There is a beast in the bright morning.

Chapter 197 Illusion

Because of Chen Ying's meddling, Zhan Hu threw a tantrum and left in a huff.

For the sake of future happiness, Hao Chen had to quickly explain to Zhan Hu: "Good Zhan Hu, don't be angry, it's not what you think, it's because..."

"I see. No wonder you agreed to that guy's request."

After Hao Chen's explanation, Zhan Hu realized that he had been mistaken.

But when he thought about how he had lashed out at Hao Chen without asking for the reason, he immediately lowered his head in shame and said, "I'm sorry, Hao Chen, I shouldn't have doubted you."

"It's nothing." Hao Chen rubbed Zhan Hu's big head and suddenly whispered in his ear, "If you want to apologize, treat me to a 'buffet' after we get out, the kind where you can eat as much as you want."

Hao Chen emphasized the word "buffet" in his speech, and Zhan Hu immediately understood what Hao Chen meant. He patted his chest loudly and said, "No problem, I'll make sure you eat your fill."

"Hehe~" Hao Chen was imagining in his mind which posture he would use to eat at the buffet when he heard footsteps behind him.

Looking back, they saw that Ji Wuyue and Su Li's group had followed them at some point and were now eavesdropping.

"What did you all just hear?" Hao Chen squinted at Ji Wuyue and the others, as if he would kill them to silence them if their answers did not meet his expectations.

Sensing the icy aura emanating from Hao Chen, the group instantly regretted their initial curiosity.

Fortunately, Ji Wuyue was quick-witted and immediately explained, "Lord Sacrificial Spirit, we just discussed and confirmed the location of the Demon Emperor's Treasure Vault, so we came to ask if you should set off now?"

As Ji Wuyue spoke, she winked at Su Li and the others. Su Li understood and quickly chimed in, "That's right, senior."

Seeing Ji Wuyue's sincere expression, Hao Chen pretended to be nonchalant and jumped onto Zhan Hu's back.

"Alright, you two lead the way. There's one more thing. You didn't see or hear anything just now, understand?"

Under Hao Chen's threatening gaze, everyone shook their heads, indicating that they had forgotten what had just happened, which finally made Hao Chen put away his aggressive aura.

On the way back, Hao Chen took the initiative to ask Su Li about the Demon Emperor's Treasure Vault.

In Hao Chen's view, the Demon Emperor was, after all, the ancestor of the Qingqiu Holy Land, and Su Li, a disciple who also came from the Qingqiu Holy Land, should know something about it.

As for Su Li, after hearing Hao Chen's question, she hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke gently under Hao Chen's gaze.

According to what Su Li learned, the Demon Emperor's Treasury is the core of the Demon Emperor's Secret Realm, containing not only astonishing treasures but also, it is said, the Demon Emperor's legacy.

However, the Demon Emperor's Treasure Vault has never appeared since the secret realm was formed, but the Qingqiu Holy Land firmly believes in the authenticity of the treasure vault.

"The treasure vault thing must be true, otherwise Chen Ying wouldn't have done all that was in vain. He probably didn't show up before because he hadn't found the key."

"But the key to open the treasure vault is still in the hands of the gods. Wait... didn't Wuyue mention before that he found something?"

Thinking of this, Hao Chen looked at Ji Wuyue: "Wuyue, let me see the fragments of the imperial weapon you found."

"Yes, Lord Sacrifice Spirit."

Upon receiving the order, Ji Wuyue hurriedly pulled out a fragment of an imperial weapon from her crotch.

Upon seeing this scene, Hao Chen slapped his forehead, realizing how he had forgotten about it.

Hao Chen disdainfully used his divine power to lift the fragment of the imperial weapon and fly it to his front, carefully examining the fragment.

"It's very ordinary, I can't see anything different about it, and the runes on it are worn out too badly, I wonder what it went through back then."

Hao Chen looked at it for a long time and only felt that it was a little harder; he couldn't see any other difference.

