Chapter 299: Ethos

Yaoguang looked at Xi Hai.

Xi Hai, as though unable to see the displeasure in Yaoguang’s eyes, continued maintaining his upright and incorruptible image.

After being stared at for some time, he seemed slightly uncomfortable and raised the jade talisman in his hand. "Fill in your information. Haizhou's Demon Hunting Hall has always acted fairly and impartially, serving cultivators across the world. If your information is accurate and it can be proven that the Black Dragon Pirates were indeed killed by you, you'll get the full bounty, as it'd rightfully belong to you."

After speaking, he added, "But if your information is incomplete, there is nothing we can do. We can only act in accordance with regulations. These are assets of the immortal dynasty. No mistakes can be tolerated."

"The Recording Stone I provided is already more than sufficient evidence," Yaoguang said.

"A Recording Stone can be copied. Who can guarantee that the Recording Stone in your possession was truly recorded by you? What if another Azure Golden Core cultivator killed the Black Dragon Pirates, only to perish together with them, and you happened to seize the spoils afterward, obtaining the Recording Stone as well? If we handed Pure Yang Grand Pills to you under those circumstances, would we not be helping evil flourish?" Xi Hai replied.

Xi Hai gradually grew impatient and tapped the jade talisman. "We must record your details clearly. Afterward, we will verify and investigate. Once it is confirmed that you killed the Black Dragon Pirates, your bounty will naturally be paid."

Yaoguang glanced at the jade talisman. Only after a long moment did he speak. "Although I knew long ago that claiming this bounty would bring trouble, I did not expect you to put on such a blatant display of greed."

"Hmm?!" Xi Hai’s expression turned cold. He abruptly rose to his feet. "How dare you! I am the hall master of Haizhou's Demon Hunting Hall of the Great Shang, a fourth-grade official. How can I allow slander from the likes of you?! For the sake of your status as a Heavenly Dao Sect inner sect disciple, I will not pursue the matter. Now, get out of the Demon Hunting Hall at once. The Demon Hunting Hall does not welcome you!"

Yaoguang slowly rose as well. "So, hall master Xi Hai, have you really decided to pocket my 460,000 bounty?"

"It seems you won’t give up until you di—"

"I only hope you can stomach those 460,000 Pure Yang Grand Pills." Before Xi Hai could finish speaking, Yaoguang turned and left, laughing coldly.

At the side, Xi Hai’s expression chilled. Secretly, he activated a secret technique and left a mark on Yaoguang.

"master..." Fang Lang quickly stepped forward, murderous light flashing in his eyes as he drew a finger across his throat.

"Though the inner sect disciples of the Heavenly Dao Sect are not true disciples, we still have to give them some face. Besides, he openly came into the Demon Hunting Hall to claim a bounty. If we act against him directly here, the impact would be far too severe. Even our family may not be able to hide it. At the very least, I would have difficulty keeping my seat. And I do not want to lose the lucrative throne of the Demon Hunting Hall's master. So we cannot act now," Xi Hai said.

Then he quickly took out a jade talisman. "I left a psychic thought mark on him. Take my token and find my sixteenth younger brother. Ask him to deal with this brat. Once it is done, I will help him with the Life-Changing Pill he wishes to obtain for his grandson."

"Sixteenth Master?!" Fang Lang’s heart trembled.

The sixteenth younger brother his master referred to was one of the two Void-Piercing Realm battle immortals the Xi family had stationed in Haizhou.

To deal with a mere Blazing White Golden Core, they were dispatching a Void-Piercing Realm battle immortal, someone stronger in combat than an Azure Golden Core cultivator. That alone showed how highly his master regarded Yaoguang.

"This brat’s cultivation is formidable. Even if I personally took action, I might defeat him, but I may not be able to kill him on the spot. Only by asking my sixteenth brother to act can we be absolutely certain," Xi Hai said.

