Chapter 346: No Way

Jiang Yuan stood with his back to Chen Yan, stretching out his arms; as the flames all over his body cascaded down, the entire world was illuminated by the firelight, turning into a kingdom of flames.

The flames roared in the gale, and the magma caused the entire dense forest to melt.

Chen Yan took this scene into his eyes.

The words Jiang Yuan had spoken turned into a massive amount of information, pouring into his mind.

Chirp!

A sharp, ancient beast screech rang out.

A slender-bodied, terrifyingly auraed Fei Yi charged toward Chen Yan with all its might, but it was blocked by the raging sea of fire.

Jiang Yuan narrowed his eyes:

"Kneel!"

His voice was as cold as ice, like the water of a frigid pool, making one shudder with fear.

He raised one hand, and the rolling flames condensed behind him into a giant hand of fire that blotted out the sky.

As he pressed down with his palm.

Boom!

This Fei Yi was instantly driven into the ground, causing the earth to crack and tremble.

The flames turned into a tidal wave and instantly surged toward the other two Fei Yi, overwhelming and unstoppable.

Jiang Yuan's gaze was indifferent; he tilted his head and glanced at Chen Yan from the corner of his eye.

His entire face, reflected by the flames, displayed a momentum he had never shown before.

Just as he opened his mouth, Chen Yan spoke first:

"Can you kill all three of these Fei Yi?"

Jiang Yuan's expression froze, and the skin on his face twitched.

He swore that one day he would personally string Chen Yan up and beat him.

Are you fucking blind?

These are three Tier 6 Ancient God Beasts!

And not just ordinary Tier 6 Ancient God Beasts.

And I, Jiang Yuan, am currently Tier 4!

Do you think I can kill these three Tier 6 Ancient God Beasts with my current realm?

Can you use your brain!

These thoughts exploded in his mind in an instant, but Jiang Yuan held back for now and said calmly:

"Fushan, the college entrance exam secret realm suppresses the examinees' realms; I can only display Tier 4 strength at most right now..."

He was in the middle of speaking.

Rip!

Golden light erupted all over Chen Yan's body as he flew far away, carrying San Jin.

He had escaped.

Both were clever people; the moment Jiang Yuan said that sentence, Chen Yan understood what he meant.

Although this was fine.

Jiang Yuan was stunned, his lips pursed and trembling violently.

He suddenly realized he regretted exposing his current strength.

"Chen Yan..."

He murmured.

Just at this moment.

A slender, fair, and tender palm brushed lightly against Jiang Yuan's neck like a lotus flower, so beautiful it was impossible to look away.

The Fei Yi's face rubbed gently against Jiang Yuan's chest.

Especially since the Fei Yi was not wearing any clothes at this moment.

Her eyes were seductive as silk, and she whispered:

"Human, you are very strong; become an Ancient God Beast, and all three of us will be yours."

Jiang Yuan, however, ignored the Fei Yi entirely; he looked in the direction Chen Yan had fled and slowly reached out his hand:

"Chen Yan, I'm not helping you, I'm helping San Jin; I've created the opportunity for you, if you can't save San Jin, I..."

Slap!

Jiang Yuan pressed a palm onto the face of the Fei Yi before him, flames boiling in his hand as he slammed the Fei Yi into the ground, roaring:

"I won't spare you!!!"

"Many thanks."

A cold, clear voice came from the direction in which Chen Yan had disappeared.

A faint smile appeared on the corner of Jiang Yuan's mouth.

…………

Jiang Yuan's intervention allowed Chen Yan to take a deep breath.

San Jin held onto his waist, and the two figures flew through the high sky like lightning.

The information in Jiang Yuan's words was massive, but Chen Yan had no time to think about it.

Because Jiang Yuan had also said that he was currently at Tier 4 combat power.

Although his combat power was extremely strong, he could only hold off the three Fei Yi for a while.

Moreover, the more a martial artist fought in a place with such high concentrations of malice, the weaker their own strength would become.

Could it be that Jiang Yuan's intervention must make Chen Yan feel moved for a long time, or be shocked for a long time?

This kind of cliché stuff will only make things more critical.

So Chen Yan chose to just slip away.

Actually, for Jiang Yuan to reach this point, he is already very strong.

Strong strength, strong will.

Judging by the strength Jiang Yuan just unleashed.

