Chapter 180: The Mysterious Guidance of the Jade Slip

"Master!"

"Brother Wang!"

Li Hu and Zhang Mei's cries of alarm carried a panic as though the sky were falling. They held Wang Shan up tightly, yet what they felt in their hands was not a person, but a volcano that could erupt at any moment—searing, violent, and filled with an aura of destruction.

Wang Shan's current appearance could no longer be described as "miserable." The skin all over his body had taken on an eerie dark golden hue, and the veins on his face and neck bulged and twisted like countless hideous little snakes writhing beneath his skin. Every breath he took came with billowing white vapor, as if a fire burned in his lungs.

This appearance was less a human being and more a humanoid vicious beast on the verge of revealing its true form.

"Cough… cough cough…" Wang Shan fell into another bout of violent coughing; each cough sent a spasm through his body. He relied purely on that unyielding ferocity to keep himself from collapsing entirely.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei looked at him, and what they felt—beyond awe—was a fear that came from the very soul. They were cultivators; they had seen life and death, but they had never seen anyone push himself to such an extent. What kind of terrifying entity had the Master fought out there? Their obedience to Wang Shan's orders was no longer mere compliance, but a near-instinctual, unconditional trust. As long as Wang Shan could still utter a single word—even if he told them to die—they would not hesitate for a moment.

"Help me… sit down." Wang Shan's voice was so hoarse it was barely recognizable, like two rusty iron plates grinding against each other.

The two hurriedly and carefully helped him to one side, seating him against a protruding piece of jade.

The moment Wang Shan sat steady, he immediately closed his eyes and sank his entire mind into his body, fighting back the violent beastly nature that nearly threatened to devour his reason entirely. The energy in this damned place was pure, but to him, it was like adding firewood to a pot of boiling oil—the purer it was, the fiercer it burned. He was now like a boiler about to explode; he had to find a way to relieve the pressure first.

Just then, a suppressed, small-beast-like whimper came through.

It was Wang Zhize.

The little one had been shielded behind Zhang Mei all along. Now, seeing his older brother Wang Zhitao lying motionless on the ground, his complexion ashen like rotten wood in winter, he finally could not hold back anymore. He broke free of Zhang Mei's hand and stumbled to Wang Zhitao's side.

"Brother… Brother…" Wang Zhize shook Wang Zhitao's cold hand, tears the size of beans pattering down. "Wake up, don't sleep…"

The Black Jade Slip he had been clutching tightly to his chest bumped against Wang Zhitao's arm due to his movement.

Just such a light touch.

Bzzt—

An almost inaudible chime rang out.

The Black Jade Slip, which had all along behaved like a "key," suddenly emitted a circle of soft, nearly transparent faint light.

Wang Shan, who was fully suppressing his injuries with all his might, snapped his eyes open.

Something was wrong!

This light was different from any previous time. Before, when the jade slip glowed, it either triggered the Earth Vein, filled with vast and heavy earth energy, or opened a Seal, carrying the power of ancient, weathered runes.

But this time, the light was "warm."

It was like… a bowl of hot soup handed to you on a winter night by kin connected by blood.

Wang Zhize clearly felt it too—the jade slip in his small hands was growing slightly warm. He did not understand what was happening, but purely on instinct, he felt this thing might save his brother, so he gripped it even tighter and pressed the jade slip entirely against Wang Zhitao's chest.

The next moment, a sudden change occurred!

That faint light seemed to have found an outlet. No longer diffusing indiscriminately, it transformed into strands of fine, gentle threads of light, surging out of the jade slip in a rush, flowing along Wang Zhize's small hands and slowly seeping into Wang Zhitao's body.

On Wang Zhitao's ashen face as he lay motionless on the ground, a miracle-like trace of imperceptible flush of color actually appeared. Though extremely faint, it was undeniably there!

"This… this is…" Zhang Mei covered her mouth, unable to believe her own eyes.

Li Hu also widened his eyes, not daring to breathe, terrified of disturbing this miraculous scene.

Wang Shan's heart pounded wildly at this moment. He stared fixedly at that jade slip, and at the hand of his little grandson Wang Zhize resting on it.

Others only saw the light, but he could "see" more!

Within that gentle radiance, he sensed a force both familiar and unfamiliar. It was a… power of the source. Pure, ancient, free of any impurity—entirely different from the mixed and violent power of the Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal technique within his body, and from the sinister, domineering energy of the "Lord of All Beasts."

