Starting with the creation of the Immortal Clan through the compilation of the family genealogy.

Chapter 21 A Generous Gift Welcomes the Cultivator, Martial Arts Break Through the Spiritual Light

A moment later, a very faint whooshing sound came from afar, almost blending into the sound of the wind.

"Qi Refining Level 3... Peak of the initial stage?" Meng Xihong instantly judged the opponent's cultivation level, his heart tightening slightly, but he also quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Not invincible!

The newcomer was extremely cautious, concealing his aura almost perfectly. If Meng Xihong's mental strength hadn't far surpassed that of others of the same level, and if he hadn't been constantly on guard, he probably wouldn't have been able to detect this presence that almost blended into the night.

He was dressed in a pitch-black night outfit, his face covered with a black cloth, only his eyes were exposed, gleaming with a sharp light, and surging with undisguised greed and ferocity.

The man in black landed, sniffed the air, and a look of doubt mixed with confirmation flashed in his eyes.

'Tracking powder...it can't be wrong. And...a faint yet astonishingly pure innate spiritual essence! Even if it was deliberately concealed, it couldn't escape my nose and the 'Spirit-Seeking Pearl's' perception.'

The news reported by Zhou Maocai was indeed true; this remote and impoverished place actually harbored such high-quality supplies. But why... why did this aura linger in such a filthy and sinister mortuary?

"Heh, as expected of someone born in the Year of the Dog, even their methods of investigation are so unique." From the shadows, Meng Xihong sneered silently.

The man in black remained focused, his gaze sweeping across the mortuary like lightning before suddenly freezing on the thin coffin in the center. A turquoise scale lay silently atop it, its eerie light swirling, emanating an aura he knew all too well.

"These are scales from my Azure Scale Serpent! How did they end up here?"

His pupils contracted sharply, and a strong sense of foreboding instantly gripped his mind.

Just as he was trembling with shock and doubt, a sudden change occurred!

"Rise!" Meng Xihong shouted from the crossbeam, and the hidden force that had been gathering power instantly detonated the poisonous herbal powder buried around the coffin.

And hidden at the bottom of the coffin was a "golden gift" that the three little ones had lovingly prepared and had been brewing for a long time.

White powder and a thick, yellowish-brown torrent of filth, carrying putrid residue and a pungent odor, sprayed violently outwards from the coffin in a radial pattern!
The target was instantly and completely swallowed up by the white-tinged-yellow surging tide.

The man in black—no, now he should probably be called the man in yellow—froze on the spot, his body trembling violently, not from injury, but from a deep-seated, utterly defiled nausea and an uncontrollable urge to vomit.

"Ah—Ugh! Who is it? Come out! Ugh!" The roar, a mixture of shock and anger, mingled with dry heaving, sounded particularly shrill and jarring in the silent mortuary.

Overwhelmed with shame and rage, a blazing fireball instantly condensed in his palm and violently blasted towards the source of the powder.

"Boom!" The fireball exploded, flames instantly engulfing half of the rotten pillar, splintering wood everywhere. Yet, it only struck empty air.

The black cloth covering the man in black's face had long since fallen off, and the firelight illuminated his filthy, twisted, and ferocious face.

“You’d better keep quiet,” a cold, mocking voice rang out from behind him. “Watch out, it might get in your mouth. Oh, sorry, I forgot you might have a taste for this? Well, I guess I was just being nosy.”

The words have not yet fallen.

【Literary Spirit and Integrity: A Soul-Soothing Force】!
"Buzz!"

An invisible, overwhelming pressure suddenly descended!

This force does not act on the physical body, but directly on the core of the mind and spiritual energy.

Meng Xihong's long-accumulated spiritual power, along with the nascent righteous energy in his sea of ​​consciousness, erupted with a roar!
This is not an offensive spell, but a powerful interference and suppression originating from the spiritual realm!
The man in black felt a buzzing in his head, as if he had been hit by a giant hammer. His condensed magical power froze instantly, and his body involuntarily slowed down for a beat.

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Meng Xihong leaped boldly from the beam.

The pent-up inner strength within his body erupted without reservation at this moment, and his [Martial Arts Root Bone] hummed, allowing his speed, strength, and reaction to reach an unprecedented peak.

Instead of using a longsword, he chose close combat. When dealing with cultivators, especially in such a confined environment, close-quarters combat in martial arts can often produce unexpected results.

Lin Qi was, after all, a cultivator at the peak of the early stage of Qi Refining. Although he suffered both physical and mental injuries, his fighting instincts remained.

In his horror, he forcefully activated his spiritual power, and the surging energy completely shattered his tattered night clothes, which were covered in filth, revealing a sinister and twisted face that was now covered in yellow and white grime!

A thin layer of protective aura, shimmering with an earthy yellow hue, instantly appeared on his body. At the same time, his right hand, fingers clenched like a knife, hastily unleashed a powerful earthy yellow energy blade, aimed straight at Meng Xihong's heart!

