However, the mysterious woman gave no response at all.
Ye Qing felt a helpless sigh welling up inside.
Yet his mind was indeed flooded with questions.
What was the Myriad Worlds Pagoda?
And what on earth was the true purpose of the Shura Blood Sword?
The mysterious woman had offered no explanation for either.
Still, Ye Qing shook his head.
At any rate, as long as the outcome was good, that was all that mattered!
Now, his bloodline had been reshaped, and it was even stronger than before!
A six-star bloodline meant that Ye Qing had earned the qualification to rise powerfully.
The night sky was deep and vast.
Within the Ye Family estate, an astonishing aura suddenly burst forth.
It was the aura of the Yuan Condensation Realm.
And it was erupting from the direction of Ye Yan's room!
Within the Ye Family, the number of martial artists in the Yuan Condensation Realm was not large.
Fewer than ten in total.
"Has that fellow Ye Yan made the breakthrough?"
Ye Qing's eyes narrowed slightly.
Among the younger generation of the Ye Family, the one most likely to break through to the Yuan Condensation Realm was none other than Ye Yan.
As the son of the Patriarch, Ye Yan enjoyed the finest resources and treatment the family could offer.
Furthermore, after devouring Ye Qing's bloodline, Ye Yan's own bloodline had evolved to the five-star level.
Endowed with terrifying talent, his cultivation speed was progressing by leaps and bounds with each passing day!
It was hardly surprising that he could break through to the Yuan Condensation Realm in such a short span of time.
Three days from now would be the day of the life-and-death duel between Ye Qing and Ye Yan.
Ice gripped Ye Qing's heart.
The debt of having his bloodline stolen must be repaid!
Outside, the commotion caused by Ye Yan was by no means small.
The Patriarch of the Ye Family, along with many elders, immediately rushed over to inspect Ye Yan's condition.
For the Ye Family to gain another powerhouse in the Yuan Condensation Realm—especially one only eighteen years of age—was an absolute milestone!
The elders of the Ye Family attached the utmost importance to this development, firmly believing that Ye Yan was the future hope of the family.
Yet, a cold smile tugged at the corner of Ye Qing's lips.
The Yuan Condensation Realm.
So what if he had reached it?
With his bloodline reshaped, Ye Qing's talent was even more monstrous; what was there to fear?
Inside his room, Ye Qing entered a state of meditative cultivation to acclimate to his new bloodline.
As evening fell, Ye Mengling's delicate body trembled continuously.
During the process, Ye Qing fed her two more Opening Sun Pills, but the effect they produced was now extremely faint.
Anxiety gripped Ye Qing's heart.
If his sister's condition continued to show no improvement, he would have to think of other ways.
As dawn approached, Ye Qing checked on his sister's condition.
He touched her forehead.
It was frozen solid.
It felt as though he were touching a block of ice.
Panic seized Ye Qing.
Last night's condition had not been this severe.
In just a short span of time, his sister's illness had worsened once again.
His sister was only twelve years old this year, yet she had to endure such torment!
It broke Ye Qing's heart.
"Brother, I'm cold... So cold..."
Ye Mengling shivered violently, her complexion turning ashen and her physical state rapidly deteriorating.
"Little sister, Brother will definitely cure you! You must hold on!"
Ye Qing took out an Opening Sun Pill and made her swallow it.
Then, he scooped her up in his arms and hoisted her onto his back.
With a swift dash, he bolted out of the Ye Family estate!
To save his sister, there was now only one way left!
Chapter 6: The Prince's Mansion Wedding Procession
Within the Ye Family, the only medicinal pill capable of alleviating his sister's condition was the Opening Sun Pill.
Moreover, the last time Ye Qing had been at the apothecary, he had taken all ten Opening Sun Pills.
Now he had only one left on his person.
Even more fatal was the fact that the Opening Sun Pill no longer held much utility in relieving his sister's affliction!
Ye Qing knew that on the outskirts of Jizhou City lay the Ziyang Mountain Range.
And deep within those mountains resided a Beast King—
the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger!
A fire-attribute ferocious beast!
If Ye Qing could obtain the vital blood of the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger, it could alleviate his sister's condition.
It might not completely cure her, but it would at least buy her more time.
At that moment, with his sister strapped to his back, Ye Qing burst through the doorway.
He found a horse in the Ye Family stables.
Mounting the horse with his sister, he galloped furiously out of the main gates of the Ye Family.
There were Ye Family disciples near the stables, but upon seeing Ye Qing, none of them dared to step forward and intercept him.
Yesterday, the formidable combat strength Ye Qing displayed when slaying the Seventh Elder within the Ye Family estate had been utterly staggering!
Among the younger generation of the Ye Family, aside from Ye Yan, probably no one else dared to contend with Ye Qing.
