Within the shattered courtyard, the man in white turned slightly to glance at Kang Hao before flicking a tiny droplet of water toward him as he spoke.
"Go and retrieve the body of the one named Ye Xin for me."
His voice remained solemn as he continued.
"She has fainted outside the manor. That droplet will guide you to her."
Kang Hao nodded without asking a single question. His figure blurred and vanished instantly.
At the same time, Mu Ling, who was still being held by the throat, stared at everything before her in absolute terror. Her eyes trembled violently as tears began to stream down her cheeks. Her body was stiff like stone, to the point where she could barely sense her own breathing.
Huang Ran's soul, which had been forcibly searched earlier, was now on the verge of collapse. Her soul light flickered weakly like a candle about to be extinguished. Yet the man in white released a stream of water energy, stabilizing her and replenishing her spiritual essence.
Mu Ling forced herself to speak, her voice hoarse and trembling.
"Y you… what have you done to them…"
The man in white did not answer.
He merely flicked his hand lightly.
Within the void, a crimson pill appeared out of nowhere. It radiated scorching heat that distorted the surrounding air. Red gold flames circulated within it, as if a sacred bird were beating its wings inside.
Mu Ling's eyes widened instantly.
She recognized it.
The Phoenix Emperor Flame Pill.
Her heart pounded wildly as an uncontrollable thought surfaced in her mind.
This man must be someone from the Phoenix lineage…
She clenched her teeth tightly and forced herself to speak.
"Y you… do you know Feng Yan… I am her friend… so…"
Boom!
Before she could finish her sentence, Mu Ling's body was slammed violently into the ground. The stone floor cracked outward in a wide radius as she lost consciousness on the spot.
At the same moment, Kang Hao returned with Ye Xin cradled in his arms. Her breathing remained steady, yet her face was pale from unconsciousness.
Kang Hao's gaze shifted toward the twenty five blood red droplets rotating at extreme speed nearby. The power contained within each droplet was so dense that his skin burned merely from standing close.
At that moment, the Phoenix Emperor Flame Pill was enveloped by a transparent water bubble.
The pill began to dissolve slowly.
The flames within it separated and melted into a red gold liquid, swirling endlessly inside the clear droplet.
In midair, the twenty five blood red droplets floated in a perfect circle. Each droplet spun at extreme speed, and within them were the pulverized remains of Saints and Saint Kings, crushed until no form remained.
A low rumbling echoed without pause as power circulated endlessly.
At the center of those droplets, a red gold droplet formed from the Phoenix Emperor Flame Pill hovered silently. The red gold flames within it continued to burn gently.
The man in white slowly raised his hand.
In an instant, a translucent water sphere formed and expanded outward, transforming into a massive spherical formation. Pale blue water lines emerged and overlapped in layers, while rings of energy rotated in opposite directions like deep ocean currents.
The red gold droplet began to tremble, then gradually split apart into threads of extremely fine liquid that shot outward.
One stream.
Two streams.
Three streams.
…
…
In total, twenty five streams surged forward, each connecting directly to one of the twenty five blood droplets suspended in the air.
The moment they made contact
Fwoooosh!!!
Red gold heat collided violently with dark crimson blood energy. The sound resembled molten metal plunging into water as a massive vortex of power erupted.
Each droplet shook violently. Inside them, two completely different forces clashed head on. Phoenix flame energy melted blood and flesh, while the lingering Saint souls resisted with all their remaining will.
Rumble… rumble…!!!
The pressure multiplied rapidly. The stone ground below cracked apart as piercing distortions rippled through the air. Spatial fractures appeared in midair, as though reality itself could no longer withstand the refinement.
The man in white flicked his hand once more.
Pure blue flames ignited around the formation. The fire burned nothing, yet precisely infiltrated every droplet, steadily refining away all impurities and residue until only the purest essence of life force and Saint power remained.
Cracking sounds echoed.
Pop. Pop.
The blood red droplets began to change color. Deep crimson faded into clear red, then slowly transformed into pale gold. The violent fluctuations gradually calmed, and the turmoil within each droplet diminished visibly.
After a brief moment passed
When the vortex finally stopped, everything returned to silence.
Suspended in the air were only twenty five droplets the size of soybeans, neatly aligned in a row. Each one emitted a faint red gold glow, crystal clear within, resembling gemstones. It was as though blood and death had never existed inside them at all.
The man in white gazed at the droplets calmly.
Twenty five blood droplets tinged with faint gold.
The result of refining the lives of Saints and Saint Kings together, using the Phoenix Emperor Flame Pill as the foundation to amplify their effectiveness.
They were droplets capable of creating twenty one Saints and four Saint Kings.
However, they carried a fatal flaw.
Anyone who consumed them would never again be able to advance their cultivation.
His gaze then shifted and came to rest on Kang Hao, who stood not far away. Information surfaced silently within his vision.
[Name: Kang Hao][Cultivation Level: Saint Level 5][Special Body: None][Luck: Black][Affinity: 95]
The man in white felt a trace of surprise.
