The youth appeared to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, with delicate features and a hint of childishness. His eyes were bright and spirited, his skin crystalline and fair as jade, enough to make many women envious.
Even more striking was the faint, crescent moon mark that shimmered on his forehead, adding an air of mystery to the youth.
The youth's sudden appearance left many quite astonished. Although this Trial Path was open to nearly all the younger generation of the Tian Du Continent, the young powerhouses who could participate were generally over twenty years old. Even those aged eighteen or nineteen were exceedingly rare, let alone a youth of only sixteen or seventeen—he was simply too young.
However, anyone who could survive on the Trial Path for more than three months was undoubtedly extraordinary. This youth had appeared alone, making it hard for people to let their guard down.
A few even had a flicker in their eyes, clearly entertaining thoughts of seizing the youth's identity token.
Snatching the identity tokens of lone individuals was another way for groups to gather tokens.
Yet when Miss Qingxue saw this harmless-looking, delicate-featured youth before her, for some reason, she found it difficult to muster any wariness. Perhaps it was because the youth carried not a shred of hostility.
Finally, she shook her head slightly at the others, signaling them not to act rashly, then parted her red lips and said, "Young master, may I ask what brings you here?"
The youth revealed a gentle smile that truly made it hard to feel any caution. He rubbed his nose, somewhat awkwardly saying, "Sorry, I'm just separated from my group and got lost. I wanted to ask someone about the current situation on the Trial Path. Could you tell me?"
"Separated?"
The group was taken aback, then felt a sense of shared misfortune, for everyone here was separated. If not for Miss Qingxue, they would never have banded together.
Moreover, this youth before them seemed so harmless, making it difficult to feel any caution. After exchanging glances, they finally nodded, allowing the youth to join them, even feeling a twinge of pity and sympathy for him.
They even shared portions of their demonic beast meat with the youth, leaving him somewhat stunned. He thanked them and accepted.
"Little brother, may I ask your name?" a pretty woman proactively asked, stepping closer without a trace of wariness, appearing quite enthusiastic.
Little brother? The youth suddenly rubbed his nose with a bitter smile, while a certain old fellow inside an ancient ring laughed himself silly.
But sensing the genuinely concerned looks from everyone, the youth could only say, "I'm Ye Chen."
However, upon hearing the youth's name, everyone suddenly looked somewhat stunned, for the name felt strangely familiar.
Miss Qingxue slightly furrowed her willow-leaf brows, pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked at Ye Chen, her eyes shimmering as she said, "Ye Chen... that name once shook the world for a time. Everyone should have heard of the peerless genius who emerged in the Xia Feng Kingdom of the continent's western region, the one who achieved Xiantian at just thirteen years old."
Hearing Miss Qingxue bring this up, the others also had a sudden realization and couldn't help but glance at Ye Chen a few more times.
In the past, Ye Chen's name was not confined to the Xia Feng Kingdom alone; even the other one hundred and eight kingdoms had heard whispers of it. Achieving Xiantian at thirteen was simply too extraordinary. Even looking across the entire history of the Tian Du Continent, few could reach such a level at that age.
Back then, even a cultivation holy land like the Tian Du Academy couldn't resist extending an olive branch, wanting to exceptionally admit him into its Earth-tier College, which caused quite a stir at the time.
However, what drew even more attention was the unexpected fall of this peerless genius. After being exceptionally permitted to enter a mysterious King's Ancient Path, his dantian shattered, and his cultivation was completely ruined.
This matter caused quite a commotion back then.
Now, mentioning this, everyone couldn't help but look at Ye Chen with strange expressions. And judging by age, that Ye Chen from back then should be about this age now.
But after a moment's thought, they dismissed the idea. That peerless genius Ye Chen's dantian had shattered, his cultivation ruined; he could no longer tread the path of cultivation, let alone set foot on the Trial Path.
Ye Chen could only offer a helpless smile. He really was that Ye Chen they were thinking of.
Miss Qingxue gave Ye Chen another look and suddenly asked, "Ye Chen, are you really alone? What about the others from your faction?"
The others also looked at Ye Chen. Such a young boy all by himself—weren't they worried he might come to harm?
"We got separated!" Ye Chen sighed softly. His primary purpose for entering the Trial Path was to find the Thirteenth Prince and the others.
The others expressed deep sympathy, for they were all fellow sufferers adrift in the same world.
At that moment, someone suddenly sighed, "Speaking of this Xia Feng Kingdom, it's truly unlucky. First, they unexpectedly lost a peerless genius in Ye Chen, and now, this time on the Trial Path, they had a chance to rise again, but it seems destined to come to nothing."
"Indeed. This generation's Crown Prince of Xia Feng Kingdom, Xia Yang, in terms of talent, is no worse than Ye Chen back then, perhaps even surpassing him. He is a possessor of divine qualification, and his cultivation level places him among the very top on the entire Trial Path. It's just a pity that his departure has led to all the young powerhouses of Xia Feng Kingdom being reduced to being hunted down."
