In Xiagu City, countless cultivators watched the completely closed spatial channel with shock.
Because this man and woman had truly escaped right before the eyes of the Scarlet God Valley's powerful experts. Moreover, the prestigious Immortal Sacred Land, Scarlet God Valley, could only watch helplessly.
No matter how one looked at it, the abilities of these two were simply heaven-defying. The youth could clash head-on with the Scarlet Scale King, even if only for a move or two. And the mysterious black-robed girl who had stolen the Scarlet God Valley's supreme treasure had even deflected the attack of a Demi-Saint. Such methods left many feeling utterly outmatched.
Naturally, this also caused the Scarlet God Valley to lose face completely. Before so many people, they couldn't even capture a petty thief, despite mobilizing their clan's King and even a supremely powerful Demi-Saint.
One could imagine how ugly the expressions of the Scarlet God Valley's experts were at this moment. Their dignity had been utterly trampled.
Especially the Scarlet Scale King, whose face was particularly grim. His personal intervention had failed to detain them, dealing a massive blow to his kingly prestige. However, recalling that mysterious youth, his body momentarily enveloped by nine divine halos, that supreme power made his heart tremble, instantly connecting to many things.
A suspicion arose in his heart.
This invincible divine art was too unique. Among the myriad realms, only one person possessed it—the Yuan Yao Divine King!
Could it truly be as the rumors said? Were the supreme, invincible Immortal True Kings of past generations reincarnating?
And was that person just now the reincarnated body of the Yuan Yao Divine King? Had he already awakened his past life's memories and could now wield his former life's supreme techniques?
The Scarlet God Valley's Demi-Saint descended. Demi-Saint might, majestic as mountains, slowly spread out, enveloping the sky above. He directly approached and questioned the gatekeeper, a powerhouse of the Divine Transformation Realm who had opened the spatial channel. "Where exactly was their intended destination?"
The gatekeeper's expression was very unpleasant. This Demi-Saint's tone was harsh, a direct interrogation without the slightest courtesy, making him feel deeply humiliated. Yet, that terrifying Demi-Saint divine pressure was hard to bear, making it feel difficult to even breathe.
He dared not resist in the slightest and answered very honestly.
"Xiangyang City."
Upon receiving this answer, the expressions of the Scarlet God Valley experts grew even uglier. Xiangyang City was too far from here, over ten million li away. Catching up was fundamentally impossible.
And more importantly, the spatial channel had clearly been made to collapse earlier, yet it had been restored. He suspected the coordinates might have changed, possibly deviating from Xiangyang City.
"Pursue! Even to the ends of the earth, we must catch them. We cannot allow our clan's supreme treasure to be lost outside," declared the Scarlet Scale King. He held great authority; even the Demi-Saint had to listen, for he was the King figure born in this generation of the Scarlet God Valley—a King appearing only once in who knows how many years, bearing the great hope of contending for the Human Sovereign throne. Naturally, his status was lofty and his power weighty.
"We obey our King's command!"
The spatial gate was reconstructed, its channel now leading to the coordinates of Xiangyang City. The Scarlet God Valley's group of powerful experts quickly entered the spatial channel and disappeared from Xiagu City.
The spatial channel was a colorful passage through space, stabilized by layers of void array patterns, spanning vast distances of the void, connecting one city to another separated by who knows how many li—easily hundreds of thousands, even millions of li apart. The distances were mind-boggling, impossible to measure by ordinary reasoning.
An ordinary mortal could never traverse it in a lifetime.
Even a typical cultivator would need two or three months to cross.
Yet within the spatial channel, it took only a few short hours.
It was hard to imagine. The spatial channel had originally been terminated, unable to operate, and was on the verge of collapse under attack. Yet, someone had forcibly reconstructed it and stabilized the channel, to the point where even a Demi-Saint couldn't destroy it.
Ye Chen couldn't help but take another look at the girl beside him, Chen Ruo, who was always shrouded in a black robe. This girl's origins were too extraordinary. She actually mastered such profound Void Dao. Even his Void King friend's attainments in Void Dao at this age were inferior.
Beneath the black robe, Chen Ruo's clear, autumn-water bright eyes also looked at Ye Chen. "What are you looking at? Haven't you seen a beautiful young lady as pretty as me before?"
"..."
Ye Chen didn't inquire about Chen Ruo's origins. Knowing she harbored no ill intent toward him was enough. "Miss Chen Ruo, I wonder where this spatial channel leads. Is it still to Xiangyang City?"
Chen Ruo fell silent for a moment, then lightly shook her head. However, her crisp voice somehow carried a tone of awkwardness. "I don't know. I just randomly set a spatial coordinate on the spot. There should be a slight deviation."
"Slight deviation?" Ye Chen's sword-like brows rose. Why did that sound somewhat ominous to him?