Rushing out of the gates, Ye Qing whipped his horse into a frenzy and charged straight toward the Ziyang Mountain Range.
...
Early in the morning, the rising sun broke over the horizon.
On the official highway of Jizhou, a wedding procession carrying a bridal sedan chair paraded noisily through the streets to the deafening sound of gongs and drums.
This was the wedding procession from the Prince's Mansion.
It numbered over a hundred people.
The traveling entourage was luxurious and magnificent on a grand scale!
High in the sky, an elder of the Prince's Mansion rode atop a silver-winged roc, radiating a terrifying aura as he looked down upon the crowds below to escort the young lady of the Prince's Mansion onward!
Down below, right in the middle of the procession, was a sedan chair trimmed with gold and jade, exuding utter luxury and nobility.
The bearers were all powerhouses of the Prince's Mansion, each one full of vigor and vitality.
Inside the sedan sat a beautiful woman—none other than He Yuman, the young lady of the Prince's Mansion!
The Patriarch of the Ye Family, alongside the young master Ye Yan, was also present in the crowd, having personally come out to welcome the bride.
Today, Jizhou City was exceptionally lively.
Ye Yan, the young master of the Ye Family, was marrying He Yuman, the young lady of the Prince's Mansion!
In Jizhou City, the Prince's Mansion reigned supreme, alongside various large and small clans.
The Ye Family was considered a major clan in Jizhou City with considerable strength, yet compared to the Prince's Mansion, they still fell significantly short.
For Ye Yan to marry the young lady of the Prince's Mansion meant he had climbed quite a high branch.
In truth, had Ye Yan still possessed his former four-star bloodline, he would never have caught the eye of the Prince's Mansion's young lady.
However, after stripping away Ye Qing's bloodline and devouring it, his Cyan-Flame Fire Sparrow bloodline had reached the five-star level, sending him soaring straight to the heavens in a single bound!
In all of Jizhou, he could be called an peerless prodigy, exceptional even when placed within the Great Zhou Empire.
Naturally, the Prince's Mansion was eager to rope in such a prodigy.
And Ye Yan was more than happy to ally himself through marriage with the Prince's Mansion.
From then on, Ye Yan would be the esteemed son-in-law of the Prince of Jizhou, allowing him to navigate Jizhou with the wind at his back.
The Ye Family would also bask in his reflected glory, clutching tightly onto the towering tree of the Jizhou Prince's Mansion to reap all sorts of benefits.
The match between Ye Yan and He Yuman had been forcefully promoted and finalized by the Ye Family Patriarch himself!
Last night, Ye Yan had even broken through to the Yuan Condensation Realm.
With such innate talent, the Prince of Jizhou naturally held him in even higher regard!
On this day, the wedding procession of the Jizhou Prince's Mansion arrived with great pomp, maintaining an extremely high profile all the way.
He Xiong, an elder of the Prince's Mansion, had personally escorted Lady He Yuman to the Ye estate!
The wedding ceremony was now underway amidst bustling preparations.
Having settled the people from the Prince's Mansion, the Ye Family Patriarch summoned the Sixth and Fifth Elders into a secret chamber within the estate.
"Old Five, Old Six, I hear that Ye Qing hurried off in a rush this morning!" the Ye Family Patriarch sneered viciously.
"Patriarch, do you mean to..." The Fifth Elder made a slashing gesture across his throat as he spoke.
"Precisely." The Patriarch nodded, murderous intent radiating from his entire body.
"Where did Ye Qing go, though?" asked the Sixth Elder.
"To save his sister, Ye Qing must have gone to the Ziyang Mountain Range!" the Patriarch said with a dark expression.
"There are still two days before Yan's life-and-death duel with Ye Qing! Isn't moving against him now a bit redundant?" The Fifth Elder paced back and forth in the room, pondering slightly.
"It is not redundant!"
"Though my son has broken through to the Yuan Condensation Realm and holds an overwhelming chance of victory in two days' time, that brat Ye Qing is rather bizarre!"
"To play it safe, take a squad of death warriors and kill him in the Ziyang Mountain Range!" the Ye Family Patriarch commanded sternly, a chilling flash crossing his eyes.
"But Patriarch, where are we supposed to get death warriors?" The Sixth Elder was puzzled.
The Ye Family did not cultivate death warriors; family resources were limited, and nurturing the direct bloodline descendants already consumed vast amounts of resources.
How could there be any spare resources to train death warriors?
"They aren't Ye Family death warriors—they belong to the Prince's Mansion!"
"Ye Qing broke out of the heavenly prison and killed an enforcer of the Prince's Mansion!"
"This time, aside from escorting He Yuman, Elder He Xiong of the Prince's Mansion has another mission: to execute Ye Qing!"
Finished speaking, the murderous intent in the Ye Family Patriarch's eyes grew even denser.
