Battle Through the Heavens: The Rock King Emperor's Leisurely Wanderings in the Mortal World

Chapter 71 The Xiao clan shouldn't hold a particular grudge against me, the Soul Emperor, right?

"After all, the Void Devouring Flame is second only to the top on the Strange Flame Ranking. The difficulty for Xiao Yan to devour it is self-evident. Moreover, if he were to devour it directly, firstly, it is unknown whether his current low-level Yellow Rank Burning Technique can withstand it; secondly, even if he can withstand it, the sudden increase in strength could easily cause Xiao Yan to lose his mind and become lax in his cultivation."

Zhong Li patiently and meticulously explained things to Little Fairy Doctor in front of Soul Emperor and Void Devouring Flame without any hesitation.

The two people didn't dare to utter a single word...

……

Then, Zhong Li turned his gaze to Soul Emperor and said unhurriedly, "Of course, everything I just said was only in relation to the Strange Flame. I truly feel bad for disturbing you. If there's anything I can help with, Brother Soul, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Really?! Really?! Lord Dou Di?!" Upon hearing this, Soul Emperor felt the oppressive atmosphere ease considerably.

"Hmm." Zhong Li nodded slightly. "But please don't call me Dou Di anymore. I don't like it. Just call me Zhong Li."

"Then... can Mr. Zhongli heal my injuries? These injuries were inflicted a thousand years ago during a fierce battle with a fellow peak-level Nine-Star Dou Sheng. Back then, he couldn't defeat me, so he frantically grabbed me and chose to self-destruct. The already powerful self-destruction caused me immense suffering, but then he also detonated the three strange flames within his body, forcing me to retreat into seclusion to heal for a thousand years."

The Soul Emperor clenched his right fist and slammed it heavily on the table, as if to vent his pent-up resentment.

"Oh? For someone who has cultivated to the peak of the Nine-Star Dou Sheng realm to risk his life by self-destructing his physical body and igniting three different flame sources to fight you, you wouldn't have led a group to wipe out his entire family, would you?" Zhong Li asked with great interest.

"Haha, to be honest, senior, that's true. That powerful figure was named Xiao Xuan, the patriarch of the Xiao clan, one of the eight ancient clans a thousand years ago. Among our eight ancient clans, the Xiao clan's ancestor was the first to break through to the Dou Di realm, making the Xiao clan the strongest among the eight ancient clans. However, this also led to them becoming the first clan to decline. And between me and Xiao Xuan, there is an irreconcilable enmity."

The Soul Emperor had now lowered his guard and was completely immersed in his memories.

"Oh? Interesting."

"Big brother in black, please continue..."

Little Fairy Doctor took out a handful of melon seeds from her storage ring at some point. She had just tried to offer some to Zhong Li, but he did not accept them. So Little Fairy Doctor had to eat the melon seeds by herself.

"Haha, she's quite a cute little girl. Do you know that Xiao Xuan has already reached the peak of the Nine-Star Dou Sheng realm? In order to completely annihilate my Soul Clan, he has gone all in, gathering all the remaining Dou Di bloodline power of the entire clan into himself. He did this merely to increase the slightest possibility of breaking through to the Dou Di realm. Even if he ultimately fails to break through, the purity of the Dou Di bloodline that Xiao Xuan possesses will inevitably far surpass that of me and Gu Yuan. And once Xiao Xuan emerges from seclusion, his first priority will certainly be to mercilessly annihilate my Soul Clan. Senior, tell me, as the patriarch of the Soul Clan, can I just sit here and wait to die?"

Zhong Li shook his head slightly and said slowly, "Of course not."

"So, I led a group of experts from the Soul Clan to disrupt Xiao Xuan's secluded cultivation. Xiao Xuan chose the Heavenly Tomb, located at the border between the Xiao Realm and the Ancient Realm, as the key to his breakthrough. At first, I was quite worried that the Ancient Clan Chief, Gu Yuan, would interfere, since it was a common understanding among ancient families that the Ancient Clan and the Xiao Clan were on good terms."

"However, to my utter surprise, Gu Yuan, who has always been indecisive, failed to make a decision even at the crucial moment when Xiao Xuan self-destructed. I even specially gathered four more eight-star Dou Sheng elders who could use the Gate of Death to cooperate in forming the Death Realm Array, intending to have them guard the barrier passage between the Ancient Realm and the Xiao Realm, but in the end, not a single one of them was seen. If I had known earlier that Gu Yuan was actually so cowardly and timid, and with the help of those four elders, how could I have ended up so badly injured?"

At this point, the Soul Emperor couldn't help but smile and shake his head slightly. Whether this action was mocking Gu Yuan's stupidity or lamenting that the four eight-star Dou Sheng elders failed to join the battle, it was impossible to know.

"So, what are your plans now that you've recovered from your injuries? Do you still intend to continue hunting down the remaining members of the Xiao clan?" Zhong Li asked with a serious look in his eyes.

"Hmph, why should I bother with those members of the Xiao Clan? My grudges with Xiao Xuan have long been settled. Besides, the rest of the Xiao Clan members have already lost the powerful support of their Dou Di bloodline. You must know that after Xiao Xuan drained the Dou Di bloodline from the former Xiao Clan experts, they lost this powerful force that could help them rapidly increase their strength."

"The strength that was originally able to rapidly increase thanks to the bloodline of the Dou Di can no longer be maintained. The speed of cultivation will become like that of an ordinary mortal, or even slower than that of an ordinary person. Breaking through to a higher realm is even more difficult than ascending to heaven."

"Why should I want to wipe them out completely? If I really had that intention, the perfect opportunity to eliminate them a thousand years ago was when Xiao Xuan went into seclusion. At that time, 99.99% of the Xiao clan members were in the Xiao Realm, but I didn't make a move then. Why would I do such a thing now?"

"Aren't you worried that the descendants of the Xiao family will seek revenge on you in the future?" Zhong Li asked immediately afterward.

"Haha, revenge? Mr. Zhongli, I'm afraid you've misunderstood. Although the Xiao Clan's Dou Di bloodline was gradually declining at that time, it only meant that no Divine-grade bloodlines had appeared among the younger generation for a long time. This did not mean that their high-level combat power had disappeared."

"On the contrary, the Xiao Clan's advanced combat strength has always been slightly superior to our Soul Clan. Under normal circumstances, our Soul Clan would not be confident in fighting the Xiao Clan to the death, since that would inevitably result in mutual destruction, giving the other six clans an opportunity to take advantage."

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"However, Xiao Xuan was utterly foolish. He chose such a method to enhance his personal strength, even gathering all the Dou Di bloodlines of the original seven- or eight-star Dou Sheng of his clan into himself. This action caused their cultivation levels to instantly plummet to the first to fourth stars of Dou Sheng. If Xiao Xuan hadn't done this, how could he have been destroyed by my Soul Clan?"

"So, in the end, the one who destroyed the foundation of the Xiao clan was not me, the Soul Emperor, but Xiao Xuan himself! Therefore, I think that if any reasonable descendants of the Xiao clan knew about this without obtaining Xiao Xuan's legacy, they should not hold a particular grudge against me."

……

(End of this chapter)