Chapter 1373: Deliberate Provocation

Xie Tianhong, after observing carefully, asked Ye Liuyun: "Brother Ye, what kind of stone is this?"

"I've never seen this kind of material!"

Ye Liuyun replied: "I don't know what it is either.

It was left to me by my father! I used to treat it as an ornament, a token, until I reached the Zao Hua Realm, when I discovered its purpose!"

"Oh!"

When Xie Tianhong returned the Storage Yuan Stone to Ye Liuyun, a look of envy appeared in his eyes.

He restores True Essence with the aid of pills, so there is always some delay.

Moreover, using pills consecutively degrades their effect.

Unfortunately, it seems they don't have this kind of Storage Yuan Stone here; even if they have money, they can't buy it, only envy remains.

Ye Liuyun and his companions walked forward for more than ten days.

This Xueyu is truly vast.

Even though they pressed on at full speed, Xie Tianhong said they were only about halfway there.

On the road, they frequently encountered ferocious beasts and Martial Cultivators, requiring constant battles.

The Martial Cultivators here, upon meeting, basically don't waste words and immediately start to attack.

The Xueyu is a lawless zone; anyone here is beyond Heaven and Earth.

The Martial Cultivators Ye Liuyun previously encountered were manageable; the two of them together could easily deal with them.

Although Xie Tianhong is at the Earth Sovereign Second Layer, he can at least fight Martial Cultivators of Earth Sovereign Fourth Layer.

Ye Liuyun doesn't need to hide his strength; even Martial Cultivators at the early stage of the Tianzun Realm find it hard to defend against his single strike.

But this time, the Martial Cultivators they faced were more troublesome.

This group of Martial Cultivators numbered eight, all of Earth Sovereign Realm.

The highest-ranked among them was an Earth Sovereign Ninth Layer Martial Cultivator, who also wielded a Divine Rank shield that could block Ye Liuyun's blade intent.

"The opportunity has arrived; I can also test what abilities Xie Tianhong still has!"

Thinking this, Ye Liuyun immediately launched a fierce attack on the Earth Sovereign Ninth Layer Martial Cultivator, entangling with several Martial Cultivators, as if he couldn't spare a hand to look after Xie Tianhong.

Xie Tianhong, helplessly, realized he could no longer conceal himself, so his full strength erupted.

It was then that Ye Liuyun realized Xie Tianhong's True Essence had fully erupted, and with his Ice Power, even fighting Earth Sovereign Fifth Layer Martial Cultivators posed no problem.

In the Earth Sovereign Realm, those who can fight across three layers possess formidable strength.

And the four Martial Cultivators confronting Xie Tianhong were the lowest-ranked among them.

Thus, when Xie Tianhong struck, they suffered heavy losses.

Two Martial Cultivators, as soon as they engaged, were each frozen by a single palm of Xie Tianhong.

Then Xie Tianhong drew a Divine Rank longsword and fought another Martial Cultivator wielding a Divine Rank weapon.

At the same time, he used Ice Power to generate a shield, blocking another Martial Cultivator's attack.

Facing two opponents alone, he still seemed at ease.

"He still has at least one Divine Rank weapon and shield in his hand.

Perhaps also a set of armor!"

Seeing Xie Tianhong skillfully wield the longsword and shield together, Ye Liuyun inferred that these are his usual weapons, and that, to conceal his strength, he still has higher‑grade Divine Rank weapons he hasn't drawn.

At this moment, Ye Liuyun found his own fighting to be extremely strenuous.

Much of his power could not be used; he could only employ blade intent, flames, and Heaven and Earth Power to push back opponents, gaining little advantage.

He dared not use Bloodline Power, Divine Soul Power, Primordial Spirit Secret Technique, or Spatial Power, so he was rather passive, focusing on defense.

Suddenly, his Divine Sense noticed that a Martial Cultivator fighting Xie Tianhong had been frozen.

"How did he do that?"

Curious, Ye Liuyun activated his Golden Pupil and looked over.

"Boom"—distracted, he was seized upon by a Martial Cultivator who, taking the chance, struck him with a palm, sending him flying.

However, he also saw Xie Tianhong's tactics clearly.

It was to continuously release Ice Power, but to control it, not letting it erupt immediately; when the space around the opponent became saturated with this power, he would unleash it, freezing the foe.

"Damned!"

Ye Liuyun cursed under his breath and immediately rose to fight again.

At this point, Xie Tianhong also realized that Ye Liuyun's physical body was extraordinary.

The Martial Cultivator who struck Ye Liuyun was of the same realm as Ye Liuyun.

That shows that, at least within the same tier, his physical body allows him to fear no attack.

The two continued fighting while observing each other.

After dealing with the last opponent, Xie Tianhong also came over to aid Ye Liuyun.

With his help, Ye Liuyun could instantly free his hands and eliminate those Martial Cultivators one by one.

The last remaining one was the Earth Sovereign Ninth Layer Martial Cultivator wielding a shield.

"Both of you, you can't kill me, and I can't kill you; shall we call it quits here?"

The Martial Cultivator proposed at last.

Xie Tianhong was already about to cease.

"Who says we can't kill you?"

Ye Liuyun retorted, his attacks continuing.

"Keep fighting; I have a Storage Yuan Stone, I can wear him out!"

Ye Liuyun transmitted a Transmission Voice to Xie Tianhong.

Ye Liuyun discovered that the martial cultivator, even without fighting back, would consume a lot of True Essence each time he blocked attacks with his shield.

By now, he had little True Essence left.

Moreover, Ye Liuyun's Blade Intent consumes little Mysterious Origin to begin with, and with the Storage Yuan Stone in hand, he can keep consuming.

Just by draining, Ye Liuyun and his companions could drain him to death.

Then Xie Tianhong also expended all his True Essence to drain that martial cultivator, then went aside to take a pill and restore his True Essence.

Sure enough, the martial cultivator couldn't hold on much longer, dropped his shield, was struck by Ye Liuyun's blade, and his body and head were separated.

Then Ye Liuyun took out the Storage Yuan Stone, recovering while looting their belongings.

After Xie Tianhong had fully restored his True Essence, he also organized the loot they had gathered.

"We'll split the loot evenly, but I'll take this shield, and give you more of the rest."

I can still block attacks with it.

You have an ice shield, so I won't give you one!"

Ye Liuyun said to Xie Tianhong.

"Good!"

Xie Tianhong readily agreed.

Ye Liuyun became even more certain that he definitely had a better shield.

"Brother Ye's Storage Yuan Stone can completely let you deal with any opponent below the Venerable rank! You could even drain them to death!"

Xie Tianhong then immediately began praising Ye Liuyun's Storage Yuan Stone.

He felt that was one of Ye Liuyun's trump cards.

So far, Ye Liuyun's displayed strength could only be described as ordinary, not particularly outstanding.

He thought that with Ye Liuyun's True Essence quality, facing a martial cultivator of the Tian Zun Yi Chong realm would be barely manageable.

So he gradually came to believe that Ye Liuyun truly hadn't killed that Tian Zun Yi Chong realm sable.

"Ye Liuyun's strengths lie in his Blade Intent, fire, and that Storage Yuan Stone."

"His physical body and Heaven and Earth Power are only somewhat stronger."

He himself summarized.