The Condition Is Planting a Slave Mark — A Thousand Calculations, Yet One Missed?
The Condition Is Planting a Slave Mark — A Thousand Calculations, Yet One Missed?
Weng!
At the palace gates, countless rays of light flickered.
Vein-like patterns converged from all directions, radiating a powerful aura.
“I’m going to kill you!”
Ye Chen roared, his eyes bloodshot, like a ferocious beast ready to tear someone apart.
The secret key was his greatest trump card.
Especially within this palace — with it, he could control many of the Array Patterns and mechanisms here.
Watching Gu Changge chatting so intimately with Yan Ji, who had been his shifu just moments ago...
Gu Changge stood high above, casually pulling out treasures Ye Chen had never even seen, let alone heard of.
By contrast, he looked like a complete country bumpkin.
Inferior in every way!
The feeling was like a beggar forced to watch a prince flaunt his wealth before his eyes — and steal his woman while he was at it!
How could Ye Chen possibly endure this?
Especially since Yan Ji was an undeniable, peerless beauty who had personally taught him for years.
Both a shifu and an elder sister to him.
At the end of the day, he was just a hot-blooded young man who had always harbored certain feelings for Yan Ji.
Even if Yan Ji had betrayed him, even if the two of them had severed ties, he could not allow her to follow Gu Changge so quickly, throwing herself into the arms of his enemy.
“Die for me!”
His eyes were red, jealousy burning in his heart.
Inheritance, ferocious beast hordes — he cast it all aside. Right now, he only wanted to kill Gu Changge!
This mortal enemy who had taken everything from him!
Hong!
A tremendous commotion erupted here, as if some terrifying beast was awakening. Dreadful light burst forth from the ground!
The light gathered high in the sky, condensing terrifying power, preparing to bombard Gu Changge.
This was Ye Chen’s ultimate strike — even an Honoured Noble realm existence would blanch at it.
After all, within this secret realm, no Cultivator could exert power exceeding the Mighty-Transcendent realm.
Gu Changge was naturally no exception.
And this was one of Ye Chen’s trump cards!
“The secret key in Ye Chen’s hand can control the Array Patterns and mechanisms here. Its power is immense — Young Master, you must not be careless.”
Seeing this, Yan Ji spoke to Gu Changge, warning him to be careful, afraid he would suffer for not knowing.
At this moment, her gaze toward Ye Chen was utterly cold.
She had figured it out. To Ye Chen, she had never truly held the position of shifu from beginning to end.
He had treated her as his personal possession.
Now that they had severed ties, Ye Chen was Gu Changge’s enemy — and so she would naturally treat Ye Chen as an enemy too.
Such was the nature of her clan: once they set their minds on something, they would not easily change it.
Before, she had been Ye Chen’s shifu, and so she had wholeheartedly assisted him, guiding him onto the proper path of cultivation.
But now, she was Gu Changge’s follower, and naturally everything she did was for Gu Changge’s sake.
“The Array Patterns here cannot stop me.”
“Ye Chen won’t be stirring up any storms.”
Gu Changge laughed casually, utterly unconcerned by Ye Chen’s methods.
As he spoke, a pitch-black dharma body faintly materialized behind him. Though only at the peak of the Mighty-Transcendent realm, the pressure it exuded was like that of an ancient deity.
Hong!
As Gu Changge threw a punch, the pitch-black dharma body punched as well!
Terrifying power erupted instantly — the void itself seemed to quake like an earthquake!
Pu!
The pillars of light woven from countless Array Patterns blasted toward Gu Changge, but beneath that single punch, they dissolved into nothing!
Every single Array Pattern was erased in that instant!
Such overwhelming power left even Yan Ji somewhat shaken. She had greatly underestimated Gu Changge’s strength.
As the Young Master of the Family of Immortals, how could his methods possibly be simple?
“How is this possible...”
Ye Chen suffered the backlash, spitting out a mouthful of blood with a wah, sent flying backward, his whole body drenched in blood.