"One can only say the Xia Feng Kingdom is naturally disaster-prone; even heaven doesn't seem to want it to prosper."
Everyone discussing this shook their heads and sighed.
Ye Chen's expression shifted slightly. He had wanted to learn about this aspect, and clearly, the people in this team were quite informed. He couldn't help but ask, "I've also heard some bits about the young powerhouses of Xia Feng Kingdom, but I know very little. Could you elaborate?"
Miss Qingxue gave Ye Chen another look but remained silent.
"Since little brother Ye Chen asked, let this sister tell you," a woman proactively offered. Seeing Ye Chen so delicate and harmless, and all alone, she felt pity and took the initiative to speak.
Although the address "little brother Ye Chen" made him quite speechless, this was the best time to gather information. He couldn't afford to care about that now and seized the chance to learn.
Just as Ye Chen had learned at the Xia Feng Academy, the young powerhouses of Xia Feng Kingdom had once enjoyed a period of glory due to Xia Yang's presence. Despite hailing from a mid-to-lower-tier kingdom among the one hundred and eight, they indeed made many on the Trial Path wary and unwilling to provoke them.
Moreover, Crown Prince Xia Yang's strength exceeded many people's expectations. He had once single-handedly defeated all the young powerhouses of three kingdoms, including one who had reached the seventh level of Xiantian and was a formidable powerhouse on the entire Trial Path. Yet, even he was no match for Crown Prince Xia Yang, forced to use a life-saving talisman and surrender his identity token.
However, a prince from the Tianqi Empire took a fancy to a beautiful woman named Vivian from the Xia Feng Kingdom and wanted to take her in. The Thirteenth Prince intervened, angering this prince and leading to a battle.
But the Thirteenth Prince was also a skilled expert. The prince couldn't do anything to him and was even wounded in the fight, thoroughly enraging him. In the end, he left due to fear of Crown Prince Xia Yang.
A few days later, however, this prince invited another truly super powerhouse from the Tianqi Empire, one who, like Crown Prince Xia Yang, possessed the qualification to delay claiming kingship. This powerhouse confronted Crown Prince Xia Yang, while the prince himself led young powerhouses from several other kingdoms subordinate to the Tianqi Empire to hunt down the group of young powerhouses from Xia Feng Kingdom.
This incident caused a huge commotion on the Trial Path, as it involved two super powerhouses with the qualification to delay claiming kingship.
The final result was that Crown Prince Xia Yang disappeared due to the Tianqi Empire's super powerhouse. It was said the two fought all the way from the eighth checkpoint into the twelfth checkpoint. Meanwhile, the others from Xia Feng Kingdom were being hunted by the Tianqi Empire's prince in the eighth checkpoint.
Moreover, due to the large number of identity tokens they had acquired during this period, various forces grew envious, launching attacks to seize them and joining the hunt.
The world where the Trial Path was located was vast, divided into checkpoints. According to everyone, they initially entered the first checkpoint, and there were fifteen checkpoints in total.
Each checkpoint was a vast region with a single pass.
Currently, the young powerhouses of Xia Feng Kingdom were in the eighth checkpoint, while Ye Chen and the others were in the seventh checkpoint.
Ye Chen couldn't help but rub his nose. Thanks to Old Yan's intervention mid-journey, he had directly entered the seventh checkpoint. And now, the next checkpoint was the eighth. Once he entered the eighth checkpoint, he could find those young powerhouses from Xia Feng Kingdom.
Perhaps this was what they called reaping rewards without effort.
However, according to their account, the situation of the Xia Feng Kingdom's young powerhouses was still quite perilous. Hunted by so many forces, with Crown Prince Xia Yang suspected to be in the twelfth checkpoint, their circumstances must be extremely difficult.
After learning this information, Ye Chen immediately felt his heart burning with anxiety. He didn't wish to linger any longer and needed to rush to the eighth checkpoint as soon as possible to provide aid.
Ye Chen stood up, then cupped his hands towards the group with a smile. "Thank you all for your hospitality. I am deeply grateful. Now I need to go back and find my companions, so I won't stay any longer. I hope we meet again someday."
The group was stunned. They hadn't expected Ye Chen to leave so soon after just sitting down.
Someone tried to persuade him, "Ye Chen, why not stay? It's dangerous for you alone. We can watch out for each other here. At least sticking together would make you much safer. Otherwise, being alone is very risky."
Ye Chen shook his head and was about to speak when his expression suddenly shifted. He halted his steps and said, "Someone's coming!"
"Someone's coming?" The group was slightly alarmed, yet they didn't sense any movement.
Rustle—
Suddenly, everyone's expressions changed, for at that moment, a series of whooshing sounds broke the air one after another. Under the night sky, within the valley, numerous figures suddenly appeared, densely packed, numbering as many as thirty or forty, surrounding Miss Qingxue and the others.
Especially the leading young man, wearing a jade crown and clad in battle armor, whose aura was terrifyingly oppressive. Standing atop a tree branch, he looked down upon the thirteen people and spoke indifferently, "You have two choices: either hand over all the identity tokens on you, or we beat you until you hand them over!"