"Primordial Imprisoning Heaven Seal — First Seal, Pacify Mountains and Rivers!"
Ling Xiao stood with his hands behind his back, not a flicker of spiritual light emanating from his body. Yet, the soul radiance swirling in his pupils resembled the Milky Way reversing its course, crashing down from the highest heavens.
Buzz!
Space shattered layer by layer under the immense pressure of the seal. Faintly, tears in the void seemed to manifest in the air above the hall.
"Damn it!! A soul attack! It's actually a soul attack!" In this moment, Yu Baitang was gripped by a terror unlike any he had ever known.
Buzz!
The soul seal descended from the sky, carrying a momentum fit to crush all of antiquity. A desolate resonance echoed for miles. Were it not for the Green Demon Ancient Cauldron suppressing the area, the entire Canghai City would likely have been crushed into the earth beneath this single imprint.
Simultaneously, a faint smile touched Die Ying's lips. The gloomy light on the demonic dagger in her hand suddenly blazed intensely. Giving Yu Baitang no opportunity to evade, her figure instantly became ethereal.
"No!! I cannot die!!" Yu Baitang roared towards the sky, spiritual energy surging wildly around him, congealing into a canopy-like spiritual barrier overhead. At the same time, his hand seals shifted rapidly. Golden light flickered across his palms as he struck out violently towards the space beside him.
The full might of a third-grade Divine King was now on display. But no matter how profound his cultivation, how could he possibly withstand the combined assault of Ling Xiao and Die Ying?
The soul seal crashed down, instantly pulverizing the brilliant spiritual screen. And Die Ying's dagger also found its mark, slashing directly onto Yu Baitang's palm.
Boom!
The sound of clashing forces erupted, reverberating intensely. The entire Yu Family great hall instantly transformed into a field of rubble.
"Ling Xiao!! Even if I perish today, I will drag you down with me!!" Yu Baitang screamed in despair, struggling bitterly to hold on. Yet, even so, he could feel the demonic dagger in Die Ying's hand gradually piercing through his spiritual defenses, inching closer to his flesh.
"You must be dreaming." Ling Xiao let out a cold sneer, his foot suddenly stamping forward. The demonic blade in his hand erupted with a ten-thousand-zhang demonic radiance. Then, with a single, decisive motion, he brought it sweeping down towards the Yu Family Ancestor's head.
"No!!!" Heaven and earth abruptly plunged into darkness, profound and endless, evoking utter despair. Demonic light also surged around Ling Xiao, reaching for the firmament. Behind him, a ferocious demonic shadow faintly materialized, mirroring the descent of the blade.
"Hea… Heavenly Demon!!!! You are the Heavenly Demon!!!" Yu Baitang's eyes bulged wildly, trails of blood streaming from their corners. He had never dared to dream that this Ling Clan heir was actually… actually possessed the forbidden physique! The Heavenly Demon True Body?
The last time it had appeared, he was just coming of age. But Yu Baitang still remembered that era in the Sacred Dynasty—an age of pervasive terror, where neither Divine Emperors nor Divine Kings dared show themselves lightly, fearing the attention of that demonic inheritor. Even then, nearly half of the Sacred Dynasty's powerhouses had ultimately fallen to that demon. He truly never imagined he would live to see a second inheritor of this forbidden legacy.
"Heh, Ancestor, you may rest in peace now." Ling Xiao grinned, demonic light swirling in his gaze. The demonic blade fell, casting a spray of bloody light across the sky.
Boom!
The entire space fell into absolute silence. Only Yu Baitang remained standing, his face a mask of bitter refusal, his eyes filled with pure venom as he stared at Ling Xiao.
"Ling Xiao, do not gloat. Your identity will be exposed sooner or later. When that day comes, the entire Ling Clan, and all who are connected to you, will be buried alongside you!"
"The Yu Family's vengeance will be exacted! I swear by blood sacrifice, when I return from the cycle of reincarnation, I will surely expose your true nature… I will make you… an enemy of the entire world!!" Yu Baitang laughed maniacally, his entire countenance dripping with mockery.