He couldn’t believe it.
Even after using the secret key to connect with the Array Patterns here, they were still shattered by a single punch from that dharma body!
And the power had been controlled with uncanny precision — never breaking the secret realm’s restrictions, just exactly enough to smash his trump card with one punch.
Kacha...
What horrified Ye Chen even more was that the secret key in his hand had cracked, fissures spreading across its surface!
In other words, most of the force of Gu Changge’s casual punch had actually been blocked by the key — otherwise, he would have instantly been reduced to a mist of blood!
This sent chills through Ye Chen’s heart.
Gu Changge’s strength far exceeded his imagination. Even at the Mighty-Transcendent realm, he could probably slaughter Honoured Noble realm cultivators with ease.
His heart went cold, and he stood there in a daze.
“You’ve hopped around long enough. Time to end this today.”
“Little leek...”
At that moment, Gu Changge spoke casually.
Weng!
He struck out with another palm, and the terrifying pitch-black dharma body extended its hand as well, expanding in the air until it blotted out everything before them!
Its expression was indifferent as a god’s, the void rumbling as if it could crush all things.
“Impossible, how could I possibly die here...” Watching all this, despair filled Ye Chen’s eyes. His whole body went cold, pinned down so thoroughly he couldn’t even twitch.
He had always thought himself strong enough, yet beneath Gu Changge’s single palm, he was as insignificant as an ant, unable to even resist!
He was truly going to die here today!
All his trump cards meant nothing in the face of absolute power!
“Gu Changge, stop!”
At that moment, an icy, delicate shout rang out.
Ye Liuli had used some unknown method to break free from the beast horde and rushed over from afar — just in time to see Gu Changge about to slap Ye Chen to death with one palm.
Chi!
A sword light slashed forth, incomparably brilliant, strands of sword intent threatening to split everything apart!
She was going to save Ye Chen!
At her full cultivation of the Honoured Noble realm, though suppressed here, she still possessed peak Mighty-Transcendent battle power. She was confident she could block Gu Changge.
Pu!
Yet to her shock, her sword strike failed to cut through the black hand formed by Gu Changge’s dharma body in the slightest. Instead, it was like a clay ox sinking into the sea — all her offensive power was swallowed up!
“How is this possible...”
“My current realm is clearly about the same as Gu Changge’s, so why can’t I even cut through the hand of one of his dharma bodies...”
A trace of disbelief showed in Ye Liuli’s eyes.
Her snow-white longsword was no ordinary weapon either — it contained special divine metal, and the sword art she wielded was the Ye Family’s supreme sword technique of the Beyond.
An ordinary Honoured Noble realm cultivator would have been cleaved dead by that single strike.
Yet Gu Changge was completely unharmed.
“You’ve come at just the right time.”
Gu Changge glanced at her, a strange look in his expression.
Then his giant hand grabbed down from the sky, and amid rumbling sounds, seized Ye Chen directly in its palm.
The posture was exactly like grabbing a little bug!
“Liuli...” Ye Chen was gripped tight, his face pale. He couldn’t help crying out, struggling desperately.
But it was useless.
This was the manifestation of Gu Changge’s Myriad Transformations Heavenly Demon art.
Let alone the current Ye Chen — even if he broke through another entire major realm, he still couldn’t break free.
Ye Chen knew it too: right now, only Ye Liuli could save him.
“Pu...”
Yet the moment he opened his mouth, Gu Changge’s giant hand clenched, making him cough up great mouthfuls of blood, his face turning violently pale.
Yan Ji watched all this with a calm expression, feeling no sympathy for the Ye Chen of today.
He had brought it upon himself.
She had warned him back then, but he hadn’t listened — and so he reaped today’s bitter fruit.
“What, you want to save him?” Gu Changge looked at Ye Liuli with a faint smile, seemingly unsurprised that she had fought her way through the beast horde.
She was, after all, the little princess of the Ye Family.
Her methods were surely plentiful, her treasures and artifacts numerous. Dealing with that beast tide at a critical moment was no great difficulty.
