91: Chapter 91 The Origin of Mo Yuan

The heat waves and the frenzied laughter of Heavenly Sovereign Jiehuo dissipated into the heavens and earth together, as if they had never existed.

Li Xiuyuan looked up at the grey-white firmament above. Although he had long learned about the various aspects of the Ancient Heavenly Court from Qing'er, he truly had not expected the degree of madness among these so-called deities to be so extreme.

Treating death as child's play and regarding life and death as a mere prank—such a mentality, bordering on that of a lunatic, was undoubtedly a highly troublesome annoyance once one became their enemy.

Gu Xiao stood beside Song Cijing's corpse, frowning as he also looked up at the sky: "He was simply a madman."

Moyuan, who had walked out from the black tower, had not glanced at Song Cijing from beginning to end.

Only when Song Cijing's body had completely turned cold did he turn his gaze toward Li Xiuyuan, nodding slightly to signal him to come over.

The silver-white body of the White Flood Dragon glided forward, its scales shimmering with a cold, metallic luster under the grey-white light of the sky.

Moyuan got straight to the point: "This little bit of source I have left might not be able to help you break through, but it certainly will not disappoint you."

"However, my entire life has been spent bathed in the blood of enemies, fighting in the wild. My source carries an extremely dense aura of slaughter. If you cannot withstand it, it is highly likely that your mind will be eroded by this aura of slaughter. You must be prepared."

Li Xiuyuan did not hesitate in the slightest: "Let us begin."

Seeing Li Xiuyuan so resolute, Moyuan stopped dawdling. He also wanted to see with his own eyes where this White Flood Dragon's confidence came from.

Moyuan did not say another word. He pressed his palms together, his fingers curling like claws, and sank them deep into his own chest.

Dark red light spilled from between his fingers, and his body began to tremble violently. On his bronze-colored skin, those fine, black scale patterns began to light up one by one.

'Roar!'

Moyuan let out a low growl and abruptly pulled his palms apart, causing a fist-sized ball of light to fly out from his chest.

The color of the light ball was a deep scarlet, with black patterns writhing like snakes across its surface, emitting a heart-palpitating aura of slaughter.

The surrounding space had already begun to slightly distort, as if even the air itself were afraid.

In the distance, Gu Xiao only glanced at the ball of light, and a bone-chilling cold erupted from the base of his spine, rushing straight to his crown.

A supreme awe for slaughter, stemming from the depths of his bloodline, surged forth. Gu Xiao's pupils suddenly constricted, every hair on his body stood on end, and then, his vision went black, and he fell straight down, losing consciousness.

"This source carries an extremely intense aura of slaughter. Catch it."

Moyuan held the ball of light out toward Li Xiuyuan, his gaze fixed intently on him, unwilling to miss even the slightest change in expression.

However, the next moment, an unconcealable surprise appeared in Moyuan's eyes.

This White Flood Dragon, facing his source head-on and enduring that aura of slaughter—which had condensed from the countless Ancient Heavenly Court heavenly soldiers, human immortals, and demon clans it had killed—remained completely unmoved.

It showed no sign of retreating, and even its eyes didn't flicker in the slightest.

Inexplicable shock surged within Moyuan's heart. Back in his prime, just by releasing his aura, he could have caused beings below the Fourth Realm to perish on the spot.

Even though there was little source left now, that aura of slaughter was by no means ordinary.

Yet Li Xiuyuan was completely unaffected.

Li Xiuyuan ignored Moyuan's gaze. He closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness deep within to establish a connection with the sacred tree far away on Yunfeng Mountain.

After waking Qing'er, Li Xiuyuan proposed that he needed her help to neutralize a surge of the aura of slaughter.

And upon feeling this aura of slaughter, Qing'er's voice changed slightly: "To think there is such a dense aura of slaughter..."

"This aura of slaughter is extremely difficult to neutralize. If using ordinary means, one might not be able to wear it away entirely even after a hundred years."

"However, you now possess a vast amount of Power of Incense Vows. Those vows are of the utmost purity and kindness, which is exactly what is needed to counteract the aura of slaughter."

Li Xiuyuan opened his eyes, the scarlet ball of light reflected in his golden slit pupils: "Let us begin."

He opened his mouth and swallowed the source in one gulp.

Moyuan reached out his hand, wanting to stop him: "Wait!"

Before he could finish speaking, his hand froze in mid-air.

