Chapter 537: Escaping Unscathed

Hearing this, Xiao Han raised his eyebrows slightly and extended one hand in a gesture of invitation to battle.

"Then please, go ahead."

As the words fell, an invisible aura began to permeate from around Xiao Han.

Suddenly, Jiang Dao felt a wave of pressure rushing toward him, and cold sweat could not help but seep from his back. Although the harsh words he had just spoken were quite heroic, only when truly facing the enemy before him could he feel the powerful sense of oppression the other party brought.

But things had reached this point; even if he did not want to provoke this terrifying enemy, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he, a dignified Demon Emperor, could not shrink back in front of his subordinates.

However, just as Jiang Dao was preparing to bite the bullet and charge up, he saw Xiao Han, who had been in a "bring it on" posture, suddenly raise an eyebrow and say with quite a bit of regret.

"It seems it cannot be done today. We shall meet again next time."

As the words fell, under the stunned gaze of Jiang Dao and the other two, Xiao Han transformed into a black shadow, gradually merging into the nearby shadows without revealing the slightest aura.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a monstrous Demonic Qi erupted from afar; the person arriving made no attempt to conceal it.

Sensing this familiar demonic might, the three breathed a long sigh of relief. The other party was none other than their direct superior—a Mysterious Demon Emperor from the Saint Demon clan.

Among the three, Jiang Dao was the most relieved, as at least he would not have to use his final trump card to trade for a slim chance of survival.

"Lord Sheng Xuan!"

The three Ghost Demon Emperors, dragging their injuries, saluted the newcomer in a miserable state.

"Has that intruder left?"

Regarding the salute from Jiang Dao and the others, Sheng Xuan only nodded faintly, and then directly asked the question he was most concerned about.

As Three Emperors City was the most valuable asset under his name, he naturally would not let this little treasury meet with disaster. Unless he was not present, Three Emperors City would inevitably remain within his perception at all times. Precisely because of this, as soon as the fighting started here, Sheng Xuan discovered the anomaly and rushed over in a great hurry.

"Reporting to my Lord, the intruder has already left."

Chi Mei, the most smooth-talking of the three demons, stepped forward to answer.

"He left just an incense stick of time ago. Fortunately, my Lord arrived in time, and the other party retreated in the face of difficulties without causing too much destruction."

After quietly flattering Sheng Xuan and describing the ins and outs of the incident, Chi Mei shut his mouth; he knew well that the other party was someone who did not like subordinates to be noisy.

When Chi Mei finished speaking, Sheng Xuan frowned slightly. To withdraw so cleanly and decisively, especially with the words Xiao Han left behind being relayed word-for-word by Chi Mei, made Sheng Xuan feel a deep sense of wariness toward this powerful figure of unknown identity.

To be able to detect his arrival an incense stick of time ago, while he himself remained completely unaware, meant that the other party's sensory ability and concealment techniques far exceeded his own.

Added to that was the astonishing strength the other party displayed in fighting three against one without using a shred of Demonic Qi, as described by Chi Mei.

A formidable physical body, mental power, and excellent sensory ability—such a thorny existence was rarely seen even among the Saint Demons, the number one clan of the Outer Realm Evil Clan.

He was even more completely unclear as to why he would encounter such a thing.

After all, the territory of every Demon Emperor of the Outer Realm Evil Clan was numbered; like a radish in a pit, unless necessary, few Demon Emperors would enter the territory of another unfamiliar Demon Emperor. And Sheng Xuan was very clear that he absolutely did not know this powerful Demon Emperor of unknown origin.

"Do you know the intruder's identity information? Or their ability characteristics?"

Sheng Xuan frowned and looked at the three involved parties, wanting to figure out more information about the other side, even if it was just a little bit that could help determine their identity.

However, to Sheng Xuan's disappointment, the three shook their heads in unison.

Just then, Jiang Dao suddenly opened his eyes wide and said with an uncertain tone:

"Reporting to my Lord, I do not know if my perception was mistaken, but during the battle, I always felt that the temperature around the other party was much lower."

After all, as an Immortal Grade Heavenly Sovereign, even if Xiao Han intentionally suppressed his Spirit Power, the icy cold Qi unintentionally emitted by his own constitution inevitably caused some influence on the surroundings.

This almost imperceptible aura, if not for Jiang Dao deliberately recalling the details of the battle, would likely have been dismissed as an illusion.

"Hmm?"

"Much lower." Sheng Xuan lowered his head and pondered.

"Could it be ice-attribute Demonic Qi? But when did I ever pick a quarrel with those bumpkins from the Ice Demon Clan?"

