In the Liaoyin Immortal Realm,
through the toad, Ou Shinan easily absorbed all of the Chixi Dan's power.
Feeling the Chixi Dan pass smoothly into his body, and seeing the faint gold-red magic on his palm, a rare look of satisfaction appeared in Ou Shinan's eyes.
"So the Chixi Dan has to pass through an ordinary golden core once before it can be absorbed this smoothly."
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned his palm and gave a light push. With a loud crash, the door in front of him was blasted into blackened ash.
Looking at the broken pieces scattered across the floor, the corners of Ou Shinan's lips lifted, and the joy in his eyes was impossible to hide.
"Now it is time for that person to make an appearance. Someone, come."
Ou Shinan called toward the doorway. He quietly gave a few instructions to an immortal soldier, then sent him away.
In the Luoxian dungeon,
Qingyuan slipped inside under cover of night and knocked out the guard at the prison gate.
"Ruling."
"Master? Why are you here?"
"There is no time to explain. Come with me."
"Master, what is going on? What happened?"
Before the two of them could take more than a few steps, a group of immortal soldiers blocked their path.
"So hurried. Qingyuan War God, where are you planning to go?" Ou Shinan's lazy voice came from behind the group, as if he had already been waiting here for a long time.
At the sound of his voice, the immortal soldiers slowly stepped aside. Ou Shinan lightly fanned himself and walked up to the two of them.
Qingyuan raised his Cuiyun blade in front of him and protected Yue Ruling behind him with his other hand.
Yue Ruling looked at the scene in confusion. She had no idea what exactly was happening.
"Don't you even touch her !" Qingyuan said.
"What is going on?" Yue Ruling asked.
"I got word that the Immortal Venerable has already decided to refine your inner core into medicine. You have to leave with me at once," Qingyuan replied.
"Yue Ruling is only a mortal body. To be made into medicine for the Immortal Venerable is her blessing. She ought to be grateful," Ou Shinan said in a provoking tone, lowering his eyes with a soft laugh, the corners of his lips curling in a wicked smile.
"This is absurd. I am still the foremost war general of the Liaoyin Immortal Realm. How could the Immortal Venerable issue such a ridiculous order? I have to meet him!"
"Heh. What foremost war general? You are nothing more than a prisoner now. Do you really think you are still that imposing war general from before, strutting around in front of me? Seize them!"
Ou Shinan lightly waved a hand to the immortal soldiers beside him.He slowly walked to the dungeon entrance and leaned there lightly, as if waiting for something.
No matter how many immortal soldiers there were, they were still no match for Qingyuan and Yue Ruling. Most of the soldiers in the dungeon only put on a show before dropping to the ground.
Qingyuan and Yue Ruling silently worked with the soldiers, inch by inch making their way toward the dungeon entrance. rushed out.
Just as Yue Ruling and Qingyuan burst through the dungeon gate, Yue Ruling felt something stab into her body from behind with terrifying speed. But when she turned around, there was no one there. The pain flashed and then vanished. She did not think much of it and hurried away with Qingyuan.
Hidden in the shadows, Ou Shinan smiled beneath his black folding fan. His red lips curved into a darkly beautiful smile as he said softly,
"We will meet again later, War General Ruling."
In the small town, Li Luoning checked Mie Xingzhe's wound and saw that it was not serious.
The moment he finished speaking, he sensed a fierce killing intent rushing straight at Mie Xingzhe.
"Watch out!"
He pulled Mie Xingzhe behind him and struck forward with one palm, meeting the attacker head-on.The figure that had lunged from behind Mie Xingzhe was thrown several zhang away by Li Luoning's palm. Beneath the white cloak, the face could not be seen. The figure only turned one hand lightly and summoned a stream of magic, slowly rotating it.
"Tianqiong Jiqi Art!"
The Tianqiong Jiqi Art was terrifyingly powerful. In moments, it could drain all the spiritual power from a body. It could even devour the inner core of a high-level cultivator and steal that person's cultivation.
But had not the Tianqiong Jiqi Art long ago been listed as a forbidden art? Li Luoning had only come across it by chance in an old text in his Master's library. Who exactly was this person, to have cultivated such a cruel and forbidden technique?
"Nian Nian, stand back!"
"Master, he must be the one harming the people in this town. I will help you deal with him!" Mie Xingzhe rushed forward without fear, paying no attention to Li Luoning's order to step aside.
"Nian Nian!" Li Luoning tried to stop him, but Mie Xingzhe had already run past him.
Li Luoning immediately leaped into the air and landed in front of Mie Xingzhe, making the first move.
