As it plummeted downward, purple flames ignited across the Kun-Peng’s body.
The colossal exotic beast, however, seemed to have lost all power to resist, unable to even put up even the slightest struggle. It could only allow the raging violet fire to consume and incinerate its form.
Cries of agony echoed across the Congyun Sea, chilling the hearts of all who heard them.
From the highest heavens, the Kun-Peng fell like a plummeting meteor, streaking straight down to the mortal realm and painting a vertical purple line across the sky.
As its altitude fell, its body shrank. By the time it was about to strike the sea’s surface, it had been utterly consumed by the purple flames. Not even ashes remained.
Ye Feipeng was dead!
Witnessing the demonic beast’s execution, the purple figure in the firmament cast one more indifferent glance downward.
Then, the sea of multicolored clouds that had accompanied its arrival rapidly dispersed. The purple form also gradually dimmed and vanished.
“Martial Madman? No, that’s not right...” Immortal Venerable Hei Ya’s voice came from the skies above, tinged with shock and uncertainty.
With that, the one-eyed crow flapped its wings lightly, transforming into a black streak that chased after the purple aura.
The cultivators of the Congyun Sea, still reeling from the shock of this sudden upheaval, stood frozen in place as if turned to stone.
A moment later, Myriad Immortals Island erupted in a cacophony of voices.
“What was that just now?”
“Who was that great powerhouse? Such a terrifying Kun-Peng exotic beast, struck dead by a single bolt of lightning?”
“A Dao Unity Immortal Venerable?”
“I think an ordinary Dao Unity cultivator might not be capable of that.”
“Above Dao Unity? Impossible!”
Like the others, Li Fan was also deeply shocked. However, his astonishment wasn’t due to the purple figure’s terrifying power. It was because of its identity.
Senior... Brother Zhang? Li Fan stared blankly at the sky where the purple aura had faded, his mind refusing to believe it.
Li Fan had heard that cold, detached voice many times before and was intimately familiar with it.
Coupled with the familiar phrase “demons and heretics,” and that Purple Firmament Divine Lightning which had annihilated Ye Feipeng so easily... Li Fan was almost certain.
The purple figure seated upon the heavenly curtain just now was none other than Zhang Qianmo, whom he had met in the Fallen Immortal Realm, the inner disciple of the Purple Firmament Sect suspected to be the reincarnation of a great powerhouse.
He mastered the mysterious Purple Firmament Nirvana Method and possessed extraordinary strength. Killing a Golden Core cultivator while in the Foundation Establishment realm was as effortless to him as slaughtering chickens or dogs.
Proud and ambitious, he had once sworn three great vows.
His first great vow was to “slay all the demons and monsters under heaven, and restore a world of clear skies and bright days.”
It seems that Senior Brother Zhang has not only survived from ancient times to the present day, but may have even accomplished his first great vow.
Recalling Zhang Qianmo’s words, “Demons and heretics, how dare you show yourselves,” and combining that with the memories Ye Feipeng had inherited—memories of demonic beasts fleeing in panic across the world back then, and the current state of the cultivation world where demonic beasts were virtually extinct...
Li Fan could deduce that the demonic beasts and heretics of the cultivation world had likely been utterly terrified into submission by Senior Brother Zhang.
Even if not completely eradicated, they could only hide in some remote corner, not daring to set a single foot into the cultivation world again.
Ye Feipeng possessed extraordinary providence, awakening his Kun-Peng bloodline and using it as leverage to devour Crimson Flame. He gained the qualifications to soar to the heavens in a single step, to reach Golden Core and Dao Unity.
But misfortune is where fortune hides; fortune is where misfortune lurks.
It was also because of this Kun-Peng demonic beast bloodline that he drew the attention of Zhang Qianmo.
To be able to devour Crimson Flame and Zhang Zhiliang in one gulp, the little fatty Ye Feipeng must have pushed the power of his Kun-Peng bloodline to its absolute limit. This, together with the Deepsea Pearl’s aid, made him appear nearly identical to the ancient Kun-Peng demonic beast. That was why he incurred Senior Brother Zhang's merciless wrath.
