Chapter Twenty-Four: The Dust Settles

On the plaza before the Yin Clan's ancestral temple, over a hundred thousand Yin Clan members widened their eyes simultaneously.

An unknown number of Yin Clan members cried out in shock. Even the Yin Clan patriarchs and elders standing before the ancestral temple entrance were frozen in disbelief. Even Yin Tianjue himself didn't react for a moment—during the Yin Clan's martial arts ceremony, someone dared to sneak attack a Young Disciple participating in the martial arts display? How could he have such audacity?

Yin Jiwu, his face contorted, did just that!

When he saw his son, Yin Xuejiao, on whom he had placed immense hope for solidifying his position in the clan, possibly even advancing further through his outstanding performance, being struck down by Yin Xuege and falling from the sky like a dead man, Yin Jiwu completely lost his reason!

Three months ago, Yin Xuejiao, who had just broken through to become a Star Warrior, was defeated by Yin Xuege, who was still just a regular Young Disciple. This had already greatly humiliated Yin Jiwu. Yin Jiwu had even allowed Yin Xuejiao to use the External Affairs Hall's missions to send Yin Xuege into a death trap!

But this damned bastard had actually escaped from the Great Berlin City-State alive and kicking! Not only was he not dead, but he had also taken in a powerful follower from the Silver Wolf Clan, a royal bloodline among the Werewolf Clan. That chatterbox named Wumu was even stronger than Yin Jiwu by a significant margin! At least, Yin Jiwu had suffered losses in several of his probes against Wumu!

What was even more unacceptable to Yin Jiwu was that Yin Xuege was a Sunwalker? The Sunwalker of the Blood Demon Clan, rumored to have the most unfathomable potential and the most monstrous talent? Seeing the preferential treatment and various privileges Yin Xuege received, Yin Jiwu was so consumed by jealousy that his eyes turned green!

If he could tolerate all of this, being excluded from this year's ancestral worship ceremony was what finally made Yin Jiwu completely lose his mind! All along, he, Yin Jiwu, had been one of the outstanding individuals among the fourth-generation direct descendants of the Yin Clan. He had considerable influence within the Yin Clan, wielded significant real power, and had always believed that he would at least become someone like Yin Tianjue in the future!

But he had been excluded from the list of participants in the ancestral worship! Without a doubt, this was all because of Yin Xuege!

And now, Yin Xuege was about to obtain the Blood Spirit Sword, a sword that Yin Tianjue had wielded for three hundred years and had since been kept in the Blood Transformation Pool, a vital location within the clan, for nurturing. This sword's status within the Yin Clan was comparable to a secular emperor's personal seal, possessing extraordinary influence and symbolic meaning! It could basically be considered that whoever obtained this sword was the future successor of the Yin Clan!

His son was falling from the sky like a broken sack of flesh and blood, spewing blood, while Yin Xuege, as long as he defeated the last opponent, Yin Xueao, would wield the Blood Spirit Sword! It was almost foreseeable that from this point on, Yin Xuege would soar to unprecedented heights within the Yin Clan, his status would skyrocket, and he would possess increasing power and authority. He and his son, Yin Xuejiao, would inevitably be trampled underfoot and unable to recover.

Therefore, when Yin Xuege powerfully struck Yin Xuejiao away, Yin Jiwu, blinded by rage, completely forgot where he was and ignored the occasion. He spread his innate bat wings, creating a gust of foul wind, and instantly appeared behind Yin Xuege.

It was the same palm strike that had heavily injured Yin Xuege in the Children's Hall that day. Yin Jiwu's right palm swelled to more than double its size, his crimson right palm becoming almost translucent. In his palm, which shone with an eerie faint red light, an ancient demonic script the size of a fist flickered. It was a demonic script representing 'erosion,' signifying that Yin Jiwu's palm possessed extraordinary corrosive and continuous damage power.

The entire crowd erupted in an uproar. Just as Yin Jiwu's right palm was about to hit Yin Xuege's back, Yin Xuege felt a chilling coldness behind him. His right leg whipped up like a spring, and he delivered a heavy kick to Yin Xueao's abdomen, sending Yin Xueao flying nearly a hundred meters away.

