Chapter 24: The Nonexistent Person

A single stone cast into the water created a thousand ripples. The news of the Luo family’s Saint ancestor shattering the mountain gate and obliterating a grand elder of the Yaoguang Holy Land spread throughout the Southern Region and even the entire Eastern Wasteland, causing an immense uproar.

"Quick! Quickly awaken the ancestor!" the Lord of the Yaoguang Holy Land commanded urgently. "Prepare to awaken the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Cauldron!"

When no Saints are present, who can compete? This era was not conducive to cultivation, yet a Saint had appeared against the heavens. If he could not be stopped today, the Holy Land would not only suffer heavy damage but also lose its face and prestige—an outcome that was absolutely intolerable.

Luo Yan, however, did not seem to be in a hurry. He walked through the Holy Land leading a donkey, moving completely unimpeded. Of course, no one dared to stop him. The memory of the previous attempt to suppress him—which not only failed but also resulted in the loss of a Great Perfection King—cast a long, dark shadow over them.

"Cui Jinhua, get out here! Hand over Yixian! You old scoundrel, how dare you lay a finger on my Luo family’s Divine Body?" At that moment, a thunderous shout erupted from outside the Yaoguang Holy Land, followed by three figures charging in with murderous intent.

The people of the Luo family had arrived!

"Ancestor!" The Luo family members looked at the figure with excitement, their voices trembling. Luo Yan spotted several familiar faces in the crowd, including Luo Zongqi and his son, Luo Tianlin.

Luo Yan looked toward the Yaoguang Holy Land and demanded, "Who is Cui Jinhua?"

No one answered.

"If you won't speak, don't blame me for taking action!" Luo Yan threw another punch, indiscriminately striking toward a certain direction. His vast, pugilistic force descended like a divine mountain, causing the space there to collapse.

"Boom!"

"Ah—"

"No! Ancestor, save me!"

Several cries rang out. He had killed several more disciples and elders of the Holy Land right in front of the Yaoguang experts. Was this the confidence of a Saint?

"Senior, are you determined to be at irreconcilable odds with my Yaoguang Holy Land?" Even the Lord of the Yaoguang Holy Land, despite his patience, was moved to anger by this slaughter.

Luo Yan looked at him. "Irreconcilable odds? You are not worthy! You rely solely on that Extreme Emperor Weapon. Unless it is fully awakened, no one can stop me from killing whoever I wish!"

"Where is Cui Jinhua? Get out here!" Luo Yan swept his gaze over the crowd, his demeanor suggesting that he would begin a massacre if no one answered.

Six thousand years ago, Luo Yan would have feared an Extreme Emperor Weapon because he lacked the certainty to deal with it, constrained as he was by the laws of the world. Six thousand years later, even if an Extreme Emperor Weapon could unleash the laws of the Extreme, Luo Yan was unfazed. It was merely a weapon, not an ancient Great Emperor himself!

"Fellow Daoist, it is better to be forgiving when one can. This era is not meant for people like us to emerge, nor is it a time for such great upheaval. We were wrong in this matter first; what will it take for you to let this go?" From deep within the Holy Land came a magnificent aura, as if from a deity.

An ancestor of the Yaoguang Holy Land, sealed within Divine Source, was awakening. He was in a peculiar state—partially awake, his physical body still dormant within the source while his divine sense was active. His tone was as conciliatory as possible, clearly unwilling to emerge from his seal at this time.

"Fang Jin, do you not remember me?" Luo Yan recognized the aura. It belonged to Fang Jin, the candidate Saint who had threatened him years ago, claiming he would never leave the Tianxuan Holy Land alive.

The aura hesitated, as if recalling something. "The aura about you... I seem to have encountered it somewhere. Have we met before?" After a long silence, the voice continued, "Since we are acquaintances, give me some face today. In three days, I will have those who offended the Luo family come to offer a formal apology. How does that sound?"

"Not enough! You killed my kin, breached my gates, and abducted my family’s Divine Body. Is that something a mere apology can resolve?"

