Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

"Teacher, Elders, please come over!"

Looking at the many people from the Qingshan Sect below, who dared not utter an extra word, Yun Xiao did not abruptly execute them. Instead, using the Array Core of the Nine Palace Mountain Formation, he sent out a message to the other Eight Peaks of Qingshan.

Yun Xiao was not a bloodthirsty person. Otherwise, he wouldn't have only executed the leaders of the three great families in the Imperial City back then and allowed their clansmen to live and leave.

Heavenly Dao cycles, and Yun Xiao, after his rebirth, always believed that killing too many would lead to karmic retribution, especially those who only knew to follow orders and were not exceedingly vile.

Even if the Sect Master and Elders of Qingshan Sect deserved death, this grand sect was not entirely composed of bad people, many of whom did not deserve to die. And all of this, Yun Xiao didn't want to meddle too much. It was most appropriate to leave it to Yu Shu and the others to handle.

In less than two hours, Yu Shu and several Great Elders had all set foot on the Qingshan Main Peak. Seeing these figures, the cultivators from Qingshan Sect knew that from this moment on, the Xuanyue Empire would no longer have the Qingshan Sect.

"Yun Xiao, well done!"

The Fourth Elder, Li Shan, gave a thumbs-up to Yun Xiao on the high platform, prompting several Elders and Yu Shu to nod slightly. Truth be told, they had not held absolute hope for Yun Xiao's success initially.

This was Qingshan Main Peak after all, a critical location personally guarded by the Sect Master, Li Feng. Even Yu Shu himself did not have complete confidence in success, let alone breaking through Li Feng to control the Array Core of the large formation.

But now, all of this had become a reality. The remains of Li Feng, crushed into meat paste, still bore some special aura that let everyone from the Jade Pot Sect know the fate of this Sect Master of Qingshan.

Perhaps after this incident, whatever Yun Xiao wanted to do, even if it meant fighting against a Heavenly Rank Expert, Yu Shu and the others would believe without a doubt. After all, this miraculous young man has never failed to accomplish anything.

"Teacher, I'll leave these members of the Qingshan Sect to you to deal with, and I'll go take a look around!"

Yun Xiao glanced at the headquarters of the Qingshan Sect and spoke. Yu Shu and the others did not refuse because, despite the vast size of Qingshan Sect, there were still many formidable members remaining. If they were not handled properly, they could potentially resurge and become a serious threat to the Jade Pot Sect.

As for Yun Xiao's remark about "taking a look around," Yu Shu had his speculations. After all, the Qingshan Sect's heritage spanned hundreds of years, and its foundation was not much inferior to that of the Jade Pot Sect. Presumably, the treasures left within the sect were also substantial.

Moreover, such a large sect would not keep many of their items in Waist Storage, especially since Yun Xiao already had some sensing. Without paying further attention to the Qingshan Sect's members, he headed towards the towering buildings of the Qingshan Sect's headquarters.

Swoosh!

Yun Xiao had just taken a few steps when he felt a weight on his shoulder. Glancing sideward, he saw that the Fire Cloud Rat Chi Yan had already followed him. He chuckled and said, "You little guy, you must have also smelled some good treasures, right?"

Yun Xiao didn't doubt Chi Yan's nose one bit, especially when it came to Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures with a Fire Attribute. This guy would probably never miss out on them, even if they were several miles away, he could still sniff them out accurately.

In the blink of an eye, both man and rat disappeared from the sight of the onlookers. The members of the Qingshan Sect were left with pale faces, waiting for the judgement of their fate by the powerful members of the Jade Pot Sect. No need to go into details.

"Squeak!"

No sooner had they set foot into the complex headquarters of the Qingshan Sect than Chi Yan excitedly squeaked, leaped off Yun Xiao's shoulder, and disappeared from sight.

In response, Yun Xiao didn't pay much attention, going straight to a location his senses led him to. But when he arrived, he found nothing but a smooth, flat stone wall.

"This is strange!"

Staring at the smooth stone wall, Yun Xiao's expression turned solemn. He had great confidence in his instincts; although the place seemed extremely calm, the underlying danger could not escape his senses.

And according to Yun Xiao's previous sensing, something should be within this stone wall. It seemed that this smooth cliff face was a secret mechanism unknown to others. But where exactly was the pivotal point of this mechanism?

Hoo...

Yun Xiao reached out to touch his forehead, and his powerful Power of Soul radiated outward. With his current Spiritual Rank Advanced Soul Power, he was more likely to find some hidden things than by using his eyes.

"Found it!"

Sure enough, under the sensing of Yun Xiao's powerful Soul Power, an anomaly in the smooth stone wall finally had no place to hide. Seeing this, he let out a low shout, stepped up, and gave a heavy kick to a certain spot on the stone wall.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

As Yun Xiao withdrew his right foot, a square crack emerged on the smooth stone wall, looking as if a door was being pushed open.

"This must be the treasure vault of Qingshan Sect!"

Upon seeing this, Yun Xiao felt a surge of joy; the place was so ingeniously hidden and protected by such magical mechanisms that he couldn't help but grow curious about what treasures might lie within.

