-----

  BOOOM!

  The Pagoda colpsed into the ground the moment Fan Gu Lan pierced through it, its eructure fell down. The few dozens of Immortals and couple of Primordials inside quickly ran away as the eructure exploded into fmes, spreading corrupted Ki energies.

  “Lord Venerable!”

  “H-He unched down?!”

  “Didn’t he say that he was strohan her?!”

  “T-That’s…!”

  The Immortals began to doubt Fang Gu Lan’s words. As they desded to find him, he was already standing on the ground, gring at Bing Xue while uhing his sword; his face had yet tee as he was bleeding from his broken nose.

  He used his hand to quickly pce it back where it was, making loud crag sounds; it seemed he didn’t even mind the pain, focused on Bing Xue.

  His Aura suddenly ged; the Immortals quickly flew away from his Immortal I!

  RUMBLE!

  “Bing… Xueee…”

  His eyes turned red as they began to spiral around, as his long bck hair waved by the energy and winds that his aura geed.

  “I will never five you.”

  CLASH!

  He disappeared from where he was, resembling a blur of seven different colors as he reached Bing Xue in a split sed.

  Bing Xue looked down at him from above, as suddenly, two little lights of silver and white erged.

  “Hm?!”

  CLAAASH! CLAAASH!

  The moment Fang Gu Lan was about to csh against Bing Xue, these little lights emerged, pushing him down with immense force.

  “This strength… Peak Realm Primordials?!” he thought. “Did she have them with her this eime? Hmph! Begone!”

  However, as much as he tried to push back, they quickly cshed against him again, their auras rapidly dissipating as they fought him, revealing their true appearance.

  Children!

  “What?!”

  “How dare you bully mama!”

  “We’ll beat you down!”

  They were beautiful children no older tha or nine in appearance, with rainbow eyes, long silvery-white hair, wolf ears and tail, and caws, with fur around their arms, legs, and neck.

  They wore simir clothes to Bing Xue as well, aside from their clear appearand resembo her.

  Fang Gu Lan, however, couldn’t believe that mere children were managing to keep up with his I!

  “What is the meaning of this?! You damn brats! You think you are capable of even holding a dle against me?!”

  Fang Gu Lan swung moved rapidly aerously, g against the boy; his cws, kicks, and bites, apanied by his ever-growing aura, tinued holding him back despite the odds!

  The venerable responded with dexterous kicks and punches, and whenever he swung his sword, the boy would swing his long cws, releasing maed bde auras that somehow could pare to them.

  CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

  “Impossible! A mere child of this level?! Even for me, it took me years to reach this power!” Fan Gu Lan screamed angrily. “Die!”

  He unleashed his I in full; seven gigantic dragons came down towards the boy, who faced the man bravely, his Aura erupting as well.

  “AWOOOOO!”

  He howled, his beastly appearance being more atuated and his body growing slightly more muscur and taller; at the same time, the boy’s Aura temporarily evolved.

  “ROOAARR!”

  “GRAAARR!”

  “ROOAARR!”

  The roars of wolves echoed from the boy’s Aura, as hundreds of gigantic wolves maed from the silver and golden light, g and biting the seven-headed dragon’s neck, overwhelming the seven heads with numbers.

  “T-That’s… A Venerable Aura?!”

  “{Divine White Heaven Formation Arts}: {Heavenly Restri Formation}!”

  And right as he was fog too mu the boy and not the girl, a formation appeared below him, above him, from his left, right, front, and back at the same time, enveloping him in a white cube.

  “This…?!”

  His eyes widened, notig thousands of s ing around his body, draining his energy and attempting to seal it away.

  “A formation of this caliber, jured so easily?”

  He g its ins; the girl that was with the boy; they were both likely twins too, as they looked very alike.

  The thing is, as he recalled what they said, he became shocked.

  “They called you their mother?”

  He asked Bing Xue that question, gng at her from above the skies; she was nodding, looking at her children w hard.

  “That’s right, they’re my children.”

  “…Adopted?”