It combines offense and defense, and is ruthless and cunning.

"break!"

A fierce glint flashed in Meng Xihong's eyes, but he neither flinched nor dodged.

Undeterred by his forward momentum, his left hand transformed into a blade, unleashing a surge of hidden power like a spiral drill, striking the side of the earthen-yellow energy blade with unparalleled precision. "Sizzle!" The energy blade was deflected and largely disintegrated by the palm strike imbued with immense force and exquisite power.

The lingering scent splattered onto his left sleeve, stinging his skin.

His right fist, carrying the full force of his body and the momentum of his charge, slammed hard into the protective aura that Lin Qi had hastily erected!
"Bang-click!"

A dull, loud bang echoed through the empty mortuary.

That thin layer of protective aura, under the iron fist that was enhanced by the ultimate [Martial Arts Root Bone] and contained the full power of the peak of Dark Force and a trace of righteous energy, only lasted for half a breath before it shattered like fragile glass, turning into scattered specks of yellow light.

"Pfft!" The man in black was struck as if by a heavy blow. The backlash from the shattered protective aura, coupled with the terrifying force of the punch, made him feel a sweet taste in his throat, and he spat out blood. He flew backward like a broken sack, crashing hard into the dilapidated altar behind him, sending wood chips flying everywhere.

"Cough cough...hoarse...hoarse..." Violent coughing and heavy breathing came from the smoke and dust.

"This is truly top-notch, lung-filled!" Meng Xihong couldn't help but comment as he watched the scene unfold.

A figure covered in mud, blood, and filth staggered to his feet. Lin Fei's eyes were bloodshot, fixed on Meng Xihong with a venomous hatred that seemed almost tangible. His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper being rubbed together.

"You mere... mortal martial artist... dare... dare to toy with me like this... I, Lin Fei, swear I will not be human until I tear you to pieces and rip your soul from my body!"

"Oh? So your name is Lin Fei." Meng Xihong shook his right fist, which was still numb from the impact. His eyes were as cold as frost, but a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"I forgot to mention earlier, your yellowish-brown protective aura is a perfect match for your current outfit."

"you wanna die!!!"

Lin Fei's defenses crumbled instantly, his reason consumed by overwhelming rage and humiliation.

He let out a shriek that sounded inhuman.

"Insignificant ant! How could you know the profound mystery of my Young Master Lin Lang's 'Soul Devouring and Blood Transformation Technique'! Once I capture that innate spirit child and offer him to Young Master Lin Lang for refinement, I will surely make you suffer the torment of having your soul extracted and your spirit refined, and you will never be able to reincarnate!"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly flipped his right hand, and a black dagger that gleamed with a cold, eerie light and flowed with spiritual energy instantly appeared in his palm.

At the same time, the left hand performs a hand seal at a speed so fast that it leaves afterimages.

"Earth Spike Technique - Activate!"

The ground shook violently. Accompanied by a teeth-grinding "thud, thud, thud," several hard earth spikes, as thick as a child's arm, with sharp tips and wrapped in rich, earthy-yellow spiritual energy, suddenly sprang up like lurking venomous snakes, bursting out from the ground beneath Meng Xihong's feet and within a few feet of him, piercing his legs and abdomen with a sharp whooshing sound.

The angle was tricky, and the coverage area was extremely wide, instantly sealing off most of his evasive space.

Meng Xihong's pupils suddenly contracted.

The ground spikes were too fast and covered too wide. The power of the Qi Refining cultivator's spells far exceeded his previous estimates.

"Drink!" At the critical moment, his muscles tensed like steel wires, and the terrifying explosive power granted by his [Martial Arts Root] was instantly squeezed to its limit.

With a sudden push off the ground, not backward, but narrowly missing the edge of a spike that was sticking out diagonally, his body, like a spinning top that had lost its center of gravity, rolled sideways and backward in an extremely awkward yet incredibly swift motion.

"Sizzle! Sizzle!" Sharp spikes grazed his back and calves, instantly tearing his clothes and leaving several deep, bone-revealing gashes in his tough skin. A searing pain shot through him, and blood gushed out instantly.

But he ultimately escaped the fatal blow of being skewered like a candied hawthorn.

Before he could stop rolling, he grabbed a heavy coffin plank lying on the ground and hurled it at Lin Fei.

Not seeking to harm the enemy, but merely to cause disruption.

Seeing that his attack had failed to kill, Lin Fei's madness intensified. Ignoring the disordered spiritual energy within his body and his injuries, he forcefully activated the short dagger.

The dagger emitted a burst of eerie light, transforming into a jet-black streak that easily shredded the flying wooden plank into pieces.

Lin Fei stumbled for a moment, then lunged forward again, his dagger aimed straight for Meng Xihong's throat!

At the same time, the left hand technique was used again, and new ground spikes were poised to strike at the landing point where Meng Xihong rolled.

Inside the mortuary, the life-or-death struggle has reached its most tragic and dangerous stage, where every breath could be the end of life!
(End of this chapter)