The Kun-Peng's triumphant cry still seemed to echo in his ears. A question arose unbidden in Li Fan's heart: what level of cultivation did Senior Brother Zhang possess now? Dao Unity, or Eternal Heavenly Venerable?
At the moment the Kun-Peng manifested, Zhang Qianmo's figure had not appeared immediately. It was only after the exotic beast had completed its act of devouring Crimson Flame and was about to flee far away that Zhang Qianmo arrived belatedly at the final moment.
If Ye Feipeng, after devouring Crimson Flame, had not become swollen with pride and let out those cries, but had instead fled directly, could he have avoided Zhang Qianmo's strike? Could he have survived?
The little fatty Ye Feipeng's face appeared before his eyes, and Li Fan couldn't help but shake his head slightly.
That Kun-Peng saved by Ye Feipeng's ancestor knew that such a god of slaughter targeting demonic beasts existed in the world, yet still chose to transfer its essence blood to a mortal... Li Fan snorted coldly.
It seems it harbored no good intentions. “Those not of our kind have different hearts.”[1] Senior Brother Zhang, you did well!
Even as Li Fan sighed inwardly, he also frowned slightly. He recalled that Zhang Qianmo's voice earlier had seemed to be composed of two overlapping voices. One was his original voice. The other was a childish, young voice.
Martial Madman, reincarnated powerhouse, purple divine thunder... Li Fan narrowed his eyes as a past event surfaced in his mind.
Back when he first killed Sikong Yi, the inheritor of the Heaven-Swapping Sect, he had learned through the two remnant souls within the Heaven-Swapping Token about how Sikong Yi's nominal master, Sikong Bo, had fled to the Congyun Sea.
At that time, Sikong Bo, wishing to craft an avatar, had encountered a small child in a remote mountain village. This child had extraordinary talent and even more exceptional providence.
He wanted to steal this child's essence blood, but frustratingly discovered that a Nascent Soul cultivator already had his eye on the child. That cultivator had transformed into a Curio, lying in wait, ready to seize the body at any moment.
When both Sikong Bo and this Nascent Soul cultivator were wounded during the fierce battle, the small child suddenly appeared. Without a word, he refined the Nascent Soul cultivator.
Sikong Bo turned and fled, but the little child seemed intimately familiar with the methods of the Heaven-Swapping Sect. No matter what, he couldn't shake him off.
Left with no choice and desperate to survive, Sikong Bo was forced to release all the remnant souls within the Heaven-Swapping Token.
Although he managed to escape with his life, the souls of all the past patriarchs were utterly annihilated, reduced to ashes by a bolt of purple thunder that descended from the heavens.
***
Was that little child Sikong Bo encountered back then Senior Brother Zhang, who is also Martial Madman?
Li Fan had previously seen information about this Martial Madman in Tianyu Province. He was a child of six or seven obsessed with martial prowess, who particularly enjoyed seeking out people to spar with.
His combat power was astonishing, and it was said that despite being only at the Nascent Soul level, he was nearly invincible within his own realm. He could even fight Spirit Transformation cultivators to a standstill.
Back then, Li Fan hadn't connected this figure to the little child in Sikong Bo's memories. He certainly hadn't imagined he could be the reincarnation of Zhang Qianmo.
No, that's wrong. Li Fan thought. The sheer power of that divine lightning that just blasted the Kun-Peng to death—that's not something a Nascent Soul cultivator could accomplish. What kind of divine ability is Senior Brother Zhang cultivating?
As Li Fan pondered this, a startled cry from a cultivator beside him broke his concentration.
"Look! Zhang Zhiliang is still alive!"
"Crimson Flame! Crimson Flame is there too!"
Li Fan's head snapped up. There, where the Kun-Peng's corpse had been utterly incinerated in mid-air, Zhang Zhiliang's somewhat disheveled figure had reappeared.
Not far away, Crimson Flame stood facing him, Its fiery form flickering and dancing.
1. 非我族类，其心必异 is a saying historically used to justify xenophobia, exclusion, and preemptive action against perceived outsiders. It is a declaration that fundamental difference leads to inevitable conflict or betrayal. ☜