Chen Chang'an's divine sense sank into the Spirit Realm once more. His will was like an invisible wind, sweeping across mountains and rivers before finally locking onto a small city.
Within the city, a small cultivation family was being besieged by several hostile forces...
Ruoshui City.
Lin Family Patriarch Lin Yueshan stood on the stone steps before the ancestral shrine. The long sword in his hand was stained with blood. His robes had long been torn into ragged strips by the enemy's blade energy. His chest heaved violently. Every breath carried the scent of blood. The spiritual power within his body was nearly exhausted. His meridians burned with pain.
"Patriarch! The East Gate has fallen!" An elder covered in blood stumbled over, his voice hoarse. "Third Elder... Third Elder has fallen in battle!"
Lin Yueshan's fingers gripped the sword hilt tightly. His knuckles turned white. Third Elder Lin Yuan was his own younger brother.
"The West Gate can't be held either!" Another young disciple came running staggeringly. His left arm had been severed at the shoulder. Blood gushed out continuously. "The Zhao family has released Spirit Devouring Insects. Our defensive formation can't block them at all!"
Lin Yueshan looked up. He saw a dark mass of insects surging like a tide in the distant sky. Wherever they passed, Lin family disciples didn't even have time to scream before being devoured into white skeletons.
"Retreat! Everyone retreat to the ancestral shrine!" He roared out the order. His voice was already hoarse beyond recognition.
But the clansmen who could retreat back were already few and far between.
Inside the ancestral shrine, the remaining Lin family disciples huddled together. Some hugged their dead relatives and wept bitterly. Others stared blankly at the sky. Their eyes were filled with despair.
Lin Yueshan's gaze swept over them. Originally a family of over a thousand people, now less than a hundred remained. Most were severely injured.
"Patriarch... we..." A young disciple spoke tremblingly. Before he could finish, tears were already rolling down.
Lin Yueshan knew what he wanted to ask—was there still hope?
There was none.
The Lin family was originally a medium-level cultivation family in this small city. Though not top-tier, they had a heritage of several hundred years.
But ever since half a year ago, when they discovered a small spirit vein outside the city, everything had changed.
The Zhao family, Wang family, and Li family. These three families that had originally kept to their own business suddenly joined forces and attacked. They claimed that spirit vein was a treasure left by their ancestors. After negotiations broke down, the allied forces of the three families besieged the Lin family. They were determined to annihilate the family and seize the treasure.
"Boom—!"
A loud sound rang out. The great gate of the ancestral shrine was blasted open by a violent surge of spiritual power.
Through the smoke and dust, Zhao family Patriarch Zhao Wuji walked in slowly. Behind him followed dozens of cultivators bristling with killing intent.
"Lin Yueshan, still going to struggle desperately?" Zhao Wuji sneered. "Hand over the spirit vein map, and I can give you a quick death."
Lin Yueshan stared at him fixedly. His eyes were completely bloodshot. "Zhao Wuji, aren't you afraid of divine retribution? For a mere spirit vein, you slaughtered over a thousand lives!"
"Divine retribution?" Zhao Wuji laughed heartily. "In this cultivation world, the strong preying on the weak is the natural order! If you want to blame someone, blame your Lin family for being too weak!"
Without waiting for his voice to fade, he waved his hand sharply. A fierce blade energy slashed straight toward Lin Yueshan's face!
"Patriarch, watch out!" An elder threw himself forward without regard for his own safety. He used his body to block this attack.
"Seventh Elder!" Lin Yueshan's eyes were about to split open. He watched as this elder who had taught him since childhood was cleaved in half before his eyes.
Despair.
Boundless despair surged like a tide.
Lin Yueshan knew that today, the Lin family was doomed to destruction. He slowly raised his sword. Looking at his reflection in the blade—his face covered in blood and filth, his eyes gray and defeated.
"Ancestors of the Lin family..." he murmured. "This unfilial descendant Lin Yueshan was incapable of protecting the family. Today... I shall apologize with my death!"
The long sword pressed against his neck. The cold blade touched his skin.
However, just as he was about to apply force—
The entire world came to a standstill.
The wind stopped. The clouds froze. Even the blood droplets splashing outside the shrine were suspended in mid-air.
Lin Yueshan's pupils contracted sharply. Before he could react, a blurry figure had silently appeared before him.
That person's face was hazy. It was as if shrouded in a thin mist. Only a pair of eyes were as deep as stars.
"Do you want your family to be destroyed, your clansmen to die miserably on the spot, your wife to be humiliated... or do you want to escape and rise again?"
A voice rang in Lin Yueshan's ear.
You... who are you?
"Who I am is not important, but I have a deal." The mysterious person spoke. His voice was calm yet brooked no argument. "I can guarantee your family will not be destroyed. I can even help you rise to a higher level."
Lin Yueshan's throat moved. "Wh... what are the conditions?"
"I want to borrow your entire family for three hundred years." The mysterious person said lightly. "During this period, your entire family must be under my control. After three hundred years, I will return your freedom."
Borrow our entire family for three hundred years? What did that mean?
Lin Yueshan was somewhat confused for a moment. But there was one sentence he understood—
They could avoid death. They might even allow the family to rise?
Lin Yueshan hardly hesitated at all. "I agree!"
The moment his voice fell, a powerful force swept over like a whirlwind. He only felt the scene before his eyes suddenly become blurry. It was as if the entire world was spinning in an instant. In the blink of an eye, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar environment—a pure white space. There was no color or texture whatsoever. Only endless white stretched into the distance.
He looked around blankly. His heart was filled with shock and confusion. However, what surprised him even more was that he saw his clansmen had also been transferred to this place. Each and every one of them looked disheveled and battered. But clearly, they were all still alive.
"This..." he murmured to himself. For a moment, he didn't know what to do.
Just then, a mysterious and low voice came from the void. "Rest well for now."
Lin Yueshan took a deep breath. He tried hard to calm himself down.
He knew this was not the time to panic. His clansmen needed his comfort and guidance.
So he turned to face his clansmen. Suppressing the unease in his heart, he said, "Everyone, don't be afraid. This is a powerful person helping us. We... are saved."
The clansmen were stunned at first. Clearly, they were extremely surprised by this sudden turn of events.
But when they heard Lin Yueshan's words, the fear on their faces gradually turned to the joy of surviving a disaster. Each and every one of them showed relieved smiles.
Watching his clansmen's relieved expressions, a heavy stone in Lin Yueshan's heart finally fell to the ground.
He began to secretly rejoice that he had made the right choice at the critical moment.
And as time passed, more and more people appeared in this pure white space.
Every new group of people was as battered and terrified as they were.
Then they quickly gathered together. They looked around everything with guarded expressions.
Lin Yueshan silently observed all of this. His heart was shocked beyond measure—this mysterious person's ability was probably beyond even the legendary Longevity Realm cultivators!
He gazed into the distant void. Besides apprehension, a trace of anticipation actually rose in his heart...
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