Chapter 313: A Ray of Light!

Chapter 313: A Ray of Light!

The Sixth Patriarch was a pitiable man.

In his youth, he had been a prodigy within the Seven Blood Eyes, a rival to the Seventh Patriarch, and his cultivation should never have stagnated at the Nascent Soul stage. Yet at the most critical juncture of his life, his beloved Dao partner, his junior sister, perished in an accident.

That fall had been to save him.

This filled the deeply emotional Sixth Patriarch with boundless grief and remorse. He had been driven mad, consumed by sorrow and rage, and only after great difficulty did he endure that period, pulling himself together and placing all his hope in the child his late wife had left him.

His son was promising, diligent in cultivation and outstanding in his own right. This allowed the grief in the Sixth Patriarch's heart to gradually settle, and life seemed once again to hold promise.

But fate could be cruelly indifferent. His beloved son vanished during an external training expedition.

The shattering of his life tablet told him his son had fallen.

For the Sixth Patriarch, the blow was no less severe than the loss of his Dao partner years before. What festered deepest within him, an unrelenting pressure that could not dissipate, was that he searched for many years without ever finding a single clue.

And so, after that, the Sixth Patriarch grew despondent, drowning himself in drink day after day, sometimes weeping under the moon in utter despair.

Everyone in the Seven Blood Eyes had witnessed this scene, but no comfort could reach his soul; only sighs remained.

This was why, when Xu Qing accidentally stumbled upon a thread of a clue, the Sixth Patriarch went wild. It was also why Blood Refiner, even while at war with the Sea Corpse Tribe, had agreed to let the Sixth Patriarch act.

It was also why the Sixth Patriarch treated Xu Qing differently.

And all that followed seemed to be developing in a positive direction. The Seven Blood Eyes successfully advanced to a Grand Sect, joined the Alliance, and relocated from South Phoenix Prefecture to Welcome Imperial Province.

Here, the Sixth Patriarch had indeed found much solace. He devoted all his energy to the Seven Blood Eyes, and quietly kept an eye on Xu Qing, waiting for the moment he was needed to repay the great favor he considered so important.

He was even prepared for that.

But now… everything had turned to smoke and clouds.

The Sixth Patriarch had fallen.

His death shook the entire Seven Blood Eyes to its core.

Because throughout the two-year war with the Sea Corpse Tribe, though the Seven Blood Eyes had suffered many casualties, not a single Nascent Soul peak master had fallen.

Even in the nearly two hundred years prior, under Blood Refiner's leadership and with the Seventh Patriarch's later cooperation, the Seven Blood Eyes had risen triumphantly without losing a single Nascent Soul cultivator.

The last Nascent Soul fall had been two centuries ago, during a brutal battle with the Sea Corpse Tribe.

In that battle, the Sea Corpse Tribe nearly reached the Seven Blood Eyes' home territory. The previous generation Ancestor was severely wounded, and most of the peak masters had died, when Blood Refiner, who had been traveling abroad for years and was nearly forgotten, returned.

He displayed a cultivation level exceeding everyone's expectations—the Great Circle of Spirit Concealment—and in the moment of crisis, resolved the Seven Blood Eyes' danger.

From then on, he took command of the Seven Blood Eyes.

After that, the Seven Blood Eyes developed steadily. Nascent Soul cultivators sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain, yet this realm was still unattainable for the vast majority of cultivators.

Thus, over the years, only a few had reached it. Among them, the masters of the First and Fourth Peaks were veterans from those earlier days; the remaining six were newly advanced over the past two centuries.

The Seventh Patriarch and the Sixth Patriarch had entered the sect together and were once prodigies competing with each other.

Now, as they watched the Sixth Patriarch's headless corpse fall from midair, crumbling inch by inch until it turned into a mournful rain of blood splattering within the Seven Blood Eyes' mountain gate, the Seventh Patriarch's eyes, rarely, turned bloodshot.

He was not a god; he could not foresee every detail!

Nor could Blood Refiner.

They had calculated that the Cloud Sword Sect would certainly be a threat, that the Alliance Leader's attitude was ambiguous, that perhaps such a sect crisis might occur, and even that among the methods of this crisis, there was a possibility of betrayal.

And betrayal would likely involve Candle Shadow.

All these had been calculated by the Seventh Patriarch, and he had made many preparations long in advance. Even the descent of the Cloud Sword Sect’s forbidden technique was, in fact, anticipated by Blood Refiner and the Seventh Patriarch.

So according to their plan, they took advantage of this opportunity to instead suppress the Cloud Sword Sect’s forbidden power, aiming to legitimately seize it and turn it into their own sect's foundation.

But… they could not calculate the vast difference between Candle Shadow’s true strength and what Welcome Imperial Province perceived.

This was not the fault of the Seventh Patriarch or Blood Refiner. In truth, not only they, but every force in Welcome Imperial Province had miscalculated Candle Shadow, still clinging to their former understanding.

They did not know that Candle Shadow, due to the arrival of one person, had become different.

Especially when the black shadow had just slain the Sixth Patriarch, the combat power it had burst forth was at the Return to Void level. This was not recorded in any intelligence from any faction.

And it was clearly premeditated and targeted. The adversary had come here apparently specifically to kill the Sixth Patriarch, and had even displayed unknown means that caused all the Sixth Patriarch’s protections and life-saving items to be restrained and ineffective, aiming for a one-strike kill.

In truth, that was exactly the case. The black shadow’s mission here was precisely the Sixth Patriarch.

On the way, it had seen Xu Qing and struck at him with just a brush of its sleeve, paying little attention.

