Chapter 308: Chapter 308: A Fine Line Between Life and Death

Watching Ye Xuan’s departing figure, Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi were completely bewildered. They had no idea what had just happened. ’Did our actions while under the Illusion Technique’s control make him unhappy?’ they wondered.

But Ye Xuan was simply too fast. By the time they came to their senses and wanted to ask, he had already vanished from sight.

Flee, flee, flee!

On the black plains, Ye Xuan fled frantically. The presence behind him grew closer and closer, and his heart sank with each passing moment.

The ability to fly through the air was something only a Tier Seven Demon King could achieve. Ye Xuan knew exactly how terrifying a Tier Seven Demon King was. Although his own strength had improved significantly, he was still no match for a Demon King.

As he fled, Ye Xuan quickly retrieved a Seven-Colored Lotus from his Storage Ring and swallowed it in one gulp.

He had originally planned to take this Seven-Colored Lotus back with him, refine it into a Pill, and then consume it. But at this life-or-death moment, he couldn’t afford to be so meticulous.

Only by increasing his strength as much as possible could he have a better chance of surviving this Demon King’s pursuit.

Seeing the presence behind him closing in, Ye Xuan was overjoyed to suddenly spot a cave up ahead. He hurriedly dove inside, going deeper and deeper until he finally stopped in the very back. He held his breath, focused his mind, and concealed his aura.

A moment later, the terrifying presence stopped right above him.

"Sir, I can already feel your presence," a resonant voice boomed, laced with mockery and disdain. "A mighty Demon King like yourself dares to snatch my subordinate, yet you feel the need to hide?"

’A mighty Demon King?’

Ye Xuan immediately understood. This Jin Lin had mistaken him for another Demon King.

But he was a fake Demon King, while the other was the real deal. When the imposter meets the genuine article, how could Ye Xuan dare make a sound? He remained carefully hidden underground, suppressing his aura to the absolute limit.

Meanwhile, a terrifying energy was surging violently within his body.

The power of the Seven-Colored Lotus was simply too immense. After Ye Xuan consumed it, the berserk energy nearly caused his body to explode.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Tiny cracks began to appear on his body. The Seven-Colored Lotus was a Tier Seven Spirit Medicine, something that typically only Tier Six experts could handle. Ye Xuan was merely Tier Four, and he had consumed an entire flower at once. Any other Martial Artist would have already exploded and died.

Fortunately, Ye Xuan cultivated the Nine Revolutions Sacred Body and had the powerful Nine Profound Prideful World Art, which was the only reason he hadn’t perished. Even so, the medicinal power of the entire Seven-Colored Lotus still shattered his Profound Veins, leaving them in disarray.

Ye Xuan endured the excruciating pain, gritting his teeth, his eyes bloodshot. He didn’t let out a single sound, nor could he allow the slightest trace of the Seven-Colored Lotus’s aura to leak from his body.

At the same time, he painstakingly circulated the Nine Profound Prideful World Art, refining the medicinal power of the Seven-Colored Lotus bit by bit.

The potent medicinal power slowly began to transform Ye Xuan’s body.

’This cultivation speed is still too slow,’ Ye Xuan thought anxiously. With a great enemy right outside, he didn’t have much time to cultivate. He immediately let loose even more of the Seven-Colored Lotus’s berserk medicinal power.

Although this made the process even more painful, his speed of absorbing the Seven-Colored Lotus’s power also increased.

In the sky above Ye Xuan, Jin Lin stood proudly, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings.

Although he couldn’t see Ye Xuan’s figure, he knew from his powerful perception that the aura had vanished right here.

’Hmph. You forcibly snatched my subordinate. Did you really think you could just hide and get away with it?’

Jin Lin sneered inwardly. Beams of golden light suddenly bloomed from the golden horn on his head, shooting out in all directions.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

Explosions echoed across the land as clouds of dust billowed up, creating monstrous waves of debris. The tremors were transmitted continuously to Ye Xuan, deep underground.

Ye Xuan completely ignored Jin Lin’s actions, continuing to absorb the Seven-Colored Lotus’s medicinal power.

POP!

It was as if some kind of shackle within his body had been broken. Ye Xuan broke through directly from the Tier Four First Layer to the Tier Four Second Layer.

’It’s not enough!’

Ye Xuan knew that against a Tier Seven Demon King, there was practically no difference between the strength of the Tier Four First Layer and the Tier Four Second Layer. He had only absorbed a fraction of the Seven-Colored Lotus’s power. Holding his breath and focusing, he continued the absorption.

The bombardment lasted for the time it takes an incense stick to burn before finally stopping.

The entire black landscape was a complete wreck, pockmarked with craters and littered with shattered rock, as if it had been plowed over. The commotion had also alerted many nearby Soul Beasts, all of which had been blasted to bits by Jin Lin.

Staring at the now-calm ground, Jin Lin grew suspicious. ’Could that guy not be here?’

’Impossible.’

Jin Lin shook his head. He was extremely confident in himself. The guy’s aura had definitely vanished right here. No matter how strong the opponent was, it was impossible for them to escape his perception.

’Do you think I can’t find you just because you won’t come out?’

Jin Lin grew even more furious. A golden gleam suddenly shot from his golden pupils, and an invisible wave of Soul Power radiated outward in all directions.

