Donglin City, the Teng family's ancestral residence. On this extremely expensive land that covered a 5-kilometers range, splendid pavilions towered everywhere. Delicate flowers were carved on doors and windows while spirit stones were crushed into powder and spread inside this area, causing this place to have indescribably rich spiritual Qi. The side courtyard was exquisite as the small bridge, gazebos, and pavements were built from fine scented rosewood.

Nonetheless, if foreign powerhouses were to enter this area, they would vaguely sense danger lingering in their hearts.

A simple defensive formation was set up here. Everything here was simply pointing to the fact that this clan was so luxurious that it could not be put into words.

This was Teng Donglin's residence, which belonged to Donglin City's greatest aristocratic family.

Judging from how he was named after the city, one could imagine how arrogant and unruly he was.

Behind the side courtyard, by the small lake, a building was there such that one could watch the lake from it. The building was not big and seemed very normal, but one could notice magnanimous spiritual Qi fluctuations inside if one looked closely. Along with a destructive aura, they seemed appalling as though an explosion would cause an unimaginable consequence.

Countless red candles were lit up inside the pavilion. Wisps of black smoke rose from the candles into the sky.

The second the black smoke reached the ceiling, they dispersed as if they were forcibly driven away by an enormous power.

At the center of the pavilion, a black pillar penetrated the rooftop. A lively black dragon was carved on it. It had pitch-black scales, released cold lights, and incredibly sharp claws as if it could easily hollow out the sky. In particular, the black dragon's eyes were shut, but they looked like they were opened. Blood mists lingered the dragon and made the area around it look bloody.

Numerous soul lamps were lit up on the pillar. They had green fires on them, which looked ghostly and gave one chills.

All of a sudden, a breeze blew, causing 2 soul lights at the top of the pillar to be distinguished…

An elder that was sitting with his legs crossed in front of the room opened his eyes abruptly. A fleeting green fire appeared in his eyes, and he mumbled after some thought, 'Teng Mingze and Teng Mingxu were killed. Who's targeting the Teng family? Such a powerhouse would be considered a top-notch combat power in the Teng family."

Without any hesitation, he turned and walked out of the pavilion.

He paced toward Teng Donglin's study and stated, "Patriarch, the soul lamps of the brothers—Mingze and Mingxu—suddenly distinguished 15 minutes ago."

Teng Donglin waved his sleeve, causing a cold wind to be stirred up from the ground. The study's door was opened, and the cold weather in the courtyard was shattered. "Looks like the Wu family's set on helping the Xue family. The 2 brothers were telepathic and had great combat powers. Even if I were to go against them, I'll need to put in a lot of effort to take them down."

The black-robed elder asked softly, "What should we do now?"

Teng Donglin drew the bead curtain in front of him and responded coldly, "Items that are brought out of the Big Ruins carry mysterious and unpredictable powers. Our clan's determined to obtain the Self-examination Mirror. Besides, since a war has already broken out between our clans, the Teng family and the Xue family will fight to one's last gasp. Taking a step back, even if the Wu family and the Xue family join hands, how could they resist the Teng family? Donglin City's mindset is too small. If we defeat the Xue family and the Wu family, we're telling the world that the Teng family's here!" Red lights flashed in his eyes. He curled his lips and showed a cruel and bloodthirsty look on his face.

The black-robed elder nodded hard. "Patriarch, you're wise indeed!"

Teng Donglin looked like he had seen the vicissitudes of life, and he carried a unique charm. He ordered in a deep voice, "Call back all of our disciples that have left to train outside. This time, I want everyone to look at us with new eyes."

The black-robed elder nodded again and was deeply moved. 'Patriarch not only has great tricks but also thinks deeply. Indeed, once we defeat the Wu family and the Xue family, we'll surely have a place in Huixun City.

※※※※※※

Dense black mists filled the area above the Forest of Death and drifted with the wind.

Xue Xuanle was in a similar mood. Dead Qi seemed to be lingering in her heart, where she felt perturbed and at a loss.

She looked up at the dead Qi in the sky and smiled miserably as she sighed. 'I initially wanted to ask if you were the one that saved me at that run-down temple during the blizzard, but I didn't think that I lost my chance before I even mustered my courage to do so.' The young lady looked into the distance. She and her companions did not say it out loud, but they knew Ou Yangming was likely fraught with grim possibilities.

'Fool…' Xue Boren sighed when he noticed the young lady. He patted her shoulder gently.

Xue Yan and Wu Xiaohuang could feel what was going on as well, but they did not expose her as if they had a tacit understanding. After all, feelings needed to be polished to be as calm as water.

At the spur of the moment, an exclamation was heard coming from the forest. "Senior, I finally found you!"

As soon as the voice was gone, Ou Yangming jumped in front of everyone like a lightning bolt and beamed.

Xue Xuanle was stunned and flustered. She almost cried due to immense joy; nobody knew if she was crying or smiling.

"Brother Tianrui, how… How did you escape?" Xue Boren was elated. The 2 other patriarchs pricked up their ears and listened closely as well. It was their first time hearing about such a peculiar incident.

Ou Yangming had come up with an excuse already, hence he chuckled and answered, "That giant ancient tree is a formation that can anyhow shift cultivators around. It possesses a notable teleportation power and sent me 50 kilometers away, so I put in a lot of effort to find my way back here." The others lamented at the same time, 'The path of formations is broad and profound indeed. There are actually formations that can send cultivators 50 kilometers away.' They were still slightly dubious, but they believed most of what the young fellow said.

