Rewind to the moment the explosion sounded.
"Who are you?"
Facing the old man and the child before him, Ye Ling could clearly sense that their presence was nothing like the rabble outside.
If he had to describe it, just looking at the pair gave him the strange illusion of standing before a lion and a tiger.
"Idiot!"
The child ignored Ye Ling completely and snapped at the elder instead.
"Must you be curious about everything? Look at this. Now we've exposed ourselves!"
"So what? He's just a Foundation Establishment-stage ant."
With Ye Ling standing right there, the old man no longer acted as timid as before. He stiffened his neck and retorted stubbornly.
It wasn't entirely his fault. Just now, his mind had been focused on how he would kill someone later. Naturally, he hadn't noticed that the beam of light had been released by Ye Ling.
"That kid may only be a Foundation Establishment-stage ant, but the person behind him is terrifyingly strong. Go handle Concealing Heavenly Secrets at once. I'll deal with this brat."
The child jumped down from the old man's arms and looked at Ye Ling with open disdain.
To be honest, although he feared the Heavenly Gate Sect and knew how formidable it was, Ye Ling looked far too weak in his eyes. He believed he could kill him with nothing more than a yawn.
"Looks like I'm being underestimated."
Facing the old and the young, Ye Ling knew he wasn't their match. He could even tell that, for the child, killing him would be effortless.
But—
"Where is this?"
Just as the child was about to make his move, he suddenly realized that he and the old man had been dragged into another space.
Given their strength, fewer than a hundred people in this world could accomplish something like this.
"Something's wrong, Young."
The old man, who had been putting on a brave face moments ago, began to panic. Forcing himself to stay calm, he said, "The laws of this space are in chaos. All my spells have failed."
In truth, it wasn't just the old man. The child wasn't faring any better.
The only thing they could rely on now was their bodies, tempered over a thousand years.
Unfortunately, among the four of them—the old, the young, the sick, and the crippled—not a single one was a Body Tempering cultivator. In this environment, they could barely exert thirty percent of their full strength.
"Now can you tell me who you are?"
Compared to them, Ye Ling was in an even worse state. After entering this space, he discovered that he had lost the power of the Talisman Dao.
Fortunately, he was also a Body Cultivator, so he didn't reveal his weakness in front of the two.
"Damn it!"
The child's expression darkened. He realized he had underestimated Ye Ling.
He didn't know that this space had been created by the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden's Avatar. Instead, he assumed Ye Ling was a top-tier powerhouse secretly nurtured by the Heavenly Gate Sect.
As he began casting a sinister technique, he sneered, "Don't think you've got us cornered!"
Unlike orthodox spells, demonic techniques were more unorthodox methods. Even amid chaotic laws, they could still function.
The child's small body swelled as if inflated, expanding into a towering giant. His skin turned crimson, radiating a strange, blood-red glow.
"Old, together!"
With a shout, he lunged at Ye Ling like a primordial beast.
At the same time, a streak of purple light flashed in the old man's eyes. When it struck the giant's body, a layer of black flames immediately wrapped around him.
The black flames were terrifying. Even space itself was scorched open by them. As the giant charged forward, it was as if a black brush were ripping through the fabric of reality.
After releasing the purple light, the old man collapsed to the ground, completely drained, panting like a dying dog. This was a supreme sinister technique—the World-Ending Black Flame that could burn through space itself.
"Grandmaster, save me!"
Ye Ling truly hadn't expected these two to possess such terrifying abilities.
He had thought he'd hooked two big fish.
What big fish?
These were damn great white sharks.
Either one of this bizarre duo was far beyond what he could handle. They weren't even on the same level.
No wonder Eve had told him to run. Facing opponents like this, escaping would already be a blessing. The old and the young had once again provided cover for Blood Edge.
But—
"Th-this…"
The Crimson Giant Young, who had been charging fiercely just moments before, didn't even finish his words before he was split cleanly in two.
Not just him— even the black flames wrapped around his body were severed by something invisible.
The old man behind him was no exception. He followed Young to the underworld as well.
At least the two of them wouldn't be lonely on the road to the afterlife.
"Th-this, this…"
Ye Ling froze completely at the sight.
Within this space, the old and the young had their spells sealed, so he couldn't accurately judge their true strength. But on the System panel, the section displaying their power was marked with three question marks, so dark red they were nearly black.
There was no need to think twice. They were unquestionably boss-level monsters.
Even without using spells, the terrifying pressure they had just unleashed was enough to show Ye Ling the gap between them.
