Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

”This...”

Feeling the rebounding force within the seal, unexpectedly enhanced by the participation of the Snow Stepping Flying Horse, Xue Tianao’s expression turned somber.

Looking sideways at the red-skirted girl, who appeared despondent, Xue Tianao felt a pang of remorse. Or perhaps, considering his daughter, he made a decision at that moment.

Because Xue Tianao knew that if Yun Xiao never emerged, his daughter’s Innate Pulse Cutting could never be fully healed. There might even be other complications. He couldn’t just sit idly and watch it happen.

Bang!

Xue Tianao took out a cylindrical object from his Waist Storage, then lightly tapped its base, a beam of light shot up into the sky, and finally exploded at a great height above.

”That’s... the Hall Master’s Xuanyin Token!”

Seeing the fireworks in the sky, vaguely forming the ancient character ”Xuan,” Xue Ningxiang and the guardians of Xuanyin Hall felt their hearts skip a beat, speculating what the Hall Master intended to do.

Bear in mind, Xuanyin Hall wasn’t just composed of Xue Tianao, a Heavenly Rank expert. The Vice Hall Master had also reached the Heavenly Rank, along with the other Xuanyin Hall Elders. Together, they might have a chance to break the seal of Xuanyin Cave.

”Thank you, Master Xue!”

Hearing the murmurs beside her, Xu Hongzhuang understood what Xue Tianao intended to do. A glimmer of hope rose within her—no more waiting in vague bewilderment.

”The appearance of a Heavenly Rank Strange Spirit in Xuanyin Cave is due to our negligence. Breaking the seal and slaying the Strange Spirit is our duty!”

At this moment, Xue Tianao undoubtedly exuded a strong aura of dominance. Although he’d suffered two failures, everyone present, every single one, believed that pooling all the strength of Xuanyin Hall’s experts still held a chance to shatter the powerful seal of Xuanyin Cave.

But all of this would require waiting, waiting for the Xuanyin Hall’s experts to arrive. Meanwhile, the young man stranded in the seventh layer of Xuanyin Cave—could he hold on?

......

Seventh layer of Xuanyin Cave!

Time rewound to half a day earlier, when the talents of Tenglong Continent rushed out of the seventh layer of Xuanyin Cave.

After everyone disappeared, the seventh layer was left with only the corpses of many talents and a slender young man slowly rising on Lake Heart Island.

”This is troublesome now!”

Staring at the water column tentacles continuously extending from the lake surface and sensing the majestic power within, even Yun Xiao couldn’t help but smile bitterly, thinking he really played it too big this time.

”King...”

Compared to Yun Xiao, the Strange Spirit Leader who previously wanted Yun Xiao dead now didn’t immediately attack. The murmurs from its mouth, though faint, let Yun Xiao hear a clear fervor.

Perhaps only this Strange Spirit Leader knew what those water column tentacles truly were—the ”King” guarded for years by countless strange spirits, their sole belief.

Notably, after one water column tentacle pulled Yun Xiao back to Lake Heart Island, it didn’t attack again but extended countless tentacles toward the opposite shore.

When Yun Xiao saw those tentacles touching the corpses of talents one by one, he seemed to understand something. The Heavenly Rank Strange Spirit at the lake’s bottom hadn’t truly awakened and needed to continue absorbing human talents’ blood energy.

”Can’t let it keep devouring!”

Feeling the human corpses drying up, Yun Xiao knew the urgency, unsure how much those dozens would allow the entity beneath the lake to recover. If it truly awakened, he had no chance to survive.

Whoosh!

No hesitation as thoughts churned in Yun Xiao’s mind. He acted swiftly, extending Silver Fire Wings from his back, aiming for another leap toward the opposing shore.

Previously drawn back to Lake Heart Island due to being caught off guard, Yun Xiao was now fully alert. Even with those water column tentacles, it would be extremely difficult to catch him again.

After all, the being beneath the lake hadn’t fully awakened, and those water columns merely reacted instinctively—not a true Heavenly Spirit attack—giving Yun Xiao a glimmer of hope.

Yun Xiao’s goal was to burn the corpses with Ancestral Vein Fire before those tentacles could drain their blood energy, preventing them from becoming sustenance for the lake’s strange spirit.

However, Yun Xiao seemed to forget—besides the Heavenly Rank strange spirit at the lake’s bottom, there was a Ninth Rank low-level strange spirit here. At such a time, it certainly wouldn’t allow this young man to destroy the ”King’s” replenishing sustenance.

Moreover, this time, the Ninth Rank low-level strange spirit had learned quickly, choosing not to confront Yun Xiao on Lake Heart Island but instead blocking his path.

