166: Han Yue's Secret: Family Crisis and the Emergence of the God

The battle in Broken Stone Valley was but a small ripple in Lin Fan's long life of courting death.

He was even too lazy to identify the fleeing individuals, much less interested in chasing them.

Having dealt with this group of flies, he did not rest for a moment.

His figure moved, transforming into a streak of light, and he sped directly towards the northern horizon.

Northern Ice Plains.

This was a notoriously desolate and bitter land in the Cultivation World.

Perennially covered in endless wind and snow, the Spiritual Qi was thin and violent. Ordinary Cultivators practicing here would not only progress slowly but also be highly susceptible to the invasion of cold evil Qi, leading to a regression in their cultivation.

Li Hanyue's Family had guarded this place for generations.

Lin Fan's figure tore through the sky, and the moment he stepped into the Ice Plains territory, a completely different oppressive Aura from heaven and earth surged towards him.

In the air, the biting cold wind was like invisible steel blades, stinging one's cheeks.

Looking out, the world was left with only a vast expanse of white.

The deeper he went, the heavier the oppressive feeling became.

A colossal ice crystal city, like a giant beast prostrating in the wind and snow, appeared at the end of the horizon.

That was the Li Family's stronghold, Hanyue City.

At this moment, the Family-protecting Formation shrouding the entire city had dimmed to its extreme.

The massive light screen was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, as if it would completely shatter in the next second.

The light screen shook violently, and with each tremor, countless profound runes completely extinguished, turning into dust.

Inside the city, countless members of the Li Family wore expressions of despair. Their Spiritual Qi had long been drained, leaving them pale and their Auras weak.

The moment Lin Fan arrived, he witnessed this heart-wrenching scene.

His heart sank sharply.

Had he come too late?

"Lin Fan."

A clear voice, tinged with a slight tremor, sounded.

Li Hanyue appeared on the city wall at some unknown time. She was still dressed in white, but while her white clothes were usually spotless, they were now stained with dust and blood.

Her beautiful face, like an ice sculpture, was now filled with exhaustion and anxiety.

Only when she saw Lin Fan did a glimmer of hope finally light up in her ice-pool-like eyes.

Lin Fan's figure flickered, instantly appearing before her.

"What happened?"

His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable power.

"It's the Blood Shadow Gate."

Li Hanyue took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the tremor in her heart, and explained in the most concise words.

"My Li Family has guarded a secret treasure for generations, named 'Ice Soul Divine Marrow'."

"For some unknown reason, the news leaked, attracting the covetous gaze of the notorious Demonic Path Sect from the Northern Region, the Blood Shadow Gate."

"They... came out in full force."

By the end of her words, Li Hanyue's voice already carried a hint of despair.

"The Sect Leader of the Blood Shadow Gate recently had a Breakthrough and entered... the Soul Transformation Realm."

Soul Transformation.

These two words, like an insurmountable mountain, weighed heavily on the heart of every Li Family member.

That was a completely different level of existence.

A Nascent Soul Cultivator was no different from an ant before a Soul Transformation Cultivator.

Just as Li Hanyue's voice fell.

A terrifying pressure, indescribable in words, suddenly descended from the sky.

"Boom—!"

The already crumbling Family-protecting Formation let out a painful hum under this pressure, and the cracks on the light screen instantly expanded several times.

The lower-cultivation Li Family members in the city were directly awed by this pressure, falling to their knees, spitting blood, their Divine Souls trembling.

A figure clad in a scarlet blood robe, like a ghost, silently appeared in mid-air.

He was a middle-aged man with a sinister face, his skin a sickly pale, his lips crimson like blood, and in his eyes, there was no human emotion, only pure indifference and greed.

He was the Sect Leader of the Blood Shadow Gate, Blood Slaughter True Person.

He merely floated there quietly, and invisible blood-colored mist swirled around him, as if it were an independent Domain, engulfing the entire Hanyue City.

His gaze disdainfully swept over the struggling Li Family members below, as if looking at a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

"Juniors of the Li Family."

His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears, carrying an odious chill.

"My patience is limited."

"Hand over the 'Ice Soul Divine Marrow', and I can give you a swift end."

"Otherwise, this city will be your tomb."

Despair.

Complete and utter despair, like the cold tide of the Ice Plains, engulfed the heart of every Li Family Cultivator.

Facing a true Soul Transformation powerful being, they couldn't even muster the courage to resist.

Li Hanyue's delicate body trembled slightly. She bit her lip tightly, a trace of blood oozing from the corner of her mouth, making her face appear with a tragic beauty.

She gripped the long sword in her hand, preparing for a final desperate struggle.

Just then.

A warm hand gently pressed on the back of her sword-holding hand.

Lin Fan, at some unknown point, had taken a step forward, completely shielding her petite figure behind him.

His appearance was so sudden, yet so natural.

Like a ray of dawn tearing through endless darkness, instantly illuminating the nearly dead hearts of the Li Family members.

"Lin Fan."

Li Hanyue murmured, her eyes instantly reddening.

She had never imagined that at this Family's most critical and desperate moment, the one who would step forward would be this man she had known for a short time, yet who had repeatedly created miracles.

In mid-air.

Blood Slaughter True Person's gaze also fell on Lin Fan. His brow furrowed slightly, and in his dead eyes, a hint of interest finally appeared.

"Oh?"

"Are you the rumored Lin Fan who cannot be killed?"

His tone carried a hint of playfulness, but more than that, it was the deep-seated disdain belonging to a Soul Transformation powerful being.

In his view, the so-called immortality was merely a trivial matter at the Nascent Soul level.

Before the true Soul Transformation Domain, all secret techniques were illusions.

"A bit interesting."

Blood Slaughter True Person waved his hand casually, his movement as nonchalant as brushing dust from his clothes.

However, a blood-colored beam of light, condensed from pure Soul Transformation Law power, carried the terrifying might to pierce through the Void Realm, instantly crossing the distance of space and heading straight for Lin Fan's chest.

Fast.

Too fast.

So fast that the Li Family members present, including Li Hanyue, had no time to react.

However.

Lin Fan did not dodge.

He didn't even blink.

He just stood there quietly, allowing the blood-colored beam of light, which could easily instantly kill any Late Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator, to fiercely strike his body.

"Boom!"

A muffled sound.

Lin Fan's body, like porcelain struck by a heavy hammer, instantly exploded, turning into a sky full of blood mist.

Leaving no trace.

Li Hanyue's heart, at this moment, seemed to stop beating, her vision a blank.

The hope that had just ignited in the Li Family members was instantly extinguished, turning into deeper despair.

Blood Slaughter True Person's lips curled into a disdainful sneer.

Immortal?

Vulnerable.

But his smile, having just bloomed, froze on his face.

Because he saw.

Within the diffused blood mist, specks of golden light shone, and countless flesh and blood re-condensed at a bizarre speed that defied the Laws of heaven and earth.

In just a few short breaths.

A perfectly intact Lin Fan reappeared in his original spot.

He patted away non-existent dust from his body, completely unharmed, his Aura steady.

He even offered Blood Slaughter True Person a slightly apologetic smile.

"Senior, this strike of yours seems to lack a bit of power."

"How about... you try a little harder?"

The entire Hanyue City was silent.

Everyone stared at this scene dumbfounded, their brains completely frozen.

In Blood Slaughter True Person's dead eyes, a strong astonishment appeared for the first time.

As a Soul Transformation powerful being, he was perfectly clear about the power of his strike.

It contained his unique "Blood Transformation Divine Light," which could not only destroy the Physical Body but also corrupt the Nascent Soul and erode the Divine Soul.

Let alone a Nascent Soul Cultivator, even a Soul Transformation Cultivator of the same level would not dare to take it head-on like that.

Yet this Middle Stage Nascent Soul fellow in front of him not only took it but also recovered in an instant.

As if that world-destroying strike was just an illusion.

"You have some tricks."

Blood Slaughter True Person's brows finally furrowed tightly.

He put away all his disdain, his eyes becoming solemn.

The rumors, it turned out, were true.

This guy really couldn't be killed.

"I'd like to see if your immortality has a limit!"

Blood Slaughter True Person roared, no longer holding back.

He formed hand seals, and in an instant, blood clouds churned in the sky. A hundred-zhang giant hand, condensed from endless blood evil Qi, descended with an Aura that could crush everything, aiming straight for Lin Fan.

This attack's power was more than ten times stronger than before.

Lin Fan looked up, silently calculating in his heart.

The cooldown for "Revival Counterattack" was still an entire hour.

This meant that within this hour, he could not use his strongest trump card.

Every time he died, he had to die with value.

The goal was not to counter-kill.

But to wear down.

As the blood-colored giant hand was about to fall, Lin Fan's figure suddenly blurred from its original spot.

The next moment, he appeared at an anchor point a thousand zhang away.

Perfectly dodging this fatal blow.

"Rumble!"

The blood-colored giant hand slammed heavily onto the Hanyue City's Family-protecting Formation.

The already crumbling light screen let out a mournful cry and completely shattered.

"A bit interesting."

"Within my Domain, you can still teleport?"

Blood Slaughter True Person's surprise grew, but it was followed by an even more violent killing intent.

He began to frantically intensify his attacks.

Streaks of blood-colored light pillars, massive blood-colored nets, and grotesque blood-colored skulls, like a torrential storm, poured down towards Lin Fan.

He wanted to use the purest power to completely overwhelm Lin Fan, not even giving him a chance to teleport.

And Lin Fan, like the slipperiest loach.

He repeatedly used anchor points, finding those tiny gaps in Blood Slaughter True Person's impenetrable attacks, constantly dodging and moving.

He deliberately showed weakness.

Several times, he pretended to be low on magical power, was swept by the aftershocks of an attack, his Physical Body exploded again, and then revived at another anchor point in the distance.

Every time he revived, he would provoke.