"Don't worry. Even if there's a deviation, it won't be by many li. At most, just over a million li," Chen Ruo said, waving her small hand dismissively.
Over a million li!?
Ye Chen's heart immediately sank with a bad premonition, but he steeled himself and asked, "Miss Chen Ruo, did you perhaps add an extra word? Is it over a hundred li, not over a million li?"
"No, it's over a million li," the girl answered very seriously.
"Just" over a million li!?
Ye Chen immediately sucked in a cold breath, his eyes wide as he stared at this innocent-looking girl Chen Ruo. A deviation of over a million li, and she actually had the nerve to say it so casually. Even if one were unreliable, couldn't they at least not be this unreliable?
He felt dizzy. He really had the feeling of boarding a pirate ship.
In fact, it was true. Three hours later, when the spatial channel reached its end, Ye Chen stared dumbfounded at the scene before him—a vast, desolate mountain range, devoid of human presence, surrounded by endless wilderness in all directions. Not even a wild beast was in sight. It was practically an uninhabited zone.
But Chen Ruo's next words left him utterly speechless. He heard her mutter softly, "Huh? I said the deviation would be over a million li, but it looks like it might be more than that."
Ye Chen finally couldn't hold back. "I say, Miss Chen Ruo, where exactly are we?"
"This seems to be the western part of the Xiangyang Domain. Probably a few more ten thousand li and we'll be in another great domain," the girl responded for the first time in a somewhat weak tone.
"..."
Ye Chen was dumbstruck. Damn it, he'd seen unreliable people before, but never one this unreliable.
This wasn't just the western region; it was practically the extreme west! Xiangyang City was in the central region of the Xiangyang Domain, while the extreme west was at least ten million li away. A few more ten thousand li and they'd be in another great domain. Could the deviation be any more outrageous?
Chen Ruo, however, giggled and came before him. Her petite frame only reached his chin. The unique fragrance of a young girl assailed his face. Beneath the black robe, one could vaguely glimpse her stunning, peerlessly beautiful face.
She patted Ye Chen's shoulder with her optimistic disposition, giggling, "Now you can rest assured. With such a huge deviation, those bad guys from the Scarlet God Valley will never catch up to us. Isn't that great?"
Ye Chen was speechless. And you have the nerve to say that.
But the boat had already reached the bridgehead naturally. Since they'd deviated by ten million li, what could they do now? Run back and teleport to Xiangyang City again?
That was impossible now. The Scarlet God Valley's experts were probably already there lying in wait. What was the point of going? In a way, this could also be considered a method of escaping their pursuit.
"Miss Chen Ruo, what exactly did you steal from the Scarlet God Valley that made them chase you across the world like this?" Ye Chen asked. "Under normal circumstances, I don't think their clan's King would personally come after you."
"Here, it's this thing."
With a flip of her hand, Chen Ruo produced a pearl only the size of a baby's fist. The pearl's body was hazy and gray, with wisps of Xiantian-born Chaos Ancient Qi swirling and floating within it, mysterious and extraordinary.
There were also several strands of Primordial Spirit and even a strand of divine soul within.
But when Ye Chen saw this pearl, not only him, but even Old Yan was shocked, their eyes wide as they looked at each other, utterly astonished.
"Soul-Stabilizing Pearl!?"
Chen Ruo waved her hand dismissively, looking quite indignant. "Isn't it just that? I only entered their clan's heavily guarded area and casually took a Soul-Stabilizing Pearl. What's the big deal? Making such a fuss and chasing a little girl like me all over—they really have no magnanimity as an Immortal Sacred Land. So stingy. Don't you think?"
Hearing this, Ye Chen sucked in another cold breath. This girl really dared to do anything. She even dared to steal a divine object like the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl. No wonder the Scarlet God Valley was chasing her.
The Soul-Stabilizing Pearl was an extraordinary divine object born from the creation of heaven and earth, conceived from Xiantian, attached with threads of Chaos Ancient Qi. It possessed unique characteristics, allowing one to cultivate their Primordial Spirit and soul through it, strengthening them constantly.
More importantly, it could seal Primordial Spirits and divine souls. As long as a strand of Primordial Spirit or divine soul was sealed within the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl, even if the original body perished and their Dao dissipated, as long as this strand was preserved, there was a chance for revival and rebirth. Moreover, the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl could continuously absorb heaven and earth's Yuan energy, strengthening the preserved strand of Primordial Spirit or divine soul power.
This could be called a heaven-defying divine object, extremely rare in the world, a supreme treasure. Even ancient Great Sages, those supreme existences who once ruled over the myriad realms, would be moved and covet it. That spoke volumes.
