The clear voice was wispy like smoke, yet resounded in every inch of the heavens and earth, causing one to be unable to determine exactly where the owner of the voice was hiding.

Yonglin’s heart went cold and the flames of rage subsided like tidewater, and he instantly became calm and serious as he swept the surroundings with his gaze and said with a low voice, “Since you know my nickname, then what’s the point of hiding yourself?”

“Hiding? Why would I need to hide when dealing with a devil like you?” Amidst the wispy and clear voice, a cloud that was white as snow swiftly condensed before transforming into a tall, thin, and handsome middle aged man with three strings of long beard beneath his jaw. His stood in the sky with his hands behind his back as if he’d fused into one with the heavens and the earth, and his entire body seemed to be illusory.

“The Earthly Heaven Sect’s Master, Cao Zhiqiu!” Yonglin’s pupils dilated as his heart sank to the bottom, and there was only a single thought within his mind — Flee!

However, he instantly felt despair when his gaze swept the surroundings, as a group of cultivators had appeared all around him. There were young and old, male and female amongst these cultivators, and all of their auras were formidable and revealed a strength that wasn’t lower than the Rebirth Realm!

Moreover, Yonglin had already discerned that besides the few Earthly Immortal Realm experts that had shut themselves away from the world for a few thousand years, all the higher-ups of the Earthly Heaven Sect had actually been mobilized at this moment.

I’m doomed!

I’ll probably be unable to escape calamity today!

Yonglin gave up completely, and the bitterness in his heart was to the extreme as he looked at Sikong Hen’s headless corpse. The child he watched grow up had died, and he himself wouldn’t live for long.

“20 years ago, my Junior Sister, Miao Qing, suffered all kinds of humiliation from you before being tortured to death. I, Cao Zhiqiu, vowed that day that I wouldn’t rest until I annihilated you, Cheng Yonglin. This vow has been like an inner demon that bitterly tortured me for 20 years, causing me to be unable to eat or sleep in peace and be unable to step into the Earthly Immortal Realm for a long time.” Cao Zhiqiu’s eyes were like the night sky as scenes changed constantly within it, yet his voice was extremely flat as if he was speaking of an extremely ordinary matter. “Now, my chance has finally come. So long as I kill you, my inner demons will be eliminated, and advancing to the Earthly Immortal Realm wouldn’t be far beyond reach for me any longer.”

Yonglin utterly never imagined that a female disciple of the Earthly Immortal Sect that he’d brutally murdered all those years ago would actually cause Cao Zhiqiu to make such a heavy vow. At this moment, he couldn’t help but be horrified as he listened to Cao Zhiqiu’s voice that was flat and emotionless, and his entire body went cold, as if he’d fallen into a pit of ice.

“Hmph! If you want to kill me, then kill me! What’s with all the nonsense?” Yonglin’s figure shook as the baleful qi in his body gushed out violent like the tide, and then he turned around to try and break out of the encirclement. Even though he knew that he would die for sure, he still wanted to try, otherwise he would be disgruntled.

“Can you escape?” A trace of icy cold disdain suffused the corners of Cao Zhiqiu’s mouth as he took a step forward in the air, and his figure moved between the void and reality, causing his tall and thin figure to have already teleported to arrive before Yonglin in the next moment, then he raised his hand before slapping it down.

An extremely simple palm strike that didn’t contain the slightest aura of strength, yet the heavens and the earth seemed to have become a part of this palm, and it carried the might of the heavens and the earth, causing one to be unable to resist nor avoid it.

Yonglin roared loudly as he utilized all the energy in his entire body and condensed it within his arms before using them to block before him. But all of this was only a futile effort, as Cao Zhiqiu’s palm directly shattered his arms before pressing down onto his chest.

Bang!

His bones, tendons, and flesh shattered inch by inch as Yonglin’s entire body was like a piece of cloth that had been torn apart, and he transformed into countless tiny pieces of bloody mush that sprayed in the air. An expert at the Rebirth Realm that looked down upon the world was actually unable to resist even a single strike of Cao Zhiqiu’s, and he instantly lost his life and died extremely tragically.

“20 years... I’ve finally freed myself...” Cao Zhiqiu withdrew his palm and his entire bearing seemed to have changed completely. It was as if he’d broken the shackles on his heart, causing him to seem even more wispy and like a lonely pine tree that held up the heavens. No matter how the heavens and the earth changed or how the times changed, he would remain unshakeable, and this change caused him to faintly emit a trace of an immortal aura.

