Chapter 26: Ancestor Fang Jin Has Gone Mad

The deity within the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Tripod was actually being forcibly driven into slumber!

How could this be possible? That was an Extreme Weapon of the Emperor!

Yet, the reality played out before their eyes. The ancestor of the Luo family was a Quasi-Emperor—who could have foreseen this? Legend held that a single drop of blood from an ancient Sage could slay a Great Power, and a single strand of hair was comparable to a divine weapon. This man, however, was a Quasi-Emperor who had transcended the ancient Sages, and he had forcibly pushed the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Tripod into a dormant state.

Fang Jin, who had been activating the Emperor weapon, suffered a violent backlash from the tripod. He vomited a mouthful of blood and plummeted from the sky.

"Ancestor Fang Jin!" someone cried out in shock, rushing forward to catch his falling body.

Luo Yan turned his gaze toward the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Tripod, which hung in the air, still radiating the power of the Extreme Path. The pressure was so immense that the surrounding space seemed on the verge of collapse. He felt a flicker of interest.

"Not good, he wants to seize the Emperor weapon!" A Saint King, sealed within divine source, instantly realized Luo Yan's intention. He broke out of his seal ahead of the others and moved first, deploying a secret technique to recall the tripod.

Seeing the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Tripod fly away, Luo Yan did not move to intercept it. Even if he held it, the object would be difficult to manage. Unless he constantly suppressed the deity within the weapon to prevent its awakening, it would eventually revive and return to the Yaoguang Holy Land. Suppressing an Emperor weapon was a thankless task, and Luo Yan did not have the energy to sustain it.

Luo Yan did not stop there. He drew the precious sword from his donkey, with the Mirror of Time hovering above his head, and brought the blade down in a single strike.

"Rumble!"

A long, narrow fissure tore open the center of the Yaoguang Holy Land. Viewed from above, it looked as if the entire sanctuary had been split in two. Even the Quasi-Emperor defensive formations could not withstand the power of that sword. Luo Yan had not dared to use his full strength, otherwise, the Yaoguang Holy Land would have been leveled to the ground.

The Yaoguang Holy Land was built atop a massive tomb, and the entity buried within was, naturally, one of the incarnations of the ruthless Empress. Dealing with the Empress was something Luo Yan did not yet wish to explore too deeply.

Out of consideration for the Empress, Luo Yan held back, but he showed no such mercy to the people of the Yaoguang Holy Land.

"Are you the current head of the Luo family?"

A man who appeared relatively honest replied, "This junior, Luo Feng, pays respects to the ancestor! I am indeed the current head of the Luo family."

Luo Yan did not mince words. "Do you remember who attacked the Luo family that day? Names, portraits—compile a list for me!"

"Yes, Ancestor!" Luo Feng immediately summoned the other clansmen. They began to recall the events, and soon a list was drafted, which he presented to Luo Yan with both hands, his manner deeply respectful.

Luo Yan glanced at it, and suddenly, the entire Holy Land plunged into darkness, as if covered by some overwhelming force. The experts of the Holy Land were terrified, and the Great Saint hidden in the shadows was struck with dread. Only one who had reached his level could truly grasp the horror of the man outside.

A single thought could sever the sun, the moon, and the stars! Without restraining his own aura, the sheer terror of his presence alone was enough to crush the cultivators of an entire region; only Sages could barely withstand it.

He was truly serious this time!

"Cui Jinhua!"

This time, there was no silence in the Holy Land. A figure hidden in the shadows stepped out from the darkness, as if summoned by the name. His eyes were filled with horror and panic.

"Thump!" Cui Jinhua was merely a King who had severed his path, and in the face of an existence who had one foot in the realm of an alternative Emperor, he instinctively knelt, stripped of any thought of resistance.

His words were law! This was the power of a Sage!

"Where is Luo Yixian?"

Cui Jinhua felt his meridians and his Sendai shattering inch by inch. Regret flooded his heart—the ancestor of the Luo family was far too powerful! Even the Saintly ancestors of the Holy Land were no match for him; even the Extreme Emperor weapon paled in his presence.

Cui Jinhua produced a gourd and handed it to Luo Feng. It was a treasure of the Sage level, containing its own internal space—a small world where Luo Yixian was being held.