  “No! They’re my children; they have my blood.”

  “…”

  Fang Gu Lan couldn’t believe it! All this time, Bing Xue already had settled down and even had children?! After all of this time believing she didn’t like men, she ended up getting married and having kids? He simply… he couldn’t accept this!

  “What sort of monsters are these? Childre born with Venerable-level Ki!” screamed the frustrated vilin.

  “The only thing you do is pin,” said Bing Xue. “So I thought I should leave you to my kids, seeing how much of a wimp you are.”

  “Tch….! Hahah… Fug hell.”

  CRAAASH!

  With his sheer physical strength, Fang Gu Lan shattered the entire formation instantly, breaking apart from it.

  Then, another sed ter, he reached the boy attag his Venerable I, swinging his sword and aiming to slice him into two halves.

  SLAAASH!

  Once sliced apart, he moved towards the girl, grabbing her head and crushing it like a balloon.

  BOOOM!

  “They’re strong, but not enough. Now show me your g face; I sughtered your children- Eh?”

  Fang Gu Lan blinked, realizing he hadn’t harmed them at all!

  Instead, what he destroyed were perfect replicas, made out of their own Venerable Aura.

  Doppelgangers!

  “He’s strong!” Orion said. “He crushed my Doppelganger instantly!”

  “Hmm… he freed himself from the prototype formation,” Athena analyzed. “I’ll create a stronger ohen.”

  “HAH?!” Fang Gu Lan couldn’t believe it. “How did they fool me?! What sort of trick are you…?”

  “Fang Gu Lan,” said Bing Xue. “I am not the only ohat’s a Venerable around here, you know? It’s rare in Murim, if not impossible. But these children here, they ied all my powers upon birth, and sihen, they had been only improving and growing stronger.”

  “T-That’s… Venerables giving birth to Venerables?! Preposterous! To reach such a Realm, you have to work hard for years and years… It shouldn’t be something a child is born with!”

  Bing Xue’s children were actually Rank 21 upon birth, the same Rank as her Primordial Immemorial Venerables.

  However, for their own safety and that of everyone else around them, she suppressed their power tremendously and helped them slowly get used to it, gradually unlog it.

  Even now, around fifty pert of their power was still sealed, although she released a lot of it this moment, finally finding out a pung bag her kids could fight to their hearts’ tent without worry.

  “I would have thought the same thing, but here we are, and they’re cute, aren’t they? I love them!” Bing Xue smiled. “I’m so proud of them… And I was also quite sad. I had to hold them back because they’re s. You came right at the perfect timing, to be ho. Bee their pung bags, please.”

  Bing Xue waved her hand as a storm of sshing attacks engulfed Fang Gu Lan from every angle, cutting through his defenses and his Aura, and beginning to cover his body with small sshing wounds. The attacks then began to explode into Red Heaven Inferno Fmes, strengthening the damage dealt!

  “{Seven Heavenly Paths}: {Blue Heaven Prote}”

  However, Fang Gu Lan wasn’t going to allow her to look down on him anymore! Activating another of his personal teiques, his Aura flickered, turning pletely blue as blue clouds enpassed his entire body. The wounds he was taking were instantly healed, and the fmes turned off!

  “I see, so you’re using Blue Heaven against Red Heaven; I guess you have the level of intelligence of a small dog now,” said Bing Xue, smiling. “How about this?”

  FLASH!

  A massive beam of bck void was fired, reag Fang Gu Lan. He furiously enpassed his body with the same Aura, now ging again.

  “{Seven Heavenly Paths}: {White Heaven Armor}!”

  An armor of white metal maed from the blue clouds, which turned white before transf, proteg him from the Void Beam directly.

  BOOOM!

  “Hmm, I see…”

  Bing Xue seemed calm; however, she was calg how far he could go by testing him with various attacks while keeping her distance from him.

  Meanwhile, Orion and Athena tiheir onsught, rushing down to fight directly this time! Orion enpassed his body with his growing Venerable Aura, the wolves rapidly merging into a giant white werewolf.