The Ice Demon Clan belonged to the middle-tier races among the thirty-two great clans of the Outer Realm Evil Clan. Although their strength was far inferior to the Saint Demon Clan, they could still be called a clan with many experts. If one were to ask which clan had the strongest ice-attribute Demonic Qi, the Outer Realm Evil Clan would be none other than the Ice Demon Clan.

But this was exactly where Sheng Xuan was suspicious; experts with such strength were few and far between in the Ice Demon Clan, yet he had no impression of ever having a feud with such a person.

The deep-in-thought Sheng Xuan could never dream that this secretive "Ice Demon Clan" expert was actually an "unwelcome guest" from the Da Qian World.

Of course, Sheng Xuan's doubts were naturally not something Xiao Han needed to consider; he was currently pondering ways to enhance his control over the Great Hidden Divine Art.

After successfully escaping from Three Emperors City, Xiao Han also began to review all the details of the infiltration operation.

The only flaw in this infiltration was that the effect was too good, directly stripping his aura from the entire space; if one's line of sight could not reach him, one would naturally be completely unaware.

But if one encountered a scenario like this, an aura of nothingness would become a lighthouse in the dark night in the eyes of a powerhouse.

"Sure enough, my cultivation is still not up to par!"

Xiao Han sighed.

Regarding the drawbacks of the Great Hidden Divine Art, the creator of the Great Hidden Divine Art naturally knew them well. Concealing all aura and stripping the aura from space was merely the first level of the Great Hidden Divine Art: the Breath Concealment Realm.

The second level of the Great Hidden Divine Art—Concealment—strips the practitioner from the entire space and allows them to leave the space and reveal their form at any time; this is the terrifying aspect of the Great Hidden Divine Art.

Once the Great Hidden Divine Art reaches Concealment, with no aura and no trace of form, it directly renders the vast majority of detection methods useless.

This means the practitioner can almost easily enter most of the seemingly heavily guarded places in the world, as if entering an uninhabited land.

If it were only this, the Great Hidden Divine Art would only be a powerful Supernatural Power, hardly a Peerless Divine Art. What truly allowed it to rank among the Peerless Divine Arts was its most terrifying aspect.

When the Great Hidden Divine Art reaches the legendary third level—Nothingness—is the moment the Great Hidden Divine Art truly displays its terrifying nature as one of the Thirty-Six Peerless Divine Arts.

Breath Concealment and Concealment merely temporarily strip the practitioner from space; powerful individuals with keen perception can eventually, when the practitioner moves, roughly judge the practitioner's position through the abnormal fluctuations of space.

Nothingness is different. What is Nothingness? It is not turning into a void, but truly merging the body with heaven and earth, becoming one with the surrounding scenery.

Once this step is reached, even if the practitioner stands in front of the other party, as long as they do not reveal an intention to attack, they will simply be ignored; it can be called a divine skill for lurking.

However, Xiao Han did not dare to hope that he could cultivate the Great Hidden Divine Art to the third level; while its functions are heaven-defying, the difficulty of cultivating the Great Hidden Divine Art is also notoriously high.

Since records began, the last person to cultivate the Great Hidden Divine Art to the third level, the Nothingness realm, was a legend from thirty thousand years ago—the Saint of Thieves. His Great Hidden Divine Art was superb, and he visited the treasuries of all the famous and influential forces in the Da Qian World, making the experts of these forces hate him to the bone while being helpless.

In the end, this legend, who had enemies all over the world, miraculously retreated unscathed. Before he died, he sent the complete cultivation method of the Great Hidden Divine Art to the scene where the Elders of the Da Qian Palace were holding a meeting, and thus faded from everyone's view.

That such an existence, who had stolen from the whole world, would do his final act by gifting his famous Supernatural Power to the Da Qian Palace was also a sensation at the time.

Of course, the Saint of Thieves was also the most recent powerhouse to have cultivated the Great Hidden Divine Art to its peak.

Since the Da Qian Palace recorded the Great Hidden Divine Art, due to the legendary experiences of the Saint of Thieves, no fewer than three-digit numbers of experts have exchanged for this Supernatural Power from the Da Qian Palace; among them were many experts of the Thief Sect and masters of assassination whose abilities to conceal their forms and shadows could be called the best of their time, yet they could only cultivate up to the second level, Concealment, and found it difficult to advance even an inch further.

With a multitude of precedents before him, Xiao Han naturally would not arrogantly believe that he was that lucky one.

However, he did not force himself to reach the level of Nothingness; as long as he could successfully enter Concealment, it would be enough for him to roam the hinterlands of the Outer Realm Evil Clan in situations where he was prepared and they were not.

While deep in thought, Xiao Han also returned to his lodging in Qiling City.

"Teacher, you have finally returned; something terrible has happened."