Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 471 The Underground Experiment Chamber
Previously on Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan!...
"Yes, Elder!"
The underlings spun around, rushing off right away to execute the command.
His steps rang out harshly on the rocky ground as he marched toward the enormous metal gates at the chamber's far end.
Those gates stood solid, etched with fierce sun designs and strengthened by layers of guarding arrays.
His fingers were barely stretching out for the entrance-
BOOM!!!
The whole room shook fiercely.
The metal gates burst inside with force.
A massive wave of power ripped apart the shielding arrays like they were mere scraps.
Bits of tough dark metal flew everywhere in the room like deadly shards.
One underling got hurled back, slamming into the wall and then slumping down in a stupor.
Clouds of dirt and haze clouded the atmosphere.
The golden pattern shimmered unstably.
The enclosures shook hard.
And amid the clearing rubble-
A shape advanced.
Steady and relaxed.
Bai Zihan!
The Elder halted, puzzled at first, then in shock.
Next-
A spark of terror.
Qi surged around the Elder on reflex.
"Do you realize what you're doing?"
His tone grew sharp, trying to reclaim control.
"This is a strictly forbidden zone in the Azure Sun Holy Sect."
His stare intensified.
"Give yourself up, or face the wrath of the Azure Sun Holy Sect!"
The kids inside the enclosures shivered.
Some from dread, others from anticipation.
The underling fought to stand.
Bai Zihan scanned the area leisurely.
His eyes swept past the burned remains.
The blood-smeared array.
The metal enclosures.
The shaky grips on the bars.
His face stayed unchanged.
"Seems we've found the right spot."
Bai Zihan said while another figure trailed after him.
It was Jin Yuanzhan, drenched in sweat from matching Bai Zihan's pace.
They had figured out earlier that the Sky Pirate Chief linked to the Azure Sun Holy Sect.
Bai Zihan chose to storm in, targeting the site of the tests especially.
Having Jin Yuanzhan along made navigating to the spot simple, assuming no alterations.
Shifting the site seemed improbable, given the hassle of moving gear and rebuilding the shielding arrays.
Thus, the odds favored it staying put, and it had.
***
Still, storming the Azure Sun Holy Sect solo would prove tough. Thus, Bai Zihan had to persuade his father and secure clan backing.
Initially, Bai Tianheng planned to extract the Sky Pirate Chief's name from the Azure Sun Holy Sect and kept Bai Zihan out of it personally, particularly after losing his cultivation.
Yet Bai Zihan disclosed his recovery, flowing Qi smoothly and advancing to Void Refinement Realm.
Bai Tianheng gazed at his son for moments, speechless.
"You... recovered?"
Disbelief colored his words.
Bai Zihan nodded steadily.
"Xi Yu handed me a Grade-8 Healing Pill."
He offered no more details.
A Grade-8 Healing Pill!
Not an item most folks ever glimpse.
Bai Tianheng's eyes grew slightly red.
A wave of relief hit him so hard he almost broke down.
For months, guilt had weighed on him quietly, thinking he failed to halt Bai Zihan.
And now-
Recovered.
Not just back to normal.
But enhanced.
Void Refinement Realm!
Bai Tianheng laughed then, booming and bright, a sound rare in the serious hall.
"Excellent! Excellent!"
His prior doubts, his unwillingness for Bai Zihan to head to the Azure Sun Holy Sect himself, faded away.
This was the Bai Zihan who once cut down Great Ascension Realm cultivators.
Now even mightier.
Even so-
The Azure Sun Holy Sect wasn't some minor group.
It ranked as a Top Sect.
A power harboring Immortal Realm masters in its core.
Though Bai Zihan could overpower Great Ascension Realm foes, Immortals posed a whole different threat.
Bai Tianheng stayed cautious.
Two Grand Elders joined him: Bai Ren and Bai Ruhong.
Should the Azure Sun Holy Sect try to trap their Grand Elders-
The Bai Clan would strike back similarly.
***
In any case, the assault was impressive.
Using a mighty flying vessel, the Bai Clan shattered the Azure Sun Holy Sect's barriers and breached its lands.
Naturally, sentries showed up, but handling them took little effort.
Bai Zihan didn't need to join in, as fellow Bai Clan members swiftly dispatched them.
Guided by Jin Yuanzhan, they reached the experimentation site.
While only Bai Zihan and Jin Yuanzhan went into the buried chamber, the rest guarded outside against intruders.
Returning to the buried chamber now.
The Elder's eyes darted from Bai Zihan to Jin Yuanzhan.
A faint spark of knowing hit when they fixed on Jin Yuanzhan.
"You...!"
