The voice that boomed with power and an innate sharpness entered Yan Zaizen's ears. Within his room, he softly pet the snow-white puppy as he contemplated, his eyelids half lowered in thought. His original intentions were to join the Soaring Sword Sect and observe his faint, yet familiar connection with Long Wulin.
Unfortunately, his will always eclipsed his intentions. If he wished to kill, he would do so. If he wished to obtain information now, he would definitely not wait later. His Dao of Sovereign Ascension was his personality, and while he could be warmer than a father's embrace at times, most of the times he was tyrannical to the extreme.
Softly shaking his head, the sides of his lips tugged into a faint smile.
"Forget it. I'll take Old Man Bo and just travel about." After making this decision, his eyes flashed with an amber-gold light that released brilliant rays of haughtiness and imperial might.
He lifted the snow-white puppy and reached the deck of the skyship. On the deck, countless figures were trembling beneath the sharp aura of a group of men that stood in midair, looking directly at the ship from a distance. At the lead, a young man with a clean shaven face, sharp eyebrows, and radiating an aura of an elite stood upright with his hand upon his sword's hilt.
Yan Zaizen arrived with a casual air. He swept his calm gaze towards the ten experts in the distance and didn't give them a second glance. He made his way towards Old Man Bo who seemed to have lost his soul slightly. His eyes swirled with confusion and fear.
Yan Zaizen didn't blame him. He brought him here, then crippled the examiner without much warning. Lifting the snow-white puppy, he gestured to Old Man Bo to receive it. Absentminded, Old Man Bo just subconsciously grabbed it as he gazed at Yan Zaizen's figure.
"Don't hold him too tightly." After he instructed Old Man Bo of this, he turned his body towards the group of nine who were inspecting him with all sorts of senses. There were eight cultivators at the late & peak-Qi Unification Realm, with the young man at the lead at the initial-Origin Core Realm.
They were quite a line-up for the overall strength of Presba. While they weren't top experts or powerhouses, they were definitely nothing to scoff at. Yan Zaizen smiled faintly.
He took a deep breath, his body started to rapidly circulate with Dao Energy as he fully decided to utilize the cultivation support of his Heavenly Dao Seed. He started to cultivate the Immortal Herculean Method with intensity.
"Who are you?!" The young man exclaimed with questioning authority. Despite his youthful appearance, his eyes betrayed his age as he seemed to be nearing a thousand years.
Yan Zaizen slowly stepped until he reached the bow of the skipship. Beneath his body, the faint amber-gold light was rapidly circulating. He calmly said, his voice soft yet booming like a max volume speaker, "My name's Yan Zaizen. I'm the Yan Clan's Ancestor, and I'm here to find out why my clan was hunted and killed without reason."
Yes.
Yes!!
Yan Zaizen did not hide his intentions, nor did he even have the thought of doing so. He exposed his identity without question, proclaiming himself as the Infamous Devil Clan's ancestor! He would never stoop so low as to hide this fact. His mother and father gave him his blood, body, and soul. If he even considered keeping it quiet, he would feel unworthy to be named Yan.
The expressions of everyone, including Old Man Bo violently changed. While Yan Zaizen had introduced himself to Old Man Bo, there wasn't enough time for that middle-aged man to appropriately process the name or its meaning. The Yan Clan's infamy was taught, but it would be how a poor mortal might not know an infamous family who killed a hundred people.
"Ancestor?!" The young man started, his head reeling back in shock. This was supposed to be a simple capture of a criminal who killed a disciple of the sect. In fact, the examiner had long since intended to betray Yan Zaizen. During the three days preparation, he had thoroughly investigated Yan Zaizen and discovered that Yan Zaizen had been nothing his entire life.
This meant he had to have a treasure or a legacy far beyond normal to have this abrupt rise. An orphan with dubious origins yet extraordinary ability was a steaming pile of meat to the ravenous cultivators of this world. He had always intended to hand Yan Zaizen over, this was why he didn't try to get close to him during this period in hopes of keeping his intentions down.
The current young man who stood at the lead was his clan's patriarch. His lifespan wasn't as vibrant as his face, nearing its end, so this could easily be a huge boom to their power if they could obtain Yan Zaizen's secrets.
This was why, despite not knowing that the examiner had been crippled or killed, the young-looking man had arrived with the direct declaration to take in the murderer of their disciple. This was more than enough for Yan Zaizen to realize these things.
"What do you mean?!" The young man shouted with emotion and a tinge of fear. What did it mean to be an Ancestor? It meant an individual who had lived before in the Clan since an early period of development, having exceeded all the current members in seniority. How could the Yan Clan, the clan that nearly pushed Presba to the brink of extinction, be alive?!
