Ma Jinyan's Identity

Afterward, Qian Xunzong had Shen Ye pay the man for Ma Jinyan and the slaves who had died, then returned to Cloud-Treading Villa.

Standing before the villa gates, Qian Xunzong calmly swept his gaze over the disheveled, filth-covered Ma Jinyan. He said nothing of their past entanglements and merely turned to the Embroidered Uniform Guard bowing at his side, issuing a deep-voiced command:

"Take him away. Have him wash up properly, change into clean clothes, and bring him to see me in the front hall as soon as he is presentable."

"Yes, my lord!" The Embroidered Uniform Guard accepted the order. With a gesture of his hand, two tall, steady-aura Embroidered Uniform Guards immediately stepped forward.

Their movements remained proper, without the slightest hint of contempt or neglect, as they carefully guided Ma Jinyan away.

At that moment, Ma Jinyan's hair was tangled into matted clumps, covered in dust and grass clippings. His tattered clothing was stained with blood and riddled with tears, while layers of grime concealed his original complexion. A faint odor of blood and windblown dust lingered around him, leaving him utterly wretched and unrecognizable.

All along the way, he kept his head lowered, his back hunched and his eyes dim, like a guttering candle that had long lost all its edge. He allowed the Embroidered Uniform Guard to lead him without the strength to resist or utter a single word.

The rest of the group stood quietly where they were, their gazes following Jin Sheng's departing back. Each harbored private thoughts, yet no one spoke.

Everyone knew that this man had endured a harsh life and a miserable fate. The suffering of a peak expert falling into the dust was not something an ordinary person could bear.

About half an hour later, the freshly washed Ma Jinyan was brought to the front hall once more.

The moment he stepped into the hall, everyone present turned toward him at once. A faint stir rose through the air, and undisguised shock filled their eyes.

His previous filthy, bedraggled appearance had vanished completely, replaced by an exceptionally straight and handsome figure. His simple black martial attire fit him perfectly, making him stand as upright as a pine, with broad shoulders, a straight back, and a proper bearing. There was no longer the slightest trace of his former hunch or listlessness.

His cleaned face was fully revealed before them. His features were sharply defined, his lines stern, and his brow bones hard. His eyes were deep and black, seemingly calm and still, yet hidden in their depths were the weathered traces of life and an unyielding resolve refined by hardship.

The rugged aura forged through years of slaughter and tempering was deeply etched between his brows. Even though his cultivation was now utterly ruined and he had fallen into an ordinary man, the bearing and presence of one who had once stood among the strong could not be completely erased.

No one had expected that beneath the identity of such a ragged, lowly slave lay such a handsome, resolute face and such an extraordinary, upright figure.

All his former meekness and cowardice had disappeared, leaving behind only the composure and tenacity accumulated over many years. The immense contrast shook everyone present, leaving them secretly astonished.

In the seat of honor, Qian Xunzong sat upright in a sandalwood chair, his expression calm and his eyes sharp as blazing torches. He quietly examined the transformed Jin Sheng, taking in every shift in his bearing.

Only after a moment did he slowly speak, his voice mild yet carrying unquestionable authority:

"Raise your head and tell me about your past."

The simple question made the heartstrings Ma Jinyan had kept taut for years tremble faintly.

He slowly raised his head and met Qian Xunzong's gaze. Endless complicated emotions churned in his eyes: sorrow, unwillingness, regret, and a lingering obsession buried deep within his heart.

After several breaths of silence, his low, hoarse voice slowly rang out, recounting his turbulent, sigh-inducing life.

"I was born into the Blazing Flame Sect, one of the Earth Three Sects, and I am the only son of Ma Mingshan, the former sect master of the Blazing Flame Sect."

As soon as those words fell, everyone in the front hall froze slightly. The Earth Three Sects possessed deep foundations and far-reaching renown. To be the young master of such a great sect was enough to prove Ma Jinyan's noble status and limitless future in his youth. No one had imagined that he would end up in such a state.

Ma Jinyan took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in his heart before continuing slowly, his tone filled with helplessness and bitterness:

"The Blazing Flame Sect's inherited martial soul is the Nine Heavens Phoenix, a top-tier fire-attributed beast martial soul. Its flames are pure, tyrannical, gentle, and controllable—the foundation upon which our sect stands on the continent.

"But when my martial soul awakened at the age of six, although I possessed Innate Full Soul Power, what awakened was not the orthodox martial soul of my clan, but an extremely rare mutated martial soul—the Blood Soul Sky Phoenix."

At the mention of his martial soul, pain and wariness flashed through Ma Jinyan's eyes.

"The blood flames of this mutated martial soul were incomparably violent, overflowing with savage malice, utterly unlike the pure flames of the Nine Heavens Phoenix.

"It was immensely destructive and completely beyond my control. Once I activated it, its bloodthirsty, murderous nature would fully emerge.

"From childhood until now, I tried countless times to suppress my martial soul's violent nature, but with little success. Whenever it became restless, I would completely lose control of my power and accidentally severely injure fellow disciples of the sect several times."

