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Human Sacrifice
I frowned and stepped back, looking at the ordinary-looking Xiao Yan approaching me. "I don't know how you know so much, but I've been hesitating about whether to kill you. Among the Outer Sect Top Ten, you have no bad reputation. In a way, you're quite similar to me. Right now, I don't want to kill you even more, so please don't force my hand."
I really couldn't understand what Xiao Yan meant. He had abandoned his sword; the Dragon Abyss Sword could unleash power beyond his current capabilities. My true strength was at the Foundation Establishment Realm, and it seemed unlikely that he could defeat me relying solely on his agility.
I had killed many people while wearing a mask, believing I had done so without anyone noticing. How did he know? With his mysterious and unpredictable movements, had he been following me all along?
I had only been in the Inner Sect for two months and had caused quite a stir during that time. Although I hadn't seen him around, it wasn't surprising that he recognized me. What puzzled me was why he didn't treat me as an enemy; there was not a hint of killing intent in his eyes.
Xiao Yan curled his fingers with his right hand, and Dao Qi surged from his palm. Sand and gravel stirred, branches swayed, and mist began to rise.
I squinted as I saw Xiao Yan's figure suddenly vanish before my eyes. I quickly looked down, picked up a branch from the ground, and thrust it backward, but there was no trace of him behind me.
A rush of wind brushed past my ear. Instinctively, I raised my elbow to block it as Xiao Yan kicked me away, sending me skidding close to the riverbank.
I glanced at the Dragon Abyss Sword at my feet, hesitated for a moment but chose not to pick it up. Instead, I drew an Iron Sword from beside the river.
Xiao Yan charged toward me amidst the swirling dust and leaves. I thrust my sword at him, but he leaned slightly to evade it just in time. He struck out with his palm toward my chest. I executed a technique from the Martial Dao Classic, spreading my arms slightly and forcefully pushing Xiao Yan away.
As Xiao Yan was sent flying into the air, he suddenly seemed to vanish into thin air. My heart raced as I sensed a figure approaching from my right in mid-air. I slashed with my sword; Xiao Yan's figure shattered into fragments with my strike, but it wasn't his real body. At the same time, figures appeared from all directions. I pushed off the ground hard and retreated.
Suddenly, the Dragon Abyss Sword flew toward me, passing by and landing behind me. I heard someone's breath—though faint, it was unmistakable.
Without thinking twice, I turned around and thrust my sword forward. Xiao Yan stood behind me with a sword in hand; my Iron Sword pierced into his chest. I quickly withdrew my hand, but Xiao Yan took a step forward. With a soft sound, the Iron Sword penetrated through his chest.
Xiao Yan smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth and said, "You succeeded."
I released the Iron Sword, confused by the intentions of the stranger before me. He handed me the Dragon Abyss Sword and said, "This sword is yours now."
"Why are you doing this? What do you want?" I asked, bewildered. It was strange for a stranger to hand over his life to me without reason.
"You are the son of Divine Hero Yang Sanqian, right?" Xiao Yan said.
I nodded dumbly, not understanding how he knew this secret.
Xiao Yan smirked with satisfaction and said, "Then it's true. My name is Yang Yan, and I am your kin from the Yinshan Yang Family, a descendant of the Old Scholar."
"Even if you are my kin, there's no need to give your life away," I replied.
"There is a need," Yang Yan insisted. "Because my eyes can see what ordinary people cannot. I see the Book of Life and Death within you; it is gradually being controlled by you. I want to exchange my death for a condition: kill someone for me."
"What exactly is going on? You must know," I pressed.
Yang Yan's life force was dissipating; blood trickled from his mouth, and his body continued to bleed. He looked at me and asked, "Do you know why you've been wandering for over twenty years and cannot return to the Yang Family? Even your father cannot return to the Yang Family. If it weren't for his extraordinary abilities, he might have died long ago."
"Why?"
"Because the Yang Family has no need for a Bastard Son, no matter how talented. This is the rule of the Yang Family. If you were born into the Yang Family, you might have faced the same fate as mine. No matter how high your potential, you could never reach the Foundation Establishment Realm because achieving that means death or becoming a commoner. I endured for ten years and finally waited for my chance."
I remained silent, listening intently to Yang Yan's words.
The Yang Family is one of the oldest family sects in the Daoist World, rooted in Yin Mountain for a thousand years. A thousand years ago, the founder of the Yang Family stumbled upon half a book and swept through Yin Mountain invincibly in just three years. Later, he established Yinshan Sect, gaining fame gradually. During the great war among Daoist sects, they earned a reputation that attracted countless talented youths, leading to their peak prosperity.
