He caught a glimpse of the golden patterns still shimmering on his palm and narrowed his eyes. "What treasures are you hiding? Hand them over!"
Yun Che tightened his grip on the jade pendant and stepped back, his back pressed against the cold wall. The sudden chill alerted him to the unusual tension in his body; he swore to protect the only keepsake his father had left him, refusing to let it fall into anyone else's hands.
Zhou Lan saw him standing still and sneered, "What are you waiting for? Are you deaf, you useless fool?"
The bloodline within Yun Che surged, and he felt a murderous intent burning like wildfire.
"Looking for death!" Zhou Lan drew his sword and slashed at him, the spiritual energy of Body Refinement Level Five enveloping the blade, causing dust to rain down from the beams above.
Instead of retreating, Yun Che advanced.
The first move of Nine Thunderclaps, "Thunderous Strike at Heaven's Gate," erupted forth—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of his punches exploded seven times, two more than usual!
Zhou Lan's sword was deflected by three inches, and he heard a distinct crack from his shoulder blade.
"Impossible!" He snarled as he staggered back. "You’re clearly a—"
Before he could finish, the second punch landed.
The nine thunderous booms roared like thunderclaps, causing the beams of the shed to splinter and break!
Zhou Lan crashed through the wall like a broken sack, landing in a pool of blood in the courtyard.
Yun Che stepped over the rubble as he emerged.
Under the moonlight, Xing Wen's presence spread from his palm to his neck, looking otherworldly like a demon.
The servant quarters fell into dead silence.
Disciples who rushed over stood frozen in place, as if witnessing a demon crawling out from hell.
Yun Che bent down to pick up Zhou Lan's sword and flicked its edge lightly.
"Body Refinement Level Five? It's nothing special."
Two hours later, at Lingxiao Pavilion's Discipline Hall.
"To harm fellow disciples must be punished!"
Elder Xing's voice fell like cold iron hitting the ground. Twelve binding spirit locks shot through the air, but Yun Che narrowly evaded them with his strange movements.
Xing Wen felt a burning sensation beneath his skin, countless techniques flashing through his consciousness—
"Flowing Wind Steps," "Heavenly Gang Sword Technique," "Devouring Demon Scripture"…
"This child is peculiar!" Elder Xing's pupils constricted. "Form the Extermination Evil Formation!"
Yun Che bit down on his tongue, using the pain to suppress Xing Wen's turmoil. He could not die here! The truth behind the massacre, the mystery of his bloodline… so many enigmas awaited to be unraveled!
Suddenly, the jade pendant burst forth with a brilliant light. Yun Che shot towards the mountain gate's barrier like an arrow released from its bow. At the moment he collided with Xing Wen and the formation, a rift tore open!
"Stop him!"
Hundreds of sword lights surged towards him, but upon reaching Xing Wen, they vanished as if into a bottomless sea. Yun Che leaped off the thousand-foot cliff.
As the fierce wind filled his robes, he looked up at the peak of the main mountain—
The figure in white snow attire that had once seemed unattainable stood by the railing, her fingertips resonating with Qin Yin.
Xiao Qingli.
The daughter of the Lingxiao Pavilion's master, destined to be intertwined with his fate.
Yun Che fell through the storm.
The sharp howling filled his ears, and before him lay boundless darkness. The gnarled branches protruding from the cliff face clawed at his robes, blood streaking down his back. He clutched the jade pendant tightly; Xing Wen burned within him, forcing back some of the chill.
"Am I going to die here…"
In his hazy consciousness, his father's dying roar intertwined with Zhou Lan's sinister laughter echoed in his mind. Suddenly, Xing Wen erupted violently; nine blood lines exploded from his palm, attaching to the cliff face like a spider’s web—
Boom!
The descent abruptly halted. Yun Che hung suspended between the sheer cliffs, a chilling wail rising from the abyss below, as if ten thousand ghosts were weeping together.
"Wujian Cliff…" he felt a shiver run down his spine.
This place was a forbidden area of the Underworld; it was said that ancient Demon Remains were suppressed at the bottom of the cliff, and even elders from Lingxiao Pavilion dared not enter recklessly.
The jade pendant suddenly felt as hot as a branding iron.
Yun Che looked down and saw Xing Wen actually devouring the black mist—those demonic energies surging from the abyss twisted like living creatures, yet they were being shredded and refined by golden patterns, transforming into pure spiritual power that flowed into his dantian.
"Heavenly Gang Star Pattern, feeding on demons?" His pupils constricted slightly.
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