Riiip-
Space was torn apart as easily as cloth, revealing the dark, chaotic spatial rift beyond.
A terrifying aura of savage ferocity, brimming with murderous hunger, surged from the depths of the rift like a primordial tidal wave bursting through a dam!
It was... the divine soul of the Primordial Ferocious Beast suppressed beneath the Soul-Suppressing Stele!
Yun Huang had torn space apart with his bare hands, disregarded layer upon layer of seals, and forcibly extracted this strand of an extremely dangerous beast soul straight from its place of imprisonment in the Yun Clan's Ancestral Shrine!
"Since you repaired the Soul-Suppressing Stele," Yun Huang said calmly, as though he had merely taken some ordinary object from a storeroom, "consider this ownerless remnant soul a gift of thanks."
The beast soul was a murky, chaotic dark red, with faint glimpses of the savage outline it had possessed in life.
It struggled and roared madly within the bindings of the Radiant Sun Divine Flame, emanating a terrifying malevolence powerful enough to annihilate an ordinary Immortal Lord's true spirit.
Indeed, for an ancient aristocratic clan like the Yun Clan to have chosen to keep it sealed until now rather than destroy it outright, one could imagine how terrifying this beast's strength and standing had been in life!
Yet it could not shake those seemingly slender golden flames in the slightest.
"Only by using this beast's baleful origin as a catalyst to reforge the spear soul can it match your chaos dao embryo." As Yun Huang spoke, he gave Yun Qing no time to react or refuse. The strand of Radiant Sun Divine Flame at his fingertip suddenly blazed, like the core of a great sun capable of smelting heaven and earth, and he drove the beast soul straight into the Silent Abyss Spear!
Buzzz-!
Silent Abyss erupted into violent tremors. Its dark shaft instantly turned red-hot, as though it had been plunged into the core of a star. Countless fine, spiderweb-like cracks spread across it, only to swiftly close under the next pass of the Radiant Sun Divine Flame.
Beneath the divine flame's searing heat, the savage impurities within the beast's remnant soul were forcibly erased, leaving only its primal baleful energy and that strand of wild Dao resonance from the primordial age.
Dark-gold beast markings gradually emerged across the spear, winding and flowing like the veins of a living creature. A terrifying pressure of primordial savagery spread from within its shaft!
Yun Qing watched, shaken in both heart and soul! He could feel Silent Abyss undergoing a transformation that would remake it from the bones outward!
A Primordial Ferocious Beast's divine soul as the offering, an Immortal Emperor's Radiant Sun Divine Flame as the furnace-all to reforge a bonded artifact!
Such a feat could only be accomplished by someone with immense divine abilities and tremendous resolve!
The entire process lasted only the brief span of one incense stick.
When the final trace of baleful energy had been completely refined, the dazzling Radiant Sun Divine Flame died out as well.
An entirely new spear hovered in midair.
Its shaft remained dark, but a close look revealed countless fine, profound dark-gold patterns flickering across it, flowing with a subdued yet heart-chilling gleam.
Cold light pulsed at its tip. As it swept through the void, faint dark-red beast phantoms even circled it with low howls. The essence of annihilation and its savage baleful aura had fused perfectly, raising its power and spirituality by untold levels!
This spear was no longer an artifact of the cultivation world, but the nascent form of an innate divine weapon!
Yun Huang casually waved his hand.
Clang-!
The reborn Silent Abyss Spear gave a clear, ringing cry, sliced joyfully through the air, and landed eagerly back in Yun Qing's palm.
It felt slightly heavy in his hand. Yun Qing could clearly sense the terrifying power contained within its shaft, along with an aura of origin that was exceptionally compatible with his own chaos dao embryo.
"Thank you, Young Lord!" Yun Qing suppressed the shock and tangled emotions surging through him like overturned seas and rivers, cupped his hands in thanks, and spoke in a voice a little lower than usual.
This time, he did not offer another polite "Thank you for your reward, Young Lord," but spoke with a measure of genuine gratitude.
Whatever karmic ties had turned through their past lives, in this life, in this world, the two of them... were brothers.
An unfamiliar warmth flashed through his heart. My little brother Huang... did he choose this moment to give me the spear because he was worried about my safety on this journey?
But Yun Huang had already closed his eyes again, returning to his usual cold demeanor, as though that heaven-defying reforging of an artifact into a divine weapon had been nothing more than a trivial matter accomplished with a flick of his fingers.
He waved casually. "Go."
"I will not fail you!"
