Chapter 359: The True Seed of Life and Death! Sudden Turn of Events

Nanshan Mountain sits amid the Zhongnan peaks, facing south from the north.

Zhang Taixu, the last Tian Shi of Long Hu Mountain, once secluded here for mysterious cultivation; this desolate place held a Daoist spiritual connection.

Tonight, fire stains the heavens, slaughter pierces the stars, and under the bright moon, life cannot be spared.

"Zhang Fan…"

Wang Qingshan's face darkened, his eyes locked on Zhang Fan as he walked through the night, his voice chilled to the extreme.

"Who are you?" Wang Wang Qinglian's beautiful eyes narrowed as she demanded sharply.

Without doubt, anyone appearing here tonight must be connected to Qin Ergou; her gaze flickered to Meng Qi's figure behind Zhang Fan and guessed the truth.

Zhongnan Mountain would never stand idly by while its disciples suffered, yet Wang Wang Qinglian recognized nearly all of Zhongnan's experts—yet Zhang Fan was a stranger.

Hearing this, Zhang Fan didn't even look; in his eyes, Wang Wang Qinglian was merely a Gao Gong cultivator—such a level might be called an expert elsewhere, but here, she had no right to speak to him.

"Zhang Fan, you made a pact with my elder brother—we first find Qin Ergou, then he's ours to deal with," Wang Qingshan gritted out.

At these words, Wang Wang Qinglian's expression shifted subtly, her gaze reevaluating Zhang Fan.

She knew well that her brother, Wang Wang Qingyi—the peerless prodigy of the Wang family—was the one who had made this pact; this man had convinced Wang Wang Qingyi to entrust Qin Ergou's fate to him, and considering Meng Qi stood silently behind him…

"Who is this man?"

Wang Wang Qinglian dared not speak further, yet deep doubts stirred within her—she knew this man must have an extraordinary origin.

"Zhang Fan, are you going back on your word?" Wang Qingshan barked.

"You're right—I did make a pact with Wang Wang Qingyi. Where is he?" Zhang Fan said calmly.

"Even if he's not here, the pact still stands—Qin Ergou was found first by our Wang family, so he belongs to us," Wang Qingshan said coldly.

He struggled to control his emotions, hoping the other would honor the agreement, for he knew well—if they truly fought, he had no chance of defeating Zhang Fan.

"I did say that whoever finds him first gets to deal with him… but…" Zhang Fan shook his head softly.

"I never said I couldn't take him by force."

"You… what do you mean?" Wang Qingshan's face twitched as he shouted in disbelief.

"I mean—you deal with him however you want. I'll take him however I want."

Boom…

No sooner had the words left his lips than Zhang Fan stepped forward—the ground beneath him shattered, cracks spreading outward; a terrifying wind howled like a beast, and in an instant, he plunged into the flames, his overwhelming aura surging like a tidal wave, forcing the hundred-meter-wide true fire to bow and nearly extinguish.

"He actually…"

Watching this, Wang Wang Qinglian's eyes filled with profound shock—this man had suppressed the true fire's ferocity of the 【Chilie Flag】 with nothing but his aura; that was a Qingyu-level artifact.

Hum…

At that moment, Zhang Fan reached out with his right hand and seized the crimson flag that had pierced Qin Ergou.

"He dares to touch the 【Chilie Flag】 with bare hands—he's utterly suicidal!"

All Wang family members stared wide-eyed at Zhang Fan gripping the 【Chilie Flag】, each thinking the same thought.

That was the artifact the Wang family had venerated for centuries, offered incense and sacrifices, its Qingyu power like heaven itself.

As Li Li Miaoyin had once said, artifacts of this caliber were akin to living beings—self-aware, spiritually potent, let alone now activated by Wang Qingshan; any outsider who touched it would be consumed by fire, inviting certain death.

A searing heat surged up his palm—like falling into blazing fire, like being boiled in oil, the intensity burned deep into flesh and bone, scorching his True Yang, racing toward his Nascent Soul.

Boom…

At that instant, Zhang Fan's arm trembled violently—a terrifying sound erupted from his palm, like a dragon's ninefold roar, like mountain tides rising; wind and clouds shifted abruptly, the pale moon curved like a hook.

"Born of Heaven, nurtured by Earth—Dragon Toad Treasure Qi!"

