124: Chapter 124 Shi Jie Zhaoyuan Breaks the Blood Alliance

Lin Chen shifted his gaze from the Utility Disciple's respectful face to the strangely shaped seven-heart begonia in his hands.

The petals were golden, flowing with a magnificent luster; it was truly a treasure.

An apology? As the victim, there was no reason for Qin Ruowei to offer an apology.

This was more like a pretext to cover up her true intentions.

His gaze scanned between the petals and green leaves, finding no hidden notes or Jade Slips.

But that did not mean there was no information.

Sometimes, the object itself was the message.

"Thank you for your trouble." Lin Chen's tone was void of emotion. He stepped aside, allowing the Utility Disciple to place the flowerpot on the stone table in the courtyard.

The Utility Disciple set the item down, not daring to linger. He bowed once more and hurried away.

Su Qingyao finished bandaging the wounds of her son, Lin Haoyu. Watching him endure the pain while keeping his spine straight, her heart ached with a mix of pain and bitterness.

She helped her son back to his room to rest. When she came back out, she saw Lin Chen standing alone by the stone table, gazing intently at the seven-heart begonia.

His right hand unconsciously rubbed the stone ring on his thumb, and his deep eyes churned with thoughts that others could not decipher.

"Husband, this flower..." Su Qingyao walked to his side, her voice tinged with vigilance.

After the dangers of last night and the morning's turmoil, she held the utmost caution toward any sudden event.

Lin Chen did not answer immediately.

His gaze fell upon the seven heart-shaped leaves of the seven-heart begonia.

He extended his left hand, his fingertips gently brushing against the back of one of the leaves.

There, he found an extremely faint, blood-colored mark that had almost merged with the leaf veins.

Had his five senses not been far superior to an ordinary person's, he would never have discovered it.

"Qin Ruowei is using this method to tell us something," Lin Chen said in a low voice.

His fingertips moved slowly along the trajectory of the blood mark, as if decoding a miniature map.

He closed his eyes, reconstructing and magnifying the complex path in his mind.

It was a route map for an operation.

The starting point of the trajectory was the Internal Affairs Hall of the Danxia Sect.

The destination was an abandoned alchemy well thirty miles outside the Danxia Sect's mountain gate.

Along the way, the route marked several other locations, but only that abandoned alchemy well was marked three times, each at a different time, yet all concentrated in the dead of night.

It was a place where Master Xuefu had secretly visited three times at different intervals.

Combined with the appearance of the Grey Shadow last night, the answer was obvious.

"It is the True Blood Temple's contact point in the Southern Region." Lin Chen opened his eyes, his voice as cold as tempered ice.

Qin Ruowei was using her own way to submit a pledge of allegiance to him.

Su Qingyao held her breath, her fingertips subconsciously pressing against her lips, leaving a faint white mark.

The True Blood Temple—the name alone exuded a sense of bloodshed and ominousness.

Just then, a round figure appeared at the courtyard gate once again, wearing the same harmless, smiling face.

"Young Friend Lin, it seems your troubles are even greater than I imagined." Master Yaochen walked in chuckling, his gaze sweeping over the seven-heart begonia.

"Immortal Master." Lin Chen cupped his hands in greeting.

Master Yaochen waved his hand, his expression convergenceing slightly, becoming uncharacteristically serious: "This is not the place to talk; follow me."

Without another word, he turned and headed out of the courtyard.

Lin Chen and Su Qingyao exchanged glances and, without the slightest hesitation, followed him immediately.

Master Yaochen did not take them to the magnificent hall atop Danyang Peak. Instead, after several twists and turns, he entered an ordinary, inconspicuous Alchemy Room located on the mountainside.

The Alchemy Room was not large, with a half-person-high bronze Pill Furnace placed in the center. The surrounding walls were covered with processed medicinal herbs, and the air was filled with the rich scent of alchemy fire mixed with herbs.

Master Yaochen closed the stone door and casually set up a few soundproofing Restrictions.

"Young Friend Lin, do you know what the foundation of our Danxia Sect is, besides the Dao of Alchemy?" He stroked the cold surface of the Pill Furnace and asked suddenly.

Lin Chen pondered for a moment: "Formations?"

"Correct." Master Yaochen nodded approvingly, "Alchemy and Formations are inseparable. Watch closely."

He took a deep breath, formed seals with both hands, and slammed his thick Spiritual Qi into the bottom of the Pill Furnace.

Hum— The bronze Pill Furnace emitted a dull hum. On the originally smooth surface of the furnace bottom, an incredibly complex and precise Formation slowly emerged.

Countless hair-thin lines of Spiritual Qi intertwined, forming an abstruse whole.

