The Debt of Blood is Paid

Yu Tong felt a wave of despair wash over him. The youth before him was too terrifying—he had even directly slain his master, Crippled Moon Realperson, with a single sword strike... And that divine sense secret art he had just unleashed, Yu Tong had personally felt it; he had been stunned into a daze for a brief moment. In a life-or-death struggle between cultivators, he understood very well what that momentary dizziness meant.

“Lord Yinglong Guard.” Yu Tong was frantic. He could certainly feel the towering, overwhelming killing intent directed at him. “There must be some mistake. I, Yu Tong, have never wished to offend anyone, and I simply wouldn’t offend anyone. Lord Yinglong Guard, you must have been deceived by someone! Killing me is one thing, but letting the true culprit get away—that is the real disaster.”

Yu Tong exerted every ounce of his being to persuade Ji Ning.

“Deceived?” Ji Ning smiled. It was a smile that chilled Yu Tong to the bone. Would his own father and mother lie to him? And Uncle White, who had personally witnessed that scene all those years ago, was right here. How could it be false?

“The real culprit is still at large, while you have been tricked into coming after me.” Yu Tong’s voice grew more frantic.

Seeing Yu Tong’s frantic panic, his unease, his desperate attempts to persuade him, Ji Ning felt a surge of savage satisfaction. The more panicked and frantic this great enemy became, the more desperate and despairing, the greater the pleasure!

“Father, Mother, Uncle… are you watching?” Ji Ning said silently in his heart.

“This Yu Tong is only the first. They will all die, one by one, in despair and regret.” Ji Ning said silently.

Seeing the cold intent in Ji Ning’s eyes grow even sharper, Yu Tong’s anxiety spiked.

What to do?

What could he do?

He hadn’t yet truly become the Sect Leader of Snowdragon Mountain. He hadn’t yet truly shaken the world with his might. How could he die? Yu Tong’s heart burned with a fierce, unyielding resistance. What he craved most wasn’t to climb step by step through cautious scheming and strategy. It was to make his name known throughout the world with absolute, overwhelming power, to be admired by countless people.

He hadn’t even erupted yet! The vast lands of the Grand Xia knew nothing of his might!

“I have to gamble everything!” Yu Tong felt as though he had fallen back into the scene of his childhood assassination attempt. Then, too, it had been a life-or-death gamble. If he succeeded, he would soar to the heavens. If he failed, he would die with no place to be buried.

This time was the same.

If he escaped, he could rise to the heavens.

If he died… there truly would be no place to be buried.

“Junior Apprentice-Sister.” Yu Tong looked at his junior apprentice-sister, Yue Wei, standing to one side. He transmitted mentally, his voice a sharp command, “Hold him off for me. Hold him off no matter the cost!” He trusted his junior apprentice-sister, because he trusted his own methods. After long years of guidance, he had no doubt that if he ordered his junior apprentice-sister to throw away her life, she wouldn’t hesitate.

Yue Wei’s eyes reddened. Her gaze held boundless attachment.

“Do it!” Yu Tong transmitted mentally, a barked command.

Swoosh!

Yue Wei flew straight at Ji Ning, like a moth diving into a flame. In the same instant, her Zifu Lake began to surge violently, the energy within it starting to detonate. Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes. She gazed longingly at Yu Tong and transmitted, “Senior Apprentice-Brother… I truly love you!”

Boom!

Ji Ning was surrounded by the swirling Water-Fire Lotus, infused with the earthfire and cold-sha. Its power had grown tremendously. The self-detonation of a mere Zifu Disciple could not shake it in the slightest.

“Senior Apprentice-Brother… I truly love you…” The words echoed in the air. Even Yu Tong felt a momentary tremor in his heart, but he immediately crushed that sentiment. He understood that his junior apprentice-sister’s ‘love’ was merely a natural affection born after even her heart had been thoroughly tamed. It was because her heart had been tamed that she was willing to die for him.

Was this love?

No. It was enslavement.

“Boom.” As the explosion occurred, Yu Tong shot away into the distance, beginning his frantic escape. As he fled, a worm nest appeared in his hand. “My children, go! Block them!”

Mu Northson and Uncle White stood to one side, watching without interfering.

Ji Ning, surrounded by his Water-Fire Lotus, first weathered the woman’s self-detonation. Then, the dense swarm of poisonous insects descended upon him. What awaited them, however, was a colossal Water-Fire Lotus. The cold-sha and earthfire within it were already comparable to a Divine Ability, and the Water-Fire Lotus formed by Ji Ning’s cold-sha and earthfire was even more powerful.

The grinding, twisting force of the lotus instantly reduced countless poisonous insects to powder. Not a single one survived for even an instant.

In just a short while, the dense, sky-covering horde of poisonous insects surrounding Ji Ning had all been turned to ash.

“Hahaha…” Yu Tong used this time to flee to the distance and activated a maze formation. In an instant, the scenery around his location shifted; he was still within the formation’s range.

“Hiding within a maze formation and thinking you can escape?” Ji Ning strode directly toward him.

Ji Ning’s actions appeared arrogant.

In truth, he was extremely cautious. His divine sense had already locked down the surrounding hundred li area; everything was within his grasp. If a Primal Daoist suddenly appeared, Ji Ning wouldn’t drag things out—he would kill Yu Tong immediately. But there were no obstacles, so Ji Ning would savor this, taking his time to torment the man.

The hatred that had been suppressed within Ji Ning’s heart for so long would not be satisfied by an easy death.

“What?!” Yu Tong was within the maze formation, staring in shock as Ji Ning entered it and then walked directly toward him, completely unaffected by the formation.

“How is this happening?! Seal!” Yu Tong hurriedly activated another formation. This was his residence, after all; there were many formations protecting it.