Qingshan Sect was no small faction. Didn't Yun Xiao wipe out the three great families of the Imperial City and chose to simply take the Waist Storage of the three family heads, without bothering to search for any treasure vaults?

But Qingshan Sect was different; with such a foundation, it would be hard to believe that they didn't possess any treasures passed down from previous generations. Yun Xiao's current hope was that the treasures hidden inside the vault were not limited to simple Meridian Techniques and Cultivation Techniques, which to him, were hardly more than chicken ribs—an unnecessary existence.

Whoosh!

However, just as Yun Xiao was heading toward the cave with high expectations, a sudden and powerful sound of breaking wind came rushing from within the cave, prompting him to hurriedly dodge to the side.

As Yun Xiao evaded, a tall, earthy yellow figure suddenly burst out from the opened doorway of the hole. This figure faintly felt familiar to Yun Xiao.

"This... is this a Sixth Rank Advanced Strange Spirit?"

Upon seeing the figure clearly, Yun Xiao's eyes shot out a sharp light, and he also realized why this figure seemed familiar to him.

This being was entirely earthy yellow, devoid of any facial features—strikingly similar to the Strange Spirit Yun Xiao encountered on the fourth level of Jade Pot Cave in the Jade Pot Sect.

Of course, while both entities seemed like mud and rocks that had gained Spiritual Wisdom to become Strange Spirits, their aura and strength were worlds apart; literally night and day.

Although encountering a Strange Spirit here was surprising, Yun Xiao was more delighted than frightened, for he knew that on the Hidden Dragon Continent, where spiritual energy was scarce, the formation of Strange Spirits was a hundred times more difficult than in the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud.

Each Strange Spirit Yun Xiao had encountered in the Hidden Dragon Continent had its unique reasons for formation. The Fire Spirit Snake from Yurong Volcano, for example, must have formed over hundreds and thousands of years because of the constant hot energy from the active volcano.

Similarly, the Strange Spirit in Jade Pot Cave probably gained Spiritual Wisdom due to the presence of the divine Dragon Taming Sword—regretfully, it was ultimately dealt with by Yun Xiao.

Whether it was the tree spirit Strange Spirit in the Demon Realm due to the Mixed Element Qi or the unusual Body Seizing of the Golden Blade Strange Spirit Jin Wuli, the formation of Strange Spirits always had various special reasons.

Therefore, seeing this mud and stone Strange Spirit, Yun Xiao felt a strange sensation in his heart. Could it be that within the caves of Qingshan Sect, there were also unknown special treasures?

Boom!

This mud and stone Strange Spirit, however, did not have as many thoughts as Yun Xiao. It simply loathed humans, and upon seeing flesh and blood, it couldn't resist the urge to destroy it—true to the innate nature of Strange Spirits.

What Yun Xiao couldn't figure out was why a Strange Spirit would be guarding the treasure vault of the Qingshan Sect. Could it be that Li Feng and the other Qingshan Sect Elders could coexist peacefully with a Strange Spirit?

On the Continent, Strange Spirits were the mortal enemies of humans. For example, countless human cultivators died at the hands of Strange Spirits within Nine-layered Dragon Cloud within a single year, and the Long Xiao Battle God's biggest enemy was those inexhaustible, formidable Strange Spirits.

Even if Strange Spirits were rare on the Hidden Dragon Continent, Yun Xiao would not believe that they could live in harmony, unless the spirit was as special as Jin Wuli and remained undiscovered by others.

However, facing a Sixth Rank Advanced Strange Spirit, Yun Xiao did not feel too afraid. Although the combat power of Strange Spirits was somewhat stronger than Vein Demons of the same level, he was not an ordinary human cultivator.

Swoosh!

With the intent for a quick battle, Yun Xiao drew out the Dragon Taming Sword from his back, and with a flash of black light, the not so intelligent Strange Spirit had one of its arms sharply severed by the incomparably sharp Dragon Taming Sword.

Perhaps the Strange Spirit didn't care much about the Dragon Taming Sword; in any case, under such a sharp cut, its arm silently fell to the ground.

However, Yun Xiao did not relax his guard, for he knew that Strange Spirits and human Vein Demons were different; losing an arm might not inflict serious damage on them.

Indeed, under Yun Xiao's watchful eyes, the Strange Spirit's body flickered with a yellow light, and then the fallen arm on the ground sprang up of its own accord, reattaching itself to its shoulder as if nothing had happened.

"The deadly weakness of a Strange Spirit lies in their Spirit Crystal!"

Yun Xiao, who had battled countless Strange Spirits in his past life, had already pinpointed the fatal weakness of the Strange Spirit; yet, knowing it was one thing, and actually hitting it was another matter.

The Strange Spirit acted as if it did not see the Dragon Taming Sword cutting through any part of its body, but as soon as Yun Xiao tried to pierce its chest, it would vigorously dodge.

After dozens of exchanges, Yun Xiao knew where the Strange Spirit's Spirit Crystal was hidden, and he had a plan in mind.

A regular cultivator at the Late Stage of the Spirit Vein Realm would have been pulverized by the Strange Spirit's punch long ago, but unfortunately for the spirit, it had encountered Yun Xiao—a peerless prodigy who never played by the rules. Thus, its fate was sealed from the moment it faced Yun Xiao.