Who Is the Hunter and Who Is the Prey

The next day.

The mighty wind howled, and the sea of clouds surged.

A streak of light interwoven with gold and black tore through the firmament at an inconceivable speed, causing fine ripples to appear in the surrounding space along its path.

Ye Xuan held Ying'er with one arm. He did not ride on any magical artifact, but simply stepped through the void.

With every step he took, the phantom of a Kunpeng flashed beneath his feet. With a slight flap of its wings, he soared ninety thousand miles into the sky.

The number one movement technique in the world, the Kunpeng's Carefree Roaming.

In his arms, Ying'er felt the sound of the wind vanish from her ears, and everything in the surrounding world turned into radiant, colorful streaks of light.

She tightly gripped Ye Xuan's robes. Though she felt an instinctive fear in her heart, looking up at her master's jawline gave her an unprecedented sense of security.

"Master, where are we going?" Ying'er asked loudly. Even at such extreme speed, her voice was protected by an invisible shield of qi, falling clearly into Ye Xuan's ears.

Ye Xuan did not answer immediately.

Deep in his eyes, a gray and white vortex of reincarnation was slowly rotating with a profound rhythm.

His gaze pierced through the layers of clouds, perceiving the obscure qi dynamics quietly restructuring between heaven and earth.

"Do you smell it, Ying'er?"

Ye Xuan spoke softly, his usually gentle voice carrying a rare, biting sharpness:

"There is the scent of blood in the wind."

Ying'er's delicate nose twitched, her face full of confusion. "The scent of blood? I don't smell it. It just smells like clouds and mist."

"It is karma, it is a killing tribulation, and it is also good fortune."

Ye Xuan tilted his head up, staring at the seemingly clear but secretly turbulent sky, a wildly arrogant curve forming at the corner of his lips. "An era of great contention is coming."

"An era of great contention?" Ying'er blinked curiously.

Ye Xuan looked down at the pure-hearted little girl in his arms and patiently explained, "This mortal realm has not seen a Heavenly Emperor for far too long."

"Heavenly Emperor?" Ying'er looked puzzled.

"That's right."

Ye Xuan rode the Kunpeng phantom, soaring at top speed as his voice echoed through the sea of clouds. "When true immortals descend upon the world, they are called Great Emperors. They could have ascended to the heavens in broad daylight, but chose to remain in the mortal realm to suppress the destiny of this world."

"And among the Great Emperors, only the absolute strongest, the one capable of crushing the current era single-handedly and dominating eternity, is qualified to be crowned the Heavenly Emperor of the mortal realm!"

Ying'er half-understood. "Isn't it better for everyone to cultivate immortality peacefully without interfering with one another? Why must they fight until their heads are broken and blood flows?"

"Because of the Heaven's Mandate."

Ye Xuan suddenly stopped.

He hovered amidst the tempestuous astral winds at an altitude of ten thousand feet and pointed at the sky:

"Look."

Ying'er followed her master's fingertip, and her pupils abruptly shrank.

Above the previously empty blue sky, countless faint dark golden threads had appeared at some point. Like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea, these golden threads were slowly flowing and converging toward the Central Divine Continent, faintly forming a brilliant heavenly river that exuded a supreme pressure that made all living beings tremble.

"That is..."

Ying'er looked astounded.

"That is the Heaven's Mandate. He who bears the Heaven's Mandate can be called the Heavenly Emperor of the mortal realm and can mobilize the power of this entire world. They become invincible in the mortal realm."

Ye Xuan's voice turned grand and solemn. "With the Heaven's Mandate upon them, a Heavenly Emperor's words become law. Even if a Great Luo Golden Immortal were to descend to the lower realm, they would be slain by the Heavenly Emperor empowered by the Heaven's Mandate!"

"Moreover, the Heavenly Emperor of the mortal realm can bear the Heaven's Mandate, allowing them to remain in the mortal realm without needing to ascend."

Ying'er was a bit confused. "Isn't ascending to become an immortal the dream of all cultivators? Why is not having to ascend a good thing?"

Hearing this, Ye Xuan chuckled, his eyes full of disdain for the upper realm. "Silly girl, better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix."

"A Heavenly Emperor of the lower realm is nothing but a newcomer when they reach the upper realm. They could easily be captured and sent to dig in immortal mines, or even caught by some mighty figures to serve as mounts or errand boys."

