Chapter 24: Brutally Beating Zhu Yan, Inheritance Obtained, the Desolate Heavenly Emperor Arrives!

Huo Ling'er curled her body up under the Hidden Spirit Veil. Perhaps out of fear, she subconsciously hugged the "Zhu Chen" in her arms, gripping him tightly with both hands.

Zhu Chen could clearly feel a firm sense of pressure.

It wasn't large, but it was quite bouncy!

He hadn't expected that this girl, who looked so thin, would actually be quite well-endowed.

"Zhu Chen, what should we do now? This Zhu Yan's cultivation has already reached the Venerable Realm..."

Huo Ling'er murmured softly, her grip on Zhu Chen inadvertently tightening a bit more.

She had always been protected by her Imperial Father; even when she went out to play, a group of experts from the Fire Kingdom would accompany her or protect her from the shadows. She had never encountered a situation as isolated and helpless as this.

Now, the only person she could rely on was the Zhu Chen beside her.

"Don't be afraid. Look closely at this Zhu Yan; it is already heavily injured. Its strength is likely less than ten percent of what it used to be," Zhu Chen said.

Hearing this, Huo Ling'er steadied her mind and began to carefully observe the Zhu Yan through the Hidden Spirit Veil.

The surface of the Zhu Yan's body was covered in dense, crisscrossing cracks. Although the blood plasma near the wounds had already coagulated, it still looked gruesome.

This Zhu Yan was truly injured.

And very seriously at that.

Furthermore, Huo Ling'er noticed that the Zhu Yan's aura flickered intermittently, as if it might dissipate at any moment—a sign that its Dao Body was on the verge of collapse.

Seeing this, Huo Ling'er breathed a slight sigh of relief.

However, she did not dare to target the Zhu Yan.

Because a Supreme Being with such cultivation, even when heavily wounded, was still not something the two of them could provoke.

"It's too dangerous here. We should leave as quickly as possible before that Zhu Yan notices us," Huo Ling'er whispered to herself, already beginning to move her petite and exquisite body, cautiously retreating backward.

Zhu Chen quickly stopped her. "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Look closely at what that Zhu Yan is doing right now."

Prompted by Zhu Chen, Huo Ling'er suddenly realized that ever since the Zhu Yan had arrived, it had been squatting at the bottom of the great lake, waving its arms and constantly stirring the mud below, looking as if it were burying something.

"Could this fellow be hiding that exotic treasure?"

Huo Ling'er thought pensively, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes.

A few days ago, an exotic treasure had appeared in the Cangmang Mountains, attracting a large number of Primordial Ferocious Beasts. Now, this Zhu Yan, having fled here covered in wounds with a Venerable Realm cultivation, was hurrying to bury a precious object in the lake mud. It was possible that this fellow had snatched that mountain treasure.

"Eh?"

Just then, the Zhu Yan seemed to sense something, and its bell-like eyes suddenly glared over.

"Where did these rats come from, hiding like cowards? Get out here..."

The moment its voice fell, the creature's legs lunged forward with force. Its massive body abruptly rose from the ground, divine light appearing on its right arm as it threw a punch toward Zhu Chen and Huo Ling'er's hiding place.

"Oh no, it found us!"

Without a word, Huo Ling'er stood up and bolted.

Facing such an enemy, she couldn't even muster the thought of fighting back.

However, the moment Huo Ling'er turned around...

Zhu Chen unhesitatingly withdrew his transformation technique, returning to his original appearance.

Then, the two great Divine Ring Grotto-Heavens manifested behind him. A Primordial Spirit, wreathed in blood qi, stepped out from one of the Grotto-Heavens and instantly merged with his main body.

With a flap of his wings, his body turned into a streak of light and charged toward the Zhu Yan.

"Vermilion Bird Treasure Technique, Third Strike: Sky Splitter!"

"—BOOM!"

A man and an ape collided violently in mid-air, erupting with a powerful shockwave.

Zhu Chen's figure was as tiny as an ant before the Zhu Yan's Dharma Body, but at the moment of impact, a massive Primordial Vermilion Bird appeared behind him, opening its mouth to let out an earth-shattering phoenix cry toward the Zhu Yan.

"Primordial Vermilion Bird Treasure Technique?"

The Zhu Yan's expression changed drastically.

