Such demonic insects were troublesome creatures no matter where they appeared, but Sima Jiao was different—his spirit fire was their natural bane. As he walked, a layer of black ash spread beneath his feet, the remains of any demonic insect daring to approach him, all burned to cinders.
The bridge was not only infested with demonic insects but also layered with arrays. With each step, the surrounding scenery shifted. A single misstep would transport one not onto the bridge but into another interwoven array space—a series of killing arrays.
Illusions, demonic insects, and arrays—these three alone could stop nearly all uninvited guests. Even Liao Tingyan wouldn’t have been able to detect the hidden bridge.
Unfortunately, none of this could hinder Sima Jiao. His movements were swift, his tall, dark figure gliding over the bridge like the wind before landing in another mountain pass.
The moment his foot touched the stone steps of the mountain, Sima Jiao’s brow twitched. Unlike the ordinary small peak he had seen earlier, this place was a space artificially created, detached from its original location.
Within this narrow space, even the sky was a stark crimson, unlike the outside world. The mountain mist carried a faint red hue, as if tainted by the scent of blood.
What exactly had Shi Qianlv—or rather, the Shi clan—hidden here?
After only a brief glance, a massive maw suddenly gaped open beneath Sima Jiao’s feet. The enormous mouth appeared without a sound, snapping shut in an instant, intending to swallow him whole.
Crack —the sound of the jaws clamping shut reverberated. But the man who should have been bitten in half had instead appeared in midair.
"A guard dog?" Sima Jiao sneered.
Such a ferocious beast was rare. Its sheer size and the murderous aura it exuded made it clear it had been brought from the abyss of the far north. Most beasts of this kind craved human flesh, and raising such a creature here explained the heavy stench of blood.
To others, it was a monstrous beast. To Sima Jiao, it was merely a guard dog.
The grotesque beast revealed its full form, recognizing the intruder before it. It let out thunderous roars, its foul breath turning into black clouds that shrouded the sky.
Suspended in the air, Sima Jiao raised his hand and drew from the void a long, pitch-black blade, two fingers wide. The straight-edged weapon measured three chi in blade length and two chi in hilt length, its unusual proportions giving it an eerie, sinister appearance.
Sima Jiao usually killed with his bare hands—two pale fingers were enough to snuff out lives. But the beast before him was too hideous and enormous, and he couldn’t be bothered to dirty his hands. Besides, Liao Tingyan had been nagging him lately not to strain his hands. Though he could easily crush the beast’s skull with his fingers, he supposed he ought to humor the one waiting for him at home.
The black blade felt weightless in his grip. When he swung it, the flash of steel was blinding, like a streak of lightning.
The beast’s armored hide split under the blade’s edge, its agonized howls shaking the entire isolated space. Wielding the long-unused weapon, Sima Jiao carved the vicious "guard dog" into over a dozen pieces before delivering the final blow—splitting its massive head in two.The blood of the ferocious beast was red. From such a massive creature, the blood flowed like a small river, inevitably splattering everywhere as it gushed out. Sima Jiao's blade remained unstained, but the hem of his robes dripped steadily with blood. Glancing at it, he sheathed his long blade back into the void and stepped onto the freshly laid river of blood, approaching the mountain shrouded in a barrier.
This final barrier was the most troublesome. Even if he had concealed and restrained himself, the commotion he had caused had likely already alerted Shi Qianlv. Yet, breaching this barrier would still take some time.
In that case, he wouldn’t bother opening it. Whatever lay inside, he would simply destroy it.
Sima Jiao thought this as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Come... in..."
A weak voice drifted from the mountain, so faint it was almost lost in the rustling of the wind, more like the whisper of leaves than a human voice.
"...Come..."
As the voice echoed, the barrier before Sima Jiao dissolved, leaving a gap just wide enough for him to enter. The dark opening resembled the gaping maw of a monster luring prey to their doom. Having already evaded the beast's jaws, Sima Jiao now stepped inside of his own accord.
He wasn’t afraid of any traps that might await him. At his level of cultivation, absolute confidence in himself and utter disregard for death meant he acted solely on impulse. Just as Shi Qianlv had once judged him—arrogant and self-absorbed.
Within the mountain's barrier, a palace-sized black jade structure took the shape of a lotus—or perhaps more accurately, a Fengshan Blood Clot Flower. This enormous black lotus rested atop a river of blood.
The river was crimson, flecked with fragments of gold, and warm to the touch.
Sima Jiao's expression darkened. The blood in this river carried the aura of the Sima bloodline. Suddenly, he understood the purpose of the people he had seen in Hundred Phoenix Mountain, raised like livestock, their impure blood collected in such quantities. Most of it had likely been gathered here.
With this much blood, even if impure, there was enough energy to nurture a Blood Clot Flower. And perhaps, even more than that.
A surge of violent energy rose within Sima Jiao, just as it had when he first arrived at Hundred Phoenix Mountain. He was seized by the urge to destroy this place, to burn this steaming river of blood dry.
He crossed the river and approached the black jade lotus at its center. Stepping onto its smooth petals, he climbed to the heart of the lotus, where a stone platform lay submerged in blood. The blood here was far purer than that in the surrounding river.
At first glance, Sima Jiao didn’t focus on the man lying in the bloody pool on the platform, but on his chest—split open, with a Blood Clot Flower blooming from it. And atop the flower, a tiny flame flickered.
Sima Jiao's pupils constricted.
That was the Fengshan Spirit Fire—a flame that should have existed only once in this world. Having merged with the spirit fire himself, he could sense that this small flame did not belong to him, though there was a faint, distant connection between them.
