The sun set in the west, and the autumn wind danced amongst the trees.

In the Dagan Dynasty, Tianshui County, outside of Tianshui City.

A figure in white breeze through the mountain woods, landing on a cliff bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

The figure in white was a handsome young man, around sixteen or seventeen, with a warm smile on his face.

"Brother Jianqiu, you're here!"

A maiden in a yellow dress was standing coyly on the cliff. Upon seeing the young man in white, a sweet smile emerged on her strikingly beautiful face.

Chu Jianqiu looked at the sweet smile of the girl in the yellow dress, filled with happiness. He brushed his hand through the girl's sleek, black hair, fondly said: "Ya'er, after today, we can finally rid your body of the Triple Yin Cold Poison. You'll then be able to become the talented young woman everyone admires!"

"Really?" The maiden in the yellow dress joyfully asked, her bright eyes shimmering.

Chu Jianqiu felt a tug in his heart. He gently pulled the maiden into his embrace, smiling: "Of course it's true. When have I ever lied to you?"

With her in his arms, Chu Jianqiu felt unspeakable happiness. He knew he'd paid a huge price, but he felt everything was worth it.

Chu Jianqiu was the young master of the Chu family, one of the four major families in Tianshui City. Blessed with exceptional talent from an early age, and natural aptitude for cultivation, he was a rare prodigy of Tianshui City.

By the age of fourteen, he had broken through the Qi Stage. Soon after, he activated a mid-level, earth tier bloodline, stunning the entire Tianshui county.

However, after that, something puzzling happened. Over the past three years, Chu Jianqiu's cultivation did not make any progress.

Chu Jianqiu was despite facing doubts and mockery, the genius who once had all eyes on him had fallen from grace.

Chu Jianqiu only greeted these with a laugh, not minding at all. He understood clearly why his cultivation hadn't made any progress.

This was because for the past three years, he had been using his own vital essence and blood to cure the young girl in the yellow dress.

The girl was Liu Tianyao, the cherished daughter of the leader of the Liu family, one of the four major households in the Tianshui City.

Even though the Liu family was one of the four major households in Tianshui City, they were unable to find a cure for the chill poison that afflicted Liu Tianyao. This was the chill poison produced by the awakening of the rare Triple Yin Meridian, a mid-level Profound class condition. Only one thing in the world could cure it: the vital essence and blood of a warrior who has awakened the Nine Yang Bloodline.

As it so happened, the bloodline Chu Jianqiu had awakened was the Nine Yang Bloodline; moreover, it was a mid-level Earth class condition.

In this world, awakened warriors' Bloodlines are classified into four main levels: Yellow, Mystic, Earth, and Sky class, each with further subdivisions into lower, mid, upper, and extreme categories.

With Chu Jianqiu's awakened mid-level Earth class Nine Yang Bloodline, he could naturally cure Liu Tianyao's chill poison. However, a warrior's essence formed from condensed vital energy and blood is tremendously important to them, and it inflicts a significant loss when expended.

Yet, for the woman he loved dearly, Chu Jianqiu didn't hesitate to force out his vital essence.

As Liu Tianyao received Chu Jianqiu's vital essence, the poison gradually dissipated, but at the cost of Chu Jianqiu's cultivation stagnating over the last three years.

"After I cure your illness, I will immediately propose to Uncle Liu to marry you. The enrollment competition of Xuanjian Sect is just one month away. After that, let's join the Xuanjian Sect together and become a pair of carefree fairies," Chu Jianqiu said, his eyes shining, full of anticipation for the future.

A trace of shyness appeared on Liu Tianyao's face. She smiled shyly and nodded, whispering, "I'll follow whatever you say, Brother Jianqiu. You've suffered a lot for me in these three years, Jianqiu!"

Chu Jianqiu playfully rubbed Liu Tianyao's delicate nose and joked, "And here, you're still speaking formalities with me!"

After a long while, Chu Jianqiu helped Liu Tianyao up from his arms, his voice soft. "It's getting late. Let's get rid of the last bit of your chill poison now."

