Chapter 349: Blood Fiend Abyss, Nether Soul Sacred Hall

With the cover of the Divine Concealment Art, Wang Liang, who was beside him, only gave Zhou Chen a suspicious look, failing to notice the change in Zhou Chen's strength.

What surprised Zhou Chen the most was that his imperial dao imprint, the qingping sword, had also undergone a change.

On the sword body, there were originally only the Inscriptions of the Law of Severance and the Law of Slaughter.

Now, an additional Inscription of the Law of Ice had appeared.

All three Law powers had reached the Realm of Perfection.

This meant that Zhou Chen already possessed the qualifications to attempt a Breakthrough to the Venerable Realm.

One must know that an ordinary Cultivator needs to comprehend at least three Laws to break through to the Venerable Realm, and each Law must reach over seventy percent mastery.

Yet Zhou Chen, at only the Sixth Layer of the Emperor Realm, had already comprehended all three Laws to Perfection.

This kind of talent was terrifying to the extreme.

Zhou Chen did not consume the Nine Heavens Profound Ice Imperial Marrow, mainly because after consuming the Grandmist Profound Ice Imperial Marrow, taking another spiritual item of the same source would be a waste, as the effect would be greatly diminished.

Moreover, the better the quality of the item used for the first time, the better the initial effect; this was an experience Zhou Chen had figured out through trial and error.

Zhou Chen suppressed the excitement in his heart and continued carving runes.

Until one enters the Venerable Realm, all are but ants.

Once this mission was over and he returned to the academy, he would cultivate in seclusion until the Tenth Layer of the Emperor Realm, then find a safe place to go into closed-door cultivation and break through to the Venerable Realm.

Half an hour later, Zhou Chen finally finished carving the last rune.

On Wang Liang's side, the Formation had also been set up.

“Alright, the Seal has been reinforced.”

Wang Liang wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“Although it can't be fully repaired, it can at least hold for another month.”

Zhou Chen nodded, his gaze sweeping over those runes.

He secretly integrated the last trace of the Grandmist Profound Ice Imperial Marrow's power into the Seal.

In the next second, the light from those runes suddenly became much brighter.

The power of the entire Seal instantly increased by thirty percent.

Wang Liang watched this scene in surprise.

“Is this… your doing?”

Zhou Chen said indifferently, “I just added a little something in passing.”

Wang Liang gave Zhou Chen a deep look but didn't ask further.

She could feel that the Seal's power had indeed increased.

Furthermore, this increase was extremely stable, not as simple as a temporary reinforcement.

“Your attainment in Formations is higher than I imagined.”

Wang Liang praised him sincerely.

Zhou Chen shook his head. “You flatter me.”

While they were talking, the surrounding temperature suddenly plummeted.

A terrifying killing intent surged from all directions.

Zhou Chen and Wang Liang became alert simultaneously and turned to look at the valley entrance.

Several dark shadows were silently approaching.

These shadows were extremely eerie, their forms flickering in and out of sight like ghosts.

Moreover, the aura emanating from them was incredibly cold and evil.

“Assassins from the Nether Soul Sacred Hall!” Wang Liang's expression changed.

“Damn it, how could they appear here?”

Zhou Chen narrowed his eyes.

Nether Soul Sacred Hall—he had seen this name in the ancient records of the Scripture Pavilion.

It was an extremely ancient assassin organization, said to have existed ten thousand years ago.

When the Outer Domain Evil Demons invaded back then, the Nether Soul Sacred Hall chose to betray their world and became the lackeys of the demons.

Later, when the great experts sealed the demons, the Nether Soul Sacred Hall was also hunted down and was said to have been exterminated.

He hadn't expected them to still exist.

Moreover, judging by their appearance here, they were clearly coming for the Seal.

“Kill!”

The leading shadow gave a cold shout, and several shadows attacked at once.

Their attacks were extremely bizarre, capable of ignoring physical defense to directly attack the Divine Soul.

Zhou Chen's face darkened, and he immediately expanded the Tai Xu Domain.

The Domain instantly enveloped those shadows, and their ability to phase out was forcibly suppressed.

“Such terrifying Domain power?”

The leading shadow cried out in shock.

“Are you from the Taixu Academy?”

Zhou Chen did not answer, striking out with the qingping sword phantom.

The sword light carried the power of three Laws, its might terrifying to the extreme.

The shadow tried to dodge, but under the suppression of the Tai Xu Domain, he couldn't phase out at all.

The sword light slashed through, and the shadow was split in two, dissipating into black smoke.

Seeing this, the other shadows retreated one after another.

They hadn't expected Zhou Chen's strength to be so terrifying.

“All together, kill them!” the leading shadow roared.

The remaining shadows attacked simultaneously.

They gave up on phasing and instead used secret techniques to attack Zhou Chen and Wang Liang's Divine Souls.

Wang Liang snorted coldly and formed hand Seals.

A golden light surged from her body, transforming into a massive Dharma Idol.

The Dharma Idol held a longsword and slashed toward the shadows.

This sword strike contained the power of fate, specifically designed to counter Divine Soul attacks.

Several shadows screamed as their Divine Souls were severely wounded.

Zhou Chen seized the opportunity, striking out repeatedly with the qingping sword phantom.

The sword light fell like rain, enveloping those shadows.

A moment later, all the shadows were slain.

But just as Zhou Chen prepared to search their storage rings, the corpses of the shadows suddenly self-combusted.

In the blink of an eye, they turned to ash, leaving nothing behind.

“Damn it, they destroyed themselves.” Wang Liang's expression was grim.

Zhou Chen's brow furrowed tightly.

These assassins had clearly come prepared.

They not only knew the location of the Seal but also knew that Zhou Chen and Wang Liang would come to reinforce it.

This meant that the force behind them knew the academy's patrol plan like the back of their hand.

“It seems there's a mole within the academy,” Zhou Chen said in a low voice.

Wang Liang nodded. “Not just the academy; there's likely a traitor within the Tianji Academy as well.”

“Otherwise, they couldn't have known my whereabouts.”

Zhou Chen was silent for a moment before saying, “Now is not the time to investigate this. We must report to the academy as soon as possible.”

Wang Liang nodded, and the two immediately left the valley.

After leaving the Frozen Demon Cave, Zhou Chen and Wang Liang did not return to the academy immediately.

According to the mission requirements, they still needed to inspect several other Seal locations.

However, after the battle just now, both understood that the upcoming inspections would likely not be peaceful.

“Where to next?” Wang Liang asked.

Zhou Chen took out the map given by the academy and examined it carefully.

The map marked all the Seal locations in Demon Burial Ridge, seven in total.

The Frozen Demon Cave was only one of them.

“The closest is the Blood Fiend Abyss, about thirty thousand miles from here,” Zhou Chen said.

Zhou Chen said.

Wang Liang nodded, and the two immediately set off.

This time, they didn't choose to travel by ground but instead operated a flying boat.

Zhou Chen took out the xuanyuan ferry, and the two boarded the flying boat, speeding toward the Blood Fiend Abyss.

The flying boat streaked through the sky like a green flash of light, its speed astonishing.

In less than half an hour, they reached their destination.

The Blood Fiend Abyss was located in the southeastern part of Demon Burial Ridge.

It was a massive rift valley, bottomless and filled with dense blood-colored mist.

This mist was formed from the blood and resentment of countless experts during the great war of the past.

If an ordinary Cultivator inhaled this mist, their Divine Soul would be instantly damaged, or they might even drop dead on the spot.

Zhou Chen and Wang Liang landed at the edge of the rift valley, their expressions turning solemn as they looked at the blood-colored mist before them.