If one looked carefully, it was actually possible to clearly see that Chen Chao's hands, feet, neck, and even cheeks were covered in tiny cracks. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Some resembled spiderwebs, but they looked even more like porcelain on the verge of shattering.

Blood continued to flow nonstop from the corner of Chen Chao's mouth. He could no longer remain standing steadily and had no choice but to lean against Xie Nandu beside him as he said with some difficulty, "Being able to make it back here this time truly wasn't easy."

Over all these past years, whenever Chen Chao faced Xie Nandu, he had always shared only good news and never bad. No matter how terrible his circumstances were, he would never tell her, so as to avoid making her worry.

But this time, Chen Chao's injuries were indeed more severe than at any other point in the past.

At the boundary between life and death, he truly had already reached that very edge.

"His cultivation realm is too high. The gap between us was too great. It was a battle I could never have won in the first place. But there was no other choice. Some things have to be done even at the cost of your life."

Blood kept flowing from the corner of Chen Chao's mouth. Frowning, Xie Nandu took out a fresh handkerchief and wiped it away for him.

"The Demon Emperor isn't naturally suspicious by nature, but weighing gains and losses. I knew what he feared most, which is why I had to risk my life to lure him deep into the desolate north, all the way to the banks of the Onan River. If not for that, the moment I stopped anywhere else, I would've immediately suffered his thunderous strike."

From the perspective of cultivation realms, Chen Chao had possessed absolutely no chance of victory in this battle. He had only just stepped into that realm, while the Demon Emperor had long been acknowledged as the number one figure in the world. So if it had merely been a straightforward battle of life and death, the final outcome would certainly have been Chen Chao dying and the Demon Emperor surviving.

Thus, from the very beginning, Chen Chao had been searching for that glimmer of hope. And that sliver of hope could only be found in the Demon Emperor's demon heart.

One had to know what the Demon Emperor feared most. It was not Chen Chao becoming a great threat to the demon race. Even if Chen Chao grew to the same height as the Demon Emperor, the impact on the two races would not be all that great.

In other words, whether the demon race destroyed the human race was not something that could be decided by the presence or absence of one Chen Chao.

What the Demon Emperor feared most was still losing his throne as Demon Emperor.

Within the Demon Domain, if one wished to ensure the stability of the royal throne, one had to remain powerful at all times. The moment weakness appeared, countless covetous eyes would arise beside the throne.

Therefore, the Demon Emperor wanted to kill Chen Chao, but the prerequisite was that he himself could not fall into a state of severe injury.

Back then, he could hide in the desolate north for several years to recover from his wounds. But now, with the desolate north gone, if he were seriously injured, there would be nowhere left for him to go.

So long as Chen Chao had even the slightest possibility of threatening him, or rather, once the Demon Emperor realized that killing Chen Chao would come at the price of suffering severe injuries himself, he would not continue.

Therefore, before his strength ran out, Chen Chao absolutely had to lure the Demon Emperor to the Onan River. Only then could he make the Demon Emperor believe that he had confidence and hidden trump cards remaining.

Not necessarily a trump card capable of killing him, but at least something capable of severely injuring him.

After bringing the Demon Emperor to the Onan River, that brief standoff between the two was actually an enormous test for Chen Chao as well. If Chen Chao had revealed even the slightest flaw at that moment, he would certainly have suffered the Demon Emperor's terrifying strike. At that point, other than dying and having his Dao vanish, there would have been no other outcome for him.

Chen Chao laughed bitterly and said, "At that time, I was truly terrified. It was an incredibly powerless feeling, because my life and death were no longer in my own hands, but in his. That feeling was the hardest to endure, and the most frightening."

Xie Nandu nodded. With her intelligence, based on the information Chen Chao had given, she was already able to understand most of what had happened.

"The Demon Emperor still left himself a backup plan. He watched for a long time while Autumn followed me south."

Chen Chao softly said, "At that time, if I had wanted to kill Autumn, she definitely would've died. But Autumn was too strong. There was absolutely no way the me of that time could've killed her effortlessly. Of course, if I had been determined to kill her, she absolutely would've died before the Demon Emperor arrived."

Xie Nandu said, "But the moment you revealed that exhaustion and weakness, the Demon Emperor would've stopped you in the desolate north directly, and you would've certainly died as well."

Chen Chao gave an affirming sound. "At that time, it truly was like treading on thin ice. One wrong step, and it would've been eternal damnation."

Choosing to walk south slowly, choosing not to kill Autumn - all of it was meant to cast layer after layer of fog before the Demon Emperor's eyes. But this sort of behavior was not simply better the more one did it. Too much of it would become excessive instead.

If that had been a wager with the Demon Emperor, then it had already reached the endgame. Chen Chao had won most of it, but it was still useless, because the Demon Emperor could withdraw at any time. Yet for him, the moment there was even the slightest mistake, it would be a total loss. Everything he had won before would no longer count as victory.

"I chose to walk through the demon army camp and used my last bit of strength to kill a demon lord. That dispelled his and Autumn’s suspicions, but Autumn is a smart person. She has probably already reacted by now, but it's still a step too late."

Chen Chao forced a grin. With that smile, a great deal of blood splattered onto Xie Nandu. She did not mind it, only looked at him and took out another handkerchief to wipe him again.

