Chapter 248: Shattering the Egg Yolk

This was a contest of pure strength.

There were no tricks or shortcuts.

Xu Chen also knew this was the only chance to subdue the Divine Stele and keep the Blue Light Treasure Bottle, so he threw his heart and soul into the Demon Refining Art, driving the technique to run frantically with all his might.

With the combined efforts of the three forces—the Treasure Bottle, Xu Chen, and the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus, who loved and killed each other—a dangerous crisis was finally slowly turned around.

As time slowly passed, the Heaven-Suppressing Divine Stele, which had faded until only a faint shadow remained, was finally pulled out bit by bit from the pitch-black Void Fault, and while becoming increasingly clear, it was also slowly dragged back into the blue starlight vortex.

This time was not long, no more than a quarter of an hour in total.

But for both Xu Chen and the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus, it felt like years.

Although Xu Chen was not in any pain, his mind was so tense it felt like it was about to explode.

This was the greatest crisis he had felt since obtaining the Blue Jade Bead; if he failed, he would completely lose this Immortal Treasure and might even lose his life here.

The Mysterious Water Nether Lotus, meanwhile, had to endure the refining and torture of the Demon Refining Art while simultaneously helping to entangle and subdue the Divine Stele.

It was like cutting off one's own flesh to help an enemy who had locked one in a cell and tortured one daily.

And this was something she was willing to do.

Yet she had no other choice; in order to survive, even a peerless Demon Lord who had once roamed the nine heavens and dominated the world could only silently endure and bear it for now.

As for the Old Witch Master and Tu Jiu, who were still staying on the other side of the fault, they were already completely numb.

They were like two bystanders watching the excitement, able only to wait silently, helpless.

"Boom—"

At a certain moment, Xu Chen, who was running the Demon Refining Art with all his might, felt an earth-shattering roar within his Sea of Consciousness.

Amidst the flashing blue light, the Blue Light Treasure Bottle returned to his Sea of Consciousness.

And his Soul suddenly connected clearly with his Divine Sense.

He saw a primitive, somewhat dilapidated stone stele descend from the sky and slam onto the foundation of the Blue Light Treasure Bottle's seal, and an incomparable ancient aura flooded his Divine Sense like a tide.

In an instant, Xu Chen felt himself become ethereal, neither touching the sky nor the earth, as if floating in an incomparably illusory world, unable to feel time or space, unable to feel joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, completely like a cold consciousness without any sensation.

He knew who he was.

But he was no different from a stone.

He even felt as if he were constantly weathering away, disintegrating within this ancient and desolate aura, until the entire world seemed to be disappearing along with him, followed by the appearance of rosy clouds and mist and flickering blue stars.

At this moment, inside the Treasure Bottle, a large amount of blue starlight came from all directions, like a nebular tide, densely gathering and merging into the stone stele.

Accompanied by the integration of this starlight, Xu Chen felt as if he had experienced the evolution of the world from the beginning, from nothing to something, until at a certain moment, he was suddenly awakened by a thunderous sound and discovered that he was spinning and tumbling frantically.

Just now, while he was trapped in the brief hallucination under the shroud of the Divine Stele's aura, the illusory Shell Light was heavily struck by a black light, and the whole thing was knocked flying, tumbling deep into the pitch-black and profound Void Fault.

"Oh no!"

Xu Chen's soul consciousness instantly cleared, and he hurriedly opened the Shell and flapped it violently, trying to stabilize his figure, but it was impossible; the Shell's teleportation speed in this Void Fault was like a snail, moving no more than a few feet at a time.

While tumbling, a hair-raising terror suddenly struck again, and he saw several black lights like hallucinations crisscrossing through the void.

Just as Xu Chen was preparing to close the Shell and accept this unprecedented series of impacts, a cold voice suddenly rang out in his mind: "Don't move, if you move randomly, we will all die here!"

Almost at the same time the voice sounded, an eerie black lotus emerged from behind Xu Chen, its vines like giant pythons coiling and rolling, carrying the Shell toward the opposite side of the cliff.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Streaks of black light swept over with incomparable killing intent, and the roots and vines of the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus dancing all over the sky were broken and shattered inch by inch.

Xu Chen could do nothing at this time, only hearing low groans of pain ringing in his mind from time to time.

As the vines became fewer and the aura grew weaker, when they were still a yard away from the edge of the fault, the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus had already shattered until only an illusory black shadow remained; finally, the shadow dissipated, and a sigh rang out: "I can't hold on, you'll have to fight for your life yourself!"

Xu Chen gritted his teeth, and while opening the Shell, he executed the Cloud Flow Step, throwing himself toward the cliff with all his might.

However, this leap was like crossing a natural chasm; his hand slipped less than three feet from the edge, and he fell toward the endless pitch-black abyss.

"Benefactor!"

Accompanied by a faint roar, Xu Chen saw a golden hand pierce through the void while he was tumbling.

And the moment the golden hand appeared, several black light shadows swept over with terrifying killing intent.

