Chapter 278: Forbidden Demon Valley, Soul-Devouring Demon Flower

"Damn it!"

Jiang Mengyao gnashed her teeth, her figure turning into a streak of cold light as she rushed into the hall.

But Zhou Chen was faster.

With a wave of his sleeve, an invisible force of space instantly bound Jiang Mengyao in place.

"chaos bell, suppress!"

Hum—

The ancient phantom of the chaos bell flashed by. Jiang Mengyao felt the space around her stagnate, and she could not move a single inch.

"You… what did you do to me?!"

Shocked and furious, she desperately circulated her spiritual energy, only to find herself seemingly trapped in an independent space-time.

"Don't bother. This is the chaos bell's space-time imprisonment. With your cultivation, it's impossible to break free."

Zhou Chen said without looking back, reaching out toward the cluster of icy blue light.

"Stop!"

Jiang Mengyao watched helplessly as Zhou Chen's palm was about to touch the Legacy light cluster, her heart filled with anxiety and rage.

This was an Opportunity the Jiang Family had planned for decades; this was an Opportunity that belonged to her!

But in the next second, Jiang Mengyao's pupils suddenly constricted.

The icy blue light cluster suddenly exploded, turning into countless streaks of icy Qi that swept toward Zhou Chen from all directions.

"Is this… a Protector Restriction?!"

Jiang Mengyao felt a surge of joy; the Ice Phoenix Empress Legacy was indeed not that easy to obtain.

However, Zhou Chen's expression remained unchanged, a slight curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Is that it?"

He flipped his right hand, and a dark azure fire lotus appeared out of thin air.

"Samadhi True Fire."

Whoosh—

The azure flames instantly swept out. The moment the icy Sword Qi touched the flames, it melted away like snow under a scorching sun.

Within moments, the hall returned to silence.

Zhou Chen reached out again. This time, there was no obstruction, and he easily grasped the icy blue light in his hand.

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for successfully intercepting Jiang Mengyao's Ice Phoenix Empress Legacy (Incomplete), triggering a ten-thousand-fold critical hit return! Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the Full Version of the Ice Phoenix Empress Legacy ×1!]

"Not bad."

Zhou Chen nodded in satisfaction and placed the Legacy into the System space.

Behind him, Jiang Mengyao's face was now devoid of color.

In her memory, the Jiang Family's word was law in the Eastern Desolation. She had never imagined that anyone would dare to snatch something from the Jiang Family.

From childhood to adulthood, she was always the one taking from others; how could anyone take from her?

This caused Jiang Mengyao's heart to crumble slightly.

"No… impossible…"

She stared blankly at Zhou Chen, her lips trembling, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Just like that… it's gone?

Jiang Mengyao stumbled, not even noticing that the Space-Time Cage had already been released.

"Young Miss!"

The maid rushed forward to support Jiang Mengyao, who had nearly fallen, and glared at Zhou Chen: "Feng Biao, you despicable and shameless bandit! How dare you snatch my Jiang Family's Opportunity!"

"Bandit?"

Zhou Chen turned around and looked at them with a half-smile: "The opportunities in this Ancient Desolate Secret Realm are not your Jiang Family's private property. If you're weak, practice more."

"You—"

Zhou Chen waved his hand, too lazy to say more.

Jiang Mengyao slumped to the ground in dejection, her eyes hollow.

"Young Miss!"

The maid hurriedly supported her.

Zhou Chen glanced at them, his figure flashing as he vanished outside the ice palace.

Leaving only Jiang Mengyao and the maid standing blankly in place.

After a long time, Jiang Mengyao finally came to her senses, a wave of towering rage surging in her eyes.

"Feng Biao…"

She gnashed her teeth and said word by word, "I will remember you."

After leaving the Ice Phoenix Ruins, Zhou Chen was in a good mood. After all, Feng Biao was the one taking the blame; what did it have to do with him, Zhou Chen?

Now that he had the full version of the Ice Phoenix Empress Legacy, he could give it to that girl Lin Xueer when he returned.

