As Fu Lin had expected, two days after Leng Yuyuan’s death, Ancestor Ningyan, deep in the Southern Desolate Wasteland, instantly sensed her demise.

"Who was it? Who killed Yuyuan?" Ancestor Ningyan roared in fury.

The moment her voice fell, a surge of powerful spiritual force erupted from her, annihilating everything in the surrounding area within several miles.

When the smoke and dust cleared, all that remained on the ground was a bare, pit-like depression several dozen feet deep. The nearby plants and animals had been reduced to nothing but blood and bone dust in an instant.

The massive disturbance immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding patrolling demonic cultivators. Even a few Golden Core demons stationed near the Earth Palace heard the commotion and flew over.

"Ningyan, were you just battling someone?" A middle-aged scholar, with cold eyes, stepped forward and asked.

"Daoist Gui Luo." Upon seeing the scholar, Ancestor Ningyan’s anger dissipated, and she gave a slight, respectful bow. "It wasn’t a duel, but my niece, Yuyuan, just perished... In my fury, I couldn’t control my power..."

Unlike their previous equal relationship, after leaving the Great Void Realm, Ancestor Ningyan had already realized that the Demon Lord Gui Luo was a Nascent Soul avatar. She no longer dared to be disrespectful and instead greeted him with the proper deference.

As she spoke, sadness appeared on her face, not feigned, but genuine. Although Leng Yuyuan was her niece, she was as close to her as a daughter, her only true blood relative left in this world. Hundreds of years ago, Ancestor Ningyan and her elder brother, Leng Bixian, joined the Hehuan Sect together, supporting each other through thick and thin. Without Leng Bixian, Ancestor Ningyan wouldn’t be where she was today. Now that Yuyuan, the only bloodline left after Leng Bixian's death, was gone, Ancestor Ningyan’s anger was beyond imagination.

"Leng Yuyuan is dead?" The Demon Lord Gui Luo was surprised upon hearing the news. He knew how much Ancestor Ningyan cared for her niece.

Naturally, Ningyan would have left behind protective treasures for Yuyuan. Only a Golden Core cultivator would have been capable of ending her life.

"Do you know who did this?" Gui Luo asked, now concerned. A "strange Golden Core cultivator" was worth his attention.

"I don’t know yet." Ancestor Ningyan shook her head and said, "I’m planning to return to Jing Kingdom to investigate."

"The teleportation array to Jing Kingdom was completed a few days ago. You should hurry there and uncover the truth." Gui Luo spoke in a deep tone, his concern evident. He feared that "Bai Zhi," whom he had let go in the Great Void Realm, might have been responsible for this crime.

After he fell out with Bai Zhi in the Great Void Realm, Ancestor Ningyan sided with him and had even fought Bai Zhi. He feared that Bai Zhi, having escaped from his grasp, might be involved in this incident.

Ningyan caught the implication in his words and her face darkened. "If Bai Zhi is responsible, I will hunt her down in the deepest underworld, even if I must descend into the Yellow Springs."

Just then, a woman in red walked over.

"I am a close friend of Bai Zhi," she said. "If she is really the one behind this, I ask you, Ancestor Ningyan, to spare her life."

"Lady Lan, you and I spared your life back in the Great Void Realm. But that doesn’t mean you’re safe now..." Ancestor Ningyan’s voice turned cold as she glared at the red-robed woman.

This woman, Lady Lan, was one of the reinforcements Bai Zhi had called upon after entering the Great Void Realm. After Bai Zhi turned against them and allied with the disciples of the True Lord Wan Hai, they had fought Ancestor Ningyan and Gui Luo. If Gui Luo had not been a Nascent Soul avatar, they might have died in the Great Void Realm.

Later, because Lady Lan's partner was the powerful Golden Core cultivator "Jiu Li," Gui Luo had let her go, respecting her relationship with him. But now, Lady Lan was interfering with Ancestor Ningyan’s affairs for Bai Zhi.

Lady Lan saw the killing intent in Ancestor Ningyan’s eyes but wasn’t afraid. She glanced at Gui Luo and smiled slightly. "Even if I had no friendship with Bai Zhi, for the sake of Great Void Realm, I must ask Ancestor Ningyan to spare her life."

Lady Lan knew full well who was in charge—Gui Luo or Ancestor Ningyan.

"Lady Lan, are you suggesting that Bai Zhi took the ‘Xumi Tablet’ in the Great Void Realm?" Gui Luo immediately guessed her intent, having understood that she was trying to protect Bai Zhi.

"But Bai Zhi was with us the whole way. There’s no way she had a chance to take the ‘Xumi Tablet.’"

Ancestor Ningyan snorted coldly, rebutting.

If there’s an opportunity, she would, of course, want to kill Bai Zhi immediately and take revenge.

"Bai Zhi has not returned to the Heavenly Maiden Sect yet, and besides that, I can't think of any other reasons," Lady Lan said in a calm tone.