To deal with Qiu Changji, the third on the Heaven's Pride Ranking, it might only take a flick of a finger.

As the head of the Second-Rank General Stars, he is likely the strongest of the younger generation in the entire Great Xia.

"A... actually, I am also very... very strong."

San Jin, clinging to Chen Yan's back, said in a small voice.

But perhaps because she lacked confidence, San Jin's final voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum.

Chen Yan did not speak.

San Jin's strength is indeed very strong; the scene where she once sent Yu Changsheng flying with a single staff strike remains vivid in his mind.

But San Jin's will is too weak.

Inside the third layer of the Dream Abyss, San Jin's strength was not weakened, but the illusions born of malice were constantly tormenting San Jin's divine sense.

After Chen Yan and Jiang Yuan first entered the third layer of the Dream Abyss, the malice would constantly manifest as painful memories of the two to torment them.

Later on, these illusions became even more ferocious.

Chen Yan has seen his father and younger sister die more than once.

The malice magnified the pain of human emotions, magnifying it thousands upon thousands of times.

At the same time, it was also eroding the martial artist's physical body.

Actually, it is quite normal for San Jin to be weakened to this extent.

What is abnormal are Chen Yan and Jiang Yuan.

Chen Yan goes without saying.

As for Jiang Yuan, that is a bit ruthless.

The other party's methods for resisting malice are very strong; first, his brain was pricked by needles, and later, he even swallowed the Malice Crystal alone.

Moreover, Jiang Yuan's will must be very strong.

It would be strange if a Heaven's Pride who could go undercover under Chen Changyuan for so many years, and even evolve a second personality, did not have a strong will.

Just at the moment Jiang Yuan unleashed his strength, his figure was revealed within a terminal branch of the Martial Dao Veins.

The brilliance of the light on that vein was almost comparable to Chen Min's.

It was also at that moment that Chen Yan felt Jiang Yuan's most authentic emotions.

Struggle.

His surface personality is struggling; as he said, once his true strength is revealed, the surface personality will be slowly erased by the inner personality.

And Jiang Yuan's surface personality does not wish to be erased, so it erupted with a strong will.

This case can only be described with two words.

Bizarre.

This is the first time Chen Yan has seen a case where someone forced their own will to its limit...

No.

He has seen it a second time.

The first time was Chen Yan himself.

Crackle.

Streaks of pitch-black thunder intertwined over Chen Yan's body.

Absorbing the Xun Thunder is not an easy matter.

The Elemental Path is built upon the Blood Qi Path.

Therefore, making the Heaven and Earth Thunder Spirit one's own Blood Qi talent is just like cultivating Blood Qi.

But refining thunder is truly too difficult.

Because the transformation process is difficult beyond measure.

At this moment, hundreds of millions of thunderbolts are constantly shattering Chen Yan's flesh and blood, destroying Chen Yan's physical particles.

Chen Yan activated the Yan Realm; while fleeing, he resisted the thunder's corrosion of his physical body, while simultaneously operating the 【Illusion Ripple Abyss Domain】 to refine the Xun Thunder.

Every single thing was extremely taxing on Chen Yan's mind.

One careless mistake in the operation would lead to even greater danger.

At this moment, even Chen Yan found it difficult to handle.

Behind him, San Jin felt the turbulence of Chen Yan's aura and bit her lip hard; she used all her strength to speak:

"I... I... am sorry."

That Chen Yan came to save her made her feel lost.

That Jiang Yuan and Chen Yan were suffering because of her made her feel endless frustration and guilt.

She did not even dare to speak, fearing that saying more would make Chen Yan's situation even more arduous.

In her mind, she was even thinking that if she just ended it all right now, it might allow her to play a greater role.

"What is the use of saying sorry?" Chen Yan said in a calm voice.

San Jin's face turned deathly pale; the change in Chen Yan's tone caused a look of terror to appear in her eyes.

In an instant, she remembered those things she had experienced before.

Even Chen Yan was disappointed in her.

"Humanity's true enemies are always both external and internal," Chen Yan suddenly spoke:

"My enemies are malice and crisis, while your enemies..."

Chen Yan spoke calmly:

"Are yourself."

San Jin was stunned; for a moment, she actually did not understand this sentence of Chen Yan's.

This was not the same as those vicious curses and insults she had faced before.

"As I see you, you are intelligent, beautiful, and willing to give.

If it were not for this, why would I come here to save you?"

