A Conclusion

"It's your turn."

Li Yuan's voice wasn't loud, yet it rang through Li Yuanhong's heart like a funeral bell. He stood atop the White Bone Altar, his Dark Crimson Gold qi and blood already drawn in, but the molten glow in his eyes chilled the soul more than any blade.

Li Yuanhong's hand shook violently around the Azure Thin Sword, its tip tracing wild arcs through the air. He looked at the Molten Ground beneath the altar, which had just swallowed dozens of lives and still glowed faintly red. Then he looked at the Netherworld Cult Bishop, slumped like a heap of mud at the edge of the platform, barely breathing. Finally, his gaze returned to Li Yuan.

Fear coiled around his heart like a cold, venomous snake.

He didn't want to die! He was an influential elder of the Li Family, with all the wealth and glory he could want and years of life still ahead of him!

"Li... Li Yuan!" Li Yuanhong's voice turned shrill and warped with terror. "You can't kill me! I'm an elder of the Lineage! If you kill me, the Lineage will never forgive you! The Third Elder will never forgive you!"

"The Lineage? The Third Elder?" Li Yuan let out a scornful laugh, his voice laced with undisguised mockery and ice. "From the moment you tied me to that altar, the Li Family and I have had nothing between us but hatred. No kindness."

He stepped off the White Bone Altar and landed on the still-warm Molten Ground, walking steadily, as if crossing his own courtyard. He didn't activate his Crimson Sun Battle Body or deliberately release his aura, but the weight of his newly mastered Furnace Domain and the half-portion of Sacred Spirit Origin he had smelted made it hard for Li Yuanhong to breathe.

"As for Li Qian Xiong..." Li Yuan advanced toward the platform, every step like a stomp on Li Yuanhong's heart. "Don't worry. It won't be long before I personally send him down to keep you company."

"No! Don't come any closer!" Li Yuanhong broke down completely. He brandished his thin sword like a madman. "I'll fight you to the death!"

The qi and blood in his body burned furiously as he unleashed the Li Family's ultimate sword art—Shadow Splitting Light Sword! His figure blurred, splitting into three indistinguishable afterimages. From different angles, they stabbed at Li Yuan's vital points with a shrill whistle and bone-piercing chill! The swordlight glowed azure, swift and treacherous as a striking serpent!

He had poured everything into this strike, even sacrificing his origin, all in the hope of forcing Li Yuan back and finding the smallest chance to escape!

Faced with a treacherous sword art that could throw any fighter of the same rank into disarray, Li Yuan's eyes didn't so much as flicker.

He merely raised his right hand and brought his index and middle fingers together. A glint of Dark Crimson Gold flashed across them.

Then, with a casual flick, he pointed at the center of the three oncoming sword-images.

Crimson Sun True Scripture—Molten Gold Finger!

There was no great show of force, only a scorching finger-wind, honed to the utmost and imbued with the power to smelt. It struck first, landing with pinpoint precision on the spot where the three sword-images converged—the very place where Li Yuanhong's true body stood!

"Clink—!"

A crisp chime rang out, like gold and jade striking together!

Li Yuanhong felt an indescribable heat and tremendous force surge through the sword in an instant! The cold qi and blood he had poured into the blade met its nemesis and melted away in a flash!

"Crack!"

The Azure Thin Sword, tempered a thousand times and steeped in deadly poison, shattered inch by inch from the tip! Before the fragments could hit the ground, the scorching finger-wind melted them into crimson-hot iron, which dripped down with a sizzling hiss!

The finger-wind didn't slow. It lightly tapped Li Yuanhong between the brows.

Li Yuanhong's charge abruptly froze. The madness and terror on his face locked in place. His wide eyes brimmed with utter disbelief and mortal dread.

A dark-red mark appeared between his brows and quickly spread outward.

"Ugh..." A muffled sound escaped his throat. He tried to say something, but no words came.

The next instant—

Boom!

Dark Crimson Gold flames erupted without warning from within him, blazing outward. In a flash, they engulfed his entire body!

There was no scream, only a faint puff as his flesh and blood vaporized in an instant. In the blink of an eye, Li Yuanhong had vanished completely, without leaving even a speck of ash, as if he had never existed.

Only the faint smell of burning in the air bore witness to the fall of an elder of the Li Family.

Li Yuan slowly lowered his hand. He didn't even look at the spot where Li Yuanhong had disappeared, as though he had merely crushed a buzzing fly.

His gaze shifted to the edge of the platform, where the Netherworld Cult Bishop lay limp on the ground, barely breathing.

The bishop felt his gaze. Despair filled his gray-white pupils. He opened his mouth, perhaps to beg, perhaps to curse, but in the end not a sound came out.

Li Yuan gave him no chance.

He punched from a distance.

A concentrated Dark Crimson Gold Fist Force shot through the bishop's chest like a blazing meteor, leaving a gaping hole straight through him, its edges charred black.

The bishop's corpse twitched once, then fell still.

Only then did Li Yuan turn around and look toward the corner of the platform, where the Yin Sha Body Girl remained bound in black chains, curled up in terror.

When she felt his gaze, her body shuddered violently. She buried her head even lower, like an ostrich caught in a storm.

Li Yuan walked over and crouched before her. She let out a frightened scream and squeezed her eyes shut.

He said nothing. He simply reached out and grasped the cold black chains. A faint Dark Crimson Gold glow flickered at his fingertips.

"Crack... crack..."

The specially made chains, strong enough to restrain ordinary martial artists, snapped inch by inch in his hands, crumbling into scrap metal.

The chains fell away, but the girl still didn't dare move. She just hugged her knees and trembled.

Li Yuan looked at her and saw a fate much like the one he himself had once endured. A complex emotion flickered in his eyes, but soon his expression returned to calm.

"Go," he said as he stood. His voice was flat. "Leave this place, and don't go back to the Li Family."

With that, he didn't linger. He turned and walked toward the cavern's exit.

Only then did the girl slowly lift her head. She watched his dark-red figure recede—a figure not especially tall, yet seeming to hold up the whole world—and tears instantly blurred her vision.

Li Yuan didn't look back.

Blood filled the cavern, and corpses littered the ground. The Blood Pool at its center had stopped churning, and the White Bone Altar had lost its luster.

A carefully planned "Sacred Sacrifice" had ended with the deaths of everyone behind it and the theft of its core.

He left the Netherworld Path and the abandoned ancient ruins, returning to the surface of Black Mountain Forest.

Outside, the first light of dawn filtered through the forest mist, casting dappled spots of light.

He drew in a deep breath of cool air scented with grass and trees, feeling the steady, powerful pulse of the Dark Crimson Gold Crimson Sun within him and the profound Crimson Sun True Scripture in his mind.

The tangled affairs of the Li Family had, for now, been partly settled.

But the shadow of the Netherworld Cult—and the vast, wider world beyond—still lay ahead.

He lifted his head and gazed toward Black Mountain City, his eyes as sharp as ever.

It was time to return.

Some debts were ready to be settled once and for all.