Chapter 228: Teng Huayuan

Two days later, a young man exuding an eerie Aura arrived here with a gloomy expression, staring at the swaying plants beneath his feet with cold glints in his eyes.

This person was none other than the Cultivator who had rushed over from Fire Burning Country. If anyone knew that this person had crossed from Fire Burning Country to the Cultivation Devil Sea in just a few months, they would certainly be shocked. One must know that the distance from Fire Burning Country to this place was truly incalculable; it was simply too far.

Even the Demonic Lord Duanmu Ji of the past, with his Soul Transformation Stage cultivation, would have needed to use an Ancient Teleportation Formation and would not have chosen to fly here. He once said that if one were to fly, it would likely take several hundred years just to arrive.

Consequently, this young man's speed was almost unheard of and unimaginable.

In reality, the reason this person arrived in such a short time had nothing to do with his current Nascent Soul Transformation Stage cultivation; it was mainly attributed to a peculiar Divine Ability of his Family—the Heavenly Ghost Body-Searching Technique.

By having a large number of Clones scan horizontally and then overlapping them to instantly place the distance traveled under his original body, he effectively multiplied his speed countless times, which allowed him to arrive here in just two months.

With a gloomy gaze, he stared at the vegetation beneath his feet as his body slowly sank. Those thick plants, as if they were dead objects, remained motionless even after he landed.

He looked at the dilapidated Teleportation Formation. This Formation was severely damaged, almost completely shattered, and could not be repaired; it was already a ruined Formation.

The young man sighed inwardly and muttered to himself: "On this Cultivation Planet, there shouldn't be many people who can open my Storage Pouch. It's just that my current cultivation state is unstable; if I don't return to my home planet immediately, I fear my cultivation will continue to decline…" His brows furrowed slightly, and his body flashed, disappearing from the spot.

The Kongmeng Continent, one of the six continents of the Vermilion Bird Star.

On the Kongmeng Continent, there were many cultivation Countries, but most of these cultivation Countries were of the first, second, or third Rank, with few fourth-Rank cultivation Countries in existence, as the resources on this continent were too scarce.

At the border between the Kongmeng Continent and the Cultivation Devil Sea, there was a small frontier city. This city was not large, and the highest cultivation level within it was only Core Formation Stage. Inside this small city, there was an Ancient Teleportation Formation.

At this moment, the Teleportation Formation suddenly lit up, and soon, Wang Lin's figure walked out from the Formation.

After he appeared, he immediately swept his Divine Sense, instantly observing the environment within the city. As his Divine Sense spread out, all the Cultivators in the city were shocked, though this feeling came and went quickly.

Wang Lin withdrew his Divine Sense, moved his body, and disappeared from the spot, speeding away according to the map in his Jade Slip. After flying several thousand miles out of the city, he tapped his Storage Pouch, and instantly, the massive body of the Mosquito Beast appeared before him.

Wang Lin leaped onto the beast's back and transmitted a Divine Thought. The Mosquito Beast let out a sharp cry and carried him away at high speed.

The speed along the way was extremely fast. Not long after, Wang Lin used his Divine Sense to detect several locations where a large number of Cultivators had gathered; clearly, these locations were where the various Schools of this place were situated.

Wang Lin did not stop at all and flew away rapidly. After ten days of travel, having crossed several second and third-Rank cultivation Countries, he finally arrived at his target for this trip: the second Ancient Teleportation Formation.

Through this Formation, he could quickly shorten the distance to the State of Zhao, but when he was several thousand miles away from this Teleportation Formation, Wang Lin's brows slowly furrowed.

On the map Jade Slip, this Formation's location was clearly marked as being on a desolate mountain, but in Wang Lin's Divine Sense investigation, he discovered that, at some point, rows of pavilions and grand halls had been built there, with waves of Spiritual Qi emanating from them; clearly, it had become a place of cultivation.

During his previous sweep with his Divine Sense, he had even seen some young boys outside the main hall of this School, each with a determined expression on their faces. In front of them were several Qi Condensation Disciples, and by the looks of it, they were clearly conducting an initiation ceremony.

At the same time, on the mountain path of the peak, there were other youths struggling to climb.

Looking at the familiar scene before him, Wang Lin felt quite emotional. He didn't know what had become of the Hengyue School from back then. Although he didn't have very deep feelings for the Hengyue School, it was, after all, the place that had led him into the Cultivation World.