Chen Yan's voice calmed down:

"But as you see yourself, you are incompetent, base, and a burden to others.

Which one is the real you?"

Chen Yan spoke calmly.

If the person he saved remained a San Jin who was increasingly self-deprecating and increasingly cowardly.

Such a rescue would be meaningless.

Confusion flickered in San Jin's eyes; the depths of her mind were still being influenced by malice.

One vicious curse after another, one despairing reenactment after another.

The illusions in her mind and Chen Yan's words were clashing within her simultaneously.

Making it incomparably difficult for her.

Yet at this moment, the young man's voice sounded once more.

"Ten thousand sages are but passing clouds to my heart; why should you fear the surging malice of the world?"

His voice was calm.

This was what Chen Yan had always been certain of.

Every choice he made, every action he took, was a confrontation against the perceptions of others.

He was extremely foolish, yet incomparably intelligent.

He was small yet great.

Because from the very beginning, he had embarked on a path that was foolish to the extreme.

Foolish to others, great to himself.

San Jin's expression calmed down; her vermilion lips parted, and Chen Yan's voice resonated within her mind.

Yet at this moment.

Chen Yan took out an Enlightenment Seed.

He only had three left.

Chen Yan crushed the Enlightenment Seed, and instantly the Enlightenment Seed turned into a stream of light, flowing into Chen Yan's ears, nose, and throat.

In an instant, Chen Yan's thinking speed surged, and the veins on his neck bulged.

His thoughts, like ten thousand great rivers, began to rapidly clear away various notions and ideas.

The profound 【Illusion Ripple Abyss Domain】 also began to operate in an orderly fashion under his powerful thinking.

Within the origin space of the Blood Qi path, a giant divine body stood, towering and imposing, opening its eyes like a glaring Vajra.

The radiance of the Blood Qi was incomparably intense, and the sounds of thunder and freezing ice rang out incessantly.

Principles were intertwining, and truths were condensing.

Within his fully forged right hand, streaks of pitch-black lightning began to emerge.

The Blood Qi was transforming.

Transforming from pure Blood Qi energy into ice energy, and the ice energy then transformed into lightning energy.

Chen Yan's physical body was constantly adapting to the new Blood Qi talent.

Within the Saint-Breaking Realm, black light surged.

【Saint-Breaking Tree (Level 7): 316/500】

【Origin: 4567/100】

Each pitch-black 【Origin】 character Saint-Breaking Fruit was plump and round.

A rough count revealed as many as forty-six!

Chen Yan had not originally intended to consume them, because once consumed, it would intensify the pain his body had to endure at this moment.

Chen Yan waved one hand, and another Enlightenment Seed appeared in his palm.

Once this one was used, Chen Yan would have only one last Enlightenment Seed remaining.

Chen Yan crushed the Enlightenment Seed, and after absorbing its energy, his brain's operating speed reached its peak once again.

One 【Origin】 character Saint-Breaking Fruit after another was swallowed by Chen Yan.

Crack!

Dark lightning flowed through Chen Yan's blood vessels, flesh, bones, and meridians.

A powerful aura erupted once again.

Inside Chen Yan's body, the quality of the Xun Thunder began to improve, becoming more swift and rapid.

Lightning erupted from his entire body; at this moment, it was difficult to control.

Wherever it passed, lightning overflowed, surging like a black ink tide.

Under the impact of this pitch-black lightning, trees were instantly shattered, and the earth was torn with hideous cracks.

Xun Thunder began to attack everything in the surroundings.

San Jin, who was holding Chen Yan, was struck by the thunder, her physical body in intense pain, a bitter expression on her face.

She quietly unleashed her cyan blood-Qi to protect herself, holding Chen Yan's arm even more tightly.

Chen Yan also gradually refined all of the Xun Thunder.

Chen Yan's second blood-Qi talent, Thunder, belonged to him.

It appeared!

Xun Thunder was originally a Morning Star-grade, D-tier Heaven and Earth Thunder Spirit; after being converted into Chen Yan's blood-Qi talent, it remained Morning Star-grade, D-tier.

It was not that the forty "Origin" Saint-Breaking Fruits were useless.

Rather, the gap between the four minor ranks of A, B, C, and D within the Morning Star grade was very large.

However, even so.

Being the same Morning Star-grade, D-tier.

The grade of Xun Thunder was still higher than that of Yin Zhe.

