Chapter 71: Nowhere to Run

If the Outer Gate Treasury was an opportunity prepared for cultivators of the Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul Stages,

then the Inner Sect Treasury on the other side of the secret realm was prepared for the powerhouses of the Divine Ability, Grotto-Heaven, and Dao Severing Realms.

Just like the Outer Gate Treasury, the Inner Sect Treasury slowly emerged from the black mist.

This palace was even more magnificent than the one at the outer gate.

Built entirely of a pitch-black crystal, it gleamed with a cold, eerie light under the overcast sky.

A faint, colorful glow enveloped the palace.

The brilliant light illuminated the entire upper region of the secret realm.

Countless powerhouses surged in from all directions.

Experts of the Divine Ability, Grotto-Heaven, and Dao Severing Realms gathered, their auras as vast as mountains and seas, causing the surrounding air to freeze.

*

Chen Ping stood on a mountain peak, watching the emerging palace in the distance, and stopped in his tracks.

“The greatest opportunity must be inside that palace,”

he muttered softly to himself.

Activating his Grand Dao Divine Eyes, he could clearly see an incredibly powerful restriction enveloping the palace.

The strength of the barrier was enough to deter ordinary Grotto-Heaven Realm experts.

But for him, it was not an issue.

He did not hesitate in the slightest.

With a shift of his body, Chen Ping pushed his Grand Dao Evasion Technique to its limit, transforming into a streak of purple-gold light as he shot toward the palace.

*

He had flown less than a hundred li when a fierce, bloody light lunged at him from the side!

Chen Ping flickered, dodging the attack.

He turned his head.

Not far away, Xu the Butcher stood with his hands behind his back, a towering killing intent swirling around him.

Behind him stood an elderly man in a gray robe whose aura was as deep as an abyss, far more profound than Xu the Butcher’s.

A true Grotto-Heaven Realm powerhouse.

*

“Kid, I told you that once we entered the secret realm, I would make you pay,”

Xu the Butcher spoke coldly, his eyes filled with venom.

“Today, you will pay for my grandson’s hand with your life!”

Chen Ping looked at him, then at the Grotto-Heaven Realm elder behind him, his expression calm.

“Brought help, I see?”

“Hmph, when dealing with a bizarre Qi Refining cultivator like you, I naturally had to make extra preparations,” Xu the Butcher sneered.

“Today, there is no escape for you!”

*

Chen Ping did not panic.

Within him, the 《Grand Dao Divine Scripture》 quietly began to circulate.

The purple-gold Great Dao Primordial Power surged through his limbs and bones like a rushing river.

He did not speak.

He simply raised his hand.

And then, he moved.

Pushing the Grand Dao Evasion Technique to its limit, his figure left a blur in the air.

His speed was so fast that even the Grotto-Heaven Realm elder’s pupils contracted slightly.

Before Xu the Butcher could react, Chen Ping was already in front of him.

He struck out with a palm.

A purple-gold light instantly enveloped Xu the Butcher!

“You-!”

Xu the Butcher’s eyes widened. He tried to defend himself, only to find he could not move at all.

The power was too overwhelming.

So strong that he, a half-step Grotto-Heaven cultivator, could not even summon the thought of resisting.

Boom!!!

The palm struck.

Xu the Butcher’s body instantly dissolved into a mist of blood, his soul and body utterly destroyed.

Even in death, he could not understand how he had been evenly matched with Chen Ping before, yet now could not even withstand a single blow.

*

Chen Ping withdrew his hand.

His face was slightly pale, and the spiritual energy within him was mostly depleted.

He had channeled almost all of his strength into that single strike.

After all, he was only in the Qi Refining Stage.

Although his combat power far exceeded his realm, a full-strength strike would still leave him drained.

But he concealed it well.

He stood with his hands behind his back once more, his expression calm, as if he had merely crushed an ant.

*

The Grotto-Heaven Realm elder’s expression changed.

He stared at Chen Ping, his eyes filled with gravity.

The Qi Refining Stage.

A Qi Refining cultivator had instantly killed a half-step Grotto-Heaven with a single palm strike.

How was that possible?

Yet Xu the Butcher’s corpse, no, not even a corpse remained, only a mist of blood, was right before his eyes.

The elder took a deep breath, his eyes locked onto Chen Ping.

He could not see through him.

Though this young man clearly possessed only the aura of the Qi Refining Stage, he gave off an unfathomable feeling.

It was as if standing there was not a person, but a bottomless abyss.

With Xu the Butcher having been killed in an instant, the elder was filled with doubt and hesitation, not daring to strike rashly.

*

Chen Ping looked at him and suddenly smiled.

“Senior,”

he said, his voice very calm.

“The main target is dead. How about you and I exchange a few blows?”

*

The elder’s pupils contracted slightly.

Exchange blows?

Was this young man serious?

He stared at Chen Ping’s calm face, his mind racing with calculations.

This young man might be strong, but he himself was a Grotto-Heaven Realm cultivator after all.

If he were frightened away by a single sentence from a Qi Refining cultivator, where would he hide his face if word got out?

Furthermore, as he sized Chen Ping up, a hint of greed flashed in his eyes.

This person could conceal his cultivation realm, so he must possess some treasure.

That treasure capable of masking his aura must be quite extraordinary.

*

“Very well,”

he said slowly, the aura around him beginning to surge.

“I would like to see just how capable you are.”

*

Chen Ping remained calm on the surface.

But internally, he was grimacing.

He had only wanted to see if he could scare the elder away, but he hadn’t expected the man to refuse to take the bait.

He had overplayed his hand.

Still, looking at the Grotto-Heaven Realm expert before him, he began to calculate.

Even if he couldn’t win, exchanging a few blows shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

It wouldn’t be too late to use the Grand Dao Evasion Technique to flee then.

Besides, he also wanted to test where his current limits lay.

*

Purple-gold light slowly welled up from within him.

The Grand Dao Divine Scripture circulated at full power.

They exchanged dozens of blows.

Chen Ping gradually began to feel the strain.

With every move and style, he had to exert his full strength.

The purple-gold Great Dao Primordial Power surged frantically through his meridians.

The sphere of light in his dantian spun violently, almost to the point of burning.

Yet the elder opposite him still handled the fight with ease.

The Grotto-Heaven Realm.

This was the power of the Grotto-Heaven Realm.

*

Yet the more the old man fought, the more alarmed he became.

The energy fluctuations of the young man before him were undeniably at the Qi Refining Stage.

That aura, so weak it was almost negligible, could not be faked.

But the nature of that power was simply too high.

It was so high that even a Grotto-Heaven Realm expert like him felt a tremor of fear.

It was a power of a higher level than spiritual energy, terrifyingly pure, carrying a certain ancient and majestic aura.

It was as if it weren’t spiritual energy, but… laws?

Heavenly Dao Power?

Countless thoughts flashed through the old man’s mind, only to be dismissed one by one.

Impossible.

Even the legendary Heavenly Dao Power could not allow someone at the Qi Refining Stage to fight against the Grotto-Heaven Realm.

The old man still clung to his previous assumption: Chen Ping must possess an extraordinary treasure.

A treasure that could conceal his cultivation realm, and one that could even enhance the quality of his power.

At this thought, the greed in the old man’s eyes intensified.

“Kid, you won’t last much longer!”

The old man struck out with a palm, the wind from his hand like an abyss, carrying a world-destroying power.

Chen Ping gritted his teeth and raised his hand to meet the blow head-on.

Boom!!!

The shockwave rippled outward, instantly shattering the rocks and mountains within a thousand zhang.

Chen Ping was forced back over ten zhang, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

His face grew even paler.