"Within the sect, the elders feared my mutated martial soul, while my fellow disciples dreaded my violent flames. Over time, I became an outcast everyone avoided. Only my father cared for me wholeheartedly.

"Later, I gradually discovered that only by immersing myself in endless slaughter and allowing my bloodthirsty will to vent could I temporarily suppress my martial soul's restlessness and calm the violent malice that eroded my mind."

Every word was filled with sorrow. Being born with an unusual martial soul should have been a heaven-defying opportunity, yet it had instead become the calamity that haunted him all his life and dragged his existence into the abyss.

"After my cultivation broke through to the Soul Emperor realm, my martial soul's rampages became increasingly severe. Unwilling to harm my fellow disciples or burden the sect because of my loss of control, I left the Blazing Flame Sect alone and traveled the Douluo Continent by myself."

During the more than ten years after leaving the sect, Ma Jinyan traversed dangerous lands across the continent, fighting soul beasts day and night and clashing with powerful experts. He struggled to grow amid endless battles and tempering. He had hoped to refine his temperament through the slaughter of the outside world and suppress his martial soul's malice, but the more he killed, the stronger the Blood Soul Sky Phoenix's violent nature became. His killing intent wrapped around his mind like vines, impossible to break free from.

Relying on tenacity and talent far beyond ordinary people, his cultivation soared all the way upward. Before long, he broke through his bottleneck and reached the Soul Douluo realm.

At that time, he had already become one of the continent's foremost experts. Yet the hidden danger of his martial soul going out of control remained deeply rooted, and his mind was tormented year-round by violent malice, leaving him in unbearable pain.

"To completely temper my killing intent and suppress the danger of my martial soul losing control, I entered Slaughter City alone."

Ma Jinyan's tone was heavy, his eyes filled with darkness.

"I remained in that human hell for ten whole years."

Ten years of purgatory, without ever seeing daylight. Every day was a life-and-death battle, with flesh and blood flying everywhere. The malice and killing intent of Slaughter City piled upon one another, constantly scouring his soul and quietly shaping his killing intent. Yet at the same time, they caused the violent nature of his Blood Soul Sky Phoenix to spiral further out of control, taking root completely within his soul.

"Originally, I planned to return to the sect only after I had fully stabilized my temperament. But while I was lying low and training, I happened to hear of the sect's misfortune from a fallen soul master who had newly entered Slaughter City."

At this point, Ma Jinyan's voice trembled slightly, and urgency and worry surfaced in his eyes.

"They said my father encountered a beast tide and was gravely wounded. His cultivation plummeted, the sect was left leaderless, and its overall strength declined sharply. It had already fallen into a precarious state."

After being away from home for so many years, the sect and his biological father had been the only things he still held dear.

Upon hearing the terrible news, Ma Jinyan's obsession shattered through all restraint in an instant, and his desire to return to the sect became all the more urgent. He no longer insisted on slowly tempering his temperament and resolutely began Slaughter City's final trial.

"I spent a month fighting through bloodshed, completing one hundred death-defying killings. I passed through Hell Road without mishap and successfully escaped Slaughter City."

Though he had gained control of Divine Slaughter's Domain after passing through Hell Road, the killing intent accumulated during ten years of purgatory had already seeped into his bones, and more than half of his soul had long been tainted by savage malice.

Ignoring his exhaustion in body and mind, he traveled day and night toward the Blazing Flame Sect. Yet the journey home was long, and calamity came one after another.

"While passing through the Endless Sea Desert, I was blocked by a top-tier soul beast with cultivation infinitely close to one hundred thousand years. That soul beast possessed overwhelming strength and terrifying combat power."

To clear his way home and gain greater strength to protect the sect and shelter his father, Ma Jinyan did not retreat in the slightest. He immediately began an earth-shaking battle to the death with that top-tier soul beast.

Yellow sand filled the skies as heaven and earth changed color. The battle between man and beast swept across a thousand miles of desert, the roar of colliding Soul Power unceasing, while blood soaked the entire desert.

That battle darkened the heavens and blotted out the Sun and Moon. Relying on the profound cultivation of a Soul Douluo, the violent power of his mutated martial soul, and the suppressive force of Divine Slaughter's Domain, Jin Sheng fought bitterly for several days. In the end, he narrowly prevailed and slew that top-tier soul beast.

But it was a brutal victory. He himself was gravely injured, with more than half his meridians severed, his Soul Power overdrawn and exhausted, and countless bones throughout his body shattered. He was already at the end of his strength, utterly unable to endure the long journey home or return to the Blazing Flame Sect to see his heavily injured father.

"Just then, my cultivation bottleneck loosened, and I officially stepped into the rank of a level ninety Titled Douluo."

Jin Sheng's eyes were filled with regret and bitterness. "With nowhere else to turn, I took a desperate gamble and decided to absorb that soul beast's Soul Ring on the spot. First, to heal my injuries, and second, to use the power of my breakthrough to return to the sect as quickly as possible."

This should have been his only chance of survival in that desperate situation, yet he never expected it to become the beginning of the tragedy that would define his life.