Domestic Zone: You already have a system, why join a chat group?

Chapter 177 Yun Yun: "We were just acquaintances."

"Xiao Yan! Is there some misunderstanding?! Let's talk about it when the teacher comes back, okay?"

Below, Nalan Yanran watched helplessly as Yun Leng was smashed into the mountainside, his life hanging in the balance. She hurriedly called out, but Xiao Yan ignored her and swept his right hand across his storage ring. More than a dozen small bottles emerged from the ring and were thrown without hesitation toward where Yun Leng had fallen.

A dozen or so fire lotuses bloomed at the same time, their blue and purple hues reflecting each other, creating a breathtakingly beautiful yet terrifying sight.

These were all fire lotus bottles he had made in advance, each containing a small Buddha's Wrath Fire Lotus that he had prepared beforehand. In an instant, a series of booming explosions shook the entire Yunlan Mountain Range, causing rocks to vaporize and turn into white steam columns that shot into the sky.

The mountain was no longer visible at the epicenter of the explosion; all that could be seen was billowing smoke and flames, and a huge mushroom cloud in the sky above.

"Elder!"

Yun Li, Yun Ruo, and many other Dou Wang elders of the Yunlan Sect cried out in alarm. Driven by grief and fear, their Dou Qi suddenly erupted, and they frantically attacked the Dou Qi barrier set up by Hai Bodong. Dou Qi of various colors exploded on the ice screen. Each attack made the barrier tremble violently, ice shards flew everywhere, and cracks spread across the ice surface.

Hai Bodong stood proudly on the dragon's head, holding a long, icy spear. Ice-blue battle aura surged from his body as he fought against several Yun-generation elders who were attacking him, while repairing the barrier that had been torn apart by the attacks.

Since breaking through to the Nine-Star Dou Huang realm by cultivating the technique given to him by Xiao Yan, his Frost Dou Qi has undergone a qualitative change and has already acquired the initial ability to influence space. At this rate, as long as he continues to cultivate, he will be able to step into the legendary Dou Zong realm in at most one or two years.

He glanced at Jia Xingtian and Fa Ma, who were still observing and had not yet made a move, and sighed with disappointment.

These two old guys are unwilling to take any risks at all, and they don't know how to seize opportunities when given them. How can politics be done well when you're with such cowardly people?

"Xiao Yan!"

Just when everyone thought Yun Leng had perished in the explosion, a suppressed growl rang out from the depths of the smoke and dust.

The voice didn't sound human; it was hoarse, distorted, and shrill, like dozens of people simultaneously calling the same name in different tones, each syllable carrying a creepy, hair-raising sensation.

who is it?

At that moment, everyone looked in the direction of the sound, and saw that the smoke and dust were torn apart from the inside by an invisible force, and a figure rushed out from the mixture of smoke and steam.

Everyone knows that this person is Yun Leng, but given his current state, no one can be sure that the person in front of them is the same Yunlan Sect Grand Elder they knew not long ago.

At this moment, his whole body was filled with an eerie aura. Half of his face had disappeared, revealing his cheekbone and gums. His flesh, charred by the high temperature, clung to his body, and the skin rolled up to reveal the dark red muscle texture underneath. In some places, the skin and flesh were burned away, and you could see the white bones.

But none of that is the most important thing. What is most incomprehensible is that his whole body is shrouded in an ominous black mist. Within the black mist, countless twisted faces can be vaguely seen churning. These faces have no features, only blurry outlines, and they roar silently with their mouths open, as if they are enduring some kind of unspeakable pain. Faint sobs can be heard.

Even more bizarrely, under the shroud of this black smoke, the shocking wounds on Yun Leng's body were healing at a visible speed. New pink buds were growing from the edges of the charred flesh. The buds wriggled like worms, intertwining and pulling each other together, gradually closing up the chapped wounds.

However, the newly grown skin was not the normal skin color, but a pale, ashen white without a trace of blood.

"What... what's going on?"

"How could the Grand Elder have become like this?"

"Where is the sect leader? Where is the sect leader?"

In the audience, the Yunlan Sect disciples were discussing among themselves, their voices filled with undisguised fear. However, the object of their fear had shifted from the black-robed youth who had severely injured their Grand Elder to their Grand Elder himself.

Upon seeing this, Yunli and the other elders also stopped their attacks, hovering in mid-air, unable to believe their eyes.

Both Jia Xingtian and Fa Ma frowned at the same time.

"What is this thing?" Jia Xingtian asked in a low voice, "It's terrifying just to look at."

At his age, he had traveled all over the country, seen mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield, and witnessed dismemberment and mutilation during assassinations. But he had never seen a scene that made him feel so uncomfortable. It was an instinctive rejection that came from both his physiology and his psychology.

"I'm afraid it's some kind of sinister secret technique that requires devouring souls and flesh," Fa Ma guessed hesitantly.

