The High Heaven Clan Emerges, Approaching Lin Yan

Yuan Zifeng had already stepped behind Yuan Zhexian. Puzzled, he asked, "Divine Son, what is the Life-Devouring Saint Pill?"

Yuan Zhexian explained, "The Life-Devouring Saint Pill is a forbidden pill that can forcibly raise the cultivation of anyone below the Saint Realm, at the cost of their lifespan. The closer their cultivation is to the Saint Realm, the more lifespan they must sacrifice. This forbidden pill exists only in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, where it has been banned. It couldn't possibly appear in the lower realm. Could it be..."

Yuan Zhexian fell silent. Something about this wasn't right. By all rights, if anyone else from the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands had descended to the lower realm, he would surely have known. In the end, he couldn't help falling into thought.

Meanwhile, after taking the Life-Devouring Saint Pill, Huo Ping's cultivation had soared, and even the presence he gave off had grown more terrifying. Yuan Ruochu and Ji Jingtian grew solemn as they looked at Huo Ping, who had reached the ninth stage of the Samsara Realm.

Red light then poured from Huo Ping's body, and the spiritual power around him transformed into a blood-red mist that spun ceaselessly around him. It then took the shape of a colossal blood-red dragon. The dragon coiled around Huo Ping again and again, its body giving off a terrifying presence. Then an earthshaking dragon roar rang through heaven and earth. It fixed its gaze on Ji Jingtian and Yuan Ruochu.

At the sight of the enormous, terrifying dragon, the people of the Yan Kingdom's royal city fled in droves. A full-powered strike from a ninth-stage Samsara Realm expert could surely destroy the city.

Ji Jingtian and Yuan Ruochu looked at the people scattering below as screams, cries of alarm, and wails of despair rang out without end. They said to Huo Ping, "Bastard, are you trying to destroy this city? Or are you going to slaughter all the innocent people here?"

Huo Ping's hair was disheveled, and his entire body gave off a dreadful killing aura. His eyes were bloodshot and his face twisted as he roared madly, "My wife and son are dead! I have nothing left! Do you think I still care whether the people in this city live or die? You, you, and all of you-every last one of you will be buried with my wife and son!"

"Blood Dragon Destroys the World!"

With that, he waved his hand, directing the massive blood dragon toward Yuan Ruochu and Ji Jingtian.

Watching the dragon fly toward them, the two exchanged a glance before splitting up to evade its attack. When he saw them separate, Huo Ping sent the blood-red dragon after Yuan Ruochu, who had killed his wife. Yuan Ruochu quickly dodged the dragon. Seeing this, Ji Jingtian used "Void Transformation" again, and a massive spatial rift appeared before the blood-red dragon. Yet the dragon smashed straight through Ji Jingtian's spatial rift and continued toward Yuan Ruochu.

Yuan Ruochu was thoroughly frustrated. Why did Huo Ping keep sending the blood-red dragon after him and refuse to let up? At the same time, he cursed inwardly, Ji Jingtian, you idiot, is there something fucking wrong with your brain? To catch the bandits, first catch their king! Why the fuck are you attacking the dragon? Attack the person controlling it!

At that moment, Ji Jingtian seemed to take the hint and understand. He aimed his right hand at Huo Ping and declared, "Void Exile!"

A vast purple space appeared behind Huo Ping. Within it, a purple-black hole spun without end, then suddenly unleashed a terrifying suction force, trying to pull Huo Ping inside.

Huo Ping used the spiritual power of a ninth-stage Samsara Realm cultivator at the very limit of his realm to hold himself firmly in place. But the purple-black hole's suction was too terrifying. Even though Huo Ping's cultivation far surpassed Ji Jingtian's, he was still drawn slowly, bit by bit, toward it.

Huo Ping's presence surged again, and he shouted at the blood-red dragon, "Split!" In an instant, the dragon split off another blood-red dragon identical to itself. The new dragon immediately charged toward Ji Jingtian.

Seeing the blood-red dragon flying toward him, Ji Jingtian had no choice but to abandon Void Exile. Like Yuan Ruochu, he began dodging.

As he watched the two continually dodge, Huo Ping's spiritual power was nearly at its limit. Then an idea struck him, and he directed the blood-red dragons toward the buildings and crowds in the royal city.

Seeing that more than half the royal city below had already been damaged and countless people had been killed or injured, Yuan Ruochu and Ji Jingtian both grew angry. They decided they had to deal with the blood-red dragons, or the city would truly be destroyed by Huo Ping's Blood Dragon Destroys the World.

The two immediately unleashed secret techniques. Yuan Ruochu's presence surged, and he channeled the spiritual power in his body as he shouted at the blood-red dragon, "Six Paths of Samsara Fist!" Six enormous black holes radiating purple light appeared behind him. From two of them emerged two gigantic arms, their hands clenched into fists. The two clenched fists gave off an even more terrifying presence than before, making the entire void tremble. Then they punched toward the blood-red dragon.

