534: fishing

In the Eternal Ruins, in the southernmost region, there was an ancient Black Crystal City spanning tens of millions of light-years.

The ancient city was constructed from interwoven black and red crystals, its surface adorned with ancient patterns, subtly radiating the might of an Ancestor Artifact.

This was the Black Crystal Blood Flame Clan's main base—the Black Crystal Holy City.

The entire ancient city was itself a five-step Dao Ancestor Artifact. Once its power was activated, even ordinary five-step Dao Ancestors would find it difficult to approach, let alone Breakthrough its defenses.

There were no superfluous sights within the city, only thousands upon thousands of towering volcanoes scattered throughout.

These volcanoes stood over a million zhang tall, their bodies also of black crystal. From time to time, various colored lavas erupted from their mouths.

These lavas carried a special Dao rhyme, and upon landing, they merged into the ancient city's foundation, becoming various unique Ores.

At the heart of the ancient city was a city-within-a-city, spanning a million light-years.

Those who could reside here were the main lineage and powerful branch lineages of the Black Crystal Blood Flame Clan.

At this moment, within a majestic palace on the western side of the ancient city, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

In the main hall of the palace, dozens of Black Crystal Blood Flame Clan powerhouses sat on either side. Hot air currents emanated from their bodies, and judging by their auras, each one was a Dao Ancestor-level existence.

At this moment, their faces were grim, and their eyes were filled with rage.

At the head of the seats sat an elder with a black and red glazed appearance.

Although his figure was not tall, he exuded the pressure of a four-step Dao Ancestor. The Qi currents around him were condensed and did not dissipate, causing the space to be scorched and distorted.

He was the family head of one of the Black Crystal Blood Flame Clan's branch lineages, and also the strongest in this lineage.

“Black Yuán and the others… something happened.”

The elder spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but every word suppressed surging anger.

As his words fell, a collective gasp of cold air instantly echoed through the hall.

Black Yuán was the most talented junior in this lineage, the youngest three-step Dao Ancestor in his lineage. Given time, he would surely be able to Breakthrough to four-step.

At that time, their lineage would be able to secure more resources from the main lineage. But now, even Black Yuán's means of resurrection had been destroyed, causing his lineage a heavy loss.

Below, a burly Black Crystal Blood Flame Clan powerhouse suddenly stood up.

His blood flame Qi currents surged, and the scales on his body glowed red. This was a Dao Ancestor who had reached the three-step Peak, whose strength was enough to rank among the top three in their lineage.

He cupped his hands to the elder, his tone urgent, “Family Head, I'll go check! I want to see who dares to touch our Black Crystal Blood Flame Clan people!”

The elder looked up at him, and after a moment of silence, slowly nodded, “Very well.”

He paused, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes, “Take more people. If it was truly done by the Human Race, then deal with them all. Not only will we avenge Black Yuán and the others, but we must also reclaim that Ruin River Ancient Mine to make up for this loss.”

This time, their lineage suffered extremely heavy losses. Besides Black Yuán, eight Dao Ancestors from the clan and two powerhouses from allied races also perished.

The loss of these individuals would now put their lineage at a disadvantage in future clan competitions with other branch lineages.

Such losses would take their lineage at least hundreds or thousands of epochs to recover from.

“Yes, Family Head!”

The burly powerhouse respectfully assented, then turned and strode out of the hall.

Xu Qing sped south along a tributary of the Xu River. The further south he went, the murkier the river water beneath his feet became. Huge shadows occasionally flitted beneath the surface, and even the air grew a bit more ferocious.

Throughout this journey south, the creatures in the tributary clearly grew stronger.

Before even reaching the middle reaches of the Xu River, two-step Dao Ancestor-level exotic beasts appeared frequently.

Although there were also two-step Dao Ancestor Realm exotic beasts in the upper reaches, it was rare to encounter one within hundreds of thousands of light-years. Now, in just half an hour, three had blocked his path.

The first to appear was a Xu River Profound Tortoise, its carapace over a hundred thousand zhang wide, covered in dark black patterns, resembling a moving island as it lay on the river surface.

Seeing Xu Qing pass by, it suddenly extended its head, opened its giant mouth, and spewed a murky water column. The water column, laden with corrosive Dao Artifact-destroying mucus, shot straight at Xu Qing's face.

Xu Qing's eyes didn't even move. He raised his right hand, Chaos power condensed in his palm, and gently pressed it towards the Profound Tortoise.

