Ancient Saint, Old Blind Man!

After that battle ended, the Heavenly Court's successor had left his name behind.

Dugu Baitian. The name stirred up a tremendous storm in an extremely short time. For some reason, the successors of several ancient Dao lineages found it familiar.

"The Heavenly Emperor's third son, the Chaos Saint Emperor who was invincible for nine lifetimes!" Only when peerless prodigies such as Xuanyuzi of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion and Zhuge Wudao, the Zhuge Clan's emperor's son, spoke out in different regions was the Tenth Pass completely set ablaze.

"That greatest prodigy of all ages!"

"Dugu Baitian, who walked the Six-Break Path several times!"

"The Chaos Saint Emperor, who slew the Golden Peng Emperor despite being only in the Saint King Realm!"

"If it was him, then it's no wonder. Too many Holy Bodies, Divine Bodies, and physiques hailed as unparalleled have fallen to him."

"Since ancient times, who knows how many prodigies had their Dao hearts shattered after encountering him, remaining stuck in the Divine Fire Realm for life. Quite a few of them were emperor's sons."

As Dugu Baitian's name spread to every corner, people recounted his deeds one after another. Once a figure like him emerged, he was destined to be invincible. His brilliance was enough to illuminate three thousand great worlds and a hundred thousand star rivers, leaving no room for anyone else.

"The Heaven-Swallowing Python Emperor once fought someone to the death, and in the end, they each withdrew." In a marketplace where cultivators gathered, a blind old stallholder made this astonishing claim.

The Heaven-Swallowing Python Emperor was a Great Emperor of the Demon Race from the middle of the Chaotic Ancient Era. A Nine-Headed Heaven-Swallowing Python who had attained the Dao, he was the most low-key of Great Emperors, leaving only a few scattered words in ancient history.

Everything about him was shrouded in mystery.

Quite a few cultivators rushed to that marketplace, hoping to determine whether the claim was true and learn more astonishing secrets.

Who would have thought that the blind old man would demand the sky, naming the blood of various vicious beasts and spirit beasts as well as several heavenly treasures before he would speak?

His conduct aroused the dissatisfaction of far too many beings. An old fellow whose life was nearly at its end dared to make such demands? Hot-tempered prodigies struck forcefully, intending to capture him and force him to reveal the past events he knew.

There were dozens of them, joining forces to make the blind old man pay a bloody price for his arrogance. Among them was even a Wind-Riding Rat, a variant spirit beast.

This race could naturally command spirit winds, whipping up billowing yellow smoke in an instant to obscure the eyes and spiritual senses, briefly turning people blind. It was truly nasty.

Most of the onlookers gloated over his misfortune; no one sympathized with him. Cultivation was cruel to begin with.

But to everyone's surprise, the Old Blind Man unleashed his might, his blood Qi surging into the heavens. One punch killed one attacker, and in the blink of an eye, nearly all those who had come after him were dead. Only the Wind-Riding Rat escaped underground using its innate divine ability, though it still left a right ear behind, dripping with blood.

After that battle, everyone learned that the Old Blind Man was no ordinary man. He was a mighty expert who had entered the World Road from the Self-Severing Realm, at the peak of the Divine Fire Realm at the very least, and most likely a mighty Venerable.

An existence like him had traveled far along his path. His control over his body and techniques far surpassed that of ordinary prodigies, and his comprehension of the Dao was extraordinary. If his Qi and blood had not declined, he would have been a match for an emperor's son.

But even with his blood Qi failing and his body decaying, he was by no means someone an ordinary holy son could contend with.

No one dared imagine that the Old Blind Man was a Saint. Such beings stood far above the rest, seizing the fortune of heaven and earth. They had cultivated nearly immortal bodies and could be reborn from a single surviving drop of blood, their vitality extraordinarily powerful.

A holy son-level prodigy came to negotiate with him, explaining that the things he required were difficult to gather and asking to substitute items of equal value.

But the Old Blind Man refused, saying outright that they were mediums for a certain method he cultivated and could not be replaced.

In the end, a prodigy from an imperial clan came in person and identified himself as a follower of an emperor's son. He was willing to exchange a promise for the account of those past events.