Ninth Rank low-level strange spirits couldn’t fly. Typically, Yun Xiao could use Thunder Dragon’s Wings to remain undefeated, but given the recent events, the strange spirit leader had clearly prepared for this.

Splash!

Suddenly, a sound of water echoed, and the lake’s surface erupted with a water column like a fountain. However, this water column was quite different from those water column tentacles, which were merely means used by a Ninth-Level Low-Level Strange Spirit.

With these continuously emerging water columns from the lake surface, the Ninth-Level Low-Level Strange Spirit clearly possessed a unique levitation ability. So when Yun Xiao had just flown a few dozen feet, the Ninth-Level Advanced Strange Spirit blocked his path.

”Damn it!”

At this critical moment, Yun Xiao truly didn’t want to battle this zombie-like opponent, but it wasn’t easy to shake off a Ninth-Level Low-Level Strange Spirit.

This was vastly different from the evasive maneuvers on Lake Heart Island. Besides this Ninth-Level Strange Spirit, Yun Xiao also had to be wary of the water column tentacles that could attack him at any moment.

Considering Yun Xiao’s physical strength, taking a hit from the Ninth-Level Low-Level Strange Spirit wasn’t a big deal. However, being struck by a water column tentacle would be too much to handle, as the Earth Burst Stone Lotus Armor also required a large amount of Meridian Qi.

”Looks like I’ll have to take care of this guy first!”

With the inability to break through the Ninth-Level Low-Level Strange Spirit leader first, Yun Xiao resolved to handle the situation, muttering as he stretched out his right hand. A fiery red light burst from his palm, shooting rapidly toward the opposite shore.

”Red Feather, burn those bodies!”

The fiery red light was naturally the young Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, Red Feather. Since Yun Xiao couldn’t disengage himself momentarily, having Red Feather, who possessed the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Fire, act would yield the same result.

Red Feather’s speed was indeed faster than Yun Xiao’s, and her small size made it extremely difficult for the massive water column tentacles to hit her.

Just a few breaths later, Red Feather had smoothly arrived at the shore. With each flap of her wings, a flash of fire light rained down.

Pop, pop, pop!

In just an instant, a dozen or so human prodigy corpses exploded, turning into ashes, with no trace of blood energy left. This task was completed beautifully by Red Feather.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Upon seeing its nutrients reduced to ashes, the existence at the bottom of the lake, even while in slumber, instinctively erupted in rage. Several water columns reaching the shore exploded and nearly drenched Red Feather.

At the same time, the entire lake surface began to boil, and water column tentacles lashed madly toward Yun Xiao in the sky. At this moment, he knew he had stirred up a hornet’s nest.

”Red Feather, well done!”

Amidst the chaos, Yun Xiao managed to dodge several tentacle attacks and avoid the deadly strike of the Ninth-Level Low-Level Strange Spirit, while still managing to praise Red Feather on the opposite shore.

”Human boy, I will make you wish for life but unable to find death!”

The ”King’s” nutrients were completely destroyed, and the Ninth-Level Low-Level Strange Spirit leader was seething in a fury quite extraordinary. Sensing the lake’s depths’ anger, a slight dread arose in his heart.

Through a series of battles with Yun Xiao, the Strange Spirit leader realized that this human boy, who was supposedly only at the Late Stage of the Origin Seeking Realm, wasn’t much weaker than himself.

But now, with the assistance of the ”King’s” tentacles, the Strange Spirit leader felt fully confident. If this human boy had no other means, his fate today was already sealed.

Unfortunately for the Strange Spirit leader, who believed the opponent had exhausted all tricks, he didn’t expect that the human boy before him still had the biggest trump card yet to play. It was evidently time to use it.

”Xiao Wu, are you ready?”

Sensing the surrounding water column tentacles becoming frantic, along with the hysterical Ninth-Level Low-Level Strange Spirit, Yun Xiao knew he could no longer hold back and shouted loudly in his mind.

Yun Xiao understood that although this was merely the instinctive reaction of a sleeping Heavenly Spirit, the disparity in power was too great. The increasing number of water columns would eventually deplete his Meridian Qi.

At that point, not only would he be unable to unleash the Ancestor Vein Power, but he might also lose his life for good.

”I should be the one asking if you’re ready, right?”

Hearing Yun Xiao’s voice, a hint of disdain flashed in the eyes of the Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu. He certainly knew what Yun Xiao intended to do at this moment, and there was no better option now.

Boom!

As soon as Xiao Wu finished speaking, a powerful golden light erupted from him. When this golden light permeated Yun Xiao’s skin and muscles, the aura of the boy, who was originally only at the Peak of the Seeking Origin Realm, surged dramatically in an instant.

This change left the Ninth-Level Low-Level Strange Spirit momentarily stunned.