The Old Man's voice suddenly escalated, a hint of anger flashing across his face.

"So what!"

"Don't think I don't know what you people are thinking! People with outstanding Talent like him are your disciples, but those losers? They aren't, and they're not worth your attention, are they?

I'm telling you, your thinking is all bullshit! From top to bottom in your Sect, except for a few promising young ones, all of you are just beasts! There's not a single worthwhile thing among you; the Sect is doomed to be ruined by your own hands!"

The Old Man rebuked angrily, roaring without any reservation.

He almost wished he could kill everyone standing before him right then and there; why feed these wastrels any longer? At that time, he still had the greater interests of the Sect in mind and didn't act rashly.

Now, it seems, perhaps killing them wouldn't draw any opposition, right? Anyway, those fellows are at most like a pack of freeloaders, just for show.

But in the long run, if the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones will go aslant. Even if those freeloaders are all losers, how could they not have noticed?

Yet, even if one or two outstanding disciples emerge, so what? Their hearts are willing, but their strength is insufficient. Even if they strive, their origins have long since limited their potential. They might as well give up on themselves and continue to deteriorate.

So, the Old Man had just made his decision.

Can one or two geniuses truly uphold the Sect's prestige? If the rest are all useless gluttons holding sinecures, will it not affect the Sect's overall situation?

Then let a few geniuses die and see. Let these people see just how fragile these geniuses, in whom they've placed such high hopes, truly are. Let them see what the true foundation of the Sect is. Besides, he had deeper calculations, but he couldn't be bothered to say them, nor to explain.

As the saying goes, when minds don't meet, even half a sentence is too much.

The Old Antique's aura faltered. It was unclear whether the Old Man's words had made him see reason, or if that blatant, unrestrained speech had instilled some guilt in him.

Thus, he hesitated, then sighed, his face etched with emotion.

"I... Sigh! Have you ever considered that although we have withdrawn from the world and found our leisure, we have also drawn a line with the mortal realm? If we don't concentrate on cultivating a few outstanding disciples, our Dao lineage will truly perish..."

Having lived for many years, they were naturally as cunning as old foxes; how could they not understand this principle?

But who was to blame for the suddenness of the past calamity? The disaster of Spiritual Energy caused Earth to begin its revival, naturally drawing the attention of hunters. Countless ancestors and sages embarked on the journey, and their descendants naturally followed closely. This instantly severed nearly seventy percent of the Sect's legacy. Even if they had the will, what could they do?

The situation waits for no one, and they were powerless to turn the tide!

A cold sneer appeared on the Old Man's face.

Meanwhile, by the Pure Yuan Pool, another change occurred.

He finally cleared the path, but he did so just as the dust seemed to be settling, his face full of mockery.

"That's because you've all gone astray! Go on in. It's just one disciple. Since the entire Sect is full of losers, why care? If one dies, one dies. If you can save him, it naturally means he's not fated to die yet."

At this moment, Wang Zhan's second Fatal One Slash had already landed on the mad man.

The sharp and ferocious power directly ripped open the mad man's entire abdominal cavity. It was a shocking sight. However, the truly unexpected part was not this.

It was...

"What's going on?"

The Old Antique's eyes narrowed, watching the scene in the arena with disbelief.

What in the world just happened?!

「Pure Yuan Poolside.」

Wang Zhan's slash had split open the mad man's abdomen, but unlike before, he didn't remain silent.

Instead, like a domino effect, Wang Zhan's action seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel's back, triggering a subsequent chain of events that were entirely beyond Wang Zhan's expectations!

The mad man lowered his head in disbelief, looking at his own viscera, and mumbled, "Impossible! Impossible!..."

How could this be?

Wang Zhan was at least three major realms below him. That was why, no matter how ferocious Wang Zhan had been earlier, he had to strike repeatedly, expending his own reserves, just to injure him.

Because of this, the mad man had long been aware of Wang Zhan's true strength and was full of confidence.

He felt that even if Wang Zhan had advanced, it would be absolutely impossible for him to break through all his defenses with a single slash.

And the opening created by this slash would be his chance to turn defeat into victory!

But now, he had miscalculated!

He had miscalculated how terrifying the enhancement from Wang Zhan's advancement would be. It was so terrifying that a single slash had nullified his bloodline talent and torn open his body.

And yet...

BANG.

A spray of blood mist erupted, and another hole abruptly appeared on the mad man's body.

The mad man looked at the changes in his body with a tortured expression, something between a cry and a laugh. He could feel it; he was about to die.

"Why? Why? I don't want to die..."

He was too powerful, so powerful he could run rampant within the Sect, so powerful he was almost supreme in this Small World.

His senior brothers respected him, his junior brothers revered him, his junior sisters adored him, and the elders supported him.

Because he was strong, he possessed everything; because he was strong, he swept away all enemies.

But he had never thought that it was precisely because he was too strong.

