The tips of Jiang Chen's ears twitched ever so slightly. In the void, extraordinarily faint currents of air traced strange trajectories — under the sweep of Jiang Chen's divine sense, they materialized before him with absolute clarity.
In the next instant, Jiang Chen's figure swayed almost imperceptibly. His form shifted from solid to ethereal, dissolving into the void like a ripple on the surface of water.
Right where he had been standing, a streak of silver light slashed through.
A ghastly rift tore across that patch of space, glaring and savage.
"Quick reflexes!"
A low voice rang out from the void, clearly shocked by Jiang Chen's lightning-fast reaction.
The voice carried a hint of magnetic allure, dripping with unrestrained wildness. Before the speaker even appeared, the sound alone painted a vivid picture of the kind of person behind it.
Jiang Chen hovered at a distance, his Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil trained on a specific point in the void. He shrugged and smiled faintly. "I have to say — this is the first time I've received such a welcome ceremony in the Six Heritage Palaces."
Where Jiang Chen's gaze settled, a strange ripple appeared in the void. From within it, a figure slowly stepped out.
The figure was tall and imposing, with a wild mane of unkempt hair draped carelessly over his shoulders.
The man's features were rough and rugged. His eyes, in particular, were lively and restless, lending him an air of spirited intensity — yet that lively gaze, when it shifted, carried with it a sense of utter madness.
Jiang Chen studied the bizarre stranger.
The stranger, for his part, regarded Jiang Chen with a half-smile on his face.
"Kid, pretty special welcome, huh?" The long-haired freak bared his teeth in a strange grin as he spoke.
Jiang Chen snorted coldly. "A sneak attack from behind — that's no way for a real man to act."
The freak showed not a shred of shame. If anything, he seemed proud of it. He cackled, "A real man? In the world of martial cultivation, those who fancy themselves real men tend to die rather early. Kid, I'm starting to wonder — how did you even make it to the Fourth Palace?"
The freak's voice was loud and booming, as though his spirits were running extraordinarily high.
"What exactly is your relationship with the guardian of the Fourth Palace?" Jiang Chen frowned. From what he knew of the Six Heritage Palaces, none of the guardians ever stepped out to fight in person.
Tiankun Shangren, Chongxiao Zunzhe, Marquis Hong — not a single one of the guardians of the other three palaces had personally engaged him.
They seemed to be confined within the Six Heritage Palaces as well, with no freedom beyond the trials they were tasked to oversee.
Yet this man appeared to move through the Fourth Palace with complete ease, looking nothing at all like the guardians of the other three gates.
The freak flashed a wide grin. "Could it really be that I'm that unremarkable? Could I really not look the part of the Fourth Gate's guardian?"
"You?" Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow, a flicker of suspicion in his eyes.
"Kid, let me congratulate you — in the first three palaces of the Six Heritage Heritage, you never had the chance to face the guardian in direct combat. But in this palace, yours truly is the guardian, and I'll be testing you with my own hands. If you fall at this gate in the end, don't be the least bit surprised. Before me, the Mad Old Freak, every genius had better lie down and behave."
As he spoke, the fellow provocatively licked his lips, making an utterly bloodthirsty gesture.