Although the vermilion bird before its eyes was merely a phantom condensed from spiritual energy, the pressure it exerted was even stronger than the vermilion bird it had fought previously.

Fortunately, this kid's cultivation was only at the Grotto-Heaven Realm, making it impossible for him to fully unleash the power of that treasure technique.

Otherwise, the heavily injured creature would definitely have fallen here.

"Kid, if your cultivation were just a little stronger, I might have actually tripped up today, but unfortunately..."

Before it could finish, the expression on the Zhu Yan's face froze.

Because the moment it swung its fist to shake off the vermilion bird phantom, a terrifying force transmitted directly from the boy opposite it.

How could this kid's physical strength be so terrifying?

Wasn't he a human?

Before it could think further, the Zhu Yan's body was blasted through the air by a massive force, crashing heavily onto a desolate mountain thousands of meters away, smashing a huge crater into the mountain.

"Dammit..."

The Zhu Yan pushed aside the massive boulders pressing down on it, attempting to stand up again, but its nearly shattered Dao Body had reached its limit.

With an unwilling roar, its mountain-like body dissolved into specks of crystalline light.

"My goodness!"

"Zhu Chen, you actually defeated that Zhu Yan with only Grotto-Heaven Realm cultivation?"

Huo Ling'er stood on the ground, completely stunned.

Although that Zhu Yan was heavily injured, its Dao Body was on the verge of collapse, and its cultivation had plummeted, an ordinary Inscription Realm cultivator would still find it difficult to resist.

Yet Zhu Chen, with only Grotto-Heaven Realm cultivation, was actually able to blast it away with a single strike.

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it even in her dreams.

"Don't just stand there like a fool, go check that mud pit..."

After landing, Zhu Chen called out to Huo Ling'er and immediately rushed toward the lake mud.

Huo Ling'er quickly followed close behind.

The two searched the mud pit for a while and soon found the object the Zhu Yan had hurriedly buried.

It was a box crafted from celestial bone.

The bone box was wreathed in precious light, emitting waves of immortal aura; one look was enough to know it was no ordinary item.

"Is this the exotic treasure my father spoke of?"

Huo Ling'er looked at the bone box curiously, her eyes filled with both excitement and anticipation.

"The material of this bone box is extraordinary. There must be some powerful inheritance inside. With our current strength, we cannot open it yet," Zhu Chen said calmly as he put the box away and looked at Huo Ling'er.

Back then, it took Shi Hao using six different treasure techniques at the Supreme Realm to open this thing, which showed how difficult it was to unlock.

If they wanted to open this inheritance, there were only two ways.

Either find someone incredibly powerful to help, or wait until their own cultivation increased in the future.

However, Zhu Chen leaned more toward the former.

As the saying goes, "good goods shouldn't be kept overnight." When you get something good, you should open and use it while it's hot; there's no sense in waiting.

It was just like dating—if you can get into bed, do it as early as possible.

Otherwise, you might accidentally get beaten to the punch.

Unless, of course, you like eating leftovers.

"Then let's hurry back and find my father. He is at the peak of the Venerable Realm; he can definitely open this bone box," Huo Ling'er suggested expectantly.

Zhu Chen shook his head with a smile. "Though my father-in-law's cultivation is high, even he won't be able to open this."

"Huh? Even my father can't?"

Huo Ling'er murmured in surprise, only realizing a moment later what Zhu Chen had called her father. Her exquisite little face instantly turned bright red.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Who is your father-in-law?"

"Haha, you've already run away with me? Aren't you my wife now?"

"Stop talking nonsense! I... I'm just out playing with you. If you keep this up, I won't talk to you anymore..."

Flushed with embarrassment, Huo Ling'er simply turned her back to him.

It was at that moment that she suddenly noticed a golden light shimmering faintly beneath the desolate mountain that had been collapsed by the Zhu Yan earlier.

"It's the Zhu Yan! That fellow actually underwent Nirvana!"

Huo Ling'er was startled and ran over excitedly.

"It's just a monkey with a collapsed body, what's the big deal?"

Zhu Chen shrugged, preparing to follow.

But just then...

A loud bird cry suddenly echoed from the distant valley.

He looked up.

He saw a large azure bird racing rapidly toward them.

And on the back of that large bird sat a hairy kid wearing animal skins!

...

(End of Chapter)