Chapter 57: The Apex Existence of the Cang Clan

Not few chose to challenge those who pursued enlightenment through understanding, just like Lin Qiu Xian; most Xian Sect disciples tried once.

But the results were much the same as Lin Qiu Xian's—all were slain in a single sword strike.

After recognizing the gap, they silently switched to opponents better suited to themselves.

Yet a few remained stubborn.

Most stayed within the trial space to hone themselves, but some had already withdrawn.

For example, Xiao Fan.

He sat on his bed now, one hand holding his phone, from which came a seductive voice, enthralling the soul.

Don't misunderstand—he wasn't watching any inappropriate videos, just a livestream.

The livestream of Jiang Yujiu, a Charm Cultivator of the Hehuan Sect.

Jiang Yujiu wore a red robe, her black hair piled in cloud-like curls, her figure supple and graceful, her ample bosom impossible to conceal, her alluring form impossible to hide, radiating an innate, intoxicating charm.

In the upper-left corner hung a few characters—【Round One Trial No. 33】

She was among the very few Xian Sect disciples who had not remained inside the trial space.

After all, for a Hehuan Sect Charm Cultivator, what could be more important than riding the wave of popularity?

Hone oneself?

One could always go later, when no one was awake.

Comments scrolled across the screen in numbers several times greater than before.

Xiao Fan stared intently at the screen.

As a young man brimming with vitality, he had made mistakes before; though it was somewhat embarrassing to admit, Xiao Fan didn't think it abnormal.

Those who thought it abnormal… well, then don't watch! But today—he felt only profound inner calm.

Yes, he felt absolutely nothing.

Not only nothing, but even a faint sense of revulsion…

Fuck! I'm not normal anymore!

Actually, this had already happened last night, when he fought the phantom Charm Cultivator drawn from the trial.

Willpower—he had a very clear understanding of himself; it was merely average.

But last night, after being struck by the Charm Cultivator's technique, he had completely ignored the lascivious images in his mind and killed the entity with icy calm.

Thinking of this, Xiao Fan felt a flicker of panic—any normal man would panic at such a thing.

'Could this again be related to that drop of blood?'

He felt everything he'd experienced lately had been surreal.

First, his elder brother was severely injured; to raise the medical fees, he drank the Breakthrough Spirit Elixir and forged a false Foundation Establishment. Then came that strange…

Cough! Cough!

Then Master Huo gave him that drop of blood, restoring his Dao path. Though the process was excruciatingly painful, compared to what he had gained, that pain was negligible.

Afterward, he obtained the 'Danhua Cup,' a treasure usable only by him, capable of mending his foundational flaws; once he refined enough Yang Jing Dan Xi and Su Po Zhen Hua to repair his foundation, he could effortlessly forge a Heaven-Born Dao Base.

Where else could one find such fortune?

Aside from the voice that had sounded in his heart that day in the hospital, everything had seemed perfect.

Until this sudden trial appeared—facing the Charm Cultivator's technique, he remained unmoved; even watching his usual favorite livestream, he felt absolutely nothing.

This gave him a deeply ominous feeling.

'Do not forget your original heart; you need only remember always that you are human.'

Master Huo's words echoed again in his ears, along with those voices that had constantly resonated within him in the hospital.

'You have been abandoned…'

Again! Xiao Fan's breath caught; he felt his heart gripped tightly by an invisible hand, making it hard to breathe.

The question he had refused to confront before now reappeared before him.

Why had Master Huo specifically warned him about this? Was he… still human? …

In the quiet chamber, Zhenjun Zihuan hovered in midair, eyes closed in meditation.

Streams of purple radiance swirled around him, gradually shrinking in scope, as if restraining some terrifying presence.

Beneath the faint glow, Zhenjun Zihuan's shadow fell upon the ground, shifting shape with the movement of the light, like a purple-black demon writhing and roaring.

"Heaven gives all things to nourish humanity…" A long sigh, as if carried from the distant past, resonated in his heart.

No good!

Zhenjun Zihuan snapped his eyes open; strange purple light swirled within his pupils, deeply unnatural.

He opened his mouth and sucked in all the swirling purple light; only then did the abnormality in his eyes slowly subside.

Yet, despite successfully suppressing the anomaly, he felt no relief whatsoever.

Slowly descending to the ground, Zhenjun Zihuan's face was grim.

His inner demon had not been suppressed—it was growing stronger, and that wasn't even the worst. More serious was the voice he had just heard.

"Cang Clan…"

As a Union with the Dao Stage cultivator of the Taishang Dao Sect, he knew exactly what was happening to him.

The Cang Clan, former overlords of the Tai Xuan Realm, had ruled the Central Continent, enslaving all races—including humans—and treating them as livestock and food.

Though now driven from the Central Continent and hiding beyond the distant stars,

as the favored clan of Hun Tian Yi, the Cang Clan had never abandoned their ambition to reclaim the Central Continent.

Among them existed a supreme being, inscrutable and strange, who had once brainwashed many humans into willingly abandoning their human bloodline and becoming Cang.

But those he had seduced and brainwashed had never exceeded the Return to Void Stage; never before had a Union with the Dao cultivator fallen.

"Because of the inner demon…?"

No!

Zhenjun Zihuan abruptly rose to his feet and vanished in a streak of purple light.

I must return to the sect quickly and leave behind my legacy!

If I truly fall victim to its brainwashing, a dead human cultivator who has merged with the Dao is better than the Cang race gaining another one.

…………

High above, Huo watched the streak of purple light surging outward.

Suddenly, another figure appeared beside him—it was Xu Xing.

Xu Xing's gaze fell, also fixed on that purple light.

"I had assumed it would be that young disciple bearing a trace of Cang blood, yet I never expected He would choose this young disciple of the Taishang Dao Sect," Huo sighed.

"It's merely a dual-track strategy; He won't let Xiao Fan go either," Xu Xing said coolly.

"It seems they've sensed the changes in Tai Xuan Realm since Brother's recent emergence from seclusion—otherwise, they wouldn't act this way."

Merging with the Dao is itself a Unique Realm; each one who achieves it occupies a portion of the world's 'weight,' making brainwashing extremely difficult.

Now choosing to target a cultivator who has merged with the Dao, they've clearly been driven to desperation, acting in panic.

"What do you think should be done with this young disciple?" Huo asked again.

Xu Xing did not answer; he merely pointed downward, and in the unseen depths, some connection was severed outright.

The streak of purple light racing toward the distance halted.

"Brother is merciful."

Huo saw clearly—just now, that single finger had directly severed the faint link between the Cang race's peak existence and the young cultivator who had merged with the Dao.

Such effortless ease—only Brother could achieve it.

"Shall I help you sever the connection to your protégé as well?"

"Heh, no need for Brother's intervention; that young disciple bears the Cang race's fortune—this matter is harmless for now."

"As you wish."

The next instant, Xu Xing's figure vanished as if erased by an eraser.

Huo was about to leave.

"Heaven gives all things to nourish humanity..."

A long sigh echoed in his ear; he froze, and before his eyes appeared a vast, majestic divine figure seated amidst primordial chaos.

Their gazes collided across distant spacetime.

"..."

Huo clearly saw a flicker of shock in His eyes.

Please collect and follow! (End of chapter)