Yuan Xuangu slowly lowered his head, holding the yellowed scroll in his hands. The entire ancestral land of the Ancient God Clan was eerily quiet, with only the morning breeze gently blowing and lifting his long, snow-white hair. He took a deep breath and then slowly unrolled the scroll. As the scroll was opened little by little, lines of ancient text came into view.
At first, his expression remained calm, but as his gaze continued downwards, a violent fluctuation finally appeared in his eyes, which had witnessed countless years. Especially when he saw the five ancient characters "Return to the Ruins Tribulation Descent Pill), his pupils suddenly contracted, and he fell silent.
Beside him, Yuan Zhanxiao was already furious. He had no interest in reading the contents of the scroll; instead, he glared at Qin Yu and shouted angrily, "What exactly do you mean? What do these poison pills mentioned in this scroll have to do with my Ancient God Clan? Are you trying to slander my Ancient God Clan by producing a scroll of unknown origin?"
Qin Yu stood there quietly, his expression still calm. "It's alright." "Would I come looking for you?" His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached their ears. "The Return to the Ruins Tribulation Descent Pill recorded in this secret scroll..." "is precisely what your clan's Great Elder Yuan Cangming, privately traded with the Hua Lineage's higher-ups."
"Bullshit!" Yuan Zhanxiao roared in fury, taking a step forward and staring intently at Qin Yu. "What evidence do you have?" "Do you really think this one scroll is enough to prove it was done by my Ancient God Clan?" He grew increasingly enraged, his voice reverberating throughout the ancestral land. "The Return to the Ruins Tribulation Descent Pill! That's a forbidden poison pill capable of severely damaging the Source Dao Ultimate Beast Huang Fate Soul of the Lineage' guardian origins! How dare my Ancient God Clan research such a heaven-defying forbidden item on their own? Let alone join forces with the Hua Lineage!"
However, while Yuan Zhanxiao continued his angry rant, Yuan Xuangu remained silent. He slowly closed his eyes, and a wisp of his divine sense slowly entered the scroll. This time, he did not look at the text in the scroll but instead probed... probed the remaining sealing aura of the entire scroll.
Time passed slowly, and suddenly Yuan Xuangu's calm expression changed abruptly, his eyes snapping open. For the first time, an undisguised shock appeared deep within his eyes, because just now, he had sensed an extremely subtle sealing pattern remaining deep within the scroll, and this seal...
He knew it all too well. In the entire Ancient God Clan, only one person could set this up: Yuan Cangming! And it was Yuan Cangming's most proficient sealing technique—no one else could imitate it. "Supreme Elder!" Yuan Zhanxiao had already lost his patience. He stepped to Yuan Xuangu's side. That brat not only slaughtered my Ancient God Clan, but now he's using a tattered scroll to frame me! I absolutely cannot swallow this! Today I must—" "Shut up!"
Yuan Xuangu suddenly let out a low shout. Although the voice was not loud, it made Yuan Zhanxiao freeze on the spot. It was the first time he had seen the Supreme Elder's expression so solemn. Yuan Xuangu slowly closed the scroll again, raised his head, and looked at Qin Yu. There was no longer any contempt in his old eyes.
"Young friend," he spoke slowly, "This scroll..." "is indeed an artifact of my Ancient God Clan, to be precise, it was sealed by Yuan Cangming himself." He sighed softly at this point. "I am certain of this." Yuan Zhanxiao was completely stunned. "Supreme Elder..."
Yuan Xuangu waved his hand slightly and continued, "However, I have never heard of the Return to the Ruins Tribulation Descent Pill mentioned in the scroll, let alone know that Yuan Cangming would secretly trade with the Hua Lineage behind the back of the entire Ancient God Clan. If this is true, then Yuan Cangming was most likely coerced by the Hua Lineage. Otherwise, with his audacity, he would never have done such a crazy thing on his own."
After listening, Qin Yu simply shook his head, his voice still icy, "Have you been threatened?" "I don't know." "I only know that anyone who dares to research this forbidden pill deserves to die."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Xuangu slowly closed his eyes. After a long while, he opened them again, his eyes filled with exhaustion. He glanced back at the Ancient God Clan's ancestral land, which had become ruins, and then at the clan's land, where all Fate Soul force had long since been severed.
Finally, he sighed deeply. "Fellow Daoist, your entire Ancient God Clan has been wiped out by you. Now, only Zhanxiao and I remain..." "Shall we leave it at that?"
Beside him Yuan Zhanxiao's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his eyes filled with raging fury. But seeing Yuan Xuangu remain so calm, he finally managed to suppress his killing intent, staring intently at Qin Yu without uttering a single word.
After a few moments of silence, Qin Yu finally spoke, "I presume you both know that when it comes to doing things, you either turn a blind eye and stand by, or... 'cut the weeds and eliminate the roots.'"
He slowly raised two fingers. "However, I can give you two paths. First, you two become my soul puppets. I will not mistreat you. I will give you enough Supreme Transformation Source Crystal and cultivation resources to help you rebuild the Ancient God Clan." Qin Yu paused slightly and said calmly.
