Blood Robe had spoken harsh words, using ice eggs to "lure" the prodigies of Guiyu Heaven in search of a battle.
Yet when they arrived, Blood Robe was nowhere to be seen.
They searched for a long time without finding a trace of him.
"And here we thought you had some skill! Now that we're here, you're hiding like a coward?"
The prodigies shouted in all directions across the Huayue curious land, practically wanting to overturn the entire place to dig Blood Robe out.
Though they came with fierce momentum, they stuck closely together in groups of three to five, not daring to separate.
They feared that Blood Robe was lurking in the shadows, waiting for them to be isolated before ambushing them.
And so, they hurled curses at Blood Robe to force him into the open.
"Is this all you've got? And you're called the second greatest prodigy of Black Demon Abyss? Compared to Hei Jian, you fall far short!"
Unfortunately, Qi Yuan did not hear their furious curses in the slightest.
Possessing Absolute Adaptation, he was fast asleep.
Even when their insults reached his ears, Absolute Adaptation treated them like "deleting bad comments," filtering them right out.
Consequently, he had no idea anyone was cussing at him.
Naturally, once he woke up and focused his senses, he would be able to detect the curses.
Mo Zhong stood in midair, his expression tinged with dissatisfaction. "Since when did these fellows become so... genteel?"
He was displeased with his fellow cultivators from Guiyu Heaven.
Their insults toward Blood Robe were far too polite.
Accusations like being cowardly or clinging to life simply failed to cut to the core.
Of course, Mo Zhong understood: these prodigies were playing it safe, none wanting to be the first to die.
After all, Blood Robe had slain Mona.
If he was hiding in the dark, whichever of them hurled the nastiest insult would likely become his target in a surprise ambush.
So while they were all shouting, none cursed with real venom.
This left Mo Zhong deeply unsatisfied.
"Fang Xue, you curse at Blood Robe. Stay steady, be bold, and I'll protect you from the side," Mo Zhong said.
Prodigies like them cared about their dignity.
Even if they cursed boldly, they wouldn't stoop too low.
At most, they would use passive-aggressive, sarcastic jabs that easily broke someone's composure.
"Alright." Holding a Ten Thousand Soul Banner, Fang Xue appeared calm. He swept his gaze across his surroundings and finally faced the southwest, letting out a roar that sounded like rolling thunder:
"Blood Robe, fuck your mother!"
The roar reverberated across the land.
Every prodigy in the Huayue curious land heard this voice tear through the air like a sandstorm, and they involuntarily turned their heads toward Fang Xue.
This guy... actually had the guts to say that!
Even Mo Zhong hadn't expected Fang Xue to be so crude and direct.
After all, they were immortal cultivators. While killing was routine, trading verbal barbs was still supposed to carry an air of transcendent poise.
Someone who cursed like Fang Xue was extraordinarily rare.
"Ahem, no matter. With me shielding you, let's see if this Blood Robe can still endure it!"
Mo Zhong billowed his gold-threaded sleeves, standing beside Fang Xue as imposing as a colossus.
Meanwhile, within the array.
Qi Yuan, who had been dozing off, suddenly snapped his eyes open.
"Holy shit. I just took a nap, and carelessly lost my mom?"
"Wait, I don't even have a mom in the first place!"
"When hitting someone, don't hit their face; when cursing someone, don't curse their mom! That crosses the line!"
Qi Yuan was furious.
He hadn't been this angry in a long time.
He had always been a man of fine morals.
When someone insulted him alone, he would return the favor generously by insulting their entire family.
Magnanimous, loyal, kindhearted, right?
Yet good people got walked over, just as gentle horses got ridden.
"Looks like I can't sleep in anymore..."
Without hesitation, the sluggishness about Qi Yuan vanished like smoke.
"Grand Plan and Petty Plan, initiate simultaneously!"
On the other side, after Fang Xue finished shouting his insult, more than a dozen prodigies gathered around him, encircling and guarding him closely.
Farther away, many other prodigies kept their eyes fixed on this spot.
They scanned their surroundings warily.
"Blood Robe truly is spineless. Even after being cursed like that, he still doesn't dare show himself!"
"Hmph, with so many of us guarding Fang Xue, if he dares appear, he'd only be seeking death!"
