The one who appeared in front of Xue Lei was none other than Ye Chen!
Earlier, when Ye Chen comprehended the "Wind Movement Skills," he flew to this valley. Hearing someone mention his name, he stopped to listen closely to their conversation.
After listening for a short while, Ye Chen learned the identities of the group speaking.
It turned out these people were from the Heavenly Net Sect, sent by Zhou Hai's father, Zhou Yuntian, to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain to capture him as part of the many dispatched for this task.
Ye Chen wasn't surprised in the slightest that Zhou Yuntian would send people to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain to hunt him down.
Even if a large group of disciples, among them masters with level ten True Qi, had been sent, Ye Chen wouldn't find it odd.
Between him and Zhou Yuntian, one bore the grudge of being hunted, the other the hatred for killing his son!
It was understandable for Zhou Yuntian to want to deal with him.
However, when he heard from Xue Lei that his parents had been captured by Zhou Yuntian and taken to the Qingyun Sect, and that if he didn't show up within three months, they would execute his parents, how could Ye Chen restrain himself?
His soul had merged with that of his previous life, and their emotions coexisted; his previous life's parents were his parents, and naturally, his affection for them was entrenched in his heart—and it was deep!
In Ye Chen's memory, his parents were very kind to him. During the more than two years he had been in the Qingyun Sect, he felt too ashamed to return to the Ye Family at the end of the year due to no breakthroughs in his cultivation. But his parents, every year, would send him a generous amount of silver for his cultivation needs and letters full of concern, taking great care of him!
His parents, who came from the Ye Family, a prominent family in Qingyang City, had never opened their Qi Sea Acupoint, never stepped into the world of Martial Arts cultivation, and were merely ordinary mortals. They managed the family's business affairs on a day-to-day basis without ever getting involved in the vengeful world of warriors.
And now, because of him, they had been captured by Zhou Yuntian and taken to the Qingyun Sect, their lives hanging by a thread because of him!
Ye Chen felt self-blame; he was upset that his parents were implicated because of him.
But even more so, he was furious that Zhou Yuntian had completely disregarded the rules of the Martial Arts world and targeted his parents!
In the world of martial artists, no matter how great the enmity, it was acceptable to settle disputes with life and death, but one must never involve others, especially not non-cultivating ordinary mortals.
This was an unspoken rule agreed upon by nearly all martial artists.
That's why even after Ye Chen killed Zhou Hai, while he had to be wary of Zhou Yuntian, he had never imagined that Zhou Yuntian would target his parents.
Now, Zhou Yuntian had broken this rule. Not only had he captured his parents, but he also threatened to execute them publicly. How could Ye Chen not be enraged, how could he not be fuming with anger?!
Thus, after listening to the conversation of those Heavenly Net Sect disciples for a while, Ye Chen could no longer hold back.
He immediately charged out!
"Is that really the Ye Chen that Elder Zhou wanted us to capture?"
When Ye Chen suddenly appeared, all eight Heavenly Net Sect disciples were shocked. Then, when they clearly saw Ye Chen's face, they burst into euphoria.
They never thought that after searching for more than a month without finding Ye Chen, he would now appear right before them.
Despite being shocked by Ye Chen's ghostly movements, none of the eight disciples were worried—with six of them at the seventh level of True Qi and two even higher at the eighth level.
Facing Ye Chen, rumored to be only at the fifth level of True Qi, they didn't have the slightest concern.
At this moment, in their eyes, Ye Chen had turned into a mountain of pure silver!
"Catch him, and the Elder said that whichever team captures Ye Chen, each member will be rewarded with one hundred thousand taels of silver and a set of superior yellow-tier Martial Skills!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
All eight Heavenly Net Sect disciples drew their weapons, and instantly, True Qi burst forth as they launched their Martial Skills in a coordinated assault towards Ye Chen.
Zhou Yuntian had sent these people into Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain with both stick and carrot—on one hand, ordering strict surveillance of the mountain areas, and on the other promising substantial rewards.
One hundred thousand taels of silver, plus a set of superior yellow-tier Martial Skills, was a reward so generous it was enough for these disciples to use for five or six years of cultivation!
All these individuals in the Heavenly Net Sect were ruthless, and it didn't matter if Ye Chen was unrelated to them; with such a promise of silver, they might betray even those they were familiar with on the spot.
Now, facing Ye Chen, they wouldn't show the slightest mercy.
With a glance exchanged between them, they instantly agreed to collectively assault Ye Chen, aiming to shatter his Qi Sea, cripple him completely, and deliver him to their Elder Zhou Yuntian to claim their hefty rewards!
"Each of you is rewarded with one hundred thousand taels of silver, plus a set of superior yellow-tier Martial Skills?"
"Zhou Yuntian sure is generous! To deal with me, Ye Chen, he's really gone to great lengths!"
Facing the eight disciples of the Heavenly Net Sect converging on him, Ye Chen laughed in furious disbelief. He didn't use the "Wind Movement Skills" to dodge their encirclement but instead mobilized his Sword Intents in an instant.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
In an instant, the terrifying Sword Intents swept across a hundred feet, and countless falling leaves rose up, shooting through the air and heading straight for the eight Heavenly Net Sect disciples.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Radiant light danced upon the falling leaves. Seven of the eight disciples attacking Ye Chen were instantly decapitated by the leaves, their heads flying off, their eyes wide with disbelief and horror.