With a muffled 'bang', an invisible palm strike penetrated the water column and landed on the Profound Tortoise's carapace.

The carapace, which could withstand a full-force attack from a two-step Dao Ancestor, instantly shattered. The Profound Tortoise didn't even let out a cry of agony before its massive body overturned on the river surface, its aura instantly dissipating.

Xu Qing did not absorb it; instead, he rolled the corpse into his space, perfect for replenishing the clan's supplies.

Not long after, another exotic beast attacked.

This time, it was a Purple-Patterned Thunder Eel, hundreds of thousands of zhang long, covered in purple-patterned scales. Pale purple lightning coiled between its scales, stirring up a sky full of thunderous light as it swam.

It suddenly lunged from underwater, its caudal fin striking at Xu Qing with a thunderous roar, while the lightning on its scales transformed into thousands of threads, attempting to entangle Xu Qing's figure.

Xu Qing dodged the caudal fin, extended his left index finger, and a stream of Chaos power shot out, instantly piercing through the Purple-Patterned Thunder Eel's scales and into its brow.

The Purple-Patterned Thunder Eel's body instantly stiffened, then plummeted straight into the river.

Along the way, besides exotic beasts, there were also many Heaven And Earth Treasures hidden.

Xu Qing collected them casually as he traveled, even acquiring over thirteen thousand grains of ruin river sand. He had no use for these himself, but for his clansmen, they were crucial for Breakthrough in Realm.

He categorized the collected treasures and periodically transmitted them in batches to Xu Yuan, allowing the clan to distribute them as needed.

As he gradually approached the middle reaches, the exotic beasts on the river surface grew stronger, and three-step Dao Ancestor-level existences began to appear.

However, most of these exotic beasts were solitary, separated by hundreds of thousands of light-years, and most were cautious by nature, only observing from a distance without easily making a move.

Only a giant Ink-Scaled Flood Dragon dared to attack proactively. It ambushed Xu Qing from behind while he was dealing with other exotic beasts.

Xu Qing had long since discovered it. He casually eliminated the exotic beast in front of him, then his eyes narrowed slightly, his Chaos Dao Eye lit up, and two beams of light shot out, instantly piercing through the Ink-Scaled Flood Dragon, killing it.

The giant flood dragon's body paused in mid-air, then plummeted straight down, its massive body smashing onto the river surface and raising a giant wave ten thousand zhang high.

This greatly deterred the surrounding exotic beasts, causing them to flee.

Xu Qing didn't pay it any mind.

Throughout this journey, he had not encountered any Black Crystal Blood Flame Clan powerhouses.

Logically, since he had killed Black Yuán and the others, there was no reason for the other party not to send powerhouses to investigate. Yet, even upon reaching the middle reaches, he hadn't seen a single shadow of the Black Crystal Blood Flame Clan.

However, along both banks of the Xu River, he discovered many Tianyang aliens fortresses. They were not large in scale, but each had at least a Half-Ancestor guarding it.

He didn't recognize these Tianyang aliens. In any case, they were not the Black Crystal Blood Flame Clan, likely their subordinate allied races or garrisons of other Tianyang aliens branches.

Xu Qing immediately decided to eradicate these fortresses.

He concealed his figure, approached a fortress, and seeing only three Half-Ancestors inside, he directly attacked. With a wave of his right hand, Chaos power transformed into a torrent, instantly submerging the fortress and annihilating all living beings within.

In this manner, he successively eradicated more than a dozen fortresses, his methods swift and decisive, leaving no survivors.

He did this, firstly, to weaken the power of the Tianyang aliens, and secondly, to deliberately attract the attention of the exotic races, hopefully drawing out four-step Dao Ancestor-level powerhouses.

After all, three-step Dao Ancestors could no longer satisfy his need for self-improvement.

But things did not go as planned; after eradicating five fortresses, he only attracted a single one-step Dao Ancestor.

These three Dao Ancestors were the guardians of a nearby exotic race city. Upon learning that a fortress had been destroyed, they rushed to investigate and attacked Xu Qing directly upon seeing him.

Xu Qing merely waved his hand, and a Chaos palm strike killed him. His corpse similarly became a resource for the Xu Family.

Afterward, he went to that city, annihilated all the exotic beings within, and plundered all its treasures.

Having completed all this, he did not rush to leave, but waited for the exotic race powerhouses to arrive. As long as he continued to kill exotic race powerhouses, a four-step Dao Ancestor would eventually come.