Because Xu Qing was not its task.

Just as one would not use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken, if he escaped, so be it. Compared to the gain from killing Xu Qing, it cared more about fulfilling its master’s mission. So for the Sixth Patriarch, it went all out.

After killing him, it took his head and vanished in an instant, not touching anyone else.

Now, the Seventh Patriarch’s body trembled. Gazing at the black shadow disappearing into the sky, the bloodlust in his eyes became earth-shattering, distorting all directions. Even the entire Seven Blood Eyes quaked. Yet he had to suppress it.

Because at this moment, he could not leave. He and the Ancestor still had to suppress the Cloud Sword Sect’s forbidden technique. If they left, failing the plan was secondary; the eruption of the forbidden technique would severely wound the sect.

Blood Refiner’s eyes also held extreme grief. He turned his head and roared, straining to suppress the Cloud Sword Sect’s forbidden power. Meanwhile, the other peak masters were also trembling, unable to believe that the Sixth Patriarch’s corpse had turned into rain of blood, grief permeating their minds.

All the Golden Core protectors and the disciples left at the sect’s peaks were dejected. Especially several young lords of the Sixth Peak, whose bodies shook uncontrollably, letting out heart-rending screams.

But it was useless.

The Ancestors of other sects, upon sensing this scene, wore expressions of utmost gravity.

Several of them simultaneously formed seals, causing the Alliance’s grand formation to become a blockade. Even the Alliance Leader’s face in the sky appeared with unprecedented gloom, materializing, looking at the Seven Blood Eyes, then at the city of the Cloud Sword Sect.

Their gazes all fell upon a pavilion roof there.

As the sky distorted, apart from Blood Refiner, the Alliance Ancestors materialized one by one, all their pressure locked onto that spot.

The intent to kill was so intense at this moment that the void in the region they stared at cracked open, as if space itself was about to collapse.

On that roof stood a black-robed figure wearing a fragment of a divine mask, both hands pillowed behind his head, lying on the roof, looking up at the sky where Sheng Yunzi and his father were.

Beside him, the void twisted, and Night Owl’s silhouette emerged. He stood silently, his right hand… carrying a severed head still dripping blood.

The Sixth Patriarch’s eyes, until death, remained open.

“Master, the greeting gift for the Seven Blood Eyes has been delivered,” Night Owl said respectfully. Even though he was now locked onto by multiple Alliance Ancestors, with murderous intent strong and pressure overwhelming, his voice did not change at all, utterly indifferent to the outside world.

In his eyes, there was only his master, who was looking at the sky.

“This performance was rather mediocre,” the young man’s voice came slowly, tinged with detachment.

“Yes, Master. Shall I retrieve the mask?” Night Owl said in a low voice.

“No need. Though the performance was mediocre, we have seen the show after all.” The young man sat up, looked toward the direction of the Seven Blood Eyes, smiled faintly, and stood.

“The show is over. Let’s go.” Saying this, the young man stepped down from the pavilion and walked into the street.

Around him, cracks split the air—traces of the pressure from the many Ancestors’ gazes locked onto him from the sky. The ground was the same, areas unnaturally depressed, emitting terrifying sounds of collapse.

The murderous intent gathered from all sides affected the weather, causing snowflakes to form in midair and fall one by one.

Meanwhile, the suppressing force pervading heaven and earth grew denser, seemingly enough to freeze all void and prevent anyone from moving forward.

Yet the masked young man walked with ease. Even locked onto by Alliance experts, even under the gaze of the Alliance Leader, a Return to Void second-stage cultivator, he remained utterly relaxed.

As if none of this meant anything to him. Where in this world he wished to go, no one could stop him; when he wished to leave, it was the same.

Behind him, Night Owl followed silently. The head he carried had nearly dripped all its blood; only occasionally one or two drops fell to the ground, leaving behind striking red stains.

In this sword-trembling and chaotic moment, the black-robed youth, bearing the remnants of the divine mask upon his face, passed by a candied fruit stall.

The common folk of this place had long since migrated away; half of Lingyun City lay in desolate emptiness, and the hurried exodus had scattered countless objects about.

The youth glanced at the candied fruit, a wistful glimmer in his eyes, and moved to pluck one.

"Brother enjoyed eating these."

The candied fruit glowed crimson, mirroring the crimson blood now dripping from the severed head of Six Lord clutched in the Night Bird’s hand.

Upon witnessing this, the ancient ancestors in the heavens grew grave.

The gravity of the matter had ascended to an unprecedented height from the moment these figures appeared.

Meanwhile, the Seven Blood Eye had successfully subdued the forbidden arts of the Lingyun Sword Sect; in the next instant, the seventh lord and the Blood Refinement Child emerged from the Seven Blood Eye’s direction, heading straight here.

The sovereign of the Eight Sect Alliance in the heavens narrowed his eyes coldly and spoke slowly.

“Scorching, why haven’t you allied with my Eight Sects to launch a full-scale war?”

Hearing this, the youth lifted his head, his gaze following the eyes of the divine mask’s remnants, to gaze at the heavens, letting out a light laugh.

“Night Bird.”

“Yes!” he was answered. He withdrew a seemingly simple wooden box from his sleeve, lifting its lid with a flick.

A ray of light—sudden and blinding—erupted from within the box!

That light was colorless, formless, invisible to the eye, yet the instant it manifested, the azure heavens shifted, the earth thundered, and the day and moon lost their hue!

All within the Seven Blood Eye—commoners, disciples, and ancestors alike—were seized by a divine transformation of countenance,

for that light…

Was the very gaze of the divine mask’s awakened eyes!