Carrying a complex mood, Wang Lin rode the Mosquito Beast and slowly flew toward this School. When he was a hundred miles away from this School, a screen of light suddenly appeared, emitting soft light to prevent Wang Lin from entering.

Before Wang Lin could make a move, the Mosquito Beast beneath his feet hissed, and its huge mouthparts suddenly moved, piercing fiercely into the light screen. Then, it took a deep suck, and the light screen shook violently, finally emitting a popping sound and dissipating completely.

Consequently, several Core Formation Cultivators within the School who were in seclusion changed their expressions and walked out of their places of seclusion. They stared blankly at Wang Lin and the Mosquito Beast beneath his feet in the distance, hurriedly shouting to all Disciples to pause the recruitment ceremony, and then gathered outside the main hall at the fastest speed, respectfully waiting for Wang Lin to arrive.

The moment Wang Lin flew over, the three Core Formation Cultivators of this School immediately flew up and respectfully said: "Greetings, Senior from the upper country." The three of them were quite shocked in their hearts. In their eyes, although Wang Lin had no Spiritual Qi diffusing from his body, his whole person was filled with an inexplicable pressure, causing their hearts to tremble involuntarily.

Especially the ferocious Yao Beast beneath the other party's feet, which made the three secretly terrified, fearing they would displease the other party and bring about a great disaster.

These three Core Formation Cultivators were two men and one woman. Except for one male Cultivator who already had gray hair, the other man and woman appeared quite young, especially the female Cultivator, who was beautiful and graceful.

However, Cultivators cannot be judged by their appearance. Even Wang Lin, who looked like a young man now, was actually an Old Monster over four hundred years old.

Wang Lin's expression was calm as he glanced at the three and said slowly: "What School is this place?"

The old man among the three hurriedly and respectfully said: "Senior, our sect is called Ziyun. If Senior has any orders, our sect will certainly do our best."

Wang Lin looked at this person and said indifferently: "Many years ago, there was an Ancient Teleportation Formation here. Is it still here now?"

The old man was stunned. After pondering for a while, he shook his head and said: "Senior, there is no Ancient Teleportation Formation here." As soon as he finished speaking, his whole body felt cold.

He saw that the Aura of Wang Lin's entire person suddenly changed, his gaze gradually turning cold, and he slowly said: "Are you certain?"

Cold sweat broke out on the old man's forehead. After racking his brains, just as he was about to speak, the graceful female Cultivator beside him immediately stepped forward and respectfully said in a crisp voice: "Senior, was the original location of that Ancient Teleportation Formation on the mountaintop?"

Wang Lin's gaze swept over and landed on this woman. Although her appearance was far inferior to Li Muwan's, she was quite attractive, especially since her face was as white as jade and her eyes were full of liveliness.

Facing Wang Lin's gaze, a hint of a blush rose on her face, and she said softly: "Senior, if that Ancient Teleportation Formation was on the mountaintop back then, then this Junior knows of it."

"Lead the way!" Wang Lin moved his body and flew toward the mountaintop.

The woman hurriedly followed, and the other two Core Formation Cultivators hesitated for a moment before following behind.

Under the woman's guidance, they soon arrived at a certain spot on the mountaintop. There was a quite elegant pavilion here. Strings of bells were hung at the four corners of the pavilion, and when the mountain wind blew, they emitted crisp sounds, which were quite pleasant to the ear.

After the female Cultivator landed, her pretty face flushed, and she said: "Senior, this place is this Junior's boudoir. This mountain range did not belong to our Ziyun Sect many years ago, so Senior Brother did not know of the existence of the Ancient Teleportation Formation. This Junior also discovered a secret passage in the room by chance, and after investigating, I realized that there was a Formation beneath this pavilion."

Wang Lin nodded. When he had investigated this School with his Divine Sense earlier, he had also looked at this place and found nothing.

Now, investigating at close range with his Divine Sense, he immediately discovered a faint wave of Spiritual Qi beneath the pavilion. Clearly, someone had used a Divine Ability to conceal it.

Wang Lin was quite surprised. One must know that according to the Jade Slip, the country he was currently in was merely a second-Rank Cultivation Country, but he had not expected that there would be a Divine Ability here capable of almost deceiving his Divine Sense.

