Powerful and scorching!
That massive fireball truly resembled a newborn sun, continuously expanding and growing stronger. Fear and dread instantly enveloped the cultivators' minds.
Yu Rou immediately halted, her eyes filled with hesitation and alarm as she stared at the figure beneath the blazing sun.
"Dan Chenzi?"
As she stopped, the blazing sun slowly dissipated. A cold, sharp gaze bore straight into her. Looking into his eyes was like peering into a deep, icy abyss, bottomless and terrifyingly cold.
Yu Rou spoke hoarsely, "Huo Hu cannot die. You... you cannot kill him."
She cast a glance at the body trapped within the vine cage.
Luo Chen gave a cold sneer and said, "Since when could one expect to kill others without being killed themselves? Fellow Daoist Yu, am I wrong?"
"But the Huo family... Huo Quan!" Yu Rou pressed. As she said this name, she seemed to regain her confidence. She steadily continued, "If you dare to kill Huo Hu, the Huo family will never let it go. Huo Quan has been at the sixth stage of Foundation Establishment for years. He is now in seclusion, preparing to break through to the late stage. Once he succeeds..."
"He is not here, though," Luo Chen calmly interrupted her. "The one standing in our way is you."
Those calm words made Yu Rou tremble from head to toe. Her eyes darted about, unsettled. Nearby, Dan Chenzi stood tall, his entire being radiating a chilling, murderous intent. In the distance, perched atop a towering stone pillar, was Wang Yuan, still and silent, like a demonic tiger wrapped in human flesh.
Behind her, Li Yixian stood with her sword already drawn.
Just moments ago, she had seen clearly that Li Yixian truly intended to block her path. In other words, Li Yixian had already chosen to side with Dan Chenzi!
Under normal circumstances, Yu Rou would have relied on the Verdant-Feather Whitehawk’s astonishing speed to flee. But as he stood before her now, Dan Chenzi radiated such a terrifying, oppressive aura that all thoughts of flight seemed futile. The fact that he had returned alive meant that even two Foundation Establishment Initiates had failed to bring him down. Instead, they had died by his hand.
In this moment, Yu Rou was surrounded and knew she didn’t stand a chance. She had no confidence that she could snatch Huo Hu’s body and make it out alive.
Forget it. Just forget it... she muttered inwardly. With a bitter smile, she slowly took a step back.
“Handle today’s matter as you will,” she said quietly. “But you won’t be able to withstand Huo Quan’s wrath.”
As she turned to leave, Luo Chen’s voice rang out behind her.
“Wait.”
Yu Rou’s expression darkened. The bitterness in her gaze melted away, replaced by a sharp and fierce gleam.
"What is it? Fellow Daoist, do you also intend to detain me?" she said coldly.
As she spoke, spirit light erupted from her body, and a feathered fan fell into her hand. This scene resembled a hawk bristling its feathers, ready to strike.
However, Luo Chen merely shook his head and said lightly, "You may leave, but once you return, you are not to reveal any details of this battle to Huo Quan. If he presses you, just tell him that Huo Hu is in Dan Chenzi’s hands. And if he dares to act recklessly..." Here, Luo Chen’s tone dropped, and each following word carried the weight of a mountain. "He can look forward to the Huo family having no heir."
As he spoke, his gaze swept toward two places. One was the depths beneath the stone forest; the other was the figure standing atop a stone pillar.
Yu Rou instantly understood the unspoken meaning. Yet despite grasping his logic, the coercion in his words still struck a nerve. As someone used to standing above others, being threatened so directly felt intolerable.
Perhaps sensing her displeasure, Luo Chen gave a light smile.
"The Luo Tian Society is merely a means for me to gather cultivation resources. But the Yu family is your lifeblood."
The moment she heard this line, her heart skipped a beat. She stared at him for a long moment, her eyes shimmering with a complicated mix of emotions.
"I will remember this," she said at last. There was no room left to argue.
With a flap of wings, the Verdant-Feather Whitehawk beneath her lifted into the night and disappeared into the distance.
Watching the scene unfold, Li Yixian felt the weight in her chest finally lifted. The stifling sense of frustration that had plagued her all night dissolved like mist.
This former friend of hers, who had once been close enough to call her sister, had spent the entire night using the Li family to threaten her. Truly, she had been held tightly in Yu Rou's grasp.
Only someone truly close could twist the knife that deeply.
And yet, unexpectedly... Luo Chen had understood her plight. Those final words about the Yu family must have cut straight through Yu Rou’s heart.
Luo Chen was no saint, and he was no weakling either. A man who had returned unscathed after fighting alone against two Foundation Establishment Initiates was someone who inspired fear in both humans and beasts. He had even dared to deliver a cold, lethal threat against a powerful expert like Huo Quan. If truly forced, this was a man who would cast aside the Luo Tian Society, discard all honor, and slaughter the Yu family without hesitation.
And once that happened, how could the Yu family’s cultivators continue to live out in the open? How could they do business, make connections, or even show their faces in public?
Indeed, family cultivators were strong thanks to their families, but also weak because of them.
Huff!
Li Yixian exhaled deeply. A long breath cleared the lingering frustration from her chest, and her senses sharpened once more. She turned her gaze toward the vine cage, where Huo Hu lay, and noticed that he was breathing, albeit faintly.
"So he really isn't dead..."
Luo Chen nodded and his eyes shifted to Wang Yuan, who was approaching.
Wang Yuan looked rather out of shape. A palm-sized chunk of flesh was missing from his abdomen, and his overall energy flow appeared drained and sluggish. It was clear that the battle had not been nearly as easy for him as Li Yixian and the others had thought.
Wang Yuan said in a muffled voice, "He took a hit from my Divine Blood Tribulation Finger. Even if he's not dead, I suspect he isn't feeling too great."
This was the very technique Wang Yuan had once mentioned to Luo Chen, a second stage Physical-Refining attack he had spent years perfecting. The attack didn’t cover a wide area, but it was incredibly fast, its power was tightly condensed, and, most importantly, it could be launched from a long distance.
That final detail was especially critical.
One of the main reasons second-stage Physical-Refining cultivators failed to match Foundation Establishment Initiates was their lack of long-range attacks. Most Physical-Refining techniques were close-combat in nature. Even if the cultivators could project blood qi, the range rarely extended beyond a few dozen zhang.
Against Foundation Establishment cultivators who controlled flying swords and launched attacks from far beyond that distance, such short-range methods were simply no threat at all.
Back then, Duan Qiankun had relied on flight and long-range attacks to torment Wang Yuan, pushing him to the brink of death. But now, Wang Yuan had finally patched that fatal flaw with a rudimentary long-range strike of his own.
Luo Chen shook his head and said, "He must not die!"
Neither Wang Yuan nor Li Yixian objected. In fact, they agreed wholeheartedly.