Meng Qi's gaze sharpened into a single line—he saw the qi surging from Zhang Fan's palm, turning into a blinding white expanse, forcibly suppressing the 【Chilie Flag】's unrest and pinning it firmly in his grasp.

Dragon Toad Treasure Qi was the power sealed within the White Bone Stupa—this naturally formed treasure was born from the 【Jianguan Corpse Mound】, absorbing the dragon vein energy of Chanbao Mountain, shaped over centuries by the transformation of mountains and rivers.

That day, Meng Qi had watched with his own eyes as this treasure fell into Zhang Fan's hands.

"How long has it been? How has he advanced so much?" Meng Qi's eyes held deep shock and disbelief.

Zhang Fan's return to Chang'an now was utterly unlike their first meeting—less than a month had passed.

Such a transformation left Meng Qi stunned and baffled.

Boom…

Zhang Fan shook his arm—the Dragon Toad Treasure Qi roared, suppressing the blazing true fire as he yanked the 【Chilie Flag】 free, then flung it away with a sudden motion.

Qin Ergou's eyes were tightly shut, his breath faint, yet his body sealed and bound by threads of purple lightning.

"Zhang Fan, you've gone too far!"

Wang Qingshan moved—he could endure no longer, could no longer hold back; he could not let Zhang Fan trample on his Wang family's head.

He stepped forward, seized the 【Chilie Flag】, reigniting its true fire, the flames soaring skyward; above him, a mist swirled upward like white clouds drifting from the west, stretching endlessly.

The white clouds gathered above his head, amplified by the 【Chilie Flag】, turning crimson as burning clouds, sweeping down toward Qin Ergou.

"When you tormented him, did you ever think what 'going too far' meant?"

Zhang Fan's voice was cold; he turned, his Dragon Toad Treasure Qi boiling, his palm snatching the burning cloud from the air and gripping it tightly.

"You used your realm to crush him—I'll do the same."

Zhang Fan interlocked his fingers and crushed the molten cloud into fragments; crimson winds surged, scorching and searing.

At the same instant, eight layers of Nascent Soul light erupted from his Yuan Palace, their terrifying aura distorting and blurring all sight.

"Eighth-layer Nascent Soul… he…"

"At this age, he's reached such a realm—he could become a Zhai Shou… who is this man?"

"At this age, he's forged eight layers of Nascent Soul light—no one of this caliber could be unknown… besides An Wuyang, does Zhongnan Mountain have another such expert?"

All Wang family experts were stunned—their Nascent Souls trembled, all perception halted; the world grew vast and dark, as if only that single figure remained—eight layers of Nascent Soul light, radiant and boundless.

"Zhang Fan, are you crushing me with your realm?" Wang Qingshan roared to the sky.

His eyes bulged, his spiritual platform feeling torn open; his five-layer Nascent Soul light quivered, cracks spreading across it under the crushing pressure.

Not only was Zhang Fan three layers higher—he could not have resisted this pressure even if their realms were equal.

Now, he truly felt fear.

This pressure would shatter his Nascent Soul if sustained—his light would break, his foundation ruined, his cultivation forever lost.

Crack…

Finally, a sharp snap rang out—like the sound of Wang Qingshan's heart breaking.

Before the stunned gaze of all, his final Nascent Soul light shattered, dissolving into scattered sparks that rained upon Cangshan, vanishing into the void.

"Shattered… his Nascent Soul light shattered…"

"Merely by pressure, he stripped Wang Qingshan's realm, ruined his foundation!"

On Cangshan, silence fell—only the sound of the shattered Nascent Soul light echoed in the hollow mountain wind.

Wang Wang Qinglian's beautiful face was etched with disbelief—this expert who had crushed Wang Qingshan with near-total dominance felt like he'd appeared out of nowhere, as if from a dream, unreal and illusory.

"A nightmare?!"

"Zhang Fan, you…" Wang Qingshan's voice rang out, thick with uncontainable rage.

Hum…

The pressure remained, surging like a tidal wave, layer upon layer; more cracks spread across the remaining four layers of Wang Qingshan's Nascent Soul.

Crack…

Another Nascent Soul light shattered.

Wang Qingshan, like a trapped beast, had no right to bare his fangs or claws—he was now nothing more than fish on a chopping block, utterly at their mercy.