Chapter 32: The Cave Dwelling Emerges, Demon Immortal Blocks the Path

Su Chen watched as the formation’s light barrier was about to collapse, clearly due to its extreme age and lack of maintenance, finally reaching the point of exhaustion.

Such an opportunity, once encountered by himself, was not to be let go.

Just as Su Chen was about to study how to break through the crumbling formation, a cold and vicious aura erupted without warning from beneath the sea, instantly locking onto him.

“Splash!”

With a thunderous crash, a black water column as thick as a barrel shot up from the sea surface, and a young man clad in black scales, his face grim and sinister, stood atop the black water before Su Chen.

The youth was tall and slender, with extremely thin lips, and his vertical pupils glowed with icy, chilling light; on his forehead grew two small, coral-like black horns.

An aura belonging to a Luo Jinxian was unleashed without concealment.

“I’ve waited for you so long—you’ve finally arrived!”

The black-scaled youth spoke, his voice like a venomous snake’s hiss—raspy and cold.

He stared fixedly at Su Chen, his gaze as if viewing prey that had trespassed into his territory.

Su Chen raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.

“Waiting for me?” He looked at the black-scaled youth without expression. “Who are you?”

He was certain he had never seen this black-scaled youth before.

The stranger’s nonsensical words left him baffled.

Had his whereabouts been exposed?

But he bore the Heaven’s Mirror, which concealed his fate—even Grand Immortal Zhenyuan had failed to trace his origins. How could a mere Luo Jinxian possibly know he would come?

“Stop pretending!”

The black-scaled youth sneered, his vertical pupils flashing with greed and contempt.

“I’ve guarded this ancient cave dwelling here for thirty full years! Just as the formation was about to break, you show up right on time. Do you really think all the blessings in this world belong to you alone?”

Hearing this, Su Chen instantly understood.

All this time, he’d overthought it.

The black-scaled youth had long noticed the anomaly here but could not break the formation, so he waited here, biding his time until the formation collapsed on its own.

He had waited thirty years, on the verge of success—only for Su Chen to appear precisely now.

Anyone seeing this would assume Su Chen had calculated the timing precisely to seize the opportunity.

What a colossal misunderstanding.

Su Chen explained: “Friend, you’ve misunderstood. This Daoist merely passed by, happened to sense unusual energy here, and came to investigate—no other intent.”

“Misunderstood?” The black-scaled youth laughed as if hearing the greatest joke, his laughter shrill and piercing. “You Daoist fool, do you think you can fool ghosts? This stretch of the Western Sea spans ten thousand li—no birds fly here, no beasts tread. You say you’re just passing through? Who believes that?”

His laughter ceased instantly; his face twisted into a monstrous snarl.

“I don’t care who you are, or how you learned of this place. Today, you’ve walked into my grasp—you’re unlucky! If you’re wise, leave now! Otherwise, I’ll rip out your soul and refine your spirit until you’re utterly annihilated!”

The black-scaled youth was clearly accustomed to tyranny; his words brimmed with unyielding ferocity.

Su Chen’s expression slowly darkened.

He had no wish to stir trouble, but this fellow’s relentless aggression made him seem like a soft persimmon, ripe for squeezing.

“Your words are far too tyrannical,” Su Chen said, his voice growing colder.

“This place is unclaimed. Heaven offers it—refuse it, and you invite misfortune. Since both of us have arrived today, it is our shared fate. Let whoever can claim it do so by strength—why threaten violence at the first word?”

“Strength?” The black-scaled youth sized Su Chen up, his disdain deepening. “You? A Daoist who just entered Ren Xian? How dare you speak of strength to me?”

In his eyes, Su Chen’s aura, though that of an immortal, was dull and unremarkable—clearly newly ascended, with unstable roots.

He himself had entered the Luo Jinxian realm a hundred years ago; his demonic power was vast and profound. How could he fear a greenhorn Daoist?

“I’ll give you one last chance!” The black-scaled youth raised one finger, his voice icy. “Within three breaths, vanish from my sight! Otherwise, die!”

“One!”

“Two!”

Watching the fellow’s smug certainty, Su Chen was almost amused.

Since descending the mountain, he had never met such an arrogant, overbearing fool.

“No need to count.”

Su Chen spoke calmly, cutting him off.

He lifted his gaze, calmly meeting the black-scaled youth’s eyes. “This cave dwelling—I claim it today.”

“Die!”

The black-scaled youth erupted in fury, his murderous intent finally unrestrained.

Before his words ended, his body blurred into a streak of black lightning, crossing dozens of zhang in an instant, appearing before Su Chen.

His five fingers curled into claws, nails blackened and sharpened, lashing out with a stinking demonic wind straight for Su Chen’s heart.

This strike was swift and brutal—if it landed, a typical Ren Xian’s heart would be torn out on the spot.

Facing this sudden attack, Su Chen’s face showed no trace of panic.

Just as the claws neared his Daoist robe, his form suddenly blurred where he stood, becoming an insubstantial shadow.

“Ssshh!”

The black-scaled youth’s claws pierced straight through Su Chen’s “body,” leaving only a lingering afterimage.

“What?”

The black-scaled youth’s strike missed; his heart lurched in shock.

He hadn’t even seen how the man had dodged!

While he was still reeling, Su Chen’s figure had silently appeared ten zhang behind him.

“Too slow.”

A calm voice echoed clearly into the black-scaled youth’s ears.

A chill surged from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.

He whirled around—only to see the young Daoist gazing at him with serene calm, his eyes as if watching a clown.

“Who are you?”

The black-scaled youth’s voice trembled with fear.

He realized—he had stepped on iron.

This Daoist was far from what he appeared to be!

“Who I am? You don’t need to know.”

Su Chen looked at the snake demon’s startled face, his tone still flat.

He had no time to waste—he wanted this over quickly.

“If you leave now, I’ll pretend nothing happened.” Su Chen gave him one final chance.

“Leave?” The black-scaled youth’s fear vanished instantly, replaced by furious shame.

He, a Luo Jinxian of the demon race, had cultivated for a thousand years in these waters—when had he ever been so belittled?

And the ancient cave’s opportunity lay right before him—he had waited thirty years. How could he surrender it because of one man’s words?

“Arrogant human! Do you think a trick of movement can frighten me?”

The black-scaled youth roared, his demonic aura surging skyward, staining the surrounding sea ink-black.

“Today, I’ll show you the true power of a Luo Jinxian!”