"That said, I have to admit that walking through the demon army like that did feel pretty good."

Xie Nandu said softly with a smile, "Countless people wanted to kill you, but they could only watch and feel fear. At that moment, they were no longer the ones standing above everything, you were the one standing at the highest point."

Chen Chao smiled. "As expected of my wife, that analysis is spot on."

Xie Nandu looked at his face full of cracks. Her heart ached slightly, and at this moment she could not be bothered to argue about the word "wife."

"However, with these injuries, plus the techniques I used earlier to make the Demon Emperor believe I still had hidden cards, my body is probably..."

Chen Chao paused, then changed his wording. "It will probably take some time."

Chen Chao knew very well that this time, his injuries had already damaged his foundation. Such injuries were extremely serious for any cultivator in this world, because once the foundation was damaged, it meant that one’s future path of cultivation would be greatly affected.

But Chen Chao did not want to tell Xie Nandu this. Moreover, at his current level of cultivation, he was already almost at the end of the path. If he could eventually deal with the Demon Emperor and accomplish the feat of reclaiming thirty thousand miles of the desolate north for the human race, there would not be much else left to do. At that point, even if he stopped here, it would not really matter.

The path of cultivation has no end. If one keeps walking it, where does it ever stop?

Xie Nandu listened to this and simply turned to look at the man before her without saying anything.

Everyone knew that a battle with the Demon Emperor was likely the hardest thing in the world. If he only said it was “not serious injuries,” no one would believe it.

“You obtained something good, and instead of keeping it for yourself, you hurriedly sent it over to me. If you had worn it, your injuries would probably be much lighter.”

Xie Nandu gently wiped the blood from his hair, her movements soft and careful.

Chen Chao gave a difficult smile. “That thing wouldn’t have been of much use even if I wore it. Someone like the Demon Emperor, how could he be stopped by just an extra piece of armor? As for you, if I hadn’t sent it over, things would’ve been dangerous for you back in the desolate north.” “By the way, the demon lord who tried to kill you is called White Jing. Next time I see him, I’ll definitely rip his head off. Anyone who dares to target my wife is asking for death.”

“Focus on recovering first.”

Xie Nandu took out another fresh handkerchief, but this time her hands had already begun to tremble. From the moment he returned to the city wall until now, blood had been continuously flowing, without any sign of stopping.

That alone already said far too much.

If a powerful cultivator got injured, although unable to rapidly heal serious internal wounds, they could usually stop external bleeding and stabilize minor injuries almost at will. Yet at this moment, Chen Chao could not even stop his own bleeding. From this alone, it was clear that his injuries had already exceeded Xie Nandu’s worst expectations.

......

......

At the city wall, Yu Xiyi hurried over, panting heavily. Even though he was a great sword immortal, when two cultivators of the Fuyun Realm exerted themselves to their limits, their speed was not something a great sword immortal could easily keep up with.

Now that he had finally reached the wall and saw Chen Chao return safely, Yu Xiyi was just about to feel relieved when he saw that bastard actually leaning against Xie Nandu.

Your Father knows you two have clearly been flirting for a long time and are basically a couple, but do you really have to be this shameless in public?

Aren’t you at least a little embarrassed?

Lowering his voice, Yu Xiyi looked at Yun Jianyue beside him. “A'Yue, isn’t that punk Chen Chao pretty deserving of a beating?”

But Yun Jianyue shook his head solemnly and said softly, “His injuries are too severe.”

Compared to someone as scatterbrained as Yu Xiyi, Yun Jianyue was clearly thinking much more carefully. Observing Chen Chao, he extended his perception into the surrounding world and immediately noticed that the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth was extremely chaotic and flowing abnormally. A large amount of it was surging toward Chen Chao’s body.

This meant that the young man who had just fought the Demon Emperor was now constantly absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to repair himself.

Yu Xiyi was not a fool either. After a small hint, he immediately understood. “This guy, he’s always forcing himself. Now that there’s no outsiders here, what’s he still pretending for?”

Yun Jianyue shook his head lightly. “The entire Great Liang, countless common people are watching him, and the demon race is watching him too. If he could have fallen, he would have fallen already. Why would he still be forcing himself at a time like this?”

Some people have it hard - and you can tell at a glance how hard their lives are. Without a doubt, Chen Chao was one of those people.

Yu Xiyi looked at Chen Chao’s back and said nothing, only letting out a sigh.

He remembered once hearing his master say that when a person is born, what they are meant to do is already destined. The years that follow are nothing more than figuring out how to do that thing better.

Yu Xiyi could not help but think: if Chen Chao was born with such a heavy fate, then this damned heavens truly had no sense of reason at all.

Yun Jianyue said with some regret, “It’s a pity Zhu Xia hasn’t fully recovered from her injuries yet. Otherwise, she could actually help him.”

As an immortal medicine, Zhu Xia could extract some of her essence without harming herself to treat Chen Chao’s injuries, and it would be extremely effective.

Of course, if Chen Chao were to consume her entirely, his injuries would also recover.

It was just that such a thing, Zhu Xia, as an immortal medicine, might be willing, but Chen Chao would never agree to it.