"Ye Chen made several critical combat errors!"

Lu Xuan, splitting off a thread of his divine sense, tracked the wisp of phantom mist that had drifted from Qin Xiao's headless corpse. Qin Xiao wasn't completely dead!

"That must be a Supreme Secret Art from the Supreme Profound Sect," Lu Xuan muttered.

The wisp of phantom mist shot off in the direction Qin Wang had fled. Lu Xuan pulled out an Ancient Jade Slip and began inscribing his analysis, reviewing Ye Chen's fight.

"Ye Chen's fighting style is decisive and ruthless, which is good. But his mind isn't sharp enough. He saw a headless corpse and assumed Qin Xiao was dead. Not true. Qin Xiao carries a Supreme Secret Art, he's the Ancient Qin Family's Heir, and a candidate Divine Son for the Supreme Profound Sect. How could he not have a life-saving trump card?"

"I can't entirely blame Ye Chen; he hasn't had enough real combat experience to develop that kind of caution. But his Quasi-Emperor protector should have reminded him. Two stars, bad review!"

Lu Xuan filled the Ancient Jade Slip with nearly ten thousand characters detailing Ye Chen's combat style and habits. I guess I understand Ye Chen a little better now, he mused. Qin Xiao's survival was a serious oversight. This was exactly why the concept of 'Scattering the Ashes' was so important!

Don't just kill them; scatter their remains and ensure their soul is barred from reincarnation, making them deader than dead! If Lu Xuan had been in Ye Chen's place, Qin Xiao and his crew would already be dust, scattered to the winds. For a mortal enemy like Qin Xiao, Lu Xuan would take special measures: "Kill him, then scatter the ashes repeatedly. No reincarnation. Let him be utterly erased in the river of time."

With that thought, Lu Xuan put away the Ancient Jade Slip and focused his intent back on tracking the phantom mist.

***

Meanwhile, Qin Wang had piloted the Ancient Spirit Boat thousands of miles away. He glanced back at the ruins of the underground palace. No one was pursuing him. He cautiously swept his divine sense around—no hidden followers. Safe for now! His body instantly went slack, and he collapsed onto the deck of the spirit boat, gasping for air.

Ye Chen was terrifying! He had literally blown his older brother's head off! The brutality was staggering. As Qin Wang recalled the gruesome scene, the fear on his face melted away, replaced by delirious ecstasy.

Qin Xiao was dead! If he could just make it back to the Qin Family alive, he would take his place as the Heir! And Nangong Baixue would fall into his hands. The thought of her soft skin, her delicate, pale body, the long, white jade legs like twin water snakes, and the alluring secrets hidden beneath her dress, sent a wave of heat through him, igniting a fire in his lower abdomen.

"Hahahahaha!" Qin Wang burst into maniacal laughter. "My dear brother, you're finally dead! Do you know how many years I've waited for this?" he whispered. "I will inherit everything—your Heir position, your Divine Son candidacy, and your fiancée. I'll take very good care of her."

His mind was already spinning with depraved fantasies. He would take the decades of bullying Qin Xiao inflicted on him and repay it tenfold, hundredfold, thousandfold upon Nangong Baixue. He would make her burn with insatiable desire, begging for release...

Suddenly, a chilling voice echoed in Qin Wang's ear. "My foolish little brother, did you truly wish for my death?"

The sound instantly made Qin Wang's scalp crawl, plunging him into an icy terror. Who is speaking?! He frantically looked around.

"Who is there? Qin Xiao, is that you?"

Boom! The wisp of phantom mist solidified, forming a translucent, spectral image of Qin Xiao. Qin Wang stared in disbelief. "Brother, you're alive?"

Qin Xiao sneered. "I need to borrow your body." With that, the phantom mist turned into a streak of light and shot toward Qin Wang.

Qin Wang immediately summoned a spiritual shield, his body blazing with light, his face contorted in a snarl. "Qin Xiao! You're trying to possess me?!"

Qin Xiao laughed coldly. "Not entirely stupid. If you didn't share Father's bloodline, I would have killed you long ago. Did you really think a fool like you could survive this long otherwise?"

