I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

Qin Yuan pulled one leg out of the pit and stepped onto the gravel. The golden patterns on the bone blade lit up—one, two, five, ten, fifteen. He raised his head and looked into the eyes of the crane.

"Are you done talking?"

Cang He narrowed his eyes. He raised his right hand, this time not with a light press, but with his fingers spread and then clenched into a fist. The air was compressed in his palm, producing a cracking sound, and a transparent burst of energy shot out from his fist, heading straight for Qin Yuan's chest. Qin Yuan dodged to the side, the energy grazing his left shoulder, tearing his clothes into strips and ripping off a piece of skin to reveal the muscle beneath. Blood seeped from the wound, flowing down his arm.

Qin Yuan didn't look at his wound. He rushed out.

The bone blade struck Cang He's protective source energy, producing a crisp metallic clang. The protective source energy wasn't broken, but Cang He took a step back. His eyes widened for a moment. Qin Yuan's second strike landed on the same spot. A crack appeared in the protective source energy. The third strike widened the crack. The fourth strike, and Cang He's palm slammed into Qin Yuan's chest.

Qin Yuan flew out and crashed into a low wall. Half of the wall collapsed, burying him under the rubble. Cang He looked down at his protective source energy; the crack was still slowly healing. His expression was grim.

"You, a mere fifth-level Void God Emperor, managed to leave a crack in my protective source power." He looked up at Qin Yuan, who had crawled out of the rubble. "You certainly deserve my attention."

Qin Yuan stood up. Blood was flowing from the wound on his left shoulder, his right leg was cut open by gravel, and there was a bloody hole on his forehead from hitting a rock. He spat out the blood in his mouth.

"Are you serious?" Qin Yuan asked. "I haven't even started yet."

The fifteen golden patterns on the bone blade suddenly lit up simultaneously. A purplish-gold light emanated from within the blade, illuminating an area of ​​a hundred feet in the darkness. Qin Yuan's white hair turned golden in the light. He charged towards the Azure Crane, this time twice as fast as before.

Cang He raised his hand to block. The bone blade slashed at his forearm, severing his protective source energy and cutting into his flesh. Blood spurted out. Cang He's other hand slammed into Qin Yuan's left shoulder, and Qin Yuan's left shoulder cracked as the bone shattered. But Qin Yuan's bone blade didn't stop; it withdrew from Cang He's forearm and slashed at Cang He's chest. This time, there was no protective source energy in his chest—the previous strike had exhausted Cang He's protective source energy's regeneration rate. The bone blade left a deep, bone-revealing wound on Cang He's chest, diagonally running from his left shoulder to his right rib.

The crane cried out in pain and retreated. He looked at the wound on his chest, then at Qin Yuan. Fear filled his eyes.

"You..." he wanted to say something.

Qin Yuan didn't give him a chance to speak. The bone blade pierced his throat. Cang He tilted his head, the bone blade grazing his neck, slicing off a piece of flesh. Blood spurted out, staining his white robe red. He turned and ran, his feet moving like the wind, so fast that he was just a blur.

Qin Yuan gave chase. He pursued for a hundred miles, reaching the edge of the Origin Ancestral Realm. The crane ran ahead, blood dripping from its body, leaving a trail of red in the air. Qin Yuan's left shoulder was shattered, and his right leg trembled, but he did not stop.

In the 103rd mile, Qin Yuan caught up. The bone blade pierced through his back and chest. Cang He looked down at the tip of the bone blade emerging from his chest, blood bubbling from his mouth. He tried to speak, but only gurgling sounds came from his throat. Qin Yuan pulled out the bone blade, and Cang He's body fell from the sky, crashing onto the wasteland, kicking up a cloud of dust. Qin Yuan landed beside the body and wiped the blood off the bone blade with Cang He's white robe. The white robe turned red. He stood there for a while, catching his breath, then turned and walked back.

Lin Qing'er waited for him outside the Bone Blade Hall. She stood there, motionless, like a piece of wood. When she saw Qin Yuan walk back, her shoulders relaxed slightly, just for a moment.

"Where's Hongyue?" Qin Yuan asked.

"She's inside. She's injured." Lin Qing'er's voice was flat. "When Cang He came, she tried to block him. She was hit by the palm strike and broke several ribs."

Qin Yuan entered the Bone Blade Hall. Hong Yue lay on the wooden bed, her face pale and her lips purple. When she saw Qin Yuan, she tried to sit up, but Qin Yuan held her down.

"Don't move."

"I'm not dead," Red Moon said softly. "But the next one to arrive will kill us all."

Qin Yuan sat on the edge of the bed and placed Cang He's storage ring on the bedside table. "There are healing medicines inside. Take them and take good care of your injuries."

Hongyue glanced at him. "Aren't you afraid?"

Qin Yuan didn't answer. He stood up and walked outside the hall. In the sky, a black crack was tearing open. It wasn't a slow crack, but rather as if it were being violently ripped open from the inside by two hands. The air at the edge of the crack was distorted, and gravel floated up from the ground, suspended in the air. A foot stepped out of the crack, a black boot, the sole making a dull thud as it stepped into the void. Then came a person's entire body. An old man, with snow-white hair, a livid face, and a downturned mouth, in the exact same posture as Cang He.

Cang Xuanzi.

His aura was far superior to Cang He's. He was at the peak of the first level of the Void Sovereign, just half a step away from the second level. He stepped out of the crack, and with each step, the ground split open. The cracks spread outwards from his feet like a spider web. The low walls of the Bone Blade Hall began to shake, and rubble fell from them.

"You're courting death for killing my junior brother." Cang Xuanzi's voice wasn't loud, but the entire Bone Blade Hall was buzzing.

Qin Yuan stood before the palace gate, his bone blade held horizontally in front of him. Lin Qing'er stood behind him, her hand on the hilt of her sword. Hong Yue got out of bed, leaned against the wall, and walked out to stand on Qin Yuan's other side.

Cang Xuanzi raised his right hand, palm down, and gently pressed down. This palm strike was the same as Cang He's first, but ten times more powerful. The ground beneath Qin Yuan's feet exploded, and he was crushed into the ground, buried up to his waist in rubble. Lin Qing'er and Hong Yue were thrown back by the shockwave, crashing into the wall, which cracked, and the two rolled on the ground.

Qin Yuan pulled a leg out of the rubble and placed it on the ground. The fifteen lines on the bone blade lit up, and he swung the blade, aiming for Cang Xuanzi's palm. There was a distance of ten feet between the blade and the palm, but Qin Yuan felt his bone blade strike an invisible wall. That wall was very thick and very hard; the bone blade penetrated an inch before bouncing back.

Cang Xuanzi withdrew his palm, transforming it into a fist, and slammed it down. The air was compressed into a transparent sphere, which struck Qin Yuan in the chest. Qin Yuan was sent flying, crashing through the wall of the Bone Blade Hall, bouncing twice on the rubble, and rolling deep into the ruins. He got up, blood in his mouth. His left arm was completely immobile; the bones from his shoulder to his elbow were shattered into several pieces, held together only by skin and flesh.

Lin Qing'er scrambled to her feet, drew her sword, and thrust it towards Cang Xuanzi's back. Cang Xuanzi didn't even turn his head; with a backhand strike, Lin Qing'er flew away like a kite with a broken string, crashing into the ruins and spitting blood. Hongyue charged in from the side, her spear aimed at Cang Xuanzi's neck. Cang Xuanzi caught the spear tip with two fingers, twisted it, and the shaft snapped. With a casual flick of his wrist, Hongyue flew away, slamming into a low wall, causing it to collapse.