Chapter 197: The Ancestor’s Shadow

“Who am I?” The Blood Sect Ancestor, seeing his prey suddenly slain by Chen Fei, wasn’t in a rush to retaliate. Instead, he smiled and repeated the question, then struck a contemplative pose.

“Since you dare to speak to me like this, I’ll let you die with clarity!” he chuckled. “I am the Ancestor of the Blood Sect! I was ambushed by that old dog Tianqing in the past, which led to my imprisonment here!”

“You are all lackeys of that old dog Tianqing! You can’t escape this karma! Still, I’m merciful—I won’t let you die too painfully!” His eyes glowed with an evil gleam as he spoke.

Chen Fei couldn’t help but be speechless.

From the way he spoke, it almost sounded like the one being killed should be grateful!

Looking again at the man in front of him—bound in a pipa-shaped lock—it was clear that the seal was of the same origin as the one used on the slain beast. And from his way of cursing Tianqing as an “old dog,” this man was clearly at least at the Heavenly Ascension level.

In front of such a powerhouse, to be honest, Chen Fei didn’t even have the right to make a move.

Even if he used all his strength, at most he could hold his own against a peak Spirit Realm cultivator. Heavenly Ascension? That’s a joke.

But Chen Fei knew one more thing.

Although the protective multicolored light of the Xianle Secret Realm had disappeared, and the rules had somewhat changed, one thing remained the same:

This realm couldn’t withstand attacks above the Spirit Realm!

If the Blood Sect Ancestor unleashed such power, the secret realm would collapse—and then he’d be facing the full might of the Tianqing Holy Land.

With this in mind, Chen Fei was no longer anxious. Instead, he smiled back at the Blood Sect Ancestor and said, “You asked whose disciple I am. I don’t change my name or my seat—I’m the personal disciple of the Ancestor himself: Chen Fei!”

“What?” The Blood Sect Ancestor was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

He was clearly overjoyed, laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

“Tianqing’s gotten this senile? I still thought of him as my greatest enemy, yet he took in a mere Spirit Realm disciple as his successor? Hilarious! The Holy Land of Tianqing has truly fallen—what a pity!” His laughter stopped suddenly, and he gave Chen Fei a playful look.

“Looks like I can’t kill you after all. In fact, I should take you on a tour of the Xuanhuang Continent. Let everyone see how pathetic Tianqing’s so-called disciple is!” he sneered, clearly pleased with his plan and eager to carry it out.

Though Chen Fei had deduced many things to his advantage, facing a potential Heavenly Ascension level devil still made his heart uneasy.

Still, a force like the Tianqing Holy Land surely had some hidden trump cards, right?

“That depends on whether you have the guts!” Chen Fei sneered and took the initiative to taunt.

“You’re questioning my guts? How arrogant! Do you think just having Tianqing’s name behind you makes you invincible? Naïve!” the Blood Sect Ancestor laughed coldly, then raised his hand.

A thick wave of bloody aura wrapped around Chen Fei.

He could clearly see the move coming but couldn’t sense it at all—let alone dodge it!

“So this is the power of the Heavenly Ascension Realm… The gap is too large—I can’t even grasp its intricacies,” Chen Fei thought.

Still, he remained calm, activating the Void Heaven Cauldron to frantically absorb the surrounding blood energy.

Anyone else wouldn’t dare absorb such evil power so recklessly—it clearly looked dangerous.

But Chen Fei wasn’t worried.

The Void Heaven Cauldron could purify any type of energy, converting it into pure spiritual essence. No matter how corrupt or dangerous the blood energy was, it would be refined cleanly, leaving only pure qi to nourish his body.

Still, compared to the Blood Sect Ancestor’s attack, this effort was like a cup of water trying to put out a blazing cart of fire—entirely ineffective.

“My only hope now is the Yin-Yang Five Elements Seal—but getting close to him will be the hard part.” Chen Fei frowned.

If the Blood Sect Ancestor got hit by that seal, he would be forced to retaliate with power exceeding the Spirit Realm. That would trigger the realm’s collapse—and reinforcements would surely step in.

But how to get close enough?

As Chen Fei hesitated, the Blood Sect Ancestor noticed he remained still within the blood aura.

“Hm? Interesting. No wonder that old dog accepted you. Still, you’re just a weakling in the Spirit Realm. Useless!”

With that, he formed a seal, and a blood-red sigil appeared atop the aura imprisoning Chen Fei.

As it released tendrils of blood energy, Chen Fei felt the pressure surge drastically.

Just then, his identity token began to vibrate.

An aged sigh echoed out—and the bloody aura around Chen Fei shattered.

“Tianqing!” the Blood Sect Ancestor became visibly alert.

A shadowy figure appeared, facing away from them—Tianqing Ancestor.

He sighed, “Blood River… I didn’t expect you to still be causing trouble. I truly underestimated you.”

“Heh. You locked me away in this dump for years. Surprised I’ve regained strength, huh?” Blood Sect Ancestor sneered. “Old dog, you’ll only get a few more days of peace. Once I fully recover, I’ll settle this score!”

“But before that, I’ll kill everyone here. Consider it a gift to your precious Holy Land!” he laughed madly.

With his strength, he was practically invincible inside this secret realm.

Tianqing’s expression didn’t change.

“You haven’t changed at all after all these years. Seems I truly can’t let you live.”

“What a joke! You think you can trick me again? You’re just a phantom projection, and as long as I don’t exceed Spirit Realm levels, no one outside can enter this secret realm! What can you do?” Blood Sect Ancestor roared.

Chen Fei’s heart stirred.

So his guesses were right!

He immediately tried reaching out to his master’s spiritual sense.

“Master, can you help me get close to him?” Chen Fei asked tentatively, unsure if he’d get a response.

After all, the projection of the Tianqing Ancestor was just that—a phantom attached to his identity token.

But to his surprise, the Ancestor actually replied!

“You have a way?” Tianqing asked, a bit surprised.

“Yes!” Chen Fei replied firmly. “If I can get close, I have a way to force him to unleash power beyond the Spirit Realm! After that, we’ll need external help to intervene!”

“That’s enough,” Tianqing said with a strange expression but agreed.

Though he hadn’t interacted with Chen Fei before, he trusted that Chen Fei wouldn’t make reckless moves now of all times.

If there’s a chance—it must be taken.

As the once-humble Wang raised his head slowly, looking at the back of the Blood Sect Ancestor, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

The time had finally come.