His tone quivered.
Jin Yuanzhan's features hardened as he eyed the enclosures.
The remains.
The array pattern he recognized deeply.
The etched lines on the stone. The vibration of the Sun Dao pieces.
No question.
This was it.
His fists tightened.
"They left it here..."
Jin Yuanzhan murmured lowly, voice rough.
The carved lines on the ground.
The light burn traces on the walls.
The metal loops fixed in rock for chains that once bound writhing forms.
All elements matched.
Even the atmosphere felt identical.
With a subtle stench of scorched skin and herb mixtures.
For an instant-
The now faded.
He recalled the day they hauled him in.
Recalled the chains' burden. The nonstop torment to merge with the Sun Dao Fragment.
The sense of an alien force shoved into his dantian-
A searing sun jammed into human flesh.
He had howled.
He had pleaded.
He had sworn.
No one cared.
Days.
Weeks.
He couldn't recall the duration of his suffering.
Underground, day and night blurred.
Just agony.
Just tests.
Just detached talks of "compatibility ratios" as his meridians ripped apart.
And looming over him-
Ever present.
Ever scrutinizing.
That figure.
The Elder's eyes widened more as full awareness struck.
"Jin... Yuanzhan."
His face contorted.
"Traitor!" His shout rang with rage. "How dare you lead an outsider in?!"
His Qi burst out, shaky against the heavy aura in the room.
The Elder recalled Jin as a prime subject, boasting one of the best matches with the Sun Dao Fragment he'd seen.
Jin Yuanzhan had risen to disciple status in the Azure Sun Holy Sect thanks to it.
His words mixed blame and claim.
"You turned against the Sect that nurtured you!"
Jin Yuanzhan lifted his head gradually.
His gaze chilled.
"It was you who cast me aside first," he stated softly, "all of you."
The Elder's look soured.
Abruptly-
His Qi exploded.
Spirit Severing Realm!
Though much weaker than Bai Zihan's Void Refinement might.
Golden fires erupted from him as he shoved both hands out.
He aimed loosely.
He paused not. He struck.
An unexpected blow.
If he wounded one- Stirred disorder-
Then fled-
Yet before covering even halfway-
He stiffened.
The fires wavered-
Then died.
As if seized by an unseen grip.
Bai Zihan hadn't stirred.
He just remained there.
A subtle Qi wave spread from him.
Nothing more.
The crushing power bore down like a peak's mass.
The Elder's form seized up.
His legs gave way.
He hit the floor with a solid crash.
The fires around him vanished at once.
"What-?!"
His cry fractured.
He attempted to stand.
He failed.
He tried to channel Qi.
It wouldn't respond.
The hold was total.
Bai Zihan eyed him from above, somewhat uninterested.
"You figured a Spirit Severing Realm ambush would catch me off guard?"
A touch of humor laced his words.
It was funny, back in Spirit Severing Realm, he'd slain Void Refinement foes like pests.
The Elder's pupils shook. Void Refinement!
The force-
Beyond his power to fight.
Not remotely.
Jin Yuanzhan watched intently.
Though he'd seen Bai Zihan's power earlier-
Watching a Spirit Severing Realm powerhouse humbled so casually still jolted him.
Bai Zihan shifted a bit.
"Handle it as you see fit."
His words stayed even.
"But hold off on killing him for now."
He glanced at the pinned Elder.
"I require him alive."
Jin Yuanzhan's stare deepened. He moved without delay.
This chance- He wouldn't waste it.
He approached. Each step resounded deliberately.
The Elder writhed faintly under the unseen bind holding him.
"You-ungrateful-!"
His shout broke.
Jin Yuanzhan knelt before him.
Their gazes locked.
"You recall," Jin Yuanzhan murmured softly, "the third trial?"
The Elder stilled.
"You claimed my form suited it and upped the fragments to fuse. My meridians burst. My dantian almost broke."
His tone held steady, no surge of feeling.
"That day... you called my cries evidence the fragment was bonding."
The Elder's breaths came harsh.
Jin Yuanzhan extended his hand. Pressed his palm lightly to the Elder's dantian.
Qi flowed inside.
The Elder's frame twitched.
His meridians warmed from deep within.
A known feeling.
Scorching wildly, just as during Sun Dao Fragment fusion.
"You sought to study adaptation to strain."
Jin Yuanzhan cocked his head a touch. "Now let's study yours!"
"ARGH! STOP! ARGHHHH!"
The Elder wailed the moment it started.
As piercingly as the children.
As frantically as the botched subjects.
Jin Yuanzhan observed unmoving. At last- He stood tall.
And the Elder-
Lay screaming.