Led by the female Cultivator, Wang Lin entered the pavilion, and a faint fragrance immediately rushed towards him. The inside of the pavilion was quite elegant, everywhere showing the feeling of a young woman's boudoir.

Wang Lin's gaze swept across, pausing slightly on a screen to the side, but he quickly moved his gaze away, his expression calm.

The female Cultivator's face turned bright red. She hurriedly took a few steps forward and, taking advantage of the moment the two Senior Brothers behind her entered the room, she put away a translucent silk undergarment hanging on the screen. She lowered her head, her face full of red clouds, not daring to look at Wang Lin.

Wang Lin pretended not to notice. Under the guidance of this woman, he followed the secret passage down to the bottom level. Although his demeanor remained normal throughout, he was always cautious in his heart; if there were any abnormalities, he would strike without hesitation.

Beneath the pavilion, Wang Lin saw the Ancient Teleportation Formation. The Formation was still relatively intact and could be used.

Taking two Low Grade Spirit Beast cores from his Storage Pouch, he threw them to the female Cultivator who had brought him in and said: "Use these for Alchemy. After consuming them, they will be of some help to your cultivation."

The woman looked at the cores, her heart shaken, and an expression of wild joy appeared on her face. The Spiritual Qi in these pills was surging; they were truly rare in her life. With such treasures, if she refined them into pills and consumed them, it would certainly allow her cultivation to leap to the Late Stage of Core Formation.

After receiving them cautiously, she placed them carefully into her Storage Pouch.

The other two Core Formation Cultivators beside her couldn't help but show expressions of envy in their eyes.

Wang Lin glanced at these two, turned, and walked into the Formation. Waving his right hand, a sheet of black mist immediately rose around him, blocking the other party's line of sight. He took out a Top-Grade Spirit Stone, placed it in the slot, and activated the Formation.

As rings of light surged, Wang Lin disappeared within the Formation.

The female Cultivator gazed at the empty Ancient Teleportation Formation, a trace of melancholy appearing in her eyes. At the same time, seeming to think of something, her pretty face flushed red once again.

The State of Zhao, located at the very end of the Kongmeng Continent. The State of Zhao was not large, even inferior to the Fire Burning Country, being only half its size.

Although there were Spiritual Veins within its borders, their output was very small, barely enough to support the country's needs, but it could not withstand large-scale consumption, so even the mining was restricted.

Due to the scarcity of Spiritual Veins, some of the more precious Spiritual Plants are almost non-existent within the State of Zhao; overall, this is a very, very small border country, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as a mere speck of land.

Nowadays, in the State of Zhao, the number one School has become the Xuandao Sect. Its ancestor, Piao Nanzi, had already reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage 400 years ago. After 400 years of closed-door cultivation, his cultivation has advanced further. Although he has still not reached the Soul Transformation Stage, he does not put ordinary Nascent Soul Late Stage Cultivators in his eyes.

Apart from the Xuandao Sect, the Righteous Path School of the State of Zhao, the Piaomiao Sect, is not as good as it was 400 years ago and has gradually fallen into the second tier. At the same time, the Jimie Sect and the Yuankui School are the same; although they have developed, because of the existence of Piao Nanzi, they cannot help but fall into the second-tier Schools.

As for the Demonic Path Schools, the Tiandao Gate, the Hehuan Sect, and the Wufeng Valley have shown signs of rising. Although they cannot contend with Piao Nanzi, they are a cut above the Piaomiao Sect and other such Schools.

However, under the iron-fisted methods of Piao Nanzi, there is very little friction between the Righteous and Demonic Paths in the entire State of Zhao. Even if there are some disputes, they are small-scale, and no large-scale battles occur.

It can be said that the current State of Zhao is basically held in the hands of Piao Nanzi. Everything is transitioning towards a fourth-rank Cultivation Country. Once Piao Nanzi reaches the Soul Transformation Stage, all of this will fall into place naturally.

Besides these Schools, in these 400 years, the State of Zhao has also produced quite a few notable figures.

For example, the Genius of the Xuandao Sect, Wang Zhuo. This person only used 200 years to reach the Core Formation Stage, and then used another 200 years to advance to the Core Formation Late Stage. Such speed is not common for the State of Zhao.

Besides this, each School has had its own geniuses emerge. Of course, if these people are compared to the Teng Family, they are far inferior.

In these 400 years, apart from Piao Nanzi, the most prominent in the State of Zhao is the Teng Family!

