369: Chapter 369 The Time Has Arrived

A sea of fire churned, the smell of scorching burning into the sky.

Cao Yun stood in mid-air, looking down at the figure bathing in the raging flames below.

Pure Yang Heart Fire danced on his fingertips, remotely guiding the dark red fire seed within Lin Yan's body.

"Go."

Cao Yun spat out the word, grabbing Lin Yan's shoulder with one hand.

A crimson streak of light tore through the night, leaving the entire ruined Luoyun City behind.

Three more years passed.

During these three years, Cao Yun threw Lin Yan into the most dangerous Ten Thousand Beast Cave in the Central Province.

A fishy wind hit his face.

A Peak Tier 2 Red-Armored Earth Dragon crashed to the ground, its scales scorched bright red.

Lin Yan knelt half-way in the mud, panting heavily, three claw marks deep enough to see bone appearing on his chest.

He didn't even look at the wounds, instead grabbing the Earth Dragon's Yao Beast core and swallowing it whole.

Violent Yao Beast power exploded in his Dantian.

The "Li Fire Burning Heaven Technique" spun frantically, forcibly converting these chaotic energies into Fire-attribute True Essence.

Cao Yun sat cross-legged on a high, withered tree branch, watching coldly.

Inside his Dantian, the illusory crimson bronze mirror rolled slowly.

Lin Yan's cultivation progress was clear at a glance on the mirror's surface.

Foundation Establishment Perfection.

In just three years, this shell had been ripened to this point by massive amounts of resources and life-and-death battles.

His Foundation was extremely unstable, and his Meridians were riddled with holes from the overbearing Fire Qi.

But this didn't matter at all.

What Cao Yun wanted was never a disciple capable of reaching the Purple Mansion.

He only needed an empty shell with enough capacity to perfectly carry those two death-inducing talismans.

The Law void within Lin Yan's body had already expanded to its limit.

If he continued to train, the boy himself would be blown apart by the Pure Yang Fire Qi.

The timing is right.

Cao Yun landed gracefully.

"Stop."

Lin Yan immediately dispersed the ball of fire gathering in his palm, forcibly cutting off the circulation of his Cultivation Technique.

Blood surged upwards.

He swallowed the metallic sweetness in his throat, turned to face Cao Yun, and knelt on one knee.

There was no superfluous nonsense, no fanatical display of loyalty.

Only absolute obedience.

These years on the edge of life and death had given him an almost instinctive trust in the man before him who had bestowed everything upon him.

"Revered Master, what are your orders?" Lin Yan lowered his head.

Cao Yun raised his hand, pointing his fingertip due south.

"Come with me to a place."

Lin Yan stood up abruptly, tearing off a piece of rag to wrap around the penetrating wound on his chest.

"Yes."

He didn't ask where they were going, nor what they were going to do.

Wherever Revered Master pointed, he would walk, even if it meant a mountain of blades or a sea of fire ahead.

Cao Yun was very satisfied with this tool's level of obedience.

Two crimson streaks of light shot into the sky, heading straight south.

Crossing the Central Province.

Mountains and rivers below retreated rapidly.

Half a month later, the Luoyan Mountain Range, stretching for thousands of miles, lay across the horizon.

This place was filled with miasma all year round, and the Peaks were jagged, piercing straight into the clouds.

Cao Yun was in front, with Lin Yan following closely behind.

The streaks of light tore through the thick gray-white miasma, producing ear-piercing sonic booms.

The pressure of the three Purple Mansion Divine Abilities radiated outwards without reservation, arrogantly flattening the Tier 2 Yao Beasts along the way.

Deep within the Luoyan Mountain Range, a dark cave.

Chen Mu sat cross-legged on a throne of white bones, surrounded by thick, dark green Death Qi.

He opened his eyes abruptly.

A flash of cold Wither and Flourish true intent flickered in the depths of his pupils.

The corpse puppet Formation guarding the perimeter sent back reports of violent spiritual power fluctuations.

A Purple Mansion great Cultivator was trespassing.

And without any attempt to hide their tracks, arrogant to the extreme.

Chen Mu snorted coldly, his figure dissipating on the spot instantly.

Turning into a wisp of dark green smoke, he merged silently into the mountain wall.

The Luoyan Mountain Range were territory the Old Ancestor had ordered to be guarded; any ants daring to run wild here would have their vitality drained.

He climbed rapidly along the cliff face, arriving behind a protruding rock at the highest point of the mountain range.

His Death Qi was restrained to the extreme.

Chen Mu poked half his head out, his gaze piercing through the layers of miasma.

High in the sky, two crimson streaks of light were approaching at extreme speed.