They had actually cultivated another spirit fire.
This was no feat achievable in one or two generations, or even a few centuries. They must have been working toward this for a very long time.
Finally, Sima Jiao turned his gaze to the man's face. It was a familiar face—one strikingly similar to his own. Yet while their features mirrored each other, their auras differed. This man carried a far more composed presence.The man opened his eyes and looked at him, slowly revealing a smile. "You've finally... come. I've been... waiting for you..."
Sima Jiao observed him for a moment, his expression unchanged. "Sima Shi?"
Sima Shi was Sima E's elder brother and Sima Jiao's biological father.
This man, who had reportedly gone mad and committed suicide many years ago, was unexpectedly still alive.
Sima Shi's gaze was gentle, the kind an elder would give a younger generation. But Sima Jiao's eyes held no more warmth for him than they would for any stranger.
"E'er... listened to me... fused the spirit fire... with you... I'm glad... you endured..." Sima Shi's words came in broken fragments. "I must tell you... something... place your hand... on my forehead..."
The Sima clan possessed a unique bloodline ability—communication through divine thought.
Though Sima Jiao couldn't hear Sima Shi's inner voice, he could discern others' emotions and sensed no malice from him. After a brief hesitation, he placed his hand on Sima Shi's forehead.
Soon, their divine thoughts met in a pure white world, standing face to face.
Here, Sima Shi's divine thought was more substantial than his physical body or Divine Soul. In this special inheritance space, time stretched infinitely—what felt like hours within might be merely a blink in the outside world. This ability, passed down through the Sima bloodline, served precisely for such ancestral teachings.
The father and son bore little resemblance to each other. Compared to Sima Shi's paternal identity, Sima Jiao showed far greater interest in the nascent spirit fire within him.
"Speak. What happened to you?"
Sima Shi smiled, unbothered by his tone.
"I am not merely Sima Shi, but also the previous generation's Sima Yan. Years ago, as the Sima clan declined, I uncovered the Shi clan's ambitions and their covert activities. But as Sima Yan, my time was limited—I was born with a fatal condition and short lifespan. So I chose soul transference, using a special method to preserve my memories by reincarnating as Sima Shi, deceiving everyone."
"I tried to save our clan... but failed."
Sima Shi sighed. "I discovered the Shi clan's attempts to cultivate new spirit fires, and how they secretly collected bloodlines from our descendants. I even infiltrated this Blood River Black Lotus, witnessing one of our clansmen being used for spirit fire cultivation."
His expression darkened, finally showing some resemblance to Sima Jiao. "The Shi clan were once our most trusted loyal servants. But people change. Exploiting our trust, they've harmed many clansmen—countless 'disappearances' and 'deaths' were actually victims brought here for spirit fire cultivation."
"I devised a plan—merge with the Fengshan Spirit Fire to destroy their scheme. But the fire's power overwhelmed me. The agony was unbearable, forcing me to abandon the attempt and devise an alternative."
Sima Jiao understood. "So you faked madness and suicide, knowing they'd send you here?""Yes." Sima Shi smiled: "I told E about merging with the spirit fire. She was an obedient child and succeeded in the end."
When Sima Jiao was born, Sima Shi was overjoyed, for he discovered this child possessed a rare ancestral bloodline. If he couldn't withstand the spirit fire, this child surely could.
What even he didn't know was that Sima E initially didn't want this child to merge with the spirit fire—she had even considered killing him. Only when pushed to desperation did she ultimately choose to purify the spirit fire with her own life, allowing that immensely powerful spirit fire to extinguish and be reborn, making it easier for Sima Jiao to merge with it.
Sima Shi: "All these years, they didn't realize my consciousness still remained. Unaware of me, they took no precautions, allowing me to make certain preparations. I waited a long time for your success, so I controlled one of the blood couriers and had him deliver news of Hundred Phoenix Mountain to you."
Sima Jiao raised an eyebrow.
So that Shi family member whose soul he had searched was sent by Sima Shi.
Sima Shi reached out to him, his eyes burning with fervor: "I knew you would come. When you arrived here, it would mark the end of everything."
Sima Jiao chuckled. "You're quite confident."
Sima Shi's expression carried the arrogance of the Sima lineage. "Naturally. We are the Fengshan Clan, the immortal race that lives as long as heaven and earth."
Sima Jiao scoffed. "Wake up. The Sima clan is down to just me—oh, and half of you."
Sima Shi shook his head, the fanaticism in his eyes growing more intense. "What does it matter if only you remain? As long as you live for millennia, as long as you don't die, the Fengshan Clan will endure forever."
Sima Jiao lacked his obsession with bloodline and lineage. Hearing this, he merely gave a soft, derisive laugh, unwilling to engage further.
"They're almost here," Sima Shi said, closing his eyes briefly. "They still don't know I can control this barrier... Before they arrive, you must devour the spirit fire within me."
...
When Shi Qianlv arrived in haste with his men, he saw Sima Jiao standing outside the barrier of that mountain, seemingly unable to enter.
Sima Jiao turned to glance at him. "You're slower than I expected."
This time, Shi Qianlv completely shed his dignified and scholarly facade as the sect leader. His expression darkened as he glared at Sima Jiao. "If you stop now, you can still remain as the Ancestral Master. Otherwise, I won't let you continue your arrogance unchecked."
Clearly, whatever lay beyond the barrier was his bottom line.
Sima Jiao: "And if I don't stop, what can you do about it... Send another batch of people for me to kill for fun?" As soon as he finished speaking, crimson flames spread beneath his feet.
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