“Congratulations Sect Master for eliminating your inner demons. You’ll surely ascend the Earthly Immortal Realm in the future and strive to obtain immortality from the heavens!” All the Rebirth Realm elders of the Earthly Heaven Sect bowed and congratulated him successively.

Cao Zhiqiu smiled, and then his gaze swept out to descend onto a cold young man and said with a smile. “Moxuan, you’ve done an extraordinary service today. Once we’ve returned to the sect, Master will personally forge a heaven shaking sword for you to assist you in shining brightly in the Allstar Meeting and spreading the might of my Earthly Heaven Sect!”

This person was Lin Moxuan. He was slightly stunned before kneeling and bowing to the ground, and his voice carried a trace of excitement. “Thank you, Master, for your great kindness!”

It was because of coincidental good luck that he’d happen to see Sikong Hen leading a group of Golden Core Realm disciples and charging out of the city last night during the rainstorm, and he had the impulse to follow. Never had he imagined that the target Sikong Hen was pursuing would actually be his ‘old friend’ Chen Xi. So he immediately concealed himself with the intention of waiting for the right moment to take action. Not only did he want to reclaim his own Magic Treasure, he wanted to take possession of all the treasures in Chen Xi’s possession.

However, when he witnessed Chen Xi killed a few Golden Core Realm disciples of the Sikong Clan in the time of a few breaths before fighting equally with Yonglin who was at the Rebirth Realm with a cultivation at the perfection-stage of the Golden Hall Realm, he was instantly boundlessly astounded in his heart and almost didn’t dare believe his eyes. A fact like this caused him to have no choice but to extinguish the thoughts in his heart.

But, he was also unwilling to let it go, so he sent a transmission jade slip back to the sect and sought to rely on the strength of the sect to annihilate Chen Xi. In this way, even though he would be unable to monopolize all the treasures in Chen Xi’s possession, it would be considered to be a great merit.

As expected, when he heard the Sect Master wanted to personally forge a sword for him, Lin Moxuan knew that he’d made the right decision this time. But there was still a trace of regret in his heart because Chen Xi had already fled when the Sect Master rushed over. In this way, his intentions of wanting to obtain the treasures in Chen Xi’s possession had become a dream.

“Are you feeling regretful that you weren’t able to kill Chen Xi?” Suddenly, Cao Zhiqiu arrived by Lin Moxuan’s side and sighed. “That little fellow can’t be killed. At least, he can’t die at the hand of an old fellow like me. Otherwise, it will surely cause a calamity of annihilation for my Earthly Heaven Sect.”

Lin Moxuan was stunned and seemed to not dare believe it, and then he seemed to have thought of something. “What Master means is only us juniors can make a move against him?”

A trace of praise flashed within Cao Zhiqiu’s eyes. “Exactly. It’s considered as a spar amongst those of these same generation if all of you make a move against him, and that kid can only blame his skills for being inferior if he died. But if we made a move against him, it would be an act of the old bullying the young. At that time, even if we kill that kid, the consequences would be unimaginable.”

Lin Moxuan gathered up the courage and asked. “Master, exactly what background does that fellow possess? Why are even you extremely afraid of him?”

Cao Zhiqiu sighed. “It isn’t only me, I’m afraid all of the old fellows in the entire Darchu Dynasty don’t dare act recklessly. Alas, you wouldn’t understand even if I told you. You’ll naturally understand if you have the chance to enter the Dark Reverie.”

“Even all the old fellows in the Darchu Dynasty don’t dare act recklessly?” Lin Moxuan instantly seemed as if he was struck by lightning, and he felt incapable of comprehending the meaning behind it.

“Let’s go. The Sikong Clan actually dares to harbor Cheng Yonglin for 20 years, and I ought to make them pay properly for this debt!” Even though Cao Zhiqiu’s tone was flat, yet it revealed a murderous feeling.

Lin Moxuan knew that even if the Sikong Clan wasn’t annihilated because of this, the vitality of the clan would suffer extreme harm.

————

The atmosphere in the Sikong Clan’s discussion room was heavy to the point it was suffocating.

The current Patriarch, Sikong Xiaoyun, sat upright and silently at the center, and even though he kept silent, his heavy, fierce, and dignified face contained an ominous expression that terrified all the elders of in the room to the point of being silent like cicadas in the winter.

