Death Grip
“Xing Chen, are you okay?” Xueqing and Meng Xiner hurried over, looking at Xing Chen with concern.
“It’s just an injury; I’ll recover soon!” Xing Chen smiled and looked toward the depths of Hate Emperor Palace, calling out loudly, “Hate Emperor, since you’ve already broken through to the Monarch level, why don’t you come out?”
“Haha, my child, I didn’t expect you to return to the sea so quickly. However, your timing is just right; otherwise, Hate Emperor Palace might really have been breached by those demons,” the figure of Hate Emperor slowly appeared above Hate Emperor Palace.
“I came back for a reason; otherwise, I wouldn’t have returned. After all, there are still messes waiting for me to clean up in the Eastern Region!” Xing Chen said to Hate Emperor calmly.
“I know what you’re here for without you saying it. You want to take these two to find the Divine Wind Emperor and Ice Snow Sovereign’s Inheritance, right? I’ll help you with that; it’s a done deal,” Hate Emperor replied.
“That was exactly what I wanted to ask you about. However, I think you should be worried about the Underworld God now. Right now, in the sea region, there’s only one Emperor of Thunder Punishment left—just you as a Monarch—so you should handle these matters first. After all, the Underworld God is not easy to deal with,” Xing Chen reminded him.
“The Underworld God is indeed a problem. Although I’ve been in seclusion these days, I was merely consolidating my realm. I broke through to Jungjing half a year ago and spent another half year solidifying my foundation. During this time, I’ve also learned about the situation in the sea region,” Hate Emperor said slowly without frowning.
Even though he was now a Monarch, if the Underworld God were to personally arrive, he could definitely defeat Hate Emperor in an instant.
“Hate Emperor, what exactly is going on this time? Is the Underworld really planning a large-scale invasion?” Xing Chen asked with some concern.
“Yes, judging by the Underworld God’s demeanor, it seems that way. However, he should be here for the Strongest Inheritance. After all, once he obtains the Strongest Inheritance, he will have hope of breaking through to Mastering Fate. He will definitely go to any lengths to achieve that level,” Hate Emperor explained.
“You need to prepare early; after all, when the Underworld Army attacks, the first ones to suffer will be the sea region and then us in the Eastern Region. If you can’t hold on, I probably won’t last long either, so you must hold on!” Xing Chen said seriously while looking at Hate Emperor.
“Damn it! It’s impossible for me alone to withstand the Underworld Army! I’ll need your help then; at the very least, let me borrow your Azure Dragon Divine Weapon!” Hate Emperor said boldly.
“Dream on!” Xing Chen scoffed and then looked at Hate Emperor and asked, “Is Xueqing Senior Sister’s family here with you?”
"Yes, that's right, it's indeed with me. You can rest assured about that; how could I not protect your family!" Hate Emperor said with a teasing smile.
"Hate Emperor, you really are getting better at banter! By the way, I haven't asked you yet, how does this Demon God Body feel?" Xing Chen glanced at Xueqing, signaling her to go see her family quickly to ease her worries, then turned to Hate Emperor and asked.
"It feels quite good. By the way, besides looking for Inheritance, did you have any other business coming to the sea area?" Hate Emperor asked Xing Chen.
"Yes, I wanted to recruit you to our Eastern Region, but it turns out you're too busy here, so I guess we'll have to let that go," Xing Chen shrugged.
"How can we just let it go? You see what my situation is here; stay and help me! After all, dealing with the Underworld God is quite difficult, and I'm really not a match for him alone," Hate Emperor smiled at Xing Chen.
"Go as far away as you can; I have my own matters to attend to! There's no time to help you fight the Underworld God," Xing Chen rolled her eyes.
The conversation between the two left those below in the Hate Emperor Palace utterly shocked. They could hardly believe that Hate Emperor was allowing someone to speak to him like that without losing his temper. Although they knew it was a joke, in the past, even jokingly, Hate Emperor would have already lost his temper.
"Alright, enough of that. You should rest here in my Hate Emperor Palace! Your injuries aren't fully healed, but I'm truly impressed that you managed to find the Spear of Punishment," Hate Emperor praised Xing Chen.
"Oh, I remember this now. The Xing Family actually has no blood relation to Punishment. That place isn't my family, and there are no relatives of mine there," Xing Chen said with a bitter smile.
"What? The Xing Family isn't related to Punishment? Those people have no connection to Punishment?" Hate Emperor looked at Xing Chen with disbelief.
"Yes, that's how it is. As for the Punishing Thunder Emperor, well... I can sense that none of those people are related to me by blood," Xing Chen nodded.