"Bai Zhi, being a Golden Core cultivator, would likely possess some kind of secret technique for splitting her body, which is nothing unusual," she added.

Upon hearing this, the Ghost Luo Demon Lord nodded in agreement, convinced by Lady Lan's explanation.

—In the Great Void Realm, if it weren’t for the unique environment of the "Flame Crystal Desert," even his peak Golden Core cultivation would have almost failed to sense the presence of the Seven-Colored Illusion Moth.

Wei Tu had such methods.

Let alone Bai Zhi, who came from a large sect.

Among all the cultivators who entered the Great Void Realm, only Bai Zhi, who escaped the inner domain, could possibly have taken the "Xumi Token" from the inner domain.

"Good! If it really was Bai Zhi, I will spare her life," said the Ghost Luo Demon Lord, causing Ancestor Ningyan to reluctantly soften and take a step back.

"This time, I will go with Ning Yan to investigate," the Ghost Luo Demon Lord changed his mind and decided to check out the death of Leng Yuyuan with Ancestor Ningyan.

He didn’t trust Ancestor Ningyan.

After all, they were only temporarily cooperating, and it was perfectly natural for her to have ulterior motives.

Moreover, the "Xumi Token" was far too important, being the key to opening the "Stone Demon Tower" in the Great Void Realm, and it couldn't be left to chance.

Ancestor Ningyan, seeing this, reluctantly agreed.

Half a day later.

The Ghost Luo Demon Lord and Ancestor Ningyan arrived at the Hehuan Sect's base in Jing Kingdom and reached the side hall where Fu Lin had killed Leng Yuyuan.

"Siphoned of all her cultivation... This method, is it 'Three Corpses Secret Art'?"

"But wasn't Cang Lan dead on the righteous and demonic battlefield sixty years ago?"

Ancestor Ningyan quickly recognized the secret technique used by Fu Lin and the "Heavenly Corpse Old Demon" and, during their conversation, revealed the true identity of the Heavenly Corpse Old Demon.

"Did he possess someone’s body and come back to life?" Ancestor Ningyan said in a low voice.

Aside from the Cang Lan Old Demon, she had considered others, but besides him, there were few in the demonic path who would know the "Three Corpses Secret Art."

Possessing someone else’s body was a common occurrence among demon cultivators.

"There’s a possibility."

After learning it wasn’t Bai Zhi's doing, the Ghost Luo Demon Lord seemed less interested and casually replied, "Cang Lan was a rogue cultivator. After his battle death, it’s difficult for us to confirm if he truly died."

"I am familiar with Cang Lan, why would he target Yuyuan?"

Ancestor Ningyan frowned slightly, puzzled as to what hidden secret this could involve.

...

On the other side.

Inside the secret passage.

After traveling for half a month, the Wei family finally encountered trouble when they arrived at the seventh stone pavilion within the passage.

A group of blood-colored bats, as large as calves, descended from the sky, exposing their sharp fangs, and attacked the four members of the Wei family.

Because Wei Xiuwen and his wife had a noticeably weaker aura than Wei Tu, the blood-colored bats focused on attacking them.

Fortunately, with the protection of a third-grade defensive talisman, Wei Xiuwen and his wife were not harmed.

"Seven-Eye Bats!" Wei Tu’s eyes flashed coldly, recognizing the origin of these bats.

The Seven-Eye Bat was an Earth-tier bloodline monster. The leading bat king likely had a further bloodline evolution, breaking through the third rank and reaching an Earth-tier bloodline.

"If Seven-Eye Bats are in the wild, it’s hard for them to produce a third-tier bat king, but in this passage, with no natural enemies, and their long lifespan..." Wei Tu murmured, immediately using his perception technique to sense the bat swarm.

At the same time, he sent Wei Changshou to join Wei Xiuwen and his wife.

"I found it!" Wei Tu’s divine sense enveloped the bat swarm, and within it, he saw a slightly smaller Seven-Eye Bat.

Unlike the others, this Seven-Eye Bat's seven eyes glimmered with a faint glow as they moved, vanishing quickly.

"Go!" Wei Tu tapped his storage pouch and summoned the Cloud Piercing Needle, launching it toward the bat king in the swarm.

The Cloud Piercing Needle transformed into a black arrow of light, swiftly piercing through the bat wings hiding the bat king and heading straight for its head.

The Seven-Eye Bat King, seeing the black arrow of light coming toward it, paused for a moment. Then its seven eyes flickered, shooting a faint light that landed on the approaching "Cloud Piercing Needle."

As soon as the light hit, the "Cloud Piercing Needle," which had been speeding through the air, immediately slowed down, trapped in mid-air, unable to move forward or retreat.

However, upon seeing this, Wei Tu did not panic. His eyes flashed with a cold light as he condensed his "Sha Mo True Armor." His cultivation erupted in an instant, and like a sharp arrow, he charged toward the bat swarm.

