On the official road, as the two sides faced off, a figure had already reached a nearby tree.
With the help of the [Phantom Ethereal Dharma Robe], Chu Yuan’s entire being merged into the void.
As his Divine Sense swept out, the cultivation levels of everyone present were clear to him.
The youth and his companions were only in the [Tongming Realm]. On the side of the Demon Path Alliance, the Hook-nosed Cultivator had already reached the [Yunzhen Realm].
With a full realm of difference between them, the gap was like a celestial chasm.
Even so, the Hook-nosed Cultivator remained completely unaware of Chu Yuan’s investigation.
Chu Yuan, on the other hand, felt his expression darken the moment he clearly saw the cultivator’s face.
That face… he remembered his own Black Dragon Emperor mentioning it in his past life.
The dragon egg from the auction had been purchased by this very cultivator, who was tasked with hatching it.
When the young dragon had finally broken through its shell, expecting to see its own mother, it was greeted instead by this sneering evil cultivator.
The dragon had been imprisoned in a cage, its body flooded daily with Demonic Qi in an attempt to refine it into a killing tool.
In that dark, sunless earthen cellar, the tiny Black Dragon had curled up in the corner of its cage, its body covered in wounds.
The Hook-nosed Cultivator had held a barbed iron whip, repeatedly lashing the hatchling’s young body.
‘You beast! Still not submissive? Once I refine your consciousness, we’ll see if you yield then!’
The Black Dragon had gritted its teeth without making a sound, those dark gold eyes staring at him intently.
There was no fear in its gaze, only a hatred that was carved into its very marrow.
The dragon’s hatred for the human race likely took root in its heart from that moment onward.
As Chu Yuan recalled the past, the situation on the official road changed.
Seeing the evil cultivators targeting their eldest brother, the three sisters stepped forward in unison to shield him.
The Second Sister gave a sharp cry, her hand tightening around the hilt of her sword as she unsheathed it.
“How dare you!”
The Third Sister said nothing, but she had already assumed a defensive stance.
The Fourth Sister refused to be outdone, clutching a dagger as her small face turned pale.
Seeing this, the Hook-nosed Cultivator laughed even more wantonly.
“Oho! Three little girls actually trying to protect their brother? How interesting. It’s just as well we take you all at once. Two can be sold to the Hehuan Sect, and as for the little one… she’ll be good to keep for a few years.”
“You’re looking for death!”
The Second Sister roared and lunged straight at the Hook-nosed Cultivator.
Before the blade could reach him, the evil cultivator felt the biting chill of her sword intent.
Had he been an ordinary evil cultivator, it would have been difficult to block.
However, the man struck out with a backhanded palm, and the resulting gale sent the Second Sister flying, sword and all.
The Second Sister groaned and spat out blood as she hit the ground.
“Second Sister!”
The youth’s eyes nearly split from rage as he rushed forward to check on her. “Second Sister, are you all right?”
The Second Sister shook her head in pain. “Don’t worry! I’m not dead yet! These cultivators are nothing special!”
Seeing how she still talked back, the evil cultivator snorted coldly.
“Nothing special? Girl, you don’t actually think I can’t kill you, do you? If it weren’t for the sake of getting a good price for you after the battle, that palm would have been enough to flatten you into a meat patty!”
As he spoke, he did not forget to flaunt his [Yunzhen Realm] cultivation.
Feeling the pressure radiating from a superior expert, the four siblings felt suffocated.
“Hahaha!”
To their surprise, the youth burst into laughter. “Good! Very good! I didn’t expect to encounter a master of such a realm. Today, I shall fight you all to the bitter end!”
Hearing this, the evil cultivator teased, “Hmph! You can still laugh at a time like this? Could it be you cultivate the Path of Joyful Emotions? That truly is a pity!”
It was common knowledge that the Path of Joyful Emotions was excellent for pressing an advantage, but it was never used when the odds were against the user.
The Hook-nosed Cultivator sighed with feigned regret. “I would have thought the Path of Angry Emotions was more suitable for you! Hahaha!”
The youth moved his jaw. “You despicable evil cultivator, you actually want to disrupt my Dao Heart? How shameless!”
