Chapter 121 - 76: If You Want Revenge, Come at Me

’This guy... he’s not planning to kill me, is he?’

Her heart leaped into her throat. Jiang Yunnuan’s nerves were stretched taut, and she didn’t even dare to breathe.

"Roast them."

The man was silent for a moment. Then, with a wave of his large hand, several wild chickens and rabbits fell in with a THUD, prostrating themselves on the ground and trembling in fear.

Jiang Yunnuan was speechless.

’So he’s just another foodie!’

She slowly let out a breath of relief. Her gaze secretly shifted, landing on the whole roasted chicken next to the large tree.

’Heh, so this is the guy who stole my chicken.’

’Ultimate Venerable Cultivation. No wonder he could steal it right from under our noses without any of us noticing.’

’It’s a good thing I stopped Jun Yao and Ming Ye from giving chase. Otherwise, this powerhouse would have gotten two more free helpings of fertilizer.’

Forced by his overwhelming power, even with the chicken thief right in front of her, she had to tuck her tail between her legs and didn’t dare to argue.

"Uh, I disappeared so suddenly, my companions must be worried sick. Could you let me out to tell them I’m okay before I start roasting?"

"Roast!"

He frowned, a trace of impatience flashing in his cold eyes.

Jiang Yunnuan immediately gave up on the idea and nodded repeatedly. "Roasting. I’ll get right to it."

Under the man’s oppressive gaze, she forced herself to step forward. With a wave of her hand, she cleanly and efficiently killed the chickens and rabbits, plucking their feathers and skinning them.

While her hands were busy, she tried to connect to her Light Brain with her thoughts, planning to send a message to Fu Yuan and Ming Ye to let them know she was safe.

Unexpectedly, the message kept failing to send, no matter how many times she tried.

After checking several times, she realized her Light Brain was offline.

’Damn it! This guy’s Domain can even block the Star Network!’ Jiang Yunnuan was furious.

「Outside.」

Fu Yuan and Ming Ye could only watch as she vanished into thin air.

Their eyes widened in terror. Fu Yuan subconsciously lunged forward to grab her but caught nothing but air.

He called out her name frantically, but there was no response.

"What’s going on?"

Ming Ye frowned, his expression grim. He walked over to Fu Yuan’s side and carefully inspected the area. After a long look, he found nothing.

BOOM...

Suddenly, a dazzling, snow-white bolt of energy swept toward them, illuminating the night. The violent Energy was terrifying.

Ming Ye and Fu Yuan hastily dodged out of the way.

But after they dodged the first strike, the bolt of energy seemed to have a mind of its own, immediately changing direction to attack them again.

A tall, domineering figure flashed out from the deep forest, kicking at them.

BANG...

Caught in a pincer attack between the man and the bolt of energy, Ming Ye and Fu Yuan were sent flying, their bodies slamming hard onto the ground.

"Where is Jiang Yunnuan?"

The man with white hair and beast ears slowly strode forward. He stood before them like a king, his cold eyes looking down on them condescendingly, his entire being exuding an aura of someone who could look down upon the world.

’This damn guy, he woke up so quickly.’ Fu Yuan rubbed his aching chest, pressing his lips together and looking away without a word.

’No, maybe he was never knocked out at all!’

’His previous act was all a pretense. Jiang Yunnuan was the one who fell for it, not him.’

"She’s gone!"

His chest aching, Ming Ye frowned and sucked in a breath. He pushed himself up from the ground and replied with a dark expression.

Hearing this, Jun Yao’s pupils contracted, his eyes seeming to crack. The next instant, he flashed in front of Ming Ye, violently grabbing him by the collar. His bloodshot eyes stared at him with terrifying intensity.

"What do you mean, ’she’s gone’?"

Ming Ye pushed him away, freeing his collar, and spoke with a cold expression.

"The Barrier Fu Yuan and I left was shattered. She thought you were in danger, so she turned and ran back. When she reached this spot, she vanished into thin air. Fu Yuan and I are also looking for her."

’Vanished into thin air?’

’How could she?’

His mind, which had been filled with thoughts of abducting her and locking her away, was caught completely off guard by this news. He swayed, then grabbed Ming Ye’s collar again, his voice frantic and crazed.

"How could she disappear? How were you watching her? Sense her, quickly! If you can’t find her, I’ll kill you both!"

Ming Ye was speechless.

’If I’d known he was this crazy, I never should have saved him back in the Nine Nether Abyss.’

’Instead of saving him, I should have finished him off while he was unconscious and dug out that inner core that had awakened the Beast King Power to take for myself.’

’I wasn’t ruthless enough, and that’s why I let this disaster linger!’

"I’ve tried sensing her. I can’t. Her Light Brain is also offline, so she can’t be contacted. I suspect there’s either the Domain of a superpower here, or she was accidentally swept away by a passing spatial turbulence..."

’But I didn’t sense the chaotic magnetic field of a spatial turbulence earlier, so it’s most likely the former.’

’If it’s the former...’

’You’d need at least an Ultimate Venerable Cultivation to create a Domain. In all these years, the Empire has only ever produced one Ultimate Venerable: Yun Aochen.’

’But Yun Aochen died in battle long ago!’

’Could it be that there’s another Ultimate Venerable out there, one who hasn’t been detected by the Empire or the Alliance?’

A flash of doubt crossed Ming Ye’s cold, purple eyes.

Hearing Ming Ye’s words, a sliver of clarity emerged in Jun Yao’s chaotic mind. He suddenly remembered the large tree that had disappeared earlier, and the roasted meat that had been stolen without a trace.

’Could it be... it was all the tree?’

He shot to his feet and began circulating his Energy, blasting it randomly into the air.