"No one likes the feeling of being controlled, and even fewer like falling from the clouds into the mud."

"Therefore, aside from a few true immortals wholly devoted to the Dao, most Great Emperors who cultivate to the absolute pinnacle in the mortal realm will never ascend unless their lifespans are nearing their end or they have absolutely no other choice."

Ying'er nodded in sudden realization, looking at Ye Xuan with even more admiration. "Master knows so much."

Ye Xuan looked at the converging Heaven's Mandate, the flames of ambition flickering in his eyes. "There is only one Heaven's Mandate per era. Only the strongest can bear it."

"Once borne, if the Heavenly Emperor ascends or falls, the Heaven's Mandate will scatter again, waiting to converge in the next cycle."

"The mortal realm has not seen a Great Emperor for a long time. The last one dates back to a hundred thousand years ago."

"That legendary existence is now nowhere to be found. They either ascended or perished."

Speaking of this, Ye Xuan himself felt a bit surprised and frowned slightly. "Since he was invincible in the mortal realm, how could he have fallen? There must be some great terror involved in this."

"However..." He shook his head, tossing these distracting thoughts aside. "These matters are still too far from us."

He withdrew his gaze, flicked Ying'er's forehead with his finger, and chuckled. "Where we are going is Kunwu Continent."

"There, a Sword Emperor's grand tomb is about to appear."

"A Sword Emperor's grand tomb?"

"In the current world, if one speaks of the number one sword under heaven, the first to be recommended is only one person: Ye Jiuhuang."

Ye Xuan's tone carried a hint of admiration. "But if you push time back ten thousand years, the number one sword under heaven belonged to the Peerless Sword Emperor, Ye Wushuang. With just himself and his sword, he slaughtered the foreign races so fiercely that they dared not approach our borders for a hundred thousand years."

"The sword tomb opens once every ten years, and it is a carnival for all sword cultivators in the world. If one can pass the trials, they will have a chance to obtain his supreme legacy, or even a wisp of his peerless sword intent."

Hearing this, Ying'er's small face instantly scrunched up, full of worry.

"Master, doesn't that mean you'll have to fight over things with the most formidable geniuses and monsters in the world? The personal disciples of those old monsters will definitely go too. It's simply too dangerous..."

"Kunwu Continent has realm suppressions; the old monsters cannot enter. As for those geniuses..."

Ye Xuan licked his slightly dry lips, the gray vortex deep in his eyes spinning faster and faster, his battle intent wild.

"It is precisely because geniuses will gather there that I must go. If I do not enter life-and-death killing tribulations, how can my Heavenly Scripture of Reincarnation reach perfection?"

Seeing her master looking as if he couldn't wait to draw his sword and start hacking people, Ying'er sighed helplessly. Mustering her courage, she poked Ye Xuan's chest and mercilessly poured cold water on him:

"Master, you'd better not go."

"In the past, other than living off women, you didn't know how to do anything. There, you won't have Her Majesty the Empress protecting you, nor will you have the Demon Venerable bringing you spiritual herbs. You'll be beaten to death."

"..."

The battle intent on Ye Xuan's face instantly froze.

He looked down at the deadpan Ying'er, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. This girl had only been on the run with him for a few days, but her skills at making snarky remarks were growing by the day.

"Living off women?"

Ye Xuan raised an eyebrow and pinched Ying'er's chubby cheeks with a half-smile. "Then you've severely underestimated your master."

"Today, I'll open your eyes to my unique ability to be a kept man on my own dominant terms."

As soon as his voice fell, the spiritual energy within Ye Xuan's body circulated with a boom.

"Hold on tight!"

The phantom of the Kunpeng let out a silent, long cry to the heavens, transforming into an aurora that tore through the sky, heading straight for the Kunwu Continent.

Meanwhile.

Above the astral winds of the Nine Heavens, within a luxurious temporary palace completely hidden in the void by a formation.

Wu Lingxiao sat upright on a nine-dragon golden chair, her fingertips casually playing with a jade slip. Her eyes revealed a condescending disdain: "The cultivation world is a man-eating place. Once our husband leaves our protection, his meager cultivation is not worth mentioning at all. The Soul Formation stage? In this era of great strife, he's nothing more than a slightly larger ant."

Zi Yao leaned against the window sill, staring intently at Ye Xuan's back through the Heaven-Peeking Mirror.