"Boom—"

A cyan mountain shadow appeared just in time, blocking the black lights, but the confrontation lasted only for a brief instant before the mountain shadow shattered violently, ground into powder by the black lights.

And in that less-than-a-breath of time gained, the golden hand grabbed Xu Chen and pulled him out of the Void Fault.

"Crack—"

The golden hand was swept by a black light at the edge of the cliff, and most of the palm shattered.

Tu Jiu groaned in pain, his face pale as he retreated and crashed into a giant rock.

The Shell shadow behind Xu Chen also completely collapsed and dissipated under this attack.

However, using the momentum of this impact, Xu Chen finally escaped the Void Fault, tumbled a few times on the ground, and was dragged to a safe area by the Old Witch Master.

"Benefactor, are you alright?" The Old Witch Master was full of surprise and excitement.

"I'm fine!" Xu Chen spat out a few mouthfuls of blood, sat up with a pale face, waved his hand, sat cross-legged, and while looking inside the Blue Light Jade Bottle, transmitted his voice: "Demon Lord Youtong, are you alright?"

"Rest assured, I'm not dead yet, you don't need to be so nervous!" A weak voice rang out.

"Then where are you now?" Xu Chen scanned the entire Blue Light Treasure Bottle with his Divine Sense, but couldn't see the shadow of the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus, so he couldn't help but ask.

"I am in this egg in the Ghost Soul Water pool."

Xu Chen was shocked, his Divine Sense surged toward the water pit like a tide, and looking at the bat Soul Beast egg floating within, he roared in shock and anger: "You... why did you go in without my permission?"

Demon Lord Youtong was clearly stunned for a moment, remained silent for a while, and then snorted coldly: "To save you, the Nether Soul Flower that housed my demon soul completely collapsed, and now only a last trace of my remnant soul remains. This egg just happens to be a temporary place for me to cultivate my demon soul and be reborn. Just now I thought you were still a man, why have you suddenly become so stingy? This egg is just a blood egg born from the mutation of a lowest-level Nether Beast, so what if I use it? If you don't agree, I can kill you and then use it."

"No... you... sigh..."

Xu Chen was incoherent, knowing he couldn't explain it clearly, and he was a bit afraid to explain, so he finally sighed dejectedly: "Forget it, as long as you like it, I hope you won't regret it!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, it's just that this egg is not as simple as you think. How much longer until you are reborn?" Xu Chen didn't want to cause more trouble, so he hurriedly changed the subject.

"Hmph, if you can provide me with enough Soul Beads from Nether Beasts, I will be able to come out very soon. Right now, my demonic soul is too weak, and I dare not appear outside directly; otherwise, I fear I might attract powerful enemies, and you would be implicated as well," Youtong the Demon Lord snorted coldly.

Xu Chen said, "I do indeed have quite a few Nether Beast Soul Beads on hand, but how can I get them inside?"

Youtong the Demon Lord was silent for a long time before saying, "It is truly a miracle that someone as stupid as you has managed to survive until now."

Xu Chen:...

"This bottle of yours has a mysterious origin; it can even contain the Zhentian Stele, so what else can it not contain? You brought this egg in, so naturally, you can bring the Soul Beads in the same way. If you cannot even handle such a small matter, I should reconsider my previous promises."

Xu Chen thought for a moment and said, "Do you think you can kill me right now?"

Youtong the Demon Lord said, "What do you think?"

"I think it would be safer to kill you right now."

"Haha, do you think you can kill me?"

"Perhaps, maybe I can't kill you, but I can shake the yolk until it breaks!"

Youtong the Demon Lord:...

"Alright, considering you just saved me, I won't be so heartless, but you had better not harbor any ideas of killing me. After all, you dare not go out right now, and I still need your help to find a way to leave Minghuang. Only by helping each other can we both survive," Xu Chen decided to soften his stance.

After all, whether in terms of experience, strength, or the fact that Youtong the Demon Lord had just helped him subdue the Zhentian Stele and escape the Void Fault, she had already exhausted all her power, even destroying her own physical body.

Therefore, Xu Chen also felt that if he were to burn bridges and discard her after crossing the river, it would be very dishonorable.

Most importantly, as Youtong the Demon Lord had said, he currently had no certainty that he could kill her.

He did not yet know what level a Demon Lord was, but judging by the fact that she had lived in the Taiyuan Sect for at least three thousand years, she must be a super powerhouse surpassing the True Immortal level. Such an immortal monster, even if only a wisp of her remnant soul remained, was not something he, a piece of trash in the Zhenyuan Realm, could contend with at the moment.

Youtong the Demon Lord also seemed to know that there was no benefit in falling out with Xu Chen right now, so she was silent for a moment and snorted coldly, "Consider yourself sensible. Think of a way to get the Soul Beads in as soon as possible, the more the better. Once I use this blood egg to resurrect, I can take you to that place!"

"Fine!"

Xu Chen agreed, and his Divine Sense withdrew from his Sea of Consciousness.

(End of chapter)