"Haha."
Zhan Li burst into laughter. "As expected, His Highness the Azure Emperor had good reason to label the Twelve Palaces as heretical. The Twelve Palaces are truly overbearing."
All cultivators who comprehended the rules of the seven emotions and six desires were forced to join the Twelve Palaces.
Die if you refuse.
Such actions could only be described as heretical.
"Where is the infant? Speak, and I will spare your life." The red silhouette transformed into a diamond-like figure.
"Haha."
Zhan Li laughed heartily. "I understand now. I know why you're looking for that infant. That trace of seven emotions power was left behind by my sister, haha..."
"..."
The red silhouette remained silent, waiting for Zhan Li to finish laughing.
"Last chance."
The red silhouette's power began to leak.
Under its infiltration, Zhan Li's inner greed was amplified.
Zhan Li finally finished laughing, her emotions amplified to the extreme.
Yet, she maintained her final composure. "Even if I die, I won't be controlled by you. Detonate..."
"Boom."
Zhan Li chose to self-detonate.
This was the last thing she could do for her sister. If she didn't self-detonate, she would be controlled by the people of the Twelve Palaces.
When greed and jealousy were amplified to their limit, she would become a puppet.
"Rumble!"
The roar echoed through the heavens and earth, engulfing the red silhouette.
"Damn it."
The red silhouette was furious.
He hadn't expected Zhan Li to choose self-detonation in the end.
The red silhouette was completely blown apart, revealing a diamond-like, crystalline body.
At this moment, the diamond body was also collapsing.
The self-detonation of a top Supreme was too powerful.
Even though the mysterious expert of the Twelve Palaces had killed Zhan Ning, who had touched the edge of the Supreme realm and above, he was still injured.
The crystalline body cracked like shattered porcelain.
"Roar."
The Twelve Palaces expert let out a low roar.
Instantly, threads extended from his body.
The power of despair propped up a barrier, blocking the final impact of the self-detonation.
"Come out for me."
The power of despair transformed into threads, extracting a collapsing soul from the storm of destruction.
Spiritual energy was injected, rewinding time.
"Han Ye."
He only obtained two words.
"Hmph."
The Twelve Palaces expert snorted. "Han Ye, a rogue cultivator from the Eastern Continent."
This name was not unfamiliar to him.
The Twelve Palaces had influence throughout the Eastern Continent, and they were naturally familiar with the renowned rogue cultivator Han Ye.
Dispelling Zhan Li's final soul power.
With a raise of his hand, a light screen appeared, and he said in a deep voice, "The infant is in the hands of Han Ye, the rogue cultivator of the Eastern Continent."
After speaking, he dispelled the light screen.
His figure slowly faded away.
This time, his losses were considerable, and he needed to go into seclusion for a period.
...
On the other side.
Chen Fan was earnestly listening to Pang Tong speak.
"Bai Ye City was once massacred overnight. I never expected Mr. Han Ye to hail from Bai Ye City."
Pang Tong sighed with emotion. "The incident in Bai Ye City caused quite a stir back then. Even His Highness the Azure Emperor was alerted and sent people to investigate, but it ultimately led nowhere. It's said nothing was found."
"Massacred?"
This word had rarely appeared in Chen Fan's mind.
"Mm."
Pang Tong's expression was solemn. "It happened about seventeen years ago. The ten million people of Bai Ye City all turned into dried corpses overnight, their life essence and souls drained."
Chen Fan gasped.
"That ruthless."
"Indeed ruthless."
Pang Tong nodded. "It's just that I didn't expect Mr. Han Ye to be from Bai Ye City..."
If Zhan Li hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't have believed it.
Seventeen years had passed. If Zhan Li hadn't brought it up, many people would have forgotten about that city.
Chen Fan glanced at Han Ye, who sat alone in the darkness.
He remained impassive, closing his eyes in thought.
He seemed not to have heard Pang Tong's words, or rather... he didn't care.
There were many people talking about Bai Ye City; one more, Pang Tong, wouldn't make a difference. It wouldn't matter if Chen Fan was also aware.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Chen Fan's gaze sharpened as he looked at the infant in Pang Tong's arms.
Han Ye also sensed it and opened his eyes wide.
Only Pang Tong noticed when the infant spoke...
"Twelve Palaces."
The voice came from the infant.
It was a jade pendant, placed in the swaddling clothes.
"Pavilion Master Zhan?"
Chen Fan spoke, stopping Pang Tong, who was about to throw the infant away, and said in a deep voice, "What are the Twelve Palaces?"
"Be careful of the Twelve Palaces, they are coming..."
*Crack.*
The jade pendant shattered.
Han Ye walked over and picked up the broken jade pendant. "Pavilion Master Zhan is dead."
Chen Fan nodded.
He could feel it.
The anomaly just now was likely the last resort left by Pavilion Master Zhan.
If nothing had happened, the jade pendant would have accompanied them to Freedom City.
Now that it had appeared and shattered, it proved that Zhan Li was dead.
"What are the Twelve Palaces?" Chen Fan looked at Pang Tong.
"..."
Pang Tong sighed. "Brother, sometimes I truly doubt if you're from the Immortal Realm."
I am not...
But I won't say it.
Han Ye suddenly spoke, explaining, "The Twelve Palaces are the largest clandestine organization in the Eastern Continent, controlling the power of the seven emotions and six desires. The Azure Emperor himself issued an imperial decree: anyone who encounters an expert from the Twelve Palaces is to be killed without mercy."
The Azure Emperor himself issued the order.
"Alright."
Chen Fan was accustomed to it.
The Immortal Realm was filled with powerful factions.
The Imperial Palace, the Endless Fire Domain, the Floating Snow Pavilion, rogue cultivators... and now the Twelve Palaces.
Fine.
The campfire was encroached upon by darkness and extinguished. Han Ye spoke, "Let's go. It's troublesome when people from the Twelve Palaces arrive."
Pang Tong nodded vigorously.
Chen Fan said nothing and stood up directly.
They had rested enough.
It was normal for cultivators to go days and nights without sleep.
Being able to rest for a while was enough.
"Whoosh."
Three figures shot into the sky.
The night sky was torn apart as they rapidly flew towards Freedom City.
Freedom City was located between the Eastern and Central Continents, a city built amidst a continuous mountain range.
The Eastern Continent was too vast.
With the cultivation of Chen Fan and the others, even with maximum speed, it would take half a month to fly there.
They would have to stop midway or take detours.
There was no other way; powers crisscrossed this region, and one couldn't afford to offend them easily.
These were things Han Ye had told them.
Pang Tong had never ventured more than ten thousand miles from Snow City in his life, his experience was too limited.
At dawn.
Another city appeared ahead.
"Whoosh."
A dirigible flew out from the city.
The dirigible was not large and was extremely fast, quickly soaring past.
Before long, more dirigibles flew out from the city, heading in all directions.
"What is this..."
Chen Fan was surprised.
This was the first time he had seen such modern technology since coming to the Immortal Realm.
To him, it was not surprising for people to ride on demonic beasts, but this incredibly modern technology was astonishing.
Not only dirigibles, but Chen Fan also saw flying cars.
"..."
Chen Fan felt like a bumpkin.
"Let's go."
Han Ye descended first.
Pang Tong and Chen Fan followed.
Han Ye explained, "This is Mechanical City. We need to rent a dirigible to travel to Freedom City."
Chen Fan's eyes lit up. "We can ride dirigibles too?"
"Of course."
Han Ye led the way.
Behind him, Chen Fan and Pang Tong were filled with surprise.
Neither of them had encountered such things before.