At this moment, Zhan Hu suddenly gestured for Hao Chen to look at Su Li: "Why don't we let that fox drip its blood and try it?"

"Hey! That makes sense. I didn't expect you to be so clever this time, Zhanhu."

"Hmph, what do you mean 'this time'? I've always been smart, okay?"

"Yes, yes, my War Tiger is the smartest."

Zhan Hu's words made Hao Chen's eyes light up. Since the Demon Emperor came from the Qingqiu Holy Land, and Su Li also came from the Qingqiu Holy Land, they must have some blood relation. Maybe it really is feasible.

"Ahem, Su Li, you heard what Zhan Hu said just now, right? Well then, I'll leave it to you."

Su Li saw that although Hao Chen was saying "please" to him, his hands were not slow. With a wave of his claw, the fragment of the imperial weapon flew towards him.

“But…” Su Li really wanted to refuse. He had seen where Ji Wuyue had taken this thing out from.

However, Hao Chen did not give him time to refuse. In an instant, the fragment appeared in Su Li's hand.

Su Li's disgust was evident, but out of fear of Hao Chen, she had no choice but to grit her teeth, cut her thumb, and hand the blood to the fragment of the imperial weapon.

One drop, two drops, three drops... until the palm-sized fragment was stained red with blood, there was no change.

"It seems this method won't work; let's think of other ways."

Hao Chen was somewhat disappointed. He patted Zhan Hu on the shoulder, signaling him to continue searching for clues to the treasure vault.

Longshan and the others were even more disappointed. Whether or not they found the Demon Emperor's Treasure Vault was no longer their concern.

But if they can see the legendary Demon Emperor's treasure vault, then their trip will not have been in vain.

Besides, if we go along, we might get to drink some soup, so it won't be a wasted trip.

But after all that, you said you couldn't do it, which made Long Shan and the others look at Su Li with a hint of disdain.

When Su Li saw the disdainful looks from Long Shan and the others, she was so angry that she almost twisted her mouth in anger. She really wanted to say, "If you're so good, then you do it!"

But at that moment, the previously motionless fragment suddenly broke free from Su Li's hand, flew into the air, and emitted a dazzling light.

Hao Chen sensed a powerful aura awakening within the fragment, and at the same time, ripples spread through the void.

Only then did they realize that it wasn't that Su Li's blood was useless, but rather that the fragments were too incomplete. In addition, Su Li and the Demon Emperor were separated by countless generations, so the Demon Emperor's bloodline in his body was already very thin.

"Could it be that using the blood of a descendant of the Demon Emperor can activate this fragment and teleport me directly to the treasure vault?"

The next moment, the fragment emitted a blazing light that blinded everyone. Even though Hao Chen was prepared, he instinctively closed his eyes as well.

When Hao Chen opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on a embankment, with Zhan Hu and Ji Wuyue not beside him.

"War Tiger~ Can you hear my voice?"

Hao Chen kept calling Zhan Hu's name, but received no response. He had to stop and think about what had happened.

"I didn't sense any spatial fluctuations during the teleportation, which means I should still be in the same place and not separated from Zhanhu. Could this be an illusion?"

"But what is the reason the Demon Emperor did this...?"

Unable to figure it out, Hao Chen had no choice but to stop and observe the scenery before him, hoping to find a way to leave.

Hao Chen flew directly into the air and looked down at the embankment below. He was immediately frightened by what he saw.

The embankment was incredibly majestic, like a towering city wall, and its length seemed endless, with no end in sight.

On it, countless array patterns emerged, forming one after another unparalleled array.

"Who built this dike, and what was it for? Could there be some enemy in the sea?"

Thinking of this, Hao Chen subconsciously looked at the sea in front of him, but what he saw made him dumbfounded.

This is not a sea at all; it is clearly a collection of broken worlds piled up one after another.

Every wave, every drop of water, is a compressed world. Hao Chen can even see planets in this world that have lost their life essence.

For some reason, the name Jiehai suddenly popped into Haochen's mind.