Ji Jingtian, meanwhile, brought out the emperor weapon, the Void Refining Pot. As soon as it appeared, the might it radiated made the entire space shake violently. A terrifying presence spread across heaven and earth. The Void Refining Pot then fired a terrifying ray of void-refining light at the blood-red dragon.

Seeing such terrifying techniques and an equally terrifying emperor weapon, Huo Ping's hate-filled face took on a greedy look. He asked, "What level are those techniques? What level is that weapon? Who exactly are you?"

Looking at Huo Ping as though he were a country bumpkin, Ji Jingtian replied, "Who are we? You're not qualified to know. Disappear!"

The two terrifying, gigantic clenched fists and the terrifying void-refining light struck the two blood-red dragons head-on at the same time. After struggling for a while, the blood-red dragons proved no match for the two men's techniques and dispersed into red sparks of spiritual power across heaven and earth. After smashing the dragons apart, the gigantic fists and the void-refining light continued toward Huo Ping.

Watching the two terrifying forces approach, Huo Ping hesitated for a moment. Then he gritted his teeth and formed a spiritual seal with both hands. Red mist poured from his body, and as it expanded, Huo Ping vanished from where he stood. The gigantic fists and the void-refining light struck empty air.

Seeing this, Yuan Ruochu and Ji Jingtian released their techniques and went forward to investigate. By the time the red mist cleared, Huo Ping had disappeared, and even his presence had vanished.

The two returned to Yuan Zhexian's side and bowed. "Divine Son, we were incompetent and let him escape."

Yuan Zhexian said, "It's nothing. He's just a jumping clown. He must have paid some price to use that secret technique just now. But that secret art feels strange to me. It doesn't seem like something the lower realm should possess, and the same goes for the Life-Devouring Saint Pill. It seems there must be someone else behind him."

"We'll leave that matter for now. Cousin Ruochu, Jingtian, you should both have a grasp of your strength by now. Ordinary opponents around the sixth stage of the Samsara Realm are no match for you, and a ninth-stage Samsara Realm expert is no match for you when you join forces."

Yuan Ruochu and Ji Jingtian replied, "That's right, Divine Son. We gained some insights from this battle. After we return, we've decided to go into seclusion and raise our cultivation, so we can reach the Samsara Realm as soon as possible."

Yuan Zhexian nodded at them in satisfaction. Then he said to Yuan Zifeng and Yuan Yan'er, "After we return, I'll find a way to improve your talents and aptitudes. When the time comes, just like those two, you'll both remain in secluded cultivation until you reach the Samsara Realm."

Yuan Zifeng and Yuan Yan'er were delighted to hear that their talents and aptitudes could be improved. "We will never disappoint you after the care you've shown us, Divine Son," they said.

Yuan Zhexian then looked at the battered Gathering of Fate restaurant and said, "I wonder if this restaurant still has any rooms in good condition. Going through this every day is exhausting. Let's find a room to rest in first." He then took the four of them to find the waiter and asked him to find them another room that hadn't been damaged.

In a hidden chamber deep within the Blood Slaughter Holy Land, Huo Ping, who had looked like a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, had abruptly aged into a man in his sixties or seventies, his hair completely white. He sat on a bed, coughing up blood without cease. Just then, an authoritative voice rang out.

"I didn't expect that even after you took the Life-Devouring Saint Pill, someone could still wound you this badly and force you to use the Blood Mist Escape Curse I taught you. Don't you know that it costs a third of your own lifespan to use? On top of taking the Life-Devouring Saint Pill, you now have only two or three hundred years left. Did you run into a Quasi-Saint expert?"

Killing intent flashed in Huo Ping's eyes. "If it had been a Quasi-Saint expert, do you think I could have made it back? My wife and son are both dead now, and the people who killed them were only teenagers, with cultivations at the sixth and eighth stages of the Dao Body Realm."

"What? Sixth and eighth stages of the Dao Body Realm, yet they could kill your wife, who was at the fourth stage of the Samsara Realm? And wound you this badly after you'd taken the Life-Devouring Saint Pill?" the voice said in shock.

"Tell me exactly what happened," it added.

Huo Ping recounted the entire course of events without leaving out a word.

The voice then said solemnly, "Six Paths of Samsara Fist? The Void Refining Pot? I didn't expect the Ji Family's Divine Son and the Yuan Clan's first sequence to have descended to the lower realm as well. That means the Yuan Clan's Divine Son is also in the lower realm right now. I didn't expect our High Heaven Clan to run into the Yuan Clan again in this era. It seems I must report this to the elders."

Huo Ping said, "What Yuan Clan? What Ji Family? I've never heard of either of these lineages in the Heavenly Billows Realm."

