Chapter 357

: Tempering Will
Translator: Swammped Editor: Hitesh_

This kid sure is lucky.
Being clear about this forbidden zone’s terror, Gold Rock gave up on any thoughts of chasing. He had yet to hear of any Astral Reaching realm expert returning back from here. Sea Of Soul realm experts also had no way of helping those inside. Perhaps a Life and Death realm Monarch would have a chance to help, but who could invite such an expert? From here on, he probably wouldn’t see the person named Ye Chen again.
Standing at the edge of the zone, Shen Tujue seemed rather unwilling to give up. He moved his right hand before his chest and punched out.
This punch seemed as if it didn’t contain any striking power. The fist energy exploded and winds radiated out in fan shaped arcs, blowing away several li of the dense fog.
As the fog dissipated, the surrounding fog seemed as if it had come alive, madly rushing to occupy the fog-free area. In a few breaths, the dense fog had become even thicker, without a single opening. The strange matter in the dense fog made the transmission of spirit power exceptionally hard.

Damn it all! My Blood Evil Stone!

Shen Tujue gnashed his teeth in rage. Blood Evil Stone, inside the forbidden zone with Ye Chen, was now completely cut off from him. With the three ordinary blood evil stones in his hand, the chances of condensing a martial soul wouldn’t exceed twenty percent. Who knew how many months, how many years would it take to obtain another chance like this.
Bang!
The lake water caved in from Shen Tujue’s punch, seeming like a huge wok.
Pei Youdao didn’t say a word and began retracing the previous path. Instead of wasting energy, why not try his luck at the Blood Demon Battlefield. Who knew, he might be able to get his hands on a few remaining Blood Evil Beasts.
Seeing Shen Tujue’s wrathful and distressed appearance, Gold Rock was able to calm his mind, thinking, ‘Even if that kid had been captured, the chances of me getting the blood evil stone would have been no more than thirty percent. If he gets his hand on that stone, there will be suspense in who the number one Astral Reaching expert of South Rudra Region would be.


Hehe, Shen Tujue, I’ll take my leave here.

With a chuckle, Gold Rock turned around and left.
‘Humph, although I couldn’t get the blood evil stone, I did settle an absolute genius that threatened the Floating Mountain Sect. Leaving Bewilderment Fog Forbidden Zone is not that easy. Just wait for your death here!’ Furiously glaring at the dense fog, ShenTujue thought in indignation.
Shua!
Shen Tujue also left, following Pei Youdao and Gold Rock…
…
Not being able to see starlight or his surroundings, and not even the lake water, Ye Chen had seemingly entered a different, isolated world.

Fortunately, soul power is only restricted by ten percent, compared to the spirit power that is restricted by ninety-percent.

The biggest difference Ye Chen had compared to other Astral Reaching experts was that not only could he mobilize spirit power, he could also employ a powerful soul power. Soul power was the essence of spirit power. There were extremely few things that could restrict its scope, and this strange fog was not one of them.
Ye Chen pondered for a moment, then dove into the ice-cold lake water.
…
By the time Shen Tuejue and the other two returned to the Blood Demon Battlefield, the new day had already risen. The Astral Reaching experts at the Chaotic Burial Mound were ever increasing, numbering in several hundreds. Under the White Robe blade artist’s watch, they were not afraid of blood evil beasts’ attack. After all, regardless of how powerful these beasts were, they couldn’t instantly kill an extreme Astral Reaching expert, along with hundreds of Astral Reaching experts who were not weak either.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
At this moment, three streaks of light flashed at the horizon and arrived there.

They’re back.


I wonder whether Ye Chen was killed or not.


Probably killed! Under a combined pursuit of three extreme Astral Reaching experts, there is almost nobody under the Sea of Soul realm that could escape. Don’t forget that both Shen Tujue and Gold Rock are among the best of extreme Astral Reaching experts. Both of their individual strengths are above Ye Chen’s.


A pity. It’s been so many years since such a frightening genius appeared in South Rudra region.

As people discussed, their faces showed disappointed expressions.
White Robe blade artist creased his brows on seeing their return. He didn’t wish to see Ye Chen’s death. Logically speaking, Ye Chen should have certainly died this time. He’d some friendly relations with Pei Youdao, so he asked,
Pei Youdao, what’s the situation?

Pei Youdao said indifferently,
Ye Chen won’t appear in the world again.


Dead?

Pei Youdao shook his head, but then faintly nodded,
Not dead, but not much different than dead. He entered the Thirty Thousand Li Bewilderment Fog Restricted Zone.


Thirty Thousand Li Bewilderment Fog Restricted Zone.
White Robe blade artist’s pupils shrank. Twenty years ago, his master had also entered Bewilderment Fog Restricted Zone, and was yet to appear again. At that time, the latter was acknowledged as one of the three great extreme Astral Reaching experts, with strength being higher than his.
Hearing the conversation between White Robe blade artist and Pei Youdao, everybody was speechless.
Indeed, entering Bewilderment Fog Forbidden Zone was not much different from death. They were yet to hear of even one Astral Reaching expert making out. Once there was an almighty Sea of Souls expert who wished to explore the mysteries of Bewilderment Fog Forbidden Zone. The result was that he was trapped within for three years, and henceforth, never dared to venture inside again.

