Blood on the Mountains

Mt. Song was home to many ancient temples, where distant chimes and Buddhist chanting lingered on the wind. Xiao Chen stood atop a sheer peak, gazing motionless into the distant sky, like a stone statue. Bo Shi knelt on the ground, clutching a crystal-clear Buddhist relic, and shouted hoarsely, "I swear I will avenge this! I will not rest!"

For once, Keke was not being mischievous. She lay obediently to one side, quietly watching everything. After a long time, Xiao Chen finally withdrew his gaze, walked over to Bo Shi, and said, "Of course, we will avenge this." As he spoke, he tapped Bo Shi on the head, rendering him unconscious.

Bo Shi was not strong enough to travel the world as he was. He had no chance against the Six Prodigies of the Cultivation World. Xiao Chen did not want him to go to his death. Lifting Bo Shi, Xiao Chen soared into the sky and flew swiftly towards Yongzhou. He settled Bo Shi in the Primordial Ancient Village and put him into a deep sleep. Then, Xiao Chen strode out.

In that moment, his entire bearing transformed. His black hair whipped wildly, his gaze turned sharp as a blade, and his body radiated killing intent—unconcealed and absolute. He had come to kill. Yongzhou's mountains and rivers were beautiful. In the upper reaches of the Yellow River lay a range of immortal peaks called Xirong, ethereal and spiritual. The Tiger Clan had built a vast palace complex here. It could be said that the entire western region of Yongzhou was under the Tiger Clan's control—even the Primordial Ancient Village was within their sphere of influence.

"When a cultivator's wrath erupts, corpses cover the ground for a thousand li, and blood flows like a river!"

Xiao Chen arrived at the Xirong Mountains. Facing the towering peaks, he roared. Mist swirled, and palace halls loomed. This was an important stronghold of the Tiger Clan. The rolling sound waves instantly alarmed the Tiger Clan's experts. Many flew out from the palaces and stood atop the immortal peaks. Xiao Chen strode up the mountain, carrying a War Sword, with the little divine beast Keke close at his side.

Springs cascaded down the peaks; the scenery was splendid. Xiao Chen walked up step by step. Wherever he passed, facing pavilions and halls, his War Sword swept out, and buildings collapsed into ruins. He had come to annihilate the clan. "Xiao Chen, you have some nerve!" A group of Tiger Clan experts rushed down from the immortal peak, surrounding him. The "Om" syllable divine sound left his mouth. The twenty-odd men who had rushed down instantly had their souls scattered. Their bodies collapsed, turning into clouds of blood mist that drifted through the mountain air. "You!" An elder behind them roared in fury. "Do you think that just because you have some petty cursed artifact, you can really dominate the world?"

"I wouldn't presume to dominate the world, but killing you mangy cats is more than enough!" Xiao Chen's body was covered in blood mist as he pressed step by step up the immortal peak. The death of his fellow villagers and the passing of Yizhen had driven him beyond fury. Now, he only wanted to kill, to quell the rage in his heart.

The Second Elder of the Tiger Clan, appointed by the current Clan Head to oversee the front mountain of Xirong, shouted to his subordinates, "Seize him!"

"Second Elder, let me kill him!"

A young Tiger Clan expert roared and transformed into a white tiger, charging down from the immortal peak. Its four paws were aloft, demonic clouds roiling, tearing out blood-red lightning as it pounced at Xiao Chen. At the same time, the white tiger's body split into dozens of phantoms, surrounding Xiao Chen. "Phantom Avatars! Soul-Exterminating Divine Art!" The young expert of the White Tiger Clan shouted. He was indeed a strong figure among the younger generation. Although his cultivation was only at the Half-God level, the divine art he commanded was bizarre. Dozens of incarnations could devour a person's soul in an instant.