Yesterday, he had witnessed Ye Qing's formidable sword mastery and now regarded him as a grave threat to his heart and bowels.
Taking advantage of the Prince's Mansion elder bringing a squad of death warriors along was the perfect opportunity to wipe out Ye Qing in one fell swoop.
If they made a move inside the Ye Family estate, it would inevitably invite gossip and criticism, seeing as Ye Qing was still a member of the clan.
However, striking in secret left them with far fewer reservations.
"Good! If the Prince's Mansion's death warriors are willing to strike, Ye Qing is guaranteed to die without a burial site!"
"Patriarch, we'll set off right now!"
Searing murderous intent erupted from both the Fifth and Sixth Elders.
As confidants of the Patriarch, they likewise viewed Ye Qing as a thorn in their side!
"Remember, you must keep it absolutely covert, and once it's done, wipe away all traces!"
"I want Ye Qing to vanish from the face of the earth!" The Ye Family Patriarch's face was twisted with venom.
"Understood!"
"Rest assured, Patriarch, Ye Qing will definitely not live past tomorrow!"
Nodding, the Fifth and Sixth Elders turned and strode out swiftly!
Both of their cultivations had reached the First Stage of Yuan Condensation, and their bloodlines were formidable—both possessed the three-star Black Shadow Leopard bloodline, exhibiting exceptional performance in both speed and power.
In truth, the combined forces of the Fifth and Sixth Elders gave them a high degree of confidence in killing Ye Qing.
After all, Ye Qing's cultivation was merely at the Seventh Stage of Body Refining, and he had even lost his bloodline!
He was relying purely on his sword mastery.
No matter how strong one's sword mastery was, it remained futile in the face of a massive gap in cultivation realm.
Now that the Prince's Mansion had stepped in and dispatched a squad of death warriors to tag along, their certainty of killing Ye Qing approached one hundred percent.
Two black figures raced swiftly across the ground—they were none other than the Fifth and Sixth Elders of the Ye Family.
Trailing closely behind them was a squad of ten men clad in black.
The auras emanating from their bodies were far from weak; anyone capable of becoming a death warrior for the Prince's Mansion was certainly no ordinary individual!
Chapter 7: The Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger
Danger lurked everywhere within the Ziyang Mountain Range.
Abandoning his horse, Ye Qing pressed on through the mountains with his sister on his back.
Thickets and thorns choked the terrain, making it impossible for a horse to gallop through the woods.
Ye Qing had no choice but to dismount and proceed on foot.
Along the way, he encountered quite a few ferocious beasts, the majority of which were merely at the Body Refining Realm and posed no threat to him.
Clutching his Azure Edge Sword, Ye Qing slaughtered over a dozen Body Refining Realm beasts along his path.
Having mastered the Wind Swordsmanship to the realm of grand completion, slaying a Body Refining Realm beast took Ye Qing no more than a single sword strike.
His sister's condition was critical, and Ye Qing could not afford to waste a single second of time.
He knew that the Beast King of the Ziyang Mountain Range, the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger, resided in the deepest recesses of the mountains.
"Brother, don't go... It's too dangerous!"
"Let's... let's turn back."
strapped to Ye Qing's back, Ye Mengling spoke with a thread of breath.
Her body felt like a block of ice—
so cold, so terribly cold!
"No!"
"Little sister, trust me, you'll be fine!"
Ye Qing's expression grew even more resolute.
He had sworn to protect his sister well.
No matter how dangerous the Ziyang Mountain Range was, there was no way he would turn back.
Both of Ye Qing's arms and his lower legs bore injuries.
Though he had managed to instantly kill the beasts encountered along the way, Ye Qing himself had not escaped unscathed.
Feeling his sister's body grow progressively colder, Ye Qing was frantic with anxiety.
A short while ago, the very last Opening Sun Pill had been fed to his sister.
Yet the effect it produced was negligible.
The chill within his sister's body was simply too overwhelming; the Opening Sun Pill could no longer save her!
He had to obtain the vital blood of the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger!
"Roar!"
Ahead, within the dense woods, a ferocious beast covered entirely in silvery light spotted a human approaching.
Its tiger eyes flashed with a bloodthirsty, ferocious gleam.
The next instant, it lunged forward like a streak of silver lightning.
The fierce tiger leaped into the air, its sharp claws swiping viciously toward Ye Mengling's frail body!
Ye Qing dodged aside with a swift twist.
Back when he was the heir of the Ye Family, the movement martial arts he had practiced were quite profound.
His footwork was swift as a squall, allowing him to evade rapidly!
The Gale Step was a high-grade Yellow-tier martial art, belonging to the absolute pinnacle of movement techniques within the Ye Family.
Moreover, Ye Qing had long since cultivated it to the realm of perfection, granting him immense speed!
"Rip!"