Using the rebound force from this kick, Yin Xuege turned his body. A faint bloody mist coiled around him, and his eyes turned a strange deep green. In his pupils, a faint deep silver light flickered, like a will-o'-the-wisp. This silver light caused Yin Jiwu's heart to suddenly turn ice-cold as he witnessed the change in Yin Xuege's eyes!

A pair of faint, translucent, crimson bat wings suddenly unfurled from behind Yin Xuege. Amidst the shocked screams of countless Yin Clan members, Yin Xuege's innate bat wings were engulfed in a dense, bloody flame. With a light flap of his bat wings, which had a span of over three meters, Yin Xuege created several hazy afterimages, dodging Yin Jiwu's sneak attack palm strike like a phantom.

The ancient demonic scripts representing 'speed' and 'wind' flashed on Yin Xuege's innate bat wings. A howling gale suddenly whipped up around him, and dozens of horn-shaped whirlwinds, ten meters high, churned up from the ground. Caught off guard, Yin Jiwu was swept into two of the whirlwinds. Having already lost his balance from a missed palm strike, he was suddenly caught by the whirlwinds, his body uncontrollably swaying erratically in the air.

Yin Xuege let out a long roar to the heavens. His flight speed suddenly increased severalfold, making it difficult even for the 'Wu' generation experts of the Yin Clan to track his exact location. Countless afterimages flickered in and out of existence in the strong wind. Yin Xuege drew the hidden soft sword from his belt, flicked his right hand gently, and countless arc-shaped sword lights the size of palms tore through the air, whistling towards Yin Jiwu with piercing screeches.

Drops of fresh blood continuously sprayed from Yin Jiwu's body. At this moment, Yin Xuege perfectly demonstrated the sword techniques taught by the stewards of the Children's Hall. The soft sword was like a mad viper, repeatedly striking at Yin Jiwu's vital points such as joints and tendons. Countless tendons were severed, countless joints were ground to pulp, and a large number of blood vessels were cut open, causing blood to gush out of Yin Jiwu's body like a fountain.

Yin Jiwu let out painful roars, his cries mixed with confusion and boundless fear.

He couldn't understand why Yin Xuege possessed innate bat wings, nor could he comprehend how an eleven-year-old Young Disciple like Yin Xuege could possess such immense power! What he feared was that the boundless pain finally extinguished the rage in his heart. He suddenly realized what he was doing and how foolish he had been.

Sword lights shot from all directions. Yin Jiwu instinctively flailed his right palm wildly. He could already hear the sharp shrieks from the patriarchs and elders in front of the ancestral temple entrance. These were shrieks of extreme anger, like countless awls piercing Yin Jiwu's ears simultaneously, causing his eardrums to ache and shaking his internal organs to the point of nearly shattering.

With a "bang," Yin Jiwu's wildly flailing right palm solidly struck Yin Xuege's chest!

Yin Xuege looked at the bewildered and clueless Yin Jiwu, lowered his voice, and sneered, "You and your son are finished!"

Yin Jiwu's palm strike had lost most of its force, but Yin Xuege decisively bit his tongue, spat out a stream of blood, and fell backward heavily. The soft sword in his hand also flew out of his grip dozens of meters away, appearing as if he had suffered a severe injury and could no longer hold the sword hilt.

"You and your son are finished!"

Only Yin Xuege and Yin Jiwu heard these words. Yin Jiwu understood what Yin Xuege meant. It was precisely because he knew the meaning behind Yin Xuege's words that his heart was suddenly filled with fear and a hollow sense of defeat. His rationality, which had returned due to the intense pain, was once again obliterated by fear and frustration. Like a madman, he dragged his heavily injured body, spread his bat wings, and charged towards Yin Xuege.

"I'll kill you! You damned bastard, I'll kill you!" Yin Jiwu slowly charged in front of Yin Xuege, then raised his right palm, intending to strike his heart! He was truly filled with murderous intent; he had to shatter Yin Xuege's heart and kill him completely!

But he had completely missed his chance. The Yin Clan patriarchs and elders had never imagined that someone would be so audacious and insane during the sacred family martial arts ceremony. However, this did not mean that the Yin Clan patriarchs and elders were useless figureheads!

Yin Tianjue, his face extremely grim, appeared behind Yin Jiwu like a phantom. He grabbed Yin Jiwu by the neck, lifted him up, and then slammed him heavily onto the stage. Yin Jiwu let out a miserable howl as his body crashed heavily onto the stage. The immense impact shattered the skin all over his body, and large amounts of blood sprayed out around him like blooming flowers.

