Chapter 140: The Method of Resolution

Humor thought to himself, and his expression instantly turned cold. If the Slaughter Heaven God of War had attained his supreme renown through such means, he would undoubtedly despise him for a lifetime.

He continued reading, yet his mood grew exceptionally heavy.

"The world often says that the innate fire of yin constitution can enhance one's cultivation and even reach the realm of the God of War. I was precisely a rank-nine Battle Saint at that time, and without a fortuitous encounter, I had no hope of achieving godhood in this lifetime. However, if I were to take Xi'er's primordial yin to forge the body of the God of War, success would certainly be guaranteed. Yet, if it truly came to that, what meaning would the so-called cultivation hold? A martial artist fights the heavens, fights the earth, and fights fate. A martial artist's body must not use their dearest and closest loved ones as sacrifices. If it truly came to that, I would rather die!"

Slaughter Heaven's tone was extremely agitated, yet that sense of poignant sorrow was even more palpable. Humor faintly sensed that a profound change must have occurred afterward.

"Provocation by the heavens makes a mockery of all; everything is an illusion. After expending more than twenty years, I finally found a method to resolve the innate fire of yin—that is, using the soul assimilation method to draw out the innate fire of yin. By doing so, one's life would not be harmed, yet my cultivation would permanently drop by one tier!" Slaughter Heaven's tone was deeply melancholy, but his intent was exceptionally clear. Evidently, compared to losing a tier of cultivation, Xi'er's life was far more important.

Humor continued reading downwards, his mood carrying a trace of tension, as if he were personally experiencing it all. However, Slaughter Heaven's words also kindled a glimmer of hope in Humor's heart. If such a method truly existed, Humor would undoubtedly choose to save Zhu Xinyue.

"Using the essences of the Five Elements, drawing upon the power of the stars, and combining the energies of Yin and Yang, I set up the Gathering Yin Grand Array. Once all preparations were complete, the extraction technique for the innate fire of yin began smoothly. However, right at this moment, enemies launched a sneak attack. I was unable to divide myself, leaving only a few dozen disciples to resist the formidable foes. Yet, my beloved disciple Xu Canghai launched a sneak attack from behind, shattering the array and destroying the technique, turning all our efforts into nothingness. Xi'er and I both suffered the backlash, and our lives hung by a thread. All my dozen disciples died in battle at the hands of Xu Canghai. I was consumed by fury, but Xi'er was heavily injured, and my heart and mind were utterly exhausted. Afterward, Xi'er smiled as she cut her own throat, using the power of her innate fire of yin to help me break through the mysterious barrier and ascend to the realm of the God of War!"

Slaughter Heaven's sorrow grew increasingly intense, to the extent that even those few lines of text became skewed, evidently trembling from excessive grief. Humor let out a soft sigh. As he felt that monstrous wave of sorrow, how could his own heart not resonate with it?

"Why, why! The damned God of War, of what use is it to me! Without Xi'er, of what use is it for me to survive between heaven and earth! Of what use is it for me to slaughter all my enemies! The way of heaven is merciless; even if I possess the power to slaughter the heavens, of what use is it!" Slaughter Heaven's grief reached its absolute peak. As Humor's thoughts followed, he instantly felt a wrenching pain in his chest and his blood roiling. He felt as though he shared their experiences, as if all of this were happening to his very own body.

After a long while, his heart finally calmed down slightly. He raised his head, maintaining that posture with a blank expression, and muttered to himself, "If it were me, what would I do? No, I will not let all of this happen, absolutely not!"

Humor's expression grew much firmer. He lowered his head and continued looking at that piece of sheepskin parchment. After reading those words, the sorrow on the sheepskin parchment seemed to recede significantly. In truth, what Humor had been looking at was not the text itself, but the sorrow contained within it.

Battle intent can be passionate, cruel, warm, or cold, and naturally, it can also be sorrowful—a desolate sorrow. This was the battle intent of the God of War contained within *The Annals of Slaughtering Heaven*!

However, this wave of battle intent had already been unconsciously absorbed by Humor. As long as Humor could elevate his soul realm to that level, he would naturally be able to fully comprehend Slaughter Heaven's battle intent. If he could completely comprehend Slaughter Heaven's battle intent, his future cultivation path would undoubtedly be smooth and unobstructed.

Humor composed his mind and looked at the final few paragraphs of the sheepskin parchment. It detailed the method for breaking the innate fire of yin constitution, but for now, Humor could only look at it. This was because the requirements for cultivation imposed by this method were extremely high, demanding at least the level of a Battle Saint.

Fortunately, Slaughter Heaven had also taken this into consideration, mentioning some sealing methods in the final section. Through those few sealing techniques, Zhu Xinyue's innate fire of yin could be temporarily suppressed. As for how to completely resolve it, Humor could only wait until he reached the Battle Saint level before considering it.

After reading the entire sheepskin parchment, black flames ignited upon it. The flames rolled a few times, and the parchment completely vanished, leaving the air permeated with the peculiar stench characteristic of sheepskin.

Humor let out a soft sigh, stood up, and walked out of the door. He had to admit that his luck was still quite decent; not only had he found a solution for the innate fire of yin, but he had also acquired the battle intent of the Slaughter Heaven God of War. If his enemies were to find out about this, they would likely vomit blood in anger and die.

However, Humor did not feel an excess of joy right now; on the contrary, his mood was exceptionally heavy. On one hand, there were his own troubles, and on the other hand, he was influenced by that wave of sorrow left by Slaughter Heaven.

