Chapter Thirteen: Strange Happenings

  With a majestic and powerful stride, the figure stepped into the Chao Ge Lou. As he entered, Ye Chen's silhouette trembled slightly for an instant, and a shocking sword intent swept over before dissipating.

  Cold sweat trickled down his face, and in that instant, Ye Chen clearly felt the tremble of the true crystal within him. He muttered to himself: "What a powerful sword intent!"

  The Huo Qilin slowly emerged from the ring, its copper bell-sized pupils staring intently at the upper part of the pavilion, saying in a low voice: "Little one, is there something good up there?"

  "Good stuff?" The corner of his mouth twitched, and a hint of fiery color flashed in his eyes. Whatever could make Huo Qilin say it was good stuff must be exceptional. Ye Chen relaxed his right arm, lazily saying: "Little Fire, what is it exactly? With your taste, it's definitely not bad!"

  A moment of silence, Huo Qilin's figure turned into a stream of light and shot towards the ring, apparently very annoyed with the name Xiao Huo. The roar immediately echoed in Ye Chen's mind again: "Little boy, my name is Huo Qi, the thing on the attic will let you know when you go up!"

  Helplessly rubbing his forehead, he slowly walked towards the attic, muttering to himself: "It's really annoying, being so old and yet still so petty!"

  Qilin's seal in the midst of flames, Qilin was speechless for a moment, and then the roar sounded again like a gust of wind blowing away leaves, drifting in Ye Chen's mind.

  Stepping into the dark gate, the light is slightly dim, and soft rays emanate from the surrounding walls, illuminating the spacious building in a deep and quiet manner. Ye Chen scanned the surrounding walls, and his face involuntarily revealed a hint of astonishment. The walls were carved with murals, but those murals depicted lifelike green dragons.

  As he stepped into the attic, a spacious corridor appeared before his eyes. At the far end of this corridor, a dazzling light screen stood upright, and a faint breeze carrying true energy waves slowly spread out in all directions. Ye Chen's eyebrows slightly raised, and he cautiously approached the light screen, as the fire-attribute true energy within him involuntarily surged out of his body and merged into the light screen.

  In an instant, a clear and melodious sword hum rose, and the entire ancestral hall began to shake. Outside the hall, the old man looked at the pavilion with a shocked expression. Over the past few hundred years, dozens of Ye family disciples had entered the ancestral hall, but none of them had triggered such a strong reaction when they entered the pavilion. He couldn't help but mutter: "Perhaps he can create a miracle!"

  The expression on Ye Mowan's face beside him also changed slightly, and she sighed softly, muttering: "I just hope he comes out safely!"

  The light screen slowly dissipated and transformed into a staircase that extended from in front of Ye Chen, stretching upwards to an unknown end. Ye Chen took a deep breath, his eyes revealing a determined look, and stepped onto the stairs, walking up step by step. As he continued to move forward, the staircase behind him slowly disappeared.

  Suddenly, a beam of light flashed on the ancestral hall, this light became more and more intense, almost dazzling to the eyes. Then the entire ancestral hall shook again, emitting a clear sword hum, Ye Chen's figure was engulfed by that beam of light, mysteriously disappearing on the stairs.

  Behind him, the clouds were like waves rolling in, constantly surging beneath his feet. In this crystal-clear icy world, the sky was filled with a somberness that couldn't be put into words as snowflakes danced wildly. His teeth chattered and the chill on his skin made Ye Chen unable to hold back a yawn. He quickly circulated his Fire Attribute True Qi to resist the cold from outside.

  "Where is this?" Ye Chen looked around cautiously, his heart filled with doubt. He immediately turned to his right and said softly, "Xiao Huo, where are we?"

  The originally radiant Qilin ring now also appears dull and dim, the only response to Ye Chen is the howling whistling cold wind.

  Originally thought Huo Qilin would know, but his sudden disappearance also made Ye Chen feel a sense of unease, and then he immediately became calm again.

  In an unknown environment, it's crucial to stay vigilant, with eyes scanning the surroundings. "Could I have already left the Ancestral Hall?" Ye Chen felt a shock in his heart. On the Wugong Continent, there was something called the Void Array that could connect two different locations. "That means I've already left the Ancestral Hall!"

