Nine Astra Skies

As for what he was going to do after becoming the strongest being of all, Ye Chen did not have the faintest idea. He only knew he did not want to experience the kind of helplessness and despair that he had felt earlier anymore and to be in control of his own fate!

A strange power circled Ye Chen's body. The Nine Astras in his body started undergoing slight changes. Ye Chen seemed to have heard the sound of a butterfly breaking out from the cocoon, which was extremely subtle as if the sound originated from a place deep within the etches of the soul.

When Ye Chen closed his eyes, he felt like he saw an endless, vast grassland that was lush and bustling with life. A butterfly that was bathing in sunlight was seen fluttering skyward.

The sky above was still in a scuffle. However, Tantai Ling seemed to have sensed something and she glanced at the inn below.

Tantai Ling was a devoted martial artist. She constantly pursued martial arts, moving forward and defeating one powerhouse after another. She felt that she was on the verge of a breakthrough, so she kept searching everywhere for powerful enemies, yet she could not find a matching opponent. Today, she was able to feel the energy of a powerhouse from a human who was only seventeen or eighteen years old.

Ye Chen's selfless behavior of saving those three ordinary people puzzled Tantai Ling a little. The roar that the gold-armored soldier let out earlier was full of grief and power, and this power shuddered her soul a little. She had yet to understand why such a terrifying power could be unleashed from an incomplete externalized Psyche.

The Winged Serpent was jolted to a moment's pause too after feeling the gold-armored soldier's howl. There were already several glaring scars oozing out fresh blood on its body. If not for its strong recovery ability, it would have been killed by Tantai Ling long ago!

The Winged Serpent initially thought that the gold-armored soldier was Tantai Ling's aide but after seeing Tantai Ling's expression, it knew it was not.

The poisonous mist around the Winged Serpent's body morphed into several shapes of snake demons, which lunged toward Tantai Ling with opened jaws and exposed claws.

"Die!" The Winged Serpent cried. The black mist in the sky billowed around like a prancing group of devils.

"I've traveled thousands of miles to get here and this is all you have to offer? Boring. Let's end this!" Tantai Ling turned to face the sky full of snake demons transformed by the dark mist and then froze her gaze. Within an instant, she reappeared right above the Winged Serpent in the air.

"How can this be?" The Winged Serpent felt like it had lost control of everything suddenly. In the blink of an eye, Tantai Ling had already appeared directly above it. The Winged Serpent hastily hoisted his six weapons and smashed them at Tantai Ling.

The Winged Serpent's several-hundred-meters-long body charged toward Tantai Ling but all she did was remain still. She thrust the trident in her hand at her incoming enemy elegantly.

Ding Ding Ding!

All six weapons that the Winged Serpent was holding broke into half right away.

Blood splattered around as the trident impaled the Winged Serpent, plunging the weight of its humongous body down to the ground. With a final loud bang, the Winged Serpent was nailed to the ground by the trident. A few dozen houses collapsed as the aftermath and the entire town was sent into waves of quakes.

Such was the power of a mighty blow!

After the Winged Serpent was nailed to the ground, it turned into a billow of dark mist and quickly fled the scene.

Seeing the Winged Serpent escaping, Tantai Ling did not chase after it either. She gestured with her right hand and the trident returned to her grasp. She then looked toward the inn. With a bang, half the roof immediately collapsed.

The collapsed roof was the exact room where Ye Chen was in!

Tantai Ling stood high above like a goddess, looking down at Ye Chen who lay weakly on the bed.

"It seems that I have underestimated you. I didn't expect such a powerful Astral Body to be hidden in your body." Tantai Ling gazed at Ye Chen silently, her face maintaining the same stone-cold expression.

"Squeak!" The fur on Little Tanuki's body stood upright. It exposed its sharp teeth and stared hostilely at Tantai Ling.

"A six-tailed tanuki that hasn't entered the Adept Rank yet... Little guy, do you think you can do anything to harm me?" Tantai Ling swept an indifferent glance at Little Tanuki, the trident in her right hand constantly spinning, emitting rays of mystical light.

Little Tanuki maintained its hostile stance and various kinds of ever-changing illuminations glinted in its eyes. Despite knowing that the enemy was too strong, it would never give in either!

"Little Tanuki, don't." Ye Chen stretched out his right hand. Though he was somewhat weak, he still managed to block Little Tanuki. Even if Little Tanuki harnessed all its life potential, it would still be no match for Tantai Ling.

"Little tanuki, you should really be running for your life now and perhaps you could still live. I don't understand these so-called feelings that you mortal beings have. It's meaningless. The real Martial Truth is to constantly challenge your own limits to become the strongest of all. These feelings that mortal beings have for each other are just a drag." There was not a single trace of emotion at all in Tantai Ling's cold voice. She looked at Ye Chen and said, "Do you now regret your attempt of saving those three people earlier? If you hadn't tried to save them, maybe you can still survive. But now, you're dead for sure. "

"I don't regret it," Ye Chen said firmly.

"Why?" Tantai Ling's ominously dark eyes remained unmoved.

"This is my Dao." Ye Chen stared straight into Tantai Ling's eyes.

Tantai Ling reacted like she had heard something amusing as she laughed, "Your Dao? Speaking of which, I forgot that you also understood the Absolute Martial Truth. To die defending the weak - is your Dao? If you want to attain immortality, you must learn to be ruthless, then only could you reach the top. "

"You're wrong." Ye Chen rebutted her. "I don't know what rank you are but the fact that you keep looking to challenge other fighters, it seems that your cultivation had reached a bottleneck. If your Martial Arts Attainment Level was sufficient to support your cultivation, you shouldn't find it so difficult to break through with that talent you have. Thus, I can conclude that your Dao is wrong! "

There was finally a slight bit of change to Tantai Ling's stone-cold expression. Her gleaming eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Ye Chen, "You said my Dao is wrong?" There was even a smile on her face when she spoke but the smile was incredibly cold. The Pressure surrounding her body suddenly surged and a cold murderous intent was locked on Ye Chen.

No one had so far dared to doubt her Dao!

"Historically, all the greats who came before us were people of love. They had great compassion toward all beings of the mortal realm and it was that, which allowed them to achieve the highest order of Dao. Dao is the Originator of the undivided universe. <anno data-annotation-id="369deb00-5369-6fac-8c67-d821a2243d4c">The universe gives rise to Yin and Yang; Yin and Yang give rise to heaven, earth, and people, and they give rise to all the worldly things.</anno> The realization of Dao comes from all worldly things and the enlightenment of Dao comes from love. If you have no love in your heart and only know how to kill, you'll be controlled by it, and you'll eventually become a killer with no belief. If you have no belief, how else can you feel the presence of Dao within heaven and earth?"

Ye Chen felt the oppressive murderous intent coming from Tantai Ling. He felt as if all the hair pores on his body were pierced by fine needles. It was like his body was on the brink of shattering, yet he still gritted his teeth and muttered out each word and sentence stubbornly.

It was surprising that Ye Chen still dared to talk back under such strong oppression. Tantai Ling's murderous intent suddenly intensified again and she stared coldly at Ye Chen.

Tantai Ling only needed to flick her one finger to ensure Ye Chen's death!

<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="369deb00-5369-6fac-8c67-d821a2243d4c">original text was an excerpt from Tao Te Ching, a Chinese philosophy classic text by Laozi.</li></ol></annotations>",