Killing the Clan Leader, Refining the Kun Peng Seed

The central clan leader pivoted, fixing his gaze on Qin Huai. But then…his smile froze.

“Where is he?” He whirled around, looking behind him.

Qin Huai was merely a few steps away. An illusion… A sudden shiver coursed down the central clan leader’s spine.

“Hey, you’re not paying attention,” Qin Huai’s voice echoed.

The central clan leader trembled, and in a blink, Qin Huai was gone. No, the voice came from behind him.

Bang!

A hand effortlessly impaled his back.

Crack!

Blood spurted out. One of his wings had been violently ripped off by Qin Huai, and he couldn’t hold back his scream. He mustered all his strength and wrenched free from Qin Huai’s grasp. Left with just one wing, he floated in mid-air, wavering.

“How did you… Why are you suddenly so fast?” The central clan leader stared at Qin Huai in terror, disbelief seeping from his eyes.

“You’re the one who’s slowed down.” Qin Huai’s figure reappeared before him. The black dragon pearl in his hand was now fist-sized.

During their chase, Qin Huai had already drained more than half of the central clan leader’s strength. If one chose to flee in the black dragon world, their fate was sealed: death. Yet, even if they wished to fight Qin Huai to the end, they would face countless restrictions.

Bang!

Without hesitation, Qin Huai thrust the black dragon pearl into the central clan leader’s body. The clan’s protective artifacts appeared to be tied to their bloodline power.

A silent explosion ripped through the central clan leader’s chest. The attack, like a black hole, caused large chunks of flesh and blood to vanish instantly.

The central clan leader appeared to choke as he reached out toward Qin Huai. Then, his body erupted with blood. Not much blood essence gushed out, since over half had already been devoured by the black dragon pearl.

“Ding! You have collected a [Kun Peng Seed (Fragment) x333], [Kun Peng Seed (1,821/2,000)]!” Qin Huai absorbed a staggering number of fragments. The very next moment, Qin Huai dismissed the black dragon world. A harsh, cold wind swept over his face, yanking him back to reality. His eyes landed on another battlefield.

Wang Kun, blood-soaked, had just ended his own fight. He had singlehandedly defeated four first-level visceral prefecture realm Kun Peng clan elders.

“Brother Qin, you’re done too?” Wang Kun looked up. Their eyes met, a shared joy in their gazes.

“Ding! You have collected a [Kun Peng Seed (Fragment) x43]!”

“Ding! You have collected a [Kun Peng Seed (Fragment) x56]!”

“Ding! You have collected a [Kun Peng Seed (Fragment) x50]!”

“Ding! You have collected a [Kun Peng Seed (Fragment) x66], [Kun Peng Seed (2,036/2,000)]!”

The final notification rang out. Inside Qin Huai’s dantian, a complete gray entity was assembled, and the cry of a Kun Peng seemed to echo in his mind.

“This is enough,” Qin Huai thought. He landed gently beside Wang Kun, surveying the four bodies lying in the blood sea.

“Brother Qin, your skills are beyond belief. What was that black formation just now? Just watching from afar fills me with dread, as if death is near,” Wang Kun marveled. action

“How could I compare to Elder Wang? I always feel like I can’t surpass you, but in the end, victory always favors you.” Qin Huai didn’t answer directly.

“Hahaha… I’m not sure either. I always feel that the more I get injured and the more I think I’ll lose, my body erupts with a force that flips the tables.” Elder Wang scratched his head bashfully.

“Elder Wang’s stories are just myths and legends,” Qin Huai said, half-jokingly eyeing the so-called ‘serious injuries’ on the other man’s body.

Wang Kun’s wounds had already healed, and Qin Huai couldn’t find a single scratch on him. Even Qin Huai, adept in the blood heart technique, was amazed by this level of recovery. That was why despite having been friends with Wang Kun for a long time, he found it difficult to fully trust and rely on him.

“Elder Wang, I might have to go down for a while,” Qin Huai said.

“Go down?” Wang Kun was taken aback. “Brother Qin, do you have a plan?”

“I’ve been above the blood sea for a month. I need to go down to recuperate and exchange information,” Qin Huai shared, but only half of his plan. The rest involved refining the seed into a guardian spirit item to balance the scales in the blood sea.

“Elder Wang, would you like to go down? For instance, do you have any family you wish to see?” Qin Huai asked, curiously.

Wang Kun shook his head, his face shadowed with sorrow. “I was alone to begin with. Now, with my sect decimated, all I can do is eliminate these demons in the blood sea,” he said, patting Qin Huai’s shoulder. “How long will you be gone, Brother Qin?” Qin Huai considered. “At least half a month, at most a month.” This was typically the time he needed to refine guardian spirit items.

“Good! I’ll wait for you and find a way to break the blood sea. This blood sea is certainly a grand array. If it’s an array, there must be an array core. We just need to find and destroy it,” Wang Kun said.

This aligned with Qin Huai’s thoughts. They had already searched the vast blood sea for half a month but found no clues.

“I suspect the array core is likely hidden in a place guarded by demons,” Wang Kun shared a startling theory. “There’s a high chance it’s in the heart of the Kun Peng clan’s cultivation grounds!”

He added, “I’ll gather as much information as I can while you’re gone, Brother Qin. You can rest easy.”

Wang Kun speculated that the core was in the demon’s central area, while Qin Huai felt it was likely in the heart of the blood sea. They had debated this extensively but unfortunately, both places were forbidden zones, out of their reach, leaving them temporarily stranded.

“Elder Wang, you must prioritize your safety,” Qin Huai insisted earnestly. In this sea of blood, Elder Wang was his sole ally.

“Don’t worry!”

After exchanging words of reassurance, Qin Huai walked to the edge of the blood sea and dove in.

Following today’s battle, he had gauged the difference between the central clan leader and himself. It was marginal. In terms of physical strength or attack strategies, he was vastly superior.

The only drawback was his lack of Kun Peng wings, which slowed him in the blood sea. This was manageable in one-on-one fights, but in larger battles, he felt cumbersome, easily manipulated.

To annihilate the Kun Peng clan, he needed to refine the Kun Peng wings.

Qin Huai plummeted from a height of seventy thousand feet, the wind roaring in his ears, and the air beneath gradually warming.

Bang!

He spread his wings. The snapping sound of bones echoed — his demon wings had reached their lifespan limit.

Bang!

A new pair of demon wings unfolded, the last on Qin Huai’s body. He halted his fall at the last moment, gently descending into a mountain range.

With ease, Qin Huai dug out a cave dwelling and settled in. Inside the cave, he activated the divine power book of a thousand creations and the blood heart technique. Then, he began cleansing his lungs of broken blood essence and guardian spirit items.

This was a painful process, but Qin Huai was used to the pain. The price he paid for the intertwining of seven bone patterns on his body was enduring this agony. Yet, he marveled at how harmoniously his distinct cultivation techniques melded within him.

Meanwhile, memories etched in his heart. His actual past surfaced…

Unbeknownst to him, Qin Huai’s lungs were now free of impurities. He then directed the complete Kun Peng seed from his dantian to his lungs.

After a long time, Qin Huai slowly opened his eyes. Along with them, ten-meter-long gray wings unfurled.