He had nearly forgotten about the inconsistency of Yan Zaizen's youthful life aura or his lack of cultivation. It was only when a quick-thinking and perceptive member of his line-up informed him of this did he slowly calm down.
Yan Zaizen didn't bother with all this nor anymore questions lunged at him by the group. Instead, he felt his body undergo massive changes as the profound Herculean Path shaped his body without error. Before, it took him several months to touch upon this level in the Deep Mines.
How, with the support of his Dao Energy, he had reduced that to the matter of a few days. He merely used this final infusion of Dao Energy to push his body to that stage.
Boom!
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An erupting explosion occurred in his body as his cells, bones, flesh, and blood released an extraordinarily exhilarating sound of excitement. His amber-gold eyes were brilliant, like two suns in the night sky.
Small Success Stage!
His Nascent Herculean Physique had taken a step forward, his vital energies erupting, birthed from the latent energies within his body and transformed by the miraculous Herculean Path's laws. After a few seconds, his eyes dimmed until it revealed its normal state and his body no longer had faint rays of amber-gold light circulating through it.
"This should be enough!" Yan Zaizen quietly muttered to himself as he gazed beyond the midair group towards the Solitary Sword Mountain.
"I might as well be direct. I need to find those soul jades." He needed to know what evidence there was of his Clan's vicious acts. While several hundred years would've passed since he had last seen them, the soul aura they faintly emitted from recorded images would be sufficient for him to determine their origins.
"I'll give you nine a choice," Yan Zaizen stepped forward and his vital energies started to rapidly circulate and even faintly leave his body. He stepped onto midair and his body had done the unthinkable! He started to float with merely vital energies! A feat that was nearly impossible to achieve in a small, insignificant speck of the overall cultivation world like Presba.
Vital energies can be used in much the same way as soul energy and qi. However, it required an unfathomable amount of control to achieve flight.
The gawking expressions were numerous, but Yan Zaizen merely continued, "Give me the soul jade that details my clan's alleged crime, or I'll take it from your corpses." In truth, he was agitated in his heart. He wasn't much of a killer, having rarely killed people in his life, even actively avoiding it. However, since his stint in the Heavenly Origin Grounds, his belief had slowly started to change.
The act of self-restraint was far too frustrating. It would be best to no longer hold back, and slaughter his path forward. As long as he doesn't abolish their souls completely, they'll reincarnate. So what did he have to worry about?
With this in mind, he gave them this icy-cold choice.
The young man frowned, his heart calmed after learning of Yan Zaizen's life aura and lack of qi cultivation. But, when he witnessed Yan Zaizen stepping onto midair with simply his body's vital energies, his heart nearly leapt out of his chest. Could this person truly be the Ancestor of the Yan Clan?
This thought started to eclipse his heart in fear. While he was sworn to eradicate all those who wish to propagate the Yan Clan's lineage, as well as legitimate clan members surviving in their hidden corners, this only instilled a deeper fear towards the devil's of his bedtime stories. They were ruthless and merciless beyond imagination.
"Hmph!" However, sword cultivators were inherently strong-willed and hated the most when others decided to control their fates. A choice of kneel or die caused a particularly ferocious and arrogant sword cultivator at the peak-Qi Unification Realm to coldly harrumph.
He unsheathed his sword, causing a sharp keen to resound in the air, and his body soared towards Yan Zaizen with fearless momentum. "Taste my sword!"
He brandished his sword with a valiant stance, his tip shooting towards Yan Zaizen's throat without hesitation. A sharp sword qi was produced that sliced apart the air itself, leaving a devoid feeling of nothing but the sword in its wake.
Yan Zaizen's gaze remained calm as he saw this, even though the others were startled. He slowly lifted his palm, faint vital and dao energies shifting beneath his flesh and circulating with his blood.
Ting!
Sword met flesh as Yan Zaizen used his index finger and thumb to stop the ferocious momentum of the sword. The radiating and sharp ray of sword qi was abolished by these two small appendages.
Then, with a flash!
Yan Zaizen flicked his wrist, the sword flipping brilliantly and with a swish, its hilt landed squarely in his palm. His attacker was shocked into a pause, his eyes radiating disbelief as he was disarmed within a moment, and now, the sword that he cultivated with his life now pointed its tip towards him.
A light push, yet incomparably sharp jab sent the tip of this blade into his throat. A gushing erupting of blood and life escaped its tip.
With a swift swipe, a head shot into the air and a headless corpse fell lifelessly to the ground.
Yan Zaizen lightly brandished his blade, his amber-gold gaze filled with imperial authority befitting an emperor swept the remaining members. He lightly spat, "Choose."