With her ice-attribute Physique, cultivating this Legacy would surely make her even stronger.

As for why he didn't kill them, it wasn't because Zhou Chen was hypocritical, but because he wasn't someone who enjoyed slaughtering the innocent.

Those who enjoy wantonly slaughtering people weaker than themselves can never become truly strong.

—

Zhou Chen had now left the Frozen Valley and was walking toward the depths of the Ancient Desolate Secret Realm.

According to the System's prompts, there were still many opportunities in this Secret Realm to be harvested.

But as he walked, he suddenly noticed the surrounding environment had changed.

On the originally desolate land, patches of black mist began to appear.

The mist was eerie and sinister, emitting an unsettling aura.

"Is this… a Forbidden Land?"

Zhou Chen stopped and looked ahead vigilantly.

There were countless Forbidden Lands within the Ancient Desolate Secret Realm, each extremely dangerous. Even an Emperor Realm Fifth Layer expert would not dare to enter lightly.

"Whatever, I'm free anyway, might as well go in and take a look."

Zhou Chen boldly stepped into the black mist.

As soon as he entered the black mist, he immediately felt a strange power eroding his spiritual energy.

"This mist… can dissolve spiritual energy?"

Looking at the churning grayish-black demonic mist before him, his brows twitched slightly.

"Spirit-Dissolving Demonic Mist… interesting."

This kind of demonic mist can continuously erode the spiritual energy within a Cultivator's body; over time, it can even cause one to die from spiritual energy exhaustion.

However, for Zhou Chen, this bit of demonic mist was no threat at all.

The Azure Lotus Dao Body within him naturally had an extremely strong resistance to various negative energies and could even refine them in reverse, converting them into his own spiritual energy.

"Then let's go in and see."

Zhou Chen stepped into the demonic mist.

Upon entering, the grayish-black demonic mist surged toward him frantically, like sharks smelling blood.

But a faint azure halo naturally emerged on Zhou Chen's body, isolating all the demonic mist.

Not only that, the moment the demonic mist touched the azure halo, it quickly melted like snow meeting fire, turning into wisps of pure spiritual energy that Zhou Chen absorbed.

"Not bad, it can even replenish spiritual energy."

Zhou Chen nodded in satisfaction.

Soon, he felt something unusual about the ground beneath his feet.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Chen swept his Divine Sense and a smile touched the corners of his mouth.

"So it's a Soul-Devouring Demon Flower."

Three feet beneath his feet, a blood-red demonic flower was hidden in the soil, its stamens trembling slightly, emitting strange Divine Soul fluctuations.

This kind of demonic flower specifically feeds on the Divine Souls of Cultivators; once approached, it will launch an attack silently.

Ordinary Cultivators simply have no way to defend against it.

But the Nine Firmament Spirit Refining Art Zhou Chen practiced had long since tempered his Divine Soul to an extremely terrifying degree.

The attack of this Soul-Devouring Demon Flower was nothing more than a tickle in his eyes.

"Since it's delivered itself to me, I'll gladly accept it."

Zhou Chen reached out and grasped the air, an invisible Divine Soul force instantly uprooting the Soul-Devouring Demon Flower from underground.

"Ah—"

The demonic flower let out a sharp scream and struggled desperately, but before Zhou Chen's Divine Soul force, it had no power to resist at all.

Zhou Chen clenched his fingers, and the demonic flower was instantly refined, turning into a cluster of pure Divine Soul energy that merged into his Sea of Consciousness.

And at the root of the Soul-Devouring Demon Flower, Zhou Chen found a golden bead.

"Is this… an ancient desolate spirit pearl?"

Zhou Chen's eyes lit up.

He hadn't expected an ancient desolate spirit pearl to be hidden at the root of the Soul-Devouring Demon Flower; it was quite a pleasant surprise.

Along the way, he encountered several more Soul-Devouring Demon Flowers, all of which he refined in passing. His harvest was bountiful, and his Divine Thought continued to improve.

Just then, a sudden commotion came from the spirit beast pouch.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Chen stopped and patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist.

"Xiao Hong, you're awake?"