However, due to various reasons, internal conflicts gradually emerged within the Yinshan Sect. Over a hundred years later, some of the external disciples became Daoist Grandmasters. The disciples from Yin Mountain and those from the Yang Family experienced severe divisions as they fought for control over the sect, leading to increasing tensions. At that time, the Yang Family initiated a coup under the cover of night, killing all disciples who did not bear the Yang surname, and that Daoist Grandmaster was publicly burned to death.
Centuries passed, and power struggles continued unabated. Although the Yang Family held power within the Yinshan Sect, conflicts began to arise between legitimate descendants and illegitimate ones.
In ancient times, legitimate heirs were held in high regard. The emperor's firstborn son would be named crown prince, and the mother of the crown prince would enjoy elevated status as the queen. The crown prince received different treatment compared to a bastard son; one was elevated while the other was marginalized. However, if the crown prince lacked talent and virtue while a bastard son excelled, contradictions would inevitably arise.
The Yinshan Yang Family was similarly large and powerful. Legitimate offspring received tenfold more resources for Taoist cultivation than their bastard counterparts. Eventually, in one generation, a foolish legitimate son emerged who could not match even a single talented bastard son, regardless of how many treasures he consumed or how advanced his cultivation methods were. Decades later, that grown-up bastard son became a Daoist Grandmaster and led his clan to slaughter the legitimate sons of the Yang Family. The legitimate sons controlled the lifeblood of the Yang Family and awakened its hidden heritage, summoning the ancestors of the Yang Family to eliminate the rebellion from the bastard lineage.
From that point on, a rule was established within the Yang Family: regardless of whether a legitimate son was disabled or incompetent, he would be regarded as the future leader of the Yang Family. No bastard son could usurp this position; otherwise, they would face merciless execution. This rule led to centuries of oppression against bastard clans by legitimate heirs, culminating in a regulation that caused great distress to Yang Yan.
Bastard clan cultivators were required to provide their legitimate counterparts with the strongest Dao Dan.
Yang Yan was one of the top ten providers of Dao Dan among his peers in the bastard lineage.
The first three realms of cultivation are Entry-Level Realm, Purple Qi Coming from the East Realm, and Foundation Establishment Realm.
The Entry-Level Realm generates Dao Qi; Purple Qi Coming from the East gathers Spirit Energy from outside and transforms it into one's own Dao Qi; while Foundation Establishment Realm allows for storage and absorption of Dao Qi.
When a cultivator transitions from Purple Qi Coming from the East Realm to Foundation Establishment Realm, they generate a Qi Sea. However, before forming this Qi Sea, if their Dantian shatters, it will temporarily create a Dao Dan that can last up to three moments—no one can take it away. Yet within half of an ancient text belonging to the Yang Family's ancestors was discovered a peculiar method that allows for extracting a Dao Dan from blood relatives and transplanting it into another's body to open their Qi Sea. This resolved one of the greatest sources of conflict within the Yang Family—the poor aptitude of legitimate sons who were unworthy of inheriting their legacy or possessing such texts.
A person who gathers numerous Dao Dans from bastard sons could become talented even if their Meridians were initially blocked.
Yang Yan was born as one of the Top Ten Offerings; no matter how talented he was, his fate was still one of being cut down.
This is the price for the Yang Family becoming one of the Five Great Supremes in Daoist Sects: survival of the fittest in a world where only the strong prevail.
Yang Yan had been marked by a master of the Yang Family with a spiritual beacon. No matter where he fled, he would be discovered. Once he began to condense his essence to open the Qi Sea, the upper echelons of the Yang Family would sense it and come to claim his essence.
True talent never required the use of a Foundation Pill to open the Qi Sea. The Qi Sea was the foundation of a cultivator's practice, the true threshold to entering the Dao. A Qi Sea cultivated through genuine skill was far superior to one forcibly developed through medicinal power.
For ten years, Yang Yan had suppressed his own strength. While others consumed vast amounts of herbs to break through their bottlenecks and open their Qi Seas, he took suppressive medicine to hinder his cultivation growth, fearing that in some unaware night, his Dao Qi would inadvertently break through and reach the stage of condensing Dao Dan. If that happened before he could transform it into a Qi Sea, it would be taken from him.
