Chapter 553: I am Xu Yan, Here to Escort You Two to Your Deaths

Chapter 553: I am Xu Yan, Here to Escort You Two to Your Deaths

Xu Yan was in the midst of comprehending the heavenly dao rules and the essence of this ancient mountain, hoping for some new insights, when he suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze falling beyond the mountain.

A figure was approaching.

What surprised him was that there was something unusual about the approaching woman.

She was like a piece of exquisite jade, as if she had been carved from the finest stone. Her features were perfectly sculpted, each aspect in perfect harmony, as if a master craftsman had spent countless efforts to meticulously carve her into existence.

She appeared to be human, and yet, there was something about her that didn't quite fit.

"Not a disciple of the Unchanging Temple? She doesn't seem like one!" Xu Yan was puzzled. Followers of the Unchanging Temple exuded a dark and sinister aura, lacking the robust vitality of most living beings, making them easily distinguishable.

But this woman didn't carry that distinctive aura.

However, she also lacked the aura of the living beings of the world.

"Could she be a unique spirit?" Xu Yan wondered. Though she appeared human, perhaps she was a special spirit native to the Land of Unchanging.

After all, there were countless varieties of spirits, and some unique ones certainly existed.

"The spirits of the Unchanging Land lack consciousness. This woman has awareness, so she isn't one of them. It can't be a coincidence that I've encountered a spirit that has gained sentience, can it?" Xu Yan was intrigued.

Though the woman possessed awareness, there was something about her that gave the impression of being slightly slow-witted, as if she had only recently gained consciousness.

But Xu Yan was perplexed. Were there such beautiful spirits? And for it to be in human form as well!

The moment Xu Yan laid eyes on her, the phrase "a beauty like jade" popped into his mind. She seemed to be a meticulously crafted statue of exquisite jade.

"Could there be others besides the beings of the Grand Desolate World and the Unchanging Temple?"

Xu Yan activated his Small Heavenly Dao Eye, and to his surprise, what he saw was immaculate white light, as if he were gazing upon flawless jade, yet he couldn't discern her true nature.

Even his Small Heavenly Dao Eye couldn't penetrate her essence, and Xu Yan was astonished.

The woman's strength was only at the Realm Lord level, and he had already reached the Establishment of Way. Normally, he could see through the essence of Realm Lords with his Small Heavenly Dao Eye.

But with this woman, he couldn't see beyond her outward appearance.

In his eyes, the woman emanated a pure and flawless white light that obscured her true nature, preventing his Small Heavenly Dao Eye from peering within.

"Something's amiss here," Xu Yan frowned slightly.

"I must find out who, or what, she truly is," Xu Yan sat cross-legged on the mountain, merging with it as if becoming an unremarkable stone, quietly observing the woman.

"Enter my heaven and earth, and I shall uncover your true nature," Xu Yan said as he watched her step into his domain.

In that instant, Xu Yan was stunned. As the woman stepped into his heaven and earth, she seemed to bring with her a ray of immaculate white light, enhancing the beauty of his domain.

"This is odd!" Xu Yan's suspicions grew. In the moment she entered his domain, it was as if his heaven and earth had been adorned with beautiful jade.

"She doesn't seem human," Xu Yan concluded. The woman didn't conform to his understanding of humans. Though she appeared human in every way, she lacked the tangible sense of flesh and blood.

"However, she isn't entirely inhuman either," he added, filled with curiosity.

He continued to observe her quietly, his heavenly way sensing and probing, trying to discern her origins and gain some insight into her abilities, perhaps even replicate them.

But despite his efforts, all he perceived was the pristine jade-like light.

The woman cautiously made her way through the small heaven and earth, a hint of confusion appearing in her eyes. However, the confusion in her gaze emerged slowly, giving the impression of sluggishness.

She looked around, reaching down to pick up a stone from the ground and giving it a squeeze. It was a real stone, not an illusion, but for some reason, this heaven and earth felt unreal to her.

She explored the small heaven and earth slowly, searching for something, her movements careful and hesitant, giving off a slightly dull or simple-minded impression.

Xu Yan, too, wore a puzzled expression. He couldn't see through this woman, even though she had entered his domain.

She seemed to possess some kind of powerful rule that prevented all attempts at scrutiny. This rule was extremely mysterious and far beyond what a Small Heaven and Earth Master could comprehend.

