Chapter 57: Nie Mie, the Son of Destiny, and the Small Vial That Accelerates Spirit Herb Maturation

All dead?
They are all dead!

The aura of a Saint's Domain permeated the sky, plunging the three factions into an abyss of freezing despair, chilling them to the bone.

That was the phenomenon that only manifested upon the death of a Saint realm cultivator. Did this mean their ancestors were dead?

In the distance, the rest of the onlookers also raised their heads, gazing at the dissipating Saint's Domain. It was gone. The figures of the ancestors from the three major factions of Tianshang City had vanished. Could they really be dead?

Terror gripped them.

Li Zhan swallowed hard. As expected of the ancestor! A wave of shame washed over him; once again, upon coming out here, he had proved entirely useless.

When did he strike? Following closely behind Li Xuan, Night Qingcheng raised her gaze to look at Li Xuan's back. Doubt filled her mind. Was Taixuan really this powerful? She hadn't even caught a glimpse of when Taixuan made his move.

"Impossible!" Yin Zhou's gaze turned pitch black and immensely gloomy, a black crescent blade materializing between his brows. "Uttering such arrogant words in my presence, you are courting death. No matter what relation you have to the Li family, all of you shall die!"

Zhou Shu and Wang Tai wore grim expressions; they could no longer sense the aura of their ancestors.

The members of the three factions from Tianshang City all turned their gazes toward Li Xuan, silently surrounding the Li family members completely.

"What a fine Li family, putting on such a divine act and playing such ghosts?" Zhou Shu said with a cold expression. "Once we shatter your bones, we'll find out the truth."

Wang Tai's expression twisted viciously, though before he could speak further,

Li Xuan ignored them. Gazing at the illusion of the fourth-grade Sun-Nurtured Flower in the sky, he took a step forward.

Thud.

The next instant, everyone present from the three factions felt their legs buckle and snap instantly, forcing them to their knees on the ground. Some groaned softly, some shrieked in agony, while others roared in fury.

The unyielding Yin Zhou was violently forced to his knees, his body emitting a creaking sound. He abruptly raised his head, trying to stand up, but all his efforts were in vain as he stared at Li Xuan in sheer terror. Zhou Shu's towering frame was cut in half in the blink of an eye, a shrill scream escaping his lips as utter shock overwhelmed him. Wang Tai's face contorted in agony, blood trickling from his mouth as his eyes split with rage.

Li Xuan walked right through the middle of them, a mighty pressure pushing them aside. With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked up at the celestial illusion, leaving a continuous chorus of miserable screams and wails echoing in his wake.

Gulps of terror echoed from the onlookers in the distance.

The Li family—who exactly from the Li family was that person? Without even lifting a finger, he had forced everyone from the three major factions of Tianshang City to their knees!

Ignoring the people behind him, knowing that Li Zhan and the Li family members could handle them, Li Xuan gazed at the fourth-grade Sun-Nurtured Flower illusion and could not help smiling.

Night Qingcheng trotted closely behind Li Xuan's leg, took one glance at it, and widened her eyes in disbelief. "Good grief, who pulled this off?"

The corners of Li Xuan's lips curved slightly upward. "Naturally, someone did."

Night Qingcheng rolled her eyes. Of course she knew someone had done it.

The so-called fourth-grade Sun-Nurtured Flower was fake; someone had deliberately set up an illusion of the flower here.

This did not come as a surprise to Li Xuan. As expected of a Son of Destiny—he was even better than imagined, far, far better.

Perhaps he could rival Ye Bufuan, or maybe even surpass him.

"Unbelievable, even Saints were deceived by this." Night Qingcheng looked up at the illusion. Had she not inspected it closely, she would never have noticed how incredibly lifelike it was.

The illusion was real, yet it was like a rootless duckweed—there was only the phantom projection, with no actual Sun-Nurtured Flower in existence.

Yin Zhou and the others, kneeling on the ground, overheard this conversation. Upon hearing the truth, they vomited blood in succession. Why wouldn't they believe it? They had no choice but to believe!

Faced with such an almighty expert who could crush them at any whim, the Sun-Nurtured Flower was already securely within his grasp; what need was there to deceive them further?!

The Sun-Nurtured Flower was actually fake?!

They coughed up blood once more, plunged into abyssal despair, and nearly fainted on the spot.

Their ancestors were dead, and they had been reduced to this pathetic state, all for the sake of a fake Sun-Nurtured Flower?!

Yin Zhou and the others felt their eyes split with rage, wishing they could devour someone alive!

Gazing at the Sun-Nurtured Flower illusion, Li Xuan's eyes drifted past it, and he suddenly remarked, "It bears some resemblance to the aura on your body."

Night Qingcheng was momentarily stunned, looking at the illusion with a mixture of shock and suspicion. She indeed sensed a trace of familiarity, yet upon careful thought, nothing came to mind.

