Chapter 325: Breaking Through

Luo Lin, utterly confused, followed Mister Mu as they weaved through the mountains.

All around were pitch‑black, barren mountains and ridges; peaks soared tens of thousands of feet high, and in the deep gullies between them only a pitiful trickle of water flowed.

They flew swiftly at a height of several zhang above the ground, winding along the terrain.

In the valley gullies, occasionally tenacious worms and small beasts would roar at them or brandish their most poisonous fangs and stingers.

Luo Lin broke out in a cold sweat.

His heart pounded violently; he faintly sensed that perhaps he would encounter an astonishing secret.

A secret known only to Xi Qi, either astonishing or terrifying.

Perhaps he would come into contact with the true core secret of his biological father.

Perhaps, because of this secret, because of tonight's action, his future life would undergo earth‑shaking changes.

After flying an unknown distance along the ridge, when the round moon was about to sink behind the western peaks, Mister Mu suddenly stopped his evasion and then, with Luo Lin, flew straight up along a sheer cliff.

This mountain range stood over twenty thousand zhang high; along the way the wind was fierce and bitter, and the higher they rose, the lower the temperature.

On the jagged rocks, thin layers of pale‑blue frost soon appeared; even with Luo Lin's cultivation he was shivering from the cold. After flying upward a while longer, Luo Lin felt a stabbing pain in his nose, and the cold qi made him sneeze violently.

"Hmph!"

A derisive cold snort came from above.

Luo Lin raised his head and saw, several hundred zhang up on the cliff edge, a giant whose whole body was pale‑red crouching there, half of his upper torso protruding, staring at him with a strange gaze.

Luo Lin had seen that kind of look before.

When he inspected the livestock in his family's pens, his gaze had been exactly the same as this giant's.

A surge of anger flared in Luo Lin's chest and shot straight to the top of his head; he glared fiercely at the giant.

The giant gave a "ke‑ke" laugh and said in a low voice, "Interesting, this mortal still has a bit of guts—truly interesting."

Still laughing, the giant raised his right palm and slapped toward Luo Lin.

With a "weng" sound, a huge blood‑colored palm print burst from the giant's hand and came crashing down toward Luo Lin; the enormous print, a hundred zhang across, also enveloped Mister Mu.

Mister Mu let out a low shout, flicked his sleeve, and a three‑foot‑diameter round wooden shield flew out, shedding emerald light that spread rapidly, instantly becoming a hundred‑zhang‑diameter circular light shield hovering above them.

The massive palm print struck the round wooden shield.

With a tremendous boom, the palm print ground and scraped against the emerald shield, sparks of blinding light continually erupting; the shield shuddered violently, emitting a deep rumbling.

Mister Mu's body trembled faintly as the blood‑colored palm print pressed down inch by inch, and his body sank inch by inch.

Luo Lin's pupils shrank; in his eyes, the unfathomably powerful Mister Mu was actually no match for this giant?

In the Fuxi Divine Kingdom, whether an ordinary stone giant or a higher‑ranked black‑iron, bronze, silver, or gold giant, or even the most pure‑blooded, atavistic dark‑gold giants, they were merely the lower‑rank vassal tribes of the Fuxi Divine Kingdom.

Yet Luo Lin had never before seen a giant with pale‑red skin.

Could it be the legendary blood‑fiend giant that had gone berserk?

No, no—Luo Lin suddenly noticed that this giant, over twenty meters tall and pale‑red, had skin that looked like beautiful jade: crystal clear and translucent, and beneath that near‑transparent skin could be seen extremely fine black‑gold lines forming eerie runes.

Mighty, overbearing, exuding a savage, brave aura.

Those bizarre, asymmetrical runes seemed like ferocious savage beasts roaring at Luo Lin, emanating endless killing intent, hostility, and an indescribable tyrannical, ferocious Dao resonance.

This creature was not the giant race Luo Lin imagined, but another kind of life—a race of extremely high rank.

The "ge‑ge" sound continued as the emerald shield was ground down, its light dimming until it almost shattered.

Mister Mu said in a low voice, "Great Barbarian God, this is my lord's son; he has come to handle this transaction. Do you wish to waste this opportunity?"

