Chapter 346: Sixth Layer of the Emperor Realm, Wang Liang Reappears

Severing everything, including the connection between the demon shadow and the middle-aged man.

As the sword light slashed across, the demon shadow was split in two from the middle, dissipating into black smoke.

The middle-aged man screamed, his body staggering backward.

He looked down at his body, his face filled with disbelief.

"How is this possible… You actually managed to sever the connection between me and the demon shadow?"

"What kind of power is this?"

Zhou Chen did not answer, but instead struck again.

He would not give his enemy any chance to catch their breath.

The qingping sword phantom slashed out repeatedly, each strike as fast as lightning.

The middle-aged man tried to defend, but under the suppression of the Tai Xu Domain, his strength was greatly reduced.

In just over a dozen moves, he was already covered in wounds.

"Damn it!"

The middle-aged man gnashed his teeth and suddenly took out a black Talisman from his robe.

The Talisman was covered in eerie patterns, emitting a heart-palpitating aura.

"Since I can't kill you, then let's die together!"

The middle-aged man laughed manically and crushed the Talisman.

Boom!

A terrifying explosion resounded.

Black energy surged from the Talisman, instantly enveloping the area for dozens of miles.

This energy was extremely terrifying; even Zhou Chen's Tai Xu Domain was shaken to the point of nearly collapsing.

"Self-detonation Talisman?"

Zhou Chen's expression changed.

This kind of Talisman used special methods to Seal the full-power strike of a Venerable Realm Expert within it.

Using one's own flesh and blood as a trigger, once detonated, its power was comparable to the self-detonation of a Venerable Realm Expert.

Without a second thought, Zhou Chen directly summoned the chaos bell.

The chaos bell hovered above his head, shedding strands of Chaos Qi to firmly protect him.

The black energy slammed against the Chaos Qi, making a piercing grinding sound.

But the chaos bell truly lived up to its reputation as an Immortal Artifact, managing to withstand the explosion.

Once the explosion subsided, Zhou Chen put away the chaos bell and looked around.

The originally continuous mountain range had been blasted into a massive crater.

The crater was dozens of miles in diameter and appeared bottomless.

As for that middle-aged man, he had long since been reduced to ashes in the explosion.

Zhou Chen frowned.

This fellow would rather self-detonate than be captured alive.

It seemed the power behind him might not be as simple as just the Jiang Family, an Emperor Clan.

Just then, Zhou Chen suddenly felt a strong pull.

This attraction came from deep within the crater.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Chen decided to go down and take a look.

He circulated his spiritual power, and his figure slowly descended.

The deeper he went into the crater, the more eerie the surrounding environment became.

The walls of the crater were covered in black patterns that constantly writhed like living creatures.

Furthermore, Zhou Chen also felt a faint, indistinct calling.

This calling seemed to be guiding him toward the depths.

Finally, Zhou Chen landed at the bottom of the crater.

What met his eyes was an ancient altar.

The altar was entirely black, inscribed with dense runes.

These runes were completely different from the Seal runes on the mountain range; instead, they carried an evil aura.

In the center of the altar, a black bead hovered.

The bead was only the size of a fist, but it emitted a terrifying pressure.

Zhou Chen stared at the bead, a flash of solemnity in his eyes.

"Is this… a Demon Core?"

A Demon Core was the crystallized power of an Outer Domain Evil Demon.

Every Demon Core contained terrifying energy, enough to greatly increase a Cultivator's strength.

But a Demon Core was also a highly toxic item; once absorbed, one would be eroded by Evil Demon Power and eventually become a demonized Puppet.

Zhou Chen hadn't expected that a Demon Core would actually appear in the outskirts of the Demon Burial Ridge.

And judging by the pressure emitted by this Demon Core, it was left behind by at least a Venerable Realm level demon.

"No wonder that fellow demonized just now; it turns out he absorbed the power of a Demon Core."

