Chapter 45

The originally excited atmosphere in the venue stiffened slightly at this moment. Under Ye Zhong's half-smiling, half-serious gaze, the expressions of Xiang Qiyu, You Siling, and the other two women were all very strange.

It was clear that after these two incidents, Xiang Qiyu and You Siling had already developed the intention to withdraw. After all, with their strength, being able to reach this point was already quite good. At this time, if they withdrew, no one could say they hadn't done well. However, Qu Xuan's goal in coming to Tingtao Pavilion was to obtain the Innate Order. If Ye Zhong's guess was correct, she probably wanted to climb the Nine Heavens Ladder, enter the Innate Gate, and compete for the inheritance of the Innate Holy Temple.

After a moment of silence, Qu Xuan raised her head and glanced at Ye Zhong. After a while, she turned to look at Xiang Qiyu and You Siling and said softly, "Qiyu, Siling, I can handle the next part on my own. You two should take the items and leave first. There's no need to take risks for me."

"No way, if you go alone, we won't be at ease. In this place, even our senior brothers and sisters from the Star Constellation Sect might not be reliable. With you holding such a valuable treasure, you might become a target for everyone. So, we two will go with you, and if we die, we'll die together!" Xiang Qiyu and You Siling exchanged a glance and then spoke in unison, their faces resolute.

"Don't be like this. If you follow me, I really can't guarantee your safety," Qu Xuan frowned, "Just listen to me, okay?"

"Hehe, little beauty, you want to get rid of us at this point? That's not going to be easy. Didn't I get two middle-grade spirit weapons? With those, we won't be afraid of those guys, hmpf..." Xiang Qiyu reached out and wrapped her arm around Qu Xuan's slender waist, smiling. Clearly, no matter what Qu Xuan said, Xiang Qiyu and You Siling had no intention of leaving at this time.

Watching this scene, Ye Zhong couldn't help but touch his nose. How did it look like he was the bad guy?

Sighing, Ye Zhong then said with a bitter smile, "Alright, you three don't need to push each other around. I can take you three deeper, but whether you can compete for the Nine Heavens Ladder is up to you. I can't help you with that. And if you fail, just give up. You know, those who are after the inheritance of the Innate Holy Temple are not easy to deal with."

Hearing this, Qu Xuan gave Ye Zhong a strange look and hesitated for a long time before nodding. Clearly, with Ye Zhong by their side, they felt more at ease. After all, Ye Zhong was no ordinary person.

But when Ye Zhong spoke, Xiang Qiyu smiled slyly, a cunning look flashing in her eyes. Ye Zhong sighed, knowing that they were mostly putting on a show, but at this point, could he really just watch them go to their deaths?

"If there are no other issues, let's set off. We've wasted a lot of time in this Tingtao Pavilion. If we move slowly, we might miss the competition for the inheritance of the Innate Holy Temple." Sighing again, Ye Zhong waved his hand and then led the way down from Tingtao Pavilion.

The four of them didn't waste any more time and followed the route on the map, pushing their speed to the limit, heading quickly toward the location of the Nine Heavens Ladder.

On the way, they encountered many sounds of swords and spears, and cries of battle, but the four of them ignored them and continued without stopping. Following the map, they traveled for about half a day, and the lush forests around them finally disappeared. The occasional grand halls that appeared also vanished.

Then, in the distance, they could see a huge white square. In the center of the square was a massive building shrouded in mist. Everything inside the building was unclear, but a massive white jade gate in the air could be seen clearly.

In front of the square, there were nine towering stone stairs, each extending to the front of the white jade gate, creating a mysterious scene.

Clearly, the mist-shrouded massive building was the most important place in the Innate Holy Temple, the place of inheritance. The white jade gate was the Innate Gate, and the nine stone stairs were the Nine Heavens Ladder!

At this moment, there were already many people on the huge square in front of the Nine Heavens Ladder.

Each of these figures was full of vitality, and just standing there, they exuded an extremely powerful aura. So many strong people gathered together, and their combined aura made the heavens and earth tremble!

This place was a gathering of strong people from all sides!

