"Holy Imprint?!!!"

The surprised and shocked voices of Zhou Guan and Du Gu Yang made the surrounding audiences focus their attention onto the character symbol. The symbol's power pressed down on the entire audience, making them feel like their bodies were suffocating. What was even more shocking, was that the pressure caused by the symbol was even stronger than that caused by Zhou Guan!

"Who is it?" Zhou Guan frantically thought and looked around. "Which power wishes to protect him?"

The symbol with the purple characters lit up sharply and the power surrounding it grew stronger. The light being emanated seemed to blind everyone on the scene. Suddenly, a large portal opened up, about two meters tall. The portal had a bottomless void inside but it looked like a human hand stretched past the portal. A figure began to walk through, its features finally discernible. 

The figure had the appearance of an old man, his face full of wrinkles and tired eyes. He wore dark red robes that looked like the color of blood and had a fierce aura surrounding him. His body gave off the epitome of killing intent and the energy surrounding him wasn't something any of the people on the scene could defend against. 

When Feng Yun and Xia Qing saw the figure, recognition instantly sprouted in their minds...and confusion. Zhou Guan and Du Gu Yang on the other hand were completely shocked and utter terror was present on their faces. In their minds a single common thought resounded.

That's Qiang Lu!

To Feng Yun and Xia Qing, the man had been a mere merchant in the city who had decided to set up a simple shop. It was to his credit, that the duo were able to obtain the Void fragment and the element itself. The man had revealed himself to be of the Tyrant Realm Seventh Layer at the time, which had deeply shocked the duo. When they had purchased the stone, Feng Yun had gave him a little information at his request. Qiang Lu had said that Feng Yun could use his name if he ever encountered a terrible problem but the latter hadn't taken it seriously and just accepted it. After all, he hadn't given any proof that people could see that Feng Yun was backed up by him.

But now, Feng Yun realized that he had been incorrect in his assumptions. The man had given him a symbol of his identity. The large symbol in the sky was likely a distress call for Feng Yun to use.

"Haha, I knew all along what this guy had done, from the time you met him, to when it would activate." Warden laughed delightfully in his mind. Feng Yun was shaken out of his thoughts and quickly responded to him.

"Warden, what is a 'Holy Imprint'?" Feng Yun could easily tell that the object called a Holy Imprint had something to do with Qiang Lu being summoned to the battlefield.

"As expected, you are quite intelligent. Indeed, that symbol these people call a Holy Imprint as a distress call for the user who was granted it. If the Holy Imprint is used, then the person who delivered it would know immediately and respond to the call. However, this thing is only granted for those who have become Seekers or Bloodfiends and higher." Feng Yun nodded his head. He understood most of it but he still had a question.

"When did he put it on me?"

"Well, he didn't put it on you." Warden paused for a moment before continuing. "When he told you that you could use his name if you 'encountered a problem', he was literally delivering the Holy Imprint. The fact that you accepted means that he can help you when you're in trouble. The only catch is that it can only be used once. After that, you cannot use it on that exact same person anymore."

Feng Yun now understood completely and was dumbfounded. Qiang Lu had actually placed protection on him without his knowing. In his heart, he expressed gratitude towards his savior. The old man had truly kept his promise and arrived to save Feng Yun's life. This undoubtedly caused him to feel warm inside.

Qiang Lu gazed at his surroundings with a wide surveying gesture, and his cold look sent shivers of fear down the spines of most of them present. Zhou Guan and Du Gu Yang looked at each other and nodded their heads before floating upwards towards the old man. The two bowed deeply in respect, in which Qiang Lu stared at them for a moment. Zhou Guan felt a bead of nervous sweat trickled down his face as he said,

"Senior, might you be the legendary Bloodfiend Red Sun?" Zhou Guan stuttered as he said this. The moment everyone heard this, they went silent. There was almost no one here who didn't know about the legendary Red Sun. The audience was afraid to ever breathe too loud or risk the wrath of Qiang Lu. However, Qiang Lu didn't even pay attention to Zhou Guan's words, instead surveying the area once more. Feng Yun heard the name and thought hard about it, until it finally hit him. 

