?54: Chapter 54 The Game Begins 54: Chapter 54 The Game Begins “Hmph!”

    Ye Xuan sneered, “Although I don’t know what your purpose is with me, it’s nothing more than mutual exploitation.

    Don’t make yourself sound so righteous and noble.”

    With the last layer of pretense torn away by Ye Xuan, the Primordial Spirit completely calmed down, and its gaze towards Ye Xuan took on a complex hue.

    “What do you want to know?” the Primordial Spirit asked in a deep voice.

    “Who is Yuan Mo?”

    “What is this Blood Sea Battlefield?”

    “Who are those escaped Blood Souls?”

    “Why...

    did you choose me?” Question after question spilled from Ye Xuan’s lips as he looked intently into the Primordial Spirit’s eyes, trying to discern something from them.

    “Follow me.”

    The Primordial Spirit remained silent for a moment and didn’t meet Ye Xuan’s gaze, instead heading towards the deepest part of the Blood Sea.

    At the edge of the Blood Sea.

    There stood a bronze stone door, as if it had been there since ancient times, with carvings of birds, fish, insects, stars, and other mysterious patterns etched upon it, conveying a sense of vast antiquity.

    “Yuan Mo was my previous master, and this Blood Sea Battlefield, in fact, is known as the Ancient Battlefield, where Yuan Mo fought the Immortals over ten thousand years ago.”

    “And those Blood Souls that fled to the Human World were the residual souls of the Immortals who died back then.”

    As the Primordial Spirit spoke, it suddenly turned to look at Ye Xuan, continuing, “As for how you came here and practiced the Undying Immortal Scripture, it was also a coincidence.”

    Ye Xuan received answers to his questions from Yuan Mo, but he could still feel that Yuan Mo surely had great secrets that had not been revealed to him.

    “Is Yuan Mo still alive?” Ye Xuan asked with a grave voice.

    Hearing Ye Xuan’s words, the Primordial Spirit shook its head with a wry smile, “Even though the Undying Immortal Scripture is the Eternal Demon Technique, in that ancient battle, Yuan Mo had long since perished, both body and spirit.”

    “Ye Xuan, you should know, as the Artifact Spirit of the Undying Immortal Scripture, I have guarded this place for ten thousand years, just waiting for someone capable of inheriting the Undying Immortal Scripture, and you are the one I have chosen,” stated the Primordial Spirit with certainty.

    “This door leads to the Earth Immortal Realm, sealed for tens of thousands of years.

    If you wish to further your cultivation, you can only push open this door and proceed to the vast and boundless Earth Immortal Realm; that is the mission I safeguard here.”

    With these words, the Primordial Spirit’s voice took on a grave tone, “Although these Blood Souls were once Immortals, their power is no longer what it was.

    Escaping to the Human World this time is bound to cause turmoil.

    Once they manage to reconstruct their physical forms and restore their cultivations, they will inevitably open this door to return to the Earth Immortal Realm.

    By then, your practicing of the Undying Immortal Scripture will be exposed to all in the Earth Immortal Realm.”

    The Primordial Spirit continued to explain the grave implications, but Ye Xuan did not respond for a long time.

    “I’m returning to the Human World.

    Will you not come with me?” Ye Xuan asked, his voice slightly lowered, on the brink of his departure.

    “My duty is to guard this place.

    If I were to leave with you, the already fractured barriers of this space would be left unsealed, eventually causing this Ancient Battlefield to be exposed to the Human World,” said the Primordial Spirit, his voice deep.

    Ye Xuan took a long look at the Primordial Spirit, as a flicker of concealed murderous intent quietly vanished.

    He said nothing further and turned to retrace his steps back the way he had come.

    Watching Ye Xuan’s departing figure, the Primordial Spirit’s aura became deathly still until Ye Xuan vanished from the Blood Sea Battlefield.

    Then, the Primordial Spirit’s body suddenly burst forth with a sky-reaching black qi, as if suppressing something within.

    Buzz!

    Suddenly!

    The void hummed, ripples spread, and a blood-colored phantom quietly appeared beside the Primordial Spirit, its obscure and unclear aura slowly blooming.

