Chapter 817: Bountiful Harvest

"All things possess spirit; all things bear calamity. When the flower of the other shore blooms, life and death hang by a thought."

At this moment, a demonic gate opened behind Xiao Yixian, and Eternal Calamity descended; the Supreme Form of Qian Mu Ye Jing unfurled its massive wings, its thousand grotesque eyes staring down upon the entire world, each pupil vertically slit, eerily unnatural.

"Aaaah!!" At this very instant, Cao Shenzǐ let out a piercing scream; even as he attempted to unleash a Divine Technique to restore himself and let his soul escape, it was all in vain.

The thousand eyes of Qian Mu Ye Jing opened wide, emitting a dark green light that struck Cao Shenzǐ—his blood and qi visibly withered before their eyes, and the Ghostly Venom Flame instantly erupted in flames.

Xiao Yan's Strange Fire regained its power; after the evolution of the Burning Scripture, the poison of the Ghostly Venom Flame could now poison and burn even spiritual energy.

All blood qi and spiritual energy were drained away by Xiao Yixian's deadly poison.

It was unimaginable that Cao Shenzǐ, an Earth Supreme Perfect, had been poisoned—his agonized screams echoed across heaven and earth, his Supreme Form reduced to ash, his soul corrupted beyond revival, even by a Luo Jin Immortal.

In direct combat, Xiao Yixian's Eternal Calamity Body could not overcome an Earth Supreme Perfect, even though this was one of the Original Supreme Forms, among the top three—yet the vast gap in cultivation realm remained insurmountable.

But the greatest strength of the Eternal Calamity Body was its poison; in direct combat, the opponent would inevitably guard against the poison's intrusion, but the deadliest skill of a Poison Master was always covert poisoning.

By continuously accumulating toxins within the body, even though Xiao Yixian was only a Lower Earth Supreme, once the Eternal Calamity Poison reached a critical threshold, even an Earth Supreme Perfect would be killed by it.

Cao Shenzǐ, an Earth Supreme Perfect, was indeed formidable—he possessed a peerless Sacred Artifact to protect his body; under normal circumstances, even Xiao Yan would need considerable effort to kill him.

At this moment, Cao Shenzǐ was utterly poisoned to death—his body, Supreme Form, soul, and Supreme Sea all melted into a small, undulating blood pool; with a resonant hum, every spiritual vein of the Heavenly Saint Sect suddenly glowed, and every inch of the sect's land radiated an utterly sacred light.

After Cao Shenzǐ's death, his Supreme Sea merged into the land, nourishing all things.

To cultivate to Earth Supreme Perfect requires immense quantities of Supreme Spirit Liquid and resources; as the saying goes, when a whale dies, ten thousand lives are born—Eternal Calamity's arrival also means renewed vitality. Poison and medicine are interdependent.

"Eternal Calamity arrives, ten thousand medicines are reborn." Seeing this, even Xiao Yan showed a hint of surprise and smiled.

After Xiao Yixian evolved her Eternal Calamity Body into a Supreme Form, its power surged dramatically—Eternal Calamity Poison was no longer merely a deadly toxin; it became like fate, like karmic retribution—when Eternal Calamity descended, there was no escape.

The entire space, spiritual energy, spiritual veins, even a person's qi circulation—all would be poisoned, terrifyingly so.

But only such power could deserve the title of Original Supreme Form.

At this moment, within the entire Heavenly Saint Sect, every disciple and Elder bore a gray-green lotus flame mark upon their third eye.

It was not only Cao Shenzǐ who was poisoned—Xiao Yixian had poisoned the spiritual veins themselves; every single disciple of the Heavenly Saint Sect, who relied on those veins for cultivation, was now poisoned.

At Xiao Yixian's slightest thought, they would all die from the poison.

If Feng Qing'er were here, she would surely scream—she herself had once been poisoned this very way!

Seeing this, some elder ancestors of the Heavenly Saint Sect snapped to their senses and immediately unleashed Divine Techniques to cure the poison—but no matter what methods they used, they could not identify the nature of the poison; only the flame mark on their third eye relentlessly reminded them: they were indeed poisoned.

"The entire Heavenly Saint Sect has been poisoned!" At this sight, countless great figures watching the battle, upon seeing the Sect Master dead and every disciple poisoned, were filled with dread—unconsciously, many touched their own third eyes.

"This... this... this is too cruel, too vicious!" Even the seasoned elders, who had seen countless things, were chilled to the bone, glancing at Xiao Yixian, standing silently atop the mountain peak.

