I Slay Gods and Demons in the Deceit Night
Chapter 722 - 412: Holy Alliance Heavenly Destiny! Heavenly Furnace Great Elder!_3

Chapter 722: Chapter 412: Holy Alliance Heavenly Destiny! Heavenly Furnace Great Elder!_3

He thought so, and took the Taiji Yin Yang Bottle handed over by the Little White Ape.

Inside, aside from the Tiger Head that could serve as a Pure Land, there was also the Mountain Lord’s headless corpse.

"Ancestor Blood!"

Lin Yan’s gaze was rather complex.

The Mountain Lord had always attempted to refine Ancestor Blood in order to purify himself and ascend to the status of Heavenly Demon.

That night at Mountain King Manor, Lin Yan predicted it wouldn’t be something accomplished in one night. He struck decisively, interrupting the Mountain Lord’s process of gathering Ancestor Blood.

He then demanded an explanation and swiftly beheaded this ferocious tiger.

After the tiger’s death, nothing out of the ordinary occurred.

But over the past two days, aside from the severed Tiger Head... that headless tiger corpse began to behave strangely.

It seemed to shrink and wither, gradually becoming desiccated.

Yet the Qi Mechanism in the tiger’s body did not weaken. Its aura instead grew increasingly formidable.

Lin Yan handed the Taiji Yin Yang Bottle to the Little White Ape, his doubts growing heavier under ominous shadows.

After all, he was young, his life experience shallow, and he could not fully grasp the details.

Luckily, behind him stood all of South Mountain Sacred Land’s wise scholars.

"Master..." Little Willow Venerable’s voice, emanating from the Phoenix Tree Leaves above, said, "Young Master Ren did some digging and found records in ancient texts brought back from the northern side of Taixuan Divine Mountain years ago. The First True Master of the Alchemy Hall has been consulted to verify them, and they’ve reached a preliminary conclusion!"

"Speak!" Lin Yan demanded.

"You mentioned before that when this Mountain Lord was merely a Great Demon, he obtained a treasure, hidden it for years, and later tried to offer it to the previous Prince Zhen Nan, though the prince declined," Little Willow Venerable said.

"Now we know—the treasure the Mountain Lord obtained all those years ago was originally crafted as a trap for the previous Prince Zhen Nan!"

Lin Yan acknowledged this with a sound.

Having kept the treasure, the trap left its grasp and fell back upon the Mountain Lord himself.

"Young Master Ren said it should be an unformed Divine Pill—a Dan Embryo to be precise," Little Willow Venerable explained, "On the surface, its refinement strengthens Qi-Blood, but in truth, it hides a fatal danger."

"What danger?" Lin Yan asked.

"When the Dan Embryo is absorbed into one’s body, it merges with the self... But if the individual who refined the Dan Embryo possesses sufficiently deep expertise, they can preserve within it an almost imperceptible ’seed’!"

Little Willow Venerable explained, "When the host breaks through their cultivation level, the seed will inevitably siphon their Mana, resulting in backlash and death! That seed will then transform into a Great Elixir!"

Lin Yan contemplated this and said, "The previous Prince Zhen Nan was at the Creation Peak level of cultivation at the time, later achieving the status of Human Martial Saint! So, the mastermind intended to target Prince Zhen Nan once he reached the Martial Saint realm, kill him, steal his cultivation, and refine the Great Elixir?"

The previous Prince Zhen Nan refused the Mountain Lord’s offering.

Perhaps he saw through the trap hidden within.

Yet Lin Yan leaned toward the theory that Prince Zhen Nan’s upright integrity had allowed him to dodge that calamity.

Ultimately, the scheme failed against the previous Prince Zhen Nan. The mastermind neither seized the Dan Embryo nor retrieved it, leaving it with the Mountain Lord. To this day, over a century has passed.

If we account for the Mountain Lord obtaining this treasure even earlier—it’s no wonder it was said the mastermind has been grooming the Mountain Lord as "medicinal material" for two hundred years.

"When the Mountain Lord was gathering Ancestor Blood, you intervened and interrupted him, Master. But unquestionably, his bloodline must have become purer than before!"

