"Drink!"

Xi Zheng's arm violently pulled back, and then he punched out like lightning. The power of Blood Gang burst forth, forming a blood-colored giant behind him, who likewise swung its fist in a strike.

The blood-colored fist wind swept through the entire room, grinding every item it encountered to dust, and slammed fiercely against the nearby wall.

A thick layer of blue Forbidden Light Screen emerged on the wall, trembling wildly, as numerous cracks spread across it.

"Still a bit short, it has already been more than a decade! It's always the same! Could it be that I must wait for the Wu Yue Sect to unify the Yunhuang Continent and the trend to become a reality before I can make a breakthrough in one fell swoop?" Xi Zheng slowly retracted his hand and the blood-colored giant behind him gradually dissipated as he muttered to himself.

But this was only the first battle, and the Xi Family had already suffered such great losses. If they continued to follow the Wu Yue Sect, complete annihilation of the Xi Family was also a possibility.

With this thought, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.

At this moment, a burst of white light suddenly illuminated his body, emitting a series of soft chirps.

Xi Zheng flipped his hand, and a white Round Orb appeared, flickering incessantly.

"Ying'er!" Xi Zheng's face showed a look of astonishment as he pointed at the white Round Orb.

Within the Round Orb, a burst of white light lit up, revealing the figure of a Xi Ying Clone.

"White Bone Venerable! Weren't you already fallen? That's not right, why is Ying'er's Transmission Pearl in your hands?" Xi Zheng asked with a grave voice.

"Father, do not worry, I am Xi Ying. The corpse of the White Bone Venerable fell into my hands in the East Sea, and I refined it into a Clone," said the Xi Ying Clone.

"You killed the White Bone Venerable?" Xi Zheng truly received a shock this time, glancing unconsciously around as if fearing that others might hear.

"Someone else is responsible for killing the White Bone Venerable," the Xi Ying Clone shook its head.

"Is it Yuan Ming?" A strange light flashed in Xi Zheng's eyes as he spoke.

"It seems Father is already aware of Yuan Ming's identity. Indeed, not only the White Bone Venerable, but also the Six Desires Venerable, as well as the recently fallen Evil Eye Venerable, were all slain by his hand," said the Xi Ying Clone.

"The Evil Eye Venerable has fallen too?" Hearing this, Xi Zheng's face became a mix of light and shadow.

"Father, the Wu Yue Sect has wild ambitions and merely treats us as pawns. If the Xi Family continues to follow them, a catastrophe that leads to our demise is inevitable. Please, Father, think thrice," urged the Xi Ying Clone.

"Ying'er, tell Father the truth, how strong is Yuan Ming really?" Xi Zheng looked at the Xi Ying Clone and asked. Forcharactersheetsandglossaries,visit*.

"Far surpassing your daughter, compared to the Wu Yue God, while there is still a gap, it is not much, and he is now focusing on making a breakthrough, which will happen in a matter of days," the Xi Ying Clone said.

Although he had already speculated, hearing that Yuan Ming's strength had truly reached such a realm, Xi Zheng still found it somewhat unbelievable, or perhaps he was, deep down, somewhat unwilling to accept this fact.

"Are you nearby? Why contact me at this moment, what do you intend to do?" he said after a moment of silence.

"The Wu Yue God is powerful but cruel, treating human lives as if they were worthless. Though the Wu Yue Sect may be at its zenith, its interior is fraught with dangers. With several Venerables either dead or injured, signs of decline are apparent. In contrast, the Cloud Desolate Alliance, though currently at a slight disadvantage, has rallied the power of a large part of the Yunhuang Continent, with many a talented individual and robust strength. Furthermore, with Yuan Ming and Ming Yue Sect secretly aiding them, it thrives. Comparing both sides, it's only a matter of time before the Wu Yue Sect falls again. Father, you are naturally insightful and have mastered the Heavenly Destiny Skill, adept at weighing pros and cons, and discerning the changes in the situation. Can you not see this point?" the Xi Ying Clone said.

"Of course, I am aware of that," Xi Zheng said slowly.

