Chapter 534: Chapter 178 Do you know who you are talking to?

Outside the Deceiving Heaven Ancient Array, the green grass was like a carpet, and amidst the gentle breeze, there was also a faint scent of wildflowers.

A soaring Spiritual Sparrow passed through the void; suddenly, it seemed to sense an unknown gaze, circled in the void, and then flew back.

The Secondary Main Peak of 15294 still maintained its spiritual beauty—with lush green grass and leaves as pure as jade, everything seemed very peaceful.

Inside the Deceiving Heaven Ancient Array, however, it still remained vast and desolately empty. The ancient array isolated the outside world as if there were no connections at all.

Sect Master Hou Yan was slowly explaining his analysis of the Heavenly Destiny plan, which caused Zhou Yan’s heart to shudder somewhat.

He looked at the outside, at the scenery so perfect it nearly seemed unreal, and suddenly felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet. He couldn’t help but shiver, just like the moment when, after igniting his Emperor Qi and feeling hot all over, he would jump into a cave of cold ice.

He stood there, his mind inexplicably much clearer, so much so that he began to doubt the authenticity of everything Sect Master Hou Yan had previously said.

There are many kinds of lies and deceptions.

But Zhou Yan knew this could not be lies or deception.

Zhou Yan paused for a moment, then regained his senses, and said to Sect Master Hou Yan, “Even if the path is fraught with hardships, there is still a path to follow. From the beginning until now, this path has never been easy.

At the beginning, I indeed had the mind to blame others, but now I think that it is only because of my own lack of ability, blaming others is pointless and doesn’t change the facts.

As for that extraordinary woman, if the matter of Chen Tianjian is true, then didn’t Chen Tianjian’s talent fail to be fully stimulated? The so-called ‘Life and Death Illusion Realm’ he went through, that should be the ‘Netherworld Life and Death Illusion Realm,’ right?”

Zhou Yan reflected, many things he still didn’t understand, still confused, but the main points, he already understood in his heart.

“Yes, initially about the Matter of the Netherworld Life and Death Illusion Realm, we indeed planned to hide it from you. Of course, involving the matters of Lei Yan King, we couldn’t possibly speak either—it’s taboo. You know, in this world, many cultivators actually aren’t afraid of death. For many of the world’s cultivators, death is actually a kind of release—if they really try their best and can only die, no cultivator would fear it. But some matters are far more frightening than death.

Lei Yan King is a taboo, not just a simple death penalty. We don’t have the qualification or the ability to judge his matters. I am only a minor character in this regard,” Sect Master Hou Yan said pensively.

Speaking, he thought for a moment, then added, “Also because of these reasons, Chen Tianjian, aka Hou Tianjian, the fact that his soul strayed into the Life and Death Illusion Realm was referred to as ‘Life and Death Illusion Realm,’ which is just an alternative term. In reality, it’s the world of the Netherworld Life and Death Illusion Realm.

Hou Tianjian’s ability is that his soul can leave his body and train in the Netherworld Life and Death Illusion Realm. His power isn’t weak because he lacks talent but because his soul has always been in the Netherworld Life and Death Illusion Realm. Currently, he is just a void avatar guarding inside the body; naturally, his strength is very weak.”

Sect Master Hou Yan’s explanation confirmed Zhou Yan’s speculations.

That is to say, the identity of the extraordinary woman was finally determined—it was Mu Qingyan, the Netherworld Goddess from the Netherworld Life and Death Illusion Realm—the Mu Qingyan claimed to be an extraordinary woman of the Ten Thousand Realms.

But, had he ever been involved with this woman? Was he ever familiar with her, enough to love her?

Moreover, considering he had schemed against the Netherworld Palace Master, according to the Nine Souls Envoy of Jiu Que from the Netherworld Nine Soul Envoys, the daughter of the Netherworld Palace Master, claimed to be the smartest and most capable person between heaven and earth, would definitely not treat him kindly.

Zhou Yan knew he had a great attraction to women, but this type of attraction could not genuinely attract a real sage. How could such an extraordinarily talented woman, far surpassing his own, give him a chance to interact?

Regarding the difficulty of this matter, Zhou Yan knew without much thought that it was probably more important and more challenging than retrieving the Life Soul of the Holy Daughter.

Zhou Yan remained silent.

Outside the Deceiving Heaven Ancient Array, the scenery was so beautiful that Zhou Yan had never realized that his Secondary Main Peak could actually be so splendid.

Sect Master Hou Yan looked at Zhou Yan and paced back and forth. After a while, he helplessly and despondently said, “The other matter concerns Qiankun Young Master Hou Chen. As you know, he fled the Sect, caused a huge mess, and even killed some geniuses from the Emperor Sword Lineage and Qiankun Lineage. He even caused catastrophic trouble in the Outer Domain… Now, for the sake of the entire Sect, I can only put aside the situation for now considering the bigger picture. I do feel powerless, brother, as the bloodline of our ancestor cannot allow the Sect to perish because of his mistakes. Thankfully, he’s under your care now and that reassures me a lot…

There’s another matter that is somewhat connected to this—Sect Master Hou Ting of the Qiankun Lineage, Elder Hou Wanxiao, and Caiqing Immortal from are here. However, it seems they have noticed something about Zhou Lingyi and now might act against Hou Ling. You should discuss this matter with them.”