Then, "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" the headless bodies, along with their severed heads, fell to the ground, raising clouds of dust as they hit the dirt.
The seven who sought to kill Ye Chen were instead instantly slain by his hand and lay dead on the spot!
The only person left in the arena was Xue Lei, the one with the eighth level of True Qi. His arm, which he had used to wield his sword in an attempt to kill Ye Chen, was severed by the flying leaves during the clash, and flew off, spurting a fountain of blood.
But Xue Lei acted as though he hadn't even realized his arm had been cut off; he was completely petrified with fear!
How could he have possibly imagined that their formidable small team, composed of eight Heavenly Net Sect disciples, six at the seventh level and two at the eighth level of True Qi, would be annihilated by Ye Chen in an instant, with seven of them killed?
It was completely beyond his comprehension!
In that move, even the other disciple at the eighth level of True Qi, who was as strong as he was, had no time to react and was beheaded just like the others, Xue Lei knew that if Ye Chen had wanted to kill him, he would already be just another corpse like the rest.
Could Ye Chen really be this terrifying?!
This was akin to the technique of a True Qi tenth level expert! No, even those tenth level experts, despite their immensely powerful True Qi, had few martial skills as frightening as this. Those odd falling leaves were like deadly sword lights; they could not defend against them at all, even less so than against a tenth level True Qi expert!
Of course, they couldn't defend against it!
Ye Chen's previous move contained the terrifying "Wind Sword Intent." Against the most perilous barrier in the central region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, surrounded by hundreds of treasured swords, and even three sword intent treasured swords comparable to a ninth level True Qi expert, he could suppress them all.
How could this eight-member team, with their highest member only at the eighth level of True Qi, stand a chance?
Even if there were ten times as many members in such a squad, they would still be annihilated by Ye Chen with a single move!
This was the power of Sword Intent, the power of decimating groups!
Unless there was a tenth level True Qi expert among them who could withstand Ye Chen with the gap in their True Qi realms, the others were simply no match for Ye Chen!
Looking at the severed heads and bodies around him, and watching Ye Chen approach step by step, Xue Lei collapsed to the ground. Looking at Ye Chen, fear was evident in his eyes, and his entire body began to tremble uncontrollably. Ye Chen's resolute slaughter was like a death god, thoroughly crushing him!
"Don't kill me... Ye Chen, please don't kill me!"
"It's Elder Zhou, Elder Zhou is the one who wants to deal with you, it's not that we particularly wanted to kill you!"
Xue Lei cried and wailed.
Ye Chen walked up to Xue Lei, his face expressionless as he looked at him: "You just said that Zhou Yuntian has captured my parents and brought them to Qingyun Sect. Is that true or is it a lie you made up?"
"It's true! Absolutely true!"
Upon Ye Chen's questioning, Xue Lei dared not fail to answer, swearing to the heavens: "This news has already spread everywhere. Just ask around, and you'll know!"
"Right now, Elder Zhou is visiting the Qingyun Sect, waiting for you to walk into the trap! Elder Zhou is notoriously ruthless. If you don't return to Qingyun Sect, he really will execute your parents himself!"
"He is spreading this news to make sure you can't hide. If you don't go to your death, he will have your parents killed!"
Xue Lei's words obliterated the last bit of hope Ye Chen held onto.
His parents were indeed implicated in this affair.
Zhou Yuntian truly wanted to engage in a fight to the death with him!
"Since that's the case, it's time to put an end to this matter once and for all!"
Ye Chen's eyes blazed with anger and his will to fight ignited as he looked in the direction of Qingyun Sect.
"Crimson Fire, if your essence is damaged, don't blame me! If you get injured this time, even if it takes hundreds or thousands of years to recuperate, I'll search for heavenly treasures to bring you back!"
Ye Chen's mind delved into the Sword Palace Acupoint, where the small red flying sword, under his mental agitation, trembled wildly in the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid.
As if the flying sword "Crimson Fire" was also preparing for its imminent first battle!
What Ye Chen didn't know, as his anger surged and his mind agitated the flying sword "Crimson Fire" into a frenzy,
Thousands of miles away, within the most secluded peak cave of Taixuan Sect, the foremost of the thirty-six sects in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, a sitting girl's glabella was marked by a dark blue flying sword that also began to pulsate.
Just half a step behind the girl, seven or eight twelve or thirteen-year-olds girls with swords on their backs were sitting, and right in front of the girl, seated in the most honorable position, was a woman in her mid-twenties wearing a snow-white palace dress, who looked like a Nine Heavens Fairy.
If the leaders of the thirty-six sects of the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom were to see this woman in the snow-white palace dress, they would recognize her as the strongest person in the eastern region, an intermediate stage master of the Rotating Pill Realm, Fairy Jia Luo!
"Ghostly Water, what's happening with it?"
At this moment, the sitting girl noticed the pulse of the flying sword on her glabella and her fine brows furrowed.
Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she stood up abruptly.
"Twin Swords, Ghostly Water and Crimson Fire. If there's a disturbance with Ghostly Water, could it be that some major event is befalling Crimson Fire?"
"Crimson Fire's master is Ye Chen!"
"Could it be that something has happened to Ye Chen?!"
The name etched deeply in her heart came to mind, and the thought that he might be in danger...
The girl's heart tightened suddenly.
In this cave, the girl who sat at Fairy Jia Luo's feet was none other than Jiang Yao, who had separated from Ye Chen seventeen days ago and returned to Taixuan Sect!