"How peculiar. Is she a human or a spirit? The Land of Unchanging truly holds too many unknowns," Xu Yan mused.

It was unusual for someone of her seemingly limited strength to possess a rule that far exceeded what her power level should allow.

However, the laws emanating from her gave him the impression that they were not externally granted but inherently hers.

"Let's test her. As soon as she displays her power, I'll try to imprint it in the heavenly phenomenon."

With that thought, Xu Yan willed it, and suddenly, a hundred-zhang-long golden dragon emerged from beneath the mountain, its dragon might overwhelming as it soared into the sky, its gaze stern as it looked down upon the woman.

The woman abruptly halted, a trace of astonishment appearing on her exquisite face.

Her eyes blinked, reflecting her surprise and confusion, as she gazed at the golden dragon. After a long while, she finally opened her mouth, her voice crisp and alluring, "A true dragon?"

Xu Yan observed her every move, feeling a strange sensation that he couldn't quite explain. Her sluggishness and dullness made her seem like someone who wasn't quick-witted, always a step behind in her reactions.

Or perhaps she was half-witted, reacting with a blank, stupefied expression.

However, despite her sluggish and dull demeanor, her expression also held a normal person's consciousness, making her abnormality extremely bizarre.

Roar!

The golden dragon let out a mighty roar, looking down on the woman from its lofty position.

"Why have you come to my heaven and earth?"

The dragon's voice boomed with authority.

"Is this your heaven and earth? Something feels off!"

The woman's response still carried a sense of dullness.

"Little girl, how much do you know of heaven and earth that you dare to claim that my heaven and earth are off? Don't you know that each heaven and earth is unique?"

"It feels off, it truly does!"

The woman's responses were always half a beat slow.

"How dare you claim that my heaven and earth are off? Since you've come to my domain, leave something behind."

The golden dragon dove down, raising its dragon claw to grab at the woman.

This attack wasn't fast, as it seemed to take into account the woman's sluggish reaction time.

However, when faced with this assault, the woman's reaction was anything but dull.

Swish!

In an instant, she disappeared from her original spot, only to reappear above the golden dragon's head, her foot descending towards its head!

Xu Yan's face showed surprise. Contrary to his expectations, the woman's combat reactions were not dull at all but extremely sharp, even more agile than the average Realm Lord.

Roar!

The golden dragon twisted in the air, its dragon claw reaching up to grab at the woman's descending foot, while its dragon tail swept across in a horizontal strike.

In the next moment, the woman vanished again, only to reappear with a pale white palm that exuded a faint jade-white radiance.

The radiance contained immense power, causing the entire heaven and earth to ripple as if it could melt the very laws of heaven and earth and dissolve all power.

"This power is quite unique. It's definitely not from the Unchanging Temple, but it's also not true spirit power."

Xu Yan's eyebrows furrowed.

The golden dragon roared, its dragon might overwhelming, as thunder rumbled and surged, engaging the woman in an intense battle.

As Xu Yan fought with the golden dragon, he also sensed the woman's power, attempting to replicate her laws and turn them into the laws of his heaven and earth, strengthening its path.

What surprised him was how unique her power was. It gave him a sense of purity and immense strength, possessing a powerful melting force, and he couldn't fathom how she had cultivated it.

"This is very odd!"

As the battle intensified, Xu Yan felt more and more that something was amiss with the woman. The source of her power seemed unusual, as if it hadn't come from deliberate cultivation.

Rather, it was as if her body had generated this power on its own.

Boom!

The heavenly phenomenon trembled as the woman's attacks became increasingly fierce, even pushing the golden dragon into a disadvantageous position.

Moreover, the woman seemed intent on probing the entire heaven and earth. While battling the golden dragon, she wandered through the domain, seemingly trying to find what was amiss.

"A single true dragon won't be able to defeat her."

Xu Yan pondered briefly before letting out a roar, and another true dragon emerged in his heaven and earth. This one was a flawless jade-white dragon.

Boom!

As soon as the jade-white dragon appeared, it exuded a chilling aura, and a frost thunderbolt surged forth. It fought alongside the golden dragon, one on the left and the other on the right, engaging the woman in a fierce battle.

This second dragon was, of course, manifested by Xu Yan, modeled after Ao Yuxue and simulating her true dragon power.

"If I increase the power any further, my presence will be exposed."

Xu Yan refrained from amplifying his power any more and instead focused on battling the woman with the two true dragons.