Yun Qing said no more, gathering all his emotions into the depths of his heart. Gripping Silent Abyss tightly, he turned and strode away.
Against the daylight outside the hall, Black Robe's dark-haired figure stood straight as an unbending ancient pine, steadfast as a towering divine mountain.
The instant he stepped through the hall doors, Yun Huang slowly opened his eyes from his lofty jade throne.
His golden eyes were as deep as an eternal starry sky. As he gazed in the direction where Yun Qing had vanished, a complex, unfathomable glimmer passed through their depths. His fingertips tapped unconsciously against the armrest as he sensed the divine power mark he had left deep within Yun Qing's sea of qi.
With my mark upon him, even if trouble arises, it should... be quelled with a turn of my hand. He whispered where no one could hear, deep within his heart, then closed his eyes once more.
Almost at the same moment Yun Qing accepted the task of clearing out the Myriad Beasts Ancient Domain, Yun Chi received the news in the Twelfth Elder's cave abode and finally could contain himself no longer.
He all but threw himself before the Twelfth Elder, his voice trembling violently with excitement. "He's finally leaving the clan! Grandfather, this is our last chance!"
"Shut up!" The Twelfth Elder slammed his palm onto the table. Cracks instantly covered its surface, fashioned from the finest spirit marrow. His voice was hoarse and low as he scolded, "What do you know? The more critical the moment, the more we must keep our composure!"
By persuading Yun Huang to hold the Cloud Summit Tournament early, Yun Qing had pulled the firewood out from beneath their cauldron, shattering all their previous schemes in an instant.
Now, the only path left before the Twelfth Elder and his allies was to take a desperate risk!
This was Yun Qing's open stratagem.
He used the weight of the greater tide to crush them, forcing them to leap!
As the saying went, the highest art of war was to defeat the enemy's plans. Yun Qing had always been upright and honorable, and indeed knew little of sinister, underhanded tricks, but who said an honorable man could not be cunning? He meant to force the Twelfth Elder and the others into a direct confrontation!
"Grandfather, your grandson swears upon his spirit-devouring body that I was not mistaken!" Yun Chi said excitedly, his eyes flashing with dark gleams of greed and urgency. "Yun Qing's wounds definitely haven't healed! This is when he's at his weakest! If we don't act now, once the Cloud Summit Tournament ends, we truly won't have another chance!"
"A false chaos dao embryo... is ultimately a lower vehicle, riddled with endless hidden dangers." This time, the Twelfth Elder did not immediately contradict him. He muttered to himself, a trace of madness flashing through his clouded old eyes. "If we must take a risk, why not... achieve everything in one stroke?"
He abruptly turned, his withered, claw-like hands clamping onto Yun Chi's shoulders, his nails almost sinking into the flesh!
"Yun Qing must die! But his chaos dao embryo must be extracted completely intact!"
"Only an intact chaos dao embryo can withstand the battering and cleansing of the Myriad Spirits Blood-Baleful Formation! Then you will use your spirit-devouring body to devour its origin and seize its fortune for yourself, ultimately transforming into something never before seen throughout eternity... a chaos-devouring body!"
"When that happens!" The Twelfth Elder's voice grew shrill with excitement. "Forget a mere seat among the Twelve Young Masters-even on the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud List, you will tower above everyone of your generation!"
The sheer madness and audacity of this plan made Yun Chi suck in a cold breath. The blood throughout his body seemed to freeze in an instant, then boil in the next!
Boundless ambition burned away the last of his reason. His voice was dry and trembling, carrying a trace of fear, but far more of the all-consuming greed that had been ignited within him:
"Grandfather, can this Myriad Spirits Blood-Baleful Formation really succeed? What if Yun Qing breaks free...?"
"Rest assured!" The Twelfth Elder smiled as though victory were already in his grasp. "Demon Beasts run rampant in the Myriad Beasts Ancient Domain. It is the perfect place to lay the formation! Since he has chosen this deathtrap himself, he cannot blame this old man for seeing him to his grave! With the souls, qi, and blood of countless Demon Beasts as offerings, we will draw upon the primordial baleful energy lingering deep within the ancient domain... even if Yun Qing possesses heaven-reaching might, once he falls into this formation while gravely wounded, he will have no chance of surviving!"
"My grandson! His chaos dao embryo is destined to become the stepping stone that carries you to the very pinnacle!"
Within the cave abode, the poisonous flames of conspiracy blazed. Fueled by greed and madness, a net of certain death aimed at Yun Qing was quietly cast toward the Myriad Beasts Ancient Domain, for which he would soon depart.
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