To continue, Luo Xingchen and his two companions had been observing Shen Langās expression and finally figured out why he was glaring at them with such murderous intent.
Their hearts were in their throats, pounding with anxiety.
"Yes. A while ago, several of our elders took us to the Phoenix Mountain Range to investigate something. We discovered this powerhouseās aura on the outskirts, at Black Wind Ridge. Because her origins were unknown and she refused to cooperate, a fight broke out. All three of our elders were injured by her."
"That powerhouse is incredibly strong. If she hadnāt deliberately concealed her Cultivation Technique and refused to use her deadliest moves, Iām afraid our three elders wouldnāt have been able to escape from her..."
Luo Xingchen was as crafty as they come. He guessed that Shen Lang had some connection to the woman, so he twisted the narrative, claiming his elders were the ones injured by Hong Yu.
He also made sure to emphasize that the Imperial Dragon Sect had been at a disadvantage.
He hoped this would placate Shen Langās anger.
However, the blood-red hue in Shen Langās eyes only intensified. He said coldly, "She is my family."
āIt really is true...ā The three from the Imperial Dragon Sect nearly wanted to bang their heads against a wall.
āHow could the Imperial Dragon Sect be so unlucky?ā
āThe Elder Ancestor had clearly brought the situation under control and even gotten Shen Lang to accept the Imperial Dragon Sect. Who would have thought something like this would crop up now...ā
"Oh dear!" Luo Xingchen exclaimed, a look of urgency on his face. "Please donāt blame us, young brother. We truly didnāt know she was an acquaintance of yours. At the time, we just thought it was strange for her to appear near Celestial Phoenix City out of nowhere and assumed she might have ill intentions, so we investigated... Please, find her as soon as you can and bring her to the Imperial Dragon Sect to heal!"
"Heal? Heh." Shen Lang gave a mocking laugh. "You donāt need to worry about her healing. Right now, I need you to do a few things for me..."
"Please, say whatever is on your mind, young brother! Never mind a few thingsāeven if it were hundreds, we would handle them for you without a hitch!" Luo Xingchen said, patting his chest with one hand while cold sweat beaded on the other.
Shen Lang gave him an indifferent glance and said, "First, send a message back to the Imperial Dragon Sect. Have them send powerhouses to investigate the matter of Blood Evil Island... If three Xuanwu Realm powerhouses from Blood Evil Island can appear outside Celestial Phoenix City, thereās no guarantee there arenāt more of them nearby."
"Second, your people injured my family. We can settle that score later. However, since they returned injured, itās likely that even stronger experts will come here looking for payback in the next few days. I want you to relay a message to Senior Shangguan Feiyue and have him suppress this matter. I donāt want anything like this happening again. If I ever see anyone from your Imperial Dragon Sect lay a hand on my family again, I will use the Limb Order that your Shangguan Ancestor gave me on them!"
"When that time comes, donāt blame me for being ruthless and showing no mercy!"
Shen Langās words were tyrannical and absolute, so bone-chillingly cold that as they fell on the ears of Luo Xingchen and his companions, they trembled in fear, silently chanting prayers in their hearts.
āGood heavens, the Limb Order really is on him... Heās collected the Lifebound Magical Treasures of the three major Sectsā Elder Ancestors all by himself!ā
Wiping away cold sweat, the three men nodded repeatedly.
They had no doubt about Shen Langās words. They knew... if something like this happened again, either the Immortal Celestial Saber or the Limb Order would come down upon a Martial Artist of the Imperial Dragon Sect.
"Rest assured, young brother, something like this will absolutely never happen again! I, Luo Xingchen, stake my honor on it and will see that everything is handled properly!" It seemed Luo Xingchen had developed a habit of patting his chest in front of Shen Lang.
"That would be for the best," Shen Lang said indifferently. "Now, get out of here immediately!"
It wasnāt that Shen Lang thought he was so great; it was simply that he had lost almost all goodwill toward the Imperial Dragon Sect.