Most importantly, Gu Changge had guessed she would come.
With Ye Chen in his hand, he could make good use of him — squeeze out his last remaining value.
“Gu Changge, stop! Let Ye Chen-gege go. Whatever demands you have, just say them.”
Ye Liuli spoke coldly. Seeing Gu Changge’s expression, she knew he had some scheme in mind.
At this point, there was no way she could stand by and watch Ye Chen-gege die.
Given Gu Changge’s character, he would surely use this to threaten and demand something.
Moreover, Gu Changge’s strength was too great — ordinary methods couldn’t deal with him. At first, she had still held a sliver of hope for Ye Chen-gege, thinking that since he was so confident, he must have had some assurance.
But she never expected that the moment she arrived, she’d see Ye Chen-gege slapped into the ground by Gu Changge’s single palm.
For a moment, Ye Liuli didn’t know what to say.
“Any condition at all?”
Gu Changge’s expression turned somewhat meaningful as he asked in return.
Ye Liuli looked at him coldly. “As long as you spare Ye Chen-gege, anything is negotiable. Of course, the condition can’t be too excessive...”
“Hold on. Right now, it’s not you negotiating terms with me — it’s me negotiating with you. Get that straight first.” Gu Changge raised an eyebrow, cutting her off, still perfectly composed.
“If you can’t even understand that much, then there’s no need for you to save Ye Chen.”
As he spoke, a trace of a smile appeared on his face — quite the picture of graceful elegance.
In the void, the black giant hand clenched tight.
Ye Chen spat out blood again with a wah, his face filled with hatred, fury, and defiance.
Gu Changge’s refined, gentle appearance, in Ye Liuli’s eyes, was no different from a fiendish demon, making her pretty face grow even colder.
“Liuli, don’t agree to anything. Even if I die, I won’t let you beg him on my behalf.” At this moment, Ye Chen actually showed considerable backbone, glaring defiantly at Gu Changge as if he would tear him to pieces even after death.
“Did I say you could speak?” Gu Changge swept him a flat glance.
Pu!
Ye Chen spurted blood, squeezed tight once more, nearly suffocating.
“What condition will make you release Ye Chen-gege? Say it! As long as I can do it.” Ye Liuli stared fixedly at Gu Changge, her eyes full of fury.
“Simple. Open your Knowledge Sea and let me plant a Slave Mark.” Gu Changge’s expression barely changed as he spoke lightly.
Hearing this, even Ye Chen’s expression changed.
Once a Slave Mark was planted, it meant becoming a slave from then on, driven at another’s will.
The price was far too great.
Would Ye Liuli agree? He had no idea.
A trace of struggle showed in his expression...
“Liuli, don’t agree to it. I’d rather choose death...”
Then, Ye Chen couldn’t help shouting loudly.
He didn’t want to die. He still had revenge to take — he couldn’t die here.
So he understood clearly:
At this moment, he couldn’t show the slightest cowardice, much less appear to cling to life, or Ye Liuli would surely hesitate.
Ye Chen didn’t want to deceive Ye Liuli like this either, but without doing so, he truly would die today.
Gu Changge would kill him.
His heart was in agony. He didn’t know how he had ended up like this.
All of this was Gu Changge’s fault!
“Plant a Slave Mark? Gu Changge, your ambition really is grand. But for Ye Chen-gege’s sake — I’m willing.”
Hearing Gu Changge’s words, Ye Liuli inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
But on the surface, she still put on an appearance of fury, of someone who had wrestled through an agonizing decision. She remained silent for a good while before finally taking a deep breath and speaking.
She believed this act of hers could fool Gu Changge.
After all, within the Ye Family there existed a Primordial Spirit Path that could eradicate all arts targeting the Primordial Spirit — a Slave Mark included.
This was something only the direct bloodline of the Ye Family knew.
Gu Changge had calculated a thousand things, ten thousand things — but he hadn’t calculated this.
There was still a way to undo all of this!