There remained a lingering doubt in his mind concerning that Xu Canghai. He seemed to have seen this person's name in unofficial histories, but suddenly could not recall the details.

Just like that, countless vexing matters assaulted Humor's mind all at once, leaving him with no choice but to sigh. As he walked, he muttered to himself, "Let's resolve the matters right in front of me first. Since it requires Battle Saint cultivation, can't I just reach that level?"

With this thought in mind, he returned to the imperial palace once more, using the method described by Slaughter Heaven to temporarily seal Zhu Xinyue's innate fire of yin. Then, rushing anxiously, he left the imperial palace and hurried back to the Hu Residence.

In Flame City, within a wooden structure that rose abruptly from flat ground, an exceptionally handsome man suddenly opened his eyes. His sharp gaze carried a chilling intent to kill, and those eyes seemed to be staring at someone, intangible yet ice-cold.

"Humor, one day I will definitely kill you to wash away the humiliation you inflicted upon me!" The speaker was precisely Duanmu Hong. After a day and a night of breathing exercises, his injuries had completely healed. Moreover, due to that battle with Humor, his cultivation bottleneck had suddenly broken through, and his realm had improved quite a bit.

"Hehe, I say, cousin, you shouldn't forget the pain just because the wound has healed. You've only just recovered and you already want revenge? When you get hurt again, don't come crying to your cousin here!" Sitting on a large wooden chair in the room was a young and beautiful woman. She was holding an apple, eating it while teasing him.

Hearing the woman speak thus, Duanmu Hong could not help frowning and said in a deep voice, "Cousin Xinluo, you don't need to mock me like this. Your cousin here isn't that worthless, alright?"

Zhu Xinluo's mother was the eldest princess of the Divine Wood Empire and the sister of the current emperor of the Divine Wood Empire, making her naturally Duanmu Hong's cousin.

Hearing Duanmu Hong say this, Zhu Xinluo covered her mouth and giggled, "I say, cousin, stop deceiving yourself, will you? Your cousin here has an eye for people. Although your strength is among the cream of the crop within your generation, compared to that brat, you fall short by more than just a little bit. If grandfather hadn't intervened this time, your little life would likely have been left right there. And you still have the nerve to talk about revenge?"

Mocked mercilessly by Zhu Xinluo, Duanmu Hong's imposing aura instantly dwindled significantly, and his expression turned slightly dejected. With a bitter face and utter helplessness, he looked at Zhu Xinluo and said weakly, "Cousin, by your reckoning, is your cousin really that utterly useless? Am I supposed to just swallow this grudge and let it go? Not seeking revenge for a grudge is not the style of our Duanmu family!"

Duanmu Hong wanted to raise his tone to project some masculine pride, but with just a single blank stare from Zhu Xinluo, his momentum immediately withered away. Among so many people, the one he feared the most was his cousin.

"I'm telling you, cousin dear, if you don't learn forbearance, you can just sit quietly and watch certain things unfold from the sidelines. A gentleman takes revenge ten years later; although you're no gentleman, enduring for seven or eight years shouldn't be a problem. Rest assured, right now almost the entire Heavenly Fire Empire is within our grasp. Whatever is meant to be yours will not be short a single fraction, and whoever deserves to die will not escape," Zhu Xinluo sneered softly. Her delicate hand gently stroked Duanmu Hong's fair face as she looked at him with a playful smile, her gaze appearing somewhat hazy and distant.

Duanmu Hong felt completely uncomfortable all over under her gaze. Struggling slightly, he lowered his voice and said, "Cousin, grandfather told me I must maintain my primordial yang constitution and cannot..."

"Bah, I spit on you! Who is interested in a little brat like you?" Zhu Xinluo tapped him on the head, wearing a completely infatuated expression as she indulged in wild fantasies: "If it were that brat from the Hu family, I might still have some interest. As for you, at most you're only good for looking at to feast my eyes."

Hearing Zhu Xinluo say this, Duanmu Hong nearly surged with anger, wishing he could just have his way with her right then and there. Yet, for some unknown reason, he could not stir up the slightest bit of romantic or lustful desire toward this cousin; instead, he felt a lingering sense of fear.

Back at the Hu Residence, Humor suddenly sneezed heavily. Looking around in slight panic, he muttered to himself, "Why did I suddenly have such an ominous premonition? It can't be that someone is cursing me."

He turned back and looked in the direction of the high tower; that feeling became even more pronounced.

After a long while, he shook his head, smiled bitterly, and thought to himself, "Why dwell on it? It's completely normal for someone to curse me; not being cursed would be the strange thing. I need to hurry and check on that little fox; I wonder how her cultivation is progressing."

With these thoughts in mind, Humor arrived at the small courtyard where he lived. Before even stepping inside, Humor caught a familiar fragrance—a captivating aroma, and he didn't even need to guess whose scent it belonged to.

Upon entering the courtyard, Humor saw servants sprawled limply across the ground, while Hu Yihu was ablaze with fire, standing in a tense standoff with Hu Baimei. That scene instantly gave Humor a headache.

"Vixen, how dare you commit violence in my Hu Residence! If this old man doesn't annihilate you today, I—"

"What? What do you want? Relying on your status as a rank-three Battle Emperor, do you actually think you can kill me, your grandmother? These blind subordinates of yours ran over here to provoke me of their own accord; am I to blame for harming them? What a joke!" Hu Baimei said with a look of utter indifference, her words infuriating Hu Yihu to the point where his beard trembled continuously.

Humor looked at the two of them with utter helplessness and shouted loudly, "Stop, stop! Is there any need to get this worked up?"