Green Yang City, the Ye Lineage.
Jiang Chen killed the Blood Refining Hall's law enforcement elder with a single move, stunning the entire Ye Lineage.
A moment later, thunderous cheers erupted throughout the Ye Lineage.
"He's so powerful!"
"Senior Jiang is incredible! That law enforcement hall elder was no match for him at all!"
"For Ye Hao to become Senior Jiang's disciple-Heaven truly watches over our Ye Lineage!"
A broad smile covered Ye Cangqiong's face. He bowed respectfully to Jiang Chen and was just about to say something when his expression suddenly changed. He gazed into the sky, too shocked to speak.
A sea of blood that blotted out the sky and sun swept in from the west, covering all of Green Yang City beneath it. Thick blood churned like boiling water, and a dead soul wailed miserably within every breaking wave.
All of Green Yang City was shrouded in a sunless, blood-colored world. Cold winds howled, bloody waves surged to the heavens, and a fetid stench bored straight into the soul.
The towering sea of blood churned violently, and a gaunt figure in blood-colored Daoist robes appeared above its boundless expanse. His hair and beard were grizzled, his left eyebrow was broken, and he held a blood-red horsetail whisk. A faint layer of the mighty power of demonic order wreathed his body, and scarlet light flickered in his eyes.
The moment he appeared, everyone in Green Yang City felt as though they were suffocating, unable to breathe.
The master of the Blood Refining Hall, Daoist Blood Nether, had come in person!
Despair welled up throughout the Ye Lineage. Daoist Blood Nether was simply too powerful. Could Senior Jiang withstand him?
"You dared kill my Blood Refining Hall's law enforcement elder? Your audacity truly knows no bounds!"
Daoist Blood Nether's hoarse voice spread throughout Green Yang City. His blood-red gaze locked firmly onto Jiang Chen, while his overwhelming demonic might bore down on everyone in the Ye Lineage like mountains and seas.
"Who the hell are you?"
Jiang Chen's expression remained unchanged. He raised his head slightly and replied with disdain.
Daoist Blood Nether's expression stiffened briefly before he sneered. "You certainly are arrogant! Today, the entire Ye Lineage will accompany my Blood Refining Hall's law enforcement elder to the grave!"
"Hum!"
Just then, a massive rift tore through the towering sea of blood. An intensely blazing light flashed through the great fissure and rapidly spread across the void.
In the blink of an eye, a sea of crimson flames filled half the sky, sheltering the Ye Lineage behind it and standing against the towering sea of blood as its equal.
A tall, slender figure stood imposing within the sea of fire. He wore a high crown and white robes patterned with flames, his features refined and scholarly. Eighty-one fire dragons circled around him. Looking toward Daoist Blood Nether, he said indifferently, "The Ye Lineage is under the Crimson Flame Ancient Sect's protection. Daoist Blood Nether, you've overstepped!"
The Crimson Flame Sect Master had arrived!
Daoist Blood Nether raised his withered eyebrows slightly and sneered. "Ouyang Yuntian, didn't your Crimson Flame Ancient Sect abandon the Ye Lineage long ago? Why have you jumped out now? Aren't you afraid of offending the Hundred Refinements Devil Palace?"
"I was in seclusion. My subordinates made a farce of things because they didn't know the rules, and I have already punished them severely! The Crimson Flame Ancient Sect will spare no effort to protect every force under its command! I will protect the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body!" the Crimson Flame Sect Master declared with indifference and overbearing authority.
For a moment, excitement swept through the entire Ye Lineage.
"The Crimson Flame Ancient Sect hasn't abandoned our Ye Lineage!"
"With the Crimson Flame Sect Master here, our Ye Lineage will be fine!"
"The Crimson Flame Sect Master came in person! I've never heard of any lineage receiving such an honor!"
"He probably saw Ye Hao's potential. Otherwise, who could persuade the Crimson Flame Sect Master to come in person?"
Just then, a lazy voice carrying a hint of displeasure rang out clearly. "Move aside! Don't get in the way!"
As those words fell, all the firelight between heaven and earth instantly vanished. Even the Crimson Flame Sect Master, Ouyang Yuntian, dropped uncontrollably to the ground, his face filled with shock.
Everyone looked toward the voice and saw a young man with refined features sitting behind a stone table beneath a tree's shade. Holding a white jade teacup, he leisurely savored the tea's fragrance.
The young man's black hair was light and flowing, his gaze clear. He was like a clear spring flowing through the mountains, like a wisp of breeze between heaven and earth-fresh and natural, transcendent and untouched by worldly dust.
The Crimson Flame Sect Master, Ouyang Yuntian, was filled with shock. Although he had already seen Jiang Chen act through the Luminous Fire Cloud Mirror, he had never expected this young man to be so powerful!
He had just acted with all his strength, yet this man had casually suppressed him. It was simply terrifying!
This master of the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body was probably even stronger than he had imagined!
With this man here, the Ye Lineage would have been perfectly safe even if he had not come!