Qin Wang's face twisted with hatred. "Damn it! This was all Father's plan! He was afraid you'd die, so he forced me into the Inheritance Secret Realm. That way, if anything happened to you, you could use the Supreme Profound Sect's secret art to possess me!"

"Brother, I hate you! I hate Father!"

Qin Xiao's voice was frigid. "My pathetic little brother, you only survived because you had this pitiful use! But this time, I wasn't plotting against you; Father merely wanted you to gain experience. Who knew I would actually be defeated by Ye Chen?! Damn Ye Chen! I swear I will have my revenge!" With that, Qin Xiao lunged directly at Qin Wang's glabella.

Crack! Qin Xiao shattered Qin Wang's spiritual shield and his soul fragment stabbed inward. "Little brother, I'm coming in!"

"No! Stop—"

In the next instant, Qin Xiao's soul essence surged into Qin Wang's glabella, rushing toward his vast Sea of Consciousness. Qin Xiao froze. Within Qin Wang's Sea of Consciousness, countless seals and restrictions crisscrossed, glittering with divine light, forming a colossal, Heaven-reaching net.

Seeing this, Qin Xiao's face turned icy. He snarled, "My foolish little brother, you were prepared for me all along, weren't you?"

Qin Wang's voice, now internal and filled with cold killing intent, replied, "Qin Xiao, I've walked on thin ice in the Qin Family for years. Do you know what I've endured? My mother, before she died, planted these seals and restrictions on my Sea of Consciousness and body. She foresaw this day. And now, it has come."

Qin Xiao scoffed. "Little brother, you underestimate me! This body was always meant for me. Today, I'm taking it!" He immediately activated the Supreme Scripture!

BOOM! Divine light surged from Qin Xiao's spectral form. He unleashed terrifying power, like a raging ocean, channeling the ultimate killing force of the Supreme Scripture. The seals in Qin Wang's Sea of Consciousness shattered and disintegrated one after another.

Qin Wang felt a splitting headache, as if ten thousand insects were gnawing at his mind. Pain! Too much pain! His face was a mask of agony, blood trickling from his lips. "Impossible! I won't let you succeed in possessing me!"

The two souls immediately engaged in a fierce battle within Qin Wang's Sea of Consciousness. Though Qin Xiao was only a remnant soul, he was evenly matched with Qin Wang. The Sea of Consciousness became a Heaven-reaching battlefield, where their souls clashed, shattering and reforming repeatedly.

The collision of their soul essence released brilliant divine light, scattering fragments of their memories. Qin Xiao saw Qin Wang's daily curses against him. He sneered, "My foolish little brother, you wished for my death every waking moment!" He saw Qin Wang cursing him even during the battle with Ye Chen. Qin Wang retorted coldly, "We're both the Patriarch's sons, but because my mother's status was inferior to yours, I had to suffer such humiliation! I've lived worse than a dog for over a decade!"

In the next clash, a piece of Qin Xiao's soul essence also broke off, scattering like fireworks. The memory fragment revealed a scene... on Supreme Peak, involving Qin Xiao and Nangong Baixue. On a purple phoenix wood bed, Nangong Baixue's dress was torn, revealing her tempting, soft body, a landscape of beauty, delicate and fair. Qin Xiao reached out to touch her...

Seeing this, Qin Xiao roared with fury. "Qin Wang, don't look! Or I'll make your death agonizing!"

Qin Wang burst into laughter, fighting Qin Xiao while watching the memory projection, a wide, triumphant grin on his face. The scene showed Nangong Baixue being hesitant, and Qin Xiao growing frustrated. After only a dozen breaths, Qin Xiao lay exhausted on the bed, asking Nangong Baixue, "Was I fierce?"

Nangong Baixue stammered, "F-fierce."

Qin Wang roared with laughter. "My dear brother, do you misunderstand the word 'fierce'?! I never realized you were so powerful on the outside, yet so weak on the inside! Hahahaha!"

