28: Chapter 28 The Oriole

"Destroy your Foundation?"

Huo Xuan's voice was unhurried, carrying a chilling calm.

"You Yao Race, you really are stupid enough."

"Where is this?"

"Wanhui Mountain?"

"In the entire mountain range, one can't even find a single Tier 2 Demonic Beast, and yet you, a common lizard, managed to reach the Peak of Tier 2, almost breaking through to Tier 3. On what basis?"

"A darling of heaven and earth? An ancient exotic beast? Or do you have some heaven-defying Opportunity?"

Huo Xuan's smile deepened.

"You are just a Lizard Demon, the most ordinary kind of Lizard Demon, one without even a Bloodline."

"It was our Sect's previous Sect Master who specifically selected you, and then fed you so much Human Race flesh and blood, only then cultivating you to this point. Otherwise, with your trashy quality, would you even be worthy of entering Tier 2?"

Boom!

As Huo Xuan finished speaking, it was as if something exploded in the Earth Lizard Ancestor's mind.

The Earth Lizard Ancestor's body trembled violently, and a trace of madness flashed through those amber vertical pupils.

"Impossible..."

"You're lying to me... You're lying to me!"

"Lie to you?"

Huo Xuan sneered.

"Do you even have the value for me to lie to you?"

"Your only value now is to turn into a soul inside my Sect's soul banner at this very moment!"

Huo Xuan finished speaking.

He formed a Seal with his right hand and chanted an incantation, his voice suddenly becoming sharp and rapid.

The soul banner trembled violently, and the silver runes on its surface shone brightly, illuminating the entire clearing outside the cave as if it were broad daylight.

The two golden chains piercing the Earth Lizard Ancestor's body tightened abruptly, the runes on the chains wriggling like living creatures, emitting a dazzling light.

"Ah!"

The Earth Lizard Ancestor let out a shrill roar, and then a grey-black shadow slowly emerged from the top of Chen Yuanshan's head. It was the Earth Lizard Ancestor's Yao Soul, being pulled out of its Physical Body bit by bit by the golden chains.

The shadow struggled; after all, it was a Golden Core level Yao Soul. Although it was currently in no danger, its resistance was still significant.

But the power of the golden chains was too strong; no matter how it struggled, it could not escape that pulling force.

"No... No!"

The Earth Lizard Ancestor's voice grew weaker and more distant.

The grey-black shadow was slowly pulled into the soul banner, and the silver runes on the banner's surface flashed crazily, as if devouring something delicious.

Finally!

"Boom!"

The soul banner jolted, and all the silver runes on its surface lit up before slowly dimming.

A new rune appeared in the very center of the banner; this rune was grey-black, shaped like a curled-up lizard, and emitted a faint, eerie light.

The Earth Lizard Ancestor's Yao Soul was completely sealed inside the soul banner.

Huo Xuan reached out to catch the falling soul banner, held it in his hand, and looked up to laugh. The laughter echoed in the empty valley, filled with uncontrollable excitement and ecstasy.

"It's done! It's done!"

He looked down at the soul banner in his hand, his eyes shimmering with excitement.

Zhao Heng, having now finished off the rest of the Yunshan Sect members, approached with a face full of sycophantic smiles, but his eyes hid a trace of imperceptible nervousness and greed.

He bent his waist, his voice carrying a flattering tone: "Congratulations to Elder Huo, congratulations to Elder Huo! With such a precious treasure in hand, the revival of the Xuanyi Sect is just around the corner!"

"And what about the next..."

He hesitated, his eyes flickering.

Huo Xuan looked down at Zhao Heng, the smile on his face slowly fading, replaced by a chilling calm.

"I almost forgot about you."

"The fact that my Xuanyi Sect possesses such a treasure must not be leaked."

Huo Xuan's voice was unhurried, as if he were speaking about an inconsequential matter.

Zhao Heng's smile froze instantly on his face. His body tensed up sharply, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and he subconsciously took two steps back.

But the smile was still on his face, only it had become stiff and forced.

"E-Elder Huo, you... you must be joking, right?"

Zhao Heng's voice trembled.

Huo Xuan did not answer, just looked at him coldly, a faint, elusive sneer hanging at the corner of his mouth.

Zhao Heng's pupils constricted sharply. He swung his right hand violently, and a fire-red Talisman flew out from his sleeve. It ignited upon meeting the wind, transforming into towering flames that rushed straight toward Huo Xuan's face!

"Boom!"

The flames exploded, rolling heat waves causing the surrounding air to distort.

"Huo Xuan, f*** you, you don't keep your word!"

Zhao Heng used the cover of the flames to turn and run. His legs were filled with spiritual energy, and with each step he spanned several yards, fleeing into the distance with all his might, cursing as he ran.

"Little bastard!"

"Where are you running!"

Huo Xuan snorted coldly. His Early Stage Foundation Establishment spiritual energy jolted, and an invisible force surged from within his body, instantly extinguishing the towering flames.

The flames dissipated, leaving not even a trace of smoke or dust.

Then, Huo Xuan stepped onto his Flying Sword, his figure shooting out like an arrow in pursuit of Zhao Heng.

Soon, with the retreat of the Human Race Cultivators, the clearing outside the cave fell into silence.

Dozens of corpses lay scattered about, some belonging to Human Race Cultivators, some to vultures and venomous snakes, and there was also the withered remains of the Earth Lizard Ancestor.

Blood had soaked the soil, and a heavy scent of blood permeated the air, appearing particularly pungent in the twilight.

A deathly silence lasted for a long time.

In the distance, a grey-brown figure slowly circled in the sky, its small eyes filled with vigilance and confusion.

The Vulture Demon had returned.

It did not dare to approach, circling in the air several times. After confirming that Huo Xuan had truly left, it cautiously landed and squatted on a large rock outside the cave.

It tilted its bald head, looking at the mess covering the ground.

The Earth Lizard Ancestor had been captured; its withered remains lay right at the cave entrance, its grey-brown scales having mostly fallen off, revealing the shriveled flesh beneath, like a mummy air-dried for hundreds of years.

The Python Demon was also dead, its snake head bitten off, its body lying twisted on the ground, the blood already congealed.

And those Human Race Cultivators, over thirty went in, fewer than half came out, and now they were all lying on the ground, not a single living survivor.

A flash of complex light crossed the Vulture Demon's small eyes.

It had originally calculated everything perfectly.

The Earth Lizard Ancestor was going to die, and it, along with the Python Demon and the Grey Rat Demon, would fight for the inheritance; whoever won would be the new overlord of the Wanhui Mountain Range.

It had mobilized all its descendants, preparing to have a big go after the Old Ancestor died.

But what was the result?

The Python Demon was dead, the Earth Lizard Ancestor was dead, all the Human Race Cultivators were dead, and even the Grey Rat Demon didn't know where it had hidden.

"How could it be like this..."

The Vulture Demon muttered in a low voice.

It couldn't figure it out.

Its meager intelligence was simply insufficient to understand everything that had just happened—Possession, the soul banner, the soul-exploding pill, the Golden Core Yao Soul, the schemes of the Xuanyi Sect... these things were beyond the scope of its comprehension.

But it didn't need to think too much.

The Vulture Demon's gaze fell upon the corpses littering the ground, and a trace of greedy light gradually lit up in its small eyes.

Although the development of events was different from what it had expected, and although it hadn't managed to snatch the Earth Lizard Ancestor's Physical Body, these Human Race Cultivator corpses were also a great supplement for it.

It hadn't managed to get the corpses of any Tier 2 Demonic Beasts, but there were over a dozen corpses of Tier 1 Human Race Cultivators.