Ye Chen entered Bewilderment Fog Forbidden Zone?
A strange gleam appeared in Murong Qingcheng’s eyes, recalling the first time they had met. At the first encounter, he was nothing outstanding, completely mediocre. The next time, his strength had made tremendous progress. At the moment of critical danger, he had saved her and Qi Shaofeng’s lives. The third time, he amazed everybody. He snatched the number one spot of Hidden Dragon List from Si Kongsheng, astonishing everybody. The fourth time, there were hardly a few Astral Reaching experts who were his match. He suppressed White Bone Ghost Commander on his own and battled Floating Mountain Sect’s core elder, Shen Tujue, on equal footing, then was daring enough to snatch blood evil stone from the hands of four extreme Astral Reaching experts. This sort of courage and tricks could only be deemed as shocking.
Not to exaggerate, although a lot of people hadn’t seen Ye Chen in person, his fame had spread far and wide as being peerless among the young generation of South Rudra Region. Even the older generation of Astral Reaching experts didn’t have such fame. Some people had even begun comparing him to the geniuses of other regions, believing that regardless of where he went, he would be considered a genius. One shouldn’t ignore that even Si Kongsheng hadn’t received such assessment.

I believe you can walk out of Bewilderment Fog Forbidden Zone.

Murong Qingcheng said inwardly.
Mo Yan blankly stared for a moment, then revealed an ambiguous expression. He was quite clear on the terror of Bewilderment Fog Forbidden Zone. Ye Chen wouldn’t be coming this time. After a few moments, his heart was completely carefree.
At the same time, Li Daoxuan, Yan Chihuo as well as Bing Ling all had different expressions.

Wang Po, get lost from here.
Nowhere to vent the fire in his heart, Shen Tujue’s gaze fell upon White Robe blade artist.
The latter sneered,
I have wished to experience your strength long since. Just come at me!


Boasting without shame, go die!

The two no longer exchanged words and struck out.
…
Crash!
Huge waves rose on the ice-cold lake water, as an unconscious figure rose and fell in the water. The surroundings were nothing but dense fog and complete darkness.
After an unknown time, Ye Chen’s consciousness returned.

What is this place?

Without an ounce of strength left in his body, Ye Chen spat out lake water with great difficulty, his eyes at a loss.
After a while, he gave up on any thoughts of exploration. Regardless of how strong his soul power was, it could only sweep through a few dozen li in his surroundings, while this dense fog seemed boundless, with no end in sight.
He shifted his attention from the surroundings to his own body and let out a bitter smile. His condition didn’t look good. Fifty percent of his meridians had been damaged, and those that were not damaged had been clogged, incapable of allowing Zhen Yuan circulation. The Zhen Yuan core in his dantian had turned completely dim, on the brink of being completely dried up. To make matters worse, his internal and external injuries were exceedingly grave, which made his physical strength drop critically. After soaking in the lake’s cold water, necrosis of his flesh had begun.
The only good news was that there was still a strand of Green Lotus Sword Qi in his Dantian. For the current him, this was probably his only life saving grace.

I have to heal my injuries before anything else.

For an ordinary person, such circumstances almost meant certain death. Fortunately, Ye Chen’s storage ring had the Heavenly Demonic Flower, which had a frightening efficacy. Treating this level of injuries wouldn’t be much of an issue.
A strand of Zhen Yuan flowed out of the dim Dantian. Circulating through the intact meridians, it entered the storage ring.
Buzz!
A Heavenly Demonic Flower appeared in Ye Chen’s palm.
Incapable of directly consuming the flower to treat his injuries, Ye Chem could only absorb the medicinal energy on the surface with what was left of his Zhen Yuan, then merge it in his arm.
Due to his sparse Zhen Yuan, the absorption was extremely little. If he had abundant Zhen Yuan, he could have recovered in an hour. However, currently, even after five days, he was only able to recover by thirty percent.

I can finally move!

The flower had not only allowed to recover thirty percent of his injuries, it had also increased his physical strength greatly. Just by relying on this physical body of his, even Clasping Yuan martial artists might not be a match for him. Freely moving in the lake water shouldn’t be a big issue for him.
Without Zhen Yuan, he couldn’t fly. So, he picked a direction, brought his hands and feet in position, and rapidly swam away.
One day!
Two days!
After a whole week, Ye Chen eventually managed to find a small island.
Crawling on the island, Ye Chen took a look around. This island was merely a few hundred meters long. It couldn’t be any smaller, and could be drowned by the lake water at any moment. On the island were some strange plants and huge rocks which had some medium-sized cracks.
He lit a fire and roasted some fish. He had not eaten anything for many days after all.
Near the bonfire, Ye Chen’s face glimmered, sometimes clear and sometimes dark.

If I’m not wrong, this should be Star Lake’s great forbidden area- Bewilderment Fog Forbidden Zone- reputed as a region from where Astral Reaching experts can’t return. Although I have soul power, leaving this zone would be extremely hard. Moreover, my strength can’t ensure my safety. Thus, I can’t move around as I please.

Losing Zhen Yuan had a huge impact on Ye Chen. He had no choice but to proceed with caution.
After eating some fish, Ye Chen didn’t continue to treat his injuries with the Heavenly Demonic Flower. It was not that he didn’t wish to do so, but the last strand of Zhen Yuan in his body had also been exhausted. He was simply incapable of absorbing the flower’s medicinal energies. As for swallowing the flower, he didn’t wish to do so. At present, he was not in a critical danger, so he wouldn’t go ahead and make one for himself.

Can’t treat my injuries, can’t restore my Zhen Yuan, so I can only temper my will.

He swallowed a meridian repairing pill. Having lost Zhen Yuan, the conversion speed was so slow that it could make one howl in frustration, and the effect was also not good. Ye Chen didn’t hope to perfectly repair his meridians. His only hope was that it could repair a part of it, allowing a basic path of circulation.
After completing these tasks, Ye Chen took out a blood colored stone from his bosom and sucked in a deep breath. He then urged his sword intent, pervading the stone.