"If Father knows this, why not lead the Xi Family to join the Cloud Desolate Alliance? With your daughter and Yuan Ming negotiating, the alliance will surely welcome the Xi Family. As for Father's Emperor Sealing God Fist, if you could use the trend of the Wu Yue Sect unifying Yunhuang Continent for your breakthrough, you could also use the momentum of the Cloud Desolate Alliance rallying the heroes of the world to eradicate the Wu Yue Sect," the Xi Ying Clone continued to persuade.

"Ying'er, you do not understand. The method of borrowing strength for the Emperor Sealing God Fist involves one's Dao heart and macro factors. It's not something that can be changed at will. This matter requires further deliberation," Xi Zheng shook his head and said.

"Father, why use false words with your daughter? All things considered, you still favor the Wu Yue Sect," said the Xi Ying Clone.

"Indeed, Ying'er understands Father's thoughts. True, in my heart, I still favor the Wu Yue Sect," Xi Zheng said with a faint smile.

"Your daughter truly does not understand, why would you come to this conclusion?" asked the Xi Ying Clone, puzzled.

"How could I not know that the Wu Yue Sect, and even the Wu Yue God, may not achieve great things? Yet, after millennia of dormancy, the Wu Yue Sect suddenly rose rapidly in the past few hundred years, which doesn't logically add up. I sent people to investigate secretly and discovered that there is an obscured force behind the Wu Yue Sect driving things forward," said Xi Zheng after a moment of silence.

"This is indeed suspicious, but has Father found out the origin of this force?" asked the Xi Ying Clone, taken aback.

"This force acts extremely covertly; even after many years of investigation, I have found nothing. Using the Heavenly Destiny Skill to calculate, I received an eight-character prophecy: 'Heaven shall topple, Sun and Moon shall darken,'" Xi Zheng said.

Hearing this, the Xi Ying Clone was stunned, unsure of what to say.

Did this eight-character prophecy not imply that the force behind the Wu Yue Sect would engulf the world?

Having studied the Heavenly Destiny Skill for many years, Xi Zheng's insights were far deeper than Yan Siyun's, and his prophecies had never been wrong based on past experience.

The Xi Ying Clone's expression grew grave, realizing that such a force lay hidden on the Yunhuang Continent. What kind of entity were they?

Just as she was about to ask further, the urgent voice of Silver Kong suddenly reached her ears: "Master, it's not good, the Nine Yin Venerable is here again!"

After the Silver Kong Tree Demon reverted to its true body, it immersed its branches and roots into the surrounding void, constantly probing the movements around it.

Upon hearing this, the Xi Ying Clone quickly extended her Divine Sense, barely noticing a vague black shadow quickly approaching.

"Indeed, he has come!" The Xi Ying Clone did not panic, put away the white Round Orb, and began to operate the Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique.

A bright yellow light shone from her body as she swiftly dove towards the depths of the ground.

The Xi Ying Clone had no idea what kind of Escape Skill the Nine Yin Venerable employed but knew that underground, the Nine Yin Venerable would face significant constraints and that every move would leave some traces, which was why she dared to stay behind.

Silver Kong's body entered into the void, giving chase.

At a certain spot beneath the earth, the Nine Yin Venerable's face bore a cold smile as a black shadow emerged from his body, emitting astonishing Soul Power fluctuations – it was his Demon Crow, manifested from his Divine Soul. Its five fingers reached forward.

Hundreds of yards away, the head of the Xi Ying Clone buzzed as if a stick had been thrust inside it.

"This is bad... my Divine Soul... is being controlled... When did this happen..." The thoughts of the Xi Ying Clone grew sluggish, and her stealthy speed decreased.

Delight appeared on the Nine Yin Venerable's face, the soul thread controlled by the Demon Crow could only attack the enemy's Divine Soul, but the range of the soul thread's attack was far beyond what his own body could control with the black threads, and it had always been invincible.

He quickened his pace, spewing out nine Thousand Radiance Needles from his mouth, shooting towards the clone's head without holding back, clearly intending to kill her in one blow.

