By the time Zi Yao's tailbone crashed into the rubble of her underground city, her blood had already formed a puddle underneath her. Her mouth stayed open, and her eyes trembled still, as if refusing to accept that after giving it all she had and braving all of the East's taboos, she still fell to a single blow.
Typically, thanks to her third-order Blood Energy and many body modifications, Zi Yao's wound should have healed by now. It didn't. Worse, unlike the Blood Shards before, the wound inflicted by the Diabolic Shard oozed with eerie forces that spread unspeakable energies throughout Zi Yao's body.
"Just 100 years...no, even less. If the Evil Blood Tree was complete I...would have never lost!" Fighting through her wound, Zi Yao made a bold claim. Her abominations, all controlled by her mutant core, entered a stasis—paralyzed due to the lingering diabolic energies that infested the core.
The Evil Blood Tree didn't have the same luck. Xinzi activated the Swallowing Skill, uprooting the 300 meters-long tree, and devouring it in his Klesha Heart. Back to normal size, the Thousand Soul Immolation Flag returned to Xinzi's side, standing on top of the Blood Beast's back.
"Maybe, maybe not. Zi Yao, you're smart enough to know that in this world, the result is the only truth. Could, would, ifs and whys are absolutely irrelevant.
If you want the antidote, you know where to find me. Humble yourself, and I might just make you my wife—joking, joking. Until then, see ya." With a theatrical spin, Xinzi turned his back to Zi Yao. The Blood Beast followed its master's lead, glancing towards the Gorge of Thousand Venoms.
No. By the time Xinzi was done with the renovations, that name would no longer be appropriate. A whirlwind of blood energy wrapped Xinzi, Zi Feng, the Blood Beast, 10,000 White Immortal Sect goons, as well as the comatose Hanxing and Guang Fanghu. Realizing that the enemy was about to vacate the premises, Zi Yao panicked.
"No...I can't allow him to leave without giving me the antidote! Don't you...dare!" Fighting through the wounds, Zi Yao channeled her cultivation in a desperate attempt to chase the Bloodstone Patriarch.
Creating the Withered Wood Ecstasy, scheming against Huo Jin, the abominable experiments, tolerating Hanxing's existence and planning future marriage alliances, everything that Zi Yao had done till now was for the resurgence and glory of the Nightmare Ridge's Zi clan. For her clan to once again shake the world, and go farther than their ancestor could ever bring them, there was no trial or condemnation that Zi Yao wasn't willing to endure.
But of what use were these sacrifices if she could never again stand in the vicinity of a Zi clansman? She didn't even know how far or close she had to be for the Blood Poison to obliterate her clansmen. The fate of the Purple Veils flashed in Zi Yao's mind, and after reducing her tail size to conserve the bits of energy she had left, she slithered towards Xinzi.
"Wait, wait, why should I give you the choice to come or not? Alright, Yao'er, since you insist, you're coming with me," taking the stance of a magnanimous senior, Xinzi said, and without giving Zi Yao time to argue against his wisdom, our monk activated the Swallowing Skill.
"Bastard, what are you doing? Let go of me!" Unable to display her cultivation base, Zi Yao turned helpless before Xinzi's Swallowing Skill—flailing her hands to no avail. The suction dragged her through the air, keeping her trapped underneath the Blood Beast.
At this time, Xinzi sent the Armored Lion King a mental message, and with the Blood Beast leading the way, flew back to his lair. Bound to Zi Yao, the abominations followed quietly, joining the Bloodstone Patriarch's infernal club.
Underneath the collapsed White Immortal Sect, the mangled bodies of elite disciples and elders lay on top of rubble. Of the 600 elite disciples, not one had come out unscathed, and 200 didn't survive the inners and outers' betrayal. The elders had better luck, going from 200 to 187. Still, they too had suffered grievous wounds. Golden Cores cracked, Pulses turned unstable, and left without medical attention, it wouldn't be long before the survivors perished as well.
At that time, a fanciful seven-colored cloud appeared in the sky, carrying a tall and herculean monk dressed in the white monastic robes that blended the Clear Heart Monastery's design with the White Immortal Sect's colors. If not Xinzi, who else could it be?
Six fox cubs hovered by his side, barking and dancing in delight. But though he relished the cubs' antics, on this occasion, our monk couldn't match their enthusiasm. His eyes stretched at the White Immortal Sect's ruins, confusion, shock and fear twisting his face while his body reeled in the sky, overwhelmed by what it saw.
"Who...what...how? Someone...explain to me...WHO DESTROYED MY WHITE IMMORTAL SECT?!" Xinzi's roar shook the land. His hands balled into tight fists, and he raised his eyes at the sky, demanding answers from the Heavens.
"Wooo, wooo!" Ever connected to their dad's mental state, the Mini Overlords realized that it was time to display their congenital acting skills, inherited from the best of the best: Xinzi himself. Their foxy cries joined their daddy's rage, and they too glanced at the sky, sniffing at the Heavens.
"Ugh...ughhh!" Carried by minuscule quantities of Spiritual Qi, a barely audible groan echoed. Xinzi spread his Spiritual Sense out, locating the ruined underground city that this groan came from. Without delay, our monk dropped from the sky, landing before the maimed elites and elders like an emissary of sacred justice.
"Elder Dong? Elder Dong! What happened here? Please...explain the situation!" Xinzi kneeled by the groaning elder's side, holding his bloodied hand. Pain and confusion shined in his eyes, making those elders and elite disciples that once resented his rise and booty-snatching methods look at him with sorrowful gazes.
"Xin...zi. What a pity. The...White Immortal Sect...couldn't nurture your potential. It's over, we've lost."
"Junior brother, it's too late for us. Save yourself, so the White Immortal Sect...can survive through you!"
"Was it an enemy sect? An army? Please say something!" Unwilling to accept the pleas, Xinzi held on the elder's hands, urging him for answers. The maimed old man heaved a long sigh.
"An army? No, just one man. 6,000 years of legacy, destroyed by a single man. He calls himself the Bloodstone Patriarch. His cultivation base is deep, and his strength unfathomable. The great elder and sect masters, all the disciples united in the Big Dipper Sword Arrary, and we still got beat down like a squad of raggedy dogs!" As he recalled the sect's tragic fall, the Dong elder's eyes turned moist, but aware that they didn't have the qualifications to dream of retaliation, he lowered his head, and his arms went limp.
Another elder crawled towards Xinzi, pushing his palm against our monk's temple, and pouring his memories into Xinzi's mind. All the previous events flashed before him, and his eyes went bloodshot.
"Bloodstone Patriarch? Good, very good! In this life, if I don't slice that abominable fiend into 10,000 pieces, I am not worthy of being human!"
"Xinzi, you're not his match! Even if you can find Chun Xu, achieve what all predecessors failed to, and cultivate the Yin-Yang Sword Array to the highest level, I'm not sure that you would have a shot."
"So what if I am not his match? I still have to fight! Don't worry, in my last adventure, I've acquired many mysterious techniques and can not only heal all your wounds, but also help you all cultivate an unparalleled supreme skill!" Xinzi refused to balk. His contagious zeal galvanized the maimed disciples, making them picture a world where their junior brother led them to crusade against the Gorge of Thousand Venoms!