This was… the true root of the Beast Taming Sect!

【Ding! Unknown bloodline resonance detected.】

【'Yushou Sect Inheritance Core' (Black Jade Slip) is being deeply activated by a special bloodline (Wang Zhize).】

【Releasing 'Yushou Sect Origin Power' to attempt to neutralize the foreign toxic energy within the target (Wang Zhitao)…】

The system's notification tones rang out in Wang Shan's mind in succession, every word like a heavy hammer striking his heart.

Inheritance Core? Deep activation?

Wang Shan was completely dumbfounded.

After all this time, this thing wasn't just a key—it also had an active life-saving function? And the one who triggered this function wasn't himself, the proper "Zhuren," but his little grandson who only knew how to cry?

He had always believed that by obtaining the system and acquiring the Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal, he was the inherainer chosen by the Beast Taming Sect, the one favored by destiny. He bore everything, leading his family to struggle for survival in desperate straits.

But the scene before him now was like a resounding slap, striking him hard across the face.

He looked at his little grandson Wang Zhize. The child still understood nothing; he was simply pressing the jade slip against his brother with everything he had, out of pure love. Yet it was this purity, this bloodline, that accomplished what he, the grandfather, could not manage even at the cost of his life.

The light radiating from the jade slip grew brighter and brighter, yet remained gentle. The threads of light continuously poured into Wang Zhitao's body, and the rise and fall of his chest seemed to have grown a bit stronger.

Wang Shan suddenly realized a possibility that made his scalp tingle.

He himself… might have been wrong from the very start.

He was not the inheritor.

Or rather, he was not the only one, or even the most important one. He was more like a… guide? A bodyguard? A trailblazer clearing the path for the true "chosen one"?

And the true key, the "catalyst" that could unlock all the secrets of the Beast Taming Sect, was lying on the ground right now, crying with bubbles of snot, saving his own older brother with a power he didn't even know he had.

【Ding! Warning! The bloodline of the Zhuren's grandchild (Wang Zhize) is being forcibly awakened by the 'Inheritance Core.' An unknown power is awakening.】

【This process is irreversible. Unknown risks exist.】

Awakening?

Wang Shan's heart sank again. Damn it, truly one wave hadn't settled before another rose.

He looked at Wang Zhize. The child's tender face, illuminated by the jade slip's glow, appeared somewhat sacred. He could sense that something slumbering in the deepest depths of this child's bloodline was being roughly dragged out by that jade slip. What would it be? A blessing or a curse?

Wang Shan's mind was a mess. The agonizing pain of the technique's Counter-Devouring, the anguish over his grandson's poisoning, and now this enormous shock that overturned everything he knew—all mixed together, nearly driving him to a breakdown.

But he did not break down.

He just stared fixedly at his two grandsons. In those bloodshot eyes, the madness and ruthlessness from before were being replaced by something far more complex, far heavier.

So that's how it is… so that's how it is…

He murmured to himself, as if speaking to someone, or as if asking himself.

Why would the system choose this old man whose lifespan is about to end? Why would the Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal technique fall into his hands? Why does he have two grandsons whose bloodlines are so special?

One by one, the points he couldn't understand before now seem to be linked together.

This is not his battle alone. It is the destiny of the Wang Family, the secret of the Beast Taming Sect's annihilation, a destiny tightly bound together.

"Li Hu, Zhang Mei," Wang Shan spoke again, his voice still hoarse but now carrying an undeniable calm, "From now on, don't leave Wang Zhize's side for a single step. No matter what happens, his safety is paramount—more important than my own life."

"Yes!"

Li Hu and Zhang Mei didn't understand what had happened, but from Wang Shan's voice they sensed an unprecedented solemnity. The two immediately positioned themselves left and right, shielding Wang Zhize and the Wang Zhitao on the ground between them, their expressions solemn as if facing a great enemy.

Wang Shan said no more. He closed his eyes again, forcibly suppressing the torrent of thoughts raging in his mind.

No matter what the future holds, no matter what earth‑shattering secret lies within his grandsons' bloodlines, there are two things that must be done now.

First, save Wang Zhitao's life.

Second, suppress his own Counter‑Devouring.

He must stay alive.

Before it was for himself, for revenge, for the family. Now, he has a more important reason.

He must be a good "bodyguard".

He wants to see with his own eyes just how big a storm his two grandsons can stir up in this damned secret realm.