Chapter 484: Zhang Fan Returns Heavily Laden! The Heavenly King

The black night finally ended, and daylight flooded the world.

The karmic debts of past lives extinguished, amidst swirling incense, divine and demonic forms suddenly appeared—the Great Spirit Lord Wang.

That aura, emerging across the heavens, boiled with black and white qi, annihilating every surrounding demon and ghost.

The once ferocious demonic qi collapsed with a roar; the nearest figures turned to pulp, mixed with shattered bones, sinking into the earth.

Only fear endures forever!

Of the remaining demonic qi, only the earthworm and the great serpent escaped death.

Yet beneath the dim earth, that towering figure, rising like a breaker of endless night, did not even glance back; his gaze, like sun and moon in motion, fixed upon the great enemy before him.

“Zhang Lingzong, at this very moment of life and death, you still managed to escape the Great Dark Unlit Calamity!?”

“Where the Southern Zhang fell, a demonic flower bloomed!”

A cold voice echoed through the deep, silent underworld.

At this moment, any response would be superfluous.

Boom… boom… boom…

Two terrifying auras moved simultaneously, standing amidst swirling, boiling incense, like kings of this mortal realm, like immortals of heaven.

The Great Spirit Lord Wang!

The Dry Mystery Spirit King!

Long Hu Zhang family’s northern and southern branches’ most outstanding youths—their destiny, since the day of deification and statue-setting, continued here, colliding, unleashing boundless killing karma.

Boom… boom… boom…

The light and shadow before him violently trembled, struck by thunder, swiftly collapsing into nothingness.

“That was an image from over twenty years ago.”

At this moment, Zhang Fan felt a sudden clarity rise within his heart.

He knew that over twenty years ago, Zhang Lingzong had been ambushed in the Qinling Mountains near Chang’an.

It was during that time that he met Li Linglong.

It was also then that he entered the Great Dark Unlit Calamity.

Just now, what he witnessed was Wang Qiruo’s past experiences.

She shared life and death with Zhang Lingzong, carrying him, plunged into the Great Dark Unlit Calamity, deep into the Yin Xu, never abandoning him even as the calamity closed in.

At the critical moment, Li Cunsi intervened; with the method of Jia Sheng Gui Si, he perfected the elixir art and activated that segment of the life vein to prolong their lives.

At that very moment, Zhang Lingzong’s great enemy from the Northern Zhang finally arrived.

In all ages, who among the cultivators does not bow to the Dry Mystery King?

Such a man, such a presence—even Li Cunsi, who had perfected the Life-and-Death Elixir Art, feared him deeply.

At this crucial juncture, Zhang Lingzong finally shattered the calamity, escaped the great disaster, reborn as if from endless night.

Divine and demonic forms arrived—the Great Spirit Lord Wang.

These two fated enemies represented the most dazzling lineages of the Zhang family’s northern and southern branches, colliding within the Chang’an Yin Xu.

Boom… boom… boom…

The light and shadow dispersed; all returned as before.

Zhang Fan slowly opened his eyes; all strange phenomena vanished. He remained in the dim underworld, his right hand open, revealing a strange root vein—resembling human meridians, tendrils alive, faintly emitting starlike radiance within.

At this moment, the life vein had shrunk to half the size of a palm.

“Finally obtained it!”

Zhang Fan exhaled a long breath.

This journey was not in vain—he had not only refined the inner cores and spiritual essences of two great demons, entering the Fourth Transformation realm, but most crucially, he had acquired this life root.

The Nine Methods’ supreme art is indeed mysterious and unfathomable; even the immortal substance left behind by practitioners of Jia Sheng Gui Si reveals its profundity.

This thing is truly bizarre; ordinary cultivators could never touch it.

Back then, Li Cunsi, using Jia Sheng Gui Si, controlled this substance to prolong the lives of Zhang Lingzong and Wang Qiruo, leaving behind the essence of the life root within the latter.

Precisely because of this, Wang Qiruo was able to use the residual essence of the life root within her to pull Zhang Fan back from the brink of life and death.

Thinking of this, Zhang Fan looked at Wang Qiruo.

At this moment, her face appeared pale.

“I humbly thank you, Elder, for your rescue,” Zhang Fan bowed deeply, solemnly.

He knew well—this woman was no ordinary elder; she had shared life and death with his father.

“You… you are his son?” Wang Qiruo looked at Zhang Fan, her expression complex, her beautiful eyes filled with a trace of wonder.

Time ages swiftly, years are merciless; the old bonds remain, yet it has already been over twenty years since that shared life and death.

“I am Zhang Fan.”

At this moment, Zhang Fan gave his true name.

“Zhang Fan… Zhang Fan… no wonder… you are his son,” Wang Qiruo murmured softly, her beautiful eyes brightening with sudden understanding.

She had thought—what Zhao Jiexuan? A youth she’d never heard of, suddenly appearing, reaching the Zhai Shou realm at such a young age—this was nearly impossible.

Now it made sense—this young man was his son.

“You…”

Wang Qiruo looked at Zhang Fan, lips parting, then falling silent.

“Elder, you want to ask about my father!?” Zhang Fan said casually.

Wang Qiruo paused, then shook her head.

“Elder…”

Zhang Fan’s expression grew complex—he knew nothing of his elder’s affairs, nothing of Zhang Lingzong’s past.

Yet from the fleeting images he had just witnessed, it was clear: an opposite-sex companion who shared life and death could not have a simple relationship—just as he and Li Miaoyin had, surviving countless Shengsi together, their bond long transcended ordinary ties.

“What are you thinking?” Wang Qiruo, watching his expression, smiled faintly, returning to her former demeanor.

“I…” Zhang Fan felt awkward.

“Having come this far along a long road, why look back at where you came from?” Wang Qiruo said softly, suddenly.

A person meets many in life—those who stir your heart, those who walk beside you, those you love but cannot have, those you pass by in haste…

All of them are the path you have walked.

Having come thus far, look only ahead.

Zhang Fan fell silent.

“Come, let’s go to my place for a while.”

Wang Qiruo’s voice sounded again, a bright smile appearing on her beautiful face, as radiant as ever.

“Alright.”

“Zhao Lin, cut off that horn for me.”

At that moment, Wang Qiruo turned and called to Wang Zhaolin.

Zhang Fan’s heart stirred, his eyes blazing with eagerness.

For a great demon, beyond its inner core and spiritual essence, every part of its body is treasure.

The horn of Mingshan had absorbed the dragon qi of the Qinling demon king, forged by demonic arts.

Merely its ability to break through the Black Gold Ancient Seal revealed its exceptional quality—roughly equivalent to a Daoist Qingyu artifact.

This item was immensely valuable.

“Don’t worry, your share won’t be missing,” Wang Qiruo chuckled, seeing his thoughts.

“Everything is entirely up to Aunt Wang,” Zhang Fan replied humbly.

Wang Qiruo paused, her smile deepening.

At this moment, Wang Zhaolin took up the laborious task, leaping onto the corpse of the great serpent Mingshan, pulling from his sleeve a peculiar dagger.

The dagger was about seven inches long, glowing with gilded luster, its blade inscribed with intricate runes.

Zhang Fan glanced at it, wondering whether such a tool could possibly cut off a horn as formidable as the Black Gold Ancient Seal.

…

Yin Xu, Nan Shiji.

When Zhang Fan and An Wuyang entered the shop with Wang Qiruo, Boss Liang stepped out, and upon seeing Zhang Fan, his face clearly showed shock.

“This…”

“Liang, close the shop—we’re not doing business today,” Wang Qiruo called out.

“Alright.”