"What is it that you want, Fellow Daoist?" the voice in the Divine Source asked.

"Every mastermind involved in this must pay with their lives. Their corpses must kneel before the graves of my Luo family for a hundred years, and you shall pay compensation of ten thousand catties of high-quality Divine Source!"

Arrogant! Overbearing!

Having grown accustomed to the arrogance of the Holy Lands, seeing someone act so dominantly toward one was truly breathtaking. In the current era, the source circulating among cultivators was mostly of inferior quality; it took thousands of pieces of low-quality source to equal half a catty of high-quality source, and even then, it was hard to come by.

This Luo family ancestor demanded tens of thousands of catties of high-quality source in one breath. The Yaoguang Holy Land could pay it, but it would be a bone-deep wound. Furthermore, demanding that the culprits die and kneel before the graves for a century was essentially forcing the Holy Land to bow its head. For a Holy Land to suffer such humiliation at the hands of a single clan was unheard of!

"It seems, Fellow Daoist, that you are unwilling to reconcile today. Very well, if that is the case, do not blame me for going too far!"

Deep within the Holy Land, an old man shattered his seal and stepped out from the Divine Source. With every step Fang Jin took, the five great secret realms within his body surged with recovery. From an ordinary, frail old man, he transformed into a powerful Saint. He stood his ground, staring directly at Luo Yan with a furrowed brow. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

Fang Jin stared intently at that face. It was both familiar and strange, as if he had seen it in a distant memory.

Luo Yan sighed in disappointment. "It seems you truly do not remember me!"

*It appears that after I leave, the rules of the world erase the traces of my existence,* Luo Yan thought to himself.

"Six thousand years ago, Tianxuan Holy Land!" Luo Yan reminded him. Although Fang Jin had lived for six thousand years, he had not progressed far on the path of a Saint; he had not even touched the threshold of a Saint King, making him far from a match for Luo Yan.

Fang Jin’s mind raced through a very distant history. At that time, he was merely a candidate Saint of the Yaoguang Holy Land. Had they met six thousand years ago? Yet, his memory held no image of this person.

Wait... there was someone else... someone who did not exist in his memories!

It was as if that person had been erased by the laws of the world, yet a trace remained in his memory, leaving a void!

"You are... that person who did not exist! The one on Can Peak!" Fang Jin’s voice trembled, revealing shock for the first time in thousands of years.

"What is the ancestor talking about? What person who does not exist?"

"Could this man be like Ancestor Fang Jin, someone who survived from six thousand years ago?"

"That’s not right. I remember the Luo family ancestor being a figure from 4,800 years ago, once known alongside the Jiang family’s God King as the 'Peerless Duo.' It is a pity he was born three hundred years too early; otherwise, he could have fought Jiang Taixu, who was hailed as having the greatest offensive power in five thousand years!"

The crowd was filled with confusion. The Luo family ancestor had made his debut 4,800 years ago; how could he have appeared at the Tianxuan Holy Land, which was destroyed 6,000 years ago?

Only Fang Jin’s expression changed drastically. He remembered that day—the Tianxuan Holy Land had mobilized its entire force to attack the Ancient Forbidden Land, drawing out the supreme existence within—the master of the forbidden zone, 'Huang' himself. It was said that the Tianxuan Holy Land’s Extreme Emperor Weapon was destroyed by Huang's own hand, though some claimed it was lost beneath the forbidden zone.

The result was tragic: every disciple of the Tianxuan Holy Land was wiped out—some driven mad, others killed. That once-prosperous Holy Land vanished overnight, leaving only one lineage hiding from the world.

However, after that day, a rumor spread throughout the world: "The Tianxuan Holy Land had a heaven-defying expert who peered into the future and altered the fate of the Holy Land! That Holy Land should have been extinguished six thousand years ago when it attacked the forbidden zone; it should have been impossible for any successor to remain. And that person is likely the one whose traces were erased from Can Peak!"

This information originated from the contemporary grandmaster of the Heavenly Secret lineage!