Yin Tianjue, furious, struck. This blow shattered all of Yin Jiwu's bones, severed all his nerves and tendons. Even his heart, the only fatal weakness for the Blood Demon Clan, was hit with dozens of internal injuries. Without long-term recuperation and a large amount of blood replenishment, Yin Jiwu's injuries would be extremely difficult to recover from.

"Damn you!" Yin Tianjue made no attempt to hide his rage and killing intent. Two bloody flames shot out from his eyes, extending more than a foot long. He stared intently at Yin Jiwu for a long time before slowly nodding, "If you weren't your father's only useless son, I would dig out your heart right now!"

"But while death can be forgiven, living crimes cannot be overlooked!" Yin Tianjue's right index fingernail grew to over a foot long with a crisp 'ding ding' sound. He lightly slashed Yin Jiwu's chest, revealing his faintly beating heart.

With a gentle wave of his right palm over Yin Jiwu's heart, Yin Jiwu's body suddenly trembled violently. He let out a hoarse, ear-splitting scream, and two streams of bloody tears suddenly rolled from his eyes.

A ball of silvery-green essence blood, the size of an infant's head, appeared in Yin Tianjue's palm. Judging by the color of this essence blood, Yin Jiwu had clearly reached the limit of Viscount strength, just one step away from becoming a Count. However, this ball of essence blood represented at least half of his total essence blood. In other words, Yin Tianjue had stripped Yin Jiwu of half his power!

This ball of essence blood was the result of at least twenty years of arduous cultivation for Yin Jiwu.

Yin Xuege lay on the ground, bored, biting his tongue and continuing to spit blood mouthful by mouthful. The downside of the Blood Demon Physique was that the wounds on his tongue healed too quickly. The moment he spat out a mouthful of blood, the wound on his tongue would heal completely. Yin Xuege had to endure the pain and bite his tongue again before he could spit out fresh blood.

Seeing Yin Jiwu's essence blood forcibly extracted by half by Yin Tianjue, Yin Xuege felt a surge of satisfaction!

What kind of person was Yin Tianjue? He glanced at Yin Xuege and saw through Yin Xuege's little actions. He kicked Yin Jiwu away and then lightly tossed the ball of essence blood, the size of an infant's head, in his hand.

The plaza was deathly silent. Countless Yin Clan members stared at the ball of essence blood in Yin Tianjue's hand, their faces flushed red. This was half of Yin Jiwu's innate essence blood. Any Yin Clan member who could obtain this ball of essence blood, and carefully absorb and fuse it, could gain all the power contained within it.

If given to a Young Disciple, this ball of essence blood, after remodeling his body and expanding his life origin, should be enough to propel him directly into the ranks of a low-level Baron. This was akin to ascending to heaven in a single step. This ball of essence blood could save a Young Disciple at least decades of hard work!

The fervent pursuit of the essence blood of powerful individuals was a racial instinct etched deep into the souls of all Yin Clan members!

Yin Tianjue naturally knew what this ball of essence blood in his hand represented. He cast a stern glance at all the clan members below, then slowly walked over to Yin Xuege, picked up the still-bleeding Yin Xuege, and stuffed this ball of blood, the size of an infant's head, into his mouth.

The blood ball appeared small, but this was because Yin Tianjue had used his power to compress it as much as possible. This was half of Yin Jiwu's essence blood; it couldn't possibly be this small.

As soon as the blood ball entered his mouth, it quickly transformed into a large stream of heat that flowed down. Yin Xuege's body was like a parched sponge, madly absorbing the essence blood that entered his body. His complexion turned red, and his body began to swell slightly. His originally well-proportioned physique quickly became as round as a ball.

This was not like the twenty drops of essence blood from Farnburg. When Farnburg gave his essence blood to Yin Xuege, each drop was sealed with strong restrictions, and Yin Xuege only absorbed the energy of one drop at a time. But this time, it was half the essence blood of a powerful individual who had one foot in the Count rank, and all the energy of the essence blood erupted simultaneously.

Yin Xuege's body rapidly swelled, and a large amount of blood qi surged within his body, stimulating his heart to beat rapidly.