The Teng Family ancestor, Teng Huayuan, had already reached the Nascent Soul Early Stage 400 years ago. After 400 years of cultivation and with the help of Piao Nanzi, he has reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage, becoming one of the few top experts within the State of Zhao.

In the State of Zhao, as long as one's cultivation reaches the Nascent Soul Late Stage, one will obtain extremely high status and power. Of course, the premise is that you need to obey the orders of Piao Nanzi.

Piao Nanzi has established a Law that everyone in the State of Zhao must follow: spare no resources to Cultivate a Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator from the Nascent Soul Late Stage, in order to raise the Rank of the State of Zhao.

The improvement of Teng Huayuan's cultivation has caused the status of the entire Teng Family in the State of Zhao to rise, becoming more and more prosperous with numerous descendants, and it has already become the number one cultivation Family in the State of Zhao.

Its Family Disciples are present in almost every School, and some have even attained extremely high positions within their respective Schools.

At the same time, Teng Huayuan has engaged in extensive marriages. The women of the Teng Family often form Dual Cultivation Dao Companionships with numerous Genius Cultivators, thereby consolidating the status of the Teng Family. Wang Zhuo is one of the Teng Family's sons-in-Law!

It can be said that the Teng Family has already been tightly linked to the State of Zhao. The saying "pulling one hair affects the whole body" is not an exaggeration at all. In these 400 years, it's not that no one has had designs on the Teng Family, but in the end, without even needing Teng Huayuan to take action, those with ulterior motives would silently evaporate from the State of Zhao.

Regarding these actions of Teng Huayuan, Piao Nanzi has no intention of interfering. He is focused entirely on breaking through to the Soul Transformation Stage, ignoring all worldly trifles.

The former Teng Family City has been expanded six times in these 400 years. Now, it has become a massive city, serving as proof of the Teng Family's power in the State of Zhao.

One hundred zhang beneath Teng Family City, there is a secret chamber. The Spiritual Qi inside this secret chamber is extremely abundant, more than ten times higher than the outside world. The reason for this is precisely because there is a Spiritual Vein beneath this secret chamber.

Although this Spiritual Vein is not large, it is more than enough for cultivation. It was precisely because the Teng Family ancestor discovered the existence of this Spiritual Vein that he took advantage of the multiple city expansions to secretly dig out a secret chamber here for cultivation.

This matter is unknown even to Piao Nanzi; it is a top secret known only to a very small number of people in the Teng Family. Usually, only when a Teng Family member wants to achieve a Breakthrough in cultivation are they permitted to enter this place to Cultivate for a few days.

On this day, inside the underground secret chamber of Teng Family City, an old man with a full head of white hair suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a glimmer of gloom.

This person frowned slightly. Just now, while he was in closed-door cultivation, he suddenly had a feeling of a bloody light descending upon him. This feeling was extremely intense, nearly causing the Spiritual Qi within his body to become chaotic.

The old man was silent for a moment, then his right hand formed Hand Seals, and he quickly cast a Spiritual Spell, which transformed into a white light floating in front of him.

The person quickly spat out a few complex and obscure incantations. Slowly, the white light in front of him flashed with a blinding brilliance and began to sway rapidly. Gradually, the old man's brows knitted tighter and tighter, and a look of gravity flashed in his eyes.

But just at this moment, the white light in front of him suddenly trembled, and then uncontrollably scattered in all directions, disappearing without a trace. The old man's face immediately turned gloomy, and he muttered to himself: "Strange, the Divination Technique taught by Piao Nanzi is actually unable to investigate the cause of the omen of the bloody light descending upon me…"

After a moment of silence, a cold glint appeared in his eyes, and he thought to himself: "With my current cultivation and status in the State of Zhao, even if the bloody light really does descend, I will definitely be able to resolve it easily!"

This person is precisely the Teng Family ancestor whom Wang Lin desires to kill, the highest symbol of the Teng Family—Teng Huayuan!

The passage of time has brought him a hint of old age. Although his cultivation has improved by several levels, the current him looks distinctly different from the person who caused Wang Lin to self-destruct back then.

His entire being seems to have sublimated in terms of Aura. This feeling is as if someone who relied on ruthlessness and brawling has leapt to become one of the deep and calculating sort, creating a sharp contrast.

