"Are you mine?"
The Black Dragon's expression turned momentarily dazed.
However, his eyes gradually filled with heartache.
He shook his head vigorously: "No! This isn't the you I love! A pure and flawless woman, without a speck of dust, this can't be, I won't agree!"
"Then just kill me!" The Snake Woman's face abruptly twisted into a snarl, seizing the moment when the Black Dragon wasn't paying attention, she dashed out of his claws and fiercely charged towards the Heavenly Tablet where Ye Guichen was.
However, before she even got close to the Heavenly Tablet, its brilliance flared up suddenly, directly striking the Snake Woman away.
After being thrown afar, the Snake Woman's eyes cleared again.
"What's happening to me?"
The Black Dragon, fearing the Snake Woman was injured, swiftly swept to her side: "Snake Princess, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"I, what happened to me just now?" The Snake Woman looked at the Black Dragon with dazed eyes. Before the Black Dragon could answer, as if recalling something suddenly, her pupils shrank slightly: "Could it be...? My soul has been tainted?"
"Snake Princess, are you alright?" The Black Dragon was extremely worried: "What can I do to save you?"
The Snake Woman gave a bitter smile: "I never expected this, there's no way, once a soul is tainted, unless it reenters the cycle of reincarnation, there's no way to return."
As she spoke, the Snake Woman glanced unwillingly at the still-sleeping Ye Guichen, then looked up at the Black Dragon: "Kill me."
"No!" The Black Dragon said resolutely: "Absolutely not!"
"Ha, soon my consciousness won't be mine, soon I won't even be myself anymore." The Snake Woman never thought after scheming for so many years, she'd still be outmaneuvered: "Black Dragon, since we are acquaintances, while I'm still clear-headed, I want to ask you a favor."
"What is it? Tell me, whatever it is, I'll go through fire and water!" The Black Dragon's eyes reddened, about to shed tears.
The Snake Woman's lips curved into a smile: "After I die, I hope you can take care of Chenchen for me. His path is long, I believe, I won't truly turn to bones, I believe he can understand the Heavenly Dao. However, the Immortals are not as kind as imagined, I hope you can tell him not to be too headstrong, and to know when to retreat. I hope you tell him, although we have never met, we are connected by blood."
"No way, if you want to say something, tell him yourself!" The Black Dragon could no longer hold back, tears pouring like rain.
The Snake Woman's lips began to twitch, her once-clear eyes turning red once more.
The Snake Woman knew, the tainted soul was about to take over again.
"Thank you, Black Dragon!"
The Snake Woman suddenly lunged, charging again at the Heavenly Tablet.
This time, the Snake Woman did it without hesitation.
Bam!
After the heavy impact sound.
The Snake Woman was not repelled, but was directly consumed by the golden light emanating from the Heavenly Tablet.
"No..." Behind, came the heart-wrenching cry of the Black Dragon.
In a hazy state.
Ye Guichen seemed to have a very long dream.
In the dream, it was all white.
No sky, no earth.
As if even the air was absent.
Ye Guichen stood in the void like that, wanting to run, but the surroundings were boundless, no matter how hard he ran, he couldn't reach an end.
Exhausted from running, Ye Guichen plopped down on the ground, wanting to use all his cultivation to break open this space.
However, Ye Guichen found that he couldn't exert anything.
That feeling, like being embraced in a mother's arms.
The world was pure, without any impurities.
"Chenchen..."
Just as Ye Guichen was enjoying this rare leisure, a gentle female voice suddenly called him.
Ye Guichen looked up, and in the whiteness appeared a woman clad in white, pure and holy.
The woman smiled, so beautiful, so kind.
With just one look, Ye Guichen felt an inexplicable sense of closeness.
"Who are you?" Ye Guichen asked, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
The woman reached out: "I'm your negligent mother, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you while you grew, couldn't pave all your paths..."
"Mother?"
Those two words.
So unfamiliar.
Yet so endearing.
Ye Guichen's eyes instantly reddened.
"You, you are my mother?" Ye Guichen fiercely wiped the tears from his eyes, rushing towards the woman.
But after reaching the woman, he found himself diving into emptiness.
The woman vanished into nothingness, her voice resonating from afar: "Chenchen, wake up, live well!"
"Mother..." Ye Guichen froze, suddenly feeling the white in front of him disappear, even starting to collapse.
Moments later, the white began to transform into gold, then the surroundings started to crumble as if on the brink of collapse.
"Guard!"
Ye Guichen's mind trembled, immediately summoning thousands of swords to protect himself.
Indeed, this time, those thousand swords were instantly called out, forming a dense sword net.
Who knows how much time passed, but the collapse had ceased.
After Ye Guichen dispelled the sword net, he found himself lying on the back of a giant tortoise.
Looking up, he saw a stone stele on the tortoise's back.
The words on it glowed with golden light, and as Ye Guichen stared, they suddenly surged into the center of his forehead.
Ye Guichen immediately felt a vast power pouring into him.
