Immortal-Exterminating Divine Venerable

"Ah! Senior Sister Lin is dead!"

"Quick, go inform the Elders! Something terrible has happened!"

At that moment, the three gatekeepers who had been shoved aside by Huang Tianling—Zhang San, Li Si, and Wang Wu—were only just getting to their feet. They had clearly been playing dead.

But seeing this scene, they were scared out of their wits.

They scrambled madly back toward the sect's gates.

Unfortunately for them, Yang Xiao had no intention of letting them go.

SWISH! SWISH! He shot out several streams of Finger Force.

Every one of them collapsed to the ground, dead.

'Killing them like this is too slow. I'll stick to the old method.'

With a flick of his wrist, Yang Xiao summoned a wisp of Original Poison Gas. He casually tossed it into the Purple Flame Sect. After a moment's thought, four more wisps of Original Poison Gas appeared in his palm. With a shake of his hand, he sent them flying toward the four cardinal directions of the Purple Flame Sect—one for each direction.

Including the one in the center, there were five wisps of Original Poison Gas in total. Moments later, vibrant green sprouts began to shoot out from those five locations.

'This should be foolproof.'

Dusting off his hands, Yang Xiao smiled faintly.

He glanced at Huang Chengde and the others, noting that they were fine after taking the Pills he had given them. They had also accepted Huang Tianling's return.

The family of four was now sharing an intimate conversation.

Huang Tianling, in particular, looked at him with eyes full of gratitude.

This put Yang Xiao at ease. His gaze then involuntarily fell upon the body of Lin Ziyan, who had died earlier.

'Let's see if I can force the Immortal Dao Will from the Lord of Immortal Dao out of this woman's body!'

With that thought, Yang Xiao appeared beside Lin Ziyan.

He raised a hand and pointed a finger at her forehead.

His energy circulated.

A moment later, he retracted it.

'Nothing? How is that possible? Is it because she's dead?'

A thought struck Yang Xiao. His figure flickered, and he entered the Purple Flame Sect.

'I need to find someone powerful.'

As the thought formed, he appeared directly before the Purple Flame Sect's Ancestor. This ancestor was no weaker than the Purple Flame Sect's Sect Leader—in fact, he was even stronger.

But against Yang Xiao's Golden Roc True Body, his strength was utterly useless.

He was brought under control instantly.

Then, Yang Xiao once again pointed a finger, pressing it between the man's eyebrows.

This time... 'There it is! I found it. But this aura feels a bit faint. It's not just weaker than Huang Tianling's Dao Seed; it's even weaker than the will I encountered in the Celestial Cloud Region. What's going on?'

Yang Xiao couldn't figure it out.

But he soon stopped dwelling on it, intending instead to draw this wisp of will into his own body.

But just then, the Mysterious Furnace Cauldron inside him suddenly stirred.

Instantly, it emerged from Yang Xiao's body and began to spin slowly before him.

And as it spun, Yang Xiao saw countless specks of light swarming toward it from all directions.

Ultimately, they all fell into the Mysterious Furnace Cauldron.

The most brilliant of them surged out from the body of the Purple Flame Sect's Ancestor.

Seeing this, Yang Xiao was overjoyed.

'It worked!'

"You... what did you do to me?"

Just as Yang Xiao was reveling in his success, thinking he had gained a new trump card against Immortal Cultivators, the Purple Flame Sect's Ancestor cried out in terror.

He had been afraid when Yang Xiao controlled him, but not terrified.

But now, after a portion of his power was sucked away, the Purple Flame Sect's Ancestor was panicking. He could feel that his strength had suddenly diminished by more than thirty percent.

And it was still draining away continuously.

No matter how he tried to stabilize it, he couldn't stop it. He could only watch helplessly as his power bled away.

It was as if his cultivation had been crippled.

"Hm? Your aura?"

Yang Xiao glanced over and immediately noticed something was wrong with the Purple Flame Sect's Ancestor.

A thought occurred to him, and he instinctively scanned his surroundings.