Little Willow Venerable hesitated for a moment before saying, "At present, it appears the Elixir Seed is still intact..."

"Once the Mountain Lord’s body completely withers, it should coalesce into a Great Elixir."

"However, since the Mountain Lord is already dead, his head severed, and only the body remains, the First True Master of the Sacred Land’s Alchemy Hall estimates this Great Elixir will possess merely twenty percent efficacy!"

"Twenty percent?"

Lin Yan suddenly glanced at the Little White Ape.

If it were to consume this Elixir, it should be able to ascend beyond its tier, though the latent dangers remained unknown!

Mulling this over, he heard the Cloud Stepping Colt speak up: "Saint Master, we’re approaching the Heavenly Furnace Sacred Land, encompassing the Three Prefectures."

"This is the Fire Cloud Prefecture, one of the Three Prefectures. It currently has three cities and four large-scale Pure Lands."

"Of the three cities, two were established around Ancient Old Gods, while the other relies on the remnants of a Human Martial Saint to dispel deceitful evil during the nights."

The Cloud Stepping Colt’s gaze was filled with awe as it said, "The city we’re heading toward worships the remnants of a Human Martial Saint!"

"..."

Lin Yan fell into silence.

Heavenly Furnace Sacred Land!

This Sacred Master was not skilled in combat but excelled in refining elixirs and pills!

Most of the Holy Alliance’s elixirs originated from the Heavenly Furnace Sacred Land!

Within this Sacred Ground’s cities, there were bound to be masters of the Alchemy Dao in generous numbers.

Lin Yan softly closed his eyes and mused: "An unformed Dan Embryo, intended to target an individual at the Creation Peak, readying to break through to become a Human Martial Saint—like the former Prince Zhen Nan... And years later, it is repurposed to target the Mountain Lord on the verge of becoming a Heavenly Demon!"

"Such profound mastery of the Alchemy Dao—there’s a high chance the mastermind belongs to the upper echelon of the Heavenly Furnace Sacred Land!"

"This Great Elixir—its creation has tested the mastermind’s patience for over two centuries."

"If we enter the Fire Cloud Prefecture, will they attempt to retrieve it?"

With such thoughts swirling, Lin Yan couldn’t help but feel a strange surge of excitement. He immediately raised his hand and commanded: "Enter the city!"

——

The Cloud Stepping Colt was classified as a beast, and the Little White Ape, too, fell into this category.

By rights, their entry into the city should have been prohibited.

Even the soldiers guarding the gate appeared extremely tense, each drawing their blades from their sheaths.

Yet as soon as the Token from Prince Zhen Nan’s city was revealed, all resistance crumbled into nothing.

"Our Prince Zhen Nan’s name still holds sway, after all," the Cloud Stepping Colt whispered, "The prior Thousand Households officer of the Demon Suppression Department was steadfast in his enmity against us—hence the lack of courtesy..."

"Using the Prince Zhen Nan Token for entry..." The Little White Ape asked, "Master, we’ve exposed our identity, haven’t we? We just killed the Demon Suppression Thousand Households officer—could it be that we’ll bump into our wanted posters in the city?"

"If we don’t expose our identity, why bother entering the city?"

Lin Yan’s voice held a steady calm as he replied.

——

Inside the Heavenly Furnace Sacred Land.

"Great Elder, a message just arrived... The person who killed the Mountain Lord at Mountain King Manor entered Fire Cloud Prefecture’s Holy Dew City without concealment, swaggering right in."

"Good!"

Within the cave dwelling, an old man clad in scarlet robes emerged, his voice icy as he said, "I spent two sixty-year cycles gathering the medicinal materials to refine a Nine-Turn Dan Embryo. I used it on the Mountain Lord, watching as the medicinal material ripened and the Great Elixir came into form—only to have it destroyed by this person."

"Now, my remaining life span grows scarce. This individual has severed my path forward, ruined my prospects for survival, and has the audacity to come to my home turf—what a provocation!"

"In that case, let’s settle this once and for all!"

The Great Elder of the Heavenly Furnace Sacred Land let out a sinister laugh and said, "If they’re capable of killing the Mountain Lord, their foundation must be deep... This grand ’medicinal material’—I’ll claim it for myself!"