  “ROOAAARRR!”

  “{White Wolf’s Heaven-Slig Cws}!”

  SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

  Orion swung his hands against Fang Gu Lan, unleashing a barrage of slig waves of white and silver light, hitting the Venerable stantly. His white armained scratches that began to grow into cracks.

  Crack, crack…!

  “He’s capable of even shattering my armor?!”

  The Venerable gritted his teeth; being humiliated by children wasn’t in his pns right after finally being revived.

  He quickly rushed towards the boy, ign the girl ing from behind him again as her Aura emerged, being a gigantic, multi-tailed white wolf with red eyes.

  “{Divine White Heaven Formation Arts}: {Heavenly Restri Formation}!”

  “Again with that one, huh? Damn child.”

  Fang Gu Lan quickly maed his pain, part of his Aura materializing into a giant, bzing red axe.

  “{Seven Heavenly Paths}: {Red Heaven Cleaver}!”

  SLAASH!

  He swung the Red Heaven Cleaver against Athena right as he was enpassed by the same white cube! The attack was massive, geing a gigantic explosion the moment it reached the girl.

  BOOOM!

  Yet… she appeared amidst the explosions; her body enpassed by a nine-colored armor-like barrier. The girl smiled fidently.

  “Echo!”

  FLUOSH!

  “Huh?!”

  Fang Gu Lan realized the formation wasn’t just the same; the girl maed an Echo of it instantly, using the power and damage she tanked and applying it into the cube.

  “{Heavenly Punishment Formation}!”

  The energy erupted from every single angle around the Venerable as a massive explosion of white and golden fmes engulfed him; the explosion wasn’t ohough, but dozens of secutive ones within a small area.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  “Graaaggh?!”

  Fang Gu Lan vomited blood as he felt the insides of his body being crushed, as his armor shattered pletely and even his on…

  Was stolen!

  “Gotcha!”

  Orion giggled as he grabbed the Red Heaven Cleaver and swung it down against Fang Gu Lan the moment he found the opportunity.

  “You brat! That’s my on!”

  Fang Gu Lan cried, closing his hand and trolling the on as he smiled, making the giant cleaver spin around, hitting Orion with immense force.

  CRAAASH!

  However, Orion used his cws to hold back the massive Heavenly on and then grabbed it forcefully, his powers infused into it, turning it into a silver and red color.

  “I said it’s mine now!”

  The boy roared angrily; his Werewolf-like Aura roared mightily. As he swung the on down, a gigantic slig wave hit Fang Gu Lan.

  SLAAASH!

  “Nnngggh!”

  Fang Gu Lan activated several teiques at the same time, creating the White Heaven Armain, then the Blue Heaven Prote, and then…

  “I child!” he screamed.

  “{Seven Heavenly Paths}: {Green Heaven’s Storm}”

  FLUOOOSH!

  A massive storm made of the Green Heavens themselves maed. As Bing Xue squinted her eyes, the storm pushed Orion and Athena away for several kilometers, as Fang Gu Lan began to create various Doppelgangers with his Aura.

  “Go kill them!”

  He sent over a dozen of them after the children before setting his gaze towards Bing Xue, maing angeligs made out of the White Heavens, enpassed by Red Heaven Fmes.

  “Face me already!”

  He used his swain, swinging it a dozen times upwards, to the left and right secutively, attag Bing Xue with dexterous attacks, aiming at her joints and vitals.

  Bing Xue responded with her Yin & Yang sword, both of them unleashing powerful swordsmanship teiques that released explosions everywhere, slowly asding further into the skies.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  “Your swordsmanship isn’t as sloppy anymore…!” he smiled. “You’ve beuch better after… How long since I died? A few thousands of years? Hah! To think it took you this long to reach my level, Bing Xue! So pathetic!”

  “What level? All of that was done by your beloved system doing everything for you,” Bing Xue giggled. “Have you ever put any effort into anything through your entire life, Fang Gu Lan?”

  Bing Xue nontly overcame his swordsmanship with one-harokes, while at the same time using every opening to punch his face.

  CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

  “Nnggh…! Arrggh!”

  As he struggled to keep up, Fang Gu Lan didn’t show despair in his eyes, as Bing Xue was expeg, but fidend malice.

  “{Seven Heavenly Paths}: {Bck Heaven’s Void}!”

  FLUOSH!

  Bck clouds maed out of nowhere, dev Bing Xue pletely and beginning to rapidly disie her barriers and aura.

  “This is…?!”

  “Surprised?! You say I have never put effort into anything… But look at this! I’ve even mao learn the powers of the Bck Heaven Arts!” he ughed. “My Seven Paths are finally plete! And this is just the beginning!”

  As Bing Xue was being devoured by the bck clouds, she noticed Fang Gu Lan trating all Seven Paths into his Aura and then his entire body, the rainbow colors fusing together into a chaotic sphere.

  “{Seven Heavenly Paths vergence}: {Primordial Chaos}!”

  What existed before the Heavens were born, what existed before even Murim existed…

  The Primordial Chaos where the Heavenly Wills were born!

  “I have attained supreme power! Dieeee!”

  He fired the sphere towards Bing Xue, as it distorted, ed, and shattered spad even time itself.

  TRUUUM!

  “I see…”

  Bing Xue smiled, her eyes shining with rainbow light as she took the attack head-on.

  BOOOMMM!!!

  The explosion was so massive that a gigantic bck hole opened within the fabric of space, beginning to absorb the clouds surrounding the skies and even rge pieces of stone from the grouh.

  “Nothing remained of her?!” Fang Gu Lan smiled. “I ’t sense her Fate either! She died! She truly died so easily?! It eoo quickly, dammit! Well, I’ll have fun with her children…”

  As he looked down, suddenly…

  CRASH!

  “Uuh?”

  He noticed a hand pierg his chest, grabbing his beati.

  “W-Wha…?!”

  He gnced behind him. Bing Xue had emerged from the bck hole and was now pierg his body; her clothes were slightly torn, and she had a few bruises.

  But she was fine.

  “How does it feel, Fang Gu Lan? To have your heart crushed while you look?”

  “A-Aah…! Y-You…!”

  Fang Gu Lan finally showed a hint of despair in his eyes.

  Bing Xue was happy now.

  “Yes, this is the method that you used to kill tless orthodox fa cultivators… Some of them were once my allies,” said Bing Xue. “The only thing you’re doing by ing bae… is givihe pleasure of enjoying your suffering, Fang Gu Lan.”

  “L-let go of my heart!!!”

  Fang Gu Lan screamed; thousands of ons maed out of his Primordial Chaos, rushing towards Bing Xue.

  However…

  SPLAT!

  She crushed his Venerable’s Heart, blood and energy leaking and spttering everywhere.

  “Uuuaarrgghh!”

  Venerables had hearts; they were like a core to their energy and the vessel of their Auras, although it kept itself non-corporeal ahereal most of the time, so it couldn’t be easily touched.

  Bing Xue had long ago perfected Divine Photon Essence Manipution, specifically desiget non-corporeal ahereal beings.

  Yes, Bing Xue’s power was, from the beginning, desigo kill Venerables.

  With his energies leaking out, tless explosions and ing distortions emerged around Fang Gu Lan.

  His flesh and blood distorted into masses of colorful clouds and chaotic darkness, revealing his “true form” without a Heart to stabilize his existence.

  Venerables were… beings made of pure refined energy after all.

  “GRAAARRGGH!”

  He wasn’t dead though; a new heart was beginning to slowly form within his chest. His massive, monstrous arms hit Bing Xue, pushing her away as his chaotic ons reached her, tless explosions engulfing her.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  “BING XUEEEE! YOU WILL PAAAAAY! GRUUUAAARRGH! YOU WILL PAY! DIE! DIE! DIEEEAAARRGH!”

  Resembling an eldritch aberration, the Venerable of the Seven Paths of Heaven’s “True form” unleashed an all-out assault.

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  Pach