“That’s fine, Brother Hou, invite them in. I’ll be in here for a while; you all rest in the great hall for a moment, and later, we can have a good drink.”

“Well… alright.”

Hou Yan forced a smile, hesitated, but still firmly patted Zhou Yan on the shoulder as an encouragement, before leaving solemnly with Elder Wan Xiao.

As they left, Elder Wan Xiao respectfully bowed to Zhou Yan. Clearly, due to past incidents and his current inability to protect Hou Chen, he felt some self-reproach and remorse.

Zhou Yan understood this but didn’t say much. After all, everyone had their helplessness in past events, and he preferred not to hold onto these. People should always look forward. As for the current events, Zhou Yan had the foresight to know that troublesome Hou Chen, even daring to urinate in the Evil King’s secret realm, indeed caused a huge mess leading to him being hated; as a Master, he inevitably had to clean up his disciple’s mess.

Zhou Yan was very calm. He recounted his entire journey of cultivation up till now. The past was all clear in his mind. All the doubts gradually unveiled just the tip of the iceberg: the Netherworld Goddess, the fate and grudges, the Holy Daughter’s Life Soul, Feng Lingqing’s child, relatives in the Heavenly Punishment Forest, among others, were all surfacing and no longer blurry.

Furthermore, because he had reached the pinnacle of the Sword Void Fifth Transformation without having a Void Body, the Emperor Qi Sword Body, Twelve Forms Intent Sword Souls, and Sword Spirit, he could now manifest like a Void Body. With further cultivation, his abilities were bound to be exceptional and further improved.

However, all this would need to wait until after the Holy Daughter’s marriage event settled down; he was about to face artifact refining and alchemy great competitions. Regardless, marrying the Holy Daughter was a vow of this lifetime, and he would honor it openly, making the Yaochi Saint willingly accept the Holy Daughter.

…

“Zhou Xuanzhe, hello. I am Sect Master Hou Ting of the Emperor Sword Qiankun Lineage. I came to discuss the matters regarding Qiankun Young Master Hou Ling and Emperor Sword Young Master Hou Chen. Hou Ling’s Residual Soul has been suppressed, or even destroyed, by Zhou Lingyi, and your disciple Hou Chen went against the heavens by devouring the Emperor Blood prematurely. I believe you are aware of this. Now, Hou Chen is with you, and I hope you’ll hand the brat over to us and stay out of this matter.”

Hou Ting was a lean young man dressed in a blue feathered robe, which seemed very extravagant; however, his temperament was somewhat unique, with his mustache corners making him appear somewhat challenging.

His tone was a bit arrogant as if lowering his status to talk to Zhou Yan was already giving Zhou Yan a lot of face. Thus, his tone was somewhat condescending.

Zhou Yan glanced at Hou Ting, and with a slight frown, said, “Since you’ve brought up the matter of Hou Ling, I won’t shy away from it. However, I’m sorry; as for handing him over, I won’t agree. Qiankun Young Master is a person, but does that mean Zhou Family’s Zhou Lingyi should die? As for the Emperor Blood, my disciple absorbed it, so it belongs to him, anyone who tries to take it is my enemy.”

Zhou Yan felt Hou Ting’s discourtesy, so he reciprocated fully.

“What a joke, a native ant dares to compare with a Heavenly Girl reborn in a second life? I think Zhou Yan, you’ve become muddled in your cultivation. There’s nothing debatable about Hou Ling’s matter. I’m telling you this because I respect Sect Master Hou Yan. As for you, don’t think that winning a competition makes you all that. To us, you’re still not a genius strictly speaking. I, Hou Ting, have killed no less than 8,000. An enemy? Are you even worthy?!”

Hou Ting spoke with unmatched arrogance.

By his side, Elder Hou Xianxian inexplicably tugged at his robe, causing his body to tremble slightly, seemingly having realized something, and he softened his tone, “As for this matter, don’t worry. Regarding the Emperor Blood, we just need to extract some bloodline from Hou Chen and use the Returning to the Origin technique to recover about 40% of the qi and blood. After all, he hasn’t perfected his refinement and it hasn’t been long since he ingested about 60%, we take 40%, this would be compensation for our lineage. As for the matter between Hou Ling and Zhou Lingyi, as long as she willingly accepts the Memory Inheritance of Hou Ling’s other part, our relationship wouldn’t necessarily be hostile. By then, during your marriage with the Holy Daughter, our Emperor Sword Lineage could also support you publicly. How about that? I’ve given you a lot of face, haven’t I?”

Hou Ting said with hands behind his back and an arrogant tone.

“Oh? You can leave now.”

Zhou Yan’s face darkened as he spoke coldly.

“Hmm?” Hou Ting raised his eyebrows, his mustache bristling and his eyes glaring as he angrily said, “Brat, what did you say? Do you know who you are speaking to?!”

(Note: Family conflicts have been intense these past few days; sorry everyone. Updates will resume normally from tomorrow, I owe a lot, Can Jian will try his best to make up for it.)