A shimmering, hazy ripple appeared, shielding him.

Swish.

A flash of sword-light. Ji Ning passed straight through the sealing formation.

“Too weak.” Ji Ning continued to walk forward, step by step.

“Teleportation.” Yu Tong held a precious Minor Teleportation Dao Talisman, attempting to flee, but it was completely useless.

“The surrounding space has long been sealed off.” Ji Ning continued walking toward him.

Yu Tong finally went mad. He roared, “What exactly do you want?! The maze formation is useless against you, your sword annihilates my poisonous insects, you killed my master with a single blow, and you sealed off the void long ago! Your strength is so great, your preparations so thorough… what the hell did I ever do to offend you?!”

A blurry phantom appeared, swift as lightning. A sword light stabbed directly into Yu Tong’s abdomen into his dantian. One magic treasure after another fell from his body; only the robe he wore and the bracers on his arms remained. But he could no longer control even those.

The sword was so fast Yu Tong didn’t even have time to block.

“You… you!” Yu Tong’s eyes bulged.

“Your dantian and Zifu have been destroyed.” Ji Ning said calmly.

Yu Tong was terrified. His dantian and Zifu! The very foundation of his cultivation! Destroyed? The moment his Zifu had been destroyed, a wave of weakness flooded his entire body, filling Yu Tong with overwhelming terror…

“Why don’t you just kill me directly?!” Yu Tong howled.

“Kill you?” Ji Ning shook his head. “Destroying your Zifu and dantian is to stop you from committing suicide.”

If his Zifu remained intact, he could easily detonate his Zifu Lake.

But with it destroyed, Yu Tong had become an ordinary man. Of course, this ‘ordinary man’s’ body had been nourished by Yuan power for a long time, making it quite strong—comparable to a peak mortal warrior. Unfortunately, he could no longer use any magic treasures, and before Ji Ning, he couldn’t even manage to kill himself.

“Afraid I’ll kill myself?” Yu Tong’s face twisted with sheer terror. What kind of hatred was this, deep enough that the enemy wouldn’t even allow him to take his own life?

With Yu Tong’s Zifu destroyed, the surrounding grand formations had long been dispersed.

Mu Northson and Uncle White both walked over.

“Enjoy it.” Ji Ning smiled coldly. Yuan power rapidly gathered before him, condensing into the light of a runic seal. Seeing the light of this runic seal, Yu Tong seemed to realize something; a look of utter terror appeared on his face. He immediately turned to flee. Ji Ning gently pointed, and the light of the runic seal flew into Yu Tong’s body.

“No!” Yu Tong let out a miserable scream. His skin and bones began to twist grotesquely, and his skin even flushed bright red.

“Ah… aah…”

The screams were squeezed out from his throat.

Yu Tong was like a boiled shrimp, his entire body bright red, collapsing to the ground and beginning to convulse. It looked as if countless insects were crawling beneath his skin; even his skin could be seen starting to scorch and blacken.

“The Heart-Scorching Art?” Mu Northson was secretly shocked. This was a torment technique recorded in the Scripture Depository of the Black-White College. Because it had little combat value, it could be viewed without spending any Black-White Pearls.

Ji Ning had memorized it long ago.

When he had memorized it back then, he had done so with the intention of making these enemies taste this flavor! To taste the agony of a heart being scorched! After all, when his father and mother had departed, the pain, despair, and boundless hatred he had felt… he had long decided that he would definitely take his revenge!

“Tell me… tell me…” Yu Tong stared at Ji Ning, his voice hoarse, a maddened look in his eyes.

“You can still maintain your clarity? Even with the soul of a Wanxiang Adept, maintaining your sanity is unbelievable.” Ji Ning’s voice was cold. “It seems your Dao-heart is even stronger than I imagined.”

“Why… why?!” Yu Tong’s blood-red eyes were filled with unwillingness.

Ji Ning looked at Uncle White beside him.

Uncle White immediately transformed into a puff of mist, then into a large, snow-white dog.

“Yu Tong, do you still remember me?” Whitewater Hound looked at Yu Tong.

Yu Tong’s pain-filled eyes suddenly revealed shock, and a look of bitter unwillingness. How could a cultivator’s memory be poor? Because Uncle White was now a Wanxiang great demon and was in human form, Yu Tong hadn’t recognized him. But when Uncle White transformed into his original form… the memories of that scene from long ago instantly came flooding back to him…

“Young master, look, that little lady isn’t bad, is she? That figure, that bearing… tsk, tsk.”

“Mm. Not bad. And it looks like she’s pregnant as well… Mm, I like that. You two, go over there and capture that little woman alive for me. But be careful. The two men by that little woman’s side should be Zifu Disciples. Don’t let your guard down and slip up.”

“Don’t worry, young master.”

“Leave it to us, young master. We’ll definitely capture that little lady and bring her here for you.”

That day. That battle. It was still etched clearly in his memory.

What he remembered most vividly were the two men, both willing to sacrifice their own lives for that woman.

“Little sister, leave!”

“Xue’er, go! Little White, take her and leave!”

Both men had used forbidden life-burning techniques.

In that battle, he and the other accomplice, ‘Water Yi,’ were both at the peak of the Zifu stage. Facing opponents who used life-burning techniques, especially the woman’s elder brother—his strength was particularly formidable! He had managed to hold the two of them back, allowing the woman and the other heavily wounded young man to escape.

But the woman’s elder brother… in their rage, he and Water Yi had naturally killed him.

“They… they…” Yu Tong’s entire body was starting to char. His eyes were red as he stared at Ji Ning.

“They were my father, my mother, and my uncle!” Tears welled up in Ji Ning’s eyes. His voice was low. “I am the child that woman was carrying in her womb back then. I have come for my revenge now!”