Watching Chen Chao struggle forward through the wind and snow, Autumn had yet to speak when a sudden voice of surprise came from within the storm.
It was faint, distant.
As though drifting from a place unimaginably far away. Yet at this moment, everyone heard it clearly. It was the sound of astonishment.
The owner of the voice seemed puzzled by why this young martial artist could still move forward? Why, under his terrifying pressure, could this young martial artist still leave his spot?
With that doubt arising, in the next moment, an even more dreadful pressure spread down from the north. This time, it was not aimed at everyone present, but solely at Chen Chao.
That terrifying pressure crashed down upon Chen Chao alone, forcing the already struggling Chen Chao to spit out a great mouthful of blood.
"Cough...cough..."
Chen Chao could not hold back his coughing, his chest heaving violently. Under the Demon Emperor’s crushing pressure, many of his internal organs had already ruptured. Each time he spat blood, fragments of flesh came with it.
Yet even so, Chen Chao did not collapse. In fact, he did not even bend his back.
The young martial artist stood in place for a moment, even lifting his head. He raised a fist, and then slowly extended the middle finger.He gave the middle finger!
Though it was aimed upward at the heavens, everyone who saw it knew what it meant. At this moment, Chen Chao was provoking the Demon Emperor who had not yet arrived, but already knew he was here.
Autumn watched, and for reasons unknown, the corner of her lips curved again. But it was only for an instant. A moment later, she asked softly, “Do you truly want to kill me so badly?”
Her tone seemed casual, but beneath it lingered a trace of sorrow.
Such an emotion was rare upon Autumn’s face. But now, it surfaced.
Chen Chao said hoarsely, “Having...come this far...I refuse...to give up...halfway...”
Chen Chao's words were labored, yet he forced them out with difficulty.
Autumn shook her head. “But you cannot.”
As the daughter of the Demon Emperor, she naturally knew her father’s terror better than anyone else in the world.
She naturally knew just how terrifying that father of hers was.
......
......
“Things in this world, there should always be a way.”
Chen Chao spat out a mouthful of filthy blood.
He stood where he was, still stubbornly holding up that finger. “You...are just a little older, have lived a little longer. Other than... that, do you think you’re stronger than me?”
Chen Chao spoke haltingly, yet there was a kind of brilliance flashing in his eyes.
Perhaps this was what they called youthful pride, nothing more than this.
Even when facing the most terrifying existence in this world, this young martial artist refused to bow his head. He would not even keep silent for a moment. He had to stand tall, proudly telling that being: you’re no stronger than I am.
Autumn watched in silence.
Liu Banbi also watched for a long while. At last he let out a helpless yet admiring sigh. “I suddenly find myself liking this fellow. Annoying as he can be sometimes, what he’s doing right now, forget a young man, even those true prominent figures probably wouldn’t dare do this.”
Some people are like weeds and trees of the world, even if one day they grow tall, they remain unremarkable. But some are like blossoms between heaven and earth, and a single glance makes them unforgettable.
Without a doubt, Chen Chao was such a blossom.
A flower that one might not call beautiful, but once seen, impossible to forget.
Song Lian and Chen Wannian exchanged a glance. The two of them could barely move at this moment, but after that glance, they spoke almost in unison: “Remarkable.”
Song Lian looked at Chen Wannian, then was the first to say, “This lord of ours, say what you will, just this temperament alone suits us perfectly.”
Chen Wannian nodded with a smile. “Indeed. This Chen has spent so many years on Windspirit Mountain so many years in foreign lands, and has never once seen someone with such a nature.”
“Following Lord Chen is like drinking fine wine - very satisfying.”
Chen Wannian said softly, “Ignoring everything else, if I were to die on the battlefield following this Lord Chen, it wouldn’t really be something hard to accept.”
Song Lian laughed with narrowed eyes, “Don’t say that. I haven’t had enough of living yet. If you, Brother Chen, want to die on the battlefield, you go die. I still need to go back to my wife.”
Chen Wannian laughed heartily.
The shadow of death hanging over the two men faded somewhat in that moment.
They might say they didn’t fear death, but how many in this world are truly willing to die just like that?
If they could live, then living was better.
Things were very simple.
......
......
Not long after Chen Chao raised his middle finger, an even more overwhelming pressure appeared here. Before Chen Chao could even open his mouth, Autumn frowned.
A figure appeared not far away.
The instant that figure appeared in the snowstorm, it was as if all wind and snow froze in place. Not a single snowflake continued to fall to the ground.
Though none had yet seen the face of that figure clearly, everyone knew that the figure was the Demon Emperor.
The emperor of the demon race, the strongest powerhouse in the entire world.
He had personally come to Yixian Tide.