In the Path of True Emotions, aside from ordinary combat methods, breaking another person’s emotional path was also a viable strategy.
While a cultivator could theoretically switch their emotional path, everything required a step-by-step progression.
They were currently in the middle of a battle. If he tried to switch—even if the thought merely crossed his mind—it would cause irreversible damage to his Dao Heart.
Because of this, such a tactic was despised by the righteous path, and only the Demon Path Alliance loved using such underhanded methods.
The youth raised his sword to step forward, but the Third Sister held him back firmly.
“Brother, don’t let them provoke you at a time like this!” The Third Sister cried out urgently. “Brother! Among us siblings, you have the highest cultivation. We’ll hold them off, you must hurry into the city and call for help!”
“What nonsense are you saying!” The youth shook off her hand. “I am the eldest brother. How could I possibly leave you behind—”
Before he could finish, one of the Hook-nosed Cultivator’s subordinates quietly approached and struck a palm toward the center of his back!
“Brother! Watch out!”
Seeing this, the Fourth Sister lunged forward, using her small body to shield her brother!
Thud!
“Ah!”
That palm strike landed squarely on the Fourth Sister’s back.
“Fourth Sister!”
Three screams rang out simultaneously.
The Fourth Sister’s small body slumped down weakly. Blood spilled from the corners of her mouth, yet she was still smiling. “Brother… I… I protected you…”
The youth’s eyes turned bloodshot, and the aura around him suddenly became violent.
Sensing the change, the Hook-nosed Cultivator looked even more regretful. “He really is a good seed for the Path of Angry Emotions. What a shame.”
As he spoke, he flipped his hand, and black chains appeared out of thin air, binding the youth tightly in an instant.
Walking forward slowly, the Hook-nosed Cultivator pinched the youth’s chin, inspecting him from side to side. “Tsk tsk! This appearance, this skeletal structure… selling him will definitely net quite a few Spirit Stones.”
The youth’s eyes were crimson, but he could not break free from the chains of Demonic Qi.
Meanwhile, the Second and Third Sister were also pinned to the ground by other evil cultivators, unable to move.
Glancing at the Fourth Sister lying in a pool of blood, her tiny chest rising and falling weakly, the Hook-nosed Cultivator looked slightly dissatisfied.
“How do you people do your jobs? Can’t you control your strength? Now that this girl is like this, even if she’s healed, it’ll cost a lot of money. Do you think business is easy these days?”
Seeing that all four siblings had become meat on the evil cultivators’ chopping block, the youth grew even more furious. “You animals!”
The Hook-nosed Cultivator lashed him with a whip. “Quiet! If we in the Demon Path Alliance weren’t animals, how could we be evil cultivators? Everyone, am I right?”
“Hahaha!”
“Aaahhh!”
In an instant, the mocking laughter of the evil cultivators and the desperate screams of the four siblings intertwined along the official road.
From his hiding place, Chu Yuan grew certain of the man’s identity the moment he saw that whip. He delayed no longer.
Whoosh!
He stepped out, transforming into a winter gale that swept past the evil cultivators shrouded in Demonic Qi.
In a split second, more than ten evil cultivators screamed in unison as they were sent flying, crashing heavily onto the ground.
Only the Hook-nosed Cultivator managed to instinctively block with his whip, barely avoiding the strike.
However, the aura carried by that cold wind left his face pale and his body trembling.
“Who goes there? To use such a filthy method as a sneak attack, have you no shame?”
Even as he spoke, the Hook-nosed Cultivator threw down a smoke bomb, attempting to flee through the chaos.
Adjusting his internal spiritual energy, Chu Yuan placed a mark on the man’s body and ignored him for the moment.
The goal of this trip was to find the Demon Path Alliance’s stronghold; he had to let one person go to lead the way back.
A moment later, deathly silence returned to the official road.
The youth stared blankly at the fallen evil cultivators, momentarily lost for words.
Except for the Hook-nosed Cultivator, the other dozen or so evil cultivators were all dead.
It so happened that at the same time Chu Yuan took action, Ji Xuanyuan’s Divine Phoenix Carriage had arrived and hidden nearby.