Chapter 126: A Show of Deep Father-Son Affection

The moment the Protective Mountain Array shattered, freezing wind slashed into the heart of the Yuqing Sect like a blade.

Before countless disciples could even react, they were swallowed by the biting chill pouring in. Screams rose one after another, only to be abruptly cut short in the blink of an eye.

Those who ran slowly turned into ice sculptures on the spot, joining that festival of swirling white. Those who flew quickly were caught by ghostly blue flames, frozen in midair, and smashed heavily into the ground, scattering severed limbs everywhere.

Streaks of blood exploded one after another, blooming like red lotuses. As the death toll climbed, a thick baleful aura permeated the sky above the Yuqing Sect, hanging there without dispersing—a shocking sight to behold.

"Such terrifying spiritual pressure! Hurry, to the Teleportation Array in the back mountains!"

His face deathly pale, Zhou Xuanqing barked a telepathic transmission to the three men beside him. Before his voice even faded, he transformed into a streak of golden light and shot into the sky, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

The other three followed closely behind. Four streaks of Escape Light in varying colors tore across the horizon, clearing a dozen peaks in a flash.

Deep in the back mountains lay a hidden, small-scale Teleportation Array. It could transport them to a concealed islet three thousand li to the east, placing them close to Spiritual Immortal Island. As long as they reached Spiritual Immortal Island and rendezvoused with Wei Tianhe, even a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator wouldn't dare pursue them so recklessly.

Just as the four men thought they could escape...

A burst of bloody light exploded directly in front of them.

Their path forward was sealed.

Within the bloody light, a figure slowly materialized.

It was a figure in a blood-red robe—no, a green shirt entirely drenched in fresh blood. The man stood with his back to them, one hand clasped behind his back, while the other dangled four severed heads.

The four men slammed to a halt. Staring at that figure from a distance, none of them dared to make a careless move.

Zhou Jin's gaze landed on those four heads. He frowned slightly, and then his eyes bulged wide. He stumbled back several steps, his voice trembling.

"Those are... Moon Malevolence and Yang Malevolence from Black Fiend Island, Poison Old Freak from the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, and Old Devil Demonic Wind from Spiritual Cliff Cave!"

Only then did the realization finally hit him, filling his heart with utter terror.

"Could you be... Old Devil Jiuyou!"

"How is this possible? Weren't you killed long ago? How are you still alive? And you've become a Nascent Soul Late Stage Grand Cultivator?"

He shuddered violently, as if remembering something. His voice grew frantic.

"How are you so young? Could it be... that missing Ten-Thousand-Year Longevity Fruit from Tianyuan Mountain back then... you took it?"

Hearing this, the other three exchanged glances, flashes of shock and realization passing through their eyes.

After all, even a century later, the fearsome reputation of Old Devil Jiuyou was known to everyone across the entire Tianyuan Sea and even the Lingchuan Continent. In the word-of-mouth tales among cultivators, he was a mad cultivator of monstrous power.

He had slaughtered countless people and dyed the heavens in blood.

He made countless cultivators turn pale at the mere mention of him.

Back then, when Zhou Jin formed a feud with him at Tianyuan Mountain, Jiuyou had been nothing but a Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivator nearing the end of his lifespan. They had never taken him seriously. Later, even when he broke through to the Middle Nascent Soul Stage, he was still just a dying man, so the Yuqing Sect had continued to pay him no mind.

It wasn't until Jiuyou shone brilliantly in several subsequent battles, slaughtering countless enemies and earning the reverence of the entire Heavenly Abyss Sea as the "Number One Person Below the Three Great Cultivators," that the Yuqing Sect finally felt a genuine trace of fear.

At that time, Zhou Xuanqing had even entertained the thought of making his son bring heavy gifts to Jiuyou's door to apologize.

Then, Jiuyou disappeared for a hundred years. Everyone assumed he had died.

No one could have expected that he wasn't dead. He had consumed the Ten-Thousand-Year Longevity Fruit, reverting from old age to youth, and had even broken through to the Nascent Soul Late Stage, becoming the fourth Grand Cultivator in the Heavenly Abyss Sea in nearly a thousand years.

And a decade after his disappearance, in order to shirk responsibility for the defeat at Yi Feng Valley, the higher-ups had pinned the blame on him, causing public outrage to boil over. Operating in the shadows, Zhou Jin had pushed the boat along with the current, resulting in the extermination of Soul Wraith Island.

Zhou Xuanqing, and indeed all the Nascent Soul Supreme elders within the sect, had known about this matter. Yet, they had all chosen to turn a blind eye and silently permit it.

