This poor ugly fool. He had been played like a puppet by everyone who died before — used by one after another until he was thoroughly traumatized.
In his eyes, Jiang Chen, the last one standing, was unquestionably the most venomous and calculating. Almost certainly rotting with malice. Perhaps he was even plotting some sort of living sacrifice ritual to exchange for demonic power.
Hearing Jiang Chen's answer only deepened his conviction.
Even with his iron will, a chill ran through his scalp.
"If you've got the guts, come over here and I'll fight you to the death!" Lian Que bellowed.
The moment his concentration wavered, the death aura surged upward, reaching just below his eyelids.
Jiang Chen heard the shout and merely smiled: "Brave man. I won't kill you."
"However..." He glanced back at Lian Que's complexion, roughly gauging the death aura's progress. "Every twenty breaths, you need to speak a sentence. Keep the death aura below the halfway mark on your face. Remember — that's the warning line. Once it crosses that, I'll take it as you wanting to do something to me, wanting to seize my opportunity. And then I will kill you."
Lian Que blinked. He could tell the latter half of Jiang Chen's words was dead serious — absolutely no joke.
Lian Que the Elder considered himself unafraid of death, but not dying was obviously preferable. He obediently focused on resisting the death aura while silently counting his breaths.
Twenty breaths passed, and he couldn't help but ask: "Wouldn't it be simpler to just kill me? Why go through all this trouble?"
At the moment, Jiang Chen was on the ground, tapping on the floor tiles. He had a theory that there might be an underground chamber beneath the Dragon Palace. After all, they had searched the entire palace without finding a single clue about the opportunity.
He answered casually: "Killing is simple. The hard part is convincing yourself."
Only when you could convince yourself could you be at peace with your conscience.
He said it so naturally, just like "You weren't going to kill me — why should I kill you?"
Such a simple principle, such a normal thing to say. Why had it become something people no longer believed?
It was as though between people, there was always conspiracy, always malice.
Lian Que was stunned.
He suddenly remembered something his grandfather had told him, long ago, when the old man was still alive.
Grandfather had said: "In a world of the extraordinary, killing is a trivial matter. The hard part is being at peace with your conscience. Being at peace with your conscience isn't actually hard either. The hard part is whether a cultivator of extraordinary power can still keep a human heart."
Young Lian Que hadn't understood then. As he grew older, he understood even less.
But now — he thought he might catch a glimpse of it.
If extraordinary cultivators viewed themselves as immortals and gods, regarding ordinary people as mere insects — then killing as many as they wished and still sleeping soundly was easy.
But that wasn't hard. Truly not hard.
Even those with a shred of power in the ordinary world often treated their fellow humans as cattle and dogs, didn't they?
What was rare, what was truly precious, was the innocent heart that treated oneself as human — and others as human too.
Another twenty breaths.
Lian Que couldn't resist asking again: "In here, no one will ever know what you do. Whether you're good or evil, righteous or wicked — no one can see. What's the point?"
"I don't do things for anyone's eyes. If someone kills me, I kill them — that's simple. But killing without cause, I'm unwilling. Though I should remind you — unwilling doesn't mean I won't do it. This opportunity is extremely important to me. I have reasons I must grow stronger. So you must protect yourself. Don't give me an excuse to kill you."
Jiang Chen spoke lightly, as though making small talk. But his intent was firm. The Inner Palace divine skill was his non-negotiable prize.
By now he had tapped through more than half the hall's floor tiles. Quite exhausting. But for the opportunity, he would grit his teeth and continue.
Even if it meant examining every inch of this Dragon Palace, it was worth it!
Another twenty breaths passed before Lian Que said sincerely: "I, Lian Que, am not someone who doesn't know right from wrong. Even if I recover, I won't compete with you for the opportunity."
"Oh please, just stay down and rest. I don't know you well enough to trust—"
Jiang Chen stopped mid-sentence.
Points of white light had appeared before him, converging into a horn.
An Azure Dragon's Horn.
He seized it in one hand, and understanding came naturally.
This Azure Dragon's Horn was the key to claiming the opportunity.
And the moment he grasped it, a Full Moon Gate materialized at the center of the hall — ethereal, yet leading somewhere else.
Only the one who held the Azure Dragon's Horn could pass through.
So the competition in the Celestial Dragon Palace was this crude and simple.
Either kill all your competitors, or have them all withdraw — and the opportunity would appear.
And he had diligently, honestly searched for so long — tapping walls, feeling pillars, even knocking on every single floor tile... when all Lian Que had to do was say that one sentence about giving up, and it would have been over!
Realizing this, Jiang Chen glared at Lian Que.
Lian Que found himself bewildered by the look.
Was he thinking of silencing him now? That wasn't necessary — wouldn't everyone forget once they left the Celestial Secret Realm?
Lian Que's thoughts spiraled.
Jiang Chen tucked the Azure Dragon's Horn into his robe: "Now — focus all your effort on purging the death aura. You're no longer restricted."
With the horn in hand, even if Lian Que changed his mind and tried to seize it after recovering, Jiang Chen was confident he could protect it.
To his surprise, Lian Que erupted in fury: "What's that supposed to mean? You're looking down on me? I'm no threat to you?"
Jiang Chen: ...
The man was either stupid or not — he could read the unspoken confidence in Jiang Chen's words. But if he were truly clever, would anyone speak like that?
Right now, Jiang Chen could dismiss him with a single dao art and be done with it. Yet he was concerned about whether someone looked down on him.
In high spirits with the Azure Dragon's Horn secured, Jiang Chen didn't feel like arguing. He humored him: "No, no, no — I respect you. I believe you're a person who keeps their word."
That was more like it.
Lian Que nodded with satisfaction and focused entirely on purging the death aura.
Jiang Chen ignored him and turned to step through the Full Moon Gate.
"Wait!" Lian Que suddenly spoke again.
Jiang Chen said impatiently: "What?"
"I almost forgot — once we leave the Celestial Secret Realm, we won't remember any of this. But you spared my life, and I owe you for that."
"Don't worry about it. I didn't spare you because I wanted anything in return."
"No. I, Lian Que, can't live comfortably with an unpaid debt!"
Lian Que gathered himself and spat — a dark rectangular metal token clattered from his mouth, hitting the floor tile with a clear ring.
"Once we're out, bring this token to me. I'll forge a sword for you personally. Even if you don't remember, I'll be able to sense it."
"I appreciate the sentiment. That alone is acknowledgment of what I did — it's enough. Truly, there's no need for anything else." Jiang Chen gestured at the weapon in his hand. "Besides, I already have a sword."
"What is that piece of junk? You call that a sword?" Lian Que suddenly roared.
Jiang Chen didn't know what had set him off, but the sheer force of the outburst startled him.
He reluctantly tore a strip of cloth from Ji Xiu's corpse on the floor and wrapped the metal token.
"Fine, fine. I understand."
Lian Que roared again: "Even though it came out of my mouth — there's no saliva on it!"
The roar nearly pushed the death aura past his brow.
To prevent him from dying of sudden organ failure, Jiang Chen had to coax him with a few more soothing words.
Once Lian Que had finally calmed down and returned his full attention to fighting the death aura, Jiang Chen let out a relieved breath.
He quickly stepped through the Full Moon Gate for the final leg of his journey within the Celestial Secret Realm.