Chapter 1000: Killing Intent Explodes
Yan Wancang and Yan Juehai's expressions instantly stiffened. They both took a silent deep breath, their hearts filled with both anger and helplessness... Since they chose to forcefully barge in, they had already prepared themselves for this. Given Mu Xuanyin's domineering nature, how could her anger be so easily appeased?
"...Yes, Master." Yun Che said nothing more and put away the red wooden box. He groaned inwardly... A gift from three sect masters to the Yinxue Realm King! How could it be anything ordinary? Could it really be... given to him just like that?
Hmm, he would honestly return it to his master after they left.
Mu Xuanyin leaned slightly, assuming a posture that was both alluringly graceful and yet still so cold and imposing that no one dared to meet her gaze. "So, from what I see, the three sect masters are indeed sincere. Very well, even uninvited guests are still guests after all. If I were to drive them away just like that, wouldn't it make me seem petty?"
"I'll set aside the matter of you forcibly entering the Binghuang Realm and disrupting the sect assembly for now. Let's hear what you have to say. However..." Mu Xuanyin's eyes narrowed slightly. "I will only give you one quarter of an hour!"
Yan Wancang stepped forward and said solemnly, "Very well, we three thank the Yinxue Realm King for her grace."
Yan Zhuo, Yan Mingxuan, and Huo Poyun had already returned behind the three sect masters. Their hearts were churning violently, their lifelong understanding thoroughly overturned... The three supreme sect masters of the Yan Shen Realm, who were absolute rulers there, were being so cautious before the Yinxue Realm King, not even showing the slightest anger in the face of her sarcasm.
The words "one quarter of an hour" clearly sounded like a condescending favor, but judging by Yan Wancang's expression and tone, he accepted it willingly... The impact this had on them was imaginable.
As for what to say and how to say it, Yan Wancang had already prepared it in his mind. Without any deliberation, he spoke directly: "The purpose of our visit, I believe the Yinxue Realm King must already have an answer. Yes, this time we have come once again for the matter of the ancient flood dragon in the Burial God Fire Prison. However, this time is vastly different from before."
"What is different?" Mu Xuanyin asked coldly, her eyes like icy arrows.
"Because something major is about to happen, and it could very well affect the entire God Realm!" Yan Juehai quickly interjected, his expression extremely serious. "Although we do not know exactly what great event it will be, the sounds from Zhou Tian a few months ago and the upcoming Xuan Shen Assembly clearly indicate that a great event is imminent! I am sure the Yinxue Realm King is well aware of this as well."
"Indeed." Yan Wancang nodded heavily. "Since the Zhou Tian Realm sent such a signal, and even went so far as to exhaust the power of the Zhou Tian Pearl for external cultivators, this matter is absolutely no triviality. It may even be a matter of life and death! Currently, various star realms are on high alert and making preparations. I hear that your sect recently opened the Minghan Heavenly Lake to thousands of disciples for the first time—surely this is the reason."
"That flood dragon has lived for at least hundreds of thousands of years. Its entire body, even a single scale, is an extremely rare treasure. If we can hunt it down, it will bring an enormous amount of resources to both our realms. The Yinxue Realm King's profound strength is astonishing, but advancing to the Divine Lord realm is extremely difficult. However, a flood dragon of hundreds of thousands of years should surely allow the Yinxue Realm King to make further progress in a short time."
"Moreover, under the circumstances of a possible great calamity, its significance is far beyond what it was before!"
"This is the first point."
"Second," Yan Wancang continued without pause, "Although an unexpected accident caused our failure a thousand years ago, that flood dragon was severely wounded. A mere thousand years is absolutely not enough for it to fully recover. The three of us have not been idle over the millennium and have each made some progress. The Yinxue Realm King must surely be far stronger than a thousand years ago. Coupled with the flood dragon's injury, this is the best time to hunt it! If we miss this opportunity, after another thousand years, its wounds will likely have healed completely, making it much more difficult."
"With the Yinxue Realm King's divine might, combined with the meager strength of our Yan Shen Realm, I dare to assert here..." Yan Wancang raised two fingers. "This hunt for the ancient flood dragon... has at least an eighty percent chance of success!"
