Chapter 224: The Undying Underworld Emperor (Part 5)

Su Chen awoke.
Over the past three years,
deep within the mountains, he had plundered every spiritual item he could obtain.
He took everything—first-tier, second-tier, and third-tier spiritual items.
As for fourth-tier...
Su Chen found two.
Similarly, both were already owned, possessed by two overlords deep within the mountains.
Those two overlords were both fourth-tier demonic beasts. Fourth-tier demonic beasts correspond to the Spirit Sea Realm in humans, equivalent to the Sect Master of the Qinglan Sect.
Su Chen couldn't afford to offend them for now... but he would soon be able to.
His current cultivation level had reached the peak of the Spirit Gathering Realm.
He had accumulated enough energy for Nirvana and would soon be able to undergo Nirvana once. After Nirvana, not only would his cultivation level advance further, but his bloodline aptitude would also improve, making his cultivation faster and his innate combat power stronger.
However... he couldn't undergo Nirvana yet; Nirvana required a long time.
"Strange, why is there such a commotion on the outskirts?"
Su Chen flew into the sky. He saw demonic beasts and human martial artists. Humans were hunting demonic beasts, and demonic beasts were hunting humans.
No wonder he felt there were fewer and fewer demonic beasts in the inner area lately; they had all gone to the outer perimeter.
With more demonic beasts on the outskirts, it naturally attracted the attention of human sects.
Su Chen didn't intend to get involved in this battle.
But as he was about to leave,
he inadvertently saw a familiar figure, who seemed to be in bad shape.
Chen Tianyi was being chased.
"If I can leave alive today, I will repay this debt tenfold, a hundredfold!"
Chen Tianyi was covered in blood, being chased from the outer perimeter all the way to the inner perimeter.
There wasn't much of a pursuer, only one person.
But that one person was completely beyond his ability to contend with.
"Chen Tianyi, hand over your opportunity, and perhaps I'll spare your life."
Following Chen Tianyi was a man, light as a feather and wielding a tiger-like physique. His aura far surpassed Chen Tianyi's, and his eyes gleamed with greed as he looked at Chen Tianyi.
The number one genius of the Qinglan Sect!
Chen Tianhu!
Although both were born under the surname Chen and shared a faint blood relation, at this moment, Chen Tianhu was determined to kill Chen Tianyi. To kill him discreetly, he even concealed his cultivation level, only breaking through to a higher level after entering the mountains to hunt demonic beasts!
Chen Tianyi, a good-for-nothing member of the Chen family who had been wasting his life, had risen to prominence in just a few years and was now on par with him. Who would believe he hadn't had an opportunity?
Chen Tianhu didn't believe it. He had coveted Chen Tianyi's opportunity for a long time, and now his chance had finally arrived!
As Chen Tianyi sensed Chen Tianhu drawing ever closer, he shouted, "Chen Tianhu, you steal the opportunities from your fellow disciples and even intend to kill them! Aren't you afraid of being punished by the sect leader and elders?"
Chen Tianhu sneered, "Punishment? I am the sect leader's son and the Qinglan Sect's number one genius. If I kill you here, no one will know. I'll just say you died in the mouth of a demonic beast. Who dares to investigate? Who would investigate? Why waste time and energy on a dead man?"
"Opportunities are not something someone like you can possess. In the cultivation world, you need ruthlessness to survive!"
Chen Tianyi's heart trembled violently, his mind went blank. Chen Tianhu's words pierced his soul like a sharp sword. He had been too naive, believing that as long as he displayed talent, the sect would cultivate him. Little did he know that his transformation had already been seen through, and someone was waiting for an opportunity.
Chen Tianyi was in despair. He was only at the eighth level of the Spirit Gathering Realm; how could he escape the clutches of a Spirit Pattern Realm expert? The only reason he had been able to hold on until now was by constantly observing the trajectory of the crow in his mind, which allowed him to unleash unprecedented speed... However, his vital energy was limited, far from comparable to that of a Spirit Pattern Realm expert.
"Could it be... that I'm going to die?"
Chen Tianyi closed his eyes, hot blood splattering across his face.
He seemed... still conscious?
Chen Tianyi lay on the ground, vaguely opening his eyes. He saw a corpse, cut in half at the waist, and on the corpse, a black figure.
It was the crow!
"Brother Crow...is that you?"
Chen Tianyi looked at Chen Tianhu's corpse, then at the crow, as if in a dream.
The crow had become even more majestic, perched on the corpse, seemingly surveying the world with an air of superiority.
He still couldn't believe it.
Su Chen glanced at Chen Tianyi, then flew away.
The techniques he had evolved in the past were enough for this foolish boy to use indefinitely.
His intervention to save Chen Tianyi this time was merely out of old friendship and a sudden impulse.
He needed to find a place to begin his Nirvana.
Chen Tianyi watched the departing figure, struggled to his feet, and said with a bitter smile, "Brother Crow's strength...seems to have become even greater."
Chen Tianhu, who lay dead on the ground, was the Qinglan Sect's number one genius, a powerful expert in the Spirit Pattern Realm, with the potential to reach the Spirit Sea Realm, or even the Spirit Soul Realm in the future.
Now, he was dead just like that.
Unfortunately, Brother Crow seemed unwilling to have much interaction with him.
Chen Tianyi still had much to say.
In the end, it all turned into a sigh.
He was, after all, human; Brother Crow was a demon.
.......
After rescuing Chen Tianyi, Su Chen ignored him.
Su Chen was about to begin his Nirvana.
This Nirvana would bring him his first transformation.
Su Chen found a suitable location, set up an array, and concealed himself to avoid being ambushed at his resurrection point.
He...began his first Nirvana.
Winter passed, spring came, cold came, heat went.
In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.
Su Chen's physical body was slowly undergoing a transformation, reaching its final stage.
Meanwhile, Chen Tianyi, since leaving the Demon Beast Mountain Range,
had changed drastically.
Chen Tianhu was dead, and Chen Tianyi had replaced him as the Qinglan Sect's number one genius. Although the Qinglan Sect Master was grieved by Chen Tianhu's death, he did not make things difficult for Chen Tianyi.
Perhaps, as Chen Tianhu said, the cultivation world is cruel; weighing the pros and cons, even offspring seem less important.
Over the past ten years, the image of that crow in Chen Tianyi's mind has become increasingly clear, and he feels his cultivation speed accelerating.
How could he not know after all this time that the crow harbors a great secret?
Chen Tianyi also frequently ventures into that mountain range, hoping to find that crow.
Unfortunately, ten years have passed, and although he has seen countless crows, he has never seen the one he could call Brother Crow again.
Forty years old is the prime of a man's life.
Chen Tianyi thought about how the Qinglan Sect wanted to arrange a marriage for him with a member of a major sect, and he needed to bring betrothal gifts to their home.
"Then let's leave behind descendants first, and then go out and work hard."
That's what Chen Tianyi was thinking.
He had heard that the woman chosen for marriage by the sect was incredibly beautiful.