Lin Chen's pupils constricted. He could feel that this Formation contained an extremely vast power, seemingly capable of drawing upon the earth vein Spiritual Qi of the entire Danyang Peak.

"This 'Earth Fire Meta-Magnetic Formation' is one of the array eyes of our Danxia Sect's mountain-protecting grand Formation, and it is also the foundation of my lineage." Master Yaochen's voice carried a hint of heaviness.

Su Qingyao's attention was also drawn to the complex Formation. Skilled in the Dao of Alchemy, she was naturally sensitive to Formations related to alchemy fire.

Her gaze moved slowly across the Formation until it locked onto a line in the southeast corner.

There, something seemed wrong.

Uncontrollably, she extended her slender finger and pressed it lightly onto that spot.

"Hmm?" Master Yaochen was somewhat surprised.

Where Su Qingyao's fingertip touched, the thin layer of alchemy ash covering it appeared an unnatural charred black, as if the temperature here had once been so high that even the Formation itself could barely withstand it.

"The earth fire here was forcibly extracted by someone," Su Qingyao said softly, her tone certain.

Her perception of flames was far superior to that of ordinary people, "And it was a very sinister type of flame."

Master Yaochen looked deeply at Su Qingyao.

He did not deny it; instead, he sighed, walked to a corner of the Alchemy Room, and stomped his foot heavily.

Click. A bluestone tile on the floor popped up, revealing a pitch-black opening.

A scent mixed with blood, rot, and the dead silence of collapsed Spiritual Qi rushed out from the hole.

Master Yaochen did not speak, simply making a gesture of invitation.

Lin Chen's heart sank. Supporting Su Qingyao, he walked down first.

Below the opening was a narrow stone staircase spiraling downwards. After walking about a hundred steps, the view opened up. It was a massive underground prison cell.

The walls surrounding the cell were covered with runes used for confinement and isolating Qi.

More than a dozen Cultivators were chained to the walls with thick iron chains. They were all disheveled, gaunt, and hollow-eyed, looking like shells that had lost their Souls.

What made Lin Chen feel most apprehensive was that he could clearly perceive the Spiritual Roots within these people shriveling and withering at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The desperate aura emitted as their Spiritual Roots collapsed was exactly the same as what he had sensed within Qin Ruowei last night!

"They are..." Su Qingyao's voice trembled, and for the first time, a look of horror appeared on her cold, clear face.

"They are all Disciples who 'accidentally went missing' or suffered from 'Qi Deviation' within the Sect in recent years." Master Yaochen's voice came from behind, filled with suppressed anger and exhaustion, "They were all secretly injected with so-called 'True Blood' and became test subjects for that beast, Master Xuefu!"

"Master Xuefu..." Lin Chen murmured the name, killing intent surging in his eyes.

Master Yaochen walked up to the youngest Cultivator. The Cultivator looked to be no more than sixteen or seventeen years old—an age that should have been full of vitality, yet now he was like a candle in the wind.

"It was too late when I discovered them; I could only move them here and use a Formation to sustain their last shred of life." Master Yaochen pointed to the Cultivator's withered arm, "Look, once their Spiritual Roots begin to wither, it is irreversible. They will eventually turn completely into Mortals, and then... die from the exhaustion of their Spirit and flesh."

Lin Chen's gaze fell upon the Cultivator, and he approached step by step.

Just as he was three feet away from the Cultivator, a sudden change occurred!

The rough stone ring on his thumb lit up without warning, emitting a faint yet incredibly pure beam of light.

This light was not dazzling, yet it seemed to possess the essence to pierce through all falsehoods, instantly enveloping the young Cultivator.

"Urgh..." The Cultivator, who had been breathing his last, let out a painful groan from his throat.

In the shocked eyes of the three, the Spiritual Root within him, which had withered to the extreme, began to stretch out slowly and miraculously under the illumination of this light, like withered grass meeting sweet rain after a long drought!

Although it was only for an instant before the Spiritual Root withered back again, this brief recovery was like a thunderclap, exploding in Master Yaochen's mind!

"This... how is this possible?!"

The shock on Master Yaochen's face was beyond measure. Without a second thought, he rapidly formed seals with his hands. A thicker soundproofing barrier instantly enveloped the entire prison cell, and he didn't even notice the fine cold sweat seeping from his own forehead.

His eyes were fixed intently on the ring on Lin Chen's thumb, his voice trembling slightly with excitement: "This power... the Origin of this power... it is of the same source as the 'True Blood', yet it is diametrically opposed to it! Young Friend Lin, what exactly is the Origin of this ring of yours?!"

Lin Chen's heart was also pounding wildly.

The ring's power could actually reverse the withering of a Spiritual Root!