"Even when the Supreme Venerables were young, they might not have been able to defeat all of us!" one prodigy claimed proudly.
In their eyes, while the Supreme Venerables were stronger and had walked further, they weren't necessarily superior when they were young.
"This Blood Robe can indeed keep his cool. He's a tough customer!" Mo Zhong said gravely.
Only those who could stay calm under pressure could achieve great things.
True prodigies remained unfazed even if mountains collapsed before their eyes.
Yet the moment his words fell, a sword ray so fierce and sharp that it chilled the soul burst forth.
"Creep, don't you have a mom?"
"What, is your mom just your biological mom?"
"Can't you show some respect?"
The barrage of three retorts arrived even faster than the sword ray.
All the prodigies were shaken by the sight.
"Blood Robe has appeared!"
"What a terrifying sword!"
"Kill him!"
Without hesitation, over thirty prodigies surged toward Blood Robe with murderous frenzy.
"Where do you think you're going, Blood Robe?"
"Leave the eggs behind!"
Countless Dao arts and immortal spells detonated in an endless barrage.
Resonances of the Great Dao echoed as immortal fire rained down.
Faced with such an onslaught unleashed simultaneously, even Mo Zhong would have had no choice but to turn tail and flee.
Yet Qi Yuan stood completely still.
"Mere pseudo-gods dare act so arrogant?"
They couldn't even create a world, yet they called themselves Yin Gods!
It was enough to make Qi Yuan laugh his head off!
Without the slightest hesitation, his formidable sword ray suddenly accelerated.
From high above the clouds of the nine heavens, a beam of cold light forced all evils to retreat.
"Kill," Qi Yuan uttered softly.
With his strength, slaying someone like Fang Xue didn't even require invoking a Supreme Ultimate Principle.
Just an ordinary thrust of his sword was something these prodigies could neither comprehend nor block.
The mighty strike effortlessly bypassed dozens of prodigies and plunged straight into Fang Xue's throat.
This scene made Mo Zhong's face drain of color, and he stacked his defensive arts to the absolute limit.
The other prodigies were visibly bewildered, unable to fathom how Blood Robe had pulled this off.
Meanwhile, Fang Xue's aura plummeted instantly; he was as dead as dead could be.
All the prodigies attacking Qi Yuan froze in mid-stride, staring at him in sheer terror.
At the same time, they secretly counted their blessings that they hadn't hurled such vulgar insults like Fang Xue had.
Right then, from the figure clad in blood-red robes, a hearty voice rang out:
"'Kill a man every ten steps, leave no trace across a thousand miles.'
"Gentlemen, your eggs are in my hands. Whoever wants eggs... come find me."
Qi Yuan's figure vanished on the spot.
The prodigies blinked in surprise, then immediately gave chase in a frenzy.
"After him! He's already at the end of his tether!"
"Scoundrel, don't even think of running!"
These cultivators were hardly any different from gamers on the Blue Star—all that was missing was shouting, "He's one shot!"
When Qi Yuan unleashed his might, they were terrified and hesitant.
Yet the moment he vanished, they chased faster than anyone.
After all, if Blood Robe was truly so powerful as to be invincible, he wouldn't have fled.
And in their reasoning, slaying Fang Xue must have severely drained his vitality.
Thus began an exhilarating chase. Qi Yuan leisurely drifted forward, all while putting on an act of panicked urgency.
"You're ganging up on me! It's not a fair win!"
"If you have the guts, face me one on one!"
"Oh dear, I'm out of gas! Mind letting me refuel before we race again?"
He fled in front while dozens of prodigies, plus hundreds of Great Venerables, pursued him madly from behind.
"Leave the eggs behind!"
A grand chase unfolded across the Huayue curious land.
Qi Yuan was treating it entirely like a game.
Otherwise, he could have effortlessly slaughtered every last one of these prodigies.
Yet he held back, because the Petty Plan was meant to pave the way for the Grand Plan.
His target had never been these prodigies, but... the Yang Gods!
Outside the firmament, Ziyuan Feng stood watching the Huayue curious land closely.
"After all this time, the scent of blood has finally spread. Blood Robe has finally made his move."