  However, the Void Array is a high-end product on the mainland, how can it exist in the Ye Family Ancestral Hall?

  Since you're already here, then make yourself at home. All around is a vast expanse of whiteness, so I can only choose a direction to move forward in, occasionally sizing up the surroundings in case something unexpected happens. The figure reflected from the ice and snow keeps wavering and changing, and there isn't a single path in front of me, because apart from ice and snow, it's still just ice and snow.

  But Ye Chen had a strange feeling in his heart at this time, as if there was a silent call ahead urging him to keep moving forward, and the white vastness in front of him was no longer a problem in Ye Chen's eyes, slowly advancing forward, with only the sound of wind and snow in his ears.

  Until the moment when everything became clear, Ye Chen, a normally calm person, was now filled with shock and astonishment in his eyes, completely stunned by the scene before him, involuntarily taking a step back, as if nothing else in the world could surprise him like this again.

  Before him was a vast expanse of ice, smooth as a mirror, stretching out in front of Ye Chen. In the center of this mirror-like surface stood a sword.

  A sword of ice, over ten zhang high, stood upright towards the sky, emitting an aura that made Ye Chen feel a sense of unparalleled dominance from hundreds of feet away, evoking a feeling of submission.

  But what surprised Ye Chen even more was that on the empty ground under this sword, there were all sorts of fresh flowers blooming around it, with a hundred flowers competing to bloom. On the hilt of the ice sword carved with a ghost face, however, not a single blade of grass grew, and it was filled with a black deathly aura, making the circle of fresh flowers surrounding it look even more eerie and extraordinary.

  This giant sword seemed to have some kind of unimaginable power, a sense of despair and oppression filled Ye Chen's entire heart. The fire attribute true energy surged out of Ye Chen's body like a tide, Ye Chen's aura greatly increased, one punch was thrown out, all the true energy in his body was concentrated on this punch, taking another step forward.

  A sudden mutation occurred. The cluster of dead energy seemed to have a life of its own, and in the instant that Ye Chen's fist struck out, it surged up onto his fist. Ye Chen only felt his heart wildly racing, and many illusions appeared before his eyes.

  Bloody scenes flooded in like a tide towards Ye Chen, where a group of savage beasts devoid of humanity were committing an inhumane massacre. Life was no longer life to them; regardless of age or sex, any living creature that could walk on two legs became a victim under the butcher's knife. Blood flowed into rivers, dyeing the yellow earth red. The mournful cries and wails only further stimulated the killer's ferocity. Women, in particular, became the most tragic victims of humiliation at this time.

  The bloody scene was escalating, and Ye Chen's eyes had turned a deep crimson. The figures around him were stained with blood, the trees were dyed red, and the air was thick with the stench of death. Even Ye Chen, who had hovered on the brink of death in his past life, couldn't help but turn pale.

  The scene suddenly changed, a dazzling light flashed by, "plop" sound, bloodstains dripped down from Ye Chen's mouth corner, waking up from the illusion, staring at the sword with a ghostly face carved on its hilt, his eyes involuntarily revealing a hint of horror.

  That bloody scene was deeply etched in Ye Chen's mind, impossible to erase. Cold sweat dripped down his face as he stumbled backward several steps, weakly rubbing his forehead. At this moment, he finally understood why the people who came in went crazy - that bloody scene was not something ordinary people could bear; it had no humanity, only slaughter.

  "Hey, kiddo! What are you doing?!" A familiar voice boomed in Ye Chen's ear like thunder, causing his figure to shudder. The scene before him scattered in all directions like flowing water.

  Right before his eyes, everything suddenly became clear. He found himself in an attic, where the air was filled with sword energy. Several strands of varying strengths of sword intent were darting about wildly. With a sudden intake of breath, Ye Chen's heart skipped a beat as those strands of sword intent made him break out in cold sweat.

  Hu Qilin's small and delicate figure slowly appeared in front of Ye Chen's chest, and Ye Chen, with a pale face, couldn't help but laugh: "Kid, you're really not doing well, are you? You're making me lose face!"