He took a deep breath, suppressing the raging waves in his heart, and met Master Yaochen's scorching gaze, shaking his head slowly: "I only know that it is tied to my Dao Heart."

Master Yaochen stared at him fixedly for a long while, then suddenly looked up and laughed loudly, though his laughter carried a hint of sorrow and resolution.

"A fine 'tied to my Dao Heart'! Good! Good! Good!"

He said the word 'good' three times, then turned abruptly and walked to the Pill Furnace Formation, saying in a deep voice: "Young Friend Lin, Lass Su, today, I will gamble the life and wealth of my lineage to make a deal with you two!"

He pressed his fingers together like a blade and slashed across his palm; a stream of crimson blood immediately flowed into the center of the Pill Furnace Formation.

"Master Xuefu colludes with the True Blood Temple, vainly attempting to determine status by Bloodline and subvert the eternal iron laws of the cultivation world! If this succeeds, all Loose Cultivators and Disciples with common roots in the world will never have a chance to rise! Although I, Yaochen, am a Sect Elder, I disdain to associate with them!"

His voice was resonant and powerful, echoing in the enclosed Alchemy Room.

"Young Friend Lin, you possess an exotic treasure that suppresses 'True Blood'. Lass Su, you have the talent to perceive the Origin of alchemy fire. The three of us are the final hope to oppose Master Xuefu and the Bloodline theory!"

"Today, we shall establish the Alchemy Fire Covenant here: share secrets and resist Master Xuefu together! If this oath is broken, may the alchemy fire burn our hearts and our Divine Souls be annihilated!"

Looking at the resolution in Master Yaochen's eyes, Lin Chen did not hesitate in the slightest.

He also slashed his palm and dripped his own blood into the Formation.

He did not do this for the sake of the common people, but only to protect his wife and child behind him, to protect that small courtyard.

But at this moment, their goals had strangely converged.

Su Qingyao looked at her husband beside her, then at this respectable Elder before her. She also extended her hand, used a silver hairpin to pierce her fingertip, and firmly dripped a drop of blood.

The essence blood of the three converged in the center of the Formation.

Inside the Pill Furnace, a cluster of golden flames soared into the sky, instantly devouring the three drops of essence blood.

The flames churned and intertwined in mid-air, finally condensing into two lines of grand, swirling golden characters containing ancient Dao rhymes—Bloodline is not to be feared; the Dao Heart naturally connects to the Divine!

This was the second half of the Lin Family's incomplete ancestral teaching! It was the secret hidden deepest by the System!

Seeing those two lines of text, Lin Chen felt as if he had been struck by lightning, standing stunned on the spot.

So that was it, so that was it!

He had always thought the System wanted him to rely on Bloodline reproduction, but the true meaning of this ancestral teaching was the exact opposite: an "anti-Bloodline theory"!

The true core of the System was to use the facade of reproduction to temper his "Dao Heart" in protecting his Family!

The flames and ancient characters slowly dissipated; the covenant was formed.

Master Yaochen's face was somewhat pale; clearly, activating such a secret technique was a huge drain.

He took a Jade Slip from his robes and handed it to Lin Chen: "These are the incomplete records of all the experiments by that beast, Master Xuefu, along with some clues I have found over the years. Perhaps they will be useful to you."

Lin Chen solemnly took the Jade Slip. With a sweep of his Divine Sense, the various inhumane experiments recorded within caused him to clench his fists tightly.

"Let's go; this place is not suitable for staying long." Master Yaochen removed the Restrictions, and the three left the oppressive prison cell.

Returning to the Alchemy Room on the surface, just as Lin Chen was preparing to take his leave, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of an inconspicuous corner.

There, there seemed to be a strange reflection.

He walked over, squatted down, and picked up a black crystal fragment the size of a fingernail from a pile of medicinal herb residue.

The crystal felt ice-cold to the touch and was hard in texture, but its cross-section was very rough, as if it had been forcibly snapped off some object.

This item... seemed somewhat familiar.

Lin Chen's brows furrowed slightly. Subconsciously, he used his left hand, which was holding the crystal, to rub the stone ring on his right thumb.

The moment the black crystal touched the stone ring—the stone ring emitted a faint hum once again, and a blurry screen of light projected from the ring's surface, reflecting onto the opposite wall.

In the light screen, the image was shaky and unclear, but it could barely be identified as a dim secret chamber.

Master Xuefu's sinister face flashed by. He was holding a black crystal exactly like the fragment in Lin Chen's hand, grinning viciously as he forcibly implanted it into the slot of a palm-sized, blood-colored compass!

Lin Chen's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpricks.

He recognized this compass!

This morning, that Disciple from the Internal Affairs Hall had used this very thing to test Haoyu's Bloodline!