Chapter 1718: Bear Child

In the distant void, a fragment of a continent drifted deeper into the abyss. This was a corner piece of Hunyuan Province, and from within it, a fist-sized soul, roughly the size of a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, slowly emerged.

It had an ancient, sinister appearance—it was precisely Cixin Sage! A temporary formation enveloped it, shielding it from the void's harm for now.

"Fortunately, I had the foresight," Cixin Sage muttered. "When Hunyuan sank, I sensed something was terribly wrong and separated a wisp of my soul to hide in the void. Otherwise, I would have been completely dead!"

Looking at its weakened soul, Cixin Sage was filled with intense hatred: "Jiang Fan, you little beast! You destroyed my half-giants and ruined my cultivation! Once I settle in a new world and cultivate back to strength, I will surely slaughter your entire family and make you regret it for the rest of your life!!!" It utterly despised Jiang Fan; this was an irreconcilable feud!

Rumble—

A sudden roar echoed through the void. Cixin Sage looked over in surprise, its pupils contracting. It saw nine azure dragons pulling a bronze chariot through the void. Wherever it passed, surrounding landmasses were crushed into dust by its immense aura.

What made Cixin Sage want to curse was that the bronze chariot was crushing its way towards its vicinity. Amidst a rolling, muffled sound like thunder, the continental fragment where it hid predictably disintegrated. Protected by the formation, it narrowly escaped, swept and spun by the turbulent currents. Amidst the dizzying whirl, it found itself floating beside the bronze chariot's window.

Inside the bronze chariot, an old marshal, clad in full armor, held a sword and gazed straight ahead. Beside him lay a bored chubby boy, idly swinging a small hammer and mumbling, "I want to go back to Central Land. This isn't fun at all, not fun in the slightest."

While whining, he suddenly caught sight of something floating outside the window. He focused his gaze and burst out laughing: "It's a formation! My little hammer hasn't been used since I got it back." He quickly got up and went to the window, extending his chubby hand, gripping the formation-breaking hammer, to hook the floating formation.

Cixin Sage felt like cursing. Once the formation was broken, its wisp of a soul wouldn't be able to withstand the chaotic currents of the void and would be easily crushed to death. It desperately tried to control its direction, to get away from Bear-bear's formation-breaking hammer. But the chaotic currents of the void were beyond its control, constantly pushing it towards the window.

Bear-bear raised his hammer, his plump face beaming with an excited smile. Cixin Sage's pupils sharply contracted. Looking at the approaching chubby face, it screamed, "Don't come closer, don't you dare come closer!"

The formation still drifted right in front of Bear-bear. He excitedly brought the hammer down with a powerful smash. With a *smack*, the formation, which Cixin Sage had hastily set up for its soul fragment, shattered instantly. Cixin Sage's soul was torn apart by the chaotic currents of the void rushing in from all directions. It let out a roar of indignation and frustration: "You damn brat..."

***

In Central Land, Hunyuan Province, Jiang Fan took out jade bottles of various sizes and drained all of Cixin Sage's blood. Sage's blood was a valuable commodity, capable of quickly bringing someone back to their senses when they were in a frenzy. He had expended immense effort just to obtain a small amount previously. With a corpse before him now, how could he let it go to waste? Jiang Fan only stopped when not a single drop of blood could be extracted.

Afterwards, he searched the body and found several spatial storage items, which made Jiang Fan look regretful. A Sage's treasure hoard—he couldn't imagine what might be inside. Unfortunately, they couldn't be opened without the proper incantations. After some thought, he decided not to throw them away. "I'll keep them for now. When Qiqi arrives, I'll ask her if there's a way to forcibly open the storage items. At worst, I'll just split the contents with her fifty-fifty."

As for Cixin Sage's corpse, he didn't waste it either. "I'll keep the corpse for now too. Later, I'll ask the Grand Wine Priest if he can extract some time-reversal laws from it for use."