She stuck out her rosy tongue and licked her lips, her smile sweet yet spine-chilling: "When he has tasted all the fickleness of human nature, when he is trampled underfoot by others, and chased to a dead end... he will know who truly treats him well. He will be like a wild dog with broken legs, crying and crawling back to my feet."

Xia Lengyue sat upright on a throne to the side, holding a cup of spirit wine, her eyes gloomy: "We spoiled our husband too much in the past, allowing him to hurt us time and time again. This time, we must teach him a lesson. We must let him know what the sinister world is like, and that he is only safest when he stays by our side."

Ye Xuan's previous absolute severing of their ties was like a resounding slap in the face, ruthlessly shattering their pride.

Therefore, they wanted to turn the tables.

Since you refuse to obediently be a canary in a cage, then we will personally break your bones, leaving you to only eke out a living in our pity!

"Have the hounds been released?" Wu Lingxiao asked coldly.

"The arrangements are flawless."

Zi Yao covered her lips and chuckled lightly, a viper-like cold glint flashing in her eyes: "The top ten most evil villains on the Soul Formation wanted lists of the Great Xia Dynasty and the Righteous Path Alliance: the Blood Hand Butcher Zhao Tianming, the 'Yin-Yang Twin Fiends', and that Monk Huanxi who specializes in plucking yin to nourish yang. All of them are at the peak of the Soul Formation stage, and their methods are extremely cruel."

"The best part is..." Zi Yao dragged out her tone: "I merely had someone leak a rumor in the black market, saying that a fat sheep wearing top-grade magical treasures is passing through that wilderness with a juicy young chick. This is their spontaneous robbery and murder; it has absolutely nothing to do with us."

"Very good."

Xia Lengyue sneered, her eyes full of cruel delight: "This time, junior brother will definitely suffer heavy injuries. As for that eyesore of a cheap maid by his side..."

At the mention of Ying'er, the expressions of the three women instantly turned incredibly gloomy.

That was the person Ye Xuan was willing to give up everything to take away.

The existence of this little maid was the greatest mockery to this group of peerless prodigies.

"That little slut will be torn to pieces alive."

Zi Yao casually sentenced Ying'er to death: "Those rogue cultivators don't know how to show tender affection for women, especially if she falls into the hands of Monk Huanxi... Hehe, she will wish she were dead."

"When he falls into despair, when that little maid dies tragically in front of him, and his Dao heart collapses."

Wu Lingxiao suddenly stood up, her dragon robe fluttering, like a deity controlling the universe:

"That will be the time when we descend from the heavens like divine troops to save him."

"By then, he will completely understand—"

"Without us, he doesn't even have the right to live!"

In the empty hall, the spine-chilling sneers of the three women echoed.

Ying'er's life? It was merely a sacrifice for Ye Xuan to recognize reality.

The more tragically she died, the more Ye Xuan would experience the sense of powerlessness without their protection.

Wilderness, ancient road, yellow sand filling the sky.

The air was filled with a suffocating, chilling intent to kill.

Ye Xuan stopped in his tracks, gently set down the shivering Ying'er from his arms, and shielded her behind him.

"M-Master... what's wrong?" Ying'er tightly grasped the corner of Ye Xuan's clothes.

"Nothing, just a few greenbottle flies that came following the scent."

Ye Xuan brushed off non-existent dust from his cuffs, his expression lazy, not even lifting his eyelids.

"Jie jie jie..."

A burst of ear-piercing, strange laughter, like a night owl, swept in from all directions.

The fierce wind suddenly stopped, and four extremely terrifying auras descended like mountains, firmly locking onto Ye Xuan and his companion!

Four peak Soul Formation stage cultivators!

The leading monk wore a scarlet kasaya, his face full of fierce flesh; he was none other than the notoriously fierce "Monk Huanxi".

To his left was the Blood Hand Butcher Zhao Tianming, exuding a murderous aura all over, and to his right were the Yin-Yang Twin Fiends, with gloomy faces and ghost-like figures.

With such a lineup, even a half-step Void Refinement stage expert would only meet a tragic end on the spot!

"A mere mid Soul Formation stage?"

Zhao Tianming scanned with his divine sense and spat disdainfully: "The employer is too careful. To deal with such an embroidered pillow, they actually summoned all four of us. Boy, leave your magical treasures, and your grandpa will leave you an intact corpse!"