Liu Tianyao nodded obediently and sat cross-legged on a rock at the edge of the cliff, following his words.

Closing his eyes to meditate, Chu Jianqiu started circulating his true energy. His blood flow increased rapidly as he operated his inner cultivation technique. His body trembled slightly, sweat dripped from his forehead, his teeth gritted, ushering visible pain.

Half an hour later, a drop of bloody essence, pure and filled with an incredible energy, emerged at the tip of Chu Jianqiu's finger.

Chu Jianqiu slowly placed a drop of blood, abundant with pure Yang energy, on Liu Tianyao's forehead, which absorbed the blood at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Chu Jianqiu breathed a sigh of relief, took a few steps back, his face ghostly pale and his clothes completely soaked. He nearly collapsed on the ground.

After half an hour, Liu Tianyao slowly opened her eyes, stood up from the stone, and a powerful icy demeanor burst forth from her body.

Upon seeing this scene, Chu Jianqiu finally put down the heavy stone in his heart and sincerely exclaimed, "You finally succeeded!"

"Yes, I have indeed succeeded!" Liu Tianyao's lips parted lightly as she gently began to speak. However, her voice was like eternal frost, void of any warmth.

Chu Jianqiu found it strange but didn't think much of it. He thought Liu Tianyao's sudden grasp on the "Three Yin Extinction Meridians" had affected her temperament due to bloodline influence.

"So, you can die now."

However, when the next sentence came out of Liu Tianyao's mouth, the smile on Chu Jianqiu's face froze instantly.

Chu Jianqiu could hardly believe his ears. He forced a smirk on his face and asked, "Yao'er, what did you just say?" He hoped that Liu Tianyao was only joking with him.

"I said, you can die now," Liu Tianyao said coldly, with no hint of emotion in her voice. Her icy and indifferent gaze looked down on him, a far cry from her usual gentle demeanor.

Chu Jianqiu stared at Liu Tianyao for a long time. He finally confirmed that Liu Tianyao was not joking, and the last glimmer of hope in his heart shattered completely.

Listening to the completely changed Liu Tianyao, Chu Jianqiu felt icy chills run through his entire body, as if he had fallen into an ice cavern. His heart ached as if it was torn apart, a pain far greater than when he pushed out his blood.

"Why?" A surge of immense pain filled Chu Jianqiu's heart, but he maintained an incredible calmness. He looked into Liu Tianyao's eyes and asked seriously.

"You, a lowly peasant, are certainly not worthy of my noble lineage. If it wasn't for healing, would I stoop to your level! How many times have you offended me over these three years? Even if you were killed a thousand times over, it can’t ease my hatred”, Liu Tianyao said indifferently, her eyes full of cold dismissal and disdain.

"So all along, this was just a conspiracy! My non-stop devotion and blood offering for the past three years mean nothing to you!" Chu Jianqiu's heart was filled with bitterness, pain, resentment, disheartenment, and anger. He was overwhelmed with a jumble of emotions.

"Indeed, all of this was just a scheme. If it weren't, why would you be willing to consume your own vital energy to heal my illness?" Liu Tianyao sneered.

Chu Jianqiu, looking at the entirely unfamiliar girl before him, wiped the blood off his mouth corner with his hand and said with a ghastly smile, "Despite your full control over the Triple Yin Unmatched Meridian, and even with my vital energy heavily damaged right now, can you kill me?"

Even though he hadn't made progress with his cultivation in three years, his Qi realm's cultivation still wasn't something that Liu Tianyao, a fifth-tier body refining martial artist, could compete against.

"What about with me added?" A chilly voice echoed from the woods nearby.

Chu Jianqiu felt a jolt in his heart. He turned his head and saw a young man in purple robes slowly emerge from the forest, his brows displaying an air of rebellious coldness.

It was Ouyang Yuan, the second son of the Prefect of Tianshui County!

Chu Jianqiu instantly recognized the newcomer.

