This Young Master is not Cannon Fodder

Ye Chen raised his sword and surveyed his surroundings. After the monarchs of the Void Ripple Sect formed the Endless Road War Formation, he found himself in this barren expanse. As far as the eye could see and immortal sense could reach, all he found was endless land and sky, with nary a hint of vegetation.

At first, Ye Chen thought he had been transported into a faraway island at the end of the Numinous Realm, but after flying around for a while, he realized that was not the case. Even if it was the Sword Continent, there was no such barren wasteland of such size that he could not see the end without a change in the terrain.

Next, he suspected he was under an illusion. Ye Chen used every method he could to break the illusion, but soon after, he had to conclude that he was not under an illusion. He wasn’t adept at illusions, but he had a high resistance to them thanks to his powerful willpower. He was confident that no immortal monarchs could make him fall under their illusion.

However, that didn’t mean he could block illusions that came from the combination of many monarchs or from an immortal emperor with his willpower alone. He had another trump card.

Ye Chen increased the grip on his sword. In complete contrast to Emperor Wujian’s sword, the sword in his grasp was anything but plain. The hilt and handle was pure silver with decorative inlays not suitable for battle. The blade was the most eye-catching feature, having a reflective surface akin to a mirror.

This was the Kunlun Sword, an incomplete divine artifact forged from the broken Kunlun Mirror. It was a pity, but the Kunlun Mirror had shattered during one of Ye Chen’s journeys, so he found an artificer to reforge it to its current form.

Although it was reformed, it was originally a divine artifact. Just holding it granted a slew of abilities to Ye Chen, one of which was increased illusion resistance. Unless a peak immortal sovereign took action, it would be difficult for him to fall under an illusion permanently.

“Did they send me into an immortal grotto?” Ye Chen muttered to himself. Unfortunately, although he mastered the Law of Time, his talent in the Law of Space was pitiable.

The Kunlun Sword vibrated, causing the air around to fracture into a kaleidoscope. With a swing, a gargantuan tear appeared between the sky and earth. Alas, on the other end of the tear was still another barren wasteland. He did not give up and swung it a hundred more times, each with the same results.

Sometimes, Ye Chen would fly into the tear before attacking again. Repeat and rinse, but after an hour, he found himself stuck in the same place. It could be a different wasteland, but everything was just so similar he could not differentiate between them.

His actions caused his qi reservoir to deplete by ten percent. Just like how the barren wasteland looked, it was devoid of spiritual qi, and Ye Chen could only recover his qi using pills. However, he had not fallen to that point yet. More importantly, he discovered the nature of the place that trapped him.

If he was not wrong, it was the Endless Road Formation. The Numinous Sword Sect had an incomplete version of it, but it was more than enough for him to know the details. The Void Ripple Sect likely found a complete version or deduced a new iteration from the incomplete inheritance.

The vast expanse that Ye Chen saw was only one part of the Endless Road War Formation. Like he suspected, it was an immortal grotto, but it was built with the Law of Space as the foundation. Even if someone tore through the boundaries, all they would see was another immortal grotto. The immortal grottos were like bubbles clustered around each other. When the prisoner left the center and entered another, it would sink into the center again.

There were only three ways to break the Endless Road War Formation. One, to destroy the immortal grottos at a faster rate than it could heal itself until the war formation destabilizes and implodes. Two, to break through the immortal grottos continuously and fly out of the perimeter. Third, the prisoner’s attainment in the Law of Space must surpass the creator of the Endless Road War Formation by a large margin and teleport himself out.

Obviously, it was impossible for Ye Chen to destroy many of the immortal grottos at once, nor did he have a greater mastery over space than the immortal monarchs of the Void Ripple Sect, so he could only choose the second option.

Just like before, the space around the Kunlun Sword turned into a kaleidoscope. With a single swing, he tore the space boundary and flew into the next immortal grotto. His actions did not stop as he slashed again, revealing another immortal grotto. One slash, one immortal grotto.

Ye Chen frowned. He just crossed through several immortal grottos, but the new one he had just entered had a healing tear in space. This meant that he wasn’t always advancing toward the outer perimeter. Sometimes, he would be entering another immortal grotto in the same layer, or maybe closer to the core.

“No wonder the Endless Road War Formation is called one of the greatest trapping formations. As expected of a formation from the primordial era,” Ye Chen muttered. Still, his actions did not stop.

As time progressed, he could get a feel for the “direction.” Soon, the phenomena of him entering an immortal grotto he had already entered dwindled. He could feel that he was close to escaping. Ye Chen popped a pill into his mouth. He hadn’t reached half of his qi reserves, but it was better to keep it close to eighty percent, especially since he knew a battle would await him outside.

Another tear appeared in the sky of the wasteland, but unlike before, it was not another wasteland. It was a lush land with bountiful clouds in the sky and lakes.

“Finally made it out,” Ye Chen said with slight relief. Even if he was making progress, only he knew how much pressure he was under.

He looked around him. He was at the edge of the island, far away from the ravine where the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus bloomed. It seemed that the space monarchs from the Void Ripple Sect had sent him far away with his escape.

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Ye Chen turned and charged straight toward the battlefield. Like most sword immortals, he preferred clashing head on instead of exchanging spells. The time he spent escaping also made him accumulate a lot of frustration, just waiting for him to vent.

However, when he arrived on the battlefield, he was stunned. Emperor Wujian’s left arm had been cut, and blood soaked his white robes. His remaining hand trembled as he clutched the Immortal Confining Sword.

Across from him stood three immortal emperors. Like Emperor Wujian, they were not in good shape either. The only one with the least amount of injuries was the Ripple Emperor. Considering that the Void Ripple Sect focused on the Law of Space, it was not that shocking.

