"Ah!"
A voice filled with pain and anger echoed through the dark, damp dungeon reeking of foul odors.
A seventeen or eighteen-year-old teenager, trapped in the dungeon with iron chains binding his hands and feet and covered in gruesome wounds, slowly opened his eyes as he awoke from unconsciousness.
Hatred surged in his eyes!
The boy was originally the Young Master of the Ye Family in Qingyun City within Unparalleled County, named Ye Chen, eighteen years old, Fifth Layer of the Element Gathering Realm, of average talent.
A few days ago.
Elder Gu Yue from the Celestial Sword Sect arrived in Qingyun City.
Gu Yue had once been a servant of the Ye Family. Due to his aptitude for martial arts, the Ye Family had fully supported him in his martial training.
Gradually, Gu Yue became arrogant and committed unforgivable mistakes, but the Ye Clan members spared his life out of old sentiment, merely expelling him from Qingyun City.
Who would have thought that he had good fortune and unexpectedly joined the Celestial Sword Sect, the most powerful sect in Unparalleled County, and after several decades, rose to become an elder of the Celestial Sword Sect.
This time, Gu Yue came to Qingyun City, disregarding the Ye Family's past kindness, seeking revenge!
He demanded that the Ye Family hand over all treasures from their vault, claiming magnanimity by saying he only wanted the Ye Family's treasures, allowing them to live.
Ye Chen's father, Ye Zhennan, restrained his anger and agreed!
After all, Gu Yue was powerful, and the Celestial Sword Sect behind him was an enormous entity.
Yet Gu Yue became insatiable, demanding on the spot that Ye Zhennan kill his only son, Ye Chen, assuring that only by doing so would he stop troubling the Ye Family in the future.
This was a move to end the Ye lineage!
Even a tiger does not eat its cubs, let alone Ye Zhennan, who cherished Ye Chen dearly, so he refused outright!
Gu Yue immediately stepped on Ye Zhennan, humiliating him in every way!
The youthful Ye Chen, disregarding Gu Yue's tyranny, rebuked him in anger.
Gu Yue, infuriated by Ye Chen's words, turned red with shame. Not wanting to start a massacre due to his status as a sect elder, he resorted to a more sinister method.
Upon leaving Qingyun City, he announced a promise that anyone who brought Ye Chen's head to the Celestial Sword Sect would be taken as a personal disciple and given special training!
The Celestial Sword Sect was Unparalleled County's top sect, and becoming an Inner Sect Disciple of the Celestial Sword Sect was considered a great honor. Particularly becoming a personal disciple of Gu Yue, a Celestial Sword Sect elder, was akin to the carp leaping over the dragon's gate!
Thus, in Qingyun City, the Huang Family, which had long been suppressed by the Ye Family, erupted immediately, launching round after round of attacks against the Ye Family over many days!
Previously, the Huang Family would not have dared to do so, but Ye Zhennan was severely injured by Gu Yue, drastically weakening his strength, allowing the Huang Family to seize the opportunity!
The Ye Family suffered heavy losses to protect Ye Chen.
On this day, Huang Tianba of the Qingyun City's Huang Family, led a large group of guards to storm the Ye Family's estate.
The entire Ye Family was slaughtered, leaving only Ye Chen captured alive, because the Huang Family not only wanted to exchange Ye Chen's head for an Inner Sect Disciple spot in the Celestial Sword Sect, but also hoped to extract the whereabouts of the Ye Family's treasure vault from Ye Chen, the Young Master of the Ye Family!
"The filthy wretch has quite the backbone, waking up so quickly."
At this moment, a sharp and harsh voice sounded.
Firelight illuminated the dungeon as a burly young man walked up to Ye Chen.
Huang Hu.
The son of Huang Tianba.
Huang Hu looked at Ye Chen with a disdainful sneer on his face, opened the cell door, walked up to Ye Chen, snorted coldly, and stepped on Ye Chen's chest.
"Wah!"
Already seriously injured, Ye Chen spat out a mouthful of blood.
Yet Ye Chen didn't even grunt, his bloodshot eyes staring intensely at Huang Hu, his mind filled with the scenes of Huang Hu brutally murdering the Ye Clan members the previous night.
He vividly remembered a baby in the family just a month old being dismembered to death by Huang Hu.
Huang Hu, stared at by Ye Chen's murderous gaze, remained unconcerned, grabbed Ye Chen by the neck and lifted him, laughing wildly, "Did you ever think you'd see a day like this, hahahaha!
Ye Chen, don't waste your time. Tell us the location of the Ye Family's treasury, and I'll give you a quick death."
Ye Chen glared at Huang Hu and gritted his teeth, "I won't tell you a single word, even if I die!"
"Ungrateful wretch!" Huang Hu shouted angrily, punching Ye Chen viciously in the abdomen.
"Bang!"