An emperor's son's promise was worth far more than ten thousand pieces of gold, yet unexpectedly, the Old Blind Man showed no regard for his status and refused him sternly.

The things he needed were exceedingly rare and extraordinary. Even a holy son would struggle to gather them all, while an emperor's son would have to spend considerable time on them, with far too much uncertainty involved.

There were many extraordinary things on his stall, but their prices were astonishing. Gradually, people forgot about them, and few showed any interest.

That was until a youth in an ink-black robe arrived.

A five-clawed Blood Dragon was embroidered on the front of his ink-black robe, and a blue-gold qilin on the back. The wind whistled around him as he walked, accompanied by the faint sounds of a dragon's roar and a qilin's cry. His martial bearing was unmatched, and he cut a heroic figure.

The moment the youth entered the marketplace, he drew the eyes of every being around him.

"That robe isn't a spirit artifact. It was formed from spiritual power," a middle-aged stallholder who cultivated a powerful eye technique said, causing quite a stir.

The Blood Dragon and qilin formed from spiritual power were lifelike and possessed an extraordinary Dao rhythm. Creating them required deep reserves of spiritual power and, even more so, consummate control.

The middle-aged man was named Tie Shan. He had once been a Rogue Cultivator in the Divine Fire Realm and was now at the fifth level of the Nirvana Realm. He was fairly well known in this marketplace.

"He's far stronger than the few who came in earlier. His Qi and blood are vast as an abyss," another stallholder said. He too had once been a mighty Divine Fire Realm expert.

"What would a monster like that come here to get?" Tie Shan turned his burning gaze away and stopped peering at the youth.

Too much prying was a provocation and could trigger a major battle.

Perhaps sensing Tie Shan's thoughts, Fu Yuan stopped, turned around, and walked toward his stall.

His advancing footsteps struck Tie Shan's heart with an overwhelming pressure, growing heavier as Fu Yuan drew closer. By the time Fu Yuan came within three feet of the stall, Tie Shan's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

He had once been a Divine Fire Realm cultivator and knew all too well what this was: the pressure of spiritual force, Fu Yuan's response to his earlier scrutiny. A Nirvana Realm cultivator's spiritual force was actually this terrifying, nearly comparable to his own before he entered the World Road.

An emperor's son, an emperor's son who specialized in the spirit. Tie Shan's thoughts churned like rivers and seas. He had forgotten that this was the Emperor Road, the Emperor Road where crouching tigers and hidden dragons abounded, not the weak star region he came from.

"Do you know the Old Blind Man?" Fu Yuan's tone was calm, but to Tie Shan, his words were like peals of thunder exploding in his soul.

Tie Shan nodded woodenly, then abruptly came to his senses, the hairs on his body standing on end. He had just lost consciousness. Although it had only been for a brief instant, that would have been enough to decide life and death in a fight.

"Sorry to trouble you to lead the way." The youth's eyes curved slightly, and his manner was courteous.

"What an extraordinary fellow. He subdued Tie Shan in an instant."

The surrounding stallholders were astonished as they watched Tie Shan leave his stall unattended and respectfully lead the way.

"I meant to fish for a few treasures, but unexpectedly drew out a True Dragon." The Old Blind Man murmured. He had known from the moment Fu Yuan appeared in the marketplace; his abyssal blood Qi and surging vitality were too conspicuous.

"The rumors outside were indeed mistaken." The youth's voice arrived before he did. "Senior, you are no Divine Fire expert or Venerable. You are clearly an Ancient Saint."

Those words alone were like thunderbolts falling from the nine heavens, drawing cries of alarm.

The word "Saint" carried far too much weight, especially in the present age.

"Whose little monster are you? An emperor's son among emperor's sons!" the Old Blind Man called back, stirring another round of astonished exclamations.

"I'm afraid you wouldn't want to know, Senior." Fu Yuan strode with the gait of a dragon and a tiger, passing Tie Shan and coming before the Old Blind Man to speak thus to an Ancient Saint.

The wrinkles on the Old Blind Man's face resembled crawling centipedes and were exceedingly frightening. His brow furrowed slightly as he pondered Fu Yuan's words.