Ye Lin

Sui Yi slowly pulled the sword from Wu Wen's chest, the motion gentle, almost reverent. The blade that had once been slick with blood now trembled slightly in her hand.

She lowered his body carefully, laying him to rest on the ground in peace. Though she had once scorned him, once believed he was weak, lowly, just a man shackled to the Lower Realm now, in this moment… the emotions hidden deep within her heart shone more clearly than ever before.

"If you had been born in the Upper Realm… not here… you would have become a truly great man."

Sui Yi whispered the thought silently to herself. But before her mind could drift any further, her body jolted in shock. In an instant, she leapt backward, putting distance between herself and Wu Wen.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!

A pillar of pitch-black flame crashed down from the sky with overwhelming force, shaking the very earth. The shockwave blasted everything apart rocks shattered, the ground splintered beneath the pressure. The dark flames expanded in a wide radius, threatening to devour the entire battlefield.

Then, a voice rose from within the chaos a voice both thunderous and terrifying.

"Wu Wen… get up. You think you can die this easily?!"

Sui Yi lifted her gaze to the sky. Her pupils narrowed slightly as she saw the gift she had intended to offer to her younger brother now hovering in the air.

Ye Lin.

His hair had turned completely white. His eyes radiated a vivid crimson light. Demonic energy surged uncontrollably from his body, the aura so intense that even a peak Great Emperor would feel their skin crawl in fear.

Originally, Sui Yi had planned to offer Ye Lin as nourishment for Wu Zhao's new vessel. But now, she no longer wished to waste time.

She swung her sword without hesitation.

"Sever the Darkness!"

A silver sword wave surged into the sky with brutal force, its pressure tearing through the air with a thunderous roar.

The six remaining angels behind her wasted no time. Together, they unleashed their power in unison, launching a coordinated strike toward the heavens intent on killing Ye Lin then and there.

At the same time, Ye Lin calmly brought his hands together, then swung them forward.

In that instant, the corpses of hundreds of black-clad men fell from the sky, every body engulfed in pure black flames.

Ning Xin and Zhang Fu exchanged a single glance and hesitated no longer. They each pulled out a warp stone and activated it to escape. Their figures vanished into the dimensional gate without delay.

The others wished to flee as well, but before they could move, a figure descended and blocked their path. The girl had long pink hair and heart-shaped pink eyes. She was Sui San, the Third Princess.

The moment she raised her hand slightly, the pressure in the air shifted instantly. No one could move, not even a finger. At the same time, the burning corpses were crashing down to the ground, but just then, the combined power of the seven angels clashed head-on with the flaming dead.

The collision echoed loudly. The black flames were held back and destroyed body by body, but in doing so, they released a thick black mist that spread across the entire battlefield.

The seven women took defensive stances, but before they could catch a full breath, Ye Lin appeared in front of Sui Qi, the Seventh Princess, without a sound.

He manifested before her in an instant. The black flame sword in his hand pierced through her body without the slightest hesitation.

Sui Qi's eyes widened. Blood burst from her body. Her lips tried to form words, but only scattered breath escaped.

Before her body could collapse, Ye Lin instantly pushed his power to the limit. The black flame sword erupted violently, consuming Sui Qi's body in an instant.

Sui Qi was Ye Lin's first target, because according to Duan Lingchen's advice, if she remained alive, he would not have even the faintest chance of winning this battle.

She was the core of the enemy's side. Her power was not overwhelming in terms of force, but her regenerative ability bordered on immortality. Her existence was like a hook that chained Ye Lin's fate. If it was not severed, he would never move forward.

And now, the effect of the Great Emperor Elixir was weakening, and it was placing a tremendous burden on his body. Without Duan Lingchen's support, his body would have already exploded. He had taken two pills before, and this was the third.

The power flowing through Ye Lin's body trembled violently. Emperor-level qi began to flow in reverse. Muscles throughout his body spasmed in waves. The stability of his cultivation started to collapse little by little like a snow-covered mountain crumbling.

But Ye Lin still stood firm. He had not come here to kill or to wage a battle of pride. His true goal was to break the blood curse sealed within the souls of the Ye Clan.

That curse was a chain wrapped tightly around the breath of every life in the clan. If they strayed too far from the one who cast it, the curse would immediately activate and devour their entire soul.

From the memories of the black-robed men Ye Lin had just massacred, it became clear that this curse was created by the Third Princess, Sui San, the woman with heart-shaped eyes. He also learned of the plan to destroy the Wu Clan, the scheme to create an unrivaled genius under the Golden Crow Dynasty, and the reason for the deaths of the Ye Clan members he had seen in his dream. All of it stemmed from the Golden Crow Dynasty.