"That's strange. If that's true, then your identity indeed has a lot of mysteries. You should investigate this matter as soon as possible. I always feel that your background is definitely not that simple, just like the case of Punishment. He appeared out of nowhere; no one knew his background or which family he belonged to. Although he established the Xing Family, he didn't belong to it because it was created after his existence, not before."
"Your situation is quite similar to his; you'd better figure it out!" Hate Emperor advised.
"I will. No matter what, I must get to the bottom of this," Xing Chen nodded and then said, "Alright, we've been standing here for so long; you wouldn't want to keep me outside forever, would you?"
"Ha ha, I really wanted to keep you out, but considering you're injured, I'll let you in!" the Hate Emperor laughed.
Inside the Hate Emperor Palace!
Xing Chen and the Hate Emperor sat in the hall, both wearing worried expressions. Xing Chen was somewhat better off; after all, he had to support the entire Eastern Region. However, the current Eastern Region had its territory and was protected by the Azure Dragon Formation. Yun Qing and others were also rapidly growing stronger, so it wasn't too difficult for him.
But the Hate Emperor was different. He had to support the entire sea area and was fighting against the entire Underworld, which was not the same as the internal conflicts among Xing Chen and others in the Five Domains.
"Hate Emperor, I truly feel both sympathy and admiration for you!" Xing Chen said slowly as he glanced at the Hate Emperor.
"There’s no need for such nonsense. You should hurry and heal your injuries. With the Bian'an Demon Lord's Demon Core in hand, even if you break through to the Emperor of Thunder Punishment, there is still hope," the Hate Emperor waved his hand.
"Alright, since that's the case, I won't say much. Once the situation in the Eastern Region is resolved, I will bring all the strong ones from the Eastern Region to help you," Xing Chen nodded and then stood up to leave. It was indeed time for him to recuperate; if he delayed any longer, his injuries would worsen again.
"Hurry and heal your injuries! I can still manage things here in the sea area for now," the Hate Emperor said calmly.
Xing Chen said nothing more and directly walked out, heading to the room that the Hate Emperor had arranged for him.
"I hope I can really hold on until you come to help me!" the Hate Emperor murmured as he watched Xing Chen's departing figure.
On another side, after returning to his room, Xing Chen sat cross-legged on the bed and took out the Bian'an Demon Lord's Demon Core, which emitted a dark and cold light.
"With this Demon Core, breaking through to the Emperor of Thunder Punishment is hopeful. As long as I reach the Emperor Realm, I can slay even an ordinary monarch," Xing Chen thought as he settled down on the bed and grasped the Demon Core, activating Hate Emperor's Art.
As Hate Emperor's Art operated, a massive Demonic Aura from within the Demon Core surged towards Xing Chen's body like a tide, continuously impacting against the Bottleneck that obstructed his breakthrough.
However, although that Bottleneck seemed to have shattered, it remained as solid as a rock and unyielding. After a full quarter of an hour had passed, that Bottleneck finally loosened slightly but remained tightly bound; it had not been completely breached.
However, during this impact, Xing Chen's injuries were completely healed by the powerful Demonic Aura, and most importantly, his Nine Transformations of Demon Power had once again broken through to reach the eighth transformation, with immense and unparalleled power.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Accompanied by the continuous rumbling echoing in his mind, Xing Chen repeatedly struck against the Bottleneck that was obstructing his breakthrough.
Finally, after countless impacts, Xing Chen completely broke through the Bottleneck. With this breakthrough, he felt his power surge wildly.
In just a short period of time, his strength had increased more than tenfold compared to before. Xing Chen could clearly sense the difference between now and before. If he were to face the Bian'an Demon Lord now, although he couldn't kill him in one strike, he could at least easily defeat him.
"Finally reached the Emperor Realm. My current strength combined with the Spear of Punishment is enough to slay ordinary monarchs. Once I reach the peak of Emperor of Thunder Punishment, even defeating someone like the Dark Demon Lord won't be impossible," Xing Chen thought to himself.
Since Xing Chen had just broken through, he was only at the early stage of Transcend the Void, which meant he was an ordinary Emperor of Thunder Punishment. However, his combat power was definitely not something an ordinary Emperor of Thunder Punishment could compare to.
"Yes, my power has greatly increased, and the Demonic Aura within me has also strengthened significantly." Xing Chen felt the changes in his body once again and revealed a hint of joy in his eyes.
However, at that moment, an exceptionally terrifying aura suddenly enveloped the Hate Emperor Palace. This aura was far stronger than that of the previous Bian'an Demon Lord.
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