Blood Emperor Sect, Council Hall.
Sitting at the head of the table, Lu Jin'an toyed with a short sword etched with blood-colored patterns, his gaze calm and unruffled as he watched the rain outside lighten slightly.
Supporting his chin with both hands, Xia Ming yawned from the steps below: "Senior Brother, who do you think will win?"
"It's obvious." Lu Jin'an slightly lowered his eyes, looking at the reflection in the sword blade: "Lin Mu has targeted Blood Emperor Sect time and again, yet each time he's managed to escape danger. His destiny has already begun to flourish, on the contrary, each failure of the Blood Emperor Sect depletes personnel and resources, causing the benefits to go to Lin Mu, with destiny decreasing rather than increasing.
Talent and effort belong to oneself, destiny and strength expand with experience and perspective. As long as one doesn't slack off, winning is just a matter of time."
"Destiny, huh..." Xia Ming turned his head to look at Lu Jin'an: "Do you think destiny is more important or talent?"
"Being born is a skill itself," Lu Jin'an joked before continuing, "but talent and effort are more important, especially in the Cultivation World, where most cultivators have similar destiny.
The higher the talent, the more effort one puts in, the broader the world they can explore, meeting more formidable people, having richer experiences, understanding more, gaining more confidence in oneself — at this point, destiny becomes the determining factor beyond talent and effort."
"I get it." Xia Ming eagerly nodded: "Although being born well is important, most cultivators have similar backgrounds. No matter how hard they work, limited by talent, they can only be trapped in one place their whole lives, let alone meet stronger great cultivators, is that what you mean?"
"Yes." Lu Jin'an smiled: "Even our Wandao Sect wouldn't come here to recruit disciples; only talents who also work hard from this place might one day walk out and either join us or be noticed by the elders of the sect and taken back."
"Just like Lin Mu, who rose step by step from a small town to fame in Nanzhuo Domain." Xia Ming patted his knee: "If he had no talent and didn't work hard, no matter how good his destiny was, he would be mediocre, right?"
"Yes."
"No wonder many prominent families I've been with the Deputy Sect Master don't have high hopes for the waste in their clans, some even directly remove them from the family register... even if their destiny is good and they were born well, without talent, they're nothing."
"In the end, the Cultivation World speaks with personal strength." Lu Jin'an looked back outside: "Furthermore, even the waste of prominent families can't fall below the lower limit of the Cultivation World, and moreover..."
"Ah—"
A shrill scream echoed from outside. Xia Ming quickly ran out to check, and soon returned: "The blood of the old, weak, women, and children of Blood Emperor Sect has been drained and is flying towards the distance."
Crack!
Lu Jin'an thrust the short sword into the armrest, spiritual power swirling around him, a hint of coldness in his eyes: "Moreover, some people in the Upper Realm have found a way to prevent their descendants from becoming waste."
Xia Ming realized Senior Brother was continuing the topic, seeing him grasping the sword blade with blood shimmering, shooting it into the rain and disappearing.
Lu Jin'an spoke softly: "They use secret techniques to let the 'waste' in the clan possess the destiny of a Qi Fortune Teller, turning the 'waste' into 'genius'. If such 'genius' becomes stronger than the geniuses trained within the clan, it's a big gain; if they're on par, there's no loss...
Even if they don't grow, it doesn't matter, because they've only lost one waste."
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Above the ancient tomb, the blood sphere condensed from blood energy reflected the sky and earth in a crimson red, displaying eerie horror.
A blood energy array stretching hundreds of kilometers covered the land. On it, the demon cultivators of Blood Emperor Sect and its affiliates were drained of blood and turned into mummies, shriveled faces still bearing their dying terror.
Not only the demon cultivators, but even cultivators from the Nanzhuo Alliance were sacrificed in this array by Li Huangquan to the extent of fifty to sixty percent.
Lin Mu, with an unpleasant face, stared at the one-armed Li Huangquan: "You wouldn't even spare your subordinates and family?"
"Those who achieve greatness do not fret over trifles. They die for my cause, a worthy death!" Li Huangquan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, grinning malevolently: "As long as I'm here, the Blood Emperor Sect will always be here, the entire Nanzhuo Domain will become my disciples!"
"You truly have a vicious heart, befitting a beast!"
"It's just the victor becomes king, the defeated—the outcast!" Li Huangquan looked up at the blood-colored sphere formed by sacrifice, with spiritual power supporting his final trump card: "Today you die, and the infamy will fall on you and the Nanzhuo Alliance behind you!"
Saying this, he looked back at Lin Mu: "I just didn't think, with all the benefits I took from the ancient tomb, you could still break through to the Sitting and Illuminating Realm!"
Lin Mu took a deep breath: "Even though you took most of the treasures from the ancient tomb, you surely didn't expect the best treasure would be on the tomb owner's remains!"
At this, Li Huangquan's face turned sour: "I see, but it doesn't matter anymore. No matter what you've gained, don't think about blocking my move... cough cough!"
Lin Mu's eyes sharpened: "With your current spiritual power, can you sustain this magic? And you're not the only one with a trump card!"
Li Huangquan's pupils contracted; he wasn't sure if Lin Mu was bluffing, but at this point, he couldn't give the opponent any more chances.
He raised his remaining right hand high, shouting loudly: "Blood Emperor Technique!"
Boom boom boom—
The blood sphere hovering in the sky released a terrifying pressure, yet it only rolled forward a bit before seeming to be drawn by an invisible force, sweeping backward.
Li Huangquan's face changed: "What's going on?!"
But at this moment, he couldn't care why his magic detached from his control, immediately following the trajectory of the blood sphere.
Lin Mu frowned, but didn't hesitate to pursue. Today, he must kill this demon to bring back clarity to the Nanzhuo Domain!
"Brother Lin..." Xiao Li's expression changed slightly; worried it might be Li Huangquan's scheme, she couldn't be held back from following by others.
"Xiao Li is following Lin Mu." Han Wu quickly reminded the dazed Zhu Nanzhi.
Zhu Nanzhi, regaining her senses, furrowed her brows: "How troublesome."
She was hoping to separate Xiao Li from Lin here and take her directly, but now she had to run.
Not speaking a word, Zhu Nanzhi rode a Flying Sword after them because due to the Supreme Forget Love Immortal Technique, she couldn't take Xiao Li away without saying goodbye to Lin, otherwise it would be bad if there was a problem with the Daoist heart.
Over Blood Emperor Sect, the blood sphere stopped.
Li Huangquan, who had chased all the way, hadn't caught his breath before he suddenly felt himself pulled into the Council Hall by an immense power.
"Who... Immortal?!"
Fury and shock crossed Li Huangquan's face; upon seeing the figure seated at the head, his expression turned ecstatic, crawling over desperately: "Immortal save me!"
Lin Mu, who entered closely after, heard Li Huangquan's excited voice, his expression shifting as he looked ahead.
In his sight, the young man sitting at the head of Blood Emperor Sect calmly drew the short sword from the armrest, directly stabbing it into Li Huangquan's skull.
Watching as the howling Li Huangquan was drained of blood, turning into a mummy, and hearing the short sword emit a joyful sword hum, Lin Mu shivered in fear.
Since when did the Blood Emperor Sect affiliate with such a demon cultivator?
Lu Jin'an, grasping the sword blade, tossed aside the mummy, looking down at Lin Mu: "You..."
"Eh? Husband?!"
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Author: The chapter posting time is being changed to twelve noon and nine at night~