Although he couldn't see what was happening inside the Huayue curious land, he could gauge it from the fluctuations.
For a long stretch earlier, there hadn't been any scent of blood, only varied buzzing noises.
That meant Blood Robe had been lying low.
That made sense; he didn't believe Blood Robe could face dozens of prodigies simultaneously in a head-on clash either.
Lying in wait for a surprise attack was the smart move.
Now that blood aura had finally drifted out, he also sensed a multitude of dense spiritual energy ripples.
Evidently, Blood Robe had struck, killed someone, and withdrawn.
"I wonder how long this contest will take to conclude," Ziyuan Feng remarked with a sigh.
At the same time, he cast his gaze far into the distance.
A Yang God from Guiyu Heaven lay waiting there.
The two kept a safe distance, neither intending to make a move.
The deployment of Yang Gods from either side affected the entire balance of power, so Ziyuan Feng was not worried about an Ultimate Principle Yang God targeting him.
If that happened, there would naturally be Yang Gods on his side to help him counter the Yang Gods of Ghost Pass.
Just then, a transmission arrived, and Ziyuan Feng's expression suddenly brightened with joy.
"Bing Jian has emerged from seclusion?"
"An adapted version of the Ancestral Blood Art has appeared?"
"And it actually came from... Blood Robe's hands?"
With the adapted Ancestral Blood Art in hand, Ziyuan Feng examined it closely.
The more he read, the more he sensed its profound wonders.
"This Blood Robe truly is a genius! No wonder the Ancestor holds him in such high regard. If I had cultivated this Ancestral Blood Art earlier, I'd probably have reached the eleventh layer by now!"
"This is... simply marvelous!"
"The only fly in the ointment is that cultivating it requires... Divine Shedding."
Testing whether there were any flaws in the Ancestral Blood Art was easy enough: one only needed to see if their bloodline resisted or rejected it.
If the bloodline didn't reject it, that proved the Ancestral Blood Art was safe.
This modified Ancestral Blood Art nearly doubled both its power and cultivation speed.
How could he not be tempted?
"Since I have nothing better to do right now... why not cultivate it a bit?"
"Besides, with so many people undergoing Divine Shedding, who's going to pay attention to me?" Ziyuan Feng thought to himself.
Suddenly, a thought struck him, and his expression shifted slightly.
"Could the Ancestor hold Blood Robe in such high esteem because... he already knew Blood Robe possessed this Ancestral Blood Art?"
Ziyuan Feng suddenly felt that he had uncovered the truth.
"Could it be... that the Ancestor has already... undergone Divine Shedding?"
At this thought, his eyes gleamed.
If even the Ancestor could undergo Divine Shedding, what was wrong with him doing it too?
Meanwhile, in Ziyuan Heaven, Ancestor Ziyuan looked at the technique in his hands, his expression shifting repeatedly. "This fellow... having such a fine technique, yet he didn't present it to honor me first!"
He felt rather displeased.
Blood Robe had actually kept it hidden from him!
He had only learned of this benefit from others.
When someone asked if he knew about it, he had to save face by bluffing, claiming he had known all along and had already cultivated it.
At the time, that Yang God Heavenly Venerable had looked at him with an odd expression, leaving Ancestor Ziyuan somewhat puzzled.
Now that he had the complete technique in hand, he understood why the man had given him such a strange look.
"Sigh. With the Linya Molt approaching, this old man needs to boost his strength, or else... it might be difficult to protect Blood Robe's growth."
"Laying an egg... isn't that big a deal."
After hesitating for a moment, Ancestor Ziyuan also began cultivating this adapted version of the Ancestral Blood Art.
He dared not pursue ordinary cultivation any further, as that would trigger the descent of the Root Demon Tribulation.
However, the improvement brought by this adapted Ancestral Blood Art lay not only in realm, but also in bloodline.
Improvements in bloodline would not trigger a Root Demon Tribulation.
"What a pity. If I were a Supreme Venerable, would Guiyu Heaven dare ambush Blood Robe?"
"Why would this old man have needed to ask that old fellow for help? I would have charged straight into Guiyu Heaven back then!"
Lamenting to himself, Ancestor Ziyuan began his "humiliating" cultivation.
Chapter 459