Making a Move

What do you mean, "just a little"? You call that a little? You practically dug up our family's ancestral grave!

Ancestor Minghe was being berated by Zhunti, who pointed right at his nose, yet, strangely, he didn't get angry.

He merely stared coldly at Zhunti. "This is a matter of karma between him and me. Zhunti, are you really going to interfere?"

"I'm not interfering. I'm upholding justice!" Zhunti declared righteously. "My nephew is blessed with immeasurable merit and favored by the Heavenly Dao. If you hurt him, aren't you afraid of suffering the Heavenly Dao's backlash?"

"Besides, he's Senior Brother Yuanshi's beloved disciple. If you so much as touch a hair on his head today, and Senior Brother Yuanshi comes calling at your Blood Sea with the Pangu Banner in hand, who knows whether your Blood Sea will still be standing afterward?"

Zhunti's words were both a threat and a promise.

Ancestor Minghe fell silent.

He didn't care about the Heavenly Dao's backlash. He was burdened with the Way of Slaughter and weighed down by karma; he had enough lice that another bite wouldn't bother him.

But Yuanshi Tianzun was someone he couldn't afford to underestimate.

He was one of the Pangu Orthodox and one of the Three Pure Ones, a top-tier powerhouse who wielded an Innate Supreme Treasure like the Pangu Banner. If Yuanshi Tianzun really came knocking, then even if Minghe's Blood Sea was said to endure as long as the sea remained and Minghe lived, having it turned upside down would still leave him gravely weakened.

Was it worth it for the sake of a junior Golden Immortal?

Minghe weighed his options.

Xuanqing stood to one side, watching this confrontation between a future Sage and a top-tier powerhouse. He couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

So this is the real benefit of having powerful backing.

He hadn't even said a word, and someone had already rushed to defend him.

Still, he didn't believe Zhunti was helping him out of sincere goodwill.

The leader of the West Teach never did anything without expecting a reward. Zhunti had to be after something else.

Sure enough, seeing Minghe waver, Zhunti immediately changed tack.

"Of course, Fellow Daoist Minghe, we're not unreasonable people."

"It's true that my nephew purified your demon soldiers and caused losses to your Blood Sea. We should offer you some compensation."

As he spoke, a golden light flashed in his hand, and a gleaming branch appeared.

Seven treasures shimmered along its boughs, radiating brilliant light. It was Zhunti's Dao-Proving Treasure, the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree.

"How about this? I have a trace of Primordial Purple Qi..."

Before Zhunti could finish, Minghe, Jieyin, and even Xuanqing widened their eyes.

Primordial Purple Qi? The Foundation of Sagehood? Was Zhunti crazy?

Even Jieyin, who had been frowning miserably this whole time, couldn't help tugging at Zhunti's sleeve. "Junior Brother, watch what you say!"

Zhunti waved him off and continued, "...a trace of its aura. I'll put it into that useless subordinate of yours to help him regrow his arm and improve his cultivation. Will that compensation satisfy you, Fellow Daoist?"

"..."

Minghe's face had gone so dark it looked ready to drip water.

What kind of compensation was this? It was an insult!

Xuanqing watched, amazed.

Saint Zhunti's shamelessness was beyond anything he'd ever imagined.

"Zhunti!"

Ancestor Minghe roared, and the boundless Blood Sea surged into towering waves.

"You're asking for death!"

A terrifying killing intent swept over them, this time engulfing not only Xuanqing, but Zhunti and Jieyin as well.

Zhunti's expression didn't change. He gave the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree in his hand a light sweep.

A beam of Seven-Colored Divine Light shot out, instantly brushing away the overwhelming killing intent.

Beside him, Jieyin sighed. A golden lotus platform with twelve petals slowly appeared above his head, spilling streams of golden light that shielded all three of them.

It was the top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Twelve Grade Merit Golden Lotus.

Great powerhouses rarely fought for real.

At their level, every move stirred the laws of heaven and earth. Once a battle got out of hand, it would affect too wide an area and create too much karma.