Besides that, Jiang Fan retrieved the nine-colored crystal. Looking at the object, he gave a wry smile: "This is truly a useless lump. Did the white-robed skeleton's words truly come true? Is it truly a pipe dream for me to try and kill a Sage with this?" He refused to believe it; how could there be a magical artifact in the world that couldn't be used?

Just then, Grand Venerable Bingxin was the first to arrive. Blood continued to seep from the corner of her mouth, indicating the severity of her injuries. But her eyes were sparkling as she looked around. She really wanted to ask what the Hell Realm's World Lord Artifact, which Jiang Fan had tricked out of someone, looked like.

"What are you looking at? You're being sneaky," Jiang Fan asked, surprised.

Grand Venerable Bingxin guiltily withdrew her gaze. She didn't want to reveal her 'Flower Blooming Prosperity' identity yet. She had said she would impersonate an old woman to meet Jiang Fan in person, and she was determined to do it!

"You're the sneaky one," Grand Venerable Bingxin pouted, extending her delicate, snow-white hand. "You took back the Wishing Paper in Hunyuan Province. Now, give it back to me."

Jiang Fan's mouth twitched. He casually pulled out a bottle of Sage's blood and said, "Stingy, here."

Grand Venerable Bingxin's eyes lit up. She happily snatched it. "Sage's blood? This is a good thing! Alright, that settles one of our debts."

One debt? Jiang Fan wondered if he had other debts with Grand Venerable Bingxin.

At this moment, the Master of Jiangshan Yipin Tower and others arrived one after another. Looking at the land that had turned into lava, they were deeply shocked. The Master of Jiangshan Yipin Tower looked around, frowning. "Cixin Sage, he..." He had a faint suspicion but dared not believe it, having vaguely sensed an unusual otherworldly power descending earlier.

Jiang Fan said, "He's dead."

As if to confirm his words, spiritual rain began to fall from the sky without any warning. This was the spiritual rain that only appeared when a Sage fell!

The Master of Jiangshan Yipin Tower exclaimed in shock, "He's really dead! How did you do it?"

The Starry Mountain Master looked up at the spiritual rain, the dark clouds that had suppressed his heart for countless years dispersing at that moment. Guixu Province was free. But then, looking at Jiang Fan, his heart ached again. How could such a son-in-law, capable of slaying a Sage as a Soul Transformation cultivator, not have stayed for Xu Yining? Oh! Oh dear!!!

Grand Venerable Bingxin was stunned, only then realizing where the Sage's blood in her hand came from. She shrank back, muttering, "This guy is such a monster? I should stay far away."

Grand Venerable Jinlin and Grand Venerable Wanbing were also shocked and stepped forward to inquire. Jiang Fan smiled without speaking, then pointed to the spiritual rain in the sky and said, "Everyone, let's first accept the spiritual rain's baptism. Old dog Cixin gained his Sage cultivation by draining so much blood from our Central Land. We can't waste it."

Hearing this, everyone suppressed their questions, sat cross-legged, and absorbed the spiritual rain as much as possible. This spiritual rain offered immense benefits for their injuries and cultivation. Even Jiang Fan, bathed in the spiritual rain, gained clearer insights into the Path of Perfection. His consciousness had already ascended the fifth step of the second altar in his Dantian. If he combined this with his ongoing insights and the Fruit of Truth, lighting the second altar and challenging the Two Heavenly Demises would be easy.

"Cixin, I've taken the good things you left behind!" Jiang Fan showed a faint smile.

Just at this moment, he suddenly noticed a glowing jade talisman floating in the lava, on which the aura of the Witch lingered. His heart stirred, and he pulled the jade talisman towards him through the air. He found it was a jade talisman inscribed with the Witch's divine thought. After a moment's hesitation, he placed the talisman on his forehead. Instantly, the Witch's delightful giggling echoed in his mind.

However, what she said made Jiang Fan's hair stand on end. "My dear young master, my lord is coming for you. Nowhere but a continent can protect you. Take care, alright? Your loving Witch. Mwah."