The scarlet light entered Li Xiuyuan's body, and the golden patterns beneath his scales suddenly lit up, intertwining with the aura of slaughter and emitting a low hum.

Qing'er's Buddhist chants came from a distant place, like threads of silk, wrapping around Li Xiuyuan.

The Power of Incense Vows flowed in from all directions like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, wrapping layer by layer around the scarlet aura of slaughter and wearing it away inch by inch.

Moyuan's hand slowly dropped. The gaze he leveled at Li Xiuyuan was full of shock and surprise: "To actually use Zen intent and the Power of Incense Vows to neutralize it..."

What surprised him was not just Li Xiuyuan's method of neutralizing the aura of slaughter, but also that Li Xiuyuan could actually have a connection with the Buddhist sect.

Moreover, this Power of Incense Vows was clearly not shallow; it was definitely not something that could be gathered by one or two temples. It was at least from tens of thousands of people, if not more.

In Moyuan's era, although the Power of Incense Vows existed, the human world was chaotic, with experts from the demon clans, the human race, and the Ancient Heavenly Court all holding power. In the deep mountains, wild, illicit shrines were built everywhere; human cultivators would attain sainthood in the flesh and enjoy the incense of the masses, and the City God temples were thriving with incense.

That bit of incense power was simply not enough to go around.

Furthermore, for a demon to be able to consume so much human incense could not be achieved merely through some bewitching demonic arts.

This White Flood Dragon before him was truly extraordinary.

...

Time passed minute by minute, and the grey-white light poured down from the firmament, spreading evenly across every inch of land.

It was unknown how much time had passed,

when the golden patterns on Li Xiuyuan's body suddenly lit up, shining brilliantly and completely swallowing those scarlet auras of slaughter until not a trace remained.

There was dead silence in front of the black tower ruins. Li Xiuyuan slowly opened his golden slit pupils, and deep within them, something was vaguely flowing, flickering uncertainly.

[Bloodline Level: 6]

[Spirit Energy Value + 12000!]

[Current Spirit Energy Value: 20680 / 200000]

[Moyuan's Source Refined]

Li Xiuyuan narrowed his eyes slightly. This time, what he had gained was not just an increase in Spirit Energy Value, but also Moyuan's combat experience.

Moyuan had lived for thousands of years, having fought against Ancient Heavenly Court heavenly soldiers, engaged in mortal combat with human cultivators and martial artists, and battled for his life against experts from various demon clans.

This was his most precious treasure, more valuable than any Spirit Energy or any source.

At this moment, those experiences were slowly merging into the depths of Li Xiuyuan's bloodline bit by bit.

He closed his eyes, and countless scenes flashed through his mind: Moyuan strangling an Ancient Heavenly Court heavenly general with his dragon tail, breaking a Five Elements Death Array with brute force, and confusing a Great Sage of the demon clan with Mirage Qi.

Every scene was as clear as if he had experienced it himself, and every move and technique was branded deep into his bloodline, ready to be called upon at any time.

"Have you finished refining it all?" Moyuan asked, unable to believe it, his voice carrying a hint of trembling.

"Yes."

Li Xiuyuan responded indifferently.

"Very good."

Having lost all his source, Moyuan's aura gradually returned to plainness, like a lamp about to burn out.

"After you kill the Dragon Lord, return to this Ancient Grotto-Heaven and tell me yourself. That day will not be too far off; I can still afford to wait."

Li Xiuyuan looked at him and was silent for a few breaths: "Lord River God needs a flood dragon's physical body as a vessel to be resurrected."

He paused, his golden slit pupils filled with calm.

"Therefore, to ensure that it does not enter this Ancient Grotto-Heaven and find your physical body, you must die, and you must turn to ashes, leaving no corpse behind."

Moyuan was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. The laughter echoed before the empty black tower, carrying a touch of self-mockery and a touch of relief.

"I had actually forgotten about that."

He stopped laughing and sighed: "What a pity, I still won't live to see that day."

As his words faded, an invisible power quietly appeared within his body; it was a self-termination triggered by Moyuan using his last ounce of strength.

His tall body began to shatter, and his skin peeled off piece by piece like weathered rock, revealing the dark red flesh beneath. And those pieces of flesh also turned to ash in an instant, scattering and falling to the ground.

Moyuan stood there calmly, letting his body disintegrate inch by inch.

Until his whole body had turned to ash, a gust of wind blew by, rolling up the pile of ashes and tossing them high into the air, scattering them into this silent Ancient Grotto-Heaven, leaving no trace behind.