Merchants and travelers came and went through Highsun City.
It had been three months since Li Xinnian arrived in Deston Prefecture.
The senior members of the clan all had their own matters to attend to.
In the face of such major events, they seemed accustomed to cooperating with a tacit understanding to deal with unknown dangers and enemies.
Conversely, Li Xinnian himself was looked after because he was a junior in their eyes. For the past three months, he had merely been taking his time to learn and get used to other situations.
And he did indeed need that.
Back in the Azure Cloud Prefecture, Li Xinnian was accustomed to issuing orders.
No matter how monstrous the enemy, he only needed to dispatch the clan's Dark Crows to claim a person's life.
All he had to do was weigh whether or not the action would bring about any adverse consequences for the family.
Right now, even Senior Dream Demon, whom he had brought along, had gone off to act alongside the clan elders.
Being left entirely alone truly left him at a loss for what to do.
As for Great-Uncle Changsheng and Great-Aunt Changyao...
Great-Uncle Changsheng had stated that he was making the most foolproof preparations for an escape.
"Have I been a bit too arrogant?"
Li Xinnian raised his head, watching the cultivators coming and going. A hint of a smile appeared on his handsome face.
"A few months ago, the furthest place I had ever traveled to was the Westfall Prefecture.
Only upon arriving in Deston Prefecture did I realize that this place gathers the top experts from all over the world, and every single one of them is an old monster.
And then there's the Yun family..."
At the mention of the Yun family, Li Xinnian's expression darkened.
"The Yun family has Ba Siyu's protection, and everyone at Silver Wolf Lake is a vassal.
However, the moment something happens to the Yun family, those vassals who followed them from the Shadowfell Prefecture won't pay them any mind.
Calculating it like this, the Yun family only amounts to three Divinity Transformation realm cultivators and an old ancestor who might pass away during meditation as soon as tomorrow.
Ba Siyu wants a vicious hound. A dead vicious hound is only good to be eaten as meat."
"I just need an opportunity. Time will give me the answer, but for now..."
Li Xinnian walked into the secret room within the Chamber of Commerce.
The secret room was spacious and empty, containing an array formation that shielded against perception.
Standing in the center of the room, one could see portrait after portrait plastered across the walls in every direction!
[Xu Qing'an of the Silver Wolf Lake Xu family, over 3,600 years old, Mid Divinity Transformation realm, skilled in sword arts.]
[Ai Feichi of the Silver Wolf Lake Ten Absolutes Pavilion, over 2,300 years old, Early Divinity Transformation realm...]
[Yu Gui of the Divine Bird Totem Rainfeather Tribe, over 12,000 years old, Peak Divinity Transformation realm...]
[Guest Elder Han Lingmiao of the Silver Wolf Lake Yun family, Peak Nascent Soul realm, 321 years old.
Possesses an unknown Dharma Treasure, making his path to immortality smooth and unhindered...]
Sheet after sheet of intelligence reports and portraits were laid out in the secret chamber.
Li Xinnian's gaze was calm, yet he resembled a hunting leopard staring at its prey one by one.
"I possess the Blood Demon Physique. I only want their blood to strip away their Dharma power and cultivation foundations.
The Origin Spirit Physique is an ancient bloodline, an ancient and righteous bloodline, making it my perfect disguise."
Amidst Li Xinnian's murmurs, which sounded as though he were overcoming his own inner struggles...
On the floor of the secret chamber, the array formation flickered with light.
Three figures, whose limbs were viciously nailed down, gradually materialized.
Their faces were filled with terror, as if they were looking at a malevolent ghost, yet they were utterly unable to utter a single word!
"Only by doing this can I catch up to Big Brother, catch up to Min Tiange, and catch up to this glorious great era!"
Li Xinnian's long robes whipped loudly as a demonic wind surged within the secret chamber.
He abruptly thrust his right hand outward, his sleeves billowing straight.
From his downward-facing palm, three threads of blood shot out and, under the terrified and despairing gazes of those three individuals, pierced straight through their chests.
The blood threads gradually grew thicker as the blood churned and flowed through them.
The aura radiating from Li Xinnian grew even more intense.