Meanwhile, Li Xuan's expression turned slightly cold. Good, very good. How dare they slaughter members of his Li family? With a gaze like blazing torches, Li Xuan pierced through space, spotting a cavern where members of the Li family lay on the ground, devoid of all breath.

One of them had even poured tea for him before.

Keeping his heart utterly calm, Li Xuan slowly raised his hand, his five fingers curling into a claw as he grabbed toward the empty air.

Since they were capable of nurturing spirit herbs, wonderful! They would simply be locked away in the dark room, tossed into the Human Emperor Sword, to toil away as laborers for the rest of their lives!

Let's see who dares to stop me this time.

***

Ten miles away, inside a subterranean cavern, winding paths led straight into the depths of the earth. Down below lay a massive underground grotto brimming with spiritual energy. Two colossal serpents—one black, one white—lay dead on the ground, bearing no visible wounds. Upon closer inspection, both serpent corpses were shockingly at the peak of the Deity Transformation realm.

Not far above the serpent corpses, a verdant disk spun continuously, radiating ripples of energy. It was a fragment of a grand formation suppressing everything within.

Inside the formation, potent medicinal charm had condensed into a tangible substance, and a thick, rich grand elixir was on the verge of maturity.

Within the formation array stood a youth clad in black, his aura fluctuating intensely as his eyes snapped wide open. "Splendid, very good! I've already reached the Spirit Severing realm!"

Nie Mie was overcome with intense excitement. His cultivation had broken through to the Spirit Severing realm, and this time, the position of the ninth-generation true successor of the Medicine King Valley belonged to him, Nie Mie!

With his own two hands, Nie Mie would suppress everything!

Soon, the look of excitement vanished from his face as he looked toward the two exotic flowers within the formation. "Hahahah, two fourth-grade exotic elixirs, and special ones at that—a Sun Flower and a Moon Flower! Little Bottle, how much longer until they mature?"

"Half an incense stick of time remains," a voice echoed within Nie Mie's mind, and a white bottle materialized deep in his consciousness.

The white bottle was etched with wisps of floating clouds; it was Nie Mie's Dao artifact, a unique treasure that served as his ultimate trump card.

For this bottle possessed the miraculous ability to accelerate the growth of exotic elixirs. Boasting a mysterious origin, it had been left behind by his parents!

And his parents had long since gone missing!

Nie Mie exhaled deeply, casting his gaze toward the corpses scattered on the ground. A ruthless glint flashed across his face. These corpses belonged to members of the Li family, and this spirit vein was none other than a Li family property.

"Daring to snatch my spiritual herbs, and even hoping your ancestors would avenge you? Heh, that's impossible now. By this point, your ancestors should be dead, and the Li family should be annihilated as well. After all, I prepared quite a grand gift specifically for your Li family."

Smiling, Nie Mie stood up and kicked one of the corpses. When Nie Mie made a move, he never left behind loose ends.

The disciples of the Li family had dared to make a move and attempt plunder while he was cultivating exotic elixirs, which was nothing short of courting death.

To prevent the Li family from coming to cause trouble, he had struck first, using the bottle to condense a fourth-grade Sun-Nurtured Flower illusion and placing it over another of the Li family's spirit veins. Not only did this conceal the phenomenon of the genuine exotic elixir maturing here,

It also served to eradicate the Li family in passing!

Why wouldn't he do it!

Nie Mie's eyes burned with anticipation. By now, that illusion should have attracted hordes of people, and the Li family would certainly take the bait. He refused to believe the Li family could suppress everyone.

As for why Nie Mie held such hostility toward the Li family, it was largely because Zhao Qingqing had her double pupils gouged out and her Qiongqi bloodline stripped away by them. Even though he wasn't entirely certain if this Li family was the original clan Zhao Qingqing belonged to, Nie Mie didn't mind wiping this branch of the Li family out entirely!

Right at that moment, the two exotic elixirs—the Sun Flower and the Moon Flower—released a wave of energy fluctuations.

Nie Mie's heart surged with excitement. They were about to mature! Originally neither of the two fourth-grade exotic elixirs had reached maturity, but he had poured vast resources into them step-by-step, combined with the efforts of the Little Bottle, finally nursing them to full ripeness.

Not only had it consumed all his resources, but this Li family spirit vein had also been drained completely dry, turning the surrounding region into a barren wasteland.

Even the Little Bottle would need to slumber for a period of time to recover!

Two fourth-grade special exotic elixirs—one solar, one lunar—were more than enough to sustain his cultivation all the way from the Spirit Severing realm to Sanctification!

Half an incense stick of time passed in the blink of an eye. The two exotic elixirs reached full maturity, all their volatile auras converging inward. With burning eyes and without a moment's hesitation, Nie Mie reached out to claim them.

Beneath his feet, a teleportation array had already activated. Having made thorough preparations, he was guaranteed absolute foolproof success.

With the Little Bottle escorting him, the maturation of two Saint-grade elixirs would surely draw countless crowds.