Qi Hai.

Qi Hai was dead. Although his spirit was intact, his soul wasn’t. That put him in a similar predicament as Empress Myrtlestar, which was why he could enter hell. He needed a special method to allow him to tap into his power; the Blood Formation of Ten Thousand Spirits being one such example.

This was a formation set up with the hearts’ blood of ten thousand living souls and anchored to a shamanic altar. It drew upon the power of the underground vein in Destiny City and conjured a great fiend so that Qi Hai might manifest through it.

……

“Qi Hai?” The seventeen origin dao immortals blinked when they heard the name. They knew each other well, but no one among them knew of any peer named Qi Hai.

The Qi Clan was an above average faction in the world, but there was only one arcane dao immortal among their ranks. In fact, Qi Hai was a name as common as mud. There were close to a million men with that same name in the world of immortals.

There had been a famous Qi Hai from the Primordial Era, but the famous pill master wasn’t a possibility at all. After all, the man had died long before the great war of immortals.

“Senior brother!” came an exclamation from Destiny City. The city lord quickly appeared before Qi Hai with an expression of excitement and delight.

“He’s the Destiny city lord’s senior brother?” The seventeen origin dao immortals gawked at the newcomer.

Many signs pointed to the city lord being one of the old eccentrics from the Primordial Era. There were immortals like him among the seventeen origin dao immortals, but none whose status and influence could rival those of the city lord. The man had been a mover and shaker even back in the Primordial Era!

The restriction against immortals had damaged the memories of many ancient immortals that’d been struck down from their immortality, and their recollections of the past were oddly fuzzy at best. Many of them had to rely on records unearthed from ancient tombs to understand a period of time they’d lived through.

However, someone like the Destiny city lord might’ve preserved his memories. Him calling the newcomer his senior brother proved the long-held theory right.

“Is he from the Primordial Era as well?” exclaimed Dong Lin.

“Hehehe, hahaha...” Qi Hai laughed suddenly. “I’d have to teach you all a lesson even if I weren’t with the two little ones. My junior brother is mild-mannered and dislikes conflict, so he often gets pushed around by others. Still, as his senior brother, I won’t stand for him getting bullied by insects like you!”

Qi Hai made a move.

Bam!

A great force rippled through heaven and earth. The crimson fiend beneath his feet transformed into Qi Hai and accommodated his damaged soul.

“Die, all of you!!” His eyes turned red as he threw a punch, the raw power threatening to puncture this area of the world.

“Dammit!” His sudden attack caught the seventeen origin dao immortals off guard.

In the blink of an eye, the crimson fist connected with an origin dao immortal who wasn’t fast enough to get out of the way and shattered his body. Ensconced in a broken origin dao fruit, his broken soul fled to the sky.

Qi Hai ignored him in favor of throwing another punch at a second origin dao immortal.

“Qi Hai!!” the man with fiery long hair shouted. “Aren’t you concerned that we’ll slaughter every living being in the city after you attack us?”

He didn’t know who Qi Hai was, but as the city lord’s senior brother, he wouldn’t just ignore the fate of Destiny City, which was why he made the threat. With a quick tremor, a burst of fire wrapped around his body.

“Someone from the Fire Spirit Tribe?” Qi Hai paused and stared at the man. “There are fire spirits in the world of immortals? Back in my day, a fire spirit would’ve been taken and refined into treasures if they dared show up in public.”

Qi Hai was talking about the era of human dao, of course.

Fire spirits were a unique species born in nature. They could control all fires between heaven and earth, and their potential rivaled that of the divine race despite not being a part of said race.

“Well, it’s no wonder. Immortals today don’t know the marvelous uses of fire spirits.”

……

“Vicious, simply too vicious!” Scarlet Ape trembled from its hiding place outside Destiny City as it watched the fight play out. “It’s him, it’s really him! He was the one keeping me sealed in the dragon tomb. He’s absolutely a human dao heavyweight!”

Scarlet Ape curled in on itself and hid in a corner like a furry ball. “Only immortals of the human dao would talk about refining fire spirits into treasure. Perhaps he’ll refine my core into pills as well if he sees me!

“Thank the heavens he’s just a scrap of damaged soul. He needs that strange formation and the hearts’ blood of ten thousand spirits in order to tap into his power.

“How many monstrous beings like him are there among Lu Yun’s followers?! I’ll publicly announce that young human’s identity after he rescues my dao partner. He’ll become the foremost public enemy in the world of immortals and die without a corpse to bury!” Scarlet Ape muttered, planning out how it would deal with Lu Yun.

……

The battle above Destiny City continued.

With the city as a foundation, hearts’ blood to form his body, and the underground vein to fuel his energy, Qi Hai pummeled his opponents with simple punches. The Blood Formation of Ten Thousand Spirits made possible the perfect amalgamation of the three forces.

Every punch of his hinted at the utmost logic of the world—he’d reached heights greater than the essence of immortal dao. This was the peak realm of human dao.

Qi Hai had already killed three of the seventeen origin dao immortals, sending their souls fleeing under the protection of their dao fruit. The other fourteen dao immortals were already thinking of retreating. If this went on, they’d all be killed.

The Destiny city lord stayed on the sidelines, simply watching the fight.

“Daoists!” said a voice from the sky. “This man is but a damaged soul. He’s only able to physically manifest because of a formation in the city. Once we destroy the shamanic formation, he’ll vanish as well! The eye of the formation is the little altar of dirt in Jadeite Manor!”

Swoosh!

A beam of sword energy descended and slashed at Qi Hai.

“You’re bold for a divine whelp,” Qi Hai sneered and grabbed at the sword energy. His confidence faltered when the attack severed his hand.

“The Sword of Chaos!” blurted out Qi Hai. “The sword has been completed!”

The fourteen origin dao immortals seized the chance to bypass Qi Hai’s defenses and enter Destiny City.

“What do you take me for, to run rampant in my city like this?” The city lord finally moved, lunging at the fourteen origin dao immortals.

“Scram!” growled Dong Lin. With a push of his hands, a great force shot out and slammed into the city lord, blasting him backward.

“Impossible!!” The city lord threw up a mouthful of blood; he couldn’t even take a single hit from Dong Lin!

“Hehehe, hahaha!” Dong Lin cackled, blood seeping out from between his teeth. He reached out and grabbed at Qing Han.

Time seemed to come to a halt in that moment. His hand reached further and further into Jadeite Manor, but no matter how far he reached, he couldn’t touch Qing Han, who should’ve been right at his fingertips. Tremendous pressure loomed over him.

“Whoever hurts my master must die,” a voice declared, followed by a sword slash originating from the distant sky. Time and space lost their meaning in the face of the attack.

The sword energy pierced straight through Dong Lin’s chest. His face froze as he struggled to lift his head, staring at the sudden newcomer with shock. It was Zhao Fengyang!

Thud!

Dong Lin’s lifeless body landed on the ground, and his dao fruit... shattered.