Chapter 296: Perhaps There Will No Longer Be Any Spirit Clan
"Master, you've refined all of these Blood Essence Stones?"
Huang Xi stood not far away, looking at Li Xun in astonishment. Her beautiful eyes shimmered with crystalline light.
Over the past year, she had not been idle either. Li Xun had given her several million Blood Essence Stones, yet even now she had only refined about half of them—barely reaching the level where she could regenerate a severed arm.
Of course, this was also related to her cultivation.
The stronger one's strength, the more Blood Essence Stones were required.
But Li Xun was different. He was only at the Divine Palace Realm, yet he had refined several million Blood Essence Stones—and all of them were top-grade Blood Essence Stones.
It was an absolutely shocking number.
Not to mention Blood Essence Stones—even ordinary spirit stones could not be refined in the millions within a single year. For an average cultivator, the energy contained within these Blood Essence Stones alone would be enough to cause their body to explode on the spot.
"Come on, hit me once."
Seeing Huang Xi, Li Xun's eyes lit up as he spoke with eager interest.
After refining the Blood Essence Stones, what Li Xun most wanted to test was whether he could, like an Otherworldly Demon, achieve rebirth from a single drop of blood.
If it were against an enemy, he lacked confidence.
After all, an ordinary Divine Palace Realm cultivator could not even break his physical body, while facing a Saint would be far too dangerous. A Saint could easily strike again before he finished reconstructing his body.
If that happened repeatedly, he might very well fall on the spot.
After thinking it through, no one was more suitable than Huang Xi.
"Master… is that really okay?"
Huang Xi pressed her lips together and took two steps forward, her delicate face showing hesitation.
"It's fine," Li Xun reassured her. "Just do it."
"Alright then."
Huang Xi raised her hand. A finger, smooth and jade-like, erupted with billions of rays of divine light. Vast phenomena blotted out the sky, causing the heavens themselves to tremble—then everything detonated.
The might of a Saint King surged forth like collapsing mountains and roaring seas, sweeping across tens of thousands of li.
Heaven and earth inverted.
Large swathes of mountain peaks cracked under this pressure, then exploded with thunderous roars, turning into clouds of fine dust.
"Huang Xi, you—!"
Li Xun's eyes went wide in shock. He tried to say something, but before he could finish, a terrifying force swallowed him whole.
Boom!
Along with Li Xun, the mountain beneath his feet was completely erased.
On the land below, a chasm thousands of zhang deep appeared out of nowhere, stretching for thousands of li like a colossal trench carved across the earth. Inside it, countless Dao laws intertwined and lingered.
Seen from afar, any cultivator would feel their scalp go numb.
It was simply too terrifying.
When a Saint King made a move, even the residual waves were something ordinary people could not withstand. Anyone who recklessly approached would likely be shaken into a mist of blood.
No one knew how long passed.
Perhaps a quarter of an hour—perhaps as long as a year.
A gentle breeze swept across the land.
Above the massive trench, streaks of blood mist gathered from all directions, coalescing into a humanoid form. As the blood mist churned, Li Xun's figure reappeared.
This time, however, his face was deathly pale, as though he had suffered a grievous injury.
Although Otherworldly Demons could be reborn from a drop of blood, such rebirth was not without cost. Each resurrection consumed one's own blood essence.
Once it was completely exhausted, even an Emperor would still die when death came, let alone the current Li Xun.
"Master!"
Huang Xi's pretty face turned pale, her pupils filled with lingering fear. She flew to Li Xun's side and looked him over carefully, her expression full of guilt as she apologized:
"This is all my fault. I used one-tenth of my strength just now—I didn't expect it to turn out like this."
Li Xun fell silent.
Am I really that weak?
He was already at the late stage of the Divine Palace Realm. Among cultivators of the same realm, he was absolutely unrivaled. Yet compared to Huang Xi, he was still far from enough.
What Li Xun found hard to accept was that he had been unable to withstand even one-tenth of her strength just now…
Of course, this might also be because he had not defended himself at all.
Still, Li Xun knew very well that even if he had gone all out to resist, his body would likely have been blown apart anyway. The only difference would be that he might have died a little more "gracefully."
Not like before—instantly reduced to a cloud of blood mist.
"It's fine," Li Xun waved his hand.
He glanced at the Robe of Salvation with a pained expression. Having forcibly endured a Saint King's strike, even a supreme-grade Dao Weapon now bore several cracks.
To restore it to its original condition would require at least several decades of careful nurturing.
Still, one thing made him genuinely happy: he truly could achieve rebirth from a drop of blood now. Judging from the blood essence consumed earlier, resurrecting dozens of times would not be a problem.
With this, his ability to preserve his life had increased dramatically.
'With the strength of my physical body now, perhaps when I face the Saint Tribulation in the future, I can consider resisting the tribulation directly with my flesh.'
Li Xun pondered silently.
Back when he passed through the Life and Death Tribulation, he had done exactly that. After being tempered by the Heavenly Tribulation, his physical body had advanced by an entire level.
Without the aid of the Blood Essence Stones, he would never have dared to try such a thing during the Saint tribulation.
But now, enduring the Saint tribulation head-on with his body no longer seemed impossible.
"Hm?"
At that moment, Li Xun's expression shifted.
A jade transmission slip appeared in his hand. His spiritual sense swept inside, and after reading its contents, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"After nearly two years… he's finally arrived, huh?"
"Master, did something happen?" Huang Xi asked.
"Something is indeed about to happen," Li Xun replied.
"But not to us—to the Spirit Clan."
He turned his head.
His gaze landed on an ancient star floating in the void.
After leaving the Abyssal Demons Burial, he had already decided to settle old scores with the Spirit Clan. That was why he had chosen a secluded cultivation site not too far from the Spirit Clan's ancient star.
What he hadn't expected was that just as he emerged from seclusion, news of Xiao Fan arrived as well.
Judging by the timing, after leaving the territory of the Great Zhou Empire, Xiao Fan and Jiang Taixuan should be just about to reach the Spirit Clan's ancient star.
"The Spirit Clan?" Huang Xi frowned slightly, thinking it over before asking in confusion.
"Is that the force that had a Saint appear at the Abyssal Demons Burial earlier on?"
"That's right." Li Xun nodded, then said meaningfully:
"Let us hope the Spirit Clan still has some trump cards left. If they don't have enough hidden foundations, then after today—on this continent… Perhaps there will no longer be any Spirit Clan at all!"
The moment these words were spoken, the void around Li Xun seemed to freeze solid.
Huang Xi looked deeply at her master. Their minds were connected, and she understood clearly: her master intended to completely wipe out the Spirit Clan.
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