"Red Sun! That's why Qiang Lu seemed so familiar back when I heard his name!" 

Feng Yun instantly recalled the name and recognized him. He had been reading about the legendary Tyrant and Truth Realm cultivators and he had stumbled upon Qiang Lu's name. Bloodfiend Red Sun was said to be one of the top ten most powerful Tyrant realm cultivators living on the continent. His power was completely unfathomable and when he decided to act, a slaughter would undoubtedly occur. Red Sun's exploits were widely known across the continent and his name was something people didn't dare to slight. 

Red Sun had once fought against the ancestor of a powerful sect, whose cultivation was of the Truth Realm Sixth Layer and thoroughly destroyed him, obliterating the sect at the same time. That battle was witnessed by many and had happened over five thousand years ago, yet people still remembered it. He had even fought toe to toe with four of the elders of the Six-Eyed Black Tiger divine beast clan and though he didn't win, he was able to severely injure them and escape with few injuries.

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However, Qiang Lu didn't really make appearances very often. Rumor had it that he was always disguised as a traveling merchant, moving from place to place to explore the continent. But none had ever been able to truly identify him.

And the cultivator known as Bloodfiend Red Sun to the continent, was actually the Qiang Lu that he so casually met at a Second Class City. Feng Yun was very knowledgeable about Red Sun's fame and to see him here to protect him made him feel very confident. 

As Qiang Lu continued to survey his surroundings, he finally noticed Feng Yun with Xia Qing in his embrace and his eyes lit up. He had finally found who he was looking for. With a light smile he said,

"Kid, long time no see!"

The audience burst into commotion after hearing this small smile. Did Feng Yun actually know the legendary Bloodfiend Red Sun? If so, doesn't that mean that he is practically invincible?!!!

"Haha, Senior Qiang, you really gave me a surprise!" Feng Yun laughed casually. "I would never have suspected that you were the legendary Red Sun. And you even gave me your protection. I have to say that I'm truly honored."

At this point, even Xia Qing looked up at Qiang Lu and her eyes shined. The old man laughed sheepishly while scratching his head and replied,

"Yeah well...I didn't really want people knowing that I'm still alive so soon. My privacy's been ruined because of you, you little brat! Who the hell did you offend to make yourself fall into such dire straits?" This time Feng Yun was no longer smiling and some killing intent manifested itself towards Zhou Guan and Du Gu Yang.

"Senior Qiang, I was helping my fellow mercenary brothers to deliver the young miss of the Zhou Clan to her family on an escort mission, but I never thought that she would use her family to attack me with the intent to kill. I managed to execute several elders that they sent after me but now that old bastard Zhou Guan himself has acted. Senior Qiang, for a Truth Realm cultivator to act against a Xiantian Realm cultivator, don't you think that's shameless?" 

Qiang Lu's eyes narrowed when he heard this and the killing intent around his body grew stronger. The man had a look of disgust on his face as he glared at Zhou Guan and Du Gu Yang. The two middle aged men grew frightened and immediately tried to cover it up.

"Great Bloodfiend Red Sun, he speaks lies! We did no such thing! He attempted to commit vandalism on my Zhou Clan's property and even did many evils to us. We deserve justice!"

"Yes yes, Brother Zhou is entirely correct! Feng Yun did so many evil things and hurt our pride, attempting to deface the Zhou Clan by executing their elders. The fault is entirely his!"

Zhou Guan and Du Gu Yang frantically came up with lies and untruthful comments about what happened. They all wanted nothing more than for Qiang Lu to calm his aura. Qiang Lu narrowed his eyes and gazed at Feng Yun, who was merely standing there calmly, without any lack of confidence. The old man closed his eyes and knew instantly that Feