Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

After Yan Zaizen left, his spiritual sense directly eliminated Blood Fiend Sect’s remaining forces, causing a stir within the entire Sky Night Royal City. Even the Xin Clan and Earthly Fortune Sect were attracted to these events, but this was absolutely terrifying news for the Blood Fiend Sect. All of their upper-echelon members were wiped out in a short few minutes after a tremendous victory.

It made all those who heard about it exclaim in wonder at the world’s ever-shifting sands of fate. One second, the Blood Fiend Sect kills the Li Clan Patriarch; the next second, the Blood Fiend Sect members are killed.

The two Li Clan clan members were directly placed under Solitary Sword Sect’s protection within the city thanks to Sun Huan’s advocating their importance to him. Not to mention, his advancement in conceptual law were indicative of his exceptional talent, and his status within the clan immediately rose.

There was also the issue of Sun Huan having a protective spiritual sense on his body, and his unwillingness to leave Li Qiyu’s side. Even if individuals had malicious thoughts, they couldn’t do so until the spiritual sense dissipated naturally or ran out of soul energy.

"I see." Yao Wuhen’s eyes flickered in contemplation. Ya Qinqan’s expression was calm with indifference, her eyes trying to conceal her shock as she retold events. To her, Yan Zaizen was a naive boy who she took advantage of. If it wasn’t for him, she likely wouldn’t be where she was, but that didn’t mean she owed him anything. He decided his own fate with his actions, why would she carry any responsibility?

Even in light of Yan Zaizen’s exquisite display of prowess, she didn’t harbor any feelings of regret. She did, however, feel a slight fear temporarily. However, after realizing that Yan Zaizen could probably kill her with a thought if he wanted, her eyes suffused with relief. He didn’t kill her then, so it’s unlikely he would in the future.

"Yan Zaizen...who is he to you?" Yao Wuhen didn’t know the full story, so she was curious by her disciple’s varied reactions. Ya Qinqan hid nothing, directly informing Yao Wuhen the entire story from her perspective. At the end, Yao Wuhen’s eyes lit up with intelligence.

"It’s possible...he still has feelings for you. However, it’s only a possibility, and not a strong one. However, him meeting you shouldn’t be a coincidence. Regardless, after his disappearance, he must’ve had a massive amount of enlightenment and resources to progress so quickly in three years. Theoretically, such advancement should be impossible by conventional means." She deduced from the information she had on hand, her mind suffusing with a myriad of ideas. However, she still couldn’t figure out how he progressed so quickly.

"For now, if you see him, maintain a positive relationship with him. If possible, rekindling your relationship with him will bring you unimaginable benefits. His strength, his current strength, would cause even the Ancient Emperor of Presba to take him seriously. If you can’t, then it’s fine. However, if you can, don’t miss the chance." She informed Ya Qinqan of her thoughts.

If Ya Qinqan could recapture Yan Zaizen’s heart, then her status would exceed even her own. No one in the entire Fallen Stars Continent would act against her without thinking three times and then three times once more.

Ya Qinqan’s eyes flickered with a soft light of reluctance, but said nothing, only assenting with a nod.

------

"Should I wear this mask?" Yan Zaizen inquired, his hand held the black faceless mask he wore in Grux. After the incident, it’s highly likely his face and name circulated around, and many could be looking for him.

"No, it’s unnecessary. It’s unlikely anyone would have malicious thoughts towards you with the situation of the Blood Fiend Sect being dealt with. If anything, they should want to ally themselves with you, so you have no need to disguise yourself." Tao informed, "I didn’t want you to do anything rash earlier because we’re unsure of the situation within the capital, but if you do, then you do. We can deal with it."

Bai Lufeng sat peacefully to the side. His task was completed as well, with the earliest time to travel to the Xiantu Realm being in a week’s time. With his cultivation base, he was given a special reservation as well, so there was no hiccup with the procedure. However, he felt a little discontented that he was warned not to make trouble when Yan Zaizen nearly wiped out an entire force.

"Good, since the Heavenly Fortune Auction is tomorrow, we should participate. Tao, submit this True Essence Sublimation Pill, and the other rare materials." He instructed. Initially, Tao felt this was a rash choice, but with Yan Zaizen’s strength, potential, and the time it’ll take himself or Bai Lufeng to reach the peak Origin Core or half-step True Essence Realm would be sufficient for them to obtain another.

As for the materials used to craft pills, elixirs or armaments, they didn’t need any of them. They weren’t alchemists or armament creators, so they were essentially useless. After unloading all the other materials in the city, the only thing left was the incredibly rare materials or peak grand-tier alchemy items.

"Also, what’s so special about a corpse of a True Essence expert?" He inquired. Earlier, he had observed the flickering emotions of greed as the leaders of their forces gazed at the Li Clan Patriarch’s corpse. Tao’s eyes lit up, having seen the battle personally, he was shocked by the events. However, now, most of the wealth was obtained by Yan Zaizen with very little effort.

"A True Essence corpse exudes a profound aura which has many uses. Their bloodline could be extracted and integrated into armaments to create a Spirit Form or for alchemy. The bones, blood, organs, or the true-essence within could also be used to produce elixirs, armament bodies, or pills. With a little refinement, you could make a puppet or a second body! Of course, that would require a profound soul cultivation. There’s more as well, nearly limitless in uses." Tao explained, his eyes filled with excitement.