In the blink of an eye, the Azure Edge Sword in Ye Qing's hand traced an arc through the air.
Blood sprayed outward as a single sword strike pierced directly into the silver tiger's abdomen.
The ferocious beast let out a wailing cry, though it did not die on the spot.
Its razor-sharp claws lashed out fiercely, slicing a bloody gash across Ye Qing's right arm!
"Rip!"
With another shove, the Azure Edge Sword in Ye Qing's hand drove a few inches deeper.
The silver-coated beast let out one final, agonizing wail before its breath ceased entirely.
This silver tiger possessed a tremendously tough physical body and a cultivation that had reached the Ninth Stage of Body Refining, making it extremely troublesome to deal with.
Had it not been for Ye Qing's rapid movement and ferocious swordsmanship, subduing it would have been truly difficult.
"Brother, you're hurt!"
Ye Mengling's face drained of color, her eyes filled to the brim with worry.
"I'm fine!" Ye Qing said gently.
He tore a strip of cloth from his own garments to simply bandage his arm before charging forward once more.
Roughly an hour later, Ye Qing finally arrived at the core depths of the Ziyang Mountain Range.
Strapped to his back, Ye Mengling's body had grown even colder, its biting chill beginning to affect Ye Qing himself as the bone-chilling cold seeped into his flesh.
"Little sister, you must hold on!"
Ye Qing kept talking to Ye Mengling, terrified that if she fell asleep, she would never wake up again.
"Roar!"
Deep within the Ziyang Mountain Range, a sudden tiger roar erupted from the jungle, shaking the woods and startling the soul.
Before long, a massive tiger covered in purple stripes emerged into view!
At the sight of the gigantic purple beast, Ye Qing's eyes instantly lit up.
The purple tiger possessed a most bizarre appearance—it had a pair of purple wings!
The Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger!
This was the one.
Noticing a human's arrival, the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger seemed thoroughly provoked, for this was its territory.
"Whoosh!"
The next moment, the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger beat its wings and rapidly lunged to the kill.
Before Ye Qing could even react, the beast was right in front of him.
Fast!
Too fast!
The cultivation of the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger had reached the Yuan Condensation Realm, far surpassing Ye Qing!
Moreover, among feline beasts, the speed of the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger was peerless.
A winged tiger was truly terrifying—not only lightning-fast, but possessed of extraordinary destructive power.
Like a purple bolt of lightning, the tiger's sharp claws lashed out, aiming straight for Ye Qing's throat.
"Boom!"
With no time to overthink, Ye Qing raised his hand and blasted out a palm strike.
Imbued within his palm was a wave of scorching fiery energy—the Eight Desolations True Fire, a bloodline innate skill bestowed by his six-star Eight Desolations Fire Dragon bloodline!
"Boom!"
A violent explosion echoed through the air.
The very next instant, Ye Qing was blasted backward, shielding his sister tightly against his chest throughout the retreat.
"Boom!"
Skidding back dozens of steps, Ye Qing slammed heavily into a large tree.
The trunk emitted a cracking sound before snapping straight in half!
The impact force was simply too immense.
Ye Qing spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his complexion turning deathly pale.
"Brother!" Ye Mengling cried out in alarm, gently touching the trail of blood at the corner of Ye Qing's mouth.
Her heart ached terribly; she never wanted to see her brother injured because of her.
"Let's go back, let's go back!" Tears streamed from the corners of Ye Mengling's eyes.
"Silly little sister, don't worry about me."
A smile tugged at the corner of Ye Qing's lips, though he coughed up another mouthful of blood as he spoke.
His injuries were severe!
To take a direct hit from the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger with only the cultivation of the Seventh Stage of Body Refining and survive was already a miracle.
Yet the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger was faring no better.
As Ye Qing was blasted backward, the beast let out a miserable shriek.
The very next moment, a scorched, burning stench emanated from its body.
A cluster of golden flames had ignited and was now raging across the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger's hide!
That golden flame was none other than the Eight Desolations True Fire unleashed from Ye Qing's palm strike.
Originally just a tiny spark, it had instantly caught like wildfire, threatening to consume everything in a prairie blaze.
In the blink of an eye, the fur on the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger's body was completely scorched black, and even its flesh began to melt rapidly.
It was utterly incapable of resisting the terrifying Eight Desolations True Fire!
"Whoosh!"
Seeing this, Ye Qing immediately lunged forward, thrusting the Azure Edge Sword in his hand fiercely into the beast's body.
"Thud!"
A single sword strike pierced straight through the heart!
The life force within the Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger rapidly drained away, the luster in its tiger eyes fading into dimness.
The mighty Beast King, the overlord of the Ziyang Mountain Range, had fallen!
The moment this Ziyang Winged Fire Tiger had laid eyes on Ye Qing, it had already resolved to kill him.