Just as Hao Chen was about to continue watching, he noticed that several figures had appeared on the embankment at some point.

The leaders were a man and a woman. The woman had nine white fox tails on her back, and Hao Chen guessed that she might be the Demon Emperor.

Upon seeing the man's face, Hao Chen exclaimed in surprise, "That's Hao Tian! How could it be him?"

Haotian, who was below, seemed to sense something and looked towards Haochen's position, but acted as if he didn't see anything.

Finally, as if they hadn't seen Hao Chen at all, they crossed the embankment and stepped into the Boundary Sea, heading towards the other side of the Boundary Sea.

Seeing this, Hao Chen quickly followed behind them and flew into the Boundary Sea as well.

Having flown for an unknown amount of time, and with no idea how far they were from the other side of the Boundary Sea, Hao Chen seemed to have lost his bearings, able to see only the hazy silhouette of Hao Tian ahead.

However, the next moment, a shocking change occurred. A dazzling sword light pierced through the boundary sea, and the sword energy ran rampant, tearing apart one broken world after another.

Faced with this sword light, Hao Chen felt as insignificant as a firefly seeing the sun and moon, and a sense of powerlessness arose from the bottom of his heart.

Fortunately, it was just an illusion; the sword light grazed Hao Chen's body but did not harm him.

But Hao Chen had a gut feeling that if the owner of this sword light wanted, he could transcend time and space and directly annihilate him.

Meanwhile, Hao Chen saw that Hao Tian and the others were also attacked by the sword light. One by one, the treasures in front of them were swept by the sword light and shattered.

To Hao Chen's surprise, Hao Tian suddenly pulled the Demon Emperor beside him to stand in front of him, and then took the opportunity to flee back the way he came.

The Demon Emperor probably never expected Haotian to betray her. Her face was filled with fear and anger, and she seemed to be saying something, but unfortunately Haochen couldn't hear her.

Finally, Hao Chen saw the Demon Emperor explode his nine tails and managed to escape, but he was seriously injured.

As for their companions who entered the Boundary Sea with them, they were directly killed by that sword energy.

What kind of beings are on the other side of the Boundary Sea? You must know that Haotian and the Demon Emperor are quasi-Immortal Emperors, yet they were so frightened by a single sword strike that they even wanted to self-destruct their origins to escape.

Before Hao Chen could continue reading, he felt a sudden dizziness. When he came to his senses, he found that he had left the Boundary Sea and returned to reality.

Hao Chen rubbed his throbbing head, and Zhan Hu, seeing this, quickly stepped forward to help him massage his temples: "Hao Chen, are you alright?"

"Nothing much, I just saw something amazing. How are you guys?"

"I'm fine, it's just that I have a cultivation technique in my mind called 'Nine Slashes of the Demon Emperor'."

As he spoke, Zhanhu took the initiative to demonstrate. Zhanhu's claws swept across the void, and as his divine power surged, it transformed into a sword light.

When Hao Chen saw this, he was surprised. He could actually feel a sense of threat even during Zhan Hu's attack.

Moreover, Hao Chen believes that "Nine Slashes of the Demon Emperor" may have been created by the Demon Emperor after he saw that world-shaking sword light in the Boundary Sea and gained some insights.

"Haochen, what do you think?"

Zhan Hu's words brought Hao Chen back to his senses. Looking into Zhan Hu's eager eyes, Hao Chen felt like a child longing for praise.

Hao Chen's lips curled up, and seeing that Ji Wuyue and the others were still unconscious, he instantly grew to be about the same size as Zhan Hu, and then pounced on Zhan Hu.

Hao Chen looked at Zhan Hu and, before Zhan Hu could react, suddenly leaned down and kissed him.

Bo~

One minute, two minutes... until both of them felt suffocated, Hao Chen finally let go.

Having done all this, Hao Chen, disregarding Zhan Hu's aroused desires, suddenly shrank back to his original size, leaving Zhan Hu looking utterly dejected.