A breeze blew, stirring Xiao Yixian's gray-white hair—so serene, as beautiful and ethereal as a celestial immortal—who could imagine that this tranquil woman had just poisoned an Earth Supreme Perfect and poisoned countless disciples of a Heavenly Saint Sect, capable of killing millions with a single thought?

"Damn, who the hell is this woman? No one has ever done something like this before!" Even the elder ancestors of great sects felt a chill run down their spines at the sight.

For countless millennia, the killing among cultivators has been all too common—indeed, every day saw deaths between cultivators or sects.

Countless sect lineages had been wiped out by enemies—but to poison an entire sect? This was the first time anyone had ever heard of it!

"Does this mean the Heavenly Saint Sect is now under the control of this Yan Zunzhe?" At this moment, someone understood.

Xiao Yan could easily exterminate the sect—but he deliberately did not; he only killed Cao Shenzǐ. And rightly so—destroying a sect brings no benefit, but controlling one, especially a former Heavenly Saint Sect, brings immense advantages.

A functioning sect provides abundant resources; Xiao Yan is still poor—he needs vast quantities of Supreme Spirit Liquid and Spiritual Spirit Liquid to reach Earth Supreme Perfect, not to mention his Strange Fire.

At this moment, even Nu Shan Yao Sheng bore a lotus flame mark upon his third eye—meaning he too was poisoned.

Xiao Yan looked at Nu Shan Yao Sheng and said: "If you cannot cure this poison, then you have no right to learn my master Yao Chen's Pill Refining Method."

Hate Hun Xu Zi, understand Hun Xu Zi, become Hun Xu Zi, surpass Hun Xu Zi!

"Yao Chen? To have trained such a monster—what manner of great being was he?" Nu Shan Yao Sheng pondered inwardly.

At this moment, Xiao Yan and Xiao Yixian arrived together before the Heavenly Saint Sect's gate; seeing them approach, the disciples had long lost their former arrogance—some even fell to the ground in terror.

These two figures in black robes were nothing less than death gods harvesting lives!

Especially that woman with the gray-white hair—the Poison Immortal!

For a time, the entire Tian Sheng Continent fell into deathly silence; though most sects on the continent did not yet know of the events within the Heavenly Saint Sect, there was no doubt that the fate of the entire continent was now being decided.

"Now, I give you a task: find every hidden vault and treasure within the Heavenly Saint Sect." Xiao Yan suddenly waved his hand, and countless fire spirits, already capable of taking form, materialized out of thin air, instructing them.

"Wang wang wang!!" (I'm the best at treasure hunting!) The giant yellow dog formed by Xuan Huang Yan let out a howl, eagerly boasting, then instantly flashed away, shooting deep into the heart of the Heavenly Saint Sect.

"Ee!" Seeing Da Huang trying to steal the glory, Xiao Yi, as his daughter, could not possibly lose—she stomped her tiny foot upon Space, unleashing a jet of milky-white flame, and likewise dashed into the sect to search for treasure.

The other Strange Fires also surged into the ground; even Mao Wu joined this "treasure hunt," searching for the Heavenly Saint Sect's treasures.

This was a former lineage of a Heavenly Saint—though now far diminished, its resources must still be staggering.

Seeing this, even someone like Nu Shan Yao Sheng showed a flicker of surprise—he had not expected Xiao Yan to possess so many Strange Fires! Though most of them were weak, none were anything but Strange Fires.

"I've heard the Fire Spirit Clan can fuse collected weak Strange Fires—their Divine Fire is formed from countless fused Strange Fires. Could this Yan Zunzhe also possess the ability to fuse Strange Fires?" Nu Shan Yao Sheng was not speaking without basis—Xiao Yan's Fire Control Power was simply too implausible; it was not something an Earth Supreme should possess.

And indeed, Xiao Yan's Fire Control Power depended entirely on the Burning Scripture; now that the Burning Scripture had reached the level of a peerless Divine Technique, his Fire Control Power rivaled that of a Spirit-ranked Heavenly Supreme.

The Heavenly Saint Sect was an excellent place—its history was long, and it had dominated this continent for countless ages; here, Heavenly Earth Spirit Qi gathered in abundance—within the sect lay Sacred Springs formed of Supreme Spirit Liquid, precious spirit trees, Spiritual Territory, and more.

Upon receiving Xiao Yan's command, these Strange Fires had absorbed the raiding spirit of the Soul Sect—they, while searching for hidden vaults, also casually collected countless Supreme Spirit Liquids, Spiritual Spirit Liquids, Medicinal Materials, and more.

Among them, the most diligent were Sheng Ling Zhi Yan and Hai Xin Yan.