"And you should have sensed it as well. His aura feels astonishingly young. Even if he fails to obtain these 460,000 Pure Yang Grand Pills this time, becoming a true disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect is only a matter of time. At that point, he would become a big problem. Since we already know he is trouble, it is best to eliminate a small problem before it becomes a big one."

"I understand. I’ll go notify Sixteenth Master at once. With the promise of a Life-Changing Pill, he certainly won’t refuse." Fang Lang quickly withdrew.

As for Xi Hai...

Though giving up a Life-Changing Pill pained him, he understood one truth. Benefits could not be monopolized by a single person.

In any case, with a bounty of 460,000 Pure Yang Grand Pills waiting, the loss would soon be recovered.

With that thought, he immediately contacted the main hall and reported the matter.

***

Outside the Demon Hunting Hall, Yaoguang sensed the primordial psyche mark left on him. Yet there was no anger in his expression.

Before obtaining the status of a true disciple, he had already expected trouble like this. He had merely held onto a sliver of hope.

Now it seemed like the ethos on the North Sea Star had completely rotted away. To harbor any hope on the North Sea Star was simply being irresponsible toward himself.

"Xi Hai wanted to trick me into writing down my background and status, claiming it was for verification. In truth, it was to make killing me easier." Yaoguang made no move to erase the mark.

His expression remained utterly indifferent.

Xi Hai, the hall master of Haizhou’s Demon Hunting Hall, did not actually have a good reputation among the Demon Hunting Halls of the surrounding dozen-or-so major states.

So why had Yaoguang still chosen this very Demon Hunting Hall to redeem the bounty? Naturally, he had his reasons.

He did not leave the city. Instead, he wandered through the state capital, observing it closely.

In particular, he carefully studied the city's protective grand array.

That inspection lasted an entire day.

As dusk descended, Yaoguang suddenly seemed to sense something. He rose into the air and flew toward the Chaotic Sea.

Yet after flying less than five thousand kilometers, before even entering the Chaotic Sea’s territory, ripples spread through the void ahead, as though a figure were traversing space itself, intending to intercept him directly.

"How arrogant," Yaoguang said sincerely.

When a Void-Piercing Realm cultivator twisted space to travel, there was actually a brief process involved.

Though short, less than a single breath, if facing an opponent of the same level, that process could easily be interrupted, plunging the traveler into spatial chaos.

Yaoguang was merely a Blazing White Golden Core cultivator. In theory, he possessed no ability to disturb the void, so for that figure to use such a method to intercept him could not be called wrong.

At most, it simply showed absolute confidence and contempt for the opponent.

But then again, it was perfectly normal for a Void-Piercing Realm battle immortal to look down on a mere Blazing White Golden Core cultivator.

Was it really surprising for the enemy not to go all-out against him?

The problem was that Yaoguang’s strength could not be measured by the standards of an ordinary Blazing White Golden Core cultivator.

Back when he had first condensed his Blazing White Golden Core, his combat power had already reached 530,000, and—if pushing it to its peak—he had been able to erupt with a power of 910,000.

Now, after this period of cultivation and refinement, his strength had risen from that of a newly advanced Blazing White Golden Core cultivator to a state approaching the late stage. His normal combat power had reached 600,000, and if he used all the abilities at his disposal, it could exceed one million.

Even among the Heavenly Dao Sect’s true disciples, that was enough to place him in the top twenty, and perhaps even in the top ten.

And among all the sources of his strength, his understanding of cultivation occupied the most important position.

That Void-Piercing Realm battle immortal had arrogantly chosen to intercept him by traversing the void directly in front of him...

But thanks to his profound understanding and the power of Void’s Child, Yaoguang saw through every spatial ripple created by that void traversal with a single glance.

"The Xi family only has two Void-Piercing Realm experts stationed in the state capital. Is it Xi Lie or Xi Guang?" Yaoguang muttered. Then, without hesitation, the Wandering Dragon Sword in his hand struck along the path of those spatial ripples. "Forget it. It doesn’t matter."