"Hold on! That little girl must be kept alive!"

Monk Huanxi's pair of lecherous triangular eyes were firmly fixed on Ying'er, his drool almost flowing out: "This Buddha has been stuck at the peak of the Soul Formation stage for thirty years. Such pure Golden Core primal yin is simply a heaven-sent human cauldron for breaking through!"

Ying'er was so frightened that her pretty face turned pale, tears welling up in her eyes, desperately shrinking behind Ye Xuan: "Master... they are Soul Formation stage mighty figures... let's, let's run away quickly..."

"Run?"

Monk Huanxi laughed wildly, the Buddha light around him bizarrely turning pink: "Having entered this Buddha's Ultimate Joy Formation, you still want to run? Little gentleman, if you kneel and kowtow now, strip your maid naked and offer her to this Buddha, I might show some kindness and spare your dog..."

"Noisy."

Just one word.

Extremely light, extremely faint, yet it forcefully cut off Monk Huanxi's wild laughter.

Ye Xuan slowly raised his head.

At this moment, the Ye Xuan who was gentle and fond of smiling when facing Ying'er disappeared.

Replaced by a pair of gray eyes without the slightest emotional fluctuation. It was the absolute indifference of a deity overlooking the birth and death of all things.

"This young master was just feeling bored on the journey. Since someone is rushing to deliver travel expenses, then..."

Ye Xuan slowly raised his right hand, forming his fingers into a sword.

He did not draw the Sun-Slaying Divine Sword from his back, nor did he even mobilize the massive spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

An extremely secretive ripple, yet enough to make the Heavenly Dao tremble, rippled out from his fingertips.

Flawless Dao Body!

Grand Luo Limitless Sword Qi!

"All of you, stay."

He casually swiped at the void in front of him.

This swipe was completely devoid of worldly aura.

There was no earth-shattering sword gleam, no phenomenon of tearing the sky, only a grayish, deathly silent sword mark that seemed able to devour all vitality, silently sweeping across the yellow sand.

"What is this? Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

Zhao Tianming was indeed a veteran assassin who had rolled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The moment the sword qi emerged, he wanted to burn his blood essence to escape, to sacrifice his natal magical treasure.

But, it was too slow.

In front of Ye Xuan's extremely fast sword intent that transcended the concept of time, all struggles were futile.

"Pfft. Pfft. Pfft. Pfft."

Four spine-tingling soft sounds overlapped almost at the same time.

Like a sharp blade cutting through rags.

Monk Huanxi's lecherous smile froze on his face, Zhao Tianming's terror was forever fixed, and the Yin-Yang Twin Fiends hadn't even finished forming their hand seals.

Four perfectly good heads, carrying bewilderment and despair, soared into the sky.

Boiling blood erupted like four crimson fountains, instantly dyeing the sky-filling yellow sand red.

One move.

No, it could not even be considered a single move.

It was merely a casual wave of the hand. Four peak Soul Formation demonic overlords who had run rampant across the cultivation world for centuries had their souls obliterated and their heads severed from their bodies!

Ye Xuan stepped over the pool of blood expressionlessly and swept his large sleeve.

The four headless corpses were casually blown away. With a slight curl of his finger, four storage rings and several supreme-grade magical treasures obediently flew into his palm.

So poor.

Sweeping his divine sense over the spoils, Ye Xuan curled his lips in disgust: The combined net worth of these four isn't even as much as the pocket money Zi Yao used to give me. But no matter how small a mosquito is, it's still meat. It'll do.

He put away the rings, turned around, and looked at Ying'er, who was completely petrified and had even forgotten to breathe. The coldness in his eyes instantly dissipated, replaced by a warm and lazy smile:

Let's go, Ying'er.

The wealth-delivering boys have come and gone. We can stay at an inn tonight.

M... M-Master...

Ying'er stretched out a trembling little finger, pointing at the corpses on the ground, her voice cracking: D-dead? Those were four peak Soul Formation experts!

Peak Soul Formation?

Ye Xuan casually ruffled Ying'er's hair and said carelessly:

Sometimes, this thing called cultivation realm only determines whether you dissipate a little more or a little less spiritual energy when you die.

They are just clay chickens and pottery dogs. Even if ten thousand of them came, it would still just take a single sword strike.

