This Dao Ancestor is too young.

The air was thick with murderous intent, and the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

Tao Jintai stood on the blood-red lake surface. Although he did not make any unnecessary movements, to Zhang Yuanzhu it was as if a hill had collapsed, and his powerful aura crushed down upon him.

The young man sensed the overwhelming aura emanating from his opponent, gripped the hilt of his sword tightly with his five fingers, and looked solemn.

"Sixth level of Qi Refining!"

The Qi Refining Realm has twelve levels, each level representing a new realm, and the difference between the two is greater than he imagined.

Tao Jintai stood with his hands behind his back, his blue official robe fluttering in the wind, his dark eyes looking down at the boy in the cotton-padded coat:

"Now that you know the gap in strength, surrendering and awaiting your doom might as well give you a quick and painless end."

Zhang Yuanzhu's lips curled up, his smile unrestrained and arrogant.

Lightly tap the hilt of the sword with your fingertips.

hum~

A sword rang out, like a sharp blade being drawn from its sheath, cleaving through the overwhelming momentum.

At that moment, the boy did not retreat, but instead stepped forward.

"Retreat when facing the strong, advance when facing the weak..."

As soon as he took the first step, the magical power within his dantian surged and burst forth, and streaks of sky-blue light emanated from his body, burning like flames.

With the second step, he stepped into the crimson lake, where the blood energy surged like a roaring tide, and powerful surges of energy empowered him.

With the third step, cracks appeared on the blue crystal sword in his hand, and an aura of destruction emanated from it. The dazzling light, mixed with extremely sharp sword light, covered every corner of the sword.

He leaned slightly forward and unleashed a sword strike:

"Why bother cultivating the path to immortality, or seeking the Great Dao?"

boom!

The sword's cry was like thunder!

It was clearly a single sword strike, yet it seemed as if ten swords were slashing across the sky, intertwining with each other. The extreme sharpness tore through the blood lake in an instant, shredded the withered figures, and broke through layers of air waves.

With unparalleled ferocity, he slashed at the old man in the green robe.

Tao Jintai's eyes were filled with admiration:

"A fine sword strike; even a Qi Refining Stage 3 expert would have to avoid its edge."

"Unfortunately, that's not enough!"

A green robe fluttered, and an old hand emerged from the sleeve, its five fingers covered in a blood-red glow, pressing down towards the sword light.

This palm strike, seemingly ordinary, blocked all paths of the sword light.

A sword and a palm strike traversed space in an instant, colliding fiercely.

Boom! Crack!

Amidst the violent collisions, there was no stalemate; the sword light shattered inch by inch.

A tall, slender figure flew backward, splashing blood across the sky.

bang~

Zhang Yuanzhu landed, lowered his gaze, looked at the broken sword in his hand, and flipped his hand to put the broken sword away.

Then, staring at the old man in the green robe, at his unmoved figure, and at the remaining cultivators from the three major families on the blood-red lake, he chuckled softly:

"You are restricted from leaving the crimson lake, otherwise I would have been seriously injured just now."

Tao Jintai's expression was gloomy, his gaze lowered as he stared at a sword mark on his palm.

That palm strike was meant to kill this ant, but it only slightly injured it.

Call ~

He exhaled softly, sat cross-legged, and said directly:

"It's not that I can't, but that I'm unwilling. I killed my son and my clansmen, and spent decades plotting, all to step into the next realm."

"If I leave the Blood Lake now, all my previous efforts will be in vain. I wonder if I will ever be able to make any further progress in this life, but..."

The old man uttered each word carefully:

"You ant, you can never kill me. Once I break through the barrier, I will personally slaughter you."

As the words drifted by, an array plate floated out from the old man's arms.

The array plate was black, covered with dense patterns, and landed in the blood-red lake.

Splash~ Splash~

The lake churned, blood swirls back, and a layer of crimson light rises up, inverted over the lake.

