Chapter 19: The Ancestor Appears

Qin Tiangang, stung by these words, felt his face flush a deep, angry purple. He slammed a palm against his own chest and roared, "My Biluo Sect’s conduct needs no explanation to the likes of you! Ye Chentian, you and your disciple trespassed into our sect and wounded my disciples; today, you shall both pay with your lives!"

He had already calculated his odds. He saw this as the perfect opportunity to kill both Ye Chentian and Xiao Yi. Not only would he eliminate a future threat, but he could also seize Xiao Yi’s Sacred Fire Spirit Body and Heaven-grade techniques, while simultaneously avenging Wang Qing. It was a plan that would reap three benefits at once.

"You want to kill me?" Ye Chentian responded as if he had heard a joke, his eyes sweeping over Qin Tiangang with a touch of mockery. "With your mere first-level Nascent Soul cultivation, you dare to speak such words?"

"The most laughable thing in this world is someone who, having lost both the duel and the argument, insists on using their sect’s reputation as a fig leaf."

When Ye Chentian looked at Qin Tiangang again, his gaze had turned cold as frost. "Now, either make your disciple fulfill her promise, or I shall raze this Biluo Sect of yours to the ground and personally drag her to the Xiao family ancestral hall."

"Insolent! You dare speak of destroying my sect? I will show you the true extent of my power!" Qin Tiangang’s spiritual energy surged violently, condensing into an ice-blue spear of grey-green energy before him. The tip of the spear crackled with ghostly blue mist, and the shaft was etched with intricate frost patterns.

"Cold Spear Pierces the Sun!"

The spear tore through the air with a piercing whistle, leaving a trail of ice upon the ground as it struck toward Ye Chentian.

"It’s the Cold Spear Pierces the Sun! The Sect Master’s ultimate technique!" The Biluo Sect disciples erupted into cheers. A disciple nearby nodded repeatedly, adding, "That spear freezes the spiritual energy of any opponent with a lower cultivation base, and the frost mist at the tip can erode the meridians. Ye Chentian has no way to dodge that strike!"

The visiting cultivators also changed color. "That spear carries the momentum of a sun-piercing strike; the spiritual energy of a first-level Nascent Soul cultivator is truly overbearing," one said, instinctively retreating half a step. "Ye Chentian probably doesn’t even have a chance to block it."

Just then, Ye Chentian formed a seal with his hands, golden-red flames igniting at his fingertips. He spoke softly, "Divine Fire Heavenly Art: World-Incinerating Flame!"

A finger-thick stream of golden-red fire transformed into a pillar of flame, rushing to meet the incoming spear.

Ice and fire collided in mid-air, creating a deafening roar. The frost patterns on the spear melted instantly, and the shaft turned red at a visible rate. The pillar of fire, however, remained undiminished, sweeping forward with the power to consume all things.

"Crack!"

The cold spear shattered inch by inch within the pillar of fire, ice-blue fragments scattering in all directions as the fire surged toward Qin Tiangang.

Qin Tiangang, his blood churning from the impact, scrambled to summon a treasure shield etched with ice patterns to block his front. This was his protective artifact, the Profound Ice Shield, capable of withstanding the full-force strike of anyone below the third-level Nascent Soul stage.

But when the pillar of fire struck the Profound Ice Shield, a single "bang" echoed out; the treasure shield was instantly covered in cracks before shattering into countless shards of ice.

"What? How is this possible?"

Qin Tiangang was forced back repeatedly. Just as he attempted to summon another artifact, the pillar of fire pursued him like a bone-sticking maggot. He desperately deployed three more defensive treasures, forming triple layers of light, only to see them pierced through like paper by Ye Chentian’s flames.

"No—!"

The fire instantly engulfed Qin Tiangang’s body. Three breaths later, he and his clothing and artifacts had all been reduced to ash, leaving only a wisp of smoke drifting toward the horizon.

A deathly silence fell over the scene.

"One... one move? The Sect Master, a first-level Nascent Soul cultivator... just gone like that?" The first to break the silence was a young cultivator from another sect, his voice trembling with terror.

"The Profound Ice Shield... that was a treasure capable of resisting a full-force strike from a third-level Nascent Soul cultivator. How did it shatter like glass?"

"What exactly is Ye Chentian’s background?" a cultivator whispered, his eyes filled with awe. "He looked to be at the third-level Golden Core stage before, so how could he unleash such a terrifying technique?"

The Biluo Sect disciples looked as if their souls had been ripped away. One female disciple collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face. "The Sect Master... the Sect Master... he’s dead!" A male disciple beside her tried to help her up, but he staggered and nearly fell himself, his lips trembling, unable to speak. Their Sect Master, whom they viewed as a god, had been burned to ash in a single blow.

On the high platform, Liu Ningxia abruptly stood up, her typically cold eyes wide with shock. Regret flooded her heart. She should never have gone to Wuwei City to break off the engagement with Xiao Yi. If she hadn’t brought Elder Wang Qing and used the Biluo Sect’s name to apply pressure, how would she have provoked Ye Chentian?

If not for that remark, "We are worlds apart," when she threw the storage ring, why would Xiao Yi have set the three-month ultimatum, bringing this vendetta to the Biluo Sect?

Most laughable of all, she had always assumed that under the protection of the sect, she could sleep soundly, forgetting that standing behind Xiao Yi was someone capable of killing Golden Core and even Nascent Soul cultivators in a single move.

Now that the Sect Master was dead and the Profound Ice Shield destroyed, the Biluo Sect’s reputation was torn to shreds. The visiting cultivators who had once flattered her now looked at her with nothing but contempt; her fellow disciples were either collapsed on the ground or staring blankly into space.

Ye Chentian’s gaze swept over the Biluo Sect disciples in the arena, a cold snort escaping his throat. Those who had been shouting for him to "pay with his life" alongside Qin Tiangang now looked ashen, the chattering of their teeth audible in the silence.

"From this day forth, the Biluo Sect is stricken from the records of Lingwu Kingdom!"

As the words fell, the golden-red flames at his fingertips surged violently, the Divine Fire Heavenly Art operating at full power. The flames swept across the arena like a tide. Any disciple touched by the fire, whether in the Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment stage, was instantly burned to charcoal.

A Golden Core elder attempted to activate an ancestral defensive artifact, but the green light on the shield’s surface was scorched into distortion the moment it appeared. He, along with his shield, collapsed into a charred heap, leaving not even a trace of struggle. The pavilions, stone steles, and spirit gardens within the sect were all consumed by the fire, turning into ash.

"Boom!"

Ye Chentian raised his hand and struck a palm toward the plaque at the Biluo Sect’s mountain gate. The three gilded characters, "Biluo Sect," shattered instantly.

"Ah! Ancestor, save us!" a disciple cried toward the back mountain, but his voice was swallowed by the crackling of the flames.

"Who? Who is slaughtering the disciples of my sect!"

A deafening roar erupted from the direction of the back mountain, and grey-green spiritual energy surged forth like a tsunami. A figure in purple robes stepped through the void—it was the Biluo Sect’s Supreme Ancestor, Qin Cang.