"A mere firefly daring to compete with the bright moon!" Xiao Chen shot straight into the sky, his body like a wisp of smoke. His War Sword was raised high as he brought it cleaving down. The central white tiger's face showed terror as it tried desperately to dodge, but how could it outrun Xiao Chen? Blood splattered. The white tiger was split in two, its body and soul annihilated on the spot. The dozens of tiger phantoms pouncing from the sky all dissipated, for the destroyed white tiger was the true body. Once it fell, no number of incarnations mattered.

"Listen well, you of the Tiger Clan! Blood debts must be repaid in blood. The Xirong Mountains will be dyed red!" Xiao Chen took another step upward. Blood dripped steadily from the War Sword in his hand. "Preposterous!" The Second Elder of the Tiger Clan was furious. A mere Nirvana Realm cultivator was challenging a Deathless Longevity Realm expert on the mountain. It was an unbearable insult. "I don't believe that so-called Yellow Clay Altar is as sinister as they say. Who will go down and kill him?"

"A madman at the mere Nirvana Realm—no better than a mangy dog! I will kill him!" A towering Tiger Clan expert stepped forward and flew down. The Second Elder immediately grew uneasy. That man was the eldest son of the Tiger Clan Head, now past forty but still acting like a hot-headed brute. If something happened to him here, the Second Elder would have a hard time answering to the Clan Head. "All of you, go!" The nine surrounding experts obeyed and flew down the mountain together.

Facing ten experts, Xiao Chen was fearless. With the Yellow Clay Altar, he was practically undying. He sensed that the burly Tiger Clan expert in the center had an unusual status. The Eight Aspect Worlds manifested, sweeping everyone inside, but Xiao Chen focused his assault on that central figure. "Tiger's Roar of the Earth!" The eldest son of the Tiger Clan Head roared to the sky. Waves of deadly origin energy vibrated outward, visible to the naked eye. Among the sound waves, faint phantoms of underworld soldiers appeared, scythes dancing as they slashed at Xiao Chen. This was his famous divine art, one that had killed countless people. But against Xiao Chen, it was useless. A single Hand of the Supreme Being shattered the vast majority of the sound waves.

The eldest son of the Tiger Clan Head frantically released layer after layer of light barriers, at the same time unfurling a Space Scroll in an attempt to flee for his life. "You think you can escape from me?!" Xiao Chen was cold-blooded in this moment. He had no intention of showing mercy; he had come for killing. A cold light shone in his eyes. The Hand of the Supreme Being struck nine times in succession. Not only were the divine light barriers shattered, but space itself was torn apart. The eldest son of the Tiger Clan, trying to escape through a Space Scroll, was forcibly shaken out of the spatial passage. Then, a giant hand descended, crushing him into a pulp—body and soul annihilated.

"Heavens!" The Second Elder on the immortal peak wailed. The Clan Head's eldest son was dead. His own days were surely numbered.

Little Keke was right at Xiao Chen's side. She forcibly opened the Paradise Lost, instantly covering the entire Eight Aspect Worlds. It was a perfect pair of tactical allies. The remaining nine experts were all drawn inside. The War Sword swept, and the heads of nine experts flew off. "Is the Tiger Clan full of nothing but trash? Is there not a single impressive figure among you?" Xiao Chen pressed up the immortal peak, shouting to all directions, "I know the current Clan Head of the Tiger Clan is a joke. What about the old-timers? Are any former Clan Heads or elders here? All of you, get out here!"

The rolling sound waves boomed, but no one answered. Only the mountains trembled. The Second Elder ground his teeth, "The Tiger Clan's strong figures are not here, or how could we let you run wild?"

"Where have they gone?"

"They went to assist the Ancestor in overcoming his tribulation. If they were here, you would have died ten times over."

"Even your Ancestor could not do anything to me, let alone the rest. In that case, this place will be completely destroyed!"

"You!" The Second Elder's eyes bulged with fury.

Xiao Chen sneered, "It's just cause and effect. We'll start with you."

Although he was a Deathless Longevity Realm expert, the Second Elder could not withstand Xiao Chen in his current state. However, he had no intention of fleeing. With such a disaster occurring, even if he escaped death now, he could not escape the Tiger Clan's punishment. Xiao Chen uttered the "Om" syllable divine sound, and all the Tiger Clan experts who had charged forward fell on the spot.