Heavenly Dao?
Ye Guichen was bewildered.
In the next second, the soul seemed to be cleansed once more.
The essence of life rapidly nourished the power of the soul.
Previously, although Ye Guichen had absorbed the essence of life, most of it hadn't been refined.
Unexpectedly, in almost an instant, Ye Guichen refined all the essence of life, and his cultivation level instantly surged to the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, just one step away from entering the Divinity Transformation Realm.
"This..."
Ye Guichen was dumbfounded.
Though not quite understanding what had happened, he seemed to have a clearer understanding of the path of cultivation.
Or rather, he had a clearer understanding of the immortal path.
"Bang!"
While Ye Guichen was still in suspicion, a beam of golden light shot out, propelling him away.
Ye Guichen looked up, seeing a black shadow flash by, lifting him up.
"Are you the Black Dragon?" Ye Guichen immediately recognized it was the same Black Dragon he had seen in the mystic river.
The Black Dragon remained silent, carrying Ye Guichen out of the river, soaring into the sky.
The human cultivators, who had suffered heavy losses, had given up hope.
It had been a full seven days and nights without a trace of Ye Guichen.
Everyone believed Ye Guichen was certainly dead.
Without a leader, no one had the courage to venture into the Netherworld Mountain.
Many quietly withdrew.
Only a tenth of the original group remained on the sky bridge.
Yu Wen Dou looked despairing, letting out a long sigh, not expecting a genius like Ye Guichen would have such an outcome.
The Ghost King kept blaming the Saint Infant.
Initially, the Saint Infant had believed Ye Guichen could emerge, but after such a long time with no sign, doubt began to creep in.
He started to secretly regret his impulsiveness, having kicked Ye Guichen into the mystic river, essentially causing his death.
"Stop blaming me!" The Saint Infant couldn't withstand the Ghost King's nagging: "If it's that bad, I'll throw myself into the river, die, and be done with it!"
Saying this, he prepared to jump into the mystic river.
At that moment, the black waters churned again.
The Black Dragon roared and burst out of the mystic river.
Everyone retreated in fright, not expecting the Black Dragon to suddenly appear at this time.
Everyone present had witnessed the terror of the Black Dragon.
Now that the Black Dragon had appeared, was it hungry again, ready to devour these human cultivators?
At the thought of this possibility, all the human cultivators felt their skin crawl.
In front of the Black Dragon, there was no chance of survival.
However, before everyone could recover from their shock, someone noticed Ye Guichen sitting on the Black Dragon's back.
"Isn't that Mr. Ye?"
"Really, he's riding on the Black Dragon's back. My God, it's unbelievable."
"How is this possible? Am I seeing things?"
Everyone had witnessed the terror of the Black Dragon.
What does Ye Guichen riding on the Black Dragon's back mean?
Could it be that after one trip to the mystic river, Ye Guichen managed to subdue the Black Dragon?
Is this some sort of fairy tale?
Yu Wen Dou was stunned to see Ye Guichen emerge, then suddenly overjoyed, giving his head a sharp slap: "I knew it, Mr. Ye's fate is strong, he absolutely wouldn't die!"
The joy and surprise were unmistakable.
All the human cultivators began to cheer.
However, Haotian looked at Ye Guichen on the Black Dragon's back with shock, his breath catching.
"How can this be? That was the mystic river, even if this kid had the Snake Woman's bloodline, he couldn't possibly survive in the mystic river, right? Moreover, a manifestation of the Snake Woman had already been corrupted by me, she should only be my tool, but now, why does it seem like the Snake Woman has suddenly disappeared?"
Haotian was unsettled, wary, glancing at the Black Dragon, knowing he was no match for it.
If faced with the Black Dragon now, there was only a path to death.
"Hmph, well it doesn't matter."
The Snake Woman has appeared, the hidden gate is already loosening.
Haotian's task could be considered complete.
Within at most forty-nine days, the hidden gate would be fully opened.
At that time, the Demon Clan would return, and the Demon Saint would emerge from the hidden gate; even the Black Dragon would likely fear.
"Escape!" With a shift in thought, Haotian performed an Escape Technique, disappearing from the spot.
Reappearing far away in the Chaos Sea.
The Chaos Sea stretched as far as the eye could see, its waves rolling such that even ships couldn't float.
Yet, strangely, the Chaos Sea had countless people treading atop magic artifacts, as if walking on solid ground.
Clutching the blood-red pendant hanging from his neck, Haotian murmured to himself, "Demon Saint, guide me to the hidden gate."
Then, he gently squeezed it.
The pendant shattered, a cryptic pattern spread beneath Haotian's feet.
In the next second, Haotian vanished from the spot once more.
Meanwhile, Ye Guichen returned from his shock.
Although he didn't know why the Black Dragon was carrying him, he could clearly feel no malice from it.
"Did you know my mother?" Thinking of the woman in the white space, Ye Guichen finally couldn't help but speak.
The enormous body of the Black Dragon trembled slightly: "Yes."
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