"Senior, didn't you eat? Your strength is getting weaker and weaker."

"Oh dear, you missed again. Do you want me to stand still and let you hit me?"

"A Soul Transformation powerful being, is that all you've got?"

Blood Slaughter True Person was so enraged by his rogue fighting style that he roared repeatedly.

He, a dignified Soul Transformation powerful being, was being played around by a Nascent Soul brat.

This was an unprecedented humiliation for him.

His attacks became more and more violent, and also more and more disorganized.

He just wanted to crush this annoying fly in front of him as quickly as possible.

And this was exactly what Lin Fan wanted to see.

Every violent attack consumed Blood Slaughter True Person's own magical power and Divine Soul.

Lin Fan calmly calculated in his heart.

"Revival Counterattack, cooldown remaining: thirty minutes."

"His magical power has already consumed nearly thirty percent."

"Not enough."

"He must be made angrier, more irrational."

Lin Fan's gaze fell on the shattered Family-protecting Formation below.

A plan quietly formed in his mind.

He no longer simply dodged.

Instead, he began to use the remaining Formation nodes to quickly shuttle through the city.

He brought the exquisite knowledge from Xuanji Zi's Formation diagrams to its extreme.

He mobilized the remaining power of the great Formation.

At times, an ice wall rose from the ground, blocking Blood Slaughter True Person's sight.

At times, an illusion quietly formed, causing Blood Slaughter True Person's attacks to miss.

At times, a faint restraining force, at the moment of his attack, caused him to experience a barely perceptible delay.

These small actions posed no threat to a Soul Transformation powerful being.

But they were extremely harassing.

Like an unkillable mosquito, always buzzing in your ear, making you utterly annoyed.

On the city wall.

Li Hanyue was completely dumbfounded.

Her heartstrings were repeatedly plucked by one incredible scene after another.

She saw Lin Fan, a mere Nascent Soul Cultivator, fighting against the legendary Soul Transformation powerful being.

She saw Lin Fan "die" in front of her again and again, and then Rebirth again and again.

With each death, his Physical Body would be blasted into blood mist, a visual impact that made her heart clench.

With each Rebirth, he wore a faint smile, with no fear in his eyes, only endless composure and calculation.

She knew that Lin Fan could have stayed out of it.

With his abilities, where in the vast world could he not go?

But he, for the Li Family, for her, resolutely chose to stay.

He chose to use his "life" to fight an unbeatable enemy.

An indescribable emotion quietly blossomed in her heart, which had been frozen for many years, and grew wildly at an uncontrollable speed.

Her gaze could no longer be moved from that figure constantly shuttling through the blood-colored attacks.

That figure, though not appearing tall.

At this moment, in her eyes, was more colossal than this heaven and earth.

Gratitude.

Reverence.

Heartache.

All kinds of complex emotions intertwined, finally converging into a burning warm current that melted all her coldness.

Her hand, unconsciously, loosened its grip on the sword hilt.

In her eyes, there was only him... "Ah ah ah ah—!"

In mid-air, Blood Slaughter True Person was finally completely enraged, letting out a roar that was not human.

He had been attacking at high intensity for nearly an hour.

Most of his magical power had been consumed.

His Divine Soul, moreover, had become exhausted by Lin Fan's endless "harassment" and "revivals."

He had never fought such a frustrating battle.

All his Divine Abilities, all his ultimate moves, all his trump cards, had been used.

But the opponent was like a target that would never fall.

You shattered him, and he would immediately reappear somewhere else, perfectly intact, continuing to provoke you.

This sense of powerlessness almost caused cracks to appear in his Dao Heart.

"Little beast!"

"You forced my hand!"

Blood Slaughter True Person's eyes were bloodshot, looking like a madman.

He decided to hold nothing back.

He would use that forbidden technique that harmed the enemy a thousand times but damaged himself eight hundred times, at all costs, to completely erase Lin Fan's Origin from this world!

He opened his mouth and fiercely spat out a mouthful of pure Natal Essence Blood.

The Essence Blood transformed into strange blood-colored runes in the air, merging into the churning blood clouds.

In an instant.

The entire sky was stained a heart-stopping crimson.

A terrifying fluctuation, far exceeding the previous one, carrying the Aura of destruction and ending, began to brew in the blood clouds.

The entire Northern Ice Plains trembled under this power.

All the Li Family members in the city felt a tremor from the depths of their Souls.

They knew this was the true killing move of a Soul Transformation powerful being.

Under this single strike, all things would perish.

Li Hanyue's heart instantly leaped to her throat. She subconsciously wanted to rush forward and die alongside Lin Fan.

However.

She saw.

On the ground, Lin Fan, who had always been passively taking hits and constantly maneuvering, after sensing this world-destroying Aura.

Not only did he not show any panic.

Instead, a cold smile, tinged with a hint of cruelty, appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He had been waiting for this moment.

In his Sea of Consciousness.

The cold System notification sound finally rang out again.

"Ding! 'Revival Counterattack' function cooldown complete!"