"Let her go! If you want revenge, come at me!!!"

Ming Ye was speechless.

Fu Yuan was speechless.

’Why is this guy going crazy again?’

Ever since Jiang Yunnuan performed the Contract Termination, he had become completely unhinged, unable to stay sane for more than five minutes at a time.

「Inside the Domain.」

The man, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. His cold gaze shot past Jiang Yunnuan to something behind her.

The stare was so intense it was impossible to ignore.

Jiang Yunnuan, who was working diligently, felt her scalp tingle. She looked at him nervously and saw him slowly wave a finger.

Then, the light instantly dimmed, and their surroundings began to turn transparent.

Three familiar figures came into view, and Jiang Yunnuan’s eyes widened in surprise.

The handsome, white-haired man was channeling his Energy, frantically blasting his surroundings. Rampant waves of Energy exploded one after another before her eyes, yet she couldn’t feel a thing.

She reached out a hand, tentatively trying to touch him, but her hand passed right through.

The vivid, three-dimensional man before her was like a reflection in a mirror—visible, but untouchable.

Her heart sank as she instantly understood that the Domain was still active.

And she was still inside that man’s Domain, separated from them by a dimensional barrier.

She turned her head to the Immortal who seemed to have strayed into the mortal realm, doing her best to compose herself and speak to him in a pleasant, reasonable tone.

"Great God, they’ll be very anxious if they can’t find me. Please, try to understand how I feel and let me tell them I’m safe. Can you? Please, I’m begging you!"

At her words, Yan Chen’s eyelids twitched slightly. His cold, dark eyes watched her impassively.

"Last time, it was this Tiger Beastman who was with you when you... sullied me, wasn’t it?"

BOOM...

It was as if a clap of thunder had exploded next to her ear. Jiang Yunnuan’s mind went blank for a few seconds, then her face instantly turned beet red, as if a fire had been lit that sent a panicked heat through her entire body.

He hadn’t brought it up all this time. She had thought he either didn’t recognize her or had decided not to pursue the matter.

So, she had quietly breathed a sigh of relief. After countless mental pep talks, she had finally put the incident behind her. She never expected him to bring it up so suddenly.

It wasn’t that he didn’t recognize her, nor that he wasn’t going to pursue it. He had just been waiting patiently. Waiting until now.

’So embarrassing!’

’I want to die!’

Jiang Yunnuan couldn’t help but wish she could dig a hole on the spot and bury herself in it.

She hastily averted her gaze, not daring to look at him any longer, and denied it in an awkward, flustered voice.

"No, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve got the wrong person..."

’Right, I can’t admit it. Absolutely not. At least not right now. Who knows what this guy is planning by suddenly bringing this up.’

’What if he’s planning to use this as an excuse to cause trouble?’

"Is that so?"

The tall man took a step and stood right in front of her.

He reached out, his cool, jade-like fingertips tilting her chin up, and his cold voice sounded impassively.

"The woman from that day had a red mole on her lower back. Do I need to take off your clothes to veri—"

"No need!"

Jiang Yunnuan took a step back, dodging his fingers. Fearing he would say something else that would make her want to die of embarrassment, she tensed up and cut him off.

"Don’t say any more! I’m sorry, but you can’t blame us entirely. Great God, your Cultivation is unfathomable, and you concealed your aura so perfectly. Forgive us for being useless; we didn’t notice anything different about you compared to the other trees. Otherwise, we would never have dared to offend you."

"Thinking back now, your grace is unparalleled and your bearing extraordinary. Even in your tree form, you were peerless and incomparable. The fact that we didn’t notice just shows how blind we were. Please, Great God, be the bigger person and let us off the hook."

The situation was dire. While apologizing and begging for mercy, she didn’t forget to lay on the flattery, desperately sucking up to him for fear that the man would drag her and Jun Yao off to be tree fertilizer in the next second.

"You humans are rather interesting. Why don’t you stay and be my pet?"

The food she roasted was delicious, and the things she said were pleasant to hear. He liked her more than any other living thing in the forest. Suddenly, Yan Chen was a little reluctant to let her go.

Hearing the man’s cold, detached voice, Jiang Yunnuan’s heart trembled. She stared at him with wide, terrified eyes.

’This tree actually wants to keep me, a noble human, as a pet?’

’This is completely backward!’

’I’m a noble Contract Master with several Contractors bound to me! How can I become a pet to one of my Contractors’ targets?’

’No, no, no, that’s absolutely not happening.’

"Uh, I won’t be a pet, unless..."

"Unless what?"

Jiang Yunnuan steeled herself and said through gritted teeth, "Unless, Great God, you dote on your pet so much that you listen to its every word. You’d have to be completely obedient, cater to its every whim, grant its every request, and never refuse it anything."

Yan Chen was speechless.

’She really has some nerve!’

His dark eyes, cold as the moon, twitched slightly. In a frigid voice, he said, "What you’re describing isn’t a pet. It’s a master!"

’What did you expect?’

Jiang Yunnuan snorted inwardly. ’I’d rather be tree fertilizer than a pet. King Jiang will never be a slave!’

Afraid he’d see through her thoughts and forcibly make her his pet on the spot, she coughed and quickly tried to change the subject.

"It’s fine if you don’t agree, Great God. I’ll finish roasting all of this right away. But, I need firewood for roasting. Could you let me out to gather some? I can let my friends know I’m okay at the same time."

Outside the Domain, Jun Yao was still running around like a headless chicken, blasting everything in sight and yelling for the Ultimate Venerable Stage expert to come at him.

Fu Yuan and Ming Ye also looked worried. She couldn’t delay any longer.

"My name is Yan Chen."