So, when Wang Zhan—who had previously been only his equal, unable to suppress him even with mutually destructive techniques—suddenly gained an overwhelming advantage, the weakness that no one had cared about before immediately became the fatal blade.

This realization instantly plunged the mad man into the frantic throes of impending doom!

Wang Zhan, watching all of this, looked at him with pity.

Everything was clear. The mad man's insanity must have been due to this violent Essence Energy.

Because of the Essence Energy, as its most direct carrier, his Divine Sense was directly affected. So even though the mad man seemed psychologically young, he was extremely perverse and violent, much like a demon king.

But precisely due to this extremely violent Essence Energy, once he was seriously injured, it would become his death warrant.

In the past, he could still control it, as his physical body was intact.

But now that Wang Zhan had broken through the defense of his bloodline talent—the Blood-color Armor—the Essence Energy would immediately begin to run rampant, growing chaotic.

Until it dragged its former master to his death!

Thinking of this, Wang Zhan's gaze inadvertently deepened.

What kind of cultivation method is this? Why does it feel so unorthodox and evil?

If it weren't for the records left by the ancestors in the Book Collection Pavilion—which indicated that although they too were unrestrained, they still distinguished between right and wrong—Wang Zhan would probably not hesitate at all.

But this hesitation, along with many other doubts, arose.

Subtly, Wang Zhan grew extremely wary of the Sect within this Small World.

To be able to openly cultivate such unorthodox and evil methods, I'm afraid the current members of this Sect are completely different from those described in the records!

One must understand that those ancestors went out to kill people only because their targets were cruel, violent, and brought disaster to the world.

When their own deaths approached, they feared their descendants might stumble into pitfalls, so they deliberately passed down these Magic Path techniques to serve as a reference and a warning for future generations.

Otherwise, why would their writings be filled with so much disgust and disdain for such practices?

But the mad man didn't know any of this.

For the mad man, Wang Zhan's attitude caused his expression to change drastically. He became uncontrollably furious, his head snapping up.

His vision was filled with a sea of crimson!

"Are you pitying me?"

A glint of madness born from utter despair flashed in the mad man's eyes.

Wang Zhan's heart clenched.

This is bad! This mad man truly cannot be judged by common sense. He's a mad man; why would he think about such things...?

Realizing this, Wang Zhan immediately tried to retreat, to get away from the mad man.

But it was too late!

The mad man suddenly roared, completely disregarding his collapsing body, his face contorting like a hideous, twisted mask.

"You dare... pity me! You dare... pity me! Who do you think you are? Are you qualified... to pity me? HAHAHAHA, even if I die, I don't need anyone's pity! Come with me, on the road to death!"

There was no time!

Wang Zhan abruptly halted his retreat, spun around, his expression grim...

RUMBLE!

A blood mist suddenly erupted in the arena, and even the Spiritual Energy in the Pure Yuan Pool was stirred into a turbulent frenzy by the powerful momentum.

In just a brief moment.

POP.

Though it was but an insignificant sound amidst the cataclysmic roar, it caused the Old Antique, who was guarding outside the Crooked-neck Tree, to frown. He shot a fierce glance at the Old Man who had only just now reluctantly cleared the path, then flashed inside.

Just as the shockwave of the explosion was about to spread in all directions, another series of dull rumbles echoed through the arena.

In the blink of an eye.

Protective barriers, like city walls standing guard in every direction, materialized from thin air, tightly sealing off the area.

The affected section of the Pure Yuan Pool was immediately isolated by the Old Antique.

Unfortunately, Wang Zhan was also trapped within the mad man's suicidal, explosive energy tide.

"BANG!"

"Damn it!"

Wang Zhan was about to lose his mind.

The moment the mad man was about to self-destruct, he had already realized the severity of the situation, his eyes practically bulging from their sockets in alarm.

But a violent tremor in his Divine Sense made him realize he couldn't possibly withstand it; this place might become his tomb.

Casting aside all other concerns, he instantly summoned the shield, roaring, "Block it! If you can't block it, we'll all die here!"

"System! System! Come out, I don't want to die yet!"

He was certain he couldn't block it.

Being able to kill a Grandmaster didn't mean he himself had reached the Grandmaster realm. In fact, compared to a Grandmaster, his physical body was as fragile as paper-mâché.

But that didn't stop him from relying on external aid, whether it was the shield or the System.

Who asked him to be such an anomaly? Though he could battle and temper himself against Grandmasters, persevering through trials, he was still weak!

He had been in a miserable enough state these past few days. Just three days ago, he had only survived because the System intervened. Asking for help again might be shameless, but he had no other choice.

The moment the shield appeared, it was greatly startled by the scene before it.

Even its usually gentle female voice almost twisted into a soul-searing shriek.

"A Grandmaster self-destructing! And it's a high-rank Grandmaster self-destructing! What on earth did you do?!"

It didn't understand why its fate was so fraught with misfortune, especially after meeting this troublemaking brat—Wang Zhan.

Dao Ming, I miss you so much...

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