Thus, the young Yang Yan should have stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm a decade ago. He defeated invincible opponents beneath that realm, and not a single one of the Eight Thousand Disciples dared to challenge him. Even Ma Yuan, who was theoretically ten times stronger than him in the Foundation Establishment Realm, fell easily before Yang Yan.
Let alone Water Master Liangyu, who was at the late stage of Purple Qi Eastward Boundary; Yang Yan severed him with a single sword strike. From beginning to end, Yang Yan had been acting, creating an opportunity for us to converse privately.
He wanted to die by my hand and tell me certain things.
Yang Yan said, "As a Bastard Son born as tribute, each Bastard only needs to provide one person as tribute. As the eldest Bastard Son, I bear the highest burden and willingly accept the punishment of having my Dao Foundation destroyed on behalf of my younger siblings. However, I am unwilling to part with my Dao Dan once it is handed over to the Legitimate Son."
"So you want to use your life and this Dragon Abyss Sword to have me kill the Yang Family's Legitimate Son?" I asked.
Yang Yan nodded. "That's right."
I replied, "You know my surname is Yang. First off, whether I will kill someone from my own clan is questionable. The Yang Family's legitimate line has gathered so many talented disciples' Dao Dans; defeating their Legitimate Son is already a problem for me. Moreover, even if I did kill him, people from the Yang Family would surely come after me. At that point, my father Yang Sanqian and mother would also be implicated."
Yang Yan smiled slightly and said, "Since you entered the sect, I've been observing you. When I first saw you, I recognized from your Book of Life and Death that you are Yang Sanqian's son. Your heart leans towards darkness; you understand schemes and assassination. You exploit human weaknesses, so I trust you. Unless someone can read minds, those you wish to kill will not escape. I know someone like you must have experienced Narrow Escape to achieve what you have today. I've secretly studied the secret arts of the Yang Family; to help you, I will give you my Dao Dan. My Dao Dan is unique because of my ten years of accumulation; it will soar and bring substantial change to your Qi Sea. My only request is that you destroy the Yang Family's Legitimate Son."
Seeing that I was still hesitating, Yang Yan said, "I won't force you; just returning once to the Yang Family will suffice. Once you return, you'll remember my words and then decide whether or not to kill their Legitimate Son. Is that acceptable?"
I nodded in agreement with Yang Yan's request.
A hint of relief appeared on Yang Yan's face as he closed his eyes. Suddenly, the Spirit Energy in the surrounding air began to converge rapidly, plunging the area into darkness. A golden light emerged above his head, and then Yang Yan abruptly struck his abdomen. I wanted to stop him, but it was too late. I had no idea what he intended to do. Trembling, Yang Yan held a Golden Light Orb before me and gently blew on it. The orb then flew from my abdomen into the Qi Sea.
In an instant, I felt a surge of heat in the Qi Sea as the orb sank into it, turning the entire sea a brilliant gold.
"They think I would take three times as long to condense the Dao Dan and open up the Qi Sea. Even with the Thousand Li Talisman, it would be too late for them to arrive here," Yang Yan said.
After extracting the golden Dao Dan from his body, Yang Yan finally could no longer hold on and fell backward.
I caught him, unsure of what to say. In his struggle against fate, he had placed all his hopes for revenge on a stranger. I could feel the immense resentment and unwillingness within him, yet he had no choice but to act this way.
Yang Yan's life force was dwindling; there was not a trace of color left in his face. He grasped my hand and said, "I am a year older than you; allow me to call you brother. As a Bastard, your clan should have been sacrificed. Your father, Yang Sanqian, was supposed to be one as well, but he gained the favor of the Old Scholar and was thus expelled from home, escaping disaster. It is my fault that your brother paved a bloody path for you. I intentionally let Ma Yuan and Wang Xing go to clear your way. As long as you reach the foot of Snow Mountain before them, you can clear your name. You understand this better than I do. Ma Yuan is severely injured; deal with him as you see fit."
I nodded and looked into Yang Yan's gradually fading pupils. "Don't worry; I will avenge you. Even if I can't kill the Yang Family's Legitimate Son, I won't spare those Yang Family Elders who tormented you."
Yang Yan spoke weakly, "You must leave quickly; soon the Yang Family will arrive here using their Thousand Li Talisman. If they find you, you won't be able to escape."
I set Yang Yan down and crossed over the river strewn with corpses, heading toward Medicinal Valley.
Yang Yan whispered, "Yang Long, when Yang Hao steps into the Yinshan Yang Family, you will understand what true talent is. You hypocrites will be slaughtered by a Bastard Son."
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