Su Chen thought for a moment and said, "I'll call you Little Purple from now on."
Slowly opening its lazy eyelids, the purple fox glared at him, looking visibly very weak.
"Alright, from now on you'll follow me. I'll find you some spiritual herbs first, or buy some medicinal pills."
Right now, he hadn't condensed a flame yet and was completely unable to refine pills, so he could only buy them.
Chapter 11: If You're Willing, I Can Take Responsibility
After Su Chen left Panyou City, the major families of Panyou City went completely mad because Su Chen had slaughtered their core disciples, among whom were even the sons of the family patriarchs.
The major families joined forces to go to the Su family to demand an explanation, but the reply they received was that Su Chen had already been expelled from the Su family and was no longer a person of the Su family.
They had no reason to doubt it, because the deterrence emanating from the Su Clan had already spread throughout the entire Panyou City.
Choosing to give up was definitely out of the question.
The major families immediately dispatched their most elite warriors to search for Su Chen in a casting-net fashion.
~~~~~~~
Deep in the Punishment Forest, Su Chen grew increasingly vigilant, because the depths of the forest possessed all sorts of formidable fierce beasts. If he had bad luck and ran into one, it would spell massive trouble.
As long as he crossed through the forest, he believed he could reach Eastern Wasteland Academy very soon.
Night had completely enshrouded the entire forest.
It was eerie and frighteningly quiet.
In order to save time, he had deliberately walked through the Punishment Forest. Running into danger was completely normal; if he were afraid of death, he might as well just find a hole and hide in it.
His expression grew increasingly solemn. Up until now, he hadn't encountered a single fierce beast, nor could he hear a single roar. It was far too calm.
So quiet that it felt wrong.
Under the cover of night, the forest was pitch black, a gloomy and desolate chill shrouding the surroundings. Even Su Chen couldn't help but shiver.
He didn't stop his steps.
He continued forward.
Calculating the distance, as long as he had one more day, he would successfully cross through the forest. It was even better if there were no fierce beasts to threaten him.
"This."
Looking at the fierce beast skeletons appearing before him—scattered everywhere, densely packed skeletons exuding a nauseating stench of death—at a single glance, it was impossible to tell how many fierce beasts had died here.
No wonder he hadn't seen a single fierce beast or heard any movement; it turned out that all the fierce beasts had been completely massacred. Who on earth could have done this?
With an exceptionally solemn gaze, Su Chen walked step by step, keeping his wits about him.
Right at this moment.
A terrifying killing intent surged from all directions, fiercely eroding his mind. Su Chen's eyes instantly grew hazy.
Deep within his mind, an endless purgatory formed. Countless skeletons piled up like mountains, creating a sea of corpses, while vast dead qi hovered in the void, lingering for a long time.
A pained expression appeared on Su Chen's face. He clenched his fists tightly, controlled by the purgatory appearing in his mind, and faint traces of blood-red began to surface on the outer layer of his body.
Hum!
Suddenly, sounds of Buddhist chanting echoed in Su Chen's mind. Eight Buddhist chants resounded simultaneously, and the purgatory that had just been there vanished instantly, bringing Su Chen back to clarity.
Covered in sweat, what a terrifying killing intent illusion! Had it not been for the assistance of the eight Buddhas within his Chaotic Body, he probably would have been completely controlled by the killing intent by now, turning into a killing machine, or directly devoured by the killing intent.
The more he thought about it, the more lingering fear he felt.
Instead of retreating, Su Chen continued forward.
However,
this time, Su Chen had already begun circulating Buddhist divine arts within his body. An invisible Buddhist aura enshrouded his entire body, so that even if he encountered the exact same situation again, at least he would have some psychological preparation.
After walking for about half an hour,
he arrived in front of a stone wall. Dense patterns were carved onto the towering stone tablet, resembling little tadpoles and forming bizarre patterns.
The ground was littered with fierce beast skeletons, and fresh blood had converged into a river.
And,
a figure standing before the stone wall completely captivated Su Chen.
Even from the back, Su Chen could imagine just how earth-shattering this woman's beauty must be. Her tall figure lacked the slightest flaw, and her raven-black hair cascaded down her back.
She sat motionlessly, like an old monk in meditation.
Feeling somewhat curious, Su Chen could guess that the stone wall in front of him was definitely a treasure, especially given the bizarre patterns and designs. He could sense the strange aura emanating from the stone wall.
Walking up to the woman, he merely turned his head to take a glance.
Her skin was like jade, her brows like light mist, and her eyes held a brilliant, flowing multicolored light. Beneath her high-bridge nose was a cherry mouth, boasting an astonishing and peerless beauty that could topple cities and countries. Su Chen reckoned that in all his years growing up, he had never seen such a stunning woman.
Only four words could possibly describe her:
"Earth-shattering."The more he looked, the more curious he became. Su Chen noticed that the woman remained motionless, staring fixedly at the stone wall before her, and he turned his gaze to the towering rock wall as well.
To ensure his safety, Su Chen immediately circulated his Buddhist divine abilities and the Primal Chaos Devouring Art within his body, a faint golden aura of the Primal Chaos Body vaguely manifesting behind him.
While others could see nothing, under the shroud of the Primal Chaos Body, Su Chen was gradually able to discern that the patterns on the stone wall actually contained a martial art.
"The Primordial Divine Demon Art?"
Filled with sudden joy, Su Chen did not waste the slightest amount of time. He immediately circulated the Primal Chaos Devouring Art, and streams of devouring power continuously surged into the rock wall, enveloping its front face—especially the patterns carved upon it.
This martial art was bound to be immensely powerful, for only by having his devouring power shroud it could he comprehend the so-called Primordial Divine Demon Art contained within the wall.
Under the influence of the devouring patterns, tadpole-like symbols instantly flooded into Su Chen's mind—precisely the cultivation method of the Primordial Divine Demon Art.
Elated at heart, without the slightest hesitation or waste of time, he circulated the Primal Chaos Devouring Art faster and faster, increasing the speed of devouring.
Half an hour later.
Su Chen let out a long breath. He had finally finished devouring it.
"What are you doing?"
Seeing the woman suddenly turn around to face him, her pitch-black eyes staring fixedly at him as if gazing at her own prey, Su Chen watched in shock as she actually began to strip off her clothes.
A flush of crimson spread across her stunning face as she lunged directly at Su Chen.
The aura emanating from the woman was far too formidable; it directly immobilized Su Chen, rendering him unable to move even the slightest bit, unable to circulate the Primal Chaos Devouring Art, and even unable to draw out the Burial Tribulation Pen.
Su Chen had never imagined that he would one day encounter such a situation. Feeling the power within his body forcibly sealed, he was instantly tackled to the ground by the woman.
"I'm still a virgin! No!"
No one paid any heed to Su Chen's cries, save for the corpses of the fierce beasts scattered all over the ground. However, the instant their bodies fell, all the beast carcasses on the ground were blasted away by a wave of air, and currents of energy enveloped the two of them, forming a giant silkworm cocoon.
Under the silent night, Su Chen lost his innocence as a man.
And he had lost it under such circumstances.
A desolate aura shrouded the surroundings. Roughly six hours later.
The cocoon cracked, countless fissures spreading across its entire surface, and with a loud bang, it collapsed.
The woman's eyes were icy cold. She had never expected that she would be corrupted by the stone wall and even commit such an act—slaughtering all the fierce beasts in the Forest of Heavenly Punishment. She had originally intended to comprehend the martial art contained within the wall, but never could she have imagined that she would try to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used as bait, even losing her virginity in the process.
It was hard for her to suppress the killing intent surging in her heart toward a mere Foundation Establishment Realm brat. Yet, for a woman, her first man was certainly incomparable to anything else; had it been any other matter, she believed she would have struck him down long ago.
"What kind of expression is that?"
Gazing at the youth's innocent look, the woman was furious, wishing she could slap him across the face.
"What kind of expression could I have? You relied on your superior strength to do as you pleased, and I didn't even have a chance to fight back."
Shameless!
Utterly shameless!
She had never seen someone so shameless, playing the victim after getting the upper hand. Clearly, she was the one who had suffered a loss, yet now he was acting as if he were the victim.
The furious woman radiated a chilling killing intent, her gaze ice-cold.
Su Chen, however, showed not the slightest sign of fear. He truly was the victim. In his view, in such matters men and women were equally important; whoever was passive was the victim.
Endure!
The woman stared coldly at the youth before her and asked, "What is your name? Where are you from?"
"Su Chen, a rogue cultivator."
He had already severed ties with the Su family and was no longer one of them, so he considered himself a rogue cultivator.
Sighing deeply, Su Chen stood up and said helplessly, "Forget it. I am a man; I won't argue with you. If you are willing, I can take responsibility."
As far as Su Chen was concerned, a man should be magnanimous, even if he had been the passive party in this affair.