And that was not all. Ye Lin had one more reason that drove him to stand in this place.

Hua Jinru, his master. The woman who had taught him how to cultivate, how to wield a sword, how to take his first steps into the world of cultivation. Not long ago, Duan Lingchen had told him that even she was shackled by Wu Zhao's chains.

After learning the truth, Ye Lin, who had just annihilated the Golden Crow Dynasty's secret unit, decided to burn his soul core and swallow another Great Emperor Elixir to push his power to the limit. But because he had already taken two pills before, this third pill only raised his strength to about mid-tier Great Emperor.

He rushed into the Wu Clan's inner grounds. What awaited him was a sight he had never prepared himself to see.

Hua Jinru's headless body, lying in a pool of blood before him.

Ye Lin was filled with rage. He let out a roar so thunderous it shook the sky. Demonic energy erupted from his body.

As Ye Lin was recalling his plans, even though Sui Qi's body was being devoured by black demonic flames, her burning flesh filling the air with a bitter scent, one of her arms suddenly lashed out like a viper and gripped Ye Lin's neck with terrifying force before he could react.

"How insulting, you little insect..."

Her voice emerged from within the flames. There was no pain or suffering in her tone. Instead, it was steady, cold, and laced with contempt in every word.

"If I weren't so heavily restricted in both power and body like I was in that cursed hidden tomb, did you really think you could kill me with such childish tricks? Dream on."

She gave Ye Lin no chance to respond. Sui Qi hurled his body with all her strength straight into the ground.

Boom!!

"Aaagh!"

The impact thundered across the battlefield. The earth cracked in long jagged lines. The shockwave rippled across tens of thousands of li, toppling trees nearby and sending clouds of dust billowing into the air like a rising mist.

Ye Lin's body was smashed into the ground. His limbs twisted at unnatural angles. Blood burst from his mouth instantly.

Before he could recover, Sui Qi, her body still burning with black fire, stepped forward swiftly. The pressure around her flared violently like a demon who knew no death.

"Don't you dare die just yet."

The moment the words left her lips, her fist came crashing down at Ye Lin once more.

Boom.

The first punch slammed into his chest with such force that the ground shook.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The following strikes rained down across his entire body. Shoulders, arms, ribs, legs. No part was spared.

The sound of bones shattering echoed with every hit like dry branches snapping underfoot. The earth beneath Ye Lin caved in, forming a deep crater from the sheer impact. The tremors warped the surrounding qi, and even those watching from a distance had to retreat.

Blood poured from Ye Lin's mouth until there was almost nothing left. His consciousness teetered on the edge. His body was nearly reduced to broken flesh.

But then, fortune shifted.

A small shard of stone, flung by the force of the impact, bounced upward and struck one of Sui Qi's eyes.

In the instant her eyes shut reflexively, Ye Lin clenched his teeth and hurriedly pulled two pills from his spatial ring.

One was a high-grade recovery pill. The other was his fourth Great Emperor Elixir, to push his strength to the absolute limit.

Without hesitation, he threw both into his mouth.

In the blink of an eye, spiritual energy surged through his body once more. His aura shifted completely, from a dying flicker to a blazing flame.

"Die!"

Ye Lin roared and swung his black flame sword upward with speed and force far beyond what Sui Qi could evade.

Squelch.

The sound of blade slicing through flesh and bone rang sharp and clear. Sui Qi's head flew from her neck. Blood sprayed in a long arc. She didn't even have a chance to make a final sound.

Ye Lin used that moment to leap backward from the battlefield without looking back. But his enemies gave him no time to breathe.

"You cut off the head of my precious little sister and think you'll just walk away?"

A sweet yet icy voice rose behind him. Sui San. No one knew when she had arrived. Her slender fingertip touched the middle of Ye Lin's back lightly, like someone tapping a friend's shoulder. But the result was the exact opposite.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!!"

A scream tore from his throat. Pain like his soul being ripped apart surged through his body. Ye Lin nearly collapsed on the spot.

In a haze of agony, he swung his sword back purely on instinct. But Sui San kicked him in the torso before his blade could even move.

Boom.

Her foot struck his body directly. The impact pierced through him, sending Ye Lin crashing to the ground. The stone beneath him shattered into fragments. Dust and debris exploded in all directions.

Ye Lin lay motionless in a pool of blood at the bottom of a wide crater. His face was smeared with blood. His breath came in rapid, shallow bursts. His power was broken. His internal organs were almost completely destroyed. Pain clawed through every inch of his body.