Having said this, Yan Wancang's tone softened slightly. "A thousand years ago, we promised that after the deed was done, both realms would share the flood dragon's body equally. This time, we will still abide by that promise—fifty percent each after the flood dragon dies. After all, although the ancient flood dragon is in the Yan Shen Realm, without the Yinxue Realm King's power, our Yan Shen Realm would be powerless to slay it."
After Yan Wancang finished speaking, Mu Xuanyin remained silent for a long time, her cold expression unchanged from start to finish.
"Are you done?" Mu Xuanyin said coldly.
"..." Yan Wancang's heart tightened.
"Since you're done," Mu Xuanyin straightened slightly and said sternly, "Huanzhi, see the guests out."
Yan Wancang and Yan Juehai's faces changed slightly. Yan Wancang shouted, "Yinxue Realm King, what... do you mean by this?"
"What do I mean?" Mu Xuanyin slowly stood up. As she rose, the temperature of the surrounding space plummeted, and the entire sky seemed to press down. "If you three had only come to offer congratulations today, I might have treated you with courtesy. But first you forcibly barge into my sect assembly, and then you still have the audacity to bring up the matter of the ancient flood dragon!"
"Do you really think I have forgotten the disgraceful deeds your Yan Shen Realm committed a thousand years ago?!"
This sharp shout caused the three juniors of the Yan Shen Realm to stagger back, their faces instantly as pale as paper, on the verge of spitting blood. A cold killing intent radiated from Mu Xuanyin's pupils, directly targeting Huo Rulie, who had remained silent until now.
"Guh... guh..." Flames flickered wildly around Huo Rulie's body, and the sound of teeth grinding could be heard from his mouth... He held back from speaking, but blood was already seeping through the gaps between his fingers.
Faced with Mu Xuanyin's sudden fury and killing intent, Yan Wancang and Yan Juehai, though somewhat prepared, still tensed up. Yan Wancang tried to remain calm and said, "Yinxue Realm King, regarding the incident back then, it was ultimately you who severely injured the Fire Sect Master's only son..."
"Shut up!" Mu Xuanyin's gaze and killing aura abruptly shifted to Yan Wancang, cutting off his words. "That ignorant junior with his meager cultivation dared to approach the Burial God Fire Prison without knowing his limits. Even if I hadn't acted, he would have died under the flood dragon's flames!"
"Although he was severely injured by my power, you all know it was purely an accident. I wouldn't stoop to attacking a junior! I originally felt guilty about that incident and intended to compensate with a Moon Phoenix Jade... But this scoundrel Huo Rulie ambushed my younger sister and even used the flood dragon's poison!"
"My act was accidental, but Huo Rulie's was a malicious ambush! How can these two be compared?!"
Yan Juehai gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "Yinxue Realm King, it is indeed true that our Yan Shen Realm was in the wrong in this matter. But after that, in your fury, you severely injured thousands of people from our three sects and destroyed all the star realms under our control. Our losses were ten thousand times greater than yours in the Yinxue Realm! Moreover, the person you injured back then was the Fire Sect Master's only son. He was a genius, but was crippled because of it. Although he was forcibly kept alive and barely survives, even standing is extremely difficult—his life is worse than death. The Fire Sect Master, in his extreme grief and anger, did something he should not have done."
"Ha!" Mu Xuanyin sneered coldly. "He was overeager for success, his inner flame burned his body and rendered him impotent, yet he wants to blame me?"
"..." Yun Che's mouth fell wide open.
By now, he had roughly understood the grudge from a thousand years ago.
A thousand years ago, during the ancient flood dragon's scale-shedding period, Mu Xuanyin went to the Yan Shen Realm to hunt the ancient flood dragon together with the Yan Shen Realm. But just as success was within reach, she accidentally injured the son of the Golden Crow Sect Master, Huo Rulie... and it was his only son.
And at some point during his training, Huo Rulie had been overeager, causing a backlash that damaged his body and rendered him impotent... meaning he could never have any more children.
Therefore, the person Mu Xuanyin injured was his only son, his only descendant... and from the sound of it, the injury was extremely severe—his entire body was crippled, making walking difficult. He was still alive only because Huo Rulie spared no cost to forcibly prolong his life.
Just as Mu Xuanyin had been sparing no cost to forcibly prolong Mu Bingyun's life for these thousand years.