"Soon, it will be soon... Yun Manlou, Old Ancestor of the Yun family, it will very soon be your turn."
The blood-red Dharma array on the ground shone brilliantly.
It was precisely the Eternal Spirit-Refining Eight Directions Formation that Li Xinnian had originally obtained from Duanmu Yushu!
"Wait for me. I will devour you all, one by one."
Meanwhile, inside the Ancestral Space.
Li Wei watched Li Xinnian in the secret chamber, who had his head thrown back in a trance-like obsession, relishing the sensation of blood and Dharma power flooding his body.
Ever since the South Sea had become filled with those cultivators despised by the world, Li Xinnian had begun practicing various bizarre and unorthodox cultivation techniques.
Moreover, after the family obtained a massive amount of the Zhao clan's flesh and blood, Li Xinnian's progression became entirely out of control.
Aside from Nangong Qingya and Li Wei, even his own family members were kept in the dark by Li Xinnian.
[Your descendant Li Xinnian, through the Blood Illusion Demonic Art and the "Blood Demon Physique," consumed a massive amount of the Zhao clan members' blood, acquiring the trait:
Dao Physique of Longevity, granting a lifespan 50% longer than ordinary cultivators.]
[After two hundred years of consuming ten drops of the Zhao clan's Old Ancestor's Body Integration realm blood, as well as the blood of the Zhao clan's six Void Refinement realm old ancestors, a massive amount of Dharma power is stored within his body, and his cultivation has reached the Peak Divinity Transformation realm.]
[...]
[Your descendant Li Xinnian is currently devouring the blood of three cultivators from Silver Wolf Lake.
Among them, Han Lingmiao possesses the "Body of Ten Reincarnations via Possession" of a Divinity Transformation realm cultivator.
From within Han Lingmiao's body, Li Xinnian discovered an even more profound network of cultivation foundations, acquiring the trait: Path of Perfect Divinity Transformation realm.
As he cultivates, he will gradually reach a flawless Divinity Transformation realm, with combat power surpassing ordinary Divinity Transformation realm cultivators by a hundred times.]
"Someone who seized a body to re-cultivate?"
Among the three cultivators captured from Silver Wolf Lake, this one struggled the most violently.
But before Li Xinnian, his resistance was meaningless. The instant the Hidden Edge Sword, bestowed by Li Yaozu, was unsheathed, a silent arc of sword intent pierced straight into his spiritual sea, crushing the ancient remnant soul into nothingness.
The blood threads continued to churn, siphoning the blood of the three cultivators.
A look of joy crossed Li Xinnian's face as he used his Dharma power to pry into the anomalies within Han Lingmiao's body.
"This... just how many times has this person seized a body to re-cultivate? How are the Dharma power and Spirit Soul within his body so bizarre?"
Not daring to be negligent, he couldn't wait to imitate this method of cultivation, using it to temper his own Spirit Soul and internal meridians.
Resting the "Zhao-Slaying Saber" bestowed by the Old Ancestor across his lap, Li Xinnian murmured,
"This name is no longer fitting. Let's just call you the Yun-Slaying Saber for now. You, too, shall accompany me to feast upon the blood of the Yun family."
The blade of the Yun-Slaying Saber quivered.
This long saber, which Li Wei had once used to slaughter enemies, had originally gleamed with a brilliant silver light, but it was now gradually being coated in a thin film of blood.
[For many years, the supreme-grade Dharma Treasure, the Zhao-Slaying Saber, has followed Li Xinnian in absorbing the flesh and blood of the Zhao clan, gradually acquiring the "Bloodthirsty" trait.
Having been renamed "Yun-Slaying" by your descendant Li Xinnian, its Artifact Spirit has become like an addict, slowly altering its properties and the way it utilizes the "Void Refinement Saber Arts."
Without Li Xinnian's will to restrain it, any ordinary cultivator who wielded the Yun-Slaying Saber would inevitably be eroded by its Artifact Spirit, their mind corroded by bloodlust until they strayed into the demonic path.]
[Yet your descendant bears the Blood Demon Physique. With the added protection of the family's mind-guarding Dharma Treasure, he forcefully suppresses and purges the creeping demonic nature within, preventing it from taking root.]