An Immortal Sacred Land would absolutely regard it as one of their most precious treasures. Moreover, he saw that strand of divine soul within the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl. It must contain the preserved divine soul of one of their clan's supreme existences.
No wonder the Scarlet God Valley made such a huge fuss. Losing such a precious Soul-Stabilizing Pearl... it was actually lucky for this girl that they didn't send a Saint Treasury Realm supreme expert.
Even Old Yan couldn't help but say, "Little Chen, I estimate we've attracted a trouble magnet. Although she might be a little princess from some Immortal Sacred Land, I estimate with her trouble-attracting ability, if we stay with her any longer, probably every force in the world will become our enemy. I must advise you: hurry up and ditch this trouble magnet. Let's run."
Ye Chen nodded solemnly, responding via mental transmission, "Old Yan, you're right."
Then he turned to face Chen Ruo, speaking to her with great gravity. "Miss Chen Ruo, I regret to inform you that, given your trouble-attracting ability, I am seriously concerned. For everyone's good, let's part ways here."
Chen Ruo blinked her big, bright eyes, then suddenly looked at him with teary, pitiful eyes. "You'd really abandon a beautiful young lady as peerlessly beautiful as me in this desolate wilderness?"
"Yes," Ye Chen said very seriously, making Chen Ruo feel like tearing her hair out. This youth was such a scoundrel! She was an innocent, lovely beautiful young lady, beloved by all. But the next moment, her clear, bright eyes widened because at this moment, Ye Chen actually—
Ran away!
"Ye Chen, you scoundrel! Do you think you can escape from this young lady's grasp like this?" Chen Ruo waved her delicate, fair fist, looking quite displeased, and chased after him.
Whoosh—
Ye Chen's body shimmered with golden light, his entire form condensing into a brilliant meteor-like golden streak that shot across the desolate land, fleeing as fast as he could without the slightest hesitation.
He wasn't worried about Chen Ruo's safety at all. Since this girl could steal the supreme treasure Soul-Stabilizing Pearl from the Scarlet God Valley, it spoke of her capabilities. Moreover, that hand of extraordinary Void Dao techniques was profoundly mysterious, able to construct a long-distance spatial channel. That naturally indicated her extraordinary nature.
And he strongly suspected she was a little princess from some Immortal Sacred Land, hence his lack of concern.
However, soon, Ye Chen was surprised because he heard the girl's crisp voice coming from behind, accusing him of being a scoundrel for abandoning her and leaving alone.
Looking back, he saw Chen Ruo had actually caught up. Her figure was ethereal and light, her lotus steps gentle. Ripples of void spread beneath her lotus feet. With each leap, vast stretches of mountains and rivers retreated behind her—light and agile, yet incredibly fast.
Ye Chen actually couldn't shake off the girl's pursuit.
This method made Ye Chen view her even more highly. Clearly, only extremely profound attainments in Void Dao could achieve such Shrinking the Earth to an Inch, making a thousand li seem but a step.
Finally, Ye Chen stopped.
Chen Ruo stopped before him, waving her delicate fist and snorting. "Run! Weren't you, this scoundrel, trying to run? Why aren't you running now?"
"If I can't escape, then I won't," Ye Chen could only answer honestly.
"Hmph, you know what's good for you."
After stopping, Ye Chen frowned. "Aren't you afraid the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl might have a tracking mark attached, convenient for locating and pursuing?"
"Afraid of what? As long as this young lady takes action, any mark can be blocked. Look, look, aren't those people from the Scarlet God Valley unable to catch up now?" Chen Ruo said.
Young lady, you deviated by over a million li. Even if the Scarlet God Valley wanted to pursue, they couldn't cross several million li in one go.
Now they were at the extreme west of the Xiangyang Domain. Just a few more ten thousand li of travel, and they could cross the Xiangyang Domain and enter another great domain.
After a brief discussion, the two decided to leave the Xiangyang Domain and enter another domain.
Ye Chen, as a Young King of his generation, moreover mastering the world's ultimate speed like Reverse Void Eight Steps, was naturally incredibly swift.
Chen Ruo was extraordinary, mastering profound Void Dao. She followed with leisurely steps, each step covering vast stretches of forest—light, agile, and fast, making Ye Chen marvel at her Void Dao cultivation. Li Taixu was far from matching her, not on the same level.
Traveling day and night, Chen Ruo wasn't surprised by Ye Chen's swift speed, probably having realized he was a Young King. But when she saw Ye Chen's Reverse Void Eight Steps—step after step, and when eight steps were taken, his entire form condensed into a golden meteor-like stream of light that traversed heaven and earth—she suddenly trembled all over, her eyes actually glistening with tears.
Ye Chen was startled. "What's wrong?"
"Are you him?" Chen Ruo's eyes glistened with tears, appearing fragile and pitiable.