And so, in his extreme fury, Huo Rulie found an opportunity to ambush Mu Bingyun... even using the flood dragon poison obtained from the ancient flood dragon.
What Mu Xuanyin crippled was his only son. And what he ambushed was Mu Xuanyin's only relative.
Clearly, compared to Mu Xuanyin's accidental injury, Huo Rulie's vengeful ambush was far more despicable and malicious... But bearing the Golden Crow Divine Flame, his temperament was already fiery, and coupled with his impotence, Mu Xuanyin had not only ruined his son but also completely ended his bloodline. How could he not lose control in his rage?
But... if not for Huo Rulie's despicable ambush, Mu Bingyun would not have fallen to the Tian Xuan Continent. And the Tian Xuan Continent would not have had the Bing Yun Fairy Palace.
Then he would not have met the Little Fairy, would not have become the Palace Master of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, and would not have had so many entanglements of gratitude and grudges... and would not have followed Mu Bingyun to the God Realm...
"..." Suddenly, Yun Che felt a tiny bit... grateful to Huo Rulie.
"Mu Xuanyin!!"
This roar was like a volcanic eruption, a thunderbolt from the blue. His scar torn open ruthlessly, Huo Rulie finally exploded. The Golden Crow flames on his body shot up dozens of zhang, and his eyes had turned into a fierce golden-red. "You haven't forgotten that I ambushed Mu Bingyun, and I, Huo Rulie, will never forget until the day I die that you crippled my son!!"
"I, Huo Rulie, am incompetent, unable to personally avenge my son... But if I ever get the chance, I will tear you to pieces!!!"
Huo Rulie's furious roar abruptly changed the atmosphere. The elders and palace masters were all enraged, and the cold aura and killing intent swept through like a storm. Yan Wancang and Yan Juehai were both greatly alarmed. Yan Wancang quickly moved in front of Huo Rulie and said urgently, "Yinxue Realm King, the Fire Sect Master is hot-tempered and has spoken rudely... We will leave immediately. Please forgive him, Yinxue Realm King!"
At the same time, Yan Juehai was sending a sound transmission to Huo Rulie:
"Bastard! Have you gone mad! This is the territory of the Yinxue Realm! Haven't you learned how terrifying this woman Mu Xuanyin is?!"
"Didn't you promise us before coming here? You swore you wouldn't mention the old grudge..."
"That's because it wasn't YOUR son who was crippled!!!"
Huo Rulie's words were not a sound transmission but a roar filled with endless hatred and resentment.
He truly was resentful, incomparably resentful. His only son was permanently crippled, and he had ambushed Mu Xuanyin's only relative with flood dragon poison, always believing she was surely dead, which gave him a kind of twisted psychological balance.
But recently, he suddenly heard that Mu Xuanyin had found a way to save her, and within a few months, Mu Bingyun had nearly completely recovered.
Meanwhile, his son, after a thousand years of life extension, was now at the end of his rope, on the verge of death, barely hanging on, about to die at any moment... This immense disparity—how could he accept it!
Huo Rulie shoved Yan Wancang aside, facing Mu Xuanyin directly. Under his fury and flames, the ice beneath his feet melted layer by layer. "Mu Xuanyin, if I, Huo Rulie, ever reach the Divine Lord realm one day, the first thing I will do is come and kill you!"
"Just you?" Mu Xuanyin laughed with extreme disdain.
"Hahahaha!" Huo Rulie laughed wildly. "As long as I, Huo Rulie, do not die, I will make sure you die one day! If you have the guts, kill me right now!"
"You think I wouldn't dare?" Mu Xuanyin stepped forward, the world turning icy cold. "Huo Rulie, you should really be grateful that my younger sister Bingyun is safe and sound. Back then, I made a solemn vow: if anything happened to Bingyun, the day I abdicated as Realm King would be the day your Golden Crow Sect was annihilated."
"Now that Bingyun is fine, I will let the Golden Crow Sect live." Mu Xuanyin extended her hand, and a chill from an unknown source pierced into everyone's heart like a poisonous thorn. "Killing just you will be enough!!"
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(Oh my, a thousand chapters already... Well, I'll add three eggs to tonight's instant noodles. For such a special occasion, I have to splurge a bit—yes, tea eggs!)
(This chapter ends)