Compared to the Azure Heavens Diagram · Sacred Finger from before, the child's monstrous attack had shattered his mental defenses far more thoroughly.
To be honest, he had already seen his life flash before his eyes. The scene had just begun to play when it was abruptly cut off the next second.
"Grandmaster… you're incredible!"
Ye Ling raised a thumbs-up and circled the woman in front of him.
She was shrouded in divine light. Not only were her features obscured, even her figure was indistinct. But judging from her outline, she resembled a grown-up version of Bai Yiyi.
The moment Ye Ling cried for help, she had casually waved her hand and wiped out the old and the young completely.
"…"
The woman said nothing. She stood there like a wooden puppet.
Ye Ling had been worried that the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden's Avatar might have certain limitations, which was why this was the first time he had summoned her.
Fortunately, there was no limit on the total number of summons.
However, he could only summon this Avatar for five minutes a day. With two Jade Pendants combined, that added up to just ten minutes.
"Grandmaster, can you answer a few questions?"
Ye Ling didn't bother checking the old and the young. That single strike just now had nearly severed even this space itself. If they weren't dead, that would truly defy reason.
In fact, if they had survived, he would have preferred it. He had hoped to extract some information from them.
Unfortunately, they were too weak. They hadn't even lasted a moment before collapsing.
"…"
The Avatar gave no response, standing there stiffly as if devoid of consciousness.
"Grandmaster, could you examine those two corpses? I want to see if there are any clues on them."
Ye Ling looked at her expectantly, hoping to unlock more functions from this Avatar.
But—
"…"
She didn't move at all.
"Sigh… so you can only handle combat?"
Ye Ling recalled the description of "Invoking the Deity"—
[Ability ①: Invoking the Deity — Activate the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden Avatar within the Jade Pendant to wield world-destroying power]
It seemed the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden's Avatar had no purpose beyond fighting.
With no other choice, Ye Ling walked over to the corpses of the old and the young, hoping to find some clues himself.
Yet just as he turned around, the Avatar—who had stood like a doll until now—suddenly trembled, as if slightly surprised.
Ye Ling crouched beside the Crimson Giant and saw that Young's wound was as clean and smooth as if cut by a blade of space.
Suppressing his nausea, he searched Young's body for a while. As expected, there was no token or item indicating his identity.
Old was no different. There was nothing useful on him either.
In the end, aside from knowing how they addressed each other and remembering their appearances, Ye Ling had gained no meaningful information.
"I wonder if that's enough to investigate their identities…"
After some thought, he decided to leave this space first. The Avatar's duration was nearly up.
He stored both corpses in his Storage Ring, then looked at the Avatar still standing in place.
"Thank you, Grandmaster. Please send me back."
If he dared entertain certain thoughts toward Bai Yiyi and Ai Yueli, then toward the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden—his master—he didn't dare harbor even the slightest improper idea.
He wasn't foolish. He knew he had merely activated the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden's Avatar, not controlled her.
If he ever treated this Avatar as a puppet, he would definitely die a miserable death.
With the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden's capabilities, how could she not have considered what might happen if the Jade Pendant accidentally fell into a man's hands?
And the divine light surrounding the Avatar only strengthened Ye Ling's conviction. He treated her with utmost respect.
But—
"You're quite an interesting boy."
A crisp, melodious voice rang out suddenly, tinged with curiosity.
"You truly don't want to command me to do something… improper?"
A chill shot straight up Ye Ling's spine.
He had suspected that this Avatar might possess self-awareness, which was why he had tested her repeatedly earlier.
Just when he thought he had been wrong, she suddenly spoke, startling him.
He immediately bowed deeply.
"This disciple would not dare. Grandmaster, please don't joke with me."
"Mm, you are somewhat interesting."
The Avatar's voice suddenly drew closer. Before Ye Ling even raised his head, he caught a faint, delicate fragrance.
Earlier, the situation had been too tense for him to notice. Now that things had calmed down, he could clearly smell it.
"What is your name?"
The voice pulled him back to his senses. He quickly looked up.
"This disciple is Ye Ling. Greetings, Grandmaster."
"Ye Ling…"
The Avatar seemed to recall something. She lifted her hand and began calculating with her fingers.
Then—
"Not bad, not bad. A destined bond indeed."
"Hm? She too?"
"No way. There's another?"
"Ha! Going to collect them all, are you?"
"You little brat, you're not bad at all."
Ye Ling had no idea what she was talking about, but he could clearly feel the pressure around him growing heavier and heavier.