This caused Chen Yan's combat power in the path of blood-Qi to increase tremendously.

After refining the Xun Thunder, Chen Yan's speed in dashing forward became faster and faster.

Soon, he arrived before the stone tablet in the valley.

On this stone tablet, there had originally been black tentacles constantly writhing.

But after sensing Chen Yan's arrival, these tentacles actually stiffened in a human-like manner.

Then, this stone tablet actually consciously tore open a gap in its center, letting Chen Yan pass through.

San Jin watched in a daze, seeing for the first time that malice could also feel fear.

In fact, it was not that malice could feel fear.

It was that this stone tablet was actually an Ancient Divine Beast, and the moment it sensed Chen Yan's arrival.

This stone tablet was actually very speechless.

He is here again.

How is he here again.

I allow you to pass through my physical body, but I cannot tolerate you coming in and out.

Inside the dilapidated great city, Chen Yan traversed across in an instant.

While passing by a ruined plaza, Chen Yan's gaze flashed.

In the center of that plaza where he had once fought a great battle against a Fei Yi, a pitch-black giant cocoon had appeared at some unknown time.

As Chen Yan swept past, this giant cocoon was torn open from the inside out by a pair of hands as white and pure as jade.

Then, a scene that subconsciously made Chen Yan recall bad memories appeared once again.

From within that black cocoon, a Fei Yi walked out.

No.

After this one Fei Yi landed, another identical Fei Yi walked out from that black cocoon.

The two Fei Yi stood quietly, their eyes calm, not looking at Chen Yan at all.

It seemed they hadn't noticed the existence of Chen Yan and San Jin at all.

San Jin let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly said:

"She... she is... in the... Dream Abyss... second layer."

Chen Yan nodded.

That should be the case.

Although the third layer of the Dream Abyss could be the same as the outside world, things from the outside world could only enter the third layer of the Dream Abyss through that blood pool.

The reason Chen Yan judged that those two Fei Yi were from the second layer of the Dream Abyss.

Was because the moment these two Fei Yi broke open the giant cocoon, they didn't make a single sound at all.

Very clearly, they were not in the same world as Chen Yan.

"It's fine, go to the blood pool," Chen Yan said.

But immediately after, Chen Yan's brows furrowed, and San Jin's complexion turned deathly pale all of a sudden.

Because those two Fei Yi from the second layer of the Dream Abyss were actually also rushing toward the blood pool.

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes.

Fortunately, he had refined the Xun Thunder, and his own speed had increased tremendously.

Otherwise, just this moment alone, he would have had to give up on going to the blood pool.

He was confident he could fly to the blood pool one step ahead of the Fei Yi.

As long as the Xun Thunder could slice open the blood pool.

Chen Yan could take San Jin and escape while the Fei Yi had not yet arrived at the blood pool.

Slash!

In the blink of an eye.

Chen Yan flashed across the high sky like a bolt of ink-colored thunder, leaving a trail of hissing, flickering thunder within the space.

He used almost all his speed to fly before the blood pool.

At this moment, those two Fei Yi were still about one thousand meters away from the blood pool.

Chen Yan took a deep breath, grabbed with one hand, and an ice spear appeared in his hand.

Immediately following, with a "slash" sound.

Pitch-black thunder overflowed from Chen Yan's hand, transforming into a wild dragon and a Black Tortoise that intertwined upon the ice spear.

With a swish.

This ice spear was thrown by Chen Yan, striking the blood pool.

Boom!

The blood pool was struck by the Ice-Thunder Long Spear, causing the blood to splash violently, with waves reaching a thousand meters high sweeping outward.

Cold air intertwined with a pitch-black thunder net, spreading and dripping down like saliva.

The surrounding several kilometers turned into a world of ice and thunder.

Ink-colored thunder flickered on Chen Yan's body, and suddenly, he carried San Jin and charged toward the blood pool.

He rushed into the blood pool, his body enveloped by the hundreds of millions of worms within it, and began to sink.

He continued to sink toward the depths of the pool water.

Chen Yan's expression became extremely ugly.

Until at a certain moment, within the bottom of the pool, two identical, peerlessly beautiful faces appeared.

The two Fei Yi that had rushed over from the second layer of the Dream Abyss just watched Chen Yan like this.

Within those two pairs of eyes, there condensed an intensity to the extreme of...

Playfulness.