Chapter 2295 (Raw 2402): Only the Rose Is Red in the Snow

After searching for three days in the vast snowy region, Xiao Chen had found nothing. This change in weather happened suddenly; something strange had to be going on.

“That is…”

Xiao Chen looked in front and vaguely saw an illusory palace bathed in moonlight at the limits of his vision.

Without overthinking, he got the Demon Blood Vulture to rush forward at full speed.

Only sporadic snowflakes drifted in the air. The gentle moonlight warmed one’s heart like a flame. The cold weakened significantly in the night.

The boundless snowy region with sparse life suddenly showed some chaotic aura.

Xiao Chen thought to himself, It looks like several people were wandering the snowy region like I was.

Suddenly, three figures appeared to the left of Xiao Chen, meeting him by chance.

Xiao Chen maintained a calm expression while sitting on the Demon Blood Vulture.

The other three people felt slightly stunned, keeping their guard up. However, when they saw Xiao Chen on the Demon Blood Vulture, their expressions immediately relaxed.

“Xiao Chen!”

The older middle-aged, gray-clad man of the three smiled faintly. Then, he said softly, “I heard that you wrecked the First Prince’s wedding. Furthermore, you once faced the three top princes in the Smiling Daughter Pavilion alone.”

These three were the Tenth Prince’s guests. The Tenth Prince’s strength was below average, similar to the Ninth Prince’s on the surface.

“It looks like rumors were just rumors. No matter how much commotion a 2-Vein Sovereign Emperor caused, how strong can he be?”

The gray-clad man was initially wary, thinking that he ran into a strong enemy. When he saw that it was Xiao Chen, his expression relaxed.

Xiao Chen looked up. The moonlight intensified slowly. The ancient palace in front grew more distinct under the moonlight’s illumination. Under its white exterior hid the aura of the Ice Great Dao.

Without needing to guess, that was the inheritance land.

However, it only appeared under the moonlight. That was why there were no traces of it three days ago.

Xiao Chen took a look and saw that the gray-robed man was a peak 3-Vein Sovereign Emperor.

Fire blazed in this person’s eyes, and a horrifying energy gathered in his body, giving off intense pressure.

“So?” Xiao Chen prompted indifferently.

This is not a good time to start a conflict with this person. We should wait until we gather with the Tenth Prince in the inheritance land before making further plans. A white-haired man among the three sent a voice projection to this gray-clad man.

The gray-clad man appeared slightly disappointed. He had a strong desire to fight, wanting to trample on Xiao Chen.

However, he considered the inheritance more important, so he endured for now.

Such a mentality was not strange. Xiao Chen was a mere 2-Vein Sovereign Emperor, but he managed to become famous throughout the imperial capital. The doubts of others were inevitable.

If one could trample on Xiao Chen, one would become famous too.

In one’s life, fame and profit reigned. Naturally, the ambitious would fight for those; even Sovereign Emperors could not avoid this.

“Consider yourself lucky. Let’s go.” The gray-clad old man snorted coldly. Then, he turned and left, not bothering to waste words on Xiao Chen.

How senseless…

Xiao Chen felt speechless in his heart. The Demon Blood Vulture rushed forward in a burst of speed, giving off a flash of red light.

Xiao Chen possessed a Great Desolate Eon bloodline. Furthermore, he had the Ten Thousand Dragons Art circulating at all times in the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb.

The pressure that Xiao Chen faced was at least seventy or eighty percent less than what others suffered.

The three in front had just increased their speed slightly when they heard a howling wind. When they looked over their shoulders, they only saw an afterimage left by scarlet light.

The three quickly turned their heads back to the front and saw Xiao Chen seated on the Demon Blood Vulture disappearing into the distance.

“This…”

This shocked the three. They did not expect Xiao Chen to be so fast.

To that gray-clad man’s eyes, Xiao Chen’s actions were taunting him, immediately sending him into a rage.

“Damn it! Xiao Chen, you bastard! You pretended to be meek earlier, and when I shifted my attention away, you slapped my face. After him!”

The gray-clad man took the lead in charging forward, his figure flashing in the air. Divine Energy gushed, and his entire body gave off a fiery light.

However, the group still could not see Xiao Chen’s figure after chasing for fifteen minutes. This made them feel uncertain.

“This Xiao Chen must have hidden!”

The gray-clad man looked around. He felt very helpless at not seeing Xiao Chen.

The white-haired old man and the other person rushed over. Upon seeing the situation, they consoled the gray-clad man, “Forget it. Since he hid, there is no need to fight with him.”

Given a way out of this embarrassment, the gray-clad man said coldly, “He can consider himself lucky. He had better not run into me again.”

—

Under the moonlight, the ancient palace looked beautiful. It gave off a faint glow, looking dreamy.

Two ice statues stood in front of the palace, blocking the gate.

The ice statues exuded the aura of a 4-Vein Sovereign Emperor. They seemed connected to the moonlight, appearing to be one with it. No one dared to act rashly upon seeing this.

Not far away, a well-dressed prince revealed an excited expression as he looked at the ancient palace.

The guest at his side advised softly, “Tenth Prince, it is best not to act rashly now. It will not be too late to enter when Senior Rong joins us.”

The Tenth Prince nodded and said, “These two ice sculptures seemed somewhat strange. Indeed, we cannot act rashly. Aside from me, the guests of the other princes in this snowy region are scattered. When Senior Rong rushes over, this ice inheritance will be mine for sure.”

“Whoosh!”

Right after the Tenth Prince spoke, a wind howled from behind. The two turned their heads to look back. The Tenth Prince shouted, “Who is it?!”

No one responded; only a flash of burning scarlet light charged over, moving so fast that the two ice statues did not react at all.