The young fellow then cupped his hands at Xue Boren with a grave look on his face. "Senior, I made you worry!"

Following that, he bowed at Wu Xiaohuang and Xue Yan respectively and expressed sincerely, "Seniors, thanks for hurrying here to rescue me!"

When Ou Yangming saw the 2 patriarchs, he had somewhat guessed what happened and was moved. He had only met the people from the Xue family by chance and did not even really cross paths with the Wu family, but the patriarchs came to save him after hearing what happened. This was hard to come by, thus the young fellow had more favorable impressions of Xue Xuanle and Xue Boren.

Wu Xiaohuang stroked his beard and replied to him, "As long as you're fine, as long as you're fine. The Hunting Meet is still ongoing, so Brother Xue and I sneaked in. We still have a chess game to finish outside, so we'll be leaving first."

Xue Yan scoffed to himself and thought, 'Chess boards and chess pieces are non-living things. How are they more interesting than life? In any case, I won't be going back to that round of chess.' He shifted his gaze to Ou Yangming and smiled amiably. "Brother Tianrui, you must be more careful inside the Forest of Death. This place is similar to a big graveyard and contains endless secrets. Even top-grade Spiritualists can be killed here."

Ou Yangming immediately cupped his hands and responded, "I understand."

Without saying much, the patriarchs transformed into 2 black vortexes and disappeared deep inside the Forest of Death.

Ou Yangming later retrieved a dagger that had exquisite patterns on it and said, "Let's go. There's still a long time until the Hunting Meet ends, so let's look around the periphery. Given the blood crystals that we have, we're definitely going to finish first, so we don't need to risk our lives deep inside the forest anymore."

Xue Boren sighed a breath of relief. Even if Ou Yangming had not brought this up, he would have suggested that they left too.

The young lady looked around and kept making circles with her thumbs in front of her flat tummy. She stammered, "Big Brother Yu… Last time…"

Ou Yangming looked at her and could not help but laugh. "What about the last time?"

Xue Xuanle blushed and gritted her teeth before she asked, "The last time when we were beside the ancient temple, were you the one that saved me?" She eventually spoke softly as though a mosquito was buzzing. Her delicate chin was also lowered as he only dared to look at Ou Yangming through the corner of her eye.

Ou Yangming was slightly dumbfounded, but he did not try to hide it this time. He pursed his lips and chuckled. "It was me indeed."

Xue Xuanle reacted as if she knew had expected this answer. A sweet feeling arose in her heart.

She walked slower and stepped on fallen leaves as she looked at Ou Yangming's rather thin and weak back view. She felt very at ease as though she would not be afraid even if the sky were to fall.

A strange look could be seen in Xue Boren's eyes, but it went away very quickly. Instead of asking further, he chose to keep quiet.

At night, the Forest of Death was devoured by darkness. The place was as dark as ink.

At this moment, a black light shot out from deep inside the forest, 50 kilometers away from where Ou Yangming was.

It was a red crow, which was half-naked as half of its feathers were gone. It was bleeding such that its flesh had started to rot, and it carried a weak aura but looked exceptionally persistent.

The crow was carrying a young man, who was good-looking and was worth a second look.

Nevertheless, his clothes were torn and were painted red. His hair was also in a mess, thus he looked like he was in a terrible state.

"Young Master, are you alright?" The red crow asked in a weak voice. As soon as it spoke, the injury on its body was pulled, by which blood flowed out from its stomach.

Wu Xuning nodded his head and answered weakly, "I can still hold on. Those 2 people have been pursuing us for a few days. I really want to kill them!" He was severely injured such that black vapor was released from his pores and kept eroding the spiritual power inside his dantian. In fact, his skin was slowly turning black.

Before his voice was even gone, he spat out some black blood, causing the corner of his mouth to be black.

The red crow's eyes were bloodshot, and its killing intent surged. "Young Master, I'll go back to deal with them. Meanwhile, you should take this opportunity to escape!"

"Escape? How are you going to escape?" Without warning, a strong wind stirred up in the sky and caused fallen leaves to fly everywhere. Amidst the wind, 2 figures approached Wu Xuning and the crow as though they were strolling in a garden. They looked teasingly at the young man and the crow like hunters looking at their prey.

One of them wore a beast's skin and was in his thirties. When he pointed at the sky, the strong wind dispersed. He stroked his beard and laughed. "Little Sister Shu Ya, I'm lacking a mount at the moment, so why don't you let me have this low-rank spirit beast? You can have that boy including all of his smithing materials. What do you think?" He looked fervently at the red crow beneath Wu Xuning.

"Big Brother, you've been taking such good care of me, so I won't say anything further." The young lady sounded coquettish and enchanting. She also had a particularly sexy figure, and she bent her body over when she spoke, hence her beautiful cleavage could be seen. One would feel thirsty by looking at her.

At this moment, the red crow flapped its wings hard, and a red light flickered in its eyes as it blew out some green air. Its feathers fell from its body and connected into a long black dragon that seemed to have rushed down from a roughly 33-kilometers-tall cliff. When the crow waved its wings and pointed them forward, the long dragon that was formed from its feathers pounced on its enemies!