For any other Yin Clan member, it would take several months of secluded cultivation to fully absorb the powerful energy contained within this essence blood. However, Yin Xuege had fused with Farnburg's twenty drops of essence blood. He hadn't used this essence blood to recklessly increase his strength; instead, he had used most of the energy to expand his life origin and solidify his foundation.

At this moment, Yin Xuege's life origin was like a vast lake, and the energy contained in half of Yin Jiwu's essence blood was like a surging great river pouring into his body. However, this did not exceed the capacity limit of Yin Xuege's body. He stood on the stage, took a deep breath, and after a period of breathing and circulation, his swollen body returned to normal at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Yin Tianjue and the other Yin Clan patriarchs raised their eyebrows simultaneously. Yin Xuege's performance had completely exceeded their expectations!

Yin Tianjue forcibly infused half of Yin Jiwu's essence blood into Yin Xuege's body, still intending to test Yin Xuege's talent and potential. He knew that a Sunwalker's talent should be extraordinary. According to Yin Tianjue's estimation, if Yin Xuege could completely fuse Yin Jiwu's essence blood within three days, it would be an incredibly monstrous talent!

However, Yin Xuege returned to normal in just a quarter of an hour!

Yin Tianjue stared blankly at Yin Xuege for a long time before suddenly bursting into laughter. He forcefully rubbed Yin Xuege's still-unfurled innate bat wings on his back. The innate bat wings, which had only spanned three meters earlier, had now expanded to about four meters after Yin Xuege completely absorbed half of Yin Jiwu's essence blood.

A four-meter wingspan for innate bat wings was practically the standard of a Blood Demon Count!

"Marvelous!" Yin Tianjue suddenly roared with laughter. He patted Yin Xuege's shoulders a few times before sternly reprimanding him.

"Yin Jiwu is simply absurd, truly incompetent and useless trash! Someone like him is actually holding a crucial position in the family's Blood War Hall! Effective immediately, all of Yin Jiwu's family positions are revoked. He is to reflect in seclusion and tend to his injuries!" Yin Tianjue's first decree relegated Yin Jiwu to the cold palace! For the extremely pragmatic and cold-blooded Blood Demon Clan, this order was tantamount to destroying everything for Yin Jiwu and his sons.

"Yin Xuege!" Yin Tianjue exclaimed with genuine admiration. "Good lad, a truly good lad! Hmm, let him take on the position of a Grand Executive in the Blood War Hall. Although he's a bit young, he can gain experience. Double his guards, select some suitable young girls from the Blood Servants to attend him, and increase all his allowances by double!"

Yin Tianmie flashed onto the stage. Without any preamble, he handed the Blood Spirit Sword to Yin Xuege.

"Go back and nurture it with your own essence blood. This is the incantation for refining the Blood Spirit Sword. Subdue it according to this method!" Yin Tianmie's eyes narrowed into slits. He made no attempt to hide his inner joy and excitement. Regardless of what had happened before, Yin Xuege was a direct descendant of his Xuan Yin Palace lineage, and that was a fact that could never be erased!

Yin Tianjue smiled and nodded at Yin Xuege before turning to look at the clan members below the stage.

"The winner of this year's family martial arts competition is undoubtedly Yin Xuege, and none of you should have any objections."

"Everyone, under the supervision of the family elders, swear a blood oath, strictly prohibiting the leakage of any information related to Yin Xuege."

"His age, his Sunwalker talent, and the fact that he has awakened his innate bat wings. All of this is top-secret information of our Yin Clan. Everyone must swear a blood oath – whoever dares to leak even a single word will have their soul burned by Blood Flame and be scattered into oblivion!"

The elders of the Yin Clan flew into the sky one after another. They simultaneously unfurled their innate bat wings, which spanned over ten meters.

A terrifying aura enveloped the entire venue. All the Yin Clan members dared not show any disrespect. They all knelt down, pierced their own chests to extract their essence blood, and swore the most stringent blood oath.

Yin Tianjue smiled with satisfaction and then gently patted Yin Xuege's shoulder.

"After the midnight blood banquet, come to the Heaven and Earth Tower to find us old folks. There's something good, allowing you to seize an opportunity to earn some merit and gain experience."

Yin Xuege's heart rejoiced, and he then bowed deeply to Yin Tianjue and Yin Tianmie.

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Our classmate Xuege is getting stronger and stronger! Please give him some recommendation votes for support! (To be continued)