The affair with Yuwen Huaji was one thing, but to think that Hong Yu, who had always lived a quiet life, would also be injured by themāit was simply unforgivable!
If he hadnāt already established a good relationship with Shangguan Feiyue, he might have actually killed a few members of the Imperial Dragon Sect.
Treating these powerful experts from the Imperial Dragon Sect this way was already him showing immense restraint.
However, now was not the time to get entangled with people from the Imperial Dragon Sect. The most important thing was to find Hong Yu first!
Once Luo Xingchen and his men scurried away, the look of urgency in Shen Langās eyes was instantly revealed.
With a flicker, his body landed at the bottom of the cliff, and he began to survey his surroundings.
āSilver Eyes of Truth, activate!ā
With a soft shout in his heart, Shen Lang activated his Silver Eyes of Truth and scanned the vicinity.
His gaze immediately locked onto a seemingly ordinary cliff face above him.
His Silver Eyes of Truth pierced through all illusion, allowing him to see a faint fluctuation of Energy that an ordinary person would never be able to detect.
āItās here. The Five Elements and Four Symbols Qimen Formation?ā
Shen Langās figure shot into the sky, flying right up to the cliff face.
"Sister Hong Yu, Iāve killed the people from Blood Evil Island. How are you doing now?" Shen Lang asked, staring nervously at the cliff face, afraid of what he might hear.
A gentle and pleasant, yet extremely weak, voice drifted out from within the cliff face. "LangāEr... youāve become so powerful now. Even if I, Hong Yu, were to die, it would have been worth it..."
"Sister Hong Yu, hold on!"
The corner of Shen Langās eye twitched violently. Casting aside all other concerns, he slammed his hands against the cliff face like lightning. He sent a series of Spirit Techniques into it, channeling a tyrannical surge of Spiritual Power to forcibly break the Barrier Hong Yu had deployed.
"āHeaven, Earth, Life, Death, Fire... The five converge, the Four Symbols unite! Break!ā"
With a sharp cry, the spot on the cliff, which had appeared completely ordinary, suddenly rippled like the surface of water after a stone is tossed in.
A moment later, a cave entrance about three meters in diameter appeared.
Shen Lang cast his gaze inside and saw Hong Yu. Her face was covered with a pale yellow veil, and she sat deep within the cave with her head lowered, her back against the stone wall. She gripped a dagger in one hand, its blade plunged deep into the ground, trembling slightly.
Hearing the commotion, Hong Yu struggled to lift her head. The pale yellow veil was soaked through with black blood, a truly terrifying sight...
"Blood Evil Island! I, Shen Lang, swear that if I do not annihilate you, I am no longer a man!"
His eyes nearly splitting with fury, Shen Lang dashed over in a single bound and supported Hong Yu.
"Iām... fine... LangāEr, donāt worry... I have the poison under control. Iāll be alright for now," Hong Yu said with great effort, her entire body paralyzed.
Swirls of Blood Evil Qi coiled around her forehead, a sight that made Shen Lang want to burst into tears.
CLANG!
Shen Lang drew his long saber and threw it directly toward the cave entrance. SWISH! The Immortal Celestial Saber embedded itself in the opening.
The four Bone Demons also ran out, taking their positions beside the Immortal Celestial Saber.
"Guard the entrance! Kill anyone who dares to trespass, no questions asked!"
The Immortal Celestial Saber quivered slightly, and a phantom-like silver wolf emerged. The Labrador said nonchalantly, "Hey, you four skeletons! Did you hear the boss? Hurry up and guard this entrance. If anything goes wrong, youāll have hell to pay!"
Bone One and the others felt the Labradorās imposing aura and didnāt dare to talk back. They all brandished their weapons and stood in a line, guarding the entrance.
Meanwhile, Shen Lang took out the Sumeru Rings he had obtained from the men from Blood Evil Island and handed them to the Labrador. "These Sumeru Rings have a Restriction placed on them by the Divine Thought of a Xuanwu Realm Fourth Heaven Martial Artist. Erase it for me."