The person under the white cloak seemed especially fixated on Mie Xingzhe. It was as if the attacker could not feel pain at all, taking Li Luoning's blows while still pressing forward.
After several exchanges, even though the white-cloaked figure was mostly just receiving attacks, the fight still only ended in a draw. Just as Li Luoning and the figure met palm to palm, the force erupting from both of them at once finally blew back the hood covering that person's head.
"Immortal Venerable?"
Li Luoning immediately drew back his own power and stepped away, staring at Situ Fanzhi where he stood.
Situ Fanzhi's gaze was dull, as if he did not recognize Li Luoning or Mie Xingzhe at all. He stiffly turned his neck, then stared at master and disciple with the savage ferocity of a bloodthirsty beast.
"Immortal Venerable, have you come personally to seize my disciple and me and drag us back to the Liaoyin Immortal Realm for punishment?"
Situ Fanzhi did not answer. His pale violet eyes seemed to be thinking about something.
"If the Immortal Venerable wants Nian'er's Floating Light Seal, I fear I cannot grant your wish. Since my disciple and I have already escaped the Liaoyin Immortal Realm, then by the rules we are no longer part of the immortal sect. We are no longer under your authority. Why must you keep pressing us like this?" Li Luoning demanded in a stern voice.
Li Luoning knew every one of the thousands of rules in the Liaoyin Immortal Realm better than anyone. By long-standing law, if someone who has committed an offense can escape the barrier of the Liaoyin Immortal Realm by their own ability, no one from the immortal sect may continue pursuing them. The day of escape is regarded as the day they willingly sever ties with the sect.
Without a word of explanation, Situ Fanzhi raised his hand again. This time, the attack was aimed straight at Li Luoning. A strong gold-violet magic gathered in his hand. The violent wind stung Li Luoning's eyes, and in that moment of distraction, Situ Fanzhi's attack had already reached him.
"Master, be careful!"
Mie Xingzhe rushed out from behind and summoned a golden seal in front of Li Luoning.
With the Moonshadow Dan inside Li Luoning near him, the Floating Light Seal Mie Xingzhe summoned burst out with immense power and easily blocked Situ Fanzhi's attack. As they kept pressing harder, the protective seal before master and disciple slowly expanded.
Even Li Luoning was surprised by how much the barrier was growing. He knew that all he had to do was stay beside Mie Xingzhe and let the Floating Light Seal sense the Moonshadow Dan. It would then erupt with endless strength, and Situ Fanzhi would have no way of hurting either of them.
"Immortal Venerable, why must you do this? My disciple and I only wish to live in peace now, hidden in the mountains, never asking about worldly affairs again. The matters of the Liaoyin Immortal Realm have nothing more to do with us. Why can you not show mercy and let us go?"
Situ Fanzhi seemed utterly unable to hear him. The moment his palms opened, countless stones on the ground were drawn up around him. Under the force of his power, silver-white runes appeared across them, and fierce red-orange light shone through the cracks.
"Shangwei Heavenly Stone!"
Before this, what Yingde Dragon King had told him and what he had guessed had still not been enough for complete certainty. But now, seeing Situ Fanzhi conjure the Shangwei Heavenly Stone with his own eyes, Li Luoning finally believed it. This was truly the one responsible for exterminating the Li family.
"It was you!"
Li Luoning felt a chill of fury surge out from the Moonshadow Dan, rushing straight to his forehead. He is the murderer from back then. He is the reason the brothers slaughtered each other. He is the one who made Mother die. If it were not for him, none of this would have happened. If it were not for him, you would not have been forced to cut off the last blood relative you had in this world with your own hand. Kill him. Kill him now.
Li Luoning heard that voice circling through his mind again and again. A headache split through him. He shut his eyes and pressed at his temple, suddenly feeling dizzy and unsteady.
"Master, are you alright?"
Mie Xingzhe was distracted by Li Luoning's strange state. One corner of the Floating Light Seal opened with a crack, and one Shangwei Heavenly Stone immediately shot through it.
Seeing it fly straight for Li Luoning, Mie Xingzhe hurriedly freed one hand and tried to catch the burning stone. But it slipped past his fingers. Even that brief scrape was enough to sear his skin until it split open.
At that critical moment, Li Luoning suddenly lifted a hand and caught the Shangwei Heavenly Stone just before it struck. His eyes snapped open. The dark brown in them had turned into a strange bright blue. The expression on his face was utterly different from before.
He only tightened his hand slightly, and the burning Shangwei Heavenly Stone was crushed into ordinary fragments, wrapped in frost as it scattered across the ground.
