C166 What Kind of Background Did He Have?

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Figures shattered into fragments as they were struck by the blazing pillars of light. Among them, dozens of afterimages darted away in a desperate escape.

"Duan Tianhong! You and your brothers have slaughtered fellow cultivators. Once this is revealed, the Duan family will face certain extinction within the Crimson Sun Empire!"

"The Duan family! You do not deserve to be called the nation's backbone!"

The fleeing afterimages varied; some streaked like lightning, others drifted like specters, and some were mere masses of flesh and blood.

The cultivators of the Crimson Sun Empire, predominantly in the Subtlety and Lunar Spirit realms, were gravely wounded the moment they extricated themselves from the sword scar.

Others were ambushed while their remnant souls and spiritual senses were still ensnared within the sword scar, meeting their end in a state of utter confusion.

Their deaths were unjust and bewildering.

The sword scars etched into the pool's walls harbored the profound mysteries of the universe. The cultivators at the Subtlety and Lunar Spirit levels from the Crimson Sun Empire were plunged into disarray, as if lost in an alien realm, until they were mercilessly cut down.

Those who barely managed to break free, now grievously injured, realized they were no match for the Duan brothers and resorted to their own means to flee.

"Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!"

The Flame Deity that Duan Tianxi had transformed into divided into seven, relentlessly pursuing the scattering afterimages.

Duan Tianhong held his ground as the magma pool erupted skyward.

From the pool's rim, flame crystals tumbled down, each one housing a phantom writhing in agony, seemingly pleading for Duan Tianhong's mercy.

Duan Tianhong was unmoved by their entreaties.

Yu Yuan stood silently, attuned to the subtlest shifts in the sword light emanating from his arm bone.

Out of nowhere, he sensed a mysterious connection through the sword light, as if someone was covertly scrutinizing him from above.

Instinctively, he gazed upwards into the void.

The night had given way to a sun-drenched sky, where a dense cluster of clouds loomed.

He scrutinized the clouds, convinced someone was concealed within, yet despite his level of cultivation, he could not penetrate their veil.

"Mr. Qin."

After a brief hesitation, he softly called out.

Qin Yun, whose attention had been fixed on the ongoing battle, paused and turned to look at Yu Yuan, asking, "What's the matter?"

"Do you see those clusters of clouds in the sky?" Yu Yuan inquired.

Qin Yun glanced upwards and gave a slight nod, "Yes, I see them."

"I have a feeling that someone is concealed within them," Yu Yuan said with a furrowed brow. "My own abilities are limited, and since the world's restrictions have lifted, I can't detect the secrets they might hold. Mr. Qin, could you possibly...?"

"Of course!"

Qin Yun from Midnightshields cut him off, readily agreeing.

In an instant, a pure remnant soul surged skyward!

Yu Yuan, with his heaven soul, perceived it clearly.

Lee Yuchan, who was sitting in meditation, ready to cast the Shadow Curse, also sensed it and looked towards the clouds in astonishment.

Qin Yun's pure remnant soul ascended hundreds of meters before it took form.

Visible to those of Subtlety and clear to those in the Lunar Spirit state, it became a phantom.

This phantom, ethereal and drifting, attempted to penetrate the clusters of clouds.

Boom!

Qin Yun's phantom, as if colliding with an unseen barrier, was forcefully repelled.

Inside the Soulforge Pool, Qin Yun's physical form displayed a look of amazement as he exclaimed, "Yu Yuan, you were right! There's definitely something off about those clouds!"

"What happened?" Yu Yuan asked, puzzled.

"There's a barrier preventing my soul from infiltrating, making it impossible for me to discern the truth!" Qin Yun's face was etched with concern. "With the Soulforge Matrix now dissolved, could it be that formidable alien souls, akin to the Stormcrowned Emperor and the Sky Fiend Indigo Wraith, have broken free and are now lurking within the sky's clouds?"

"Surely not?" Lee Yuchan was taken aback.

She, too, instinctively gazed up at the sky.

Deep within the thick clouds, where the blank canvas and the queen of the Silvermoon Empire had once been, there was no sign of either.