Ye Chen's body arched instantly, spitting out another mouthful of blood.
"Ye Chen, I'll give you one more night to think about it. If you still don't talk tomorrow, I'll ensure you experience the top ten tortures of the Huang Family.
Ripping off nails, cutting off fingers, bleeding and carving flesh, skinning and pulling tendons... Tsk tsk, I've never seen anyone endure more than three types of torture. I hope you won't disappoint me."
Huang Hu laughed, then tossed Ye Chen into the corner like garbage, clapping the bloodstains off his hands before walking away.
In Ye Chen's heart, there was an indescribable anguish, but now, there was nothing he could do, this pain, far more excruciating than any physical torture!
At this moment, a warm glow suddenly appeared on Ye Chen's chest.
Ye Chen looked puzzled. When he looked down, he saw that his chest was actually emitting a faint light.
This light came from a green sword pendant.
He had accidentally found it while playing in the mountains as a child and had kept it as a pendant on his neck ever since.
"Come in."
A woman's voice suddenly sounded in Ye Chen's mind.
Immediately, a powerful pull exploded from the sword-shaped jade pendant. In the face of this force, Ye Chen was powerless to resist, and his body was dragged into it. After experiencing a sensation of spinning and turning, he found himself standing in a very peculiar place.
The sky and earth were gloomy and dark, permeated with an oppressive sense that suffocated one's breath.
As far as the eye could see.
There were low graves all around.
Every grave was surrounded by black mist above, and in front of the graves stood stone tablets without inscriptions.
The black mist surged and rolled, and even sharp, mournful, angry, and cold voices emitted from it, causing one's scalp to tingle and heart to tremble!
Ye Chen bit his tongue, keeping himself alert, while a huge question mark arose in his heart.
"What exactly is this place? Why is it so strange?!"
Ye Chen whispered, and at this moment, a woman's figure appeared in his view, slowly approaching from a distance. She seemed incredibly slow, yet in the blink of an eye, she stood right in front of Ye Chen.
This woman was clad in a long, green gown, her figure graceful, her black hair cascading like a waterfall. Yet, a special glow enveloped her face, preventing Ye Chen from seeing her features clearly.
"Where is this place?"
"Who are you?"
Ye Chen shouted, his voice echoing in this graveyard-like space.
The woman calmly replied, "At this moment, you are not qualified to know who I am."
Ye Chen clenched his fist tightly.
The woman sneered and said, "Want to get revenge?"
"As long as there's even the slightest chance, I must have revenge!" Ye Chen's expression was resolute, without the slightest hesitation!
"I advise you to dispel that notion. With your current strength, seeking revenge only leads to death. There is no other possibility. If you wish to die, that is your own affair, but do not implicate all beings under the heavens."
Ye Chen was bewildered.
The woman continued, "Your blood has soaked into the Sword Tomb. Therefore, you are already the master of this Sword Tomb. If you die, the Celestial Demon suppressed within the Sword Tomb will descend upon the world, plunging all beings into endless calamity!"
Ye Chen still didn't understand, nor did he want to say much. He said resolutely, "What is the point of living in disgrace for a man? What do all beings under the heavens have to do with me!"
The aura around the woman suddenly became much gentler, her tone carrying a hint of admiration, "With such determination, indeed you have the qualification to become the master of the Sword Tomb."
Ye Chen didn't care what the master of the Sword Tomb was, but he knew the woman was powerful, so he said, "Senior, please teach me the method for revenge!"
The woman pointed to a gravestone and said, "If you want to learn the method for revenge, walk up and refine the gravestone in front of this grave.
If you can succeed, then you will have the method for revenge."
Ye Chen took another look at the gravestone. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the shape of this wordless gravestone was exactly like the sword-shaped pendant on his chest, but enlarged.
Without hesitation, he walked up to the gravestone and asked, "How to refine it?"
"Very simple, just place your hand on the gravestone, feel it with your heart, and persist with determination."
Ye Chen followed suit.
The instant his palm touched the gravestone, he discovered something unusual.
This was no mere gravestone, but an extremely sharp sword. It was as if his hand were placed at the tip of the sword, and the skin of his palm was instantly cut open.
Moreover, this sword was very powerful, so powerful that Ye Chen deeply felt what it meant to be insignificant.
If the gravestone were an ocean, he would be a drop of water in it.
If the gravestone were the world, he would be dust within it.
A flash of determination appeared in Ye Chen's eyes.
"What does it matter if I'm small now? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; if I can seize it, I too will become powerful. Once strong, I can destroy the Huang Family, and advance to the Celestial Sword Sect.
I must become strong!
Refine, refine for me!"
Ye Chen's heart roared.
As his mindset transformed, the gravestone he touched began to shake violently. Soon, the gravestone disappeared entirely, transforming into sword qi that flowed through his palm, rushing into his body!