The laughter was the final straw. Qin Xiao's killing intent exploded. "I'll kill you! Die! Die! Die! Die!" His most private memory had been exposed and mocked; his patience was gone. Qin Xiao's killing intent surged, and he drove the Supreme Scripture like a demon god, tearing through Qin Wang's Sea of Consciousness. Wherever he went, divine light scattered, instantly annihilated.

Qin Wang's eyes were bloodshot. He thought desperately, Damn it! I enraged Qin Xiao! Qin Wang's soul essence fled, refusing to be captured. The battle had startled Qin Wang; he had to admit the huge gap in power between himself and his brother. But this was his Sea of Consciousness, his home turf! As long as Qin Xiao couldn't capture his soul, he could drag out the fight until Qin Xiao's remnant soul dissipated.

After a long time, Qin Xiao's soul essence grew weaker, finally collapsing onto the luminous ground of the Sea of Consciousness. "I can't go on," Qin Xiao sighed weakly, a look of despair on his face.

Qin Wang was unmoved. He sneered, "My dear brother, I see through your tricks. You just want me to drop my guard and rush over so you can capture my soul... Heh heh heh! I won't give you the satisfaction!"

Hearing this, Qin Xiao's aura suddenly surged, and he rose into the air, roaring, "Come here and die!" Qin Wang ignored him, relying on the broken seals to stall.

Several hours later, Qin Xiao was truly at his limit. His soul was flickering, almost transparent, and incredibly weak. This time, Qin Wang didn't hesitate. He rushed forward to devour Qin Xiao's soul. By consuming it, he would gain all of Qin Xiao's memories, becoming both Qin Wang and Qin Xiao.

Qin Xiao stopped resisting, even actively merging his soul. He gave a mournful sigh. "To die like this... I am unwilling. Unwilling..." Qin Wang devoured him with growing frenzy. The two souls merged, becoming indistinguishable.

But halfway through the process, Qin Xiao's face twisted into a vicious sneer. He swore a Heaven's Dao Oath: "If Qin Wang fails to become the Supreme Profound Sect's Divine Son within three years, and fails to kill Ye Chen, Heaven's Dao shall instantly erase this merged soul!"

Qin Wang raged internally, "You son of a bitch!" He had planned to steer clear of Ye Chen entirely! But Qin Xiao had just bound him with the most malicious Heaven's Dao Oath imaginable!

Moments later, Qin Xiao dissolved, becoming a single Persistent Thought that merged with Qin Wang. Until Ye Chen dies, this Persistent Thought will not perish!

Soon after, Qin Wang collected himself. He sat cross-legged in the spirit boat, his mind a complex mess. Divine Son of the Supreme Profound Sect within three years! Kill Ye Chen within three years! There was no turning back now. Qin Xiao's Persistent Thought had become a part of him. The youthful naivety on Qin Wang's face vanished, replaced by a haughty, condescending expression.

He spoke slowly, "Brother, I shall take good care of your wife." With that, Qin Wang steered the Ancient Spirit Boat away.

At the same time, the thread of Lu Xuan's divine sense retracted. He shook his head slightly. "I didn't expect Qin Xiao to survive in such a way."

***

[System Notification: Disciple Cultivation Quest Complete!]

[Reward: Synchronization of the 'Invincible Stance' (Minor Accomplishment) from the Desolate Heaven Art!]

[Reward: Cultivation Realm Boost to Six-star Profound Saint initial stage!]

[Reward: Dao Profound Iron Pot (Three-star Emperor Weapon) has been upgraded to Four-star Emperor Weapon: Dao Profound Celestial Cauldron!]

[System Notification: New Limited-Time Disciple Cultivation Quest Issued!]

[Quest: Ye Chen must defeat the merged Qin Wang/Qin Xiao soul and completely 'Scatter the Ashes' within three years!]

[Failure Penalty: The Host's 'Invincible Stance' will be temporarily suppressed for one year!]

[Lu Xuan: What the hell? Now I have to worry about my Invincible Stance being suppressed? This system is getting more and more demanding! Fine. Let's see how this 'Invincible Stance' feels. Hmm, not bad. Now, where was I? Oh right, time for a nap.]

[Lu Xuan immediately lies down on his recliner, completely unconcerned by the high-stakes conflict he has just observed.]