Chapter 1023: I’m Going to Fight the Heavenly Emperor’s Heir?

"Brother-in-law, why are you here? Did you miss my sister?"

Yao Gu immediately stood up, his face lighting up with excitement. But the excitement had barely appeared before it instantly turned deathly pale.

Yao Gu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. His entire body trembled violently, and his spiritual power refused to circulate.

The moment the Kun Peng divine form entered his sight, he sensed overwhelming killing intent. Even as a peak Unity realm cultivator, he could barely withstand it. If he had not been inside the protective formation, that killing intent alone might have killed him outright.

While he could barely endure it, the other clan members with lower cultivation had no such ability.

They immediately coughed up blood, their faces filled with terror as if the end of the world had arrived.

"Brother-in-law, what's wrong? Did some enemy come near our Yao family?"

Yao Gu spoke incoherently in panic. The elder beside him, however, darkened his expression. The direction from which the Heavenly Emperor's heir was flying was clearly toward the Yao family.

So was the killing intent. This was obviously directed at the Yao family. Yet the Yao family had always maintained close ties with the Heavenly Evolution Holy Land. They had even fought the Heavenly Intent Holy Land together in the past. There was only one possible reason for the Heavenly Emperor's heir to suddenly turn hostile like this.

Something had happened to Yao Xi!

Over the years, the few times the Heavenly Emperor's heir had flown into a rage were all because of a woman. The elder recalled the complicated look on the clan leader's face when he had first brought Yao Xi back. He also remembered how the clan had seemingly kept Yao Xi busy with ordinary tasks while deliberately preventing her from meeting Ye Chen.

Whenever Yao Xi wanted to go find Ye Chen, they would always find excuses to refuse. Once or twice might have been a coincidence, but why did it happen every single time? And today, why had the ancestor suddenly summoned Yao Xi and the Divine Son?

In an instant, many things clicked in the elder's mind. Even though he was not qualified to know the full truth, he sensed that something was terribly wrong.

Anger and guilt surged in his heart. Yao Xi was one of their own. How could the family turn against their own people? Not to mention that he himself had been the one who brought her back.

The elder stood up at once and shouted with all his strength, "Ye Chen, please calm down! I—"

He hoped the Heavenly Emperor's heir would calm down. He would definitely give him a proper explanation. But before he could finish speaking, Ye Chen seemed not to have heard him at all.

The next moment, the elder's pupils shrank sharply. He saw the Heavenly Emperor's heir, who was charging over with terrifying momentum, now holding a blood-colored long saber that radiated overwhelming killing intent.

Ye Chen swung the saber down with a thunderous slash. The blade light illuminated the entire sky. The mountain-protecting grand formation that had guarded the Yao family for countless years exploded instantly. The blade light did not diminish in power and continued crashing downward.

In that instant, the entire Yao family trembled violently. Countless sacred mountains collapsed, endless buildings crumbled, and the whole clan descended into apocalyptic chaos.

Numerous disciples and clan members died directly under the blade light or were shaken to death by the shockwaves. A massive canyon ten thousand meters long and unfathomably deep appeared on the Yao family's grounds.

Because Ye Chen had deliberately aimed the slash toward the edge of the estate, fearing he might accidentally kill the people he came to save, he had held back slightly.

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As a result, Yao Gu and the elder were not directly struck. Even so, they were still blasted back, coughing up blood with pale faces and damaged origins.

Their eyes were filled with utter despair. They had always heard how powerful Ye Chen was, but whenever they had seen him before, he had been courteous and never acted arrogantly despite his superior cultivation, nor had he treated them like ants. Because of that, they had never truly felt the depth of his terror.

Only now, standing on the opposite side of Ye Chen, did they finally understand how frightening he truly was. If this continued, the Yao family might be wiped out today.

Watching Ye Chen charge straight toward the clan's central grand hall, the elder forced down his injuries and spoke again urgently, "Ye Chen, please calm down! I don't know what happened, but I will definitely give you an explanation!"

