134: Altar trial, fists suppressing all directions

Above the altar, smoke from the incense curled in the air.

Lin Fan's three silent words exploded in the Great Elder's heart like a clap of thunder. His expression changed drastically, and he subconsciously retreated half a step, but he immediately realized that with tens of thousands of clansmen watching, he could not show any weakness.

"What does the Divine Son mean by this?" the Great Elder forced himself to remain calm, though his voice carried a trace of nearly imperceptible trembling.

Lin Fan did not answer immediately. He turned to face the ancestral tablets and bowed solemnly three times. Only then did he slowly turn back, his gaze sweeping across the entire field.

"Fellow clansmen." His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears. "Today's Ancestor Worship Ceremony was originally meant to commemorate our ancestors and unite the heart of the Family. However, there are some matters that must be cleared up at this moment."

Silence fell below the altar; everyone had a premonition that something major was about to happen.

Clan Leader stood beside Lin Fan with his hands behind his back. He did not speak, but his majestic eyes had already locked onto the Great Elder and his followers.

"Two days ago, the Meteor Star Ancient Domain trial ended," Lin Fan continued. "Fifty-seven disciples of our Lin Family entered; forty-one returned, and sixteen were lost. Among them was the Grand Elder's direct grandson—Lin Hong."

Whoosh! The crowd immediately fell into an uproar. Lin Hong was the most outstanding of the Grand Elder's lineage in the younger generation, and his fall had already been a hot topic of discussion within the Family lately.

"I deeply regret Junior Brother Lin Hong's passing," Lin Fan said, his tone shifting. "But some truths must be made public."

He raised his right hand, palm upward. A phantom of the star pagoda slowly emerged in his palm. The light on the first floor of the pagoda lit up, projecting a clear image. It was Lin Hong's distorted face in front of the Ancient Domain altar: "Lin Fan! This altar today shall be your burial ground!" along with the scene of him activating a blood-colored Talisman to summon blood puppets to besiege Lin Fan!

"Is this an Image Playback?!" an experienced clan elder exclaimed.

As a Star Treasure of the Origin, the star pagoda could not only attack and defend but also record everything happening around it. Lin Fan had secretly activated this function as early as when he was confronting Lin Hong.

The images continued to play: Lin Hong was backlashed by the blood puppets, letting out a shrill scream before his death: "Grandfather, avenge me!"

Finally, a black-robed figure appeared and conversed with Lin Hong's remnant soul: "Useless trash... but your blood can help my Cult Leader refine a Blood Divine Pill..." The image abruptly ended there.

Dead silence filled the area.

Tens of thousands of gazes turned simultaneously toward the Great Elder.

"The black-robed figure in this recording has a blood-colored crescent moon symbol on his sleeve," Lin Fan's voice turned cold. "The Dark Moon Divine Cult. And I'm sure everyone heard Junior Brother Lin Hong's final words clearly: 'Grandfather, avenge me.'"

He looked directly at the Great Elder: "Grand Elder, I ask you, who is the 'Grandfather' in Junior Brother Lin Hong's mouth? And who did he want to take revenge on, and through whom?"

Every word was like a blade, piercing straight through to the heart of the matter!

The Great Elder's face was deathly pale and his lips trembled, yet he could not say a single word.

"Not only that." Lin Fan gave his opponent no room to breathe. "After I returned to the Family, my father showed me a recording. In the Grand Elder's study, late at night, a black-robed figure sneaked in for a secret discussion. The symbol on that person's sleeve was exactly the same as the one that appeared in the Ancient Domain."

He looked at the Clan Leader: "Father, please."

The Clan Leader nodded, took out a recording jade slip, and activated it in public.

The scene reappeared, showing the Great Elder in a secret conversation with a black-robed figure! Although the content could not be heard, that blood-colored crescent moon was clear and piercing under the moonlight!

"Dark Moon Divine Cult!"

"The Grand Elder actually colluded with the Demonic Cult!"

"No wonder the Family's mineral veins have been repeatedly attacked lately; it turns out there was a traitor within!"

The crowd below the altar erupted. Even some branch Family members who originally supported the Great Elder now showed expressions of anger and disappointment. Colluding with a Demonic Cult was one of the greatest taboos for the Primordial Divine Clan!

"Slander! This is slander!" The Great Elder finally reacted, shouting hoarsely. "Clan Leader! To consolidate your position as Clan Chief, you've used such despicable means to frame me! This recording must be a forgery!"

"A forgery?" Lin Fan sneered. "Then how does the Grand Elder explain why the 'Resentful Demon Remnant Soul' of the Dark Moon Divine Cult appeared beneath the altar, attempting to invade my soul?"

As soon as he finished speaking, his right hand grabbed at the air!