Arriving before everyone.
Chen Chao was still holding up his middle finger, but soon withdrew it. It was not to lower it for good, but to point his middle finger directly at the Demon Emperor.
The Demon Emperor had come from afar.
The Demon Emperor was the absolute strongest in this world.
But in front of Chen Chao, he still could not escape his middle finger.
He raised his middle finger to show his disdain for this emperor of the demon race.
The Demon Emperor said nothing, only glanced indifferently at Chen Chao.
In the blink of an eye, a terrifying pressure pierced through the wind and snow and fell upon Chen Chao.
Chen Chao could neither evade nor flee. He could only withstand that pressure head-on.
Cracking sounds rang out again and again. Chen Chao’s ribs snapped and he spat out another mouthful of blood.
The Demon Emperor looked coldly at this young man who dared provoke him, saying nothing.
Chen Chao also said nothing, staring at the emperor before him.
No one knew how many years apart their ages were. Yet at this moment, the two only looked at one another.
“No wonder you are Chen Che’s nephew. You do have some breadth of spirit, daring to face Us like this. Over the years, there have been very few like you.”
Unexpectedly, it was the Demon Emperor who spoke at last. This emperor of the demon race himself taking the initiative, his voice carrying even a faint trace of admiration for the young man before him.
“Since you are so bold, We shall grant you death, to let you know that the word courage is not so easy to write.”
The Demon Emperor’s voice came from the wind and snow, cold and merciless.
For an emperor, ruthlessness was near a requirement. If he let emotions sway him in all matters, he would never be fit to be an emperor.
Perhaps he did feel some admiration for Chen Chao. But he also knew, the more he admired a man, the sooner that man ought to die.
For such a man posed too great a threat to the demon race.
Yet, even before the Demon Emperor’s proclamation of death, Chen Chao did not much care. He only continued to look at that emperor standing in the wind and snow with faint disdain.
Such a situation was rare indeed. The Demon Emperor had lived for so many years, yet never encountered a young man who treated him with such disregard.
However, he was also unwilling to say more at this moment. Since he was already here, since he was already face-to-face, then he would just kill him.
No matter how dazzling a young man might be, in front of him, he was ultimately still just a young man.
As he spoke, the Demon Emperor was already walking toward Chen Chao. In the wind and snow, the Demon Emperor’s figure appeared incomparably tall, like a slowly moving snow mountain.
This was what was called the number one figure of the present age.
Chen Chao bared his teeth, but no matter how one looked at that smile, it was a bitter one.
Yes, in the face of the number one figure of the present age, to still be able to remain calm, there would probably not be many people.
Only in the next moment, something that no one had expected happened again.
In facing the Demon Emperor, this young martial artist actually did not choose to avoid the sharp edge, but instead chose to charge straight toward the Demon Emperor.
He raised his saber, and facing this demon race emperor, he slashed out with one stroke.
A vast saber qi soon howled forth in the wind and snow, but this time it failed to stir any of the wind and snow, nor did it cause any so-called turbulence. That saber qi appeared somewhat immense in the beginning, but afterward, it seemed soft and powerless. By the time it was not far in front of the Demon Emperor, it had already dissipated.
This scene left everyone dumbfounded. One must know that even though Chen Chao was an arrow at the end of its flight at this moment, he was, after all, an existence at the end of Nepenthe. Such an existence, even with a casual stroke, should not have been of such weak force.
But in truth, only Chen Chao himself knew that after he had delivered that saber strike, as the vast saber qi swept forward, it had already begun to dissipate, because within the wind and snow, there had always been a certain aura that continuously dissolved his saber qi, causing it to melt away.
That aura could not be sensed by others, but Chen Chao could feel it with utmost clarity. That was the means of the Demon Emperor. In but a single thought, he had rendered Chen Chao’s attack completely null.
This time, Chen Chao truly began to smile bitterly.
There was really nothing he could do.
The Demon Emperor looked at him and said calmly, “Within that saber stroke, there was indeed some trace of Chen Che’s style. It seems that your uncle placed quite some hope upon you, nearly passing on all of his martial attainments to you.”
Chen Chao did not speak.
The Demon Emperor shook his head and said, “After some more years, you truly would have had the ability to contend with Us. Unfortunately, you met Us a little too early.”
Before the sound of his words had even faded, an incomparably powerful demonic qi descended from the sky, falling directly upon the top of Chen Chao’s head. With a thunderous boom, it was like a torrential rain curtain falling from the heavens; without reason, yet with world-shaking force.
Facing this torrential rain, Chen Chao had nearly no means of dealing with it.
After all, the qi within his body had long since been utterly emptied.
But in truth, his fingertips had already grasped a sheet of paper.