Ye Chen heard the voice and swept his cold gaze over. His voice boomed like thunder: "If the Yao family no longer has Yao Xi, then who the hell are you to give me any explanation?"

Perhaps due to the influence of his modern worldview, Ye Chen had always treated others with courtesy. Even when facing lower-ranked cultivators, he rarely acted overbearing. With those he had some friendship with, even if the cultivation gap widened greatly, his attitude usually did not change much. But all of this was under one condition: no one had touched his reverse scale. Once that line was crossed, Ye Chen would not hesitate to turn hostile.

Hearing these words, the elder's face turned deathly white. At this moment, he finally understood. The person standing before him was not the Yao family's son-in-law. He was one of the most powerful peak existences in the current cultivation world. He was a being who wielded immortal artifacts and could single-handedly destroy an ancient immortal family. In front of such an existence, what qualifications did he have to offer any explanation?

Yao Gu had originally wanted to say something as well, but he wisely shut his mouth. The Ye Chen before them was terrifyingly cold. Neither of them doubted that if anything had truly happened to Yao Xi, the entire Yao family would be buried with her. Anxiety surged in their hearts. What on earth were the Divine Son and the ancestors thinking?

Even a fool knew that one must never provoke the women of the Heavenly Emperor's heir. Why had their own ancestors insisted on charging straight into the muzzle of the gun? This was not only suicide—it would drag the entire Yao family down to the grave with them.

"Boom…"

A sudden rumbling sound and violent tremor erupted from the depths of the Yao family, causing everyone's expression to change drastically. An even more terrifying aura surged over like a tidal wave.

The Yao family's Divine Son shuddered violently.

"This is Ye Chen's aura! Why is he here?"

The Divine Son cried out in alarm. Everyone else present also revealed expressions of panic. They had clearly cut off Yao Xi's communication. Why had the Heavenly Emperor's heir still managed to arrive?

Thinking of the Heavenly Emperor's heir's terrifying battle record, dread filled their hearts. Although he might not be able to defeat the Eight-Crowned King, crushing them would be all too easy.

For a moment, everyone felt as if death itself had descended upon them. The clan leader remained relatively calm. He looked at the rapidly widening cracks in the void and bowed deeply to the only remaining quasi-immortal of the Yao family beside him.

"Ancestor, I beg you to take action. Please use the immortal artifact to temporarily hold back the Heavenly Emperor's heir for a short while. Once the True Immortal Ancestor's divine soul descends, everything will be different!"

Hearing this, the Yao family's quasi-immortal looked both stunned and bitter. He was only at the early stage of the quasi-immortal realm. It had taken him four thousand years to break through, making him one of the weakest among his peers. He couldn't even compare to the early-stage quasi-immortal Exiled Immortal, let alone the Celestial Prince or the Lotus Emperor. Asking him to stop Ye Chen? Wasn't that the same as sending him to his death?

Yet even if they abandoned the plan now, they had already offended the Heavenly Emperor's heir. There was no easy way out. Thinking of the glorious future the family would enjoy once the plan succeeded, and the power of their immortal artifact, the quasi-immortal gritted his teeth and nodded.

In the next instant, he raised his hand. A mirror flew out from the depths of the Yao family with a resounding boom. Carrying terrifying and vast immortal energy, it landed in the quasi-immortal's hand. It was an ancient-looking mirror. The back of the mirror was engraved with strange and intricate divine patterns. Its front surface was incredibly clear, less like a mirror and more like a deep pool of water. The mirror face seemed to connect to another world, unfathomably profound at a single glance.

The mirror constantly emitted the power of the void, as if it had created an entirely separate realm, making its wielder detached from the mundane world.

Looking at the ancient mirror, the people of the Yao family finally regained a trace of confidence. There was no doubt—this was their clan's immortal weapon, the Void Mirror. Whoever held it would possess unparalleled control over space. While it was not the strongest in direct offensive power, it was the most mystical and effective when it came to stalling and obstructing enemies.