Chapter 160: Chart of the Twelve Zodiac Palaces

"You, you came out?"

Miao Lu looked ahead in shock, the bull-horn blade in his hand still trembling continuously. He never imagined that Su Ye could actually emerge from this grave-like mound.

Wasn't this the place of the demonic trees that the clan leader had repeatedly warned against? Anyone entangled by these demonic trees was destined to never escape. How could Su Ye have broken free from inside?

Moreover, even the gu poison he had just thrown had turned out to be completely useless.

"Hmph, are you surprised? I should thank you for the lethal gift you gave me!" Su Ye's lips curled into a cold smile. If the gu poison had not forced out his *Three Thousand Yanhuang Tribulations*, he might not have been able to break free so easily.

However, Su Ye had no intention of thanking Miao Lu. This fellow had just tried to kill him and even wanted to sever Jiang Liuying's hands and feet. Could a person like this ever be let off?

Seeing this from afar, Jiang Liuying immediately cried out in pleasant surprise, "Su Ye, haha, you're out! Quickly save me!"

Ignoring Jiang Liuying, Su Ye channeled all his true qi fiercely. With a sudden burst of momentum beneath his feet, his entire figure dashed forward like a flash of light.

Realizing that running was no longer an option, Miao Lu swung the bull-horn blade in his hand, hacking viciously right toward Su Ye's face.

"You're courting death!"

Su Ye spun one hand sharply, and an arc of lightning manifested in his palm. He struck out hard against the incoming bull-horn blade, and with a crisp *clang*, the blade snapped in two on impact.

Leaping upward abruptly, Su Ye delivered a rapid succession of kicks straight to Miao Lu's chest.

*Crack!* The sound of breaking ribs echoed instantly. Miao Lu's pupils constricted sharply as blood surged into his eyes, and his heart abruptly stopped beating.

*Bang!!*

He was sent flying backward, crashing heavily against a grave mound. Rolling twice across the mound, he breathed his no final breath.

From within the mound, two vines suddenly reached out, tightly wrapped around Miao Lu's corpse, and dragged him fiercely back inside.

"Hmph, as you sow, so shall you reap!"

Without a shred of pity, Su Ye let out a cold snort and turned around to walk toward Jiang Liuying.

"Su Ye, I knew you were the best! Hahaha, you're awesome! Hurry, my legs are completely numb, pull me out!" Jiang Liuying was ecstatic, never expecting that everything would turn out safely after all those close calls.

Walking over, Su Ye casually plucked a blade of grass from the ground and strolled slowly up to Jiang Liuying. Showing no sense of urgency, he smiled and said, "Just now, you were practically wishing for my death! How do you still have the nerve to ask me to save you now?"

"Su Ye, you wouldn't... right? That was a moment of life and death—oh no, that was a special circumstance! I knew you would find a way, and facts have proven that I was right. Aren't you out of trouble now? How could I possibly watch you die in vain? Right, my good son-in-law?" Jiang Liuying put on a pitiful, ingratiating expression.

"Get lost—save it! Don't I know you by now? You little demon, your temper sure is wild!" Su Ye tapped the blade of grass in his hand directly against Jiang Liuying's fair cheek.

"Ah... are you trying to kill me? You're going to ruin my face and make me unmarriageable. Will you marry me then, you dead Su Ye?" Struggling continuously, Jiang Liuying opened her mouth and made as if to bite Su Ye.

"Hmph, keep dreaming! Whoever marries you is bound for bad luck. You little demon, who knows what kind of creature reincarnated as you? You definitely bring bad luck to your husband! Tsk tsk tsk... Oh, you're still unrepentant? Go ahead and bite me, bite!" Wanting to teach this young miss a lesson, Su Ye reached out and directly pinched her delicate little nose.

Jiang Liuying tossed her head back and forth, twisting her lips from side to side in an attempt to bite Su Ye's hand, while crying out, "You psycho, let go! My nose is high enough already, stop pinching it! If it gets deformed, all the money you earn in this lifetime won't be enough to compensate me."

"Compensate you? Hmph, enough nonsense. What is the password to my bank card? If you don't tell me, I'll make you eat dirt." As he spoke, Su Ye scooped up a handful of soil from the grave mound, making a gesture as if to stuff it into Jiang Liuying's mouth.

"No, don't! I'll talk, I'll talk! The password is 210509, really, really! That's the date we first met! I've always used this password, you're just the one who forgot it. Let me out already!" Desperate to breathe while desperately avoiding the dirt Su Ye threatened to feed her, Jiang Liuying spoke with extreme difficulty.

Stunned for a moment, Su Ye finally released his grip and demanded, "Want to come out? Beg me!"

"I'm begging you, Brother Su Ye, my male god, my idol, please let me out! I feel something biting my feet!"

"Call me Dad!"

"Agh, you dead Su Ye, don't push your luck! Do you believe I'll bite you to death?" Furious, Jiang Liuying bared her teeth and brandished her claws, her exquisite face nearly distorted in anger.

Su Ye remained expressionless and grabbed another handful of soil from the ground.

"Dad! Dad, let me out! I'm begging you!" Jiang Liuying didn't hesitate for even half a second.

"Hahaha, good girl!"

Su Ye burst into laughter. After being taken advantage of by Jiang Liuying and acting as her "mother-in-law" for so long, it was finally his turn to turn the tables. Brushing off his hands, he delivered a fierce kick straight toward the grave mound.