The giant bared his mouth, revealing rows of sharp, shark‑like triangular teeth that flashed like metal with a cold gleam.

Luo Lin saw that the giant's teeth bore innate Dao patterns, faintly visible.

Those teeth were probably comparable to immortal weapons; if bitten by him, Luo Lin could not imagine how gruesome it would be.

For no reason, the fire in his heart vanished without a trace, replaced by a bone‑deep fear of the giant that welled up spontaneously.

Luo Lin bared his teeth and gave a humble, embarrassed smile toward the giant.

The giant nodded satisfied, the blood‑colored palm print vanished instantly, and he pointed at Luo Lin: "Not bad—I like your servile, lowly smile… Mortal, before a noble deity, show the baseness in your blood and marrow; it will do you good."

Unable to see Mister Mu's expression behind his mask, he quickly turned and glanced at Luo Lin.

Luo Lin's humble smile instantly turned awkward.

He smiled at Mister Mu, said nothing, and offered no explanation.

Mister Mu exhaled, rolled up his sleeve, and the wooden shield withdrew its light, spinning back into his sleeve.

Luo Lin's sharp eyes caught that on Mister Mu's wooden shield there were several extremely fine cracks; clearly, in that brief clash the giant had already inflicted serious damage on the shield.

Mister Mu brought Luo Lin up onto the high cliff and set him down on the summit of the mountain range.

Besides this giant, on the mountaintop a dozen zhang away stood several more people.

A young man and woman, both strikingly handsome, their bodies surrounded by a faint white light that gave an impression of utter holiness; what surprised Luo Lin was that each had a pair of huge wings on their back.

The young man's wings were a pair of huge, swan‑like feathers.

The young woman's wings were a pair of gorgeous, phoenix‑tail‑butterfly‑like wings.

This young couple were clearly the leaders of the group; behind them crouched five more giants, each over twenty meters tall, pale‑red, with faint black‑gold dao patterns visible under their skin.

The young woman wore a cold, arrogant expression; she merely glanced coldly at Mister Mu and Luo Lin, saying nothing.

The young man frowned: "Mister Mu Se‑se, this mortal is not the one who handled the transaction last time."

Mister Mu bowed slightly to the young man and said in a low voice, "Esteemed Shengyao, the person who handled the transaction last time has died. This Luo Lin has the same status as that person and can fully represent my lord in carrying out this transaction."

Shengyao widened his eyes: "Died? How did he die?"

Mister Mu sighed: "The Fuxi Divine Kingdom—"

Shengyao immediately cut him off: "The Fuxi Demon Kingdom—"

Mister Mu sighed again: "Yes, the Surveillance Demon Hall of the Fuxi Demon Kingdom seized some clues… therefore, that person, to preserve the overall situation and keep our transaction secret, shattered his divine fetus and had his soul and spirit scattered."

Shengyao gave a strange grin: "Shattered his divine fetus? Did he really do that? You know, we Light God Clan are extreme in character and dislike hearing lies."

Mr. Mu fell silent for a moment, he spread his hands and said calmly: "My lord personally dealt with him, cutting off all ties with him. The Supervision Demon Hall couldn't get any information from him, so his family was completely exterminated."

【62

Luolin's face froze into a lump, and his body also went stiff.

Shengyao laughed especially brightly: "That unlucky bastard is your lord's illegitimate son, right? You say this mortal and that guy have equivalent status, so he's also your lord's illegitimate son?"

Luolin looked at Mister Mu with a hint of inexplicable terror.

Mister Mu bowed slightly to Shengyao: "As wise as you, nothing can escape your sun-like radiant eyes. Indeed, Lord Luolin beside me is also our lord's son."

Shengyao sighed: "I truly envy your lord's breeding power, and I admire even more that he could find so many lovers willing to bear his offspring…… it's truly……"

The young woman behind Shengyao's face darkened, and she fiercely glared at Shengyao.

Shengyao spread his hands and smiled at the young woman: "Huayan, I only love you, you know, our fates have been woven together by the eternal fate's spindle, I will absolutely not do anything to let you down."

Huayan let out a light snort.

Shengyao shrugged his shoulders and sighed: "This is women…… well, what have you brought?"

The white divine light in Shengyao's and Huayan's pupils suddenly flared intensely, an extreme greed plainly appearing on their faces.

