1 Avoiding This Plot Line
Screech!
With a piercing cry, a giant Sand Eagle glided through the vast, clear sky.
Riding on the eagle’s back, Yan Zhen couldn’t help but think of his future mount—the gluttonous Dragon Girl, still in her egg, whom he would soon meet at the Sacred Ground Academy.
However, before that, there was a serious plot he needed to play out.
This time, returning to the Gallo Kingdom, he wouldn’t pass through the Demon Dragon Mountain Range. Instead, he would take a longer route to Sand City, a border city of the Gallo Kingdom, as a stopover.
The key point was that Sand City was the last place Yan Zhen’s father, Yan Xiao, was seen.
Three years ago—now it should be four years ago—Yan Zhen inexplicably experienced a drop in cultivation. The Yan family was helpless, and Yan Xiao, in order to cure his son, took a group into the Demon Dragon Mountain Range to gather medicinal herbs.
Sand City was Yan Xiao’s last stop before entering the mountains.
Unfamiliar with the Demon Dragon Mountain Range, Yan Xiao first visited the Sand City Lord.
Although Martial Tang City was the last of the kingdom’s ten major cities, it was far stronger than Sand City. The Sand City Lord didn’t dare to slight him and immediately sent people to guide him.
However, just a few days after entering the mountains, devastating news arrived.
The group was attacked by Mystic Beasts and almost entirely wiped out. Only one or two people escaped and returned to request aid.
The Sand City Lord sent people into the mountains to investigate and found that the battle was over, with numerous corpses remaining, both human and Mystic Beast. Only Yan Xiao was missing, seemingly having escaped.
So, the Sand City Lord sent people to search the vicinity, but they still couldn’t find any trace of Yan Xiao. After three full days of searching, they had to give up, sending the news of Yan Xiao’s disappearance back to Martial Tang City.
—All of the above was the Sand City Lord’s account.
The reality was different.
As a border city of the Gallo Kingdom, despite its remote location, Sand City was one of the access points to the Demon Dragon Mountain Range and was also close to the Great Marsh Desert. Therefore, it had long been targeted by the Demon Realm, which sought to develop it into a new stronghold.
The Sand City Lord was old, and his cultivation had been stuck at the nine-star Mystic Master realm. In order to advance to the Mystic General realm, he was easily swayed by the Demon Realm and agreed to join them, thus obtaining a higher-grade “Evil Technique.”
Evil Techniques were cultivation methods that benefited oneself at the expense of others. Ordinary cultivation methods drew upon the essence of heaven and earth, while Evil Techniques drew upon the essence of others, similar to “cannibalism.”
The Evil Technique obtained by the Sand City Lord focused on absorbing the Blood Qi of others, a body-tempering technique.
After secretly advancing to the Mystic General realm, ordinary targets provided him with minimal improvement. Coincidentally, Yan Xiao came knocking.
Yan Xiao was exceptionally talented, reaching the Mystic General realm in his thirties. Thus, the Sand City Lord set his sights on him.
Hearing Yan Xiao’s request for guides into the mountains, the Sand City Lord devised a plan. He intentionally had his men lead Yan Xiao’s group into the territory of Tier 4 Mystic Beasts.
After they engaged in battle, the Sand City Lord led his men in a sneak attack, severely injuring and capturing Yan Xiao, then killing the remaining survivors of the group.
However, before the Sand City Lord could absorb Yan Xiao’s Blood Qi, an emissary from the Demon Realm arrived. The emissary discovered that Yan Xiao seemed to possess an unusual bloodline and took him back as a test subject.
—In short, Yan Xiao’s disappearance was orchestrated by the Sand City Lord.
In the script, Yan Zhen was harassed by the city guards upon entering the city.
They coveted the valuable giant Sand Eagle he was leading, seeing him as young and alone, and attempted to seize it.
However, Yan Zhen didn’t fall for their tricks and directly retaliated, attracting the attention of the Sand City Lord’s son.
The son was even more arrogant and domineering, and Yan Zhen taught him a lesson as well.
The matter escalated, eventually alarming the Sand City Lord.
Yan Zhen didn’t want to clash with a Mystic General-level expert, so he had to reveal his identity token.
“I am the Young City Lord of Martial Tang City, Yan Zhen. Is there any city gate in the Gallo Kingdom I cannot enter?”
The Sand City Lord immediately thought of Yan Xiao from four years ago and worried that Yan Zhen might have noticed something amiss about his father’s death and come to investigate.
To avoid exposing himself, the Sand City Lord decided to strike first, inviting Yan Zhen to the City Lord’s Mansion as a guest, then poisoning his food, knocking him unconscious, and draining his vigorous Blood Qi.
However, as an alchemist with Manifest Realm Spiritual Power, Yan Zhen easily detected the poison.
Playing along, he pretended to be unconscious and captured, witnessing the Sand City Lord’s true colors and uncovering the truth about his father’s disappearance four years ago.
Then, Yan Zhen became enraged, Extreme Flames igniting on his body, burning through his restraints. He summoned his Extreme Flame Sword Embryo and engaged in a fierce battle with the Sand City Lord, ultimately defeating him with the Flame Extinguishing, Ashless Slash, powered by three Extreme Flames, and destroying the City Lord’s Mansion. Anyone who attacked him was reduced to ashes by the Extreme Flames!
“…”
Revenge?
Although Yan Zhen didn’t have strong feelings for Yan Xiao, the father he had never met, the Sand City Lord’s actions were indeed despicable.
Before nightfall, Yan Zhen landed the giant Sand Eagle near Sand City. As expected, he was harassed upon entering.
The system then issued the corresponding mission.
Yan Zhen completed the performance with a blank expression and then met the Sand City Lord.
The moment he saw the man, Yan Zhen felt disgust towards his seemingly amiable but actually scheming face, wanting to tear him apart on the spot.
He suppressed his inexplicable anger and continued acting according to the script until the Sand City Lord, believing victory was within his grasp, revealed his true colors. Yan Zhen, who had been holding back for so long, finally erupted.
After killing the Sand City Lord and destroying the City Lord’s Mansion, Yan Zhen finally felt some relief.
However, some escaped, likely going to Cloud Heaven Palace to seek out their clan uncle—the outer sect elder who accompanied Huangfu Wenqing to break off the engagement—to avenge them.
Yan Zhen would return to Martial Tang City before going to the Mystic Academy to complete his graduation ceremony.
The outer sect elder, knowing that his brother cultivated an Evil Technique, didn’t dare to involve the authorities or let Cloud Heaven Palace know, so he could only seek revenge privately.
He would ambush Yan Zhen on the waterway to the academy, only to be killed in return, becoming the catalyst for the conflict between Yan Zhen and Cloud Heaven Palace.
Thinking about the upcoming plot, Yan Zhen couldn’t help but worry.
Firstly, he didn’t want to oppose Yun Xiu. Secondly, he didn’t want to see his grandfather die for him.
He didn’t want to act out this clichéd plot of sacrificing teammates and turning dark.
“Sigh~”
Troubled, Yan Zhen mounted the giant eagle and flew towards Martial Tang City.
Before noon, Yan Zhen finally returned home. Leading the giant Sand Eagle along Martial Tang City’s main street, he attracted the attention of passersby, some even greeting him.
Yan Zhen responded briefly. As he approached the City Lord’s Mansion, he saw Yan Lie and other elders waiting at the entrance to welcome him.
Yan Zhen felt a warmth in his heart, quickened his pace, and waved to them:
“I’m back! Grandpa~”
Yan Lie laughed heartily, his aged face full of joy:
“Good to have you back, good to have you back…”
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