The person in the lead wore black, surrounded by extremely overbearing Pure Yang flames.

Even from dozens of miles away, that blazing, all-consuming aura still stung Chen Mu's perception.

This Fire Qi.

Chen Mu's mind instantly flashed back to that brief confrontation more than a decade ago in the heart of Gold Mountain.

That mad Loose Cultivator who had killed three Purple Mansion Cultivators by himself.

Cao Yun.

Chen Mu gripped the edge of the rock with his five fingers, his nails carving white marks into the hard stone surface.

Killing intent rolled frantically in his chest.

He had always considered being suppressed by this Pure Yang Heart Fire last time a disgrace.

Now that his own cultivation had greatly advanced, he wanted to find this madman and settle the score.

Just as he was about to activate his Ember-Born Flower Divine Ability.

In the deepest part of his spiritual terrace.

The mother-child dao seed, planted personally by Protracting Purity, jumped abruptly.

The Old Ancestor's decree echoed clearly in his mind.

"This person is The Fated One raised by an old monster, harboring a Golden Core Origin mark within his body."

"Avoid him; do not get involved in any Karma."

Chen Mu stiffened all over.

The boiling killing intent was cut off cleanly and decisively by him.

The Old Ancestor's command was above all else.

That madman harbored the old monster's contingency; if detonated, it would absolutely bring immense trouble.

Chen Mu let go.

The dark green Death Qi retreated rapidly, shutting down all Formations in the vicinity that might expose his aura.

He formed a hand seal with one hand, directly tearing a gap in the mountain-protecting Formation.

He even actively removed a layer of mist barrier in the valley ahead.

Let them pass.

He would absolutely not get involved with this bomb that could explode at any moment.

High in the sky.

Cao Yun's flying figure paused imperceptibly for half a breath.

Inside his Dantian.

The "Mingxin Mirror" vibrated frantically.

The crimson bronze mirror reflected a blind spot in the mountain range below within his spiritual terrace.

Just a moment ago, an extremely obscure yet deadly aura of deathly stillness had locked onto him.

That aura was mixed with pure killing intent; it was definitely a Purple Mansion level expert.

A ball of Pure Yang Heart Fire instantly rose in Cao Yun's palm, ready to deal with a surprise attack at any time.

But immediately after.

That killing intent receded like a tide without warning.

Not only that, the Formation fluctuations that had originally blocked the valley also actively opened up an unobstructed passage.

The other party had backed down.

Cao Yun dispersed the flame in his palm, turned his head, and glanced coldly at the dark mountain forest below.

He recognized that Death Qi.

The Wood-attribute Cultivator he had fought with more than a decade ago at Gold Mountain.

So the Luoyan Mountain Range were these people's territory.

Since the other party had actively restrained their killing intent and even opened the door wide, they clearly didn't want any trouble.

Cao Yun withdrew his gaze.

He had no interest in investigating why the other party had suddenly retreated.

In this Cultivation World, it is better to avoid trouble than to invite it.

His mind was filled with only one thought now.

To stuff those two death-inducing talismans in his Dantian completely into the body of the scapegoat behind him.

As long as he completed this step of stealing the heavens and changing the day.

He could completely cast off the fate of a chess piece, and the ocean would be wide enough for him to leap.

"Keep up." Cao Yun shouted coldly.

His flight speed surged again.

Lin Yan gritted his teeth, desperately squeezing the Fire-attribute True Essence from his Dantian, clinging tightly to Cao Yun's back.

Two streams of light passed through the core area of the Luoyan Mountain Range without any obstruction.

Leaving Chen Mu's territory far behind.

Five more days passed.

The surrounding temperature began to soar eerily.

Below was no longer rolling green mountains, but a stretch of crimson, cracked earth.

The air was filled with a pungent smell of sulfur.

Cao Yun stopped his flight abruptly.

Lin Yan couldn't stop in time and nearly crashed into Cao Yun's protective True Essence, only steadying himself by forcibly twisting his body.

The two hovered in mid-air.

Ahead.

The earth was split open by a huge, bottomless rift valley.

At the bottom of the rift, dark red magma churned frantically, occasionally spitting out pillars of fire dozens of feet high.

The surrounding Void Realm was severely distorted by the terrifying high temperature.

There was no trace of life here.

Only the purest, most violent Fire-attribute Law was raging wantonly.

Cao Yun lowered his hands, the Pure Yang Heart Fire dancing happily on his fingertips.

The Heart Fire resonated strongly with the magma below.

He had been planning for decades.

He had raised this scapegoat for eight full years.

Finally, he had arrived here.

Cao Yun turned around, looking at Lin Yan, who was panting heavily beside him.

"We're here."