Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

”H-How is this possible?”

”He actually got out of the Mirror Realm Array?”

”This is bad! Let’s go!”

Li Ru’s expression changed drastically, and he moved to take Shen Yourong and the other two away.

But...

How could Jiang Chen let him get his way?

”Stay right where you are!”

Jiang Chen let out a cold snort. The Spirit-Slaying Sword gripped in his hand pulsed with black light. With a piercing SWISH, the blade shot forward.

BOOM!

The space before them trembled violently.

The swirling wind, along with Shen Yourong and the others who were about to flee, all froze for a moment. They were caught in the Time Freeze of Jiang Chen’s Three Lives Technique’s Present Skill!

”I... I can’t move!”

”Jiang Chen is here! No... no... I don’t want to die...”

The faces of Shen Yourong, Shen Cuihua, and Shen Ruhua paled, filled with despair and resentment.

Within their pupils...

A black Sword Aura drew closer and closer, growing larger until it filled their entire vision.

SWISH!

The Sword Aura tore through them.

Shen Yourong and his two daughters were simultaneously shredded by the Sword Aura, exploding into a shower of gore.

Not even their bones remained!

Li Ru’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets. He felt the incomparably sharp Sword Aura at his back, on the verge of shattering his Protective True Essence. At that critical moment, the Time Freeze finally wore off. The instant he could move again, Li Ru dodged to the side.

BOOM!

The Sword Aura missed its target and struck the ground, causing the entire earth to tremble.

RUMBLE...

The Sword Aura surged forward like a torrent.

Wherever it passed, it carved a massive trench into the earth, stretching for untold kilometers as if it had torn the very ground asunder.

Li Ru’s expression shifted. ”What a terrifying attack. No wonder even Yangg Hong died at your hands.”

Jiang Chen snorted coldly. ”Li Ru, are you going to hand over Xiaoyou and the others or not?”

”Heheheh!”

Li Ru sneered. ”If you want to save them, then follow me!”

WHOOSH—

Li Ru had no intention of fighting. He turned and fled into the distance.

”Where do you think you’re going!”

Jiang Chen gave chase relentlessly.

Li Ru headed straight for a mountain covered in thick snow. His cultivation, after all, was at the Seventh Stage of Human Emperor Realm, a full nine Small Realms higher than Jiang Chen’s. Even using the Golden-winged Roc Body Technique, Jiang Chen couldn’t catch up. He could only follow Li Ru toward the snowy peak.

At their speed, reaching the mountain hundreds of miles away took but a moment.

One after the other, they arrived at the foot of the snow-capped mountain.

Li Ru shot a mocking glance at Jiang Chen and grinned. ”Jiang Chen, your friends are up there. Come and get them, if you’ve got the guts!”

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Li Ru’s figure moved like an agile monkey, darting swiftly up the mountain toward the summit.

He didn’t seem interested in fighting, his only goal being to lure Jiang Chen up the mountain.

Jiang Chen looked up at the towering, snow-covered mountain. It gave off a strangely dangerous feeling. ’There must be a trap up there, something even more powerful than the Mirror Realm Array. Otherwise, why would Li Ru go to such lengths to lure me here?’

Li Ru stood halfway up the mountain.

Turning back to look at Jiang Chen, the corner of his mouth curled up as he sneered, ”Jiang Chen, don’t you want to save that little girl and your two Battle Pets? What’s the matter? Given up on them already?”

Jiang Chen snorted coldly.

The pair of cyan wings on his back trembled, and with a SWOOSH, he transformed into a streak of Flowing Light, rocketing after him.

Before long, the two of them, one chasing the other, had reached the summit.

「Atop the snowy summit.」

Large, downy snowflakes filled the air, drifting everywhere.

As Jiang Chen set foot on the summit, he suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold, and his body froze in place. An extremely frigid aura erupted from within him, seeming to halt even the snowflakes drifting through the air.

In the center of the summit was a massive Ice Lake.

At this moment...

Xiaoyou, Little Black, and Little White had their cultivation sealed. They were tied up securely and thrown into the very center of the Ice Lake.

A purplish tint covered Xiaoyou’s delicate face, and her whole body was trembling.

She was on the verge of freezing solid!

”Xiaoyou, Little Black, Little White, are you all right?” Jiang Chen shouted.

But the three of them on the Ice Lake seemed not to hear him at all.

Jiang Chen glared at Li Ru. ”What did you do to them?”

Li Ru shrugged, a smug smile on his face. ”Don’t worry, they’re fine for now. They’re just asleep. However, I can’t guarantee they’ll still be fine in a little while!”

”See this Ice Lake? A type of Demon Beast called the Sword-toothed Fish lives down there. The Sword-toothed Fish loves nothing more than fresh meat. Even if you threw a whole cow in, it would be stripped of all its flesh in an instant, leaving no intact corpse behind.” As he spoke, Li Ru suddenly flicked a finger.

A speck of True Essence shot out without warning.

CRACK!

The blade of True Essence struck the Ice Lake, piercing straight through the ice. Cracks began to spiderweb out in all directions.

With a casual wave of his hand, Li Ru tossed a cow onto the broken ice.

From beneath the shattered ice, countless palm-sized, ferocious-looking black fish suddenly swarmed.

CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!

In the blink of an eye, thousands upon thousands of Sword-toothed Fish devoured the several-hundred-kilogram cow, leaving behind nothing but a skeleton trailing shreds of meat and blood.

Jiang Chen’s face was utterly grim. He fixed a dark stare on Li Ru and said in a low voice, ”If you dare to harm a single hair on their heads, I guarantee I will chop you into pieces and feed you to those fish.”

”Ooh, I’m so scared! Hahaha...”

Li Ru sneered disdainfully. He leaned forward slightly, a savage grin spreading across his face. ”Jiang Chen, to deal with you, I went so far as to expose this Void Realm that my Fenghuo Commerce Association has painstakingly managed for years. Today, if I can’t make you stay here forever, how can I possibly face my ancestors?”

”You think you can make me stay?” Jiang Chen scoffed.

”Hahaha, I know you’re very strong. That’s why I’ve made special preparations for you!”

Li Ru laughed and clapped his hands together, producing a series of crisp sounds. Then, four figures suddenly emerged from the swirling white snow.

The four moved with steady steps, their auras as powerful as a torrent. The moment they appeared, an ultimate, bone-chilling killing intent enveloped Jiang Chen. They surrounded him, one in each of the four cardinal directions, their faces masks of icy murderousness.

Besides Li Ru, who was at the Seventh Stage of Human Emperor Realm, the other four were all experts at the Human Emperor Realm Fifth Stage.

In total, five Human Emperor Realm masters fixed their icy gazes on Jiang Chen.

Li Ru smiled coldly. ”Jiang Chen, let’s play a game! See these four Human Emperor Realm masters? In a moment, I’ll give you the time it takes for one incense stick to burn. During this time, you can do your best to try and save your friends. However, you must also endure the combined assault of these four men, and you are not allowed to fight back. If you do, I’ll immediately shatter two more sections of ice. This Ice Lake is big enough for me to strike a dozen times or so, I’d say!”

’How am I supposed to save Xiaoyou and the others if I can’t fight back?’

This was clearly forcing Jiang Chen to be a living punching bag!

”Heheh, I call this the Death Game!”

Li Ru watched Jiang Chen with a triumphant expression, his eyes narrowed to slits as he leaned forward. ”Come now, Jiang Chen. Enjoy the little game I’ve prepared just for you! Hahaha...”