"No, from this day forward, the Ancient God Clan ceases to exist. From now on, it will be called the Annihilation God Clan. You two will remain as Clan Chief and Supreme Elder, respectively. And I will make the Annihilation God Clan even more powerful than the Ancient God Clan of the past." Then, Qin Yu slowly lowered his second finger, his eyes turning completely cold. "The second path," he said, "Death."
The entire ancestral land fell silent once more. As the morning sun shone on the ruins, only Qin Yu's last, chilling word echoed for a long time.
Yuan Zhanxiao clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forehead, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Qin Yu, his chest heaving violently, his overwhelming rage completely shattering his last shred of reason. The next moment, he took a sudden step forward, his voice almost roaring.
"Impossible!!!" "Even if I die in battle today!" "This clan leader will never submit to you, you arrogant scoundrel!" Boom-- Accompanied by a furious roar, the Fate Soul of his body suddenly erupted, and the aura of the Eternal Silence Realm Peak swept across the entire ancestral land without reservation. Large areas of ruins collapsed again, and countless fragments of stone rose into the air.
Yuan Zhanxiao transformed into a streak of purple-black light, charging straight towards Qin Yu. "Zhanxiao!" Yuan Xuangu's expression changed drastically, and he reached out to stop him. However, it was too late. Yuan Zhanxiao's speed was as fast as lightning, and in the blink of an eye, he had already rushed to within ten feet of Qin Yu.
At that very moment, a piercing sword cry suddenly resounded throughout the heavens and earth. Yuan Zhanxiao swung his right hand sharply, and a long, jet-black sword was suddenly drawn from the void.
The sword is nine feet long, its blade covered with layers of ancient Gods and Devils patterns. Dark purple divine flames burn on both sides of the blade, and each demonic pattern exudes an extremely sharp and murderous aura. On the hilt, a purplish-black beast head slowly opens its eyes and lets out a low roar.
The moment the divine weapon was unsheathed, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi surged from all directions and converged on the blade, as if the entire sky was about to be torn apart by this strike. Yuan Zhanxiao gripped the hilt tightly with both hands, his eyes wide open as he glared angrily ahead. His figure soared high into the air, pouring all of his Fate Soul essence into the blade.
"Die!!!" Boom—a purple-black blade of light, tens of thousands of feet long, suddenly swept across the heavens and earth.
Wherever the blade's light passed, space continuously cracked, and the earth was cleaved open into a bottomless chasm. The entire ancestral land trembled violently under this strike. However, facing this all-out attack, Qin Yu remained standing in place, his expression as calm as still water. Just as the blade was about to fall on his head...
He took a light half-step to the side, just half a step, and his whole body was like a phantom, lightly brushing past the edge of the blade. Boom!!! The ten-thousand-foot blade light slammed down on the spot where Qin Yu had originally stood, and the entire ground exploded, instantly creating a deep abyss-like chasm that stretched for tens of thousands of feet.
Smoke and dust billowed into the sky, but Qin Yu had already appeared behind Yuan Zhanxiao. Yuan Zhanxiao's expression suddenly changed. "What?" Before he could turn around, Qin Yu slowly raised his right hand. He did not summon any divine weapon, nor did he unleash any earth-shattering phenomena. He simply pushed forward a palm in an ordinary manner. This palm seemed slow.
It was so fast that Yuan Zhanxiao had no time to react! Bang! His palm landed firmly on Yuan Zhanxiao's back. In an instant, an immense and powerful force of Fate Soul surged into his body like a raging sea bursting its banks. Yuan Zhanxiao felt his Fate Soul essence violently shake, as if his chest had been struck by millions of mountains.
Pfft! A mouthful of blood spurted out, and he flew out like a kite with a broken string, crashing through dozens of dilapidated palaces before finally slamming heavily into the depths of the ruins. Boom! Dust billowed into the sky. In the ruins, Yuan Zhanxiao struggled to his feet, spitting out another mouthful of blood. His Fate Soul essence violently trembled, his meridians were disordered, and his face instantly turned ashen.
Only now did deep shock finally surface in his eyes. His all-out strike hadn't even touched the hem of Qin Yu's clothes, while Qin Yu had severely injured him with a casual palm strike.
"Zhanxiao!!!" Yuan Xuangu's expression changed drastically, and he instantly disappeared from his original spot, appearing beside Yuan Zhanxiao in the next moment.
He helped Yuan Zhanxiao up, quickly placing his palm on his back. Strands of powerful Fate Soul essence flowed into Yuan Zhanxiao's body, stabilizing his disordered Fate Soul. He sensed the almost out-of-control Fate Soul fluctuations within Yuan Zhanxiao's body.
Yuan Xuangu, his expression a mixture of anxiety and anger, couldn't help but shout, "Zhanxiao!!!" "How could you be so impulsive!!!" "I just told you," he continued, "This boy is no ordinary Eternal Silence Realm Initial Stage!" "Why wouldn't you listen!"