Chapter 32

Su Chen looked at the way the formation's light screen was on the verge of collapse; it was clearly from an age too distant, with no one to maintain it, and it had finally reached the point of exhaustion.

Since he had stumbled upon such an opportunity, there was naturally no reason to let it go.

Just as Su Chen was preparing to study how to break this remnant formation, a cold and violent aura surged into the sky from the seawater below without warning, locking onto him in an instant.

"Splash!"

With a loud crash, a black water column as thick as a water barrel erupted from the sea surface, and a youth wearing black scale armor with a sinister face appeared before Su Chen, stepping on the black water.

This youth was tall and thin, with extremely thin lips and a pair of vertical pupils flashing with a chilling, grim light; on his forehead, there were two small, coral-like black horns.

An aura belonging to a Demon Immortal was emitted without any concealment.

"Waited for you for so long, you've finally come!"

As soon as the black-armored youth spoke, his voice was like a venomous snake flicking its tongue—hoarse and cold.

He stared fixedly at Su Chen, his gaze as if he were looking at prey that had intruded into his territory.

Su Chen raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat surprised in his heart.

"Waiting for me?" He looked at the black-armored youth before him and asked calmly, "Who might you be?"

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

The other party's nonsensical remark left him somewhat confused.

Could it be that his whereabouts had been exposed?

But he had the Heavenly Secret Treasure Mirror on him to obscure the heavenly secrets; even the Great Immortal Zhen Yuanzi had said he could not calculate his origins, so how could a mere Demon Immortal possibly know in advance that he would come?

"Stop playing dumb here!"

The black-armored youth sneered, a flash of greed and disdain crossing his vertical pupils.

"I have guarded this ancient cave dwelling for a full thirty years! Seeing that the formation was about to break, you, on the other hand, arrived right on cue. What, do you really think all the cheap gains in this world can be taken by you alone?"

Upon hearing this, Su Chen understood in an instant.

After all that, it was just him overthinking things.

It turned out this black-armored youth had long ago discovered the anomaly here, but had been unable to break the formation, so he had been guarding here, waiting for the formation to collapse on its own.

He had guarded it for thirty years and was on the verge of success, yet Su Chen happened to appear at this very moment.

Anyone who saw this would think he had calculated the time perfectly to come and snatch the opportunity.

This was truly a massive misunderstanding.

Su Chen explained: "Fellow Daoist, I am afraid you have misunderstood. I was merely passing through this place and accidentally noticed that the energy here was unusual, so I came over to take a look; I have no other intentions."

"Misunderstanding?" The black-armored youth acted as if he had heard a massive joke and threw his head back in laughter, his laughter sharp and grating. "You bull-nosed priest, are you trying to fool a ghost? This shore of the West Sea, for ten thousand miles around, is a barren wasteland. You say you were just passing by? Who would believe that!"

He cut his laughter short, his expression instantly becoming incomparably ferocious.

"I don't care who you are, nor do I care how you found out about this place. Today, since you've bumped into my hands, consider yourself unlucky! If you're sensible, get lost right now! Otherwise, don't blame me for extracting your soul and refining your spirit, leaving you with neither form nor spirit!"

This black-armored youth was clearly accustomed to being overbearing; his words were filled with unquestionable ferocity.

Su Chen's expression also gradually sank.

He had not wanted to cause trouble, but since the other party was being so relentless, did they really think he was a soft persimmon that could be squeezed at will?

"Your words are a bit too overbearing," Su Chen's voice turned a few degrees colder.

"This place is ownerless; if Heaven gives it and one does not take it, one will instead suffer the blame. Since we both encountered it today, it is the fate of us two. Whoever can obtain it depends on their own ability; why must you resort to fighting and killing the moment you open your mouth?"

"Ability?" The black-armored youth looked Su Chen up and down, the contempt in his eyes deepening. "Just you? A Daoist who has only just stepped into the Human Immortal Realm? You are worthy of talking to me about ability?"

In his view, although the aura on Su Chen was also that of an immortal, the fluctuations of his immortal essence were plain and unremarkable; he was clearly someone who had broken through not long ago and whose foundation was not yet stable.

As for himself, he had entered the Demon Immortal Realm a hundred years ago, and his demon power was incomparably vigorous; how could he be afraid of such a fledgling little Daoist?

"I will give you one last chance!" The black-armored youth raised a finger and said in a chilling voice, "Within three breaths, disappear from my sight! Otherwise, die!"

"One!"

"Two!"

Watching the other party's appearance of being certain of his victory, Su Chen was instead amused to the point of anger.

Since he had descended the mountain, he had never seen such an arrogant and despotic person.

"No need to count."

Su Chen spoke indifferently, interrupting him.

He raised his eyes, looking calmly at the black-armored youth, and said, "This cave dwelling, I, this priest, have indeed taken a liking to it today."

"You're courting death!"

The black-armored youth was furious, no longer able to suppress the killing intent in his heart.

Before his words had even faded, his figure transformed into a bolt of black lightning, instantly crossing the distance of several dozen feet to appear before Su Chen.

He curled his five fingers into a claw, his fingernails becoming pitch-black and sharp, and with a foul-smelling demon wind, he struck directly at Su Chen's heart.

This claw was both fast and ruthless; if it had landed, an ordinary Human Immortal's heart would likely have been ripped out on the spot.

Facing this sudden strike, there was not a trace of panic on Su Chen's face.

Just as the sharp claw was about to touch his Daoist robe, his figure abruptly blurred in place, as if he had turned into an intangible phantom.

"Swoosh!"

The black-armored youth's sharp claw passed directly through his "body," but only brought up a lingering afterimage.

"What?"

The black-armored youth missed his strike and was greatly alarmed.

He hadn't even seen how the other party had dodged it!

Just as he was filled with shock and suspicion, Su Chen's figure had already silently appeared ten feet behind him.

"Too slow."

A flat voice clearly reached the black-armored youth's ears.

The black-armored youth felt a chill surge from the soles of his feet straight to his crown.

He turned around abruptly, only to see that young Daoist looking at him with a calm expression, his gaze as if he were looking at a clown.

"Who exactly are you?"

The black-armored youth's voice carried a trace of fear.

He realized that he seemed to have kicked an iron plate.

The Daoist before him was definitely not as simple as he appeared on the surface!

"Who I am, you have no need to know."

Su Chen looked at the suspicious snake demon, his tone still flat.

He did not want to waste time; he only wanted to end the battle quickly.

"If you retreat now, I can pretend that nothing ever happened." Su Chen gave the other party one last chance.

"Retreat?" Upon hearing this, the look of fear on the black-armored youth's face was instantly replaced by embarrassment and anger.

As a dignified Demon Immortal of the Demon Clan, having cultivated in this sea area for a thousand years, when had he ever been looked down upon like this?

Furthermore, the opportunity of that ancient cave dwelling was right before his eyes; having guarded it for thirty years, how could he hand it over just because of a single sentence from the other party?

"Arrogant human! Do you think you can scare me just by relying on some weird movement technique?"

The black-armored youth roared, the demon energy on his body surging into the sky, dyeing the surrounding seawater ink-black.

"Today, I will let you witness the true power of a Demon Immortal!"