But no one could have predicted that a trivial matter from years past would brew into today's disaster of annihilation.

'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it all!'

Zhou Jin still wanted to speak, but Zhou Xuanqing harshly shouted him down.

"Traitorous son! Shut your mouth! Are you trying to get us all killed?"

Zhou Xuanqing's face was livid, the fury in his eyes practically enough to burn a hole straight through Zhou Jin.

If not for this traitorous son, how could the Yuqing Sect have invited today's calamity? If they failed to escape, the sect's foundation of several millennia would be destroyed by his hands.

He turned his head to look at Jiuyou and swallowed hard. A dignified Middle Nascent Soul Stage cultivator standing before a true Nascent Soul Late Stage Grand Cultivator, he now spoke with a tone humbled into the dust.

"Daoist Jiuyou, this matter was entirely caused by my wretched son. We will hand him over for you to deal with as you please. I only beg that you spare the Yuqing Sect."

The other two Nascent Soul elders exchanged a glance, a flicker of hesitation passing through their eyes. Zhou Jin was the most talented disciple of their generation. He had become a Nascent Soul cultivator at a young age, possessed a high likelihood of breaking through to the Middle Nascent Soul Stage in the future, and was, moreover, the young master of the Yuqing Sect.

But their hesitation lasted only a fleeting moment. Both of them gave slight nods at the same time, silently agreeing to the arrangement.

Just as when Zhou Jin had secretly moved against Soul Wraith Island back then, they once again chose silence.

Faced with life and death, they made the most rational, and the most ruthless, choice. They would pay the smallest price to buy the sect's continued survival.

Jiuyou hovered quietly in the air, gazing down at the four of them. His bloodstained green shirt whipped in the wind, and the four heads in his hand still dripped blood.

He didn't speak, nor did he intentionally release any aura. Yet that crushing presence of a superior being already left the four of them unable to breathe.

Zhou Jin's eyes bulged as he looked at his father, then at the two elders. He saw the two elders nodding, and he saw the absolute resolve in his father's eyes.

"Father, how could you do this to me? I'm your only son! I'm the future helmsman of the Yuqing Sect! Father—"

Before his voice even faded, Zhou Xuanqing struck with ruthless precision. A golden talisman lit up in his hand, and he slapped it viciously against Zhou Jin's dantian.

Unable to dodge in time, Zhou Jin spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward. Zhou Xuanqing raised a hand, yanking him back with a stream of magical power.

As the Spirit-Suppressing Talisman entered his body, his magical power was sealed. A dignified Nascent Soul cultivator was now no different from a mortal.

Under Zhou Jin's incredulous gaze, his body was controlled, floating slowly toward Jiuyou.

"No! My magical power! My cultivation!"

"Third Elder! Fifth Elder! You always doted on me the most! Save me! I beg you—"

His wails were heart-wrenching. The two elders looked at him with complex expressions. Their lips moved, but in the end, they said nothing.

Zhou Jin suddenly stopped struggling. He looked at his father, then at those two elders. Seeing the cold faces of the people who had once been closest to him, he burst into loud laughter.

The laughter was full of despair, full of sorrow, and full of pure hatred.

"Hahaha, Zhou Xuanqing! You used a Spirit-Suppressing Talisman against your own flesh and blood! What a fine display of saving your own skin! What a fine job of cleaning house!"

His laughter cut off abruptly as he glared viciously at Zhou Xuanqing.

"Back then, if you hadn't secretly allowed me to mobilize sect resources, how could I have possibly manipulated the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect into attacking Soul Wraith Island from the shadows? Do you think you can wash your hands of this? Do you think he'll let you off?"

"You'll die a miserable death too!"

Zhou Xuanqing remained silent. He didn't offer any excuses, nor did he even spare Zhou Jin a glance. He merely looked at Jiuyou, his posture humble, his voice earnest.

"Daoist Jiuyou, this child has been handed over to you to deal with. In addition, the Yuqing Sect is willing to serve you as our master, and we offer fifty top-grade spirit stones along with various other cultivation resources. I only beg you..."

"...to spare the Yuqing Sect."

Jiuyou finally moved.

He slowly turned his head to look at Zhou Xuanqing. In those eerie green eyes, there was no killing intent, no anger, not even a single trace of emotion. They were like a pool of dead water, sending a chill down the spine of anyone who met his gaze.

He spoke.

His voice wasn't loud, but it transmitted clearly into the ears of everyone present.

"Are you finished?"