That page had accompanied Chen Chao for many years, helping him countless times. For all those years, it had always been Chen Chao’s greatest trump card. Aside from that time when he had once thought of handing it over to the Great Liang Emperor for examination, Chen Chao had never considered giving it to anyone else. It could be said that this page was extremely important to him.
In those past years, this sheet of paper had been unfailing and invincible. Yet Chen Chao had never imagined that today, the myth of this page would cease to exist.
In the hands of the Demon Emperor, it was finally defeated and destroyed.
Chen Chao put away the page and once again tightened his grip on Cloud Mud in his hand.
Without that page, from here on, everything would depend on himself.
But what could he really do?
Chen Chao gave a bitter smile. The strength the Demon Emperor revealed at this moment was simply far, far too great. He admitted that even if he had been at his peak, he probably still would not have been a match, let alone now.
But even so, what of it?
Chen Chao smiled again and lowered his head for a glance at the saber in his hand. A saber was ultimately meant to be swung forward.
The Demon Emperor looked at Chen Chao and asked, “Where did you obtain that page?”In the midst of the snowstorm, the Demon Emperor’s interest no longer truly lay with Chen Chao. The young martial artist before him was indeed stunning, but that was all. Since he had not crossed the threshold of Nepenthe, there was no need to pay him much heed.
On the contrary, that page might hold some kind of clue. Perhaps through it, he could trace the remnants of powerhouses from the previous era.
After stepping past Nepenthe, the Demon Emperor could feel his power, but he also knew clearly that this was by no means the end of the path. There was certainly still more road ahead.
Chen Chao looked at the Demon Emperor and gave no answer.
The Demon Emperor said bluntly, “Tell Us, and perhaps We can spare your life.”
Chen Chao smiled faintly. Perhaps no one understood better than him what those two words meant.
It was nothing but an emperor’s offhand remark. Whether it held any weight, everyone knew very well.
“I truly don’t believe that His Majesty would willingly let me leave here alive.”
Chen Chao smiled slightly. “In all those years, I’ve said such words many times myself. So Your Majesty saying them now, perhaps you could deceive others with them, but to deceive me? There’s no need.”
The Demon Emperor gave Chen Chao a calm glance and shook his head. “There’s no need to make things so troublesome. Do you really believe that if We wish to know something, We cannot know it?”
As the Demon Emperor spoke, a terrifying pressure descended, pressing directly onto Chen Chao’s body. In an instant, that dreadful aura locked everything around him. At that moment, Chen Chao could clearly feel as though even the air at his side had been sealed, almost no longer flowing.
It was as if the Demon Emperor had cut Chen Chao off from heaven and earth in an instant, forming a separate space between the two of them, isolating him from this world so that he no longer had any connection to it.
After isolating Chen Chao, the Demon Emperor walked forward slowly. His steps were unhurried as he said, “We have seen young men like you before. Your future is boundless. But all of this rests on the premise that you survive. If you die here and now, then all possibilities will vanish in this very moment. Is it worth it?”
The Demon Emperor’s voice was slow, resonant, and penetrating, making it hard to refute. Most who heard such words would likely fall into doubt.
But Chen Chao merely smiled. From the very moment he heard the Demon Emperor’s words, he had already felt an attack directed at his soul. There was no need to think, he knew this was undoubtedly the Demon Emperor’s method.
He wanted to know what Chen Chao’s mind held about that page.
With the Demon Emperor’s means, if he truly wished to uncover the secrets within Chen Chao’s mind, it should not have been a problem.
Although the demons did not have as many magic spells as the human race, they still possessed many inherited secret arts. It was not so simple.
As the emperor of the demon race, all the more so. If even he did not know such secret methods, then likely no one else would.
Yet the Demon Emperor quickly realized that Chen Chao’s soul was too resilient. Though he had cultivated for far longer than Chen Chao, and his realm was higher by a full level, he had not been able to crush Chen Chao’s soul in the first instant. This gave him pause. With a single thought, he sent forth another wave of aura, striking at Chen Chao once again.
Chen Chao’s figure instantly swayed, his forehead beading with cold sweat that dripped down unceasingly. The Demon Emperor’s soul was so unyielding that it had almost no rival in this world.
This time, since he was applying himself fully, Chen Chao would definitely find it difficult to withstand.
At this moment, Chen Chao was indeed like one caught in the midst of a raging storm, his whole body swaying as though he would collapse at any moment.
This was a clash of souls. Though not as direct as a battle of cultivation realms and qi, it was no less terrifying. After all, the opponent Chen Chao faced was no ordinary cultivator, but the Demon Emperor, the number one figure of this current age.
The Demon Emperor was now less than a dozen feet from Chen Chao. At this distance, he could see Chen Chao’s face clearly. Looking at this young man, whose features bore little resemblance to the Great Liang Emperor, the Demon Emperor nevertheless recalled his own old nemesis.
Though their appearances were not very similar, there was an aura upon him that was strikingly alike.
That kind of aura could not be described, but it could be felt.
The Demon Emperor turned his head to glance at the grievously wounded Autumn, then withdrew his gaze and looked back at Chen Chao.
At this moment, Chen Chao’s whole body was drenched in sweat, soaked through entirely. Yet even so, he had not fallen, nor had he loosened his grip on the saber in his hand.
The Demon Emperor frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled. He had clearly shrouded the other with his powerful soul, but for some reason, it was as if a wall of copper and iron stood within Chen Chao’s mind, completely blocking his soul outside, preventing him from invading the other’s consciousness.
Perhaps it was some kind of secret art?
The Demon Emperor fell into brief thought, but quickly shook his head.
In this world, there were very few daoist techniques that cultivated the soul. Even if such methods existed, they required bitter and unyielding effort. The fact that Chen Chao could block his probing only proved one thing - that over the long days and years, Chen Chao had been tempering his soul day after day, year after year.
It was already a well-known truth that martial artists placed the utmost demands on their bodies. Countless martial artists tempered their physiques, which was precisely why they alone could contend with the demon race in physical strength.
But martial artists who tempered their bodies while also tempering their souls were rarely seen.
And even among them, few could compare to Chen Chao.
Chen Chao’s soul had truly become incomparably resilient when he had fused several strands of qi within his body into one.
At that time, in the Divine Capital, he had turned his gaze inward, controlling countless furnaces within his body. As he tortured himself, it had also been an immense tempering of his soul.
Because of that, standing before the Demon Emperor now, he was far stronger than ordinary cultivators at the end of Nepenthe.
This strength left the Demon Emperor with no easy way to deal with him in that moment.
The Demon Emperor furrowed his brows slightly, and after a while decided to no longer attempt to pry into Chen Chao’s mind.
He stretched out his hand, and from his fingertip, a strand of black demonic qi burst forth.
It shot toward Chen Chao.
That aura was terrifying to the extreme, engulfing Chen Chao in an instant.
When the Demon Emperor was unwilling to waste any more time, who could still do anything?
Even Chen Chao, before he could even raise his saber, was thrust into an utterly passive situation.
Before, he had that sheet of paper. But now?
What was left?
The Demon Emperor looked at Chen Chao, watching this young martial artist’s demise.
If nothing unexpected happened, Chen Chao would very soon perish.
But in this world, many times the unexpected did occur.
Just like now.
From between Chen Chao’s brows, a flower suddenly flew forth.
That flower emerged abruptly from the center of Chen Chao's forehead, carrying with it boundless sword qi.
Clearly, it belonged to a sword immortal who had surpassed Nepenthe.
An incomparably terrifying sword immortal.