Previously, Kang Hao's affinity value had been zero. They had been complete strangers to one another. Even when he restored Kang Hao's body, that number had only risen to eighty nine, unable to break past the ninety mark.
Yet now… it had climbed all the way to ninety five.
Still, this was not the time to dwell on such matters. He did not allow himself to waste even a moment before voicing the question in his mind.
"System. Can I invest the twenty five droplets capable of creating Saints and Saint Kings into Kang Hao?"
A response came immediately.
[Sorry, Host. These droplets contain components originating from the system. Therefore, they cannot generate investment returns.]
The man in white nodded in understanding, showing no disappointment at all.
After that, he extended his hand and opened Ye Chen's spatial ring. He remembered clearly that there were quite a few valuable items inside it from when he had extracted Huang Ran's soul.
Light flashed from within, revealing a vast collection of stored treasures. Weapons, spirit stones, and rare valuables lay piled together, their lingering power still flowing without pause.
Not only that, he also removed the spatial rings belonging to Ye Xin and Mu Ling.
Compared to Ye Chen's ring, the rings of Ye Xin and Mu Ling were rather simple. Neither of them carried many precious treasures. Inside were only Saint grade defensive talismans and several offensive talismans, a number of Saint grade healing pills, and roughly five thousand high grade spirit stones in total.
Ye Chen's spatial ring was completely different.
Eight Saint grade herbs lay stored within, along with two Saint grade weapons placed side by side.
One was a silver white longsword, a dragon pattern stretching along its blade.The other was a blue gold set of armor, its surface engraved with fine lightning runes.
The man in white studied them briefly before speaking in a calm voice.
"System. Invest these two Saint grade weapons into Kang Hao."
As soon as he finished speaking, he tossed the sword and armor toward Kang Hao without hesitation.
Kang Hao jolted in shock and hurriedly reached out to catch them, his expression blank with disbelief. His heart pounded violently as Saint level pressure surged from both weapons, nearly stealing his breath away.
"Y you… you are giving them to me?"
The man in white replied simply.
"Consider it advance payment for working under me."
Kang Hao stood there in a daze.
He himself possessed Saint grade treasures as well, yet he had never imagined that someone would casually throw Saint grade weapons at him as if they were worthless items.
The man in white continued in a calm, even tone.
"Come a little closer to me."
Kang Hao was still dazed, yet he did not dare to disobey. He immediately stepped forward and stood near the man in white.
At that moment, the system's voice rang out.
[Number of investments -2]
[Ding! Detected that the host has given the Saint grade Golden Lightning Armor and the Saint grade White Dragon Sword to Kang Hao.]
[Investment successful.]
[Calculating returns based on luck color. Target: Black.]
[Return multiplier: 10,000 times.]
[Obtained: Heaven Severing Umbrella, Emperor Grade, 1 item.]
[Obtained: Nine Star Thunder Armor, Emperor Grade, 1 item.]
The man in white moved again, drawing Ye Chen, Mu Ling, Ye Xin, and Huang Ran, all still unconscious, closer.
The four were placed around him and Kang Hao in a circular formation, with the man in white and Kang Hao standing at the center.
All four of them shared one identical trait.
They were all bearers of golden luck.
In the next instant
The sky above the energy barrier darkened rapidly. Black clouds churned violently as fierce winds roared, whipping clothing and hair into chaos. The air collided endlessly, producing deep rumbling sounds.
An invisible pressure descended from above, as though a formless gaze were staring directly at Kang Hao.
The man in white remained silent. He lifted his head and looked calmly toward the heavens.
Kang Hao, however, felt something entirely different.
His heart pounded violently. His body felt unbearably heavy. His breathing became strained, as if something unseen were tightening around his throat.
It felt as though he were being marked for death by an incomprehensible and terrifying existence.
Time passed slowly.
One minute…
Two minutes…
Five minutes…
Ten minutes…
Nothing happened.
The clouds continued to spin, yet no lightning fell.
There was no storm vortex.
No raging fire.
No earth shattering tremor.
No heavenly tribulation.
No reaction at all.
The man in white stood motionless. Then, to test something, he casually dispelled the concealment barrier.
Kang Hao grew increasingly confused, his gaze shifting between the sky and the man beside him, unable to comprehend what was happening.
At last, the dark clouds gradually dissipated. The winds calmed. The rain ceased. Everything returned to tranquility, as if nothing had ever occurred.
Kang Hao remained standing patiently, not daring to ask a single question. The suffocating sense of death he had felt moments earlier had completely vanished.
Meanwhile, beneath the pitch black mask of the man in white, a twisted smile slowly spread.
It widened unnaturally, as though his face were about to split in two. The corners of his lips rose far beyond what a human expression should allow.
This was not merely a smile of joy.
It was the profound satisfaction of one who had witnessed everything unfold exactly as planned.
A delight that required no acknowledgement.
A happiness that needed no audience.
Because as long as he understood it himself, that was enough.
What was meant to happen…
Had already happened.