The Xirong Mountains were washed in blood. The immortal peak was turned into wasteland. When this news broke, it shocked the entire world. Xiao Chen, alone, had attacked a Tiger Clan stronghold, killing nearly a hundred experts. It swept across the Nine Provinces like a violent storm. But Xiao Chen himself felt no sense of accomplishment. He had not killed a single figure renowned throughout the world. It felt like striking wooden puppets—meaningless. Still, he found some psychological comfort. He had collected part of the blood debt owed for his villagers and for Yizhen.

Xiao Chen was covered in blood as he strode down the Xirong Mountains. Blood dripped from the War Sword in his hand. "One War Sword sweeping the world—the Tiger Clan is just the beginning!" Xiao Chen declared to the world. It was an obvious provocation to all Half-Ancestors.

Then, Xiao Chen turned his campaign to another location in Yongzhou—Mount Hua. It was now a vital stronghold of the Three Infants Grandmother's lineage. This strike set the whole world in motion, drawing countless eyes to watch. To single-handedly challenge a Half-Ancestor's lineage required immense courage! Flying past the ancient capital of Chang'an and two hundred li eastward lay Mount Hua in the west. The spiritual energy of the Nine Provinces was gradually growing richer. Mount Hua had long since become a blessed paradise. In the past, it was a sacred site where the world's strongest gathered to spar, but now it had been seized by the Three Infants Grandmother's lineage.

Since ancient times, Mount Hua had been the most perilous of paths. Xiao Chen climbed Mount Hua once more, but his feelings were entirely different. Spiritual energy was dense, immortal mist swirled. They had even carved out a dimension here. Strange flowers bloomed, divine herbs carpeted the ground, and immortal fruits weighed down the branches, filling the air with fragrance. Unexpectedly, it was eerily quiet. No figures were visible on Mount Hua. When Xiao Chen stepped into the dimension they had created, he immediately felt an immense killing aura surging to the heavens.

An ancient immortal formation was activated! The constellations shifted, ghosts wailed, and gods howled. The wind and clouds changed atop Mount Hua. Xiao Chen was trapped up there. "The Three Infants Grandmother is not here. Although the other experts have also left, Mount Hua is still not an easy place to break into," a dozen or so middle-aged cultivators emerged, gazing at the ancient immortal formation, which radiated sky-piercing murderous aura.

But they were disappointed. In just a few moments, the ancient immortal formation was shattered. The Yellow Clay Altar smashed in all directions, and the formation was broken in an instant. Cultivators in the distant sky stared at Mount Hua. They suddenly noticed that the boundless killing aura had vanished completely. They were all astonished. Half an hour later, they saw Xiao Chen soaked in blood striding out of Mount Hua carrying his War Sword, followed by a little divine beast who was gnawing on a spiritual herb. The world was deathly silent. After Xiao Chen walked down Mount Hua with his blood-dripping War Sword, the cultivators in the distance only then landed on the peak.

Blood mist drifted. All that met the eye were corpses. The sixty-odd cultivators left to guard the Mount Hua dimension had been completely annihilated—not a single one survived. Moreover, the herb garden that the Three Infants Grandmother's lineage had painstakingly cultivated was looted clean. Every heavenly and earthly spiritual essence had been taken, not a single plant left. And the alchemy hall stood wide open, already emptied. The world was shaken. Xiao Chen's methods were too bloodily ruthless. The death of his fellow villagers and the passing of his friend had driven his series of actions to an eerily cold extreme.

He rested for only three days before appearing again. The spiritual herbs he had obtained from Mount Hua had deified nine acupoints. Now, a full eighty-one major acupoints had completed their deified transformation, fully illuminating and connecting the hundreds of meridians throughout his entire body. His life essence grew even more abundant. The order for Xiao Chen's execution had been issued throughout the world, but it had now become a joke. The principal himself was on a rampage, yet no Half-Ancestor's disciples came to suppress him. Every one of Xiao Chen's moves drew the attention of the entire world.

