Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Like an Old Acquaintance

Shen Yu Han’s fist clenched.

He understood. Lin Zhao didn’t respond to soft tactics or hard ones. Once she decided, ten horses couldn’t drag her back.

He stopped trying to explain.

He lowered his head and dropped to one knee. “I apologize to you, Lin Zhao.”

Lin Zhao swept him up with spiritual power and flung him out of the kneeling posture. “Don’t do something useless and disgusting to me, Shen Yu Han. I only ask—where is my mother?”

Even after Shen Yu Han humbled himself, Lin Zhao didn’t soften. Ling Yao’s restraint snapped. “Little slut! Not even married in and you already dare humiliate Yu Han. Today I’ll teach you what rank and status mean—what ‘women’s virtue’ is!”

The Lin Family Old Ancestor stepped forward, eyes hard. “Keep your ignorant Mortal Domain nonsense to yourself.”

Ling Yao narrowed her eyes.

Alone, she could crush the Lin Family Old Ancestor. But the Lin Family side also had Han Yan and Lei Yuan. Against three Spirit Transformation experts, she couldn’t win.

So she tilted her head back and shouted into the sky, voice sharp with desperation. “Lord You Yuan! Please lend Ling Yao a hand!”

Lei Yuan’s gaze turned icy.

Han Yan sensed danger bloom beside them—something so fierce her instincts screamed. Without hesitation, she yanked Lin Zhao behind her.

A horrifying spirit stream meant for Lin Zhao struck Han Yan’s lower abdomen instead.

Han Yan’s face went white. She spat blood, her lips paling as if drained.

One strike—and a Spirit Transformation cultivator was heavily injured.

What realm was this attacker?

A silver-haired, handsome young man appeared in the air, expression composed.

Lei Yuan stared at him, his gaze sinking like stone. “So it really is you—the bastard from the Ancestral Dragon Continent.”

Others held themselves together by force of will.

Lin Zhao’s pupils shrank.

Why did he look so much like Ning Wen Gui?

And the aura around him—strangely familiar, as if she’d brushed against it before.

You Yuan hovered above them. His first strike had failed, yet he didn’t look angry. He sighed instead, almost bored. “This fated Phoenix Maiden really has a tough life. Trampled for so many years, and she still crawls on like a rat.”

Lin Mang’s breath hitched.

That spiritual fluctuation—too familiar.

Memories flashed through him like fire. He shoved past the people in front and shot into the air, staring at You Yuan with bloodshot eyes. His fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked. “It was you. It was you. It was you!”

You Yuan laughed softly. “Yes. It was me. I helped your Lin Family keep one child alive. You should be thanking me.”

“I’ll kill you!”

The one who caused the Lin Family’s fall, tore father and son apart, and left his daughter crushed beneath fate was right in front of him.

How could Lin Mang stay rational?

He roared and threw his fist forward.

With Nascent Soul late-stage cultivation, each punch could shake mountains and rivers.

In You Yuan’s eyes, it was a child flailing.

He raised a hand. Heaven and Earth Prison Cage formed in an instant.

Lin Mang froze, trapped midair, unable to move.

The gap was suffocating.

“Dad—stop!” Lin Zhao’s heart lurched. Lei Yuan wasn’t even sure he could win. How could Lin Mang—only Nascent Soul late-stage—fight this?

You Yuan’s gaze slid to her. “Your daughter is smarter than you,” he said lightly, “but unfortunately, she’s in my way.”

His fingers twitched.

The pressure of the prison cage tightened.

Lin Zhao’s breath caught. “Instructor—please help your disciple!”

After her mother was taken, she could not watch her father be harmed too.

In the next instant, Granny Hong Hu seized control of Lin Zhao’s body.

Heavenly Phoenix Steps flashed.

She reached Lin Mang in a blink. With a thin strand of spiritual power, she pried open the Heaven and Earth Prison Cage, freed Lin Mang, and tossed him down toward Lei Yuan.

“Take the Lin Family and go!” Granny rasped. “I’ll hold the rear. This man is not someone you can resist. He’s early Integration Realm!”

Han Yan and the others went still.

Lei Yuan, in particular, looked as if the world had cracked under his feet.

So You Yuan had been hiding his cultivation—even in yesterday’s battle.

“Go!” Han Yan shouted.

Ling Yao flashed in front of the Lin Family, blocking their path. “Want to leave? Only if I allow it! Until Lin Zhao follows us to Yao Chi Sacred Land, none of you Lin Family will leave!”

“Impudent.” Lei Yuan formed a seal and struck.

Han Yan and the Lin Family Old Ancestor immediately raised a barrier domain to keep the Lin Family from being erased by the Spirit Transformation clash.

Above them, Granny lasted only three moves against You Yuan before her aura faltered.

He blocked her sword formation casually, hands behind his back, eyes full of amusement. “So you’re the lingering soul helping Lin Zhao.”

His gaze sharpened with greed. “A mere lingering soul, yet your divine sense rivals Spirit Transformation, and your cultivation reaches Nascent Soul Great Perfection. You lasted three moves against an Integration Realm. If your true body were alive… I might actually fear you.”

Granny’s laugh was hoarse and sharp. “If my true body were alive, a little Integration Realm brat like you wouldn’t even be worthy to see me. How dare you offend my disciple?”

You Yuan’s face darkened. “What a pity.”

A black chain began to form in his hand.

“You’re dead beyond dead,” he said softly. “From what I sense, you should be a Heavenly Phoenix subspecies with decent bloodline. This is killing two birds with one stone.”

His smile turned cruel. “Not only can I take the Ancestral Dragon intent, I can also take a Heavenly Phoenix subspecies lingering soul.”

He lifted his gaze to Lin Zhao. “Lin Zhao—come with Yao Chi Sacred Land obediently. They won’t kill you. They’ll keep you as a man’s plaything.”

His tone was casual, like offering a bargain. “Shen Yu Han has decent cultivation and looks, and he’s obsessed with you. For you, it’s not a loss. With a face like yours, don’t blame men for coveting you.”

Granny’s power had weakened too much.

Lin Zhao regained control of her body, blood at the corner of her mouth, and still forced out a cold reply. “With a face like yours, if your cultivation weren’t high, you’d be perfect as a male consort for a powerful female cultivator.”

You Yuan didn’t get angry. Without Granny’s full protection, Lin Zhao was a mouse he could crush at will.

“Enough.” He lifted a hand. “Take Lin Zhao. Send everyone else on their way.”

The Heaven and Earth Prison Cage formed again.

This time, it wasn’t just meant to trap.

It was meant to kill—Han Yan, Lei Yuan, the Lin Family Old Ancestor, all of them.

“Only when everything is clean,” You Yuan murmured, “will word be kept to a minimum.”

His fingers twitched.

The cage began to tighten inward, ready to grind them to death beneath heaven and earth’s pressure.

Lei Yuan burned through spiritual power and still couldn’t break it. A heavy sigh escaped him.

Before an Integration Realm, Spirit Transformation had no room to resist.

“Die,” You Yuan sneered down at them. “A pile of ants.”

He waved a hand, about to crush them completely—

—and froze.

A force like a blade of pure will cut in and shattered the Heaven and Earth Prison Cage.

Along with it came Xiao Yuan Tian’s voice, calm and unreadable.

“Then how does an ant like you plan to die?”