"If you have the guts, then kill me!" Lan Quetian bit his lip hard, roaring at Shen Haoran as he endured the excruciating pain racking his body.

Hearing this, Shen Haoran just chuckled. He then retrieved a blood-red Elixir from his Storage Ring and dangled it gently in front of Lan Quetian. "Letting you die would be getting off too easy," he said lightly. "This Elixir is called a Blood Recovery Pill. It can replenish the vital energy and blood you’ve lost. Don’t worry, I couldn’t bear to let you die!" With that, Shen Haoran tossed the Elixir directly into Lan Quetian’s mouth.

The moment the Blood Recovery Pill entered his mouth, it transformed into a torrent of energy that flooded Lan Quetian’s meridians. The vital energy and blood devoured by the Bloodthirsty Heart-Eating Gu were restored in the blink of an eye, and color returned to his face. However, just a moment later, his face turned pale once more. Sensing such potent vital energy, the Bloodthirsty Heart-Eating Gu in his body actually hatched, turning from one into two. All the replenished energy was devoured completely.

"AARGH!"

With two Bloodthirsty Heart-Eating Gu now inside him, Lan Quetian’s agony doubled. He bit clean through his own lips, and blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.

"Are you going to talk or not? This is your last chance. Otherwise..." Shen Haoran snorted coldly as a vial of Elixirs materialized in his hand. It was filled with blood-red Blood Recovery Pills.

Seeing this, Lan Quetian’s eyes filled with terror. The pain coursing through him was so unbearable he wished he were dead. He could only beg for mercy. "I’ll talk! I’ll talk!"

Seeing Lan Quetian finally break, Shen Haoran willed it, and the Bloodthirsty Heart-Eating Gu inside him ceased its torment. Lan Quetian let out a sigh of relief. As he looked at Shen Haoran’s cold face, a cold sweat instantly drenched his clothes.

"The black-robed man went to the Han Family’s back mountain! He said he was retrieving something important!" Lan Quetian didn’t dare hesitate, terrified that Shen Haoran would activate the Bloodthirsty Heart-Eating Gu again.

"The back mountain? Take me there!" Shen Haoran said. He gave a meaningful look to Elder Bai, unfurled his Vermilion Bird Wings, and flew toward the Han Family’s back mountain.

「A few moments later」

The three of them landed at the mouth of a cave. Lan Quetian pointed at the entrance, his voice trembling. "It’s in here. Now give me the antidote!"

"The antidote? In your dreams!" Shen Haoran snorted, then knocked him unconscious with a single punch. With his Cultivation crippled, Lan Quetian was no match for Shen Haoran at all.

"Let’s go. We’ll take a look inside." Tossing Lan Quetian aside, Shen Haoran and Elder Bai cautiously stepped into the pitch-black cave.

The cave was long and pitch-black. A sinister, cold aura continuously billowed out from its depths. Even Shen Haoran, who possessed the Fire Spirit Black Obsidian, couldn’t help but shiver.

"Something seems strange about this cave. What is this aura?" Elder Bai also felt the extremely cold presence and asked in a low voice.

"I’m not entirely sure, but I have a theory. I’ll need to confirm it deeper inside. Let’s hurry!" Shen Haoran said in a grave voice.

After that, Shen Haoran and Elder Bai picked up their pace. After several twists and turns, the two finally reached the deepest part of the cave, which opened into a vast grotto of stalactites.

Upon entering the grotto, Shen Haoran’s pupils contracted sharply. Before him were four massive, extremely familiar pillars. Several thick, black iron chains were wrapped around them, stretching toward the center. Intricate runes were carved upon their surfaces. ’Isn’t this scene exactly the same as the one in the Five Elements Sect’s Sect Secret Realm?’

But then Shen Haoran’s brow furrowed. With a single leap, he landed in the center of the four Stone Pillars. There, the heavy iron chains were all broken, dangling limply toward the ground. The black monster that had been sealed here was gone! 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Damn it, we’re too late!" Shen Haoran cursed under his breath, picking up a thick chain and feeling the sinister, cold aura still lingering on it.

"This Array is... the Supreme Demon Sealing Array!" Elder Bai cried out when he saw the runes on the ground and the chains. It was as if he had witnessed something terrifying. His body began to tremble uncontrollably, and a cold sweat instantly beaded on his brow, trickling down past his pale temples.

’The Supreme Demon Sealing Array?’ Seeing Elder Bai’s strange reaction, Shen Haoran was filled with questions. ’What in the world is this thing that it could terrify a Spirit Emperor Level expert like Elder Bai?’

"How is this possible? It actually exists... Where is the sealed creature? Why is it gone?" Elder Bai stared at the dangling chains, growing frantic.

"Elder Bai, do you know about the sealed black monster too?" Seeing that Elder Bai seemed very familiar with this Sealing Array, Shen Haoran quickly asked.

"I’ve only read about this Supreme Demon Sealing Array in the ancient texts of the Murong Clan. The being sealed within it is a creature of great evil! The texts seemed very wary of discussing it, using just a few short words to describe it," Elder Bai said slowly.

"What words?" Shen Haoran asked, curious.

"Destroyer of Worlds!" Elder Bai’s gaze sharpened, and his voice trembled as he spoke.

’Destroyer of Worlds! That black monster?’ Hearing this, Shen Haoran felt a tremor in his heart. ’What kind of being could possibly be recorded in the Murong Clan’s ancient texts with such a description?’

"You know about that thing too?" Elder Bai asked, hearing Shen Haoran repeatedly mention the black monster.

Shen Haoran then told Elder Bai about the monster he had encountered within the Five Elements Sect. After listening, Elder Bai’s expression grew even more grim.

"The black monster you encountered must be the evil creature sealed inside—the Hou!" Elder Bai took a deep breath and finally revealed the black monster’s name.

"A Hou? So the black monster is called a Hou?" Shen Haoran murmured to himself. ’I asked Elder Yan about it before, but he was always so secretive about that black monster. Now Elder Bai is terrified of it, and the Murong Clan’s texts even call it a ’Destroyer of Worlds’. It seems this ’Hou’ has an extraordinary origin!’

"That black-robed man must have taken the Hou. Elder Bai, do you know the origins of those black-robed people?" Shen Haoran asked again. ’Since Elder Bai knows about the Hou, he should also know about the black-robed people.’

But this time, Shen Haoran was mistaken. Elder Bai shook his head, saying he had never heard of any black-robed people, nor had he ever seen them.

Hearing this, Shen Haoran’s brow tightened. ’Even with the Murong Family’s power, they haven’t discovered these mysterious black-robed people? What are their origins, and what is their purpose in seeking out these Hou?’ One question after another surfaced in Shen Haoran’s mind, and he couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

"Shen Haoran, get out here! If you don’t, I’ll kill this human woman named Murong Wanqing!" Just then, a woman’s shout came from outside the cave. The powerful sound wave echoed throughout the Han Family’s back mountain, only fading after a long moment...