Chapter 27 Contrast
Chapter 27 Contrast
Fire and ice waged war inside his chest.
The black fire in Ye Chen’s veins receded slowly. He sat on the rough stone floor of his cave in Blood Crag Valley. He was recovering from the brutal initiation of the inner force Nine Hells Devouring Art.
Unlike the burning heat of standard Yang skills, his body suffered from a profound cold. The freezing Yin energy invaded his core. It tried to lock his heart in a cage of solid ice.
His golden Chaos Qi fought back with savage ferocity. The two opposing forces clashed directly inside his Dantian.
He felt his blood boil and freeze in the exact same breath.
His Level One Iron Bone Vajra Skill reacted to the internal trauma. His newly forged iron skeleton recognized the threat to his body.
The dense marrow inside his bones began to vibrate. The intense physical friction generated massive heat. His skeleton acted as a roaring internal furnace to thaw his freezing meridians.
The heat melted the encroaching black ice. The turbulent energies inside his stomach finally slowed.
Ye Chen opened his eyes. He exhaled a long breath of freezing white mist.
He looked inward and observed his new foundation. A volatile dual core now existed inside his Dantian. A pool of golden Yang energy sat on the right. A pool of pitch black Yin energy sat on the left.
His mortal vessel had adapted to hold both.
He stood up from the cold stone floor. He needed to test the destructive limits of the black ice.
He walked out of the shallow cave and stepped onto the crimson cliff. The red dust of the valley swirled in the dry wind.
A heavy object sailed through the thick red mist. It slammed violently onto the jagged rocks near his boots.
Ye Chen looked down. It was Bai Yun.
The Azure Cloud dropout was battered beyond recognition. Both of his eyes were swollen shut. Several of his fingers were bent at unnatural broken angles. Thick blood soaked his cheap civilian tunic.
Bai Yun coughed weakly. He reached a trembling bloody hand toward Ye Chen.
Three figures stepped out of the swirling red dust.
Two men wore the heavy steel armor of Azure Cloud Enforcers. They carried thick broadswords resting on their shoulders.
The third man walked ahead of them. He wore the pristine silver robes of an elite Inner Sect disciple. A glowing jade sword hung casually at his hip.
The silver robes remained spotless despite the bloody dirt of the valley. A faint barrier of spiritual energy repelled the red dust from his clothes.
"You are very difficult to track," the Inner Sect disciple said. He smiled a smug arrogant smile.
Ye Chen did not look at the elite disciple. He knelt beside Bai Yun.
"I did not tell them," Bai Yun wheezed through broken teeth. "They ambushed me in the Capital safehouse. They used a blood tracking art on the medicine vial you gave the girl."
"Rest now," Ye Chen told him quietly.
Ye Chen stood up and faced the three hunters.
"You left a loose end at the logging camp," the Inner Sect disciple mocked. "One of the outer guards played dead in the mud. He saw your face."
The elite disciple stepped closer to the cliff edge. He looked down his nose at Ye Chen.
"Elder Wang was furious," the disciple continued. "He sent my elite squad to erase his mistake. We found this traitor in the Capital and broke his fingers until the magic pointed us to this vile canyon."
The disciple drew a fine silk handkerchief from his sleeve. He wiped a speck of dust from his silver cuff.
"You are just a crippled Outer Sect dog," the disciple sneered. "You got lucky against complacent guards. Now you face true Inner Sect authority."
The disciple waved his hand toward the two heavy Enforcers.
"Break his limbs," the elite ordered. "I want to drag him back to Elder Wang like a chained dog."
The two Enforcers grinned. They drew their broadswords.
Thick yellow Earth Qi enveloped their steel blades. The elemental magic made the heavy weapons hum with aggressive kinetic power. They charged across the crimson rocks.
Ye Chen did not reach for the broken sword hilt on his back. He stood like a statue on the cliff edge.
He bypassed his golden Chaos Qi. He tapped directly into the dark pool on the left side of his Dantian. He activated the Nine Hells Devouring Art.
A freezing pitch black aura erupted from his flesh. It wreathed his bare fists in dark smoke.
The ambient temperature on the cliff plummeted. A thin layer of frost formed on the red rocks beneath his boots.