The speed of Ye Zhong and his group slowed down, and Ye Zhong's gaze fell on the front. His eyes couldn't help but show a bit of surprise. He didn't expect that these people were so quick. Clearly, many people knew about the Nine Heavens Ladder, the Innate Gate, and the place of inheritance.

Just as Ye Zhong and his group reached the edge of the crowd, Ye Zhong suddenly frowned. He sensed a gaze filled with killing intent fall on him.

Feeling this unmasked killing intent, Ye Zhong shifted his gaze and saw a group of people not far away. They were all wearing dark black martial robes, and at the front was Mo Fanlong, who was rubbing two bone balls.

Seeing the mixture of coldness and surprise in Mo Fanlong's eyes, Ye Zhong smiled faintly. Indeed, it seemed that their paths were destined to cross again.

Seeing Ye Zhong's smile, Mo Fanlong's eyes became even more fierce. Although he couldn't understand how Ye Zhong managed to survive his arrangements, it didn't matter to him. What he needed to do was to kill Ye Zhong here!

In the next moment, Mo Fanlong took a step forward, and his slightly sinister voice echoed across the square, "Ye Zhong! You're still alive, aren't you? You're really doing well! But since you managed to escape last time by luck, this time, I'll crush every bone in your body!"

Clearly, after the incident, Mo Fanlong had finally figured out Ye Zhong's identity.

As Mo Fanlong's voice spread, many gazes fell on Ye Zhong. Mo Fanlong was a local bully in Green Mountain Town, and his name was well-known. The things Ye Zhong had done in the past few days had also spread, so many people had heard of Ye Zhong's name.

At this moment, hearing that Mo Fanlong was challenging Ye Zhong, many people's eyes flashed with a deep meaning. One was a local bully in Green Mountain Town, and the other was a fierce dragon from the Star Constellation Sect. Although a fierce dragon doesn't suppress a local bully, the outcome of this conflict was highly anticipated.

After all, Ye Zhong was already somewhat famous in the Innate Holy Temple, and no one thought he lacked the qualifications to face Mo Fanlong.

Looking at the boiling killing intent in Mo Fanlong's eyes, Ye Zhong smiled and said calmly, "The few trash you sent have all died at my hands. This time, if you want to act personally, aren't you afraid of not coming back?"

Mo Fanlong's eyes instantly became strange. He originally thought that his subordinates and the Mo family elders had just missed this guy, but he didn't expect that they had been killed! At this moment, Mo Fanlong's eyes became more serious, but the next moment, he sneered and slowly stepped forward.

Although he saw that Ye Zhong's strength had improved, in his view, so what? No matter what tricks this guy had up his sleeve, as long as he was completely eliminated now, it would be fine.

As Mo Fanlong stepped forward, an extremely fierce aura spread out, making the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth seem to surge slightly.

Fifth stage of Body Tempering, Meridian Opening!

Clearly, Mo Fanlong didn't know that Ye Zhong had already seen through his true strength, which was the sixth stage of Body Tempering, Bone Tempering. So, he didn't plan to unleash all his strength but intended to use the fifth stage of Body Tempering to deal with Ye Zhong.

"Fifth stage of Body Tempering—"

The expressions of Xiang Qiyu and the others, who were following Ye Zhong, all changed slightly. Although they didn't know how Ye Zhong had offended the local bully of Green Mountain Town, they couldn't just leave him now.

"Ye Zhong, if we all act together, we won't be afraid of him!" Xiang Qiyu said, gritting her teeth.

Seeing the serious look on Xiang Qiyu's face, Ye Zhong felt a warmth in his heart. It was worth it to fight for them, at least they wouldn't avoid him at this moment.

Smiling faintly, Ye Zhong said softly, "You three just watch. It's just a mere Mo Fanlong. He can't do anything to me. This time, I'll do it for free. This guy is probably one of your biggest rivals in the competition for the inheritance of the Innate Holy Temple. I'll take care of him for you, so don't forget to say thank you."

As he finished speaking, Ye Zhong took a step forward, a cold look appearing in his eyes. The last time he fought this guy, he had a slight advantage, but he couldn't face him head-on. But this time, the outcome was uncertain!