Zhou Chen muttered to himself.

He did not rashly approach but instead carefully observed the altar.

This altar was clearly man-made.

And from the layout of the altar, it was a sacrificial altar.

Someone was using this altar to make sacrifices to the Outer Domain Evil Demons.

Zhou Chen's expression turned grim.

It seemed Li Changfeng's intelligence was true.

There really were Emperor Clans that had betrayed them and colluded with the Outer Domain Evil Demons, and the Jiang Family was most likely one of them.

He just didn't know how many other Emperor Clans were involved.

And this altar was very likely one of their means to weaken the Seal.

With a thought, Zhou Chen attempted to seize the Demon Core.

In the next second, the Demon Core hovering on the altar suddenly flew toward Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen instinctively wanted to dodge, but the Demon Core was too fast, instantly sinking into his body.

"Oh no!"

Zhou Chen's expression changed drastically.

With the Demon Core entering his body, he was very likely to be eroded by Evil Demon Power.

But in the next second, he realized something was wrong.

After the Demon Core entered his body, it did not release Evil Demon Power but instead began to decompose.

A surge of pure energy poured out from the Demon Core, flowing into his limbs and bones.

This…

The Creation Azure Lotus Body could actually suppress Evil Demon Power?

This was something Zhou Chen hadn't anticipated.

Without time for much thought, Zhou Chen felt the energy within his body growing stronger and stronger.

He then swallowed a Xuanyuan Breakthrough Pill he had intercepted from Gu Changsheng; the moment the Medicinal Pill entered his stomach, it began to take effect.

The two surges of energy intertwined, frantically battering against his Realm Bottleneck.

Boom!

The Bottleneck of the Fifth Layer of the Emperor Realm was instantly shattered.

Zhou Chen's aura began to surge, quickly reaching the Fifth Layer of the Emperor Realm.

But this energy had not yet stopped.

However, both types of Breakthrough Pill are only effective for the first pill, and the Xuanyuan Breakthrough Pill had already been used, so Zhou Chen took out another Venerable Rank High Grade Spirit-Ascending Breakthrough Pill returned by the System.

Boom!

The medicinal power of the Spirit-Ascending Breakthrough Pill was too strong, far exceeding the Xuanyuan Breakthrough Pill.

Following a roar within his body.

The Bottleneck of the Sixth Layer of the Emperor Realm was also instantly shattered.

Zhou Chen's aura surged once again, finally stabilizing at the Sixth Layer of the Emperor Realm.

When everything calmed down, Zhou Chen opened his eyes.

He could clearly feel that his strength was several times more powerful than before.

"I didn't expect the Demon Core to accidentally cooperate with the Breakthrough Pill to let me rise two levels in a row."

A smile curled at the corner of Zhou Chen's mouth.

However, he quickly restrained his smile and looked toward the altar.

Although the Demon Core had been absorbed, this altar still existed.

If the altar wasn't destroyed, those traitors would continue to make sacrifices.

Zhou Chen raised his hand and activated the qingping sword phantom.

A sword light slashed out, directly splitting the altar in half.

The altar crumbled, and the runes upon it dimmed accordingly.

Just as Zhou Chen destroyed the altar, he suddenly felt a familiar aura approaching.

He turned around and saw a purple figure drifting down from above the crater.

The newcomer was Wang Liang.

She was still wearing that purple long dress and a veil, revealing only a pair of lively eyes.

However, compared to before, the aura on her body was significantly stronger.

"Fourth Layer of the Emperor Realm?" Zhou Chen was somewhat surprised.

When they last met, Wang Liang was only in the Emperor Realm; how long had it been, and she had already reached the Fourth Layer of the Emperor Realm.

This Cultivate speed was enough to make even him marvel.

After Wang Liang landed, her gaze swept over the destroyed altar, and a flash of approval appeared in her eyes.

"Not bad, you certainly moved fast."

Her voice was still cold and indifferent.