"Something's not right!"

The woman continued to fight the true dragons while speaking slowly, her movements sluggish.

Immediately after, her dress fluttered gracefully, and with peerless beauty, she waved her hands, causing two jade-white radiances to appear and coil towards the dragons like long silks.

The woman's eyes shimmered with a silvery glow, illuminating the heavens and the earth, and a hissing sound echoed as the power of the world emerged, revealing the ancient mountain beneath their feet.

"I knew there was something amiss with this world!"

The woman tilted her head, glancing at the two true dragons before looking down at the ground, her expression dull and slow as she spoke.

"Purifying power? It cleanses all that does not belong, yet it is not true purification."

Xu Yan was astonished.

The silvery radiance in the woman's eyes seemed to possess a "purifying" power, erasing all that did not belong to her. This "purification" was like dissolving foreign objects.

Xu Yan had not revealed himself, and the woman had yet to discover his presence. However, she had sensed something amiss with the world, though she had not fully grasped its essence.

As for the two true dragons, they could not be saved. After all, they were manifestations of the Dragon Subduing Palm, and their strength was not exceptional, so it was expected that they would be unable to withstand the woman's power.

The laws of the world were sensing the woman, replicating her current state, including the power she exhibited. Even if it couldn't perfectly replicate her, it wouldn't be difficult to simulate her power at this moment.

"Her power is quite mysterious, far more complex than those true spirits. To replicate it and turn it into the world's law will take more time."

Xu Yan was thrilled, and he had a premonition that if he could perfectly replicate the woman's power and make it one of the laws of the world, he would break through to the Small Accomplishment stage of the Establishment of Way.

The woman restrained the two true dragons, her dull and slow demeanor unchanged as she examined them and continued to probe the world.

Beyond the world, in the hazy void, two figures suddenly appeared.

"People from the Unchanging Temple," Xu Yan said, recognizing them at once.

"How can there be a world here?"

"She's inside a world!"

The two from the Unchanging Temple looked surprised as they spotted the pursuing woman.

"Are they here to kill her?" Xu Yan wondered.

Whoosh!

The two from the Unchanging Temple instantly entered the world, flanking the woman on either side.

At that moment, the woman furrowed her delicate brows. "Must you pursue me relentlessly?"

Without answering, the duo from the Unchanging Temple attacked, sending waves of dark, murky energy toward the woman while brandishing gray whips that coiled around her.

The woman was pristine and flawless, but the Unchanging Temple disciples exuded a dark, turbid aura as they assaulted her, like filthy shadows encroaching upon a beautiful jade statue.

Buzz!

A brilliant white light emanated from the woman, and in her hand appeared a slender, willow leaf-like blade that shone with a pale glow. She abandoned the two true dragons and turned her attention to the Unchanging Temple disciples.

The two true dragons disappeared into the ground, and within the world, the woman engaged in battle with the Unchanging Temple disciples. As the fight intensified, her eyes transformed, resembling carved jade, and the silvery radiance that emanated from them grew more and more intense, illuminating the battlefield.

The dark, murky energy was dissipating, but the woman's silvery radiance would occasionally dim, and as the battle raged on, she began to show signs of falling behind.

Xu Yan was overjoyed, as the world's laws were replicating the battle, deciphering the power of both sides. This was a rare opportunity to further understand the cultivation methods of the Unchanging Temple.

"She's no match for them," Xu Yan observed, noticing that the silvery radiance in her eyes had faded slightly, and her movements during the fight were becoming slower and more sluggish.

It wouldn't be long before she was defeated.

However, the Unchanging Temple disciples didn't seem intent on killing the woman; they merely wanted to capture her.

"Though the enemies of the Unchanging Temple may not become friends, I am more than happy to thwart their plans and frustrate them," Xu Yan thought with a smile.

He stood up, and as he did so, both combatants noticed him.

"You!" The two from the Unchanging Temple exclaimed, their faces filled with surprise as they turned to Xu Yan.

A World Spirit?

The presence of a world here was already unusual, and now a World Spirit had appeared, one who seemed to possess considerable strength.

"I am Xu Yan, here to escort you two to your deaths!" Xu Yan declared with a brilliant smile.

The Unchanging Temple disciples' expressions changed, and they were about to disengage from their battle with the woman to confront Xu Yan's threat. However, in that moment, the world vanished.

All that remained was a piercing sword intent, enveloping them.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end