The voice spoke sternly again. "Don't ask about things you shouldn't know. Focus on recovering. Remember what you promised us: after we help you take the Blood Slaughter Holy Land and capture that young man, you will serve as a spiritual vessel and allow the soul of an elder of our clan to enter your body, then go to that space."

Huo Ping's gaze sharpened. "One more condition. I don't care about the Yuan Clan or the Ji Family. I just want the people who killed my wife and son dead. Otherwise, even if I die, I won't do as you wish."

The voice replied with a hint of killing intent, "Don't imagine you can challenge the authority of our clan. You know the consequences. You'll be unable to live or die."

It continued, "We will also inform the elders of your demand. Focus on recovering." With that, the voice vanished. Huo Ping said, his face filled with killing intent, "Just wait. I'll cut you into a thousand pieces as an offering to my wife and son."

At that moment, several voices echoed through an unknown, mysterious space.

"According to reports from our people below, the Yuan Clan's Divine Son may currently be in the Heavenly Billows Realm."

"The Yuan Clan? The Yuan Clan's Divine Son?"

"Is it that mysterious Yuan Clan? According to our High Heaven Clan's ancient records, our clan once fought the Yuan Clan for ownership of the Great Origin Heaven. In the end, however, our clan lost. I didn't expect that clan's Divine Son in this generation to have come here."

"Should we go kill him? If we can kill the Yuan Clan's Divine Son, I'm sure our clan's ancestor will reward us."

"For now, don't make a move. The Yuan Clan is unfathomably mysterious. Our clan's ancestor once tried to divine their origins, but suffered a backlash and was gravely injured. Even now, we don't know how he is."

"Fourth, watch your words. How can we presume to discuss the ancestor's affairs? At this point, we can only wait until Eldest uses a secret technique to possess that man before making a decision." The space then fell silent.

In the Demonic Beast Forest, Lin Yan was killing demonic beasts and collecting their inner cores as medicinal catalysts, hoping to grow spiritual herbs. He had been there for more than ten days and had slain countless demonic beasts of all sizes. Recently, however, he had set his sights on a demonic beast at the ninth stage of the Grotto-Heaven Realm. If he could kill it and obtain its inner core, he could surely increase his strength again. Just then, his expression changed, and he called out, "Who's there?"

A woman emerged from the woods, her figure graceful and curvaceous. She was extraordinarily beautiful and exceptionally aloof. It was Zhao Zixuan. She said, "Lin Yan, it's me, Zhao Zixuan."

Seeing that it was Zhao Zixuan, Lin Yan wore a mixture of emotions: regret, hatred, and a trace of confusion. "Haven't you brought me enough misery?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Lin Yan, I know you still blame me for what happened to the Lin Lineage," Zhao Zixuan said, "but that wasn't what I wanted either. I didn't know things would turn out like this." Seeing that Lin Yan's face remained expressionless, she continued, "You and I were betrothed, but we'd only met a few times and had no feelings for each other. Then a single marriage agreement was supposed to make me marry you. If you were in my place, would you have been willing?"

Lin Yan's face remained expressionless. "What's done is done, and the marriage agreement has already been burned. There's no point talking about it now. We're even, so leave."

Zhao Zixuan continued, "Now that the Lin Lineage has been wiped out, I know you're the only one left. Our two families were always close, after all. A marriage agreement led to the destruction of your Lin Lineage, and I feel terribly guilty. I can't bear to leave you alone, so I want to stay by your side, atone for what happened, and get to know you again."

"Didn't you like Huo Xing, even though he's dead now?" Lin Yan asked tentatively.

"I never imagined Huo Xing was that kind of person. If I'd known, I would rather have married you than had anything to do with someone so disgusting," Zhao Zixuan replied.

She continued, "Besides, all the various forces are looking for you now. I have my sect's communication stone, so if they learn anything about you, they'll certainly send word. Don't worry, I won't tell the sect anything about your whereabouts. Instead, I'll tell you what the sect is doing in advance, so you can make plans."

"Why would you do that?" Lin Yan asked, puzzled.

"It's simple. This all started because of me, so I just want you to stay alive. I don't want the last member of the Lin Lineage to fall too," Zhao Zixuan said earnestly.

"Would you really be that kind? You don't have some other motive, do you?" Lin Yan said, still unconvinced.

"Believe it or not, time will prove everything," Zhao Zixuan said, still earnest.

Lin Yan remained wary. "Suit yourself. My life isn't worth much anyway. I eat in the wind and sleep under the open sky every day, unlike a young lady like you. If you want to follow me, go ahead."

Over the next few days, Zhao Zixuan followed Lin Yan through the Demonic Beast Forest as he hunted demonic beasts. During those days, Lin Yan saw no one come after him, and he began to believe Zhao Zixuan a little. Gradually, he let down his guard.