Fortunately, he hadn't gotten the short end of the stick either; this woman possessed a shockingly peerless beauty. If she had been some hideous monster, that really would have been a disaster.
"Take responsibility?"
The woman was amused by these words.
A mere Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator actually dared to say he would take responsibility for her? How could he possibly take responsibility? Just how did he plan to do it?Her expression turned icy in an instant. Su Chen could see a profound disdain in the woman’s eyes, and he understood exactly what she meant—she looked down on him simply for his low cultivation.
"Regarding today’s events, just treat it as an accident. You can simply forget it ever happened."
Su Chen, however, replied with a smile: "You might consider it an accident, but I, Su Chen, am not a man who treats such things lightly. It is true that I am currently unqualified to take responsibility, but one day I will tell the whole world that you are my woman."
The woman did not believe him for a second.
Nodding, she said with a smile, "Then I shall look forward to that day."
In her view, anyone could say such things; doing them was an entirely different matter. For someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm to talk about taking responsibility was a joke in itself.
Watching the woman turn to leave, Su Chen asked, "What is your name?"
"Luo Tianfei, of the Ancestral Phoenix Palace."
Watching her figure disappear, Su Chen’s eyes were filled with resolve. Even now, he felt a bit dazed; he never expected to lose his first time here, and with a stranger at that.
The Ancestral Phoenix Palace?
He had never heard of such a sect in the Eastern Wasteland.
However, Su Chen knew very well that the Eastern Wasteland was vast and teeming with countless sects; there were thousands of imperial dynasties alone. It was perfectly normal for him not to know of the Ancestral Phoenix Palace.
After the exhaustion of the night, Su Chen did not linger and left at his fastest speed.
Because of the slaughter carried out by Luo Tianfei, the demonic beasts in the depths of the Heavenly Punishment Forest had been all but wiped out, so Su Chen encountered no obstacles and passed through the forest smoothly.
It was a narrow escape.
For a warrior in the Foundation Establishment Realm, the Heavenly Punishment Forest was indeed a dangerous place; one careless move could lead to death.
"Kid, hold on."
No sooner had Su Chen left the forest than he was intercepted by two men. Both were in the Void Core Realm, and one of them, barely four and a half feet tall, had a face full of malice and cunning.
"Something you need?"
"To have survived the Heavenly Punishment Forest, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of good things on you. We won't kill you—just hand over your spatial ring like a good boy."
Killing for loot was a common enough occurrence.
Su Chen didn't take them seriously at all. As Void Core Realm warriors, let alone a duo, even one of them should have been able to kill him with ease. But he didn't care for empty talk; if they wanted to rob him, they would have to see if they had the skill to do it.
The Falling Stone Fist—one of the martial arts techniques hidden in the Su family’s martial library.
As Su Chen unleashed it, it was like a massive boulder tumbling and roaring down a cliff. Fist after fist, the force of his blows whistled through the air as he slammed them toward the two men.
"You’re courting death!"
Seeing the youth attack first, the two men roared in fury, their faces twisted with rage as they struck back with murderous intent.
A piece of trash in the Foundation Establishment Realm dared to strike first in front of them? He truly didn't know the meaning of death.
Powerful palm imprints struck from both left and right. The fist force and palm energy collided violently, the surging shockwaves spreading outward, causing the ground to crack like a giant spiderweb under the pressure.
Even the most basic martial art, when performed by Su Chen, possessed terrifying power.
After the simple collision, the expressions of the two men changed completely. They had never imagined that a mere Foundation Establishment youth could possess such strength.
Not daring to underestimate him any longer, they immediately released their respective Blood Wheels. One was a Wolf Blood Wheel, the other a Tiger Blood Wheel. A wolf and a tiger howled at the sky, the sound shaking the surroundings.
Above Su Chen’s head, a Blood Wheel condensed in an instant. A sword of slaughter floated silently within it, his cold eyes fixed on the wolf and tiger lunging toward him.
"My body is a sword, and the sword shall cleave the heavens!"
Reformed through slaughter, this Blood Wheel was far superior in grade to his previous one. The icy sword intent was like an endless purgatory, and the overbearing sword qi pierced through layers of space, slashing fiercely at the two Blood Wheels.
The sword qi forcibly pierced the Tiger and Wolf Blood Wheels. Accompanied by wretched screams that echoed through the void, the Blood Wheels shattered instantly, and the two men were sent flying backward like kites with their strings cut.
Thud!