"I am willing to take my own life here, I only ask that the senior does not harm the innocent!" he pleaded.

Luo Yan glanced at him indifferently. "Take your own life? You think quite highly of yourself, don't you? You didn't do it before, but now that you see no hope of survival, you want to end your life to escape the torment? Where in the world is such a cheap bargain to be found?

"And you ask me not to harm the innocent? You speak with such righteous indignation, hoping to stand on the moral high ground and use 'justice' to restrain me. Even if I kill you, you still want to preserve a good reputation! Unfortunately, I despise hypocrites and petty villains like you more than anything in this life."

Cui Jinhua’s face turned deathly pale. With his inner thoughts exposed, he hurriedly tried to sever his own meridians, hoping to end his life. But before a Quasi-Emperor whose presence could cause the sun, moon, stars, and even the gods and Buddhas of the heavens to lose their luster, such means were mere child's play—completely useless.

"I cannot even commit suicide?" Cui Jinhua felt a deep sense of dread.

"Ah—my Sendai!"

The man clearly hadn't touched him, yet in that instant, his Sendai began to collapse! In a heartbeat, Cui Jinhua was reduced from a powerful King to a cripple.

Luo Yan turned to Luo Feng. "I leave this man to you."

Luo Feng stepped forward respectfully. "Yes, Ancestor!"

"Everyone," Luo Yan asked, "this man had malicious intentions, attempting to incite conflict between the outside Luo family and the Yaoguang Holy Land. I have taken the liberty of expelling him from the Yaoguang Holy Land on your behalf to be dealt with by my Luo family. Do you have any objections?"

"The senior is absolutely correct!" said the Saint King who held the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Tripod. "This man is wicked; we have no objections to the senior dealing with him as he sees fit."

Who would dare to object? If they could not provide a result that satisfied this man today, the Yaoguang Holy Land would face total annihilation! Even the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Tripod had been forced into slumber by this living Quasi-Emperor—who could possibly resist?

Luo Yan looked back at the list and began calling names one by one.

"Senior, have mercy! I was wrong!"

"Senior, we didn't mean it!"

"Senior, I am willing to serve the Luo family for the rest of my life, to be a beast of burden, please spare my lowly life!"

Within the Holy Land, one miserable scream after another rang out. Most of these people were elders of the Yaoguang Holy Land, figures usually respected and fawned over, but now, none were spared from wailing. Their vitality was stripped away, and they visibly aged, becoming nothing more than skin and bone in the blink of an eye.

These were the individuals who had participated in the attack on the Luo family, and now they were being liquidated. As members of the Holy Land, no one dared to step forward.

This was what they deserved! If it weren't for them, how could the Yaoguang Holy Land have provoked such a formidable enemy? A Quasi-Emperor with plenty of lifespan remaining was someone even the Yaoguang Holy Land in its most glorious days would not dare to provoke! If a powerhouse of this caliber were driven to madness, forget one Yaoguang Holy Land—ten would not be enough to kill! Unless an ancient Great Emperor were reborn, no one could stop him.

"I remember! Haha! I remember! I remember everything!" A frantic voice erupted from within the Holy Land. Fang Jin looked at him with an expression of madness, staring as if at a monster.

"So that's how it is!"

"So that's how it is!"

The elders of the Holy Land were shocked. The Lord of Yaoguang suddenly appeared beside Fang Jin, checking him briefly before delivering the startling news: "Ancestor Fang Jin... has gone mad?"

Luo Yan was momentarily stunned, but after a quick investigation, he understood. Fang Jin had become a Saint by cultivating the techniques of the ruthless Empress's lineage, but a mishap during his cultivation had led him to fall into demonic obsession, forcing him to seal himself in divine source to maintain a clear consciousness.

His emergence had already carried the risk of falling into madness, and after suffering the backlash from the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Tripod, he had been pushed over the edge. He was now thoroughly insane, unable to recognize even his own kin.

"We were wrong, we were all wrong!"

"That person... haha... we were all wrong..."

Muttering to himself, Fang Jin walked out of the Holy Land and disappeared. No one dared to stop him. In his current state, he would not live long—at most, he would survive for another half a year in this dazed condition.