Similarly, the immortal monarchs of the three first-rate forces teamed up against the monarchs of the Numinous Sword Sect. Their situation was much better. The space monarchs of the Void Ripple Sect had split the Endless Road War Formation, since everyone avoided it, and employed domains. Although the sword monarchs were suppressed, none of them had a serious injury like the sword emperor. Meng Tingfeng played a huge role, as none of the immortal monarchs could stand up against a half-emperor like himself. He alone could hold back a war formation, greatly alleviating the pressure the other sword monarchs felt.

In the midst of all this, the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus was still at its original place, forgotten. No, it was not to say that everyone forgot about it, just that they were more focused on a bigger goal that was far more important than the Sovereign Ning Yang Lotus.

Ye Chen narrowed his eyes, and the corner of his lips curled up. Although the situation was dire for the Numinous Sword Sect, he did not doubt his ability to escape and survive. The question was only how many of them could escape. Still, he definitely had to join the battle. A monarch or emperor saved the more cards the Numinous Sword Sect would have in the future.

Before joining the battle, he should pocket the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus. He masked his presence as much as possible, while increasing his own flow of time and sped toward the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus.

Emperor Wujian sensed Ye Chen’s action. He noticed the sword monarch the moment he appeared. Naturally, so did the other three immortal emperors. Emperor Wujian might help him conceal his actions, but the other three certainly won’t.

“Stop him!” the Ripple Emperor ordered.

A few space monarchs, who had been maintaining the suppressing space domain, stopped and teleported as close as possible to the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus to grab it before Ye Chen could.

Although they appeared closer, Ye Chen’s speed surpassed theirs. He made a beeline for the lotus. Just as his hands were about to touch the lotus, a familiar ripple appeared in the air. It slapped his hand away; the force sending his body careening hundreds of meters away.

The hand, robed in a purple sleeve, grabbed the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus and pulled it into the ripple before disappearing.

Ye Chen gritted his teeth. He was so close. He didn’t expect to fail at the last moment. And how could someone teleport so close to the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus?

He did not have time to think as he caught sight of the space monarchs chasing him. He snorted and gripped his Kunlun Sword. Since they trapped him and dared to attack him, he must let them suffer.

Elsewhere, Emperor Wujian stared at the Ripple Emperor. “I never expected that you had a second emperor in your sect. What’s more, his mastery over space exceeds yours, but he never showed himself until now.”

“Since you know, you should just submit. At least this way, your life and the Numinous Sword Sect will be preserved,” the Redmoon Emperor said.

“That’s not good, Ripple Emperor,” the Threeslash Emperor said. “I thought we all agreed to only send one emperor here. You better not be thinking about swallowing the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus alone.”

The Ripple Emperor really wanted to make a bitter face. It was true that the Void Ripple Sect concealed an immortal emperor, but that emperor’s attainment in the Law of Space wasn’t as good as his. The one who took action earlier wasn’t from the Void Ripple Sect.

It seemed that the Numinous Sword Sect was the cicada, and the allied three forces were the mantis, unaware of the oriole.

Still, if he exposed it now, it would only cause his allies’ hearts to waver. So, the Ripple Emperor said, “I’ll explain after everything is over. For now, we must kill him. We have already taken action, it’s too late to stop.”

“You don’t need to tell me,” the Threeslash Emperor said.

The Redmoon Emperor’s momentum also rose.

Emperor Wujian saw that the three of them would not stop until he died. Even with the Immortal Confining Sword, he might not be able to escape. He took a deep breath. “Even if you kill me here, the Numinous Sword Sect will still reign supreme. You and the powers behind will perish, forgotten in the river of time!”

He attacked without reserve. Since he already decided he was going to die, he had to kill at least one of them before he fell. Emperor Wujian did not forget to shout, “Elder Meng, Elder Ye, retreat. Take all the monarchs and return! You must report back what happened here!”

Meng Tingfeng and Ye Chen only hesitated for a moment before complying. Although the other sword monarchs were unwilling, they still obeyed the emperor’s words. They all retreated to the sword, where Ding Mian also appeared. The monarchs from the three allied forces tried to stop them, but they were blocked by Meng Tingfeng and Ye Chen, who burst with amazing power.

The immortals on the giant sword sped off into the distance, while Meng Tingfeng and Ye Chen blocked the monarchs from pursuing. After the sword flew a considerable distance, they, too, escaped. The monarchs of the three allied forces gave chase. Even if they stayed, they would not be of much help.

In the end, only four people remained on the island. Five days later, only two stood.

Even in death, Emperor Wujian’s hands tightly grasped the Immortal Confining Sword. The other death was the Threeslash Emperor. As someone who fought in close quarters his odds of survival were the lowest and that reality only affirmed it.

Although the Void Ripple Emperor and Redmoon Emperor survived, their situation wasn’t good. An air of death surrounded the Void Ripple Emperor, while the Redmoon Emperor’s aura was weak to the point that an average true immortal would be better than him.

Although they were in terrible states, both of their eyes were shining. Their gazes were attracted to the plain sword grasped in Emperor Wujian’s hand.

“Ripple Emperor, since your sect took the Sovereign Nine Yang Lotus, it’s only right for me to take the Immortal Confining Sword.” Without waiting for the Ripple Emperor to react, he stepped forward to grab the divine artifact.

The Ripple Emperor moved to block the Redmoon Emperor and explain the truth behind the matter, but the moment he took a step, he saw a familiar hand sleeved in purple appear. Unlike the previous time, there was no ripple announcing its appearance.

“No!”

Both immortal emperors moved to stop the hand. However, the hand had already touched the fallen emperor. The moment it connected, the emperor and divine sword vanished, like it never existed.