As a sovereign, the queen's Lunar Spirit wouldn't linger in one place for long.

Yet, the state preceptor of the Crimson Sun Empire, who had come to meet her, clad in white, had not departed.

The obstruction that had thwarted Qin Yun's remnant soul was none other than the barrier erected by Zhou Cangmin, alerting Qin Yun to the anomaly, yet impenetrable.

The aura was unmistakably that of the state preceptor of the empire.

As the state preceptor of the Crimson Sun Empire and a Spirit Walk expert, he had the power to halt the unfolding tragedy at the Soulforge Pool, even if a Lunar Spirit were present.

His mastery of cultivation allowed him to clearly understand the dispute within the Soulforge Pool.

He was aware that Duan Guanlan had been secretly practicing the Crimson Soul Spell. He observed Duan Tianhong slaying Wu Zimo and saw the Duan brothers join forces to eradicate the other cultivators from the Crimson Sun Empire who had been acting under his orders.

Everything was within his view, yet he allowed the situation to spiral out of control.

—He did not intervene to set things right.

The inner workings of the state preceptor's mind remained a mystery to all within the Crimson Sun Empire.

"Yu Yuan."

He softly repeated the name, pondering its significance with a contemplative gaze.

With his advanced cultivation, he could see the alien souls pouring into the forbidden area, transforming into billowing yellow smoke, flowing streams, or streaks of lightning, all converging on the Soulforge Pool.

Yet, the state preceptor's gaze lingered only briefly on these alien souls.

It seemed as though he deemed the so-called archdemons unworthy of his concern.

"Could the bronze coffin that fled into the extraterrestrial have a connection to Yu Yuan? Why does Qin Yun's Dawn Arrow contain his four imprinted thoughts? And how has Lee Yuchan been pacified by his mere thoughts?"

"What is the background of this young man?"

From his vantage point high in the clouds, Zhou Cangmin could discern every action within the Soulforge Pool and the mental transmissions between Yu Yuan and Lee Yuchan.

Boom!

The crimson big bell appeared from the sky, its fiery glow merging with the bell as it descended.

Duan Tianxi, with his Flame Deity's Divine Visage, hauled the crimson bell, standing watch over the Soulforge Pool like an ancient fire god surveying the land below.

Duan Tianhong let out a sinister chuckle as the fearsome magma pool plummeted.

It vanished into his crown in a flash.

At that moment, every cultivator from the Crimson Sun Empire encircling the Soulforge Pool had been slain.

Not one survived.

"This is peculiar," Yu Yuan mused, his expression odd as he surveyed his surroundings. "These cultivators from the Crimson Sun Empire, some of Lunar Spirit Realm, perished so cleanly. Their levels of cultivation were comparable, yet the disparity in their strength is stark."

Qin Yun's expression was somber as he remarked, "The Duan brothers have displayed a level of combat prowess that surpasses what anyone anticipated."

Yu Yuan was taken aback. "Have the Duan brothers never been this powerful before?"

Qin Yun nodded in affirmation.

At that moment, Duan Tianhong and Duan Tianxi, flanking Duan Guanlan on either side, approached Yu Yuan and his two companions.

Each group consisted of three individuals.

"Qin, you wouldn't side with strangers, would you?" Duan Tianhong asked with a grin.

"The ones you've just annihilated were our own," Qin Yun replied with a wry smile.

"No, they were all strangers," Duan Tianhong countered, his smile unwavering. "Qin, what's your opinion of the state preceptor?"

"What prompts you to ask?" Qin Yun was confused.

"What if those people were meant to die by the state preceptor's own wishes? Would you see any issue with that?" Duan Tianhong asked earnestly. "What if the state preceptor was aware of their deaths, or even orchestrated it? Would you still oppose us?"

Qin Yun's face drained of color. "How could that be? Why would the state preceptor want you to kill his own people?"

"You don't need to know the reasons. I'm just asking, if the state preceptor commanded you to kill them without explanation, would you do it?" Duan Tianhong pressed.

After a moment of contemplation, Qin Yun declared, "I would not!"

"Different paths do not converge," Duan Tianhong sighed. "That's truly regrettable."

​