He took a deep breath, his body flickered, and he disappeared from the secret chamber. When he appeared, he had already arrived inside the Teng Family's ancestral residence in the inner city of Teng Family City. The Teng Family's ancestral residence is a three-story pavilion, carved with dragons and phoenixes, looking quite majestic overall, emitting waves of Spiritual power.

When Teng Huayuan appeared, it was on the third floor, where numerous memorial tablets were placed, engraved with the names of Teng Family descendants. These people are the direct descendants of the Teng Family who have died over countless years.

Teng Huayuan's gaze swept over these memorial tablets and finally landed on one in the top row. On it was clearly written: "Teng Li."

For these four hundred-plus years, whenever he felt uneasy or troubled, he would come here and gaze at this memorial tablet. This had almost become a habit of his. After a long while, Teng Huayuan beckoned with his right hand, and the memorial tablet fell into his hand. He gently wiped it, and Teng Huayuan muttered to himself: "Li'er, you left too quickly. If not for that, with your talent, you would certainly have been able to reach the Nascent Soul Stage by now…"

He sighed softly, put the memorial tablet back in place, and turned to leave.

At this very moment, outside Teng Family City, two sword lights like long rainbows sped over. One hundred zhang outside the gates of Teng Family City, the sword lights landed, revealing a man and a woman inside.

The man looked like a middle-aged person, slightly aged, but his appearance was extremely handsome. Clearly, when he was young, he must have been a dashing figure. This person was dressed in white, looking quite like a Daoist. The woman beside him was not a beauty of peerless looks, but she had an air of nobility. She was also dressed in white, but at this moment, her delicate brows were knitted tightly, clearly troubled by something.

The middle-aged man looked up at Teng Family City, a complex look flashing in his eyes.

"Wang Zhuo, so much time has passed, can you still not let it go?" the woman sighed softly and said.

"Let it go? The hatred of killing my father, killing my mother, and killing my entire clan—if I could easily let that go, then I, Wang, would not be worthy of being a human!" the middle-aged man chuckled and said calmly.

The woman was silent for a moment and said in a low voice: "I am just coming back to visit my sister. We will leave in three days. Within these three days, Wang Zhuo, please don't be impulsive, okay?"

"Rest assured, before my strength is sufficient to kill the old thief, I will not take action." The middle-aged man's tone was calm. After speaking, he stepped forward.

The woman sighed inwardly, quickly followed, and walked towards the Teng Family City gate with Wang Zhuo.

"Wang Zhuo, actually, regarding the incident back then, you shouldn't hate the Old Ancestor; you should hate that Wang Lin instead. Although he is already dead, the culprit of this matter is precisely him!" the woman said softly as they walked.

The middle-aged man's footsteps paused. He turned around, stared at the woman, and said word by word: "Teng Xiuxiu, I have warned you before, do not mention the two words 'Wang Lin' in front of me again! Today, I will give you one last chance. If there is a next time, do not blame me for being heartless!"

The woman was silent, no longer speaking, and instead walked into Teng Family City with Wang Zhuo.

At this very moment, in a nameless valley within the borders of the State of Zhao, strings of bright light circles suddenly flashed. Very quickly, the light circles gradually dimmed and finally disappeared completely.

A white-haired young man walked out from the valley. Between his brows was imprinted a purple star point. He stared blankly at the land before him, slowly knelt down facing the east, and kowtowed heavily several times. When he lifted his head, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering murderous intent, never seen in these 400 years, flashed in his eyes, and he muttered to himself: "Father, Mother, Tiezhu has returned. This time, I will make the State of Zhao flow with blood! If I violate this oath, may heaven destroy and earth annihilate me!"

A bolt of lightning suddenly streaked across the sky, and waves of thunder rolled. Amidst the splashing sounds, bean-sized raindrops fell from the sky, landing on the ground and kicking up a layer of rain mist…

— — Thank you brothers and sisters for your monthly votes. It is you who allowed Er Gen to break into the top six as a newcomer. Perhaps because of Er Gen's sudden entry, it caused a series of chain reactions, and these great masters have launched single-chapter statements one after another, calling for monthly votes. Brothers and sisters, your votes helped me reach this position. At this moment, if I fall down, Er Gen really has no face to face all the brothers and sisters who cast their monthly votes. Here, Er Gen implores readers who still have monthly votes, do not save them, please cast a vote for me.