He triggered his Level One Phantom Shadow Step.
Ye Chen vanished from their sight. The two Enforcers halted their charge. They swung their heavy swords at empty air.
Ye Chen reappeared a fraction of a second later. He stood directly between the two massive guards.
He drove his black wreathed fists outward. He struck both men simultaneously in the center of their steel breastplates.
He did not use the shockwave of his chaos arts. He let the Nine Hells Devouring Art do the work.
The Demonic Qi flooded from his knuckles. It washed over the heavy steel armor.
The premium metal rotted in the blink of an eye. The steel turned to brittle brown rust and crumbled away like dry leaves.
The freezing black aura bypassed the ruined armor and plunged straight into their chests.
The two Enforcers did not even have time to scream. The demonic magic froze their internal meridians into black ash. Their blood turned to solid ice inside their veins.
They dropped to the crimson rocks. They were dead before their knees hit the ground.
The elite disciple took a frantic step backward. His smug smile shattered into pieces.
He stared at the two dead Enforcers. He stared at the pitch black aura rolling in thick waves off Ye Chen’s bronze skin.
"What forbidden artifact did you steal?" the Inner Sect disciple demanded. Panic laced his voice.
He refused to believe an Outer Sect servant possessed this kind of power. His pride would not allow him to accept the reality standing in front of him. He convinced himself Ye Chen was using a stolen sect treasure.
"I stole nothing," Ye Chen said. He took a slow step forward. The black smoke trailed from his hands. "I am just the dog you came to chain."
"Die beggar."
The elite disciple drew his glowing jade sword. He unleashed a high tier elemental sword art.
A flurry of razor sharp wind blades erupted from the jade weapon. The glowing green arcs of compressed air flew toward Ye Chen with lethal speed.
Ye Chen did not dodge. He walked straight through the barrage.
The wind blades struck his chest and arms. They tore through his shredded gray tunic.
They struck his skin and sparked like steel hitting stone. His Iron Bone Vajra Skill shrugged off the glancing blows. The dense iron foundation rendered the cuts useless.
The Inner Sect disciple watched his sword art fail. True despair finally set into his eyes.
He turned to run.
Ye Chen used the Phantom Shadow Step. He crossed the distance and grabbed the elite disciple by the throat.
He lifted the man off the crimson rocks with one hand. The disciple dropped his jade sword. He clawed desperately at Ye Chen’s iron grip.
"Elder Wang is next," Ye Chen whispered into the dying man’s ear.
Ye Chen pumped the pure Demonic Qi directly into the disciple’s neck. The freezing black ice rushed down the main artery. It hit the elite disciple’s heart and froze the organ solid.
The man’s eyes rolled back. His body went limp.
Ye Chen dropped the corpse onto the red rocks. He looked down at the three dead hunters from the Azure Cloud Sect.
"System," Ye Chen commanded. "Extract."
A stream of pure energy flowed from the three bodies. The combined Qi of two veteran Enforcers and one elite Inner Sect disciple rushed into his Dantian.
The blue interface chimed brightly in the red mist.
\[Experience gained.\]
\[Qi Extracted. Reward: 100 System Points.\]
Ye Chen opened his status screen. He looked at his balance.
He possessed one hundred and sixty points. He had secured a solid harvest from the hit squad. But the number was still far too low.
He needed one thousand points to force the first level upgrade of the Nine Hells manual. He needed to push the demonic art past the uninitiated stage to challenge Su Rou.
He turned away from the bodies. He knelt beside Bai Yun and hoisted the unconscious dropout to seat.
He looted the Enforcers and gave some healing pills to Bai Yun.
“Take this too” He said “Give some to Ling if she needs. This is a communication talisman, I'll be here for a while. If you need help, tell me immediately” Ye Chen said, putting the other half of the talisman in his pocket.
Bai Yun nodded while still sitting down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before standing up and sprinted for the Capital
Ye Chen looked down into the dark abyss of Blood Crag Valley. The rogue cultivators in the city below were dying from the plague. The mutated spirits were rising from the red dust.
The valley was a massive farm of corrupted souls. The true hunt shall begin