    “He has started to doubt,” the blood-colored phantom said gravely.

    The Primordial Spirit slowly shook its head and said, “So what if he doubts?

    Sooner or later, he will have to push open that door.

    After four years of constant companionship, I understand him very well.

    He cares for what the Mortal World calls familial bonds, but compared to the Heavenly Path, they are but passing clouds.”

    “Today, you’ve exposed your true form, and your aura has already leaked.

    Moreover, these remnant souls have fled towards the Mortal World, I fear it may draw the attention of the Earth Immortal Realm,” the blood-colored phantom reminded.

    “Heh.”

    The Primordial Spirit sneered, saying, “Everything is proceeding according to our plan.

    If we didn’t release these remnant souls into the Human World, how could we quickly force him to push open that door?”

    “You are too arrogant.

    You are not the Artifact Spirit of the Undying Immortal Scripture, and his Heavenly Punishment Halberd has already acknowledged him as its master.

    He has cultivated the Forbidden Technique to an extremely profound realm.

    If there is the slightest mistake, I fear our outcome will be extremely miserable,” the blood-colored phantom growled.

    “Hmph, you are too cautious.

    He has only cultivated for four years; he isn’t even an Immortal.

    Everything is under our control,” the Primordial Spirit said confidently.

    ...

    Not in the Material World, nor in the void.

    Ye Xuan’s current state was extremely bizarre, as if he simply did not exist between Heaven and Earth, and yet he heard every word of the dialogue between the Primordial Spirit and the blood-colored phantom.

    “Extremely interesting!” Ye Xuan murmured with a cold laugh.

    Looking at the Primordial Spirit surrounded by Heavenly Demonic Qi and this unfamiliar blood-colored phantom, Ye Xuan did not know the Primordial Spirit’s true intentions towards him, but this scene had already prompted some speculations in his mind.

    The Primordial Spirit did not know that Ye Xuan had already fully mastered the techniques in the Undying Immortal Scripture.

    Aside from his realm not being raised, he could effortlessly use any of the Forbidden Secret Techniques contained within the scripture.

    Ye Xuan always believed one thing: those who can hurt you are always the ones closest to you.

    Although this saying might be extreme, at this moment, it seemed to be validated.

    In fact, once Ye Xuan had cultivated the Undying Immortal Scripture to a profound level, he had already discovered that the Primordial Spirit was not the Artifact Spirit of the scripture at all, but rather an existence in a remnant soul state.

    This fact had always been in Ye Xuan’s heart, and the extent to which he had cultivated the Undying Immortal Scripture had never been revealed to the Primordial Spirit.

    “Interesting, extremely interesting.”

    “Let’s see, in the end, who will be the hunter in this game,” Ye Xuan said with a cruel smile, his body suddenly becoming illusory and truly disappearing from the Blood Sea Battlefield.

    Ye Xuan’s ambition was enormous, unimaginably so.

    He aspired to exist when Heaven and Earth perished, to live when all things died, to truly ascend to the Nine Heavens and look down upon all creatures.

    Ye Xuan had not pushed open that door, even though he was preoccupied with thoughts of his relatives in the Mortal World, but a bigger reason was his doubts about the Primordial Spirit.

    From the moment Ye Xuan stepped into the Blood Sea Battlefield, the philosophy infused into him by the Primordial Spirit was that to pursue the Heavenly Path, he must open that door and enter the Earth Immortal Realm, only then could he truly transcend mortality and become an Immortal, eternally as old as the heavens.

    What lay behind that door, Ye Xuan only knew from what Primordial Spirit had told him.

    Moreover, Ye Xuan always believed in one thing: when facing unknown dangers, he would be extremely cautious until he completely seized the initiative.

    Then he would strike like thunder, without holding back at all.

    Four years of life-and-death struggle, battling in the Blood Sea, Ye Xuan had grown from an inexperienced youth to the Undying Venerable.

    He treasured this not easily attained opportunity.

    Ye Xuan once swore to the heavens that his destiny would never be controlled by anyone.

    Whoever tried to control his destiny would only have one outcome: death.

    Without any exceptions.