly, thinking that another blood demon expert had come.
Chen Fan appeared beside them and said, “No need to be nervous. That’s Li Yao.”
Hearing this, the trio sighed in relief.
Li Yao arrived within moments, his speed impressive.
“Chen Fan,” he greeted.
“Li Yao, it seems you guys have located their lair.”
Li Yao nodded. “Yes, we have some solid clues now.”
“Good,” Chen Fan responded immediately, “This time, I’ll eradicate the Blood Demon Cave.”
To some, this might sound arrogant, but Li Yao didn’t see it that way.
With a quick word to Feng Baiyu and the others, Chen Fan took to the sky with Li Yao, vanishing into the sea of clouds.
Feng Baiyu, Yun Tu, and Wei Buyu were all lost in thought as they watched Chen Fan’s disappearing figure.
Great Li Imperial Court, the throne room:
Emperor Li, Wanderer White Brow, and the others had all gathered here.
“We’ve finally found the Blood Demon Cave’s lair. Whether we can eliminate this threat depends on Chen Fan,” Emperor Li remarked.
“That’s right. So much time has passed. I wonder if the Man Guardian, Xue Huang, has fully recovered.”
“Say, do you think Chen Fan will be a match for Xue Huang?”
“I investigated him a bit and heard a few things about him. He’s now the most prominent rising star in the eastern continent. I heard he has killed many seventh and eighth-level Heavenly Star realm old-timers. He’s truly a living killing star.”
“That’s right, I also inquired a little. I was really surprised.”
Wanderer White Brow, Yuan Hengying, and the others discussed, waiting for Chen Fan to arrive.
This time, they would concentrate all their strength on fighting the Blood Demon Cave. The key to victory was Chen Fan.
Although they took the initiative to look into Chen Fan’s deeds during this period, they still did not have absolute confidence in the upcoming tough battle.
After all, the Blood Demon Cave was very powerful.
While the crowd was talking among themselves, two wind-breaking noises rang out. Then, Chen Fan and Li Yao walked in.
The crowd narrowed their gazes when they saw Chen Fan.
1. A similar item was introduced in chapter 79, called life tablet, but the wording is different now. ☜