Someone had pressed Ouyang Yuntian down from the sky, but he dared not feel the slightest displeasure. He hurriedly bowed respectfully to Jiang Chen. "I am Ouyang Yuntian of the Crimson Flame Ancient Sect. I have been presumptuous, Senior. Please forgive me!"
Before such a terrifying existence, he dared not play any games. He did not even dare ask Jiang Chen's name, for fear of offending him.
"After watching from the shadows for so long, you finally decided to act?" A faint, ambiguous smile curved Jiang Chen's lips.
Ouyang Yuntian's mind shook violently. Had this man even sensed him observing this place with the Luminous Fire Cloud Mirror?
Just how high was this man's cultivation?
"I am ashamed! I am willing to accept punishment!" Ouyang Yuntian adopted an exceedingly humble posture.
Jiang Chen took a light sip of tea and waved his hand, saying casually, "Forget it. Stand aside."
Ouyang Yuntian breathed a sigh of relief, bowed respectfully to Jiang Chen, and stepped aside of his own accord.
Inwardly, he rejoiced. Whatever this man's origins, with the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body as his disciple, Ye Hao was certain to soar into the heavens!
Fortunately, he had come to make amends. Otherwise, standing by and leaving him to die this time would certainly have enraged the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body!
Once he grew stronger, the Crimson Flame Ancient Sect would never be able to withstand the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body's wrath!
Seeing the Crimson Flame Sect Master so easily suppressed, Daoist Blood Nether knitted his brows. A faint sense of foreboding arose in his heart, and he asked gravely, "Just who are you?"
This man had suppressed the Crimson Flame Sect Master without a sound. He could probably suppress him with a wave of his hand as well!
Had he known the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body was the disciple of such an existence, how could he have dared proclaim that he would refine him into a blood pill?
Not to mention that he had now delivered himself right to the door!
"You aren't worthy of knowing my master's origins!" Ye Hao replied with a sneer.
"Whoosh!"
Daoist Blood Nether transformed into a bloody shadow and fled into the distance, leaving his words echoing from afar. "I did not know the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body was your disciple, Senior. I have caused much offense. Please forgive me! I shall take my leave!"
"Come back!"
Jiang Chen's tone was light and unruffled as he raised a hand and beckoned toward the distant Daoist Blood Nether.
"Whoosh!"
A sky-obscuring hand with a jade-like luster materialized out of thin air. Every line on its palm held the profound truths of heaven and earth, as though it could seal an entire region of the world. It reached for Daoist Blood Nether.
Daoist Blood Nether's expression changed drastically. A thick, viscous ocean of blood instantly appeared around him, countless dead souls wailing within it. Fierce winds whipped up towering waves, attempting to block the sky-obscuring hand.
"Rumble!"
Amid peals of thunderous rumbling, the surging sea of blood shattered between heaven and earth the instant it touched the sky-obscuring hand.
Daoist Blood Nether's expression changed violently. A blood-red spear shot from between his brows, thick fresh blood faintly dripping from it. Giving off overwhelming bloody Sha Qi, it pierced the void to meet the sky-obscuring hand.
This was an imperial secret treasure he had refined throughout his life. Every strand of Sha Qi it contained was as heavy as a mountain. There was no telling how many tens of thousands of living beings he had killed to accumulate such dense Sha Qi, and it could instantly kill an Emperor Realm expert.
Yet beneath the sky-obscuring hand, this blood-red spear was no more than a child's toy.
"Bang!"
The bloody spear broke apart inch by inch, turning into chunks of blood that fell from the sky and smashed unfathomably deep, pitch-black pits into Green Yang City's walls.
The sky-obscuring hand did not slow in the slightest. It seized Daoist Blood Nether as he coughed up blood and casually tossed him back onto the Ye Lineage's training grounds.
"Did I give you leave to go?" Jiang Chen said calmly.
Blood stained the corners of Daoist Blood Nether's mouth, and his face was deathly pale. Fierce in appearance but weak within, he said, "My Blood Refining Hall is itself a branch of the Hundred Refinements Devil Palace. I am a hall master of the Hundred Refinements Devil Palace! If you dare humiliate me, you are humiliating the Hundred Refinements Devil Palace! Can you bear the consequences?"
Ouyang Yuntian's heart tightened. The Blood Refining Hall was actually a branch of the Hundred Refinements Devil Palace?
If they truly offended the Blood Refining Hall, that would be tantamount to offending the Hundred Refinements Devil Palace!
Had this mysterious master of the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body not intervened, even the Crimson Flame Ancient Sect might have been implicated this time!
"Who the hell does the Hundred Refinements Devil Palace think it is?" Jiang Chen said disdainfully.
Ouyang Yuntian's eyebrows rose slightly. This senior did not even take the Hundred Refinements Devil Palace seriously. His background was formidable indeed!
Daoist Blood Nether's face filled with shock and uncertainty. Jiang Chen's expression made it even harder for him to fathom his depths.
A vicious look flashed across Daoist Blood Nether's face. An ancient, pitch-black token appeared between his brows, and he cried out loudly, "I am willing to sacrifice every living being in this city! I beg the Demon God Patriarch to save my life!"