"Master!"
Li Luoning wicked smile appeared on his face, and his eyes were full of bloodthirsty delight, thrilled by slaughter. He effortlessly dodged another heavenly stone flying at him. Then, turning back, he moved at a speed too fast to follow and shot straight toward Situ Fanzhi.
In the sky, Li Luoning kept flashing from one position to another around Situ Fanzhi. Every appearance came with a heavy strike of icy blue magic slamming into him. After only a few exchanges, Situ Fanzhi could no longer hold on and fell from the air.
Mie Xingzhe was watching the battle with his full attention and never noticed the faint purple figure standing on a distant roof.
"How exciting. This is a moment that ought to be recorded, so all the immortal friends can witness it together."
With those words, Ou Shinan summoned a magical device. At the same time, every Konghua token hanging at the waists of the immortals reacted. Through the tokens, Ou Shinan recorded everything below and sent the full image back to the Liaoyin Immortal Realm.
Situ Fanzhi hit the ground hard and spat out a mouthful of blood. Cracks spread through the inner core inside him, and the spell Ou Shinan had placed on him broke at the same time.
Situ Fanzhi only felt freezing cold inside. He did not even know where he was. He looked around blankly, then saw Li Luoning, drenched in killing intent, gathering a terrifying mass of power in his hands as he walked toward him step by step.
His voice was pressed low by the blood in his throat. Through uneven breaths, he managed to say a few unclear words.
"Immortal Master Kuangyi, what are you doing?"
"Back then, was it you who used the Shangwei Heavenly Stone to wipe out the Li family?" Li Luoning demanded. The cold power in his hand kept building, and his voice was full of a fury never heard from him before.
"I..."
Situ Fanzhi had not expected Li Luoning to know. His face changed instantly, and fear flashed in his eyes.
Sensing that fear, Li Luoning tilted his head slightly. With his other hand, he flicked one finger toward Situ Fanzhi. At once, a sharp cone of ice appeared and pinned Situ Fanzhi's right hand to the ground.
"Ah!"
Situ Fanzhi threw back his head and screamed. Pain turned his face red, veins standing out at his temples. Sweat poured down his neck and soaked his clothes.
"My Li family had no grudge against you. Why did you do such a thing?" Li Luoning asked again, completely indifferent to how much pain Situ Fanzhi was in.
Pinned to the ground by the ice spike, Situ Fanzhi breathed hard, his chest heaving violently. He glared at Li Luoning, who was now like another person entirely, but said nothing.
Li Luoning flicked his finger again. A second ice spike drove into Situ Fanzhi's right ankle, nailing him firmly in place. Another heartrending scream followed.
"For the sake of these so-called twin cores?" Li Luoning had already come close. He slowly crouched down and looked down at the once lofty Immortal Venerable beneath him. The Moonshadow Dan shone clearly over his heart.
"When the twin cores appear, when the golden seal gives its blessing, the three realms will be unified. As Immortal Venerable of the Liaoyin Immortal Realm, I could not allow the immortal sect to become anyone's possession. Even if I had not killed the Li family, sooner or later someone else would have gone to your house to steal the twin cores and try to unite the three realms." Situ Fanzhi's voice shook as he finally spoke of the reason behind what happened that year.
"Heh... heh... Gentlemen guard against danger before it arrives and do not stand near suspicion. Is that truly how an Immortal Venerable governs?" Li Luoning laughed twice, then suddenly summoned an ice dagger and drove it viciously into Situ Fanzhi's thigh. Hatred filled his eyes, yet he smiled as he slowly twisted the blade.
At the side, Mie Xingzhe stood frozen in shock at what his Master had just done.
Master would never use such vicious methods. And that expression, so completely different... he is not Master. Could he be... Li Minghan?
The thought kept spinning through Mie Xingzhe's mind. He could not tell anymore who the person before him truly was.
"Master..." Mie Xingzhe took two steps forward and called out carefully, his voice trembling and small.
Hearing him, Li Luoning slowly turned his head. In those deep, icy eyes there was only ruthless cold. He looked once at Mie Xingzhe behind him, without answering in the slightest, and then turned back to Situ Fanzhi.
"Ha... haha... hahahaha... Boy, your Master swallowed the Moonshadow Dan. If his mind becomes unstable for even a moment, he will fall into the demonic path. Since he will not let me live, then let him come down to hell with me!"
Situ Fanzhi let out a low, crazed laugh. He suddenly clamped onto Li Luoning's wrist as a burst of enormous power exploded from inside him.
"Master, Watch out!"