As the chief alchemist of the Gama Empire, his soul perception far surpasses that of other experts of the same level, allowing him to sense the extremely complex soul aura mixed within the black mist on Yun Ling's body.

He remembered similar descriptions in some ancient, forbidden books: a secret technique that allowed one to gain power beyond their own limits by devouring the souls and flesh of others; those who practiced this technique would become neither human nor ghost.

"I just heard Xiao Yan say that Yun Ling is colluding with the Soul Palace, could it be that—"

"The Soul Palace—" Jia Xingtian frowned even more deeply; he had never heard of this power before.

The royal family has detailed records of all the forces within the Gama Empire, from the Yunlan Sect and the Alchemist Guild to a mercenary group in a remote town. He can name them all. However, he has never heard of the Soul Palace before. But judging from the strange aura emanating from Yun Ling, he is probably not a benevolent person.

If, as Xiao Yan said, the Grand Elder of the Yunlan Sect is indeed colluding with such forces, then the nature of this matter is completely different.

"Xiao Yan! You bastard! I'm going to kill you!" Yun Ling glared with his cloudy eyes, filled with rage. His aura surged in an instant, rising from the initial five-star Dou Wang level all the way up, advancing triumphantly and unstoppable. In a short period of time, he almost reached the level of Dou Huang.

"How is this possible!" This scene caused the old guys who were watching the battle, such as Nalan Jie, Mu Zhan, and Mitel Tengshan, to exclaim in surprise.

"That's certainly possible." Xiao Yan, the one who started it all, suppressed the corners of his mouth that were curling up, and the smile flashed across his lips.

That wisp of light just now was a treasure he specially obtained from Han Li. Its quality was quite guaranteed, and it could easily transform Yun Leng into a Soul Palace lackey who cultivated ruthless techniques.

Han Li called it Soul Fiend Guide, a rather literary name. To put it bluntly, it was a wisp of corrupted power that had been repeatedly refined, containing the corruption from the mysterious world that Klein had collected.

The moment the power of pollution enters the body, it will frantically devour the host's sanity while simultaneously draining the host's life force in a destructive manner, transforming it into a short-term surge in cultivation.

Don't be fooled by Yunling's current antics; before long, he'll be nothing but a puddle of pus and blood.

"Little Yan, get ready, your little girlfriend is coming back." His teacher's voice echoed in his mind. Xiao Yan nodded silently and replied in his mind, "Teacher, I'll leave the rest to you."

He went to so much trouble to frame Yun Ling as a lackey of the Soul Palace, wasn't it because he didn't want to fall out with Yun Yun because of this?

Call him a chauvinist or selfish, but in his heart, since Yunyun had already been intimate with him, he would never let her marry another man.

The stage is now set up, and the actors should be taking their places on stage one after another.

"Haha, easy! Just give me a few more disciples and grand-disciples later." The old doctor laughed heartily, and with his laughter, a vast spiritual wave crashed towards the majestic mountain known as the Holy Mountain of the Yunlan Sect.

In an instant, from the depths of Yunlan Mountain, a vast and majestic aura, like a giant dragon awakened from ancient times, descended with unparalleled pressure, causing the clouds above Yunlan Mountain to surge and boil.

The nearly one thousand disciples in the circular stands felt a tightness in their chests, as if an invisible hand was pressing on their hearts, making it difficult to breathe.

The sharp claws had almost touched Xiao Yan's cloud ridge when it was slammed down from the sky to the ground with a loud bang.

"No! Old Sect Master, why!" he roared, struggling to get up, using his hands and feet to support himself on the ground, but the pressure was too heavy, as heavy as a mountain pressing down on his back, making him unable to move.

"It's that old guy! He really isn't dead yet!" Jia Xingtian and Fa Ma exchanged a glance, both showing shock. This surge of power meant that Yun Shan had probably really broken through the Dou Huang barrier and advanced to the Dou Zong level.

"Sect Master! That's wonderful! It's the Sect Master!" Yun Li couldn't help but burst into tears, his square face streaked with sobs. The events of today were simply too unbelievable. The reputation of the Yunlan Sect had plummeted to rock bottom in just half an hour, which was beyond his ability to handle. He desperately needed a leader.

"Yunshan?" Looking up at the depths of the Yunlan Mountains, Hai Bodong snorted coldly, his heart unmoved.

He's just a mere Dou Zong. If the Yunlan Sect thinks they can turn the tide of the battle by relying on a single Dou Zong, they are seriously underestimating the power behind Xiao Yan.

hum!hum!hum!

The sound of the void trembling continued to resound. Under the gaze of countless eyes, a white figure suddenly emerged from the depths of Yunlan Mountain. Stepping into the void, each step covered a distance of a hundred meters, and each time a foot landed, ripples would spread across the void.

