Zunti and Jieyin

The intense pain twisted his face, and cold sweat the size of beans rolled down his forehead.

Yet even so, he remained kneeling in place, not daring to move a muscle, only pressing his left hand tightly over the wound, gritting his teeth and enduring.

"Considering this is your first offense, I'll take one arm as punishment."

"Later, go to the Blood Pool and reshape yourself."

Patriarch Styx's voice remained as cold as ice.

"Th-thank you, Patriarch, for the mercy of not killing me!" Indra, enduring the searing pain, kowtowed with a trembling voice.

In the Asura Clan, Patriarch Styx was heaven, the one and only god. Any punishment he gave was a grace.

After dealing with Indra, Patriarch Styx's massive head slowly turned, casting his dead, blood-red eyes toward Xuanqing not far away.

Xuanqing's heart tightened.

Here it comes.

He put away the Jing Shi Sword and the Xuan De Merit Robe, then performed a respectful but unservile bow toward the enormous head.

"This junior, Xuanqing, pays respects to Senior Styx."

"Xuanqing?" Patriarch Styx's voice echoed between heaven and earth. "A disciple of the Jade Void Palace?"

"Indeed." Xuanqing admitted openly.

His Jade Clarity Immortal Light was so obvious there was no point in hiding it.

Patriarch Styx's gaze lingered on Xuanqing for a moment, as if scrutinizing something.

"What business do you have in my Blood Sea?"

Xuanqing's thoughts raced, but his face remained calm and composed.

"This junior intends to travel to the Western Lands and was passing through here, hoping to borrow the path. However, I found the Demon Qi here rampant, and this junior could not bear it, so I purified it a little."

He paused, then added, "I did not expect it would cause some misunderstandings with your clan."

After hearing this, Patriarch Styx's aged face showed neither joy nor anger.

"Purifying Demon Qi?"

He seemed quite interested in that phrase.

"That divine ability of yours to purify Demon Qi is somewhat intriguing."

Xuanqing's heart stirred, knowing the other had seen through the uniqueness of his ability.

"You flatter me, Senior. It's merely a minor innate talent, nothing worth mentioning."

"Nothing worth mentioning?" Patriarch Styx snorted coldly, seemingly displeased with Xuanqing's reply. "To revert Luo Hou's Demon Qi back to its origin and transform it into natural spiritual energy—this Seat has never seen such a divine ability since the dawn of creation."

Xuanqing thought to himself, As expected, I can't hide it from an old monster like this.

"Do you know what the Demon Qi of this Blood Sea means to my Asura Clan?" Patriarch Styx continued.

"This junior does not know." Xuanqing answered honestly.

He truly didn't know.

"It means power," Patriarch Styx said slowly. "The Asura Clan is born in the Blood Sea, feeding on Blood Sha and Demon Qi to grow stronger."

"By purifying the Demon Qi, you are no different from cutting off my people's food supply and destroying the foundation of my Blood Sea."

By the end, though his voice remained flat, Xuanqing could feel the surrounding Blood Sea radiating a bone-piercing chill.

Xuanqing sensed the Blood Sea pressing down on him from all sides, as if trying to crush him.

"Since you've destroyed my foundation, leave one arm behind, and we'll call it even."

The moment the words fell, an irresistible force of slaughter locked onto Xuanqing's right arm.

Xuanqing's expression hardened. His spiritual power surged wildly, and the Jing Shi Sword let out a clear, resonant hum, ready to meet this thunderous strike.

He knew that the gap between himself and Patriarch Styx was immeasurable. But surrendering without a fight was never his style.

Just as the tension reached its peak, on the verge of eruption—

"Hehehe... Daoist Styx, long time no see. Your temper is still as fierce as ever. Bullying a junior like this—aren't you afraid of losing face as the master of the Blood Sea?"

A somewhat frivolous laugh came from the distant horizon.

The sound traveled from far to near, still at the edge of the sky one moment, yet ringing in the ear the next.