"Xiao Chen! This is a fight to the death between us!" Ye Tian muttered to himself. Although he had been defeated twice by Xiao Chen, his fury now surged to the heavens, and his battle intent blazed. When he learned that the Mount Hua stronghold had been swept clean by Xiao Chen's War Sword—rivers of blood—he ground his teeth to powder. The Imperishable Imperial Heaven Bell slowly revolved above his head.

An earth-shaking battle was imminent. Xiao Chen declared to the world that he would single-handedly fight the Six Prodigies of the Cultivation World. In this battle, if the Yellow Clay Altar was used, Xiao Chen would consider himself defeated. He would rely entirely on his own cultivation to annihilate all six. Ye Tian, Fang Tianqi, and the others could not endure such contemptuous provocation. The Six Prodigies of the Cultivation World all moved, arriving at the ancient capital of Chang'an in Yongzhou. Chang'an was a renowned city of emperors in the Nine Provinces, an ancient capital of over ten dynasties.

To single-handedly fight the Six Prodigies without relying on the Yellow Clay Altar seemed like nothing but bluster. No one believed Xiao Chen could win. The Six Prodigies had already appeared in the ancient capital of Chang'an, but Xiao Chen had still not shown himself. Every inn in Chang'an was already full. The news that Xiao Chen was about to fight the Six Prodigies had spread across the world. Everyone was looking forward to this battle. Three days passed this way. Only on the appointed day did Xiao Chen finally appear in the sky over Chang'an, accompanied by the little divine beast Keke.

Many figures flew into the sky. Gradually, the distant sky was densely packed with figures—a vast, dark mass of spectators. The decisive battle was fought in the skies above the ancient capital of Chang'an. It was a formally arranged battle of immense scale, stirring the wind and clouds of the entire world. "I was but a commoner, seeking only to cultivate for immortality. But I was forced into violent action." Xiao Chen pointed at the six figures in the sky. "Today, I will settle things with you. Then, I will ring the death knell for those Half-Ancestors."

The Imperishable Imperial Heaven Bell chimed, its sound clear and far-reaching, echoing over a hundred li, resounding through the sky above the ancient capital. Ye Tian stepped forward and answered only with a cold snort. "Without the Yellow Clay Altar, any one of us could fight you alone. No one fears you." Another of the Six Prodigies stepped out into the void. Above his head, an Asura Divine Umbrella pulsed with sky-piercing divine light, slowly revolving as chaotic mist surged forth. He announced his name: "I am Ling Xuyan." Radiant jade light flared. Fang Tianqi drove his Divine Palace forward, but no introduction was needed—Xiao Chen already knew him.

These three all possessed spiritual treasures protecting them, which seemed no weaker than Half-Ancestor artifacts. They were all powerful opponents. As the fourth figure walked forward through the void, Xiao Chen's heart skipped a beat. He sensed danger. "My name is Shao." This man carried a longbow on his back. Though the bow seemed unremarkable, its archaic simplicity was wreathed in a faint murderous aura that seemed to be there and not there. In his quiver, nine jet-black arrows exuded a soul-shaking aura of death. The appearance of the fifth figure deepened Xiao Chen's unease. Nine bronze cauldrons hovered around him, emanating an ancient and time-worn aura, giving an immense feeling of pressure, as if the vast starry sky lay just before his eyes. "My name is Xia Ding."

The nine bronze tripods slowly revolved around him, forming an invisible domain into which outsiders could not approach half a step. Xiao Chen studied the fourth and fifth men. Could they be descendants of Hou Yi and Yu the Great? Were those nine cauldrons and that longbow the artifacts of those two Half-Ancestors? The sixth figure carried no artifact. He stepped forward empty-handed. "My name is Wu." This man also gave Xiao Chen a dangerous feeling, as if he himself was a powerful artifact.