*Bang!!*

The entire grave mound was shattered into pieces by his kick. The vines inside, seemingly sensing a powerful and overwhelming force, shrank back underground in a flash.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Covered in dust and looking disheveled, Jiang Liuying coughed repeatedly as she crawled out from the pit.

Seeing this, Su Ye felt a wave of triumphant satisfaction. This little lass really needed to be kept in check.

"It's you, Su Ye! I'm going to bite you to death..." Jiang Liuying immediately sprang up from the ground and lunged furiously at Su Ye.

Anticipating this, Su Ye called out, "You've really rebelled, haven't you? Don't blame me for being ruthless..."

*Rumble!*

Before he could finish his sentence, the ground suddenly trembled and violently shook.

Jiang Liuying froze in her tracks, stopping dead in mid-air with a pale face. "Alright, alright, I won't argue with you anymore. Stop messing around with earthquakes, it's dangerous!"

"It's not me..." With a shocked expression, Su Ye's eyes swept across the surrounding landscape.

This commotion wasn't caused by him. From past experience, this undoubtedly meant another drastic change was underway.

Scanning inward, Su Ye discovered that the painting scroll titled "The Tide Approaches," which he had previously obtained from Ye Lingyun, was now floating mid-air.

Above in the sky, two bizarre giant eyes had originally been lingering, and at this moment, they were slowly descending from the heavens.

It was as if the two colossal eyes were inspecting whether the painting was genuine.

The entire painting began to undergo subtle transformations.

All the surrounding demonic trees frantically retreated back into the earth, leaving only the painting hanging in the air.

Su Ye suddenly sensed the lightning crackling within the painting as it began to spark with brilliant light. Although the demonic trees had all seemingly vanished beneath the surface just moments before, they now burst forth from the ground beneath the painting once again. Countless trees and vines, as if driven mad, plunged directly into the painting scroll.

It was an extremely bizarre sight—a tiny painting swallowing countless towering demonic trees.

"What is this?"

Feeling an inexplicable summons, Su Ye stepped forward, approaching the painting, and watched as the images within shifted constantly.

Originally, the painting contained only four archaic characters and a bolt of lightning, but now, intricate textures of trees and the silhouettes of vines slowly emerged, gradually filling the entire canvas.

*Boom!*

A thunderous roar echoed in Su Ye's sea of consciousness. He instinctively knew this was an absolute, peerless treasure.

Reaching out, he grabbed hold of the painting scroll.

*Rumble—!!*

A deafening roar erupted into the sky, and the entire earth shook violently.

From behind him, Jiang Liuying, who hadn't caught up yet, shouted at the top of her lungs, "Su Ye, what are you doing? Run! Oh god, the city gates are collapsing!"

Turning back to look, Su Ye saw that even though they had left Thunder City behind, the distant ramparts of the city were now crumbling inch by inch.

The collapse looked like a shattering mosaic, disintegrating piece by piece—the gates, the walls, and the very ground beneath them were all falling apart.

"What is going on?"

Su Ye's heart trembled, and the blood in his veins seemed to freeze. How could such a majestic Thunder City collapse like this? There were still countless people inside Thunder City!

He immediately prepared to charge back into the city, wanting at least to check if Jiang Ziyang and the others were in danger and what had happened inside.

At the very instant he turned back, his gaze caught the floating painting. Right in the center of the scroll, the silhouette of a city was slowly materializing.

Moreover, in the blink of an eye, Su Ye realized with absolute certainty that the city appearing in the painting was none other than Thunder City!

"The demonic trees vanished and burrowed into the painting—Thunder City collapsed and also appeared within this painting... What does this mean?"

Su Ye's mind spun, unable to process the sheer absurdity of it all.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the entire Thunder City completely collapsed, sending towering plumes of dust into the air. Cries of alarm echoed from within, suggesting that quite a few people were still alive inside.

"Su Ye, run! Go back and save my dad!" Panicking, Jiang Liuying turned and sprinted back toward the ruined remains of Thunder City.

Discovering that the image of Thunder City on the painting had fully materialized while the scroll's divine glow slowly faded, Su Ye noticed a few strange, bold characters inscribed vertically on the right side of the painting—*The Twelve Celestial Palaces Chart*!

"The Twelve Celestial Palaces Chart?"

Glancing at the artwork, Su Ye felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. It was the first time he had ever heard of the *Twelve Celestial Palaces Chart*, but this alone was enough to prove it was an unparalleled, supreme treasure.

He never expected that the item obtained from Ye Lingyun would hold such deep mysteries.

Fortunately, he had seized it while hunting down Ye Lingyun. If he hadn't, and Ye Lingyun had managed to keep this treasure, what kind of disastrous consequences might have followed?

However, these thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Su Ye had no extra time to dwell on them. Rolling up the *Twelve Celestial Palaces Chart*, he directly stored it away inside his spatial conch.

"Liuying, wait for me!"

Crying out, Su Ye dashed forward to follow her into the ruins.

Catching up to Jiang Liuying a moment later, the two of them stood frozen on the earth in utter shock. Where an entire majestic Thunder City had stood before, there was now only boundless emptiness, with nothing obstructing their line of sight.

The collapsed city walls were reduced to nothing more than a foot-thick layer of dust.

Countless cultivators lay sprawled amidst the dust, coughing incessantly, staring blankly at the desolate scene before them.

"Where is Thunder City?!"