> "*Purple Qi Cauldron Manifestation!*"
> Both Hou Yunfei and Du Lingfei cried out in shock, their faces filled with even greater astonishment.
Especially Du Lingfei—now that she had mastered *Graceful Weightlifting*, she clearly understood the difficulty of the *Purple Qi Cauldron Manifestation*. Even within the entire Southern Bank, there were very few who could master this technique, not even many from Purple Cauldron Peak.
With a deafening boom, the massive cauldron collided directly with the ghost demon. The ground shook. The ghost let out a shrill, piercing scream before its body shattered into countless wisps of black gas, dispersing in all directions—revealing within it the barely-breathing figure of **Chen Yue**.
Chen Yue spat out blood and crashed to the ground. He gazed bitterly at the fading cauldron and murmured,
> "Purple… Qi Cauldron…"
With that, he struggled to look at Bai Xiaochun one last time before falling still—dead.
He had already overdrawn himself by using his secret technique. Now that his powerful ghost demon had been destroyed by *Purple Qi Cauldron Manifestation*, there was no way he could survive.
Even in death, his eyes remained open, fixed on Bai Xiaochun.
Seeing Chen Yue dead, Bai Xiaochun's body immediately slumped. His spiritual energy was nearly exhausted—his head spun, and he shook like a balloon losing air. He could barely stand, his face pale, trembling uncontrollably, barely able to believe that he had actually defeated and killed **all of them**.
Recalling the events just moments ago, Bai Xiaochun felt a sweetness rise in his throat, and he once again coughed up blood.
> "I'm bleeding… I… I almost died!!"
Pain wracked his entire body—especially his shoulder, which throbbed horribly when moved. Many parts of his skin were scorched from burns, and the stinging pain made him tremble in fear just thinking about the battle.
> "Why… why did I turn back… One wrong move and I'd be dead now… I've lived so carefully all my life—how could I have been so reckless this time…"
As Bai Xiaochun was filled with regret and fear, suddenly, a soft, curvy figure with surprising elasticity and the faint fragrance of a maiden **threw itself into his arms**. It was none other than **Du Lingfei**.
Bai Xiaochun froze, then quickly composed his expression, embraced her, and solemnly said:
> "Don't be afraid, Senior Sister Du. As long as I, Bai Xiaochun, am here, no one will harm you—not even a little!"
As he spoke, his hand unconsciously landed on a rather prominent area…
> "Thank you… thank you…"
> Du Lingfei said emotionally, tears falling down her cheeks. When she came to her senses and realized she was in Bai Xiaochun's arms—and noticed the hand wandering behind her—her face instantly flushed red. She quickly stepped back a few paces and gave Bai Xiaochun an angry glare.
Bai Xiaochun coughed awkwardly, secretly savoring the memory.
> "As expected of one of the Southern Bank's five beauties… That figure could bring any man to his knees…"
Just then, Hou Yunfei stepped up with an odd look in his eyes. He cleared his throat and smiled at Bai Xiaochun.
> "Junior Brother Bai, there'll be plenty of time to reminisce later. The Chen clan will definitely send another group of pursuers. This time, they might dispatch even stronger cultivators—likely their most powerful, short of their Foundation Establishment ancestor. We must flee while we still can!"
Bai Xiaochun shivered at those words. He had barely survived the last group, and now, imagining more people as strong as Chen Yue coming after them made him panic. His face went pale again as he looked around anxiously, hunching his shoulders and quickly nodding.
> "Yes, yes, yes—let's run! We have to escape, right now!"
He turned and sprinted ahead. His frightened reaction formed a sharp contrast to his iron-blooded bravery earlier—but Du Lingfei didn't find it annoying. Instead, she thought it was kind of adorable. She followed after him, her eyes brightening as she recalled how Bai Xiaochun had saved her and fought with such determination.
Hou Yunfei shook his head, collected the storage bags from the Chen clan corpses, and caught up with Bai Xiaochun, handing them over.
> "Junior Brother Bai, these are your spoils of war."
Bai Xiaochun didn't even bother checking—he just stuffed them into his robes. He was still trembling, and the only thing on his mind was **getting out alive**.
---
Meanwhile, deep inside the **Falling Star Mountains**, within the underground palace of the Chen Clan—
The moment Bai Xiaochun killed the **first** of their people, one of the **formation nodes** around the blood lake suddenly shattered with a loud boom, and the blood within it dried up instantly.
The Chen Clan members stationed nearby were stunned. Before they could react, the **second** node broke… then the **third**, the **fourth**, the **fifth**…
Explosions erupted one after another as the formation nodes were destroyed.
This shocking scene caused chaos among the Chen Clan members. Their expressions changed dramatically. Within the blood lake, the clan's **ancestor** slowly opened his eyes.