"Damn, this Yan Zunzhe plans to loot the entire Heavenly Saint Sect!" Some sect elites, watching from afar, drooled at the sight—but how could they dare challenge Xiao Yan? This was like snatching food from a tiger's mouth.

As for the numerous great sects outside the Heavenly Saint Sect, even some invited elder ancestors, watching the shape-shifting fire spirits plunder, were intensely envious, their hearts itching—but envy was all they dared feel; they wouldn't dare challenge Xiao Yan, not with two such figures as these.

First plunder the Five Spirit Clans, then clash with a Heavenly Supreme, finally poison the entire Heavenly Saint Sect—such a great demon, whoever provoked him would face annihilation!

"I shame my ancestors." At this moment, the upper Earth Supreme of the Heavenly Saint Sect sighed sadly, murmuring.

"War has always been this cruel—survival of the fittest. The Sect Master coveted Yan Zunzhe's Pill Refining Inheritance and the Celestial Embryo, sought to curry favor with the Ancient Ten Thousand Grasslands, but kicked a steel plate. Now, at least most of the disciples still live—that is already fortune amid misfortune."

"Boom—boom—boom!!!"

At this moment, a sound of cracking earth rang out—Xuan Huang Yan had found the hidden vault buried deep underground; Xiao Yi used the Pure Lotus Demonic Fire to purify the sect's forbidden seals, then the ground split open, and several Strange Fires dragged forth a treasure vault as massive as a mountain.

As soon as the vault emerged, spiritual energy thickened into mist—Supreme Spirit Liquid permeated the air; even without opening it, everyone knew the quantity of Supreme Spirit Liquid inside must be absurdly vast.

For a Heavenly Supreme Faction, they possessed cultivation technique libraries, weapon arsenals, and treasure vaults storing Supreme Spirit Liquid, Elixirs, and other hard currency—this vault was like the gold treasury of a mortal imperial dynasty, filled with gold, silver, and jewels, always ready for exchange.

Looking at this treasure trove before him, countless people would envy it; countless sects and experts would drool over it—this contained the entire resources of a Heavenly Supreme Faction, enough Spirit Liquid here to cultivate a Full-Circle Earth Supreme.

"Good." Xiao Yan nodded with a smile; a rumbling sound echoed as Void Swallowing Flame drew the entire treasure vault into the Void Space.

"With this vault, I'll have more confidence in the auctions on Shang Zhi Da Lu." Xiao Yan silently nodded within himself.

Originally, Xiao Yan had worried whether he had enough resources to bid—after all, the blood of a Supreme Divine Beast carried immense value.

"From now on, the Heavenly Saint Sect will remain as it always has. As long as you do nothing to oppose me, the poison within you will cause no harm—you may continue your Cultivation here in the Heavenly Saint Sect." After taking the vault, Xiao Yan spoke to the strongest Upper Earth Supreme of the Heavenly Saint Sect.

"Yes, Lord Yan."

Though Xiao Yan said they would remain as before, everyone understood they had been branded like slaves—the entire Heavenly Saint Sect was now a vassal faction of the Soul Sect.

They could not possibly defy Xiao Yan's words.

"Where is Cao Zi?" Xiao Yan said, his hands clasped behind his back.

Hearing Xiao Yan's command, two Elders with Earth Supreme power dragged Cao Zi forward, his spirit shattered—he had been struck by Xiao Yan's Soul Slash, his Supreme Sea's Spiritual Soul fractured, making it impossible for him to ever break through to Earth Supreme again.

Xiao Yan looked at Cao Zi, his face showing no pity. "You lost. According to our wager, you were to surrender all your Pill Refining Methods and Pill Formulas. Do you have anything to say?"

Xiao Yan would never pity such a man—if he had lost, the opponent's methods would have been far crueler. A gambler accepts his loss; if you can't bear to lose, don't gamble.

"Kill me," Cao Zi laughed bitterly. His inner wounds had turned his heart to ash—he was utterly hopeless, and had embraced death.

Cao Zi laughed in despair: "I'll repay with my life! You want my Pill Refining Methods? None! You want my life? Here it is!" He was already beyond hope. Xiao Yan had destroyed the entire Heavenly Saint Sect—he was its traitor, unworthy of remaining alive.

This blow was unbearable. If Xiao Yan still sought his Pill Refining Methods, it was impossible—he would rather die by Xiao Yan's hand, even if reduced to bloody sludge, he would never surrender them.

"So you still refuse to hand over your Pill Refining Methods," Xiao Yan stared at Cao Zi. "Very well. I'll take them myself."

Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened; in the next instant, a black Hun Chain shot from his shadow, piercing through Cao Zi's Supreme Sea and shattering his Spiritual Core.

(End of Chapter)