Sikong Hua stood at the furthermost edge with an anxious and fearful expression as if he was sitting on a carpet of needles.

Just moments ago, the scouts had send news back that his brother Sikong Hen and the 18 Golden Core Realm disciples of the clan had been killed, and even the Rebirth Realm expert, Uncle Yonglin, had perished.

This was undoubtedly an extremely heavy blow to the entire Sikong Clan, yet it wasn’t to the extent of causing the entire clan to fall. Presently, the thing that caused everyone in the entire Sikong Clan to be uneasy was the Earthly Heaven Sect had actually sent out an order that instructed the Sikong Clan to hand over 50% of the clan’s resources, and the deadline was three days and without any room for delay.

That was 50% of the clan’s resources! If they were to hand it over, the Sikong Clan would probably become a second rate clan of Maple Leaf City overnight! A blow like this was something they were utterly unable to accept.

“Since Hen’er is dead, foster Hua’er. Since our resources are gone, we’ll temporarily go into seclusion for a period of time. The Earthly Heaven Sect doesn’t have the intention of annihilating our clan. So long as we’re alive, everything else can be reclaimed. Xiaoyun, do you understand what I mean?” Right when the atmosphere in the room become heavier and heavier, and pressed down onto everyone to the point they were unable to catch their breath, an aged and heavy voice suddenly resounded out in the room, and every single word spoke was like muffled thunder that enlightened the benighted.

Ancestor!

The expressions of everyone rose inspirit when they heard this, yet when they distinguished the meaning within the Ancestor’s words, they felt dejected and powerless.

“Don’t worry Ancestor, I know what to do. I’m sorry for troubling you with the incident this time.” Sikong Xiaoyun took a deep breath as he stood up and cupped his hands towards the back of the room.

The aged and heavy voice sighed deeply and didn’t say anything further before vanishing without a trace, and it was as if he’d never appeared.

“From today onward, everyone is prohibited from taking a step out of the clan!

“From today onward, Hua’er will enter the restricted area of the clan to cultivate the Corrosion Dao Insight and replace Hen’er, and he must advance to the Golden Core Realm within a year to participate in the Allstar Meeting.”

“Remember this humiliation and work courageously to change it. Everyone, let’s strive for it together!”

Numerous orders flew out from Sikong Xiaoyun’s mouth and resounded in the discussion room. When everyone received their orders and left, only Sikong Hua and Sikong Xiaoyun remained. Sikong Xiaoyun couldn’t endure it any longer and sat back dejectedly on his char as dense exhaustions gushed out from between his brows, and he seemed as if he’d aged greatly.

“Father!” Sikong Hua felt extremely pained in his heart when he saw this scene, and then he gnashed his teeth and said, “All of this is because of that damnable Chen Xi. If it wasn’t for him, how could big brother have died? How could Uncle Yonglin’s tracks have been exposed? How could the Earthly Heaven Sect have come looking for trouble with us? Don’t worry Father, I’ll surely kill him and take revenge for big brother one day!”

Slap!

Sikong Xiaoyun slapped Sikong Hua as he said with a low voice. “If you dare speak like that again when you don’t have the sufficient strength, I’ll cripple you myself!”

Sikong Hua completely disregarded his swollen face and had a livid expression as his eyes emitted a rare ruthless feeling, and then he puckered his lips and didn’t say anything further before turning around and leaving. However, he said word for word in his heart, Father, don’t worry. I’ll surely give you a great shock at the moment I walk out of the restricted area one year from now, and I’ll make you personally allow me to seek revenge from Chen Xi!

————

In a quiet and elegant room in the Treasure Heaven Pavilion.

“He killed so many people and was even able to safely escape under the eyes of the Earthly Heaven Sect. This fellow is really a bastard! His strength is so formidable, yet he didn’t tell me and made me worry for nothing...” As she put down the information that had just been sent over, Ya Qing’s red lips curled up slightly as her starry eyes sparkled, and her white and delicate face was in high spirits. She couldn’t endure it any longer and burst into laughter, and her voice was musical and pleasant to the ear like the sounds of nature.

The eyes of the silent Xin Huan who stood at the side flashed with a trace of surprise that vanished swiftly as he looked at the stack of information on the table.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

“But where is this fellow now? He didn’t even notify me before leaving. Such a heartless bastard, a total bastard...” Ya Qing supported her curved and smooth chin with her hand as her starry eyes looked out the window, and the night sky that was fully studded by stars was deep like her eyes.