"I see..." Yan Zaizen couldn’t help but think about the value of this corpse. He had no idea what he wished to do with it. However, it was being preserved within the spatial talisman, so he had time. For now, he’ll leave it until he finds a use. He wasn’t a sentimental individual who would return the corpse back to the Li Clan.

From his understanding, the Li Clan was all but destroyed. What use would that do?

-----

Tomorrow arrived like the flickering of a light switch. With it, the city was filled with an uproar of commotion, rumors, and excitement. Many were dispensing of their irrelevant materials in hopes of obtaining something they needed during the Heavenly Fortune Auction. There was a selling madness during this time, and many were going crazy over the eradication of the Li Clan.

There was news still circulating that within the inner wall of the capital, all members of the Li Clan were being culled like degenerates in the street. There was even a bounty on each Li Clan member by name. Their detailed information like physical appearances and cultivation characteristics were revealed with frightening accuracy.

All could see the extreme preparation taken place for this event. Despite this happening in the capital, no one from the Imperial Family responded nor did anyone from Sky Night Royal City. Everyone could deduce from this factor that those conducting this operation were given full consent from the grand-tier and higher forces of Presba.

This was a frightening event, and many couldn’t help but question what the Li Clan did to suffer such thorough destruction. However, the Heavenly Fortune Auction was such a grand event that many put this thought to the back of their minds, focusing on obtaining something useful for their own strength.

"Presba is far crueler than Grux." Bai Lufeng commented, standing a step behind Yan Zaizen with disdain in his eyes. Grux may be a slave country, but at least it treated its people with safety and care. If a clan was annihilated, they would be forced into slavery with the chance to regain their freedom with arduous effort. However, Presba directly annihilated everyone from the elder to the dogs, and the citizens didn’t particularly care about the fall of a grand-tier power that stood for thousands of years.

Even the Imperial Family was indifferent.

"Every country has their own tradition and mindset, this is simply normal for them. From what I know, unlike Grux, these people are subjected to strict competition and constant war, not only against themselves but against disaster and divine beasts. They’ve become accustomed to loss and seek personal strength to prevent more" Tao commented his observation, and he was correct.

In truth, despite Grux having an extraordinary population, the birth rate and annual death percentage were far less than Presba. They possess far too little danger outside of dying from overexertion, while Presba had to combat beast and humankind alike, and the resources they possessed was unlike Grux, they were vastly limited due to sharing with the beasts.

If Grux could be considered a slave country, then Presba was a country of fierce competition. This was the very reason why everyone schemed, trying to outdo each other with intelligence and foreplanning. They were also a lot more decisive than most countries, immediately clearing out the roots of an issue before thinking about the consequences.

Xue Hanjie was willing to kill Sun Huan but unwilling to touch Yan Zaizen, and the difference wasn’t perceived strength or personal threat, but lack of information. If he had known Yan Zaizen had a similar status to Sun Huan, he would’ve acted without care, regardless if Yan Zaizen was at the late-Qi Unification Realm or not.

"Yes." Yan Zaizen’s mind pondered the fates of himself, Shin Xuanji, and Lin Feilin. He suffered neglect and scorn for weakness, despite his status within his clan. Shin Xuanji had his entire clan wiped out due to treason. Lin Feilin’s clan was eradicated by bandits who likely belonged to the Soaring Cloud Sect. Who knows what inner machinations were happening during any of these events, the countless scheming and vicious intent.

They arrived at a grand building that stood one hundred meters high. The black walls had a myriad of golden clouds etched on its surface. Each cloud emitted an aura reminiscent of looking at the heavens themselves. The doors were designed to resemble the depiction of heavens’ gate, with a pearly white look and a resplendent glow. One could see that every inch of this building must’ve been worth a fortune to construct, let alone the various formations inscribed within, but simply the door itself likely cost more than a normal grand-tier pill.

Despite arriving last minute, Yan Zaizen and the others obtained a personal V.I.P. box due to auctioning off the grand-tier True Essence Sublimation Pill. This left him satisfied, while others struggled for a basic seat, he was ushered by a beautiful maiden to his very own luxury box. Not to mention, the position of the box was high and befitting of a superior existence.

"I’ve never been to an auction before!" Yan Zaizen truly was excited by all this. When he was younger, he always dreamed of having sufficient wealth to attend an auction, and while he held a beautiful woman in his arms, he would bid to high heavens and sweep all things with a single word. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a beautiful woman in his arms.

"Our goal is the Heretical Lightning Skyship! With it being a pseudo sky-rank skyship with traces a lightning conceptual law, it’s speed and abilities will definitely be exceptional!" Tao was excited as well, having been informed this due to their V.I.P. status. The Heretical Lightning Skyship, or any skyship, were defined by two major components: Armament-rank & Formation-tier.

With a grade at the pseudo sky-rank and rank 8 formation base, its capabilities could not be underestimated. It’s likely with the conceptual law within the developing Spirit Form and formations, it could rival a weak initial-True Essence expert in terms of raw speed. This was already beyond exceptional, as they could travel dozens of li in seconds!

"Yes!" Yan Zaizen had his heart set out for this skyship, and no one was going to stop him from obtaining it.