As layer upon layer of spatial ripples folded together, they rapidly formed the perfect conditions required to unleash the Space-Splitting Strike. Those ripples condensed into a single point and pierced toward the Void-Piercing Realm battle immortal who had just descended from his void traversal.

Xi Lie, the Xi family’s sixteenth master, had only just appeared and had not yet fully withdrawn from that special state when he saw an entire stretch of void, driven by some unknown force, crash toward him like a tidal wave.

If struck head-on, both he and the space around him would be completely shattered.

"A supreme divine ability?!" Xi Lie’s face changed dramatically.

He did not even care that he had only just completed void traversal and that the power of his Primordial Void had only just settled. In that instant, he pushed the might of his Primordial Void to its utmost limit, twisting the surrounding void into what seemed like a giant visible hand, which smashed viciously toward the Space-Splitting Strike right before him.

"Great Universe Hand!" he shouted.

In theory, a clash between divine abilities should have ended with an overwhelming advantage for the Void-Piercing Realm battle immortal.

But Xi Lie’s counterattack had been far too rushed.

Having just completed void traversal, it was like a person leaping down from above and throwing a punch before even landing. Even if he swung with all his strength, how powerful could that strike truly be?

The spatial ripples exploded into violent spatial tremors that swept over Xi Lie’s body.

In an instant, the Void-Piercing Realm battle immortal was thrown backward as though caught in a raging spatial storm, his hastily gathered defense unable to block Yaoguang's strike.

To escape that condition, he had no choice but to mobilize the full power of his Primordial Void, desperately trying to break free.

Unfortunately, Yaoguang would not give him that chance.

Once he gained momentum, he pressed relentlessly.

A second Space-Splitting Strike came crashing down immediately after. And this strike was different from the first.

As a Void-Piercing Realm battle immortal, every time Xi Lie mobilized Void-Piercing Realm power, the frequency of his Primordial Void was precisely captured by Yaoguang.

With Yaoguang’s understanding of the Void-Piercing Realm and of the power of the Primordial Void, an understanding far beyond that of any true Void-Piercing Realm cultivator, this second Space-Splitting Strike not only triggered violent spatial ripples again, but also directly shook Xi Lie’s own Primordial Void, immediately destabilizing it.

"The frequency of my Primordial Void?! How?!" That change instantly caused the Void-Piercing Realm battle immortal’s face to turn pale.

He even suspected he had fallen into a trap specifically laid for him.

Did the enemy know him thoroughly? Had they deliberately ambushed him here? Otherwise, he could not understand how anyone could perceive and lock onto the operating frequency of a Void-Piercing Realm battle immortal’s Primordial Void in such a brief instant.

But before he could think further, Yaoguang’s third Space-Splitting Strike arrived.

After his earlier clash with Wang Daoshu, Yaoguang had already accumulated considerable experience in fighting opponents of this level. And now, the more he fought, the smoother it became.

His chained execution of Space-Splitting Strike flowed as naturally as clouds drifting and water running.

Xi Lie's Primordial Void shuddered violently with a loud rumble.

Countless streams of energy erupted from within, forming radiant beams and arcs of light that painted the surrounding void with dazzling brilliance.

"Stop!" Feeling his Primordial Void violently shaking, nearly on the verge of collapse and losing control, Xi Lie’s heart trembled in terror. He hurriedly transmitted with psychic thought, " This is a misunderstanding! My lord, this is a misunderstanding! I was merely passing through this place..."

"A misunderstanding? Since there is already a misunderstanding..." Yaoguang didn't say anything more, not hesitating at all. He swung the Wandering Dragon Sword once again. Golden light rippled outward, stirring waves through the void and forming a fourth Space-Splitting Strike, completely destroying every structural layer of Xi Lie's Primordial Void.

Yaoguang continued, "Then once you die, the misunderstanding will naturally be cleared up."