"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
The closer they approached the Zhao Clan's Blessed Land, the clearer and more violent the heartbeat became.
As Yaowen's hands danced unceasingly—weaving gestures as if threading a needle—a network resembling blood vessels came into view.
Within the massive complex of towering structures outside the Zhao Clan's Blessed Land, streams of multi-colored airflow were rushing through those "vessels" toward the center of the domain.
It seemed to harbor a great terror, yet it also carried a desolate sense of unwillingness, rage, and despair.
"Do you guys feel that? It's like there's a voice..." Li Yaotie blinked, though his words failed to break the silence of his clansmen.
Behind them, Zhao Tingyu was still being held captive by the group.
As that booming sound resonated, he threw his head back and roared madly at the sky, "Old Ancestor, return! Old Ancestor, come back!!"
The members of the Li family did not stop Zhao Tingyu's cry for help; they simply walked forward in silence.
Closer and closer!
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
The sound of the heartbeat grew heavier this time, so heavy that the entire Zhao Clan Blessed Land seemed to pulse in rhythm with it.
Li Wei's eyes narrowed slightly.
He seemed to understand the meaning conveyed by the sound of that beating heart.
"Save me... is there anyone who can save me..."
It was urgent, frantic!
"The Immortal Zhao Clan stood for one hundred and sixty thousand years, but that was before they were exterminated by that devil."
Li Yaowen's hand stroked one of the red, vein-like vessels; she seemed to have realized something.
By now, the group had arrived at a deep, abyssal cave entrance.
The sound of the Immortal Zhao Clan's heartbeat was emanating from within this cave.
The oppressive might radiating from it was stronger than anything they had ever felt before.
As they moved forward, Li Yaowen's soft, calm voice rang in their ears.
"If we truly trace it back to the source, it was two hundred thousand years ago.
Back then, the Dynasty had not yet been established, and the lands of the Azure Dynasty were in chaos.
Humans, Demons, the Wu clan, and Devils had no clear territories or regulations.
The most powerful Old Ancestor of the Immortal Zhao Clan mastered a Divine Art, allowing the Immortal Zhao Clan to grow strong step by step..."
As Li Yaowen held her right palm before her lips and blew out a breath of white mist, clusters of light floated up before the eyes of the clansmen.
It was information transmitted from the veins of the heart.
"The thing inside there... is asking us to save it."
"Save it?" Li Wei frowned.
It was true that the family had intentionally lured the Immortal Zhao Clan to the Duravia Trade Prefecture, a plan he had fully supported.
In this chaotic era, if one did not advance, one would retreat; they needed stronger allies—or perhaps, prey.
Yet, the arrival of the Immortal Zhao Clan, with its one hundred and sixty thousand years of accumulated foundation, had genuinely weighed upon Li Wei to the point of suffocation.
Otherwise, an inveterate shut-in like him would never have risked leaving the Star Domain.
For over a hundred years, the family had been constantly probing the Immortal Zhao Clan's trump cards, even tracing back to the very origins of the Zhao family.
Especially when the Three Scoundrels discovered that the members of the former Immortal Zhao Clan were all still alive through some unknown means, the family's mood became even more solemn.
This Immortal Zhao Clan harbored a secret—a secret that allowed one to live for one hundred and sixty thousand years!
"Correct, save it. It is... the Old Ancestor of the Immortal Zhao Clan."
Upon hearing this, Li Wei narrowed his eyes slightly.
One hundred and sixty thousand years ago, when the Devil attacked the Zhao Clan, the clan still possessed an Integration Realm cultivator.
This was also intelligence sent back by the Three Thieves.
Since the Zhao Clan's six Void Refining cultivators were still alive, their Integration Realm Old Ancestor likely still existed as well.
This was precisely why they had come here!
Immediately, Li Wei exchanged glances with his clansmen.
They nodded to each other and reached their hands toward the red mist Yaowen had exhaled.
In an instant, images flashed through their minds like a slideshow.
A young man in that chaotic era of the past was looting corpses on a battlefield that stretched as far as the eye could see.
On that battlefield, there were many others just like him.
Li Wei was all too familiar with this sort of thing; back when the family waged war against the Wu clan, quite a few cultivators would scavenge for scraps on the battlefield after the fighting ended.
However, this was considered stealing war trophies, and if caught, one would be beaten to death on the spot.
This must be the Old Ancestor of the Zhao Clan.
In the images conveyed by the Zhao Clan's Old Ancestor, the vision lingered on this battlefield segment for a long time.
This person found the largest crater on the battlefield—the place where the oppressive might was strongest—and charged into it frantically, where he beheld a crimson, beating heart.
As soldiers from the victorious side approached to sweep the battlefield, he couldn't worry about the consequences.
He swallowed the heart in a single gulp, claiming he hadn't stolen a thing and had only come to enlist.
As a result, he was thrown into a slave camp.
However, after swallowing that heart, the Old Ancestor of the Zhao Clan discovered that he could gradually see the "Qi" radiating from people.
He could... devour that Qi.
From that point on, his cultivation grew increasingly smooth.
His once-ordinary aptitude underwent a massive leap; he began piloting spirit boats, practicing techniques, and even wed a Dao companion as his life gradually ascended to its peak.
Only later did he realize that what he was devouring was the "Destiny" of others.
Consequently, the spiritual Qi he could garner from heaven and earth increased, and he began stumbling upon natural treasures.
That heart had even replaced his own.
He had even tested it: after being killed, the Destiny of heaven and earth allowed him to revive, leaping out of his coffin and terrifying the children of the clan.
By that time, his house was filled with children and grandchildren, his lineage spread far and wide.
In that era, they were known as the "Qi-Seer Zhao Clan."
He began to grow dissatisfied with surreptitiously devouring Destiny; it was too slow.
No matter what he did, he could never fundamentally change his own aptitude and comprehension—reaching the Integration Realm was his absolute limit.
His children were already among the rarest geniuses in the world, yet children like Zhao Buqun, Zhao Wan'er, and Zhao Feimeng... these six heirs at the Void Refining stage could not even break through to the Integration Realm.
During those years, the Human Race sought to establish a dynasty.
He wanted to become stronger, to have the "Qi-Seer Zhao Clan" inherit the Mandate of Heaven, become the Sons of Heaven, and rule over the entire Human Race!
He set his sights on the Devil.
He sent his children to deceive the Devil, having Zhao Buqun establish a grand formation on the Devil's side.
He intended to silently devour all their Destiny, allowing the family to achieve a massive leap forward.
This was a high-stakes gamble, as well as his grand vision as the Old Ancestor of the Zhao Clan to lead his clansmen onto a radiant path of prosperity.
Unfortunately... he bet wrong.
Someone among the Devils detected the anomaly.
Thousands of frenzied Devils charged into the Zhao Clan territory and, right before his eyes, slaughtered his six children of the Void Refining realm.
Although he managed to drive the Devils away, he was left grievously wounded.
Filled with remorse, he knelt upon the ground, gazing at the broken ruins of the Zhao Clan and those few descendants who had survived.