"Everyone, don't panic! That guy may be strong, but he hasn't reached Half-Saint. If we work together, we might not lose! Defeat him, and this whole crisis ends here!" As the figure from the Hun Clan slowly approached, Huo Zhi unexpectedly calmed down and shouted loudly to rally the others.
Immediately, the others began to regain their senses. Though they had all expended a great deal of energy in the earlier battles, they still had some strength left. With several hundred people still present, even a real Half-Saint wouldn't be easy to deal with—let alone someone who clearly wasn't one.
"Kekeke… Looks like the Yan Clan has birthed someone remarkable." Xiao Yan clapped lightly, then smiled. "But since I dared to make a move, did you really think I feared you? Do you think a scattered mob like you can resist me? Just give up and fall already."
"Urgh…" As soon as his words fell, many of the experts who had just begun circulating their Dou Qi to prepare Dou Techniques suddenly felt a strange resistance in their bodies. Their limbs gave out, and they collapsed to the ground, unable to stand. A wave of weakness and pain flooded their senses. They understood immediately what had happened.
"Poison? Damn it… When did he do this?!"
"Could it be…" Huo Zhi's expression shifted. She suddenly recalled the Dou Techniques and pills they had taken from the tomb. Nearly everyone had accepted them without question. Could the poison have been hidden in those?
"You all really thought my gifts were that easy to claim?" Xiao Yan sneered as he snapped off Yao Xingji's finger and retrieved his storage ring. He tossed it in his palm and said with a smile, "You have to sacrifice a lamb to catch the wolf. If I didn't use those things as bait, how would I have lured you in? Now then… it's time you gave them back."
Of course, Xiao Yan didn't tell them the full truth. It wasn't just the pills and scrolls that were poisoned—the entire tomb had been saturated with the toxic mist of Nether Poison Flame. Anyone below five-star Dou Zun simply had no chance of resisting its corrosive effects. That had been part of his trap from the beginning.
Under the effects of the poison, even Huo Xuan and the others lost all ability to resist. They could only watch helplessly as Xiao Yan walked up to each of them and pressed his pitch-black palm to their foreheads.
Earth Spirit Flame, Nine Thunder Dragon Flame, Red Lotus Flame, and the strongest of them all—Destruction Blaze of the Eight Wastelands—were stripped from their bodies one after another. Along with the Heavenly Flames, their bloodline powers were also drawn out.
Beyond the ones with Heavenly Flames, Xiao Yan didn't spare the rest either. Everyone from the ancient clans had their bloodline power forcibly extracted. The Yao Clan, in particular, received "special attention"—all of them, except Yao Tian, even had their souls devoured. With their bloodlines gone, the clan markings on their foreheads dimmed, and their strength dropped drastically.
As for the rest of the group, Xiao Yan took every last storage ring. What was supposed to be an expedition to the Fire Flood Saint's tomb turned into a complete disaster. Not only did they gain nothing—they now found their lives entirely at the mercy of Xiao Yan.
"Kekeke… Thanks for the generosity." Xiao Yan chuckled as he collected the final ring, a satisfied smile appearing on his face. He glanced at the remaining survivors, the corners of his mouth twitching under the veil of black mist. "From here on, you're on your own."
With a maniacal laugh echoing behind him, Xiao Yan's figure faded into the shadows of the small space. Ordinarily, he would've wiped everyone out to eliminate loose ends. But this time, he intentionally left them alive—to spread the news of the Hun Clan's supposed move against the six clans. Without this leak, the other clans wouldn't be prepared. He'd even spared Yao Tian for that very purpose.
Although Xiao Yan had departed, the poison lingering in their bodies remained. Without treatment, they would all soon die from its effects. Feeling her strength draining, Huo Zhi gritted her teeth and reached for a pendant around her neck. It was a spatial jade shard—something she had prepared just in case. She hadn't expected it to actually come in handy.
"I have a jade shard left. If I can use it to open a spatial channel, we might still have a sliver of hope."
"It's useless. The space here is sealed. Don't waste your strength," a Ling Clan man collapsed on the ground muttered in despair. "Unless you can tear through the spatial barrier he created, we're stuck here waiting to die."
Hearing this, Huo Zhi gave a bitter laugh. Of course she knew. But at this point, what other option did they have?
"Miss." Just then, several elders from the Yan Clan struggled to their feet. Their strength was slightly higher than the others', so they could still move. They bowed to Huo Zhi and Huo Xuan, their expressions solemn.
"Let us carve a path for you."
Without waiting for a reply, the elders formed hand seals, and their bodies began to expand rapidly. In the next instant—BOOM!—a devastating explosion ripped through the space. The terrifying energy shockwave caused the entire dimension to tremble.
Seeing this, Huo Zhi and the others turned pale. None of them had expected the elders to make such a drastic decision—to self-detonate in order to create a chance of survival for their juniors.
"Hu…" The elders' sacrifice seemed to awaken the remaining ancient clan members. More elders stood up, preparing to self-destruct as well, determined to protect their bloodline's future. Watching this heart-wrenching scene unfold, tears welled in Huo Zhi's eyes.
"Hun Clan… Hun Clan! I swear I'll make you pay in blood!"
With a roar, she crushed the jade shard in her hand. As spatial energy rippled outward, a portal finally formed. Reinforcements from the Yan Clan burst through—but Huo Zhi and the survivors felt no joy.
Their survival had been bought with sacrifice.
Had Xiao Yan still been there to witness this, he might have been rendered speechless. After all, the moment he left, he'd released the spatial lock on the small dimension. In other words—there had never been a real space seal in place. He'd sensed the extra jade shard on Huo Zhi but had deliberately chosen not to take it.
She could have left at any time.
He never would've imagined they'd go so far as to self-detonate in order to break through a seal that didn't exist. Huo Zhi and the others believed it was the elders' sacrifice that created the opening—when in truth, they had merely moved themselves to tears.
(End of Chapter)
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