Then, the beam of scarlet light turned into thin lines that entered the palace.

“Ah!”

The Tenth Prince happened to see this scene when he turned forward. His expression immediately changed radically as he growled, “Damn it! Who is so bold to dare to snatch the inheritance that I want?!”

It looked like the Tenth Prince could no longer resist charging in. The expert by his side held him back and warned, “Prince, don’t be rash…the two ice statues are not just mere statues.”

“Whoosh!”

The two ice statues’ eyes sparkled with a bright light when they sensed the Tenth Prince’s presence. Two cold intents pressed over, scaring the Tenth Prince into backing off.

—

Inside the palace, Xiao Chen remained seated on the Demon Blood Vulture’s back.

With cold eyes, he took in the ice statues that came to life around him. Then, he leaped into the air and descended.

The instant Xiao Chen landed, he activated the Alloy Dragon Armor, his aura changing significantly.

He now radiated sharpness from his face as dragon motifs sparkled with electric light on his silver armor.

Xiao Chen reached up to grab the hilt above his shoulder. When the group of ice statues rushed over, he drew his saber.

“Boom!”

Immediately, one person and one vulture charged forward in this ancient palace, moving without fear.

Xiao Chen swept through everything as he rushed through the place, not stopping at all.

He saw precious treasures everywhere he passed. However, he only glanced at them before looking away.

After one hour, Xiao Chen arrived at the core hall of the ice palace. There, he finally stopped.

Many ice-attributed treasures were displayed casually on the surrounding walls. Natural treasures filled the place.

This was simply a treasure trove of an ice-attributed cultivator’s dreams. Everything one wanted could be found here.

However, Xiao Chen did not show any joy on his face.

As he rushed over, he had already nursed some suspicions. There had been so many succession races. Not to mention the inheritances at the periphery being emptied out, such precious treasures should not have remained at the very least.

“It looks like you did not let your greed overpower your rationality. Congratulations, you pass the test.”

“Whoosh!”

The roof turned transparent. Xiao Chen could see the bright moon when he raised his head.

Under the bright light radiating in all directions, a white-clad, middle-aged man with an air of elegance seemed to descend from the moon.

Upon a closer look, this person bore some similarities to the Yan Emperor.

Xiao Chen guessed that this should be a lingering will of the Yan Emperor who left this inheritance.

“Are all the treasures fake?” Xiao Chen asked.

The white-clad Yan Emperor smiled warmly. “Wrong, they are all real. However, only one contains my ice inheritance. Everyone who comes in has only one chance to choose. If they choose wrong, they will fail to obtain a treasure and be expelled. Then, my inheritance will close as well, to wait quietly for the next opening of the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb.”

Xiao Chen pondered, “That is to say, over thousands or even tens of thousands of years, no one chose that item, right?”

Without changing his expression, he then asked, “I have a question. If I choose that supreme treasure that contains the inheritance, will I obtain the other treasures?”

The white-clad Yan Emperor smiled and said, “You seem very confident. However…you cannot. If you find the right treasure, you will have two choices. One is to accept the ice inheritance I left behind. The other is to take a treasure containing Dragon Essence.”

Disappointment flashed in Xiao Chen’s eyes. Then, he said, “That is unfortunate.”

After Xiao Chen spoke, he headed straight for an item.

The white-clad Yan Emperor’s expression immediately flickered as intense surprise flashed in his eyes. However, there was also a joy that had been repressed for thousands of years amid this surprise.

He saw that Xiao Chen did not even bother looking at the many precious treasures.

Xiao Chen only stretched out his hand and waved. Then, a vibrant and beautiful blood-red rose appeared in his hand.

The white-clad Yan Emperor asked softly, “How did you guess it? I thought you would at least think for a while before deciding.”

“The answer was already given long ago. If one still needs to think after entering the palace, one would never guess it.”

When the white-clad Yan Emperor heard that, he smiled. “That’s right. The clouds break, the moon arrives, and the flower casts shadows!”

“Only the rose is red in the snow!” Xiao Chen calmly quoted the next phrase of the poem without any change in expression.

“Those who are not my soul mates, do not enter this door! Hahaha! Delightful! How unfortunate…if only you lived during the same time as I did. I would not have been so lonely, then. I believe I can guess your choice as well. I hope that my comprehension will be useful to you.”

—

Outside the ancient palace:

The gray-clad man’s group finally arrived, panting heavily.

“Tenth Prince, fortunately, we have honored your command. We rushed over at our fastest speed; no one in the snowy region should be faster than us.”

The gray-clad man’s group was extremely tired. However, the three still showed pride in their eyes. Along the way, the group had passed many other guests, leaving them in the dust.

The Tenth Prince showed a somewhat awkward expression, not saying anything.

The person by the prince’s side said, “Senior Rong, someone entered already. That person is very mysterious. Aside from a flash of scarlet light, we did not see anything else.”

“What?!”

The gray-clad man was stunned, thunderstruck. He exclaimed hoarsely, “It’s Xiao Chen! To think that Xiao Chen did not hide. Instead, he got ahead of us. How is this possible?”

“Senior Rong, there is no time. We need to make our move fast.”

The gray-clad man startled awake from his daze. He said, “Right, right, right. Let’s quickly charge in!”

After gathering four guests, the Tenth Prince received a boost in confidence. With the gray-clad man taking the lead, they charged at the two ice statues.

“Boom!”

Suddenly, the ancient palace exploded without any warning.

The surging shock waves knocked the group back. The gray-clad man in the lead was in the sorriest state. Blood leaked out of his mouth, and his complexion turned incredibly pale as he tumbled on the ground several times.