As he opened them, yet another explosion rang out—from the node that had belonged to **Chen Yue**.
> "Even Chen Yue… was killed!"
> "They're all dead! We sent out seven people—and not one returned!"
> "Impossible! They were only chasing two outer sect disciples! Could it be that the Lingxi Sect discovered our operation and sent a Foundation Establishment cultivator?!"
The Chen Clan members were in an uproar, many now showing **fear**.
> "Silence!"
> A cold, ancient voice boomed out from the ancestor in the blood lake like thunder, shaking everyone to their core. All fell silent and looked nervously at the elder.
> "To defy fate and purge the bloodline brand is an opportunity that comes once in a **thousand years** for our clan. Since we've chosen this path, do not panic."
> "If a Foundation Establishment cultivator had entered my formation, I would have sensed it immediately. As of now, no such individual has appeared. Nor has any word reached the outside. So what are you all afraid of?"
> The elder's voice was calm but tinged with anger. His face was grim. If not for his need to maintain the formation, he would have personally gone to eliminate Bai Xiaochun and the others.
> But once he left, the *Blood Reversal Formation*—which allowed the Chen Clan to escape the Lingxi Sect's control—would collapse. The backlash might not kill him, but it would **instantly destroy** every other clan member.
> "To kill Chen Yue and the others doesn't necessarily require a Foundation Establishment cultivator. These two outer disciples either have someone hiding their true cultivation, or they possess some powerful treasure!"
> "Even if it's hidden cultivation, at most they're at Qi Condensation 8th-layer. As for powerful treasures—the stronger they are, the more limitations they'll have in the hands of Qi Condensation cultivators."
> "**Heng'er!**"
> The elder's eyes flashed. He raised his hand and struck the blood lake beside him. Immediately, the waters roiled, and a young man in a **blood robe** slowly rose from within.
This youth was strikingly handsome, with sharp features. His eyes suddenly opened, revealing a gleam of **bloody light**. In that instant, his aura surged—and around him, **nine ghostly, blood-colored phantoms** emerged, silently shrieking in all directions.
The surrounding Chen Clan members were reinvigorated at the sight of him and immediately bowed their heads in reverence.
> "Heng'er, you are the **young master** of the Chen Clan, second only to me in strength. With your Qi Condensation **9th-layer** cultivation, you're more than qualified for this task."
> "Take nine others with you. You **must** eliminate all three of those Lingxi Sect outer sect disciples!"
The elder looked at the youth with rare warmth and admiration, his tone softening noticeably.
> "If they don't die, I won't return."
> Chen Heng's voice was cold as he nodded. Leaping into the air, the nine ghostly phantoms beneath him formed a misty blood cloud, lifting him into the sky. After selecting ten clan members, **eleven** figures took off.
Soon, within the Chen Clan's estate, the eleven cultivators whistled through the sky. With a wave of Chen Heng's hand, each was surrounded by a cloud of blood mist that let them fly—all at **incredible speed**, far beyond any ground travel.
In the blink of an eye, they followed the trail of Chen Yue and the others' deaths, guided by the clan's bloodline connection.
Of these eleven, aside from Chen Heng at the 9th layer of Qi Condensation, the rest were all at least 7th-layer cultivators—five of them even at the 8th layer, like Chen Yue.
This was the **strongest force** the Chen Clan could dispatch without involving their Foundation Establishment elder.
Within just the time of one incense stick, Chen Heng and his group emerged from the forest of the Falling Star Mountains, arriving at the place where Chen Yue and the others had died.
Seeing the grisly remains, everyone—except for Chen Heng—was visibly shocked.
Chen Heng's expression remained cold. He surveyed the corpses, eyes lingering on those with snapped necks, a dark glint in his eyes.
> "A body cultivator…"
He flickered and appeared beside Chen Yue's corpse. After staring for a few seconds, he suddenly pressed a hand to the ground and closed his eyes. A moment later, he snapped them open.
> "Interesting… traces of *Purple Qi Cauldron Manifestation*…"
> "This person is both body and spell cultivator. Fierce physical power paired with devastating magical strength… No wonder Chen Yue was killed."
> "He must be one of Lingxi Sect's top geniuses… **Shangguan Tianyou**? Or **Lü Tianlei**?"
> A savage gleam flashed in Chen Heng's eyes—along with a deep **fighting intent**.
> "Fan out. Each of you search in a different direction. If you find anything—**signal immediately!**"
The ten others responded in unison and scattered to begin the search.
> "The formation covers a massive area. It'll take half a month to leave this place…
> And you—**you won't escape.**"
> With a cold snort, Chen Heng picked a direction and shot off into the distance.