Accompanying the laughter, two figures stepped through the air from the western sky.

One of them left golden lotus phantom images blooming and fading with every step, full of Zen meaning. His face bore an expression of suffering, but his eyes darted around shrewdly.

The other remained silent, simply following quietly beside him.

The arrivals were none other than Jieyin and Zunti of Mount Sumeru in the Western Lands!

Patriarch Styx's massive head slowly turned toward the west.

When he saw Zunti and Jieyin, a flicker of wariness and disgust passed through his blood-red eyes.

"Zunti. Jieyin. The two of you should be holed up in your barren Western Lands. What business do you have coming to my Blood Sea?" Styx's voice grew even colder.

There wasn't a single major power in all of Honghuang who looked kindly on these two—the ones who had wailed and wept at Purple Cloud Palace, crying their way into two Sage seats from the Dao Ancestor himself.

Especially since those two had walked away with no small amount of benefits.

Zunti descended with a genial smile, landing between Xuanqing and Styx, and offered a respectful salute to Styx.

"Daoist Styx, your words miss the mark. My senior brother and I sensed boundless Merit descending upon this place, so we came specially to observe—to see which great virtuous one had made such a contribution to Honghuang."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Xuanqing, and he looked through his wisdom eye.

When Zunti saw Xuanqing's Merit Golden Wheel, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

Good heavens!

This Merit was even vaster than he had imagined!

Zunti and Jieyin exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock and ecstasy in each other's eyes.

It's him! It has to be him!

At first, they had thought that old man Styx had stumbled onto some incredible luck. But now it was clear—the true master of this Merit was this young Daoist being bullied by Styx!

This child has Karma with the Western Lands!

Patriarch Styx watched Zunti's expression and grew even more displeased.

"Hmph. This is a matter of Karma between my Blood Sea and Jade Void Palace. What does it have to do with your Western Lands?" Styx directly exposed Xuanqing's origins.

He didn't believe that, knowing this kid was Yuanshi Tianzun's disciple, Zunti would still dare to scheme.

Sure enough, upon hearing the words "Jade Void Palace," Zunti's smile stiffened slightly.

Yuanshi's disciple? That made things a bit tricky.

He studied Xuanqing closely for a few moments, then suddenly let out an "Eh."

"So it's you. I was wondering who it was. Young Friend Xuanqing, you're as impressive as ever since we parted at Purple Cloud Palace." Zunti spoke as if they were old acquaintances.

Xuanqing was also startled inwardly.

Purple Cloud Palace? Had he been there? Oh, right—back when he attended the lectures at Purple Cloud Palace, he had gone with his Master, Yuanshi Tianzun. But at the time, his cultivation was low, and he had stayed close to his Master's side, hardly noticeable.

He hadn't expected to be remembered by this future Sage.

"This junior, Xuanqing, pays respects to the two seniors, Zunti and Jieyin." Though Xuanqing was puzzled, he still observed proper formalities.

Zunti's smile grew even brighter.

"Young Friend need not stand on ceremony. Speaking of it, you and I are both disciples under the Dao Ancestor. By seniority, you should call me Uncle-Master."

At these words, Styx's face darkened further.

Xuanqing's mouth twitched slightly. This Sage Zunti really didn't stand on ceremony.

"So it's Nephew Xuanqing." Zunti seized the opening and immediately changed his address. "Nephew, how did you end up in conflict with Daoist Styx? And trapped here by him?"

Xuanqing complained inwardly—wasn't it obvious?

But he still honestly gave a brief account of what had happened. Of course, he omitted his intention to farm Merit, only saying that he had tried to borrow the path and a misunderstanding had arisen.

After hearing this, Zunti immediately put on an indignant expression.

"Outrageous!" He pointed at Patriarch Styx and shouted, "Styx! You go too far! My nephew was merely passing through and happened to perform a great deed of Merit. Not only do you fail to thank him, but you try to cut off his arm?"

"Is this how your Asura Clan conducts itself?"