The destruction of the Yu Family was now inevitable. But the mere thought of the Ling Clan facing eventual slaughter brought him a perverse, indescribable satisfaction.
"Ancestor, stop dreaming. Do you truly believe you'll get a next life?" Ling Xiao shook his head with a light laugh, sheathing the demonic blade. Before him, Yu Baitang's body abruptly split cleanly in two, crumbling into a pile of lifeless ash.
Buzz!
A wisp of soul essence instantly tried to flee into the distance. But Ling Xiao seemed wholly unsurprised. With a casual wave of his hand, the demonic shadow behind him lunged forward, swallowing the fleeing soul whole.
"No!!!"
Crunch, crunch.
A gruesome chewing sound slowly echoed.The expression on Ling Xiao's face returned to its usual calm.
The Yu Family Ancestor was not wrong; a day would indeed come when he would be rejected by all under heaven. After all, the taboo of the Heavenly Demon True Body was now deeply ingrained. For most, those four words conjured only images of endless slaughter and widespread suffering. To resolve this situation at its root…
The Sacred Church had to be eradicated!
Yet, the more Ling Xiao witnessed the splendors of this world, the more convinced he became that the Sacred Dynasty might seem vast and boundless only in the eyes of its natives. Perhaps, to certain supreme beings, it was merely a secret realm, a mere… breeding ground?
Though he currently operated from the shadows, steadily amassing power, the pace of this accumulation felt agonizingly slow. Slaughter offered a faster path to Villain Points, but here in the Eastern Territories, targets were limited to ancient sects and clans. Wiping them out only amounted to annihilating families. To enhance his strength more rapidly…
It was said the Western Territories were a land of warring dynasties, where conflict was perpetual, and battles inevitably painted the earth with rivers of blood and mountains of corpses. It seemed… that place might be more fertile ground for his growth.
A faint, contemplative smile touched Ling Xiao's lips. He located the Yu Family treasure vault, plundered all its spiritual artifacts, and then departed without a trace.
"The Yu Family dared to insult the Second Young Master of the Ling Clan! Their crime is utterly unforgivable! Today… they are eradicated!" A thunderous roar suddenly echoed over Canghai City. Then, all witnesses watched, dumbstruck, as a figure clad in black robes stood mid-air and slammed a palm downward. The entire Yu Family compound instantly disintegrated into ruins. The Yu Family experts hadn't even had time to mount a defense before being pulverized into dust by the black-robed elder?
"The Ling Clan's Second Young Master? That elder is from the Ling Clan?!" Countless cultivators paled, but the bizarre scene before them suddenly made a grim sort of sense.
Ling Clan vengeance leaves no blade of grass growing.
No wonder the Yu Family's Divine King was slain before he could even resist.The newcomer… was likely a Divine Emperor expert? The awe in the crowd's eyes intensified. But given their own lowly cultivation, none could perceive the true depth of the power possessed by the figure幻化 by Die Ying. They could only huddle in silent terror, trembling in their hiding spots.
"Let's go." Ling Xiao turned and strode towards the distant horizon. Below him, Hua Hua's form shot through the air, carrying the white-robed figure away like the wind.
---
Meanwhile, across the Eastern Territories, bloody light stained the skies like ominous clouds, casting a pall over the land. Particularly among the subordinate forces of the Qin Clan and the Cloud Millet Immortal Sect, a series of brutal massacres had recently occurred. The methods were so vicious, so blood-soaked, they defied description.
The relationship between the two supreme orthodoxies plummeted to freezing point. Even direct descendants and true disciples had begun vanishing mysteriously, clearly fallen victim to assassination.
Numerous powers and Emperor-realm experts now turned their attention to these two colossal entities, watching intently to see how this escalating conflict would conclude. After all, it had been a long time since a war between supreme orthodoxies had erupted on Eastern soil!
Amidst the impending suffering and chaos, perhaps… there lay an opportunity to seize some fragment of destiny?