Sword Sovereign of the Celestial Emperor

"Let's leave here first!"

Chu Ming's spiritual sense moved slightly, and he gently said to Feng Yuyan.

"Alright."

Feng Yuyan nodded, and the two turned and continued to fly towards the other end of the palace. Just after they left, a middle-aged man in a blue robe flew into the hall.

His eyebrows were thick, his long hair draped over his shoulders, and there was a faint thunder jumping in his closed eyes. The blue robe gave him an imposing look.

"This is… Zhang Hong?"

His gaze fell on the corpse on the ground, and the face of the middle-aged man in the blue robe frowned slightly, revealing disbelief.

He had seen Zhang Hong in action before and knew he had many trump cards. According to his estimation, even though he was stronger than Zhang Hong, the gap wasn't significant. Moreover, Zhang Hong was not considered weak among those who entered the Ancient Battlefield. Even if he couldn't win a fight, escaping shouldn't be a problem. He couldn't understand who exactly killed Zhang Hong.

"Was it the Six Giants? Or the Netherworld Demon Tiger? Or the Double-tailed Iron Armor Dragon?"

The blue-robed middle-aged man mused in his heart, then shook his head and turned to leave the hall. Although the Ancient Battlefield was full of dangers, it was also rich with opportunities. He couldn't waste time here.

...

"These are Xu Ning and their rings!"

Feng Yuyan took out more than a dozen Storage Rings from her pocket, some of which were still stained with blood.

Chu Ming grabbed the Storage Rings in his hand. After scanning with his spiritual sense, a small pile of green crystals, crystal clear and lovable, appeared in front of him with a flash of light.

They were Soul Crystals!

"So many!"

Feng Yuyan's mouth slightly opened, her eyes filled with shock. That small pile of Soul Crystals numbered over twenty.

"These probably don't belong only to Zhang Hong and Xu Ning."

Chu Ming pondered. With Zhang Hong's methods and strength, even if he and Xu Ning joined forces, it was impossible for them not to take action against others.

There were twenty-four Soul Crystals on the ground, plus the ones on the two of them, making a total of thirty. In these Storage Rings, they found over five million Upper Grade Spirit Stones, and as for Middle Grade Spirit Stones, there were even more.

However, to Chu Ming and Feng Yuyan's disappointment, they didn't find Low Tier Secrets Martial Arts in Xu Ning and Zhang Hong's Storage Rings. After all, Xu Ning and Zhang Hong originally knew Low Tier Secrets Martial Arts.

Buzz!

A flash of light appeared in Chu Ming's right hand, and a thin earth-yellow book appeared. The book was very thin, roughly twenty pages, with three large characters written on the first page—Earth Spirit Technique.

Feng Yuyan's gaze shifted, a trace of fervor flashed through her eyes. She knew the cunning power of the Earth Spirit Technique; when caught off guard, the Earth Spirit Technique was enough to turn the tables.

"I'll keep these things first. We'll share them when we get out."

Chu Ming put everything away and gently spoke to Feng Yuyan.

"Alright!"

Feng Yuyan nodded, and the two continued forward. The dark passage began to brighten. Chu Ming secretly guessed that this palace was likely underground. The mountain they saw earlier was only seven or eight hundred meters in diameter, but the distance they had walked now had far exceeded that range.

After walking a few steps, they came across the corpse of a black monkey. Its death was extremely tragic, with its entire head smashed by brute force and the Soul Crystal within long gone.

"It should have been killed by the Golden Feather Demon Eagle or the Ice and Fire Two-headed Demon Wolf."

Chu Ming silently thought. Among the people and beasts that entered the Ancient Battlefield, there weren't many who had the strength to kill the black monkey.

Bang!

Suddenly, a violent wave of air swept through the passage, followed by a white light wave spreading through the passage.

"Be careful!!"

Chu Ming shouted to Feng Yuyan behind him, while the spiritual power inside his body surged out, forming a red Glazed Armor on his body, shielding them both.

Buzz! Buzz!

Crack!

Against the white light wave, the red Glazed Armor trembled slightly, then slowly fissures like a spiderweb climbed its surface, and the red Glazed Armor shattered.

Puff, puff, puff...

Chu Ming's white robe was torn to shreds, and the force field on his skin's surface resisted the terrifying light wave from entering his body.

Lines of blood marks appeared on Chu Ming's skin, but they healed instantly. The abundant Desolate Power within Chu Ming gave him strong regenerative abilities.

With Chu Ming's resistance, Feng Yuyan behind him wasn't severely injured. Otherwise, given Feng Yuyan's physical strength, she would have been gravely wounded if not dead by the white light wave.

"What happened?"

Chu Ming popped some Healing Elixirs into his mouth and looked cautiously towards the other end of the passage.

Bang!

Suddenly, the entire palace started to tremble slightly. Faintly, roars came from the far end, and rubble fell from the ceiling.

"What should we do?"

Feng Yuyan looked at Chu Ming, waiting for him to make a decision.

Chu Ming frowned deeply. Considering safety, it was best to leave, but for some reason, the slaughter sword within his Sea of Souls started to tremble slightly.

"Stay here, I'll check ahead."

Chu Ming made up his mind and instructed Feng Yuyan. If he was alone, he could retreat quickly if there was danger, but with Feng Yuyan, the difficulty increased significantly.

"Be careful."

Feng Yuyan understood this rationale and reminded Chu Ming.

"Got it!"

Chu Ming nodded, his body transforming into a stream of light that flew towards the direction of the roars. After three to four hundred meters, he heard a constant rumbling mixed with countless roars.

"Run! This Demon Puppet is not something we can handle!!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Amidst the yelling and cursing, Chu Ming saw a spacious hall where over thirty martial artists and a dozen demon beasts were besieging a middle-aged man in a black robe.

The middle-aged man's face was pale without a trace of blood, his lips were dry, his body full of lifeless energy, and his eyes had no focus. He kept growling out in anger.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Chu Ming frowned. This middle-aged man was odd, having no spiritual power or vitality inside him, yet his swordsmanship was effortless and skillful, indicating his mastery of Sword Dao.

At this moment, the slaughter sword intent within Chu Ming's Sea of Souls seemed to want to burst out, pointing directly at the ancient bronze box behind the middle-aged man.

"How pitiful! A Human Warrior, unable to rest even in death."

In Chu Ming's Dantian, the remnant soul of the Ancient Sword Emperor appeared. Looking at the black-robed middle-aged man, his eyes moist with a trace of sorrow.