Just at that moment, a golden light, like Flames, suddenly shone upon the head of the Xi Ying Clone.

The soul thread connected to her Divine Soul was completely severed and burned by the Golden Flames.

The Xi Ying Clone immediately regained control over her body and without a word, dove deeper underground, easily dodging the attack of the Thousand Radiance Needles.

"Impossible!" The Nine Yin Venerable's expression shifted and he continued the pursuit.

The Xi Ying Clone kept diving and soon reached a space a thousand yards below the earth's surface.

Here, the rock began to melt, and bubbly, scorching lava could be heard everywhere.

The lava at the thousand-yard depth was entirely different from volcanic lava on the surface; its temperature was more than ten times higher, melting various underground spiritual materials, releasing many strange gases, most of which were toxic, with nature's spiritual energy in complete chaos.

The harshness of the surrounding environment was such that even Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't be careless.

The Xi Ying Clone had no intention of stopping and plunged directly into the volcanic magma, poised to continue diving deeper.

A few breaths later, the Nine Yin Venerable's figure appeared in the underground space, looking at the volcanic magma before him, his eyebrows lifting slightly.

Was the opponent seeking death? If she truly perished in the underground lava, it would be easy for him; he could venture into it and retrieve her remnants.

However, the Nine Yin Venerable's expression quickly darkened.

Under his Divine Sense tracking, the Xi Ying Clone didn't die after diving into the underground lava; though her body was molten by the intense heat, her movement was not the slightest bit hindered, her body still radiantly aglow with yellow light as she continued to escape.

Only, she didn't continue to dive but instead headed north.

"It seems that this person is not immune to the underground lava. I want to see how long you can last in there!" the Nine Yin Venerable huffed coldly, his body emanating a surge of black Qi as he also chased northward.

...

Black Wind Desert, Fengping City.

This city was only considered mid-sized among the many underground cities of the Black Wind Desert, and its existence was due to a nearby Fire Iron Ore Vein, making it a mining city.

After the Wu Yue Sect took over the Black Wind Desert, Fengping City also fell into their control.

Following the ravages of war, the number of cultivators in Fengping City had sharply declined, leaving less than a third, most of whom were imprisoned by the Wu Yue Sect, although there were still quite a few mortals.

No matter which power occupied Fengping City, the mining of the vein would not cease; otherwise, there would be no need for the city's existence.

Near the Fire Iron Ore Vein, there stood a rather tall gray building where all the Wu Yue Sect cultivators lived, maintaining the operation of the mining field.

At this moment, within the rocky walls at the top of the underground city, a yellow light flashed, and Yuan Ming's figure emerged out of nowhere, his Divine Sense enveloping the area as he slightly furrowed his brows.

This was just a small city, and the Wu Yue Sect had only sent one Core Formation Stage cultivator to oversee it, far from what he had anticipated.

"Well, Core Formation Stage it is then," he muttered to himself, the branches of the Undying Tree within his Dantian shooting out, entering the void.

In a secret room on the top floor of the gray building, a red-faced man sat cross-legged, with a flame-like spiritual light shining from his body, exceptionally hot, the air around him distorted from being scorched.

Without a sound, a black tendril appeared out of the void in front of him and quickly stabbed towards his chest.

The red-faced man was taken aback, the red light around him surging, as he also leapt up.

However, even as his body had only just lifted halfway, the black tendril had already penetrated his lower abdomen, the Protective Spiritual Light futile.

The red-faced man's body stiffened, unable to move at all.

Shadows flickered in the secret room, and Yuan Ming's figure appeared out of nowhere, his eyes shining with two brilliant green lights, spinning rapidly.

The red-faced man looked into Yuan Ming's green lights in his eyes and his gaze quickly became muddled, as if he had lost his consciousness.

This was the Enchanting Soul Technique of Magic Practitioners, capable of temporarily controlling the minds of others, but could only be used on those far inferior in Mana.

"Without the methods of a Soul Cultivator, many things are indeed inconvenient," Yuan Ming shook his head and muttered to himself.