Ink-Scaled Venom

At this moment, on a wasteland in the Central Region of the Western Continent.

Xiang Chenze, Zhuge Xueling, and Zhuge Xuening were completely surrounded by a group of cultivators, with no way to retreat.

The wind blew across the wasteland, rolling up a sky full of yellow sand.

The sky was an ashen gray, making it impossible to tell whether it was day or dusk.

Decades had passed, and the three of them had grown up quite a bit.

Xiang Chenze wore a dark green robe. His skin was naturally pale, and his features were handsome, but right now his face was as white as paper, completely drained of blood.

Zhuge Xueling and Zhuge Xuening had similarly inherited their parents' outstanding looks and possessed an otherworldly temperament. However, at this moment, their hair was messy, and their faces were covered in dust and blood, stripped of their usual vibrancy.

Xiang Chenze, in particular, had dark blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. His left arm hung unnaturally, the sleeve soaked in fresh blood.

One of his hands was already broken.

Dark green blood was still seeping out—his blood was a different color from ordinary people because of the poison body within him.

Although he was a human cultivator, he had inherited the poison attribute of Xiang Xuanyin's Nine-Headed World-Destroying Divine Ability—the Dark Scale Poison Body.

Xiang Chenze's talent was of the eighth grade. It was not considered a top-tier poison body, but it still possessed an impressive toxicity, allowing him to autonomously condense poison power and cast poison-element spells.

Precisely because of this physique, his guardian beasts were two dark green venomous snakes. They were currently coiled by his side, flicking their tongues and emitting hissing sounds.

Those two venomous snakes were guardian beasts personally selected for him by Xiang Xuanyin, both at the early stage of the Void Refinement realm.

Right now, they were also covered in wounds, yet they still protected Xiang Chenze, refusing to retreat.

Zhuge Xueling and Zhuge Xuening stood behind him on either side, back-to-back, covering each other's blind spots.

The condition of the two girls was slightly better than Xiang Chenze's, but not by much.

Their robes had several tears, and the blood at the edges had already dried. It was impossible to tell if it was their enemies' blood or their own.

Zhuge Xueling had a bloody streak on her face, stretching from her left forehead down to her cheekbone. It was the mark of a grazing sword aura; an inch deeper, and it would have struck her eye.

Zhuge Xuening's arm was wrapped in bandages that were soaked through with blood. Wrapped somewhat loosely, one could see the wound still seeping blood.

At this moment, the eyes of all three were fixed dead-on the glaring cultivators surrounding them.

There were at least over thirty people boxing them in.

Their cultivation levels ranged from Soul Formation to Void Refinement.

And the leader of the group was at the late stage of Void Refinement, a whole major realm higher.

The three of them had been gaining experience in the Western Continent for seven days without ever exposing their identities.

After all, an experiential journey was meant to be a trial. If they flashed the token of the Heavenly Human Holy Land wherever they went, how would it be any different from a casual stroll on the streets?

But an accident occurred today.

This group of cultivators had appeared suddenly without any warning and immediately attacked.

At first, Xiang Chenze thought it was a simple robbery, but as they fought, he realized something was wrong.

These people struck too ruthlessly and their target was too clear. This was not the style of a random mugging.

They had come prepared.

Realizing they were outmatched, Xiang Chenze pulled out his identity token without hesitation.

Enduring the agony of his broken hand, Xiang Chenze spoke with a hoarse voice that carried a hint of intimidation, threatening,

We are disciples of the Heavenly Human Holy Land, and we have the Holy Land's token to prove it.

If you do not fear the thunderous vengeance of the Holy Land, then by all means, make your move. You can try and see if you will leave the Western Continent alive after killing us.

With that, Xiang Chenze waved his right hand, and a token appeared in his grasp.

Seeing the Heavenly Human Holy Land disciple token in Xiang Chenze's hand, the surrounding black-clad cultivators instantly froze, hesitation surfacing on their faces.

The prestige of the Heavenly Human Holy Land had long spread throughout the Nine Heavens Realm. Everyone knew that the Heavenly Human Holy Land was extremely protective of its own.

The black-robed man leading them also fell into hesitation.

His brows furrowed tightly, his gaze darting back and forth between the token and Xiang Chenze as if weighing his options.

Xiang Chenze felt a sense of relief in his heart.

As long as the other party was wary, that was enough. As long as they retreated, today's crisis would be over. Once they returned to the Holy Land...

What are you afraid of?

The black-robed man suddenly spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but every word sounded as if it were dipped in poison.

He raised his head, his gaze turning fierce and ruthless:

This is the Western Continent. As long as we clean up thoroughly, who will know it was us?

Besides, the reward this time is so generous—after finishing this job, we can wash our hands of this business and live without worries for the rest of our lives.

As soon as these words were spoken, a vicious look instantly appeared on the faces of the surrounding cultivators.

The hesitation vanished.

It was replaced by an almost maddening resolve.

Wash our hands of this business—this phrase held a fatal temptation for rogue cultivators who lived by licking blood from the edge of a blade.

The hearts of Xiang Chenze and his two companions sank heavily.

Reward.

Someone had placed a bounty on them from the shadows.

The black-robed man did not wait for an answer.

He raised his hand and waved:

Do it!

The thirty-plus cultivators violently surged forward in an instant.

All three were disciples nurtured by the Heavenly Human Holy Land. They possessed an unyielding tenacity in their bones and naturally wouldn't just stand there and wait to die.

Exchanging glances, a flash of determination crossed their eyes. They immediately circulated the remaining spiritual energy in their bodies, gripped their magical artifacts tightly, and launched another attack against the surrounding black-clad cultivators.

However, the gap in cultivation between the two sides was simply too vast. Before long, the late-stage Void Refinement cultivator found an opening. With a flash of killing intent in his eyes, his figure blurred, and he dashed right in front of Xiang Chenze.

Holding a pitch-black long saber, he viciously cleaved down towards Xiang Chenze's head with murderous intent.

Just as the long saber was about to strike Xiang Chenze, the life-saving secret art that Gu Changyuan had planted on him was instantly triggered.

In an instant, a barrier erupted from Xiang Chenze's body and rapidly expanded, enveloping Zhuge Xueling and Zhuge Xuening, who stood beside him and also carried the aura of Gu Changyuan's secret art.

The long saber struck the barrier, and the rebounding force surged back up the man's arm. He grunted muffledly, his entire body knocked back several paces, his arm trembling slightly.

The other cultivators were also instantly sent flying by the barrier, unable to harm the trio in the slightest.

Two breaths later, before the black-robed man could say anything, a figure had already appeared within the barrier.

The moment Gu Changyuan steadied himself, his gaze fell upon his three grand-disciples, and his pupils shrank sharply.

His gaze shifted away from his three grand-disciples, slowly lifting to sweep across the thirty-plus cultivators surrounding them.

Kneel.

Those two words were like a heavenly decree, exploding across this stretch of heaven and earth with an irresistible power of law.

An invisible force erupted from Gu Changyuan, sweeping out in all directions with him at the center.

That force was like a tangible tide, instantly blanketing the entire wasteland—no, the entire world.

Boom!!!

Every single cultivator felt an irresistible, immense force pressing down from above their heads.

Their knees buckled uncontrollably.

Over thirty people, almost at the exact same instant, slammed their knees fiercely into the ground.