Ancestor Minghe looked at the Twelve Grade Merit Golden Lotus above Zhunti's head, then at the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree in his hand, which could brush away all laws. The blood-red light in his eyes surged even more fiercely.

Two top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, one for offense and one for defense.

Even if he could gain the upper hand in a fight, he wouldn't come away unscathed. What's more, those two had the Dao Ancestor standing behind them.

No matter how he calculated it, he'd be losing out.

Minghe wasn't a reckless fool. He cultivated the Way of Slaughter, not the Way of Stupidity.

"Good. Very good."

Minghe's voice grew strangely calm.

His enormous head slowly tilted back, and a terrifying aura that seemed capable of tearing heaven and earth apart shot into the sky.

"Zhunti, Jieyin. Out of respect for the Dao Ancestor, I can let this matter between us go."

"Out of respect for Fellow Daoist Yuanshi, I can also spare this junior."

His tone shifted, and his icy gaze locked onto Zhunti.

"But I can't let my Blood Sea lose face just like that!"

"If you can take one strike from me, we'll let this matter end here. You can leave, and this karma will be wiped clean!"

At his words, the world fell silent.

This was a formal challenge from a top-tier Quasi-Saint.

Before Hongjun Dao Ancestor began lecturing on the Dao, Zhunti and Jieyin hadn't actually been among the top powerhouses of Honghuang. They'd even been slightly weaker than Ancestor Minghe.

Though they had since obtained Primordial Purple Qi and caught up in cultivation, no one knew how much they had truly improved.

Minghe's move was both an attempt to reclaim his dignity and an undisguised test.

He wanted to personally gauge just how powerful these two future Sages really were!

Zhunti's smile didn't fade, as though he'd expected this all along.

"Since you're in the mood, Fellow Daoist, I'll gladly oblige."

He agreed as casually as if it were nothing.

Jieyin still wore his usual sorrowful expression. He merely sighed, without voicing any objection.

Standing behind them, Xuanqing felt his heart beat faster despite himself.

A battle at the Quasi-Saint level! It was a rare sight, even once in tens of thousands of years in Honghuang.

Today, he'd not only gotten to see one, but he had a front-row seat.

"Good!"

Minghe bellowed.

"Rumble!"

The entire Nether Blood Sea erupted into chaos.

All the blood in the sea defied the laws of heaven and earth, surging upward into the sky.

Columns of blood-red water shot into the air, weaving together and converging to form a blood-colored canopy that covered the entire sky.

Filth, evil, slaughter—all manner of negative energies churned wildly within it.

Then Ancestor Minghe opened his enormous mouth.

He made no sound, yet strings of incomparably profound words emerged as blood-colored runes, flying from his mouth and imprinting themselves on the canopy above.

With every rune, the canopy darkened, and the pressure it gave off grew more terrifying.

A huge vortex slowly took shape at the canopy's center.

At its center, a point of Blood Light appeared.

At first, it was no bigger than a grain of rice. In an instant, however, it blossomed into an eerie blood-red lotus.

The lotus had twelve petals. Each seemed to contain a world of corpses and blood, where countless living beings wailed and sank into ruin.

Karma Fire Red Lotus!

No, this wasn't the Karma Fire Red Lotus itself.

It was the strongest strike Ancestor Minghe had condensed by harnessing the entire Blood Sea's essence with his boundless magical power, imitating the Karma Fire Red Lotus's Way of Slaughter!

This "blood lotus" had gone beyond the realm of ordinary divine abilities and touched upon the laws themselves.

Just as the blood lotus took shape, Zhunti moved.

He turned and gave Xuanqing a slight smile.

Then he raised a finger and gently pointed at Xuanqing.

Xuanqing felt a gentle force envelop him. The next moment, he was sent flying backward against his will, landing safely beside Daoist Jieyin.

"Nephew, stand farther back and watch carefully."

Zhunti's voice rang in his ear. "A sight like this will greatly benefit your cultivation in the future."