Shen Langās current Divine Thought was not yet strong enough to contend with that of a Xuanwu Realm Fourth Heaven powerhouse, so he could only ask this ten-thousand-year-old monster, the Labrador, for help.
"Heh heh, so you have times when you need to ask for help too, kid. Let me tell you..."
"Shut the fuck up and get to it!" Shen Langās face was terrifyingly dark as he cut the Labrador off.
The Labrador shuddered and immediately scurried over. "Oh, my esteemed boss, please donāt be angry! I was just trying to lighten the mood."
Once the Labrador erased the Restriction on the Sumeru Rings, Shen Lang immediately took out all the bottles and jars inside.
āThe antidote for the Blood Evil Soul-breaking Powder is in the form of an Elixir Pill,ā Shen Lang murmured to himself. āItās dark red, but it will shift between red, yellow, and blue when exposed to light. It smells of Mandala Flower Pollen and Yulan Fragrance, mixed with a bloody Evil Qi.ā
As he muttered to himself, he opened his palm, and a crackling Thunder Ball materialized, hovering above it.
Among the many bottles and jars on the ground, the Elixir Pills in one particular bottle immediately began to change color. They first turned blue, then shifted to red, and finally became yellow in a rather wondrous display.
"This is the bottle."
A look of joy on his face, Shen Lang picked up that bottle of Elixir Pills and poured one into his hand.
He pinched the Elixir Pill, brought it to his nose to smell it, and then crushed it to powder between two fingers.
āThe proportion of Mandala Flower Pollen is nearly one-sixth, the Yulan Fragrance component is one-twentieth, Water Lily is one-thirty-fifth, Wufeng Grass is one-sixth... So itās a Fourth Level, Third-class Antidote.ā
Shen Lang nodded, took out four Elixir Pills, then casually swiped his hand. A wisp of Sword Qi shot out, cutting one of the pills in half.
Only then did he take the three and a half Elixir Pills and use some water to help Hong Yu swallow them.
Blood Evil Island, one of the Demon Sects, was incredibly vicious and mysterious. Even with the antidote for the Blood Evil Soul-breaking Powder, using the wrong dosage would make it impossible to completely neutralize the deadly poison.
On the Star Continent, many powerhouses paled at the mere mention of the Blood Evil Soul-breaking Powder, fearing it immensely.
The reason those three had dared to ambush a King Martial Realm expert like Hong Yu was not only due to their savage and fearless nature, but mainly because of their immense confidence in the Blood Evil Soul-breaking Powder.
For an ordinary Xuanwu Realm Martial Artist to even think of targeting a King Martial Realm powerhouse was simply courting death!
The Labrador watched from the side, his heart pounding in his chest. āDamn, heās so meticulous and precise even when administering an antidote! The boss is a real freak! An antidote this complex... humans are really something else... The Blood Evil Soul-breaking Powder is a notoriously deadly poison, extremely dangerous and mysterious. Even I have never heard of an antidote being this complicated. Not only does he know about it, he knows its composition with perfect clarity, as if he could refine the Blood Evil Soul-breaking Powder himself...ā
āJust how many more unknown secrets is this guy hiding?ā
āEarlier, this woman in red had set up a Restriction outside this cave. A life-saving Restriction deployed in a moment of crisis by a King Martial Realm Fourth Heaven powerhouse. Even for me, breaking it would have been incredibly difficult; I would have had to resort to brute force. Yet he broke it with just a few casual movements... Damn, is that something a sixteen-year-old boy should be able to do?ā
āIt seems that submitting to him might not have been such a bad deal after all...ā
As the Labrador thought of this, he slowly retreated a few steps.
His powerful Divine Thought swept out of the cave, covering an area of several dozen miles. He had obediently begun to stand guard for Shen Lang.
āThis kid is preternaturally intelligent, with a mind as deep as an abyss. Heās ruthless, audacious enough to defy the heavens, yet he possesses an unshakeable will and deeply values loyalty and relationships. And his cultivation speed is simply astonishing! Suddenly, I have a feeling that following him might actually lead to some great fortune...ā