The six titans that had been crouching on the ground rose simultaneously, each glaring ferociously at Mister Mu and Luolin.

Luolin's mind was in utter chaos.

The words just spoken by Mister Mu and Shengyao completely overturned his perception of Xiqi; he instinctively felt extreme fear, yet a strange, depraved stimulation made him tense his body, standing rigidly in place without moving.

When Shengyao asked Mister Mu what he had brought, Luolin forcibly cast aside those chaotic guesses and thoughts in his mind, discarded his fears, and with difficulty turned his head to look at Mister Mu.

Mister Mu smiled and nodded: "We have brought twice the amount of soul crystals agreed upon last time."

Mister Mu drew a deep breath, his expression solemn as he waved his hand, and a jade box three feet long, three feet wide, and one and a half feet thick appeared before him.

Shengyao waved his hand, and the wholly dark-red jade box fell into his hand.

Opening the box, sixty-four three-inch-tall figurines were neatly arranged. Each figurine was lifelike, as if a real person, though its material seemed a mixture of glazed glass and beautiful jade, exuding an extremely rich, pure soul aura that continually seeped from the jade carvings.

"Very…… not bad." Shengyao's body trembled slightly, and a strange flush appeared on his unusually fair complexion.

"Really, it's too beautiful." The perpetually aloof Huayan also came over, she widened her eyes, fiercely staring at the sixty-four tiny figurines in the box, her lovely eyes almost brimming with tears.

"We are very satisfied…… the esteemed ones of our Light God Clan will certainly be satisfied with your goods this time." Shengyao grinned, his cheeks wrinkling from the smile.

"Not only that." Mister Mu said reservedly: "As a major transaction that occurs once every 108 years, our lord has also prepared more valuable goods."

Mister Mu drew a deep breath, then solemnly said: "In the past thirty-six years, among the fallen of the Three Emperors' Camp, those fortunate ones who inherited the Heavenly Emperor, Earthly Emperor, and Human Emperor legacies, the three-emperor essence blood condensed in their bodies—I think Lord Shengyao would be more interested in this."

Boom—!

The entire ridge, towering over twenty thousand zhang, trembled slightly.

The six titans each stepped forward, glaring at Mister Mu and Luolin like fierce demons.

Luolin shuddered in fear.

Mister Mu, unhurried, waved his hand again, and a jade case one foot long, one foot wide, and six inches thick silently appeared.

Huayan's body flickered, she snatched the jade case with lightning speed, then carefully opened it.

Inside the case were three fist-sized blood essences, one purple, one gold, and one blood-red.

Within the purple blood essence, the sun, moon, and stars could faintly be seen rising, falling, and rotating.

Within the gold blood crystal, continual visions of mountains, rivers, and lands arose.

Within the blood-red blood crystal, streams of red mist continually sprayed forth, within which countless subjects could be seen tilling, fishing, hunting, and worshipping heaven and earth; an extremely strong, pure will to battle heaven and earth seemed to gush out as tangible substance.

"Truly…… perfect!" Saliva faintly seeped from the corners of Shengyao's and Huayan's mouths.

"In the past thirty-six years, across successive punitive campaigns, the total number of Three Emperors' Camp heirs who died in battle is two thousand seven hundred ninety-five." Mister Mu sighed lightly: "Our lord used countless spiritual medicines to cultivate them, and the three-emperor essence blood they condensed amounted to only these three batches."

"Those soul crystals are fine enough, but as for these three batches of three-emperor essence blood…… hehe, esteemed lords, please give us a fair price."

Mister Mu, Luolin, and the others conducted the trade here.

Two hundred li away, Wu Tie, his body covered in scale-like wounds, lay prone on a large rock, chewing mouthfuls of herbs, his brow's spiritual eye slightly opened, squinting as he gazed toward the commotion here.

Laotie crawled beside Wu Tie, his two deep, black eyes fixed firmly on this side.

Laotie's body trembled slightly, an inexplicable frenzied killing intent building within him, which Wu Tie could clearly sense—a terrifying power like a volcano about to erupt inside Laotie.

"Can't beat them!" Wu Tie said softly.

"Even if we can't beat them, we must fight." Laotie squeezed out a few cold words with great difficulty.