"Damn it, it's coming again!"
"Hurry, Xiao Yanzi! If we're late, we won't get another chance to escape!"
"Teacher, shouldn't we consider a real solution?" Xiao Yan's tone was urgent.
"Solution…? What solution?" Yao Chen replied, brows furrowed.
"If they keep chasing us like this, we might as well make sure they never come back."
Yao Chen's eyes widened. "What?"
What Xiao Yan implied was clear—kill Han Feng, Feng Xian, and the others.
Han Feng was a traitor, a disgrace who betrayed his master and ancestors. That was easy enough to justify. But Feng Xian… he had been a friend for decades. Killing him? That was something Yao Chen could not take lightly.
Yao Chen had tampered with the elixirs only to avoid conflict—not to kill. Feng Xian and the elders of Xingyun Pavilion had once stood beside him in creating that very sect. The thought of slaying them all left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Teacher," Xiao Yan pressed, "we can't hesitate. It's either them or us. What if they come after me while I'm refining the Heavenly Flame? The consequences could be catastrophic."
Xiao Yan possessed the Devouring ability. If he consumed those Dou Zong and Dou Zun experts, he might directly leap into the Dou Zun realm—maybe even touch the threshold of Dou Sheng.
"This…" Yao Chen still hesitated.
"Teacher, hesitation gets us nowhere. If they strike during your rebirth, we might lose everything."
After a long silence, Yao Chen finally exhaled and nodded. "Alright."
Together, the two began devising a strategy—traps, feints, and setups to eliminate Feng Xian and the others, one by one.
---
Meanwhile, far below, the Three Thousand Flames raged but were suppressed by the earth's power—guided carefully by Ye Feng. Under his direction, Zi Yan's absorption of the Heavenly Flame progressed smoothly.
Ding Dong!
Congratulations! You have disrupted the original storyline and intercepted the Three Thousand Flames.
New owner: Zi Yan.
Reward: 5691 distributable attribute points.
"System," Ye Feng said calmly, "add all points to Strength."
As the words left his lips, his bones creaked and pulsed. His muscles swelled with new energy. Faint golden spots began to emerge across his silver-tinted bones, shifting and shimmering.
He extended his fist—and space itself crackled under its pressure.
"Six-star Dou Sheng…" Xuan Kongzi gasped in awe. "He's achieved it… without even using fighting spirit."
A nearby man in black frowned. "Could it be… physical cultivation?"
Tian Leizi's eyes narrowed. "That's it. I've seen it in a fragment—an ancient scroll."
Long ago, when monstrous beasts dominated the continent, humans were mere prey. To survive, early cultivators honed their bodies to unimaginable extremes. Physical cultivators could tear seventh-ranked beasts apart with their bare hands. But as time passed, humans discovered Qi cultivation—drawing spirit energy from the heavens into their bodies. It was faster, easier, and became the dominant path.
Yet in direct combat, a late-stage physical cultivator could overwhelm Qi cultivators of the same rank. The conflict escalated into a great war—one that Qi cultivators eventually won. To prevent future rebellion, they destroyed the physical cultivation methods, erasing them from history.
Only scraps remained in ancient ruins. Few even knew such a path existed anymore.
"He truly is a child of destiny," Tian Leizi whispered as he watched Ye Feng vanish into the horizon. "Zhongzhou will bow to him. Perhaps… after the Ancient Emperor, he'll become the next to reach the Emperor Realm—in body alone."
(Emperor here is Dou Di)
"Emperor Realm…" Ye Xinlan stood quietly behind them, hand drifting toward her abdomen.
She hadn't had her period in days. Her temperature had been slightly elevated. Her heartbeat quickened.
Could she be pregnant?
If Ye Feng truly reached the Emperor Realm… what unimaginable blessings might her child inherit?
Excitement shimmered in her eyes.
---
Elsewhere, within the wild expanse of the Beast Region stood the Death Soul Mountain Range—a macabre expanse named for its grim appearance. It was the domain of the Nine Nether Earth Python, a beast ranked among the top ten on the Ranking.
Here, bones lay piled in mounds—remnants of prey the Python had deemed unworthy of consumption.
Though smaller in size than Zhongzhou, the Beast Region was by no means less dangerous. Mountains overlapped endlessly, breathing an untamed savagery into the land. It was said to contain over 100,000 peaks, though the number was merely symbolic—reality exceeded that count.
Hidden among these peaks were countless relics, waiting for the destined few.
Today, that destiny pointed toward the Death Soul Mountain Range.
Over the past month, fighters and beasts had gathered, drawn by rumors of an ancient ruin about to open.
"So many people," Ya Fei muttered, scanning the crowd.
"Too noisy," she added. "With this many people, the competition will be brutal. I was hoping to hold an auction for the relic's contents…"
"I'll take care of it," Ye Feng replied coolly.
Ya Fei blinked. "Take care… You're going to persuade them to leave?"
"No," Ye Feng said, smiling faintly. "I'm taking this ruin."
"But there are thousands!"
"So?"
Ye Feng rose, patted Mu Qingluan gently, and she took to the sky.
From above, his voice rang out, clear and thunderous—like an ancient bell echoing across the land.
"Everyone, leave. This ruin belongs to me."
The noise below erupted.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Arrogant fool! Think you can claim a ruin by yourself?"
"Even the One Palace, One Tower, Two Sects, Three Valleys, and Four Pavilions wouldn't dare say that!"
Mockery came from all directions.
But not all scoffed. Those who recognized Ye Feng… silently turned and walked away, shaking their heads.
"It's not worth it," one whispered. "He's not someone we can provoke."
Ye Feng paid no attention to the jeers.
His voice spread again, calm but absolute.
"One stick of incense. That's all the time I'll give."
"Anyone still within twenty miles when it's done… dies."
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