He once again picked up the dumbstruck Ying'er and lightly tapped his toes on the ground.

A streak of gold and black light flashed and disappeared, leaving behind only a ground full of broken corpses.

High above the nine heavens, within a hidden flying palace.

There was a deathly silence.

Crack!

The supreme-grade jade slip in Wu Lingxiao's hand was forcefully crushed into powder. The jade shards pierced her palm, but she remained completely oblivious.

Clang!

The blood-colored dagger in Xia Lengyue's hand slipped and fell, smashing onto her foot, yet she did not even blink.

Zi Yao threw herself onto the Heaven-Scrying Mirror, her beautiful and charming face currently twisted and deformed from extreme shock.

This... This is absolutely impossible!!

Wu Lingxiao suddenly stood up from the dragon throne, her chest heaving violently. The majesty of an empress was completely gone as she lost her composure and let out a low roar:

Those were four peak Soul Formation experts! They even formed the Ultimate Joy Formation! Even a half-step Void Refinement expert couldn't have done it so effortlessly!

One move! He didn't even use a magical treasure! What kind of sword intent was that? When did he cultivate this kind of sword intent behind my back?

The intense sense of impact caused the worldview of the three women to fracture.

They had always viewed Ye Xuan as a weakling who needed to be fed and protected by them. But the peerless magnificence of that sword strike just now, even through the Heaven-Scrying Mirror, made them feel a tremor deep within their souls.

He... He is actually this strong...

Xia Lengyue muttered to herself, the shock in her eyes gradually fading, replaced by an even more twisted, fanatical, and morbid obsession:

The way he kills is so beautiful... So Junior Brother has been lying to us all along? He doesn't need us at all?

No! That's absolutely not right!

Zi Yao took two steps back with a pale face. She could not accept that things were slipping out of her control, and her brain frantically began to look for excuses:

Looking at his spiritual energy fluctuations, he is indeed only at the mid-Soul Formation stage! For him to kill in one strike, he must have used some kind of forbidden secret art that burns his lifespan, or that sword qi itself was a trump card he had sealed inside his body in advance!

Right! Those four idiots underestimated their enemy too much. They didn't even activate their protective true qi, which is why he was able to exploit an opening!

As if grabbing onto a lifesaver, the atmosphere in the grand hall suddenly relaxed.

Wu Lingxiao took a deep breath and sat back down on the dragon throne. Forcefully suppressing the palpitations in her heart, she restored her cold and arrogant demeanor:

Zi Yao is right. He merely relied on some kind of consumable trump card to succeed in a sneak attack.

Combat experience is ultimately his weakness. Xia Lengyue also desperately tried to convince herself: What kind of skill is it to kill a few rogue cultivators who haven't seen the world? In his bones, he is still that junior brother who needs to be protected.

Zi Yao smoothed her messy hair at her temples and sneered repeatedly:

It looks like he is planning to go to the Sword Emperor's Tomb in Kunwu Continent. That place isn't some barren mountain wilderness; it gathers the peerless monsters nurtured by major immortal holy lands and ancient aristocratic families who have poured in countless resources!

Which of those heaven's chosen doesn't have supreme-grade magical artifacts for protection? Which of them doesn't have top-tier Dao Protectors? Which of them didn't carve their way out by stepping on mountains of corpses and seas of blood?

Just let him go.

Wu Lingxiao closed her eyes, and a cruel arc once again curled up at the corners of her mouth:

Does he really think that relying on a single forbidden sword qi will allow him to compete with the heroes of the world? He truly overestimates his own capabilities.

When he bumps his head and bleeds at the Sword Emperor's Tomb, when his spine is broken by those true peerless geniuses and he is trampled under their feet...

We will then descend in the posture of saviors.

The three women quickly completed a perfect logical loop and firmly believed in their own deductions without a doubt.

They absolutely refused to admit that Ye Xuan was already a true dragon who had broken free from his shackles.

They were like gamblers who had gambled away their senses, firmly believing that Ye Xuan would definitely lose miserably in the next round, and that he would definitely come crying back to beg them.

Set sail, to Kunwu Continent.

Wu Lingxiao gave the order.

The void flying palace transformed into a streak of drifting cloud, tailing distantly and greedily behind Ye Xuan.

They were waiting.

Waiting for the moment when that youth named Ye Xuan truly fell into the abyss.