Tao Jintai didn't stop his actions; he took out another golden cocoon from his pocket, a sinister smile appearing on his face.

"You ant, don't you care about those lowly people?"

"I had intended to wait for these lowly people to die one by one, and then use their flesh and souls to forge a magical artifact, but now..."

Click!

The golden cocoon shattered, and a cold laugh echoed both inside and outside the formation.

"I've changed my mind!"

Hoohoo!

In an instant, a series of mournful wails echoed from the city.

Masses of people convulsed, their skin ulcerated, their limbs twisted, transforming into the limbs of insects.

Their eyes were bloodshot as they destroyed everything in sight, both living and objects.

Bloodshed, slaughter, and dismemberment became the themes of Jiao Yuan City.

At this moment, overwhelming resentment arose, roars and insect chirps intertwined, and the entire city was destroyed at a visible speed.

Listening to the desperate cries, Zhang Yuanzhu's eyes turned cold, his five fingers clenched tightly, and a golden light emanated from the back of his fist, spreading across his arm as if it were cast in gold.

At this moment, all the remaining magical power surged into the Golden Spirit Gauntlets, making his arms extremely dazzling, as if he were holding two small suns.

With a burst of power from the soles of his feet, he shot out, raising one arm as if the air itself were roaring.

The fist imprint, carrying rolling waves of air and dazzling golden light, struck out horizontally.

"Like an ant trying to shake a tree!"

The old man sneered, not even lifting his eyelids, as he continued to devour essence, magic power, and souls in order to break through the barrier.

Suddenly, a talisman engraved with intricate patterns appeared out of thin air and affixed to the blood-red protective shield.

In an instant, the formation melted away like ice and snow, revealing Tao Jintai.

Even though Zhang Yuanzhu's eyes showed a hint of surprise, he glanced at a beautiful figure on the roof of the pavilion not far away, and a gentle smile appeared on his lips.

In the next instant, the fist shot forward rapidly, striking the old man's face.

Click~

With the sound of bones shattering, the aged figure flew out and rolled outside the blood-red lake.

At this moment, all the gaunt figures sitting on the lake looked up, their expressions complex as they gazed at the boy in cotton clothes standing in the center of the lake.

"You mob, you scoundrels, you deserve to die more than that old monster."

"The three families had stood in Jiaoyuan City for a hundred years, but they never expected to end up dead and their clans wiped out."

"I'm not convinced! I'm not satisfied! How can it end so hastily? I haven't even broken through to the fourth level of Qi Refining and transformed into a rainbow in the sky yet!"

The many surviving Qi Refining cultivators from the three major families muttered to themselves as their bodies began to crumble inch by inch.

A gentle breeze blew by, and everything turned to ashes.

Ignoring the many fallen cultivators, the moment Zhang Yuanzhu stood in the center of the lake, streams of pure life essence and blood energy surged into his body from the blood lake.

The depleted magical power began to recover and continued to rise, and the physical body also began to strengthen and undergo transformation.

The young man was not immersed in the rapid increase of his cultivation. He lowered his gaze and looked at the bottom of the blood-red lake, where dense array patterns intertwined and outlined, and surging life essence, yin energy, and resentment gathered.

The life essence flowed upwards and into the body, while yin energy, resentment, hatred, and all other negative energies gathered at the bottom of the lake, transforming into three dark gemstones in several grooves.

Each gemstone is crystal clear and flawless, like jade.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhang Yuanzhu spread his five fingers and grabbed straight down.

All three dark jade-colored gemstones were retrieved, and even the array patterns engraved on the bottom of the lake were powerfully destroyed.

Rumble~

The blood lake churned, scattered, and then rapidly evaporated.

In the blink of an eye, everything had happened. The blood lake dried up, and only the blood-red ground remained at the city lord's mansion.

A woman dressed in a light blue dress gracefully approached the young man, her red lips slightly parted:

"A barrier-breaking talisman, five hundred spirit stones each!"