Upon seeing the youth in purple robes, the icy frost on Liu Tianyao's face melted like ice and snow, replaced instantly by a blooming smile. She dashed over excitedly, hooking her arm around the youth's and tenderly calling out, "Second Prince!"

Watching this scene, Chu Jianqiu felt a mixture of hate, pain, and bitterness. He gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly, "Bitch!"

Chu Jianqiu then forced himself to reclaim his calmness and instantly dashed toward the edge of the cliff.

He was well aware of Ouyang Yuan's strength. Even at his full power, he might not be Ouyang Yuan's match, let alone under such dire circumstances. If he wanted to survive, the only way was to flee.

"Too late to run!" Ouyang Yuan coldly stated as he moved in a flash to Chu Jianqiu's front, striking out a palm to heavily slam into Chu Jianqiu's chest.

"Crack!"

Chu Jianqiu was thrown backward several meters. Several of his ribs were broken, and blood spurted out of his mouth.

Fear gripped Chu Jianqiu's heart. After missing for three years, Ouyang Yuan had become a formidable opponent at the sixth level of the Qi realm. Chu Jianqiu felt a profound sense of despair. Falling into their hands, there would be no escape this time.

Ouyang Yuan came to Chu Jianqiu's presence, staring indifferently at Chu Jianqiu lying beneath him, and said coldly, "What a waste it is for a peasant like you to possesses such lineage. Today, I will find it's rightful owner."

With that, he pressed his palm against Chu Jianqiu's chest.

Instantly, Chu Jianqiu felt his awakened bloodline of the Nine Suns crazily rushing towards Ouyang Yuan's palm, and his cultivation began to plummet.

Blood Transfer Sorcery!

Chu Jianqiu was taken aback. This Ouyang Yuan actually dared to practice such a taboo secret technique.

"You despicable man and woman, I will not spare you even in death!" Chu Jianqiu, filled with extreme hatred, began to swear vehemently.

Half an hour passed, and all of Chu Jianqiu's awakened mid-tier earth lineage and cultivation was transferred to Ouyang Yuan. Chu Jianqiu was now on the verge of death and had truly become nothing more than a useless individual.

Feeling the Nine Suns lineage within him, Ouyang Yuan let out a triumphant laughter, the thing he had been scheming for so long had finally come to him.

Ouyang Yuan was originally a mid-tier earth level warrior, but his awakened lineage was that of the Six Suns, far less pure than the Nine Suns. Now that he had absorbed Chu Jianqiu's Nine Suns lineage, his lineage would elevate to another level

"Meld!"

Ouyang Yuan roared, and his Six Suns lineage and Nine Suns lineage started to merge. After a quarter of an hour, Ouyang Yuan's aura soared. The fusion of the two lineages had elevated his lineage to a high-tier earth level.

Ouyang Yuan turned to look at Liu Tianyao beside him, smiled slightly and said, "The cultivation of Chu Jianqiu, I bestow it upon you. Train well, in a month, it's the Mystical Sword Sect's recruitment competition!"

With that, he pressed a palm on Liu Tianyao's back, her cultivation started to powerfully ascend, and only halted when she advanced to the ninth level of Body Refinement.

To this, Liu Tianyao was overjoyed and thanked him sweetly, "Thanks, Second Prince!"

"What do you plan to do with this man?" Ouyang Yuan pointed towards Chu Jianqiu, who was half-dead on the ground, and asked.

Liu Tianyao cast a glance at Chu Jianqiu on the ground, his smile sweet as he said, "If we were to kill him outright, it would be letting him off too easily. Let him taste the misery of falling from heaven to earth. Wouldn't that be more delightful?" As he spoke, he took a palm swipe at Chu Jianqiu's dantian.

Chu Jianqiu uttered a miserable scream. His vision blackened, and he instantly lost consciousness.

At this moment, dark clouds suddenly densely filled the sky, and thunder rumbled. Multiple bolts of lightning wildly danced in the skies.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning tore through the sky, its incandescent light directly striking Chu Jianqiu, who was unconscious on the ground.

Amidst that blinding electric light, a small black tower followed the lightning into Chu Jianqiu's body.