Chapter 440 439: God-Suppressing, Immortal-Slaying Array

'I wonder if that little girl has completed her trial to Sever the Mortal Ties? If she has, that would be perfect. I can take her back. With her aptitude, she is just barely worthy of Yuan Haotian.'

Unlike the faint unease and worry in the Vast Heaven Immortal Lord's heart, Yuan Haowen, the Great Elder of the Vast Heaven Immortal Sect, felt no such concern as he tore through space toward the Purple Flame Sect. In fact, he was excited. After such a long struggle, the appearance of the Yuan Yang Immortal Monarch's Immortal Envoy meant that success was finally at hand.

For Yuan Haowen, who had striven for this for thousands of years, this was absolutely a joyous occasion. He could die right now...

...and Yuan Haowen felt he would have no regrets.

So, as he traveled, he even had the presence of mind to think about taking Huang Tianling back to be a Furnace Cauldron for his grandson, Yuan Haotian. That's right, a Furnace Cauldron.

In Yuan Haowen's opinion, although Huang Tianling's talent was exceptional—even someone like Yang Xiao would consider it quite good—she was still a sliver inferior compared to Yuan Haotian.

Furthermore, she came from a mortal family and had accepted a Minor Dao Seed, which meant she would inevitably have to undergo the trial to Sever the Mortal Ties. The typical outcome was the slaughter of all one's direct blood relatives.

Only by doing so, it seemed, could one completely merge with the Minor Dao Seed.

No one could escape it. Unless one was born into an Immortal Dao Family with relatives who were all Immortal Cultivators, the trial to Sever the Mortal Ties was inevitable for anyone who accepted a Dao Seed.

Of course, this was a secret among secrets. If Yuan Haowen hadn't come from a side branch of the Yuan Family, he likely would never have known.

As such, he had an innate disdain for the girl, Huang Tianling.

He felt she was unworthy of being his grandson's Dao companion, fit only to be a Furnace Cauldron.

However, when Yuan Haowen tore through the void once again and appeared before the Purple Flame Sect...

...his expression instantly changed.

"What's going on? What happened to the Purple Flame Sect?"

As Yuan Haowen reeled in confusion, a thick willow branch shot out to kill him.

His expression shifted.

But he reacted in a flash.

He raised a hand and slapped down with his palm, shattering the thick willow branch.

Yet his expression grew even more grim.

The sight of the willow branch told him that something had definitely happened to the Purple Flame Sect.

The last thing Yuan Haowen wanted was for something to have happened to the Purple Flame Sect.

Never mind the little girl in the Purple Flame Sect...

...who was the goal of his entire trip.

Her fate was tied to the rise and fall of his Yuan Family lineage on the Profound Sun Continent. But beyond that, he had been sworn brothers with the previous patriarch of the Purple Flame Sect, the one who had fallen over six thousand years ago during the assault on the Ye Family Main Lineage.

Seeing his old friend's Sect annihilated overnight...

...he was, to say the least, displeased.

And that was before even considering the matter of the little girl.

'Could the heavens truly be so cruel, giving us hope only to extinguish it? No, I refuse to believe it. That little girl has an Innate Daoist Body and immense fortune; she couldn't have died. But now, all that remains of the entire Purple Flame Sect are these few poisonous plants... No, wait. There's one other person's aura. Huh? It's a Martial Cultivator!'

Yuan Haowen's expression shifted again.

A moment ago, he was certain he hadn't sensed anyone else's aura within.

But now, suddenly, he did.

And it was the aura of a Martial Cultivator, no less.

What was even more absurd was that the person's aura seemed to be only at the level of a True Tier Six Peak cultivator.

Yuan Haowen found this deeply strange.

Unsettling.

But...

...the thought that this might be the only clue to finding the girl was enough. Yuan Haowen didn't hesitate. With a flash, he was inside.

There, he saw a young man in a long green robe, sitting casually atop a golden coffin with one leg crossed over the other, looking completely at ease.

"Who are you? Was it you who destroyed the Purple Flame Sect?"

Growing ever more wary, Yuan Haowen didn't dare to make a rash move. He stared at the young man before him and asked coldly.

This young man was, of course, Yang Xiao.

Hearing Yuan Haowen's question, he smiled faintly. But instead of answering, he said, as if to himself, "To think, the first target of my God Suppression and Immortal Slaying Array wouldn't be that True Immortal, but you! Still, given your cultivation at the Void Immortal Peak, I suppose you're just about qualified."

Without another word, Yang Xiao slapped his palm down on the golden coffin beneath him.

Instantly, golden Divine Coffins materialized one after another out of thin air.

In that moment, it was as if Yuan Haowen had fallen into a Lost Domain. He could no longer see Yang Xiao. His vision was filled with nothing but one Divine Coffin after another.

The aura emanating from the Divine Coffins was overwhelmingly powerful.

It made his very Heart Spirit tremble.

"This... could this be the God-Suppressing Coffin of the Ye Family?"

Memories from over six thousand years ago flooded Yuan Haowen's mind.

Back then, he didn't have his current strength or status, but he was already considered a rising star among the Immortal Dao Influences. While not among the absolute top tier, he was still a hegemon in his own right.

The previous patriarch of the Purple Flame Sect had been a brother-in-arms who fought alongside him.

But he had perished in that battle.

The memory was therefore deeply seared into Yuan Haowen's mind.

'The Ye Family Main Lineage had clearly been wiped out by the Life-taking Thousand-leaf Willow, without a single True God Level expert remaining. And yet, when we charged into the Profound Sun Secret Realm, they relied solely on these God-Suppressing Coffins to slay the five most powerful True Immortals of the Immortal Dao. If not for that battle, how could we Immortal Cultivators have failed to conquer a mere Barbaric Land? But then again, it was precisely because of that battle that my Yuan Family and the Vast Heaven Immortal Sect achieved their current status.'

Yuan Haowen's feelings about that battle were extremely complicated.

And now, as the God-Suppressing Coffins reappeared...

...fear began to well up in his heart.

The power of these Divine Coffins was simply too terrifying.

Back then, even the five great True Immortals had been killed.

If he hadn't seen the writing on the wall and fled, he would have died there as well. The previous patriarch of the Purple Flame Sect had been just one step behind him, and he never made it out.

How could Yuan Haowen not be terrified?

'No, that's not right. This boy's aura is only at the True Tier. Even if he has the God-Suppressing Coffins, how much of their power can he possibly wield? The one who killed the five True Immortals back then was a True God. Even though he was grievously wounded, he was still a True God! And after killing the five True Immortals, he was on his last breath. If he hadn't used a Secret Technique to seal the Profound Sun Secret Realm, he would have ultimately died at our hands!'

Suddenly, Yuan Haowen remembered.

He looked at the surrounding Divine Coffins.

Just as he thought, the aura emanating from them was far weaker than he remembered from all those years ago.

They were barely equivalent to the ordinary Void Immortal Realm.

"You gave me a scare, boy. Do you really think you can harm me with these God-Suppressing Coffins that only have the aura of the Void Immortal Realm? Ridiculous! If you know what's good for you, show yourself. Otherwise, don't blame me for what happens next."

Yuan Haowen's confidence returned.

"Is that so? And what if, right now, you lost your Immortal Dao Will?"

Yang Xiao's voice drifted in from an unknown direction.

Immediately after.

Yuan Haowen felt a terrifying suction force take hold of his body.

In an instant,

something within him felt as if it were being ripped away, and the power in his body began to drain.

Yuan Haowen's expression changed drastically.

"Wh-what… what is this technique?"