After taking a few steps, in just a moment, the figure appeared on top of the stone tablet in the center of the square. His indifferent gaze swept over the messy ground and Hai Bodong, who seemed to be fighting with the elders of the Yunlan Sect. His brows furrowed slightly, and the oppressive aura surrounding the square became much stronger at this moment.

"Hai Bodong, you need to give me an explanation. In all these years, this is the first time that my Yunlan Sect has been destroyed like this."

"Me?" Hai Bodong looked at Yunshan in surprise, not understanding why Yunshan had found him out of the blue. Wasn't he just a group leader?

"Sect Master! It's not him, it's this brat!" Yun Li quickly pointed at Xiao Yan in the sky and shouted, "It's his seriously injured Elder Yun Leng, and he's the one who destroyed the plaza like this!"

"?" Yunshan was stunned. He had just been awakened by an extremely powerful fluctuation and came out of seclusion to check. He immediately saw the battle arena that was destroyed beyond recognition and Hai Bodong fighting against six opponents. He then assumed that Hai Bodong, who was about to break through to the Dou Zong level, had come to test his life and death.

Now they're telling him the culprit was a mere kid? That's utterly ridiculous.

And cloud prisms—

Yunshan looked around but couldn't find Yunling. He couldn't help but ask, "Where is Yunling?"

"Old Sect Master, the one you've suppressed to the ground is him," Yun Li quickly said.

"Is he Yun Leng?" Looking at Yun Leng's inhuman appearance, Yun Shan frowned slightly. He had initially thought he was a member of the Mittel family's assassination squad, which was why he had suppressed him. "What happened? How did you get yourself into this state?"

"This—Old Sect Master, we don't know either." Yun Li was speechless for a moment, and then recounted the whole story since Xiao Yan came up the mountain in fits and starts.

When Yun Shan heard that Xiao Yan was only seventeen years old, he only glanced at Xiao Yan with slight surprise. But the moment he heard the words "Soul Palace," his eyelids lifted sharply: "You just said, Soul Palace?"

"That's right, it's the Soul Hall." Yun Li nodded affirmatively. He also noticed the change in Yun Shan's expression, seeing that he seemed to know the inside story, so he asked, "Does the old sect master know about the Soul Hall?"

Yun Shan didn't reply, but after glancing at Yun Leng, who was now delirious and filled with murderous intent, he turned his gaze to Xiao Yan: "Xiao Yan, do you know about the Soul Palace?"

"Of course." Xiao Yan waved his hand and put the Xuan Heavy Ruler into his storage ring, then faced Yun Shan directly: "My Xiao Clan and the Soul Palace have always been locked in a life-or-death struggle. Just now, I sensed the Soul Palace's aura, which is why I attacked Yun Leng."

Xiao Yan's hatred for Yun Shan was not as deep as his hatred for Yun Leng.

Yunshan's attack on him was largely driven by the prevailing trend, demonstrating his ability to distinguish right from wrong. However, Yunling was different; he was simply acting out of personal desire.

Xiao Clan? Yunshan murmured to himself. Although he didn't know the details, he knew in his heart that the Xiao Clan was not the Xiao Family. A difference of one word made all the difference.

"Why has Yunling become like this?" Yunshan asked.

"If nothing unexpected happens, he must have used a secret technique of the Soul Palace to try and break through his cultivation level. However, he doesn't know that the Soul Palace's secret technique has extremely severe side effects on the soul. Once used, it drastically changes one's personality. In a state of mental instability, one will completely lose control and degenerate into a mindless puppet who only knows how to kill." Yunshan: "7"

"Well, it's not like there's no solution." Seeing that the time was right, Xiao Yan quickly added.

"Oh?" Yun Shan raised his eyes and met Xiao Yan's gaze. Seeing that the other was staring straight at him, he guessed that Xiao Yan had seen through his secrets.

"you----"

Just as Yunshan was about to speak, he suddenly heard the sound of wind breaking. Looking up, he saw a graceful and elegant figure suddenly appear in the sky above the square.

"Teacher!" In the arena, Nalan Yanran was the first to notice the graceful beauty slowly descending from the sky. She was slightly startled, and her beautiful eyes immediately turned red. She rushed over quickly and then threw herself into the latter's arms. Feeling wronged, she finally burst into tears.

"Sect Master, Sect Master is back!" On the plaza, upon seeing the woman in the moon robe appear, all the Yunlan Sect disciples knelt down excitedly.

"Alright, your master is back." After gently comforting her disciple, Yun Yun looked at Xiao Yan with a complicated expression.

The two looked at each other, speechless.

"Yun'er, do you know Xiao Yan?" Sensing that there might be a story between the two, Yunshan couldn't help but ask.

Yun Yun's gaze darted away, avoiding her teacher's eyes: "Um—yes—we've met a few times, but we're not close, just acquaintances—"

"I see." Yunshan chuckled softly, as if he understood what was going on.