He discovered that after their Immortal Dao Will had been extracted, the cultivation of most Immortal Cultivators had plummeted. Even more terrifying, their power began to dissipate continuously, as if it had lost its source.

Yang Xiao's expression changed at this revelation.

'Just as I thought. On the surface, Immortal Cultivators seem to advance faster than Martial Cultivators, but they're merely paving the way for others. Once they lose the Immortal Dao Will—the Spirit Seed they've drawn in—they are instantly cast down from the heavens and reduced to Mortals.'

Thinking about how these people treated Mortals, Yang Xiao couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

He decided he would absorb all the Immortal Dao Will on this continent. Then he would see what sense of superiority these high-and-mighty figures could possibly have left to look down on Mortals.

'But what about Huang Tianling? Her aura doesn't seem to have weakened much.'

Yang Xiao thought back.

He instantly understood.

Although Huang Tianling was an Immortal Cultivator, she couldn't have been cultivating for long. Otherwise, with her talent, how could she still be at the True Tier?

Factoring in the erosion from that black Dao Seed, Yang Xiao was certain that Huang Tianling had spent very little time cultivating. The majority of the power in her body was likely her own innate strength.

Even so, after Yang Xiao extracted the black Dao Seed, a significant portion of her aura should have dissipated.

But, as luck would have it, at that exact moment, she had entered a state of dual cultivation with him. Although it didn't last long, with Yang Xiao's power and her own talent, stabilizing the energy in her body was a simple matter.

'It seems that as long as she properly trains in a Cultivation Technique, she can immediately become a True Intent Stage Martial Artist.'

Thinking of this, Yang Xiao couldn't help but feel a little frustrated.

His own cultivation was truly pathetic in comparison.

Now, even a little girl was about to catch up to him.

It seemed he had to raise his cultivation as soon as possible. Ideally, he would break through to the Green Flame Fifth Revolution. Then, he could condense a Divine Power Golden Core.

That would mean stepping into the Small Divine Power Realm, making him a true Martial Cultivator.

While Yang Xiao was lost in these thoughts, the Purple Flame Sect's Ancestor grew even more terrified.

The power was draining from his body at an ever-increasing rate.

He suddenly screamed, "Spare... spare me! Don't let my power drain away anymore, I'm begging you! As long as you spare me, I'll do anything, I'll even be your dog! Please!"

"My dog?"

A half-smile played on Yang Xiao's lips as he looked over.

"Yes, great lord—no, Master! As long as you spare me, I'll do anything you ask."

The Purple Flame Sect's Ancestor looked at Yang Xiao with an expression full of hope.

But what he got in return was a light tap of a finger.

In an instant, it pierced through him, killing him.

Even in death, the Purple Flame Sect's Ancestor probably couldn't understand why Yang Xiao would suddenly strike to kill.

His face was a mask of disbelief.

'An Immortal Dao dog is worse than a beast. What makes you think you're worthy of being my lackey?'

Yang Xiao sneered.

If this old man had genuinely submitted to him and been willing to switch to the Martial Dao after losing his Immortal Dao power, Yang Xiao might have considered it.

After all, for the old man to have cultivated to the Peak of Dao Tier, his constitution must have been excellent, having reached the level of an Upper-Grade Treasure Body. It was only because he had absorbed the Spirit Seed formed from the Immortal Dao Will that his Treasure Patterns had vanished, likely devoured by the will itself.

But even so, an Upper-Grade Treasure Body still held some value for cultivation.

But this fellow... He was begging for mercy only because he couldn't bear to part with his Immortal Cultivation. In that case, there was nothing to be done.

While Yang Xiao didn't mind keeping dogs, he would never keep an Immortal Dao dog that could turn on him at any moment. They were all puppets controlled by others. Once the Lord of Immortal Dao retracted its will, they would end up just like this.

Utterly useless.

Worse, it would be like paving the way for his own enemies.

How could Yang Xiao ever make such a losing deal?

Not long after, the Mysterious Furnace Cauldron stopped spinning and transformed into a streak of light, re-entering Yang Xiao's Qi Sea.