They landed heavily on the ground, their bodies drenched in blood. Before they could react, Su Chen appeared before them.
A single sword strike had severely wounded two Void Core Realm warriors.
They could not accept this reality. Even if they were only Level 2 Void Core Realm, they shouldn't be matched by a Foundation Establishment warrior. The gap between the two realms was a chasm impossible to cross. Yet, whether they believed it or not, the fact was laid out before them.
They were thoroughly terrified.
Their previous arrogance had vanished. Casting aside their dignity, they pleaded, "Please, Master, spare our lives! We are willing to be your dogs. You tell us to go west, and we wouldn't dare head east."
"Please, Master, don't kill us!"
In the face of life and death, dignity was worthless. As long as they could stay alive, it didn't matter.
Su Chen’s gaze was icy. Without a word, he understood all too well how cruel reality could be; without enough strength, if your fist wasn't hard enough, you would only be slaughtered by others.
Operating the Chaos Devouring Art within his body, he placed a hand on each of them, and proceeded to crazily devour their souls.
***
Heavenly Bone City.
At this time, warriors were flowing in and out of the city like hair on a hide. The streets were prosperous, filled with shouts and noise. Some warriors even rode demonic beasts through the streets.
Heavenly Bone City had strict rules: to ride a beast, one had to obtain permission from the city guard, register the beast, and pay a gold fee. After all, if a beast injured someone or caused a death, the owner could be tracked.
When passersby encountered those riding beasts, they would dodge immediately; no one knew if a beast might suddenly go mad, and no one wanted to bet their life on it.
Su Chen walked into Heavenly Bone City, intending to buy some medicinal pills for the Purple Fox. Its injuries were too severe; if things continued like this, he feared the fox wouldn't last much longer.
"If I have the chance in the future, I must tame a dragon as a mount. That would be quite prestigious."
He smiled helplessly.
Su Chen knew very well how difficult it was to tame a divine dragon as a mount. As the pinnacle existence in the world of demonic beasts, the Dragon Clan’s strength was unparalleled on the continent.
Walking down the street, he scanned the shops on both sides, looking for an alchemy pavilion or shop.
A young girl in a pink dress, riding a white fox, approached from the opposite direction. She looked about seventeen or eighteen, with delicate features, skin like snow, and a jade pendant hanging from her neck.
When they were five meters apart, the white fox lowered its head and let out a roar, lunging straight toward Su Chen.
"White Fox, what are you doing?"
"White Fox, stop!"
The white fox was also at the Foundation Establishment Realm, and its strength even surpassed that of Xia Liyan. Its sudden frenzy caught her completely off guard.
Losing her balance, she was thrown off the fox, her backside making intimate contact with the ground, causing her to wince in pain.
To the astonishment of everyone, the white fox arrived in front of Su Chen, knelt on its front legs, and bowed toward him.
"Is that Xia Liyan of the Xia family?"
"Nonsense, you don't even recognize the jewel of the Xia family? In Heavenly Bone City, you might not know the city guards, but you have to know Xia Liyan."
"I don't know what’s going on, but her mount actually knelt for that man. This is going to be a good show."
"Yeah, look at the look on Xia Liyan's face."
Standing up and dusting off her backside, Xia Liyan felt shocked as she looked at the kneeling white fox. Even she couldn't understand what had come over it.
At this moment, even Su Chen was a bit dazed as he looked at the white fox kneeling before him.
What was going on?
"Who are you? How dare you make my white fox kneel for you!"
Xia Liyan walked over, extending a slender hand to stroke the kneeling fox, seemingly trying to soothe it.
A crowd had already gathered. After all, Xia Liyan was famous in Heavenly Bone City, and they all wanted to see why her mount had knelt for a stranger for no reason.
Wearing an innocent expression, Su Chen grew slightly impatient. "Perhaps my charm is just too great, even your mount can’t resist it."
Huh?
Hearing this, everyone was astonished. They had seen shameless people, but never anyone this brazen.
The emotional capacity of demonic beasts and humans was completely different. The youth was certainly handsome, but to say he could attract a beast to kneel was absolute nonsense.
Rolling her eyes, Xia Liyan said with disdain, "You truly insult my intelligence. Do you think I would believe that?"
"Sister Xia, what’s going on? Who made you angry?"
Just then, a young man emerged from the crowd, holding a folding fan. He walked with an air of self-importance, fanning himself. He was dressed in white and had a somewhat delicate face—he was actually wearing makeup.
"Dong Zhang from the Dong family is here."