"Great-Grandfather."
"My Lord!!"
Seeing Ximen Baiyuan reduced to this state, Ximen Feixue and all of the elders were terrified. They hurried forward to support him, but the closer they got, the more alarmed they became.
At that moment, Ximen Baiyuan's body was abnormally weak—even his breathing had stopped, and his body was ice-cold.
It was as though he were already a corpse. What held him together was his Origin, his Dantian, and his cultivation.
"This last exchange has nearly drained my life force. I don't have much time left—I'm afraid I won't make it through the day," Ximen Baiyuan said.
"No… no, that can't be. Great-Grandfather can't die." Hearing these words, Ximen Feixue burst into even more desperate sobs.
"Feixue, listen to me. Do not seek revenge for your father. You cannot defeat Chu Feng—none of us in the entire Ximen Imperial Clan can defeat Chu Feng."
"When it comes to grudges, it's better to let them go than to hold on. Especially with someone like Chu Feng—do not provoke him again." Ximen Baiyuan's voice had grown extremely weak, yet it carried the weight of earnest sincerity. These were his true thoughts.
Though he had only laid eyes on Chu Feng today, he could tell that the young man truly surpassed every junior of the Ximen Imperial Clan. Even Ximen Feixue fell far short of Chu Feng in every regard. Although hatred for Chu Feng still burned deep in his bones, somewhere along the way, he had come to acknowledge the young man's worth.
"No, I will have my revenge! I must have it!" Ximen Feixue refused to relent. "I can ask the Dark Hall for help! Great-Grandfather, aren't they our allies? I can have them kill Chu Feng for me!" he said.
"The Dark Hall? Heh…" Ximen Baiyuan let out a bitter laugh before speaking. "Listen to me well—you must never have anything to do with the Dark Hall again. They are even more dangerous than Chu Feng."
"They helped me before only because they wanted something. Now that they've gotten what they wanted, they won't help us anymore."
"Besides, don't forget—if Chu Feng had accepted the Dark Hall's invitation today, it would have been our four great Imperial Clans that were destroyed."
"The Dark Hall only seeks out people they can exploit. And our Ximen Imperial Clan has nothing left for them to use."
Pfft—"
At that, Ximen Baiyuan coughed up another massive mouthful of blood, spraying it into the air. His aura grew weaker by the second, his eyes began to glaze over, and his body started to stiffen.
"Great-Grandfather! What's happening to you? What's wrong?!" Ximen Feixue's face turned pale with fright. His father was already dead—Ximen Baiyuan was his last pillar, his final support.
"Remember… you must… never… never again… be Chu Feng's… enemy…"
His words trailed off. Ximen Baiyuan's head slumped to one side, his hands went limp—and he breathed his last, passing away completely.
"Great-Grandfather, don't die! Please don't die!!!"
In that moment, Ximen Feixue's wailing grew even louder—heart-rending, soul-crushing in its despair.
He knew that if it hadn't been for him, Ximen Baiyuan would never have been forced to leave seclusion. And if he hadn't broken seclusion, his life force wouldn't have been so catastrophically depleted, and he wouldn't have died so quickly.
With Ximen Baiyuan's death, the Ximen Imperial Clan felt as though they had lost their last lifeline. Every soul was engulfed by grief.
"Stop crying. The dead cannot return to life." Just then, a figure suddenly appeared within the great hall.
The moment they saw this person, every member of the Ximen Imperial Clan froze in shock. Even the Grand Elders' faces went white as paper, their nerves pulled taut.
This was a member of the Dark Hall—the very same Sixth level Martial Emperor who had been driven back by Nangong Longjian earlier that day.
"Y-Why… why have you come?" one of the Grand Elders asked, his voice trembling.
"I've come to collect what's mine." The Dark Hall member walked straight to Ximen Baiyuan's body, removed the Universe Bag from his person, and took out his Emperor Armament—the Ancient Crocodile Body-Breaking Blade.