’Let’s see where you can run under my Soul Power scan.’

The invisible Soul Power quickly swept over every inch of the surrounding area.

A powerful wave of Soul Power scanned past Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan was scared to death.

’If I’m discovered, it’s all over.’

Fortunately, Ye Xuan’s aura concealment technique was exceptionally powerful. After Jin Lin’s Soul Power swept by, it had actually failed to discover that there was a person there.

POP!

The Profound Power within Ye Xuan’s body surged once more, and his cultivation rose to the Tier Four Third Layer.

But Ye Xuan couldn’t bring himself to be happy. He realized that half of the medicinal power in the Seven-Colored Lotus was already gone. It seemed he wouldn’t be able to break through to the Tier Five Martial Sect realm.

Generally speaking, a Tier Seven Seven-Colored Lotus was enough to raise the cultivation of any Martial Artist below Tier Six by an entire tier. But the Nine Profound Prideful World Art that Ye Xuan cultivated was too special and required far too much Profound Power. At this rate, one Seven-Colored Lotus could only raise him from the Tier Four First Layer to Triple Peak.

Sure enough, after his cultivation rose to Triple Peak, the medicinal power within the Seven-Colored Lotus completely vanished.

Ye Xuan’s heart sank. If he had managed to break through to Tier Five, his chances of escaping from a Tier Seven Demon King would have risen to about thirty percent. But now, his chance of escape was still just a little over ten percent.

The first Seven-Colored Lotus consumed always had the greatest effect. Although he had another one, it would be very difficult to break through to Tier Five even if he consumed it now.

’Am I going to die here?’

Ye Xuan’s only hope now was that the Demon King wouldn’t find him.

The Soul Power swept over the area again and again. After discovering he still couldn’t find the damn guy, Jin Lin became utterly enraged.

"Brat! You had the guts to snatch my subordinate, but you don’t have the guts to come out and face me? A mighty Demon King acting like a coward hiding in its shell! You really think I can’t find you? Heavenly Hearing and Earthly Vision Divine Abilities—search!"

Two hazy golden rays shot from Jin Lin’s golden pupils. The golden light swept out, meticulously searching every inch of the nearby land.

When this golden light swept over Ye Xuan, he immediately felt as if he was being completely seen through.

’It’s a Demon King’s Divine Abilities.’

Ye Xuan was startled. Divine Abilities were special powers that some Profound Beasts obtained after breaking through to the Lord Level. The power of these abilities varied, and not every Profound Beast Demon King possessed them. Generally, those that did were the elites among Demon Kings.

Ye Xuan hadn’t expected Jin Lin to possess Divine Abilities, and a search-type one at that.

As the golden light swept over Ye Xuan, Jin Lin finally discovered his location.

What surprised him was that he saw a human, and one who was in the middle of cultivating, no less.

The thought that he had been furiously searching everywhere for this guy, while this guy was just leisurely cultivating, made Jin Lin seethe with rage.

At the same time, realization dawned on him. ’No wonder another Demon King suddenly appeared in the Floating Light Secret Realm. It turns out this Demon King is from the outside world, transformed into a human, and entered with those human Martial Artists.’

’But when the Floating Light Secret Realm opens, aren’t only human Soul Refiners allowed to enter? Even if this Demon King transformed into a human, his essence is still completely different from a human Soul Refiner’s. How did he fool the Floating Light Secret Realm’s surveillance?’

’Could this guy be even more terrifying than the Floating Light Secret Realm itself?’

"Brat, who the hell are you to snatch a subordinate from me, the great King Jin Lin! What punishment do you think you deserve for such a crime?"

Jin Lin roared, and a golden beam shot from the horn on his head. BOOM! The ground instantly split open, forming a hundred-meter-long fissure that perfectly exposed Ye Xuan below. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Ye Xuan’s heart sank. Judging by the power and technique of that last strike alone, this was undoubtedly an incredibly powerful Demon King.

"Hmph. Who dares disturb my cultivation?" Ye Xuan opened his eyes and demanded coldly.

Inwardly, he was nervous as hell, but he knew he absolutely could not panic now. The moment he panicked, it would all be over.

An inexplicable pressure rose from Ye Xuan’s body. He raised his head and looked at Jin Lin, his gaze as cold and emotionless as the stars in the night sky.

As the Carefree Soul Emperor in his past life, Ye Xuan no longer had his cultivation, but the lingering traces of his aura remained. The moment his gaze shot out, it was like an emperor looking down upon his subjects, suffused with an air of absolute superiority.

Jin Lin stared suspiciously at Ye Xuan, his golden eyes flickering as he tried to discern Ye Xuan’s true form.

But to his shock, no matter how he looked, there wasn’t the slightest flaw in the Ye Xuan before him. It was as if he had been born a human.

Although a Profound Beast Demon King could transform into a human, it was only a change in form; their essence was still completely different from a human’s. But this Demon King before him... no matter how he looked at him, he seemed just like a human. There were practically no flaws.

Jin Lin was even more shocked. ’For him to transform into a human so perfectly that I can’t find a single flaw... could it be that he’s not a Tier Seven Demon King at all, but a Tier Eight Demon Emperor, or even... a Tier Nine Demon Emperor?’