"What’s father doing?" Wei Xiuwen and Mei Zhen, watching from the side, were stunned. This was the first time they had seen a Golden Core battle.

However, Wei Tu’s combat style was a little different from the Golden Core battles they had imagined.

It was more like... a martial artist fighting!

Wei Xiuwen and Mei Zhen didn’t know that, aside from being a Golden Core True Lord, Wei Tu was also a third-stage Body Refining cultivator.

And cultivators who practice both the body and energy cultivation possess powerful combat abilities, especially when combining both the physical and spiritual martial arts.

As Wei Tu charged toward the Bat King, his blood and Qi surged. The three blood pills formed by his "Hundred Veins Blood Refining Technique" briefly enhanced his body and energy cultivation power.

In that moment, his speed surpassed the usual escape speed of a Golden Core cultivator, and behind him, clear afterimages appeared.

In the afterimages, a faint black armor surfaced on his skin, and his bare skin glowed like red crystal.

Zzi! Zzi!

Facing the obstructing second-tier Seven-Eye Bats, Wei Tu acted decisively. With his third-stage physical body, he casually pulled and tore at these second-tier bats, instantly ripping off their membrane wings and tossing them to the ground, where they howled in pain and died.

Within moments, Wei Tu reached the Bat King’s position, retrieved his "Cloud Piercing Needle," and began fighting the Bat King.

When faced with the Bat King’s innate abilities, Wei Tu reacted far quicker than with the "Cloud Piercing Needle" artifact. As he dodged, he waved his sleeve and sent a five-colored glow toward the Bat King.

The Bat King failed to evade it, and its membrane wings, floating in the air, quickly became entangled with the five-colored glow.

Just like when the "Cloud Piercing Needle" was hit by the ethereal light earlier, the Bat King’s demon body was restrained by the five-colored glow, causing its movements to stiffen.

The Bat King appeared visibly stunned.

It couldn’t imagine that a technique that normally immobilized enemies had been used against it, and it was now on the receiving end of its own medicine.

Seeing the success of the "Yuan Gravity Law Seal," Wei Tu wasted no time and charged toward the Seven-Eye Bat King, holding the "Cloud Piercing Needle" in hand. He thrust it fiercely toward the Bat King’s head.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Bat King’s head was incredibly tough. Even with the amplification from Wei Tu’s physical strength, the "Cloud Piercing Needle" still couldn’t penetrate the Bat King’s head and kill it.

After several attempts with no success, Wei Tu flipped the "Cloud Piercing Needle" and plunged it directly into the Bat King’s abdomen.

This attack worked.

Wei Tu, multitasking, controlled the "Cloud Piercing Needle" with his spiritual energy to destroy the Bat King’s body while simultaneously using his fists to fight the Bat King’s physical body.

In the outside world, he rarely encountered opponents, like the Seven-Eye Bat King, who could fully allow him to unleash his body-refining strength.

Even if he did encounter one, for safety reasons, he would always use all means at his disposal to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible, leaving them no time to breathe.

A lion does its best even when hunting a rabbit.

But here, in this secret passage, only he and Wei Xiuwen’s family could fully unleash their body-refining powers.

If he wanted to kill the Bat King quickly, besides the "Cloud Piercing Needle," Wei Tu had other means, such as the Heart of Talisman Stele, third-tier high-grade attack talismans, and so on.

Therefore, this journey to smuggle into Kang Kingdom was, to Wei Tu, also a training in his combat techniques, further mastering the fusion of spiritual and martial arts.

After dozens of moves, under the spiritual poison of the "Cloud Piercing Needle," the Seven-Eye Bat King’s cultivation rapidly declined. It was unable to resist the might of the "Cloud Piercing Needle" and Wei Tu’s physical strength.

It let out several mournful cries as its vitality quickly faded, and it soon died.

"Third-tier demon beast? It died just like that?" Wei Xiuwen and Mei Zhen couldn’t believe their eyes.

After all, as far as they knew, their father Wei Tu had only recently broken through to the Golden Core realm.

It didn’t seem possible for him to possess such terrifying battle strength!

"My father’s not simple," Wei Xiuwen couldn’t help but think in admiration.

Back in the mundane world, he had defied the odds to reverse his fate, passed the martial examination, became a martial officer, and even reached the Xiantian realm.

In the immortal cultivation world, with his lower-quality spiritual root and status as a rogue cultivator, he had achieved the Golden Core True Lord within just two hundred years.

Each of these accomplishments was no small feat.

"Luckily, I agreed to Wei Xiuwen’s pursuit back then... Father and I didn’t treat him too harshly," Mei Zhen thought, a bit relieved.

More than a hundred years ago, as a direct descendant of the Mei family, she had initially looked down on Wei Xiuwen, who came from a mundane background.