Buzz! A faint wisp of black Qi was forcibly pulled out from a crack in the altar's stone by him! The black Qi twisted and struggled, letting out a silent shriek; it was the last trace of aura remaining after a Resentful Demon Remnant Soul had been purified!

"A Resentful Demon! It really is a Resentful Demon!" a clan elder proficient in the path of souls said tremulously. "This thing can only be preserved by the Dark Moon Divine Cult's 'Soul-Snatching Bone Box'! It specifically devours the souls of geniuses; it is utterly malicious!" The evidence was as solid as a mountain!

"Lin Yuan!" the Clan Leader finally spoke, his voice booming like thunder. "You colluded with a Demonic Cult, plotted against the Divine Son, and betrayed the Family! According to the Family rules—your cultivation shall be crippled, and you shall be imprisoned in the Black Prison forever! What else do you have to say?!"

The Great Elder's face was ashen like dead embers.

He knew he had lost. But he was unwilling! How could decades of plotting be ruined by a nineteen-year-old junior?!

"Hahaha..." The Great Elder suddenly burst into wild laughter, his laugh shrill and piercing. "Clan Leader! Lin Fan! Do you think you've won just like that?!"

He suddenly tore open his lapel, revealing a blood-colored heart-protecting mirror. The surface of the mirror was covered in cracks and was now flashing frantically!

"This is a Blood Sacrifice Transmission Talisman!" an elder exclaimed.

"That's right!" the Great Elder grinned hideously. "This Talisman is linked to my essence blood! If I die, or if my cultivation is crippled, the Talisman will self-destruct and transmit these coordinates! At that time, three Blood Moon Elders of the Dark Moon Divine Cult will descend upon the Lin Family's ancestral land! None of you will be able to escape!"

The whole place was in an uproar!

Three Blood Moon Elders? Those were the core combat forces of the Dark Moon Divine Cult, at least at the Peak Divine Power Realm! If they truly descended, the Lin Family would surely be turned into a river of blood!

The Clan Leader's face darkened. He hadn't expected the Great Elder to be so ruthless as to use the safety of the entire clan as a threat!

"Grand Elder, have you gone mad?!" a neutral elder was heartbroken. "You're trying to drag the entire clan to the grave with you!"

"Drag you with me?" The Great Elder's eyes were bloodshot. "You forced me to this! This position of Clan Chief should have been mine! What right does Clan Leader have? And this Lin Fan, a brat whose hair hasn't even grown in yet, what right does he have to ride over my grandson? Today, either I live, or—everyone dies together!"

The atmosphere instantly tightened to the extreme.

Tens of thousands of clansmen were terrified and uneasy; some women and children had already begun to weep softly. If the Dark Moon Divine Cult truly launched a large-scale attack, the Lin Family might face the danger of extermination!

Just as despair began to spread.

"Three Blood Moon Elders?" a calm voice rang out.

Lin Fan stepped forward, looking at the crazed Great Elder with no fear in his eyes, only a faint sense of mockery.

"Grand Elder, you seem to have forgotten one thing," he said slowly. "Can that transmission Talisman of yours really still be used?"

The Great Elder was stunned and subconsciously looked at the heart-protecting mirror on his chest.

The cracks on the mirror's surface had spread across the entire mirror at some unknown point. Those flashing blood-lights were dimming at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Impossible... This Blood Sacrifice Transmission Talisman was personally bestowed by the Cult Leader; unless I die, it could never..." The Great Elder's words stopped abruptly.

He suddenly remembered that when the Resentful Demon Remnant Soul was easily purified by Lin Fan earlier, a pang of pain had shot through his chest. At the time, he thought it was due to his agitation, but thinking about it now...

"When the Resentful Demon Remnant Soul was purified, its backlash followed the Karma and damaged the Talisman core linked to your essence blood," Lin Fan said indifferently. "Right now, it's nothing more than a broken mirror."

"You knew all along?!" The Great Elder's eyes felt like they were splitting.

"Otherwise?" The corners of Lin Fan's mouth curled slightly. "Do you think I would ascend the altar without any preparation?"

A total crush of intellect!

From beginning to end, all of the Great Elder's schemes were within Lin Fan's expectations!

"Now," Lin Fan's voice suddenly turned cold, "it's time for the reckoning."

His figure flickered, disappearing directly from the top of the altar! When he reappeared, he was already three feet in front of the Great Elder!

So fast!

The Great Elder was, after all, in the Late Stage Divine Power Realm; though startled, he did not panic, letting out a roar: "Junior, you're looking for death!"

Blood-colored energy surged in his palms as he struck out with a "Blood Fiend Palm"! Wherever the palm wind passed, the air took on a sickly sweet scent; this was a Demonic Path Cultivation Technique he had immersed himself in for decades!

However, Lin Fan neither dodged nor avoided it, simply throwing out a punch. No starlight, no phenomena, not even a massive surge of true yuan. This punch looked completely ordinary, like a youth who had just begun martial arts practicing basic fist techniques.

But the Great Elder's face turned as pale as paper the moment the punch was thrown!

What did he see?

In front of that fist, space was warping! It wasn't a visual illusion caused by the pressure of true yuan, but a genuine ripple in space! It was as if this punch had touched the underlying rules of the world!

"This is impossible..." The Great Elder's roar caught in his throat.

Fist and palm met.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a soft "thud."

The Great Elder's Blood Fiend Palm energy dissolved instantly like snow meeting a blazing sun. And that seemingly ordinary fist pressed into his chest without any hindrance.

Crack! The heart-protecting mirror shattered completely.

The Great Elder was sent flying like a broken kite, crashing into a stone pillar below the altar, which snapped upon impact!

He spat out a large mouthful of blood, his chest caved in, and his aura instantly withered. His cultivation in the Late Stage Divine Power Realm had actually been nearly half-dissipated by this single punch!

Dead silence.

Everyone stared wide-eyed, watching this scene in disbelief.

One punch! Just one punch! Defeating the Grand Elder of the Late Stage Divine Power Realm!

What kind of strength was this?! What kind of fist technique?!

Lin Fan withdrew his fist and stood with his hands behind his back. In that punch just now, he had fused the "Chaos Fist Intent" he had just comprehended. Although it was only a faint prototype, its characteristic of destroying all laws was already beginning to show its prominence.

"Seize him," the Clan Leader reacted and shouted sternly.

The already prepared Lin Family Law Enforcement Team swarmed forward and tied up the heavily injured Great Elder securely. Those few elders who had supported the Great Elder were also surrounded by other elders and guards, not daring to move.

The situation was settled. However, just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief...

"Hehehe, what a fine Lin Family Divine Son, what a fine Chaos Fist Intent."

A cold, sinister laughter came from all directions.

The sky suddenly darkened! Three blood-colored figures appeared above the altar like ghosts!

The leader wore a blood-red robe, his face withered, but his eyes were as crimson as blood. Behind him were two others, one tall and one short, their auras equally gloomy and terrifying.

The Dark Moon Divine Cult, Blood Moon Elders! And it wasn't just three, but three Blood Moon Elders had arrived in person!

The Clan Leader's face changed drastically. Although the Blood Sacrifice Transmission Talisman had been destroyed, the other party was clearly prepared and had been lurking nearby!

"Lin Fan." The blood-robed old man at the head looked down, his voice raspy like sandpaper. "The Cult Leader has ordered: since you possess a Star Treasure and have comprehended the Chaos Concept, you are the best main ingredient for our cult's 'Blood Divine Pill.' Today, come with us."

He paused, his crimson eyes scanning the Lin Family members. "As for the Lin Family colluding with our cult's traitor Lin Yuan, the evidence is conclusive. According to the Great Xia laws, you should be executed to the last man. However, the Cult Leader is merciful; as long as you hand over Lin Fan and offer up seventy percent of your Family's resources, your lives may be spared."

A blatant threat! Moreover, they were distorting the truth and counter-accusing the Lin Family of colluding with the Demonic Cult!

The Clan Leader laughed out of extreme anger. "What a fine Dark Moon Divine Cult! What a fine 'execution to the last man'! Do you really think my Lin Family is made of clay?!"

He suddenly raised the nine star clan leader token!

"Guardian Clan War Puppet Army, hear my command!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! In the depths of the ancestral land, the ground split open! Three hundred bronze war puppets, each three zhang tall, rose from the ground! Each one radiated the aura of the Divine Power Realm, forming a battle array with a soaring Killing Intent!

"War Puppet Army..." The blood-robed old man narrowed his eyes. "The Lin Family's foundation is indeed deep. However..."

He grinned, revealing forest-white teeth. "Can a mere three hundred war puppets stop the three of us?" Before his voice had even fallen, the three of them released their pressure simultaneously!

Rumble!

The world changed color! Blood clouds rolled! Three blood-colored pillars of light soared into the sky, each containing terrifying fluctuations that surpassed the Divine Power Realm!

Half-Step Primordial Spirit! And it was three Half-Step Primordial Spirits!

The Clan Leader's face was grim. Although the War Puppet Army was strong, resisting one Half-Step Primordial Spirit was its limit, and now three had arrived together.

"Father," Lin Fan suddenly spoke.

He looked up at the three blood-colored figures in the sky, his eyes showing no fear, only a faint, eager Battle Intent.

"Leave these three old fogies to me."

He stepped into the air, standing suspended in the void, confronting the three Blood Moon Elders from afar.

"It just so happens that the fist technique I've newly comprehended needs a whetstone."

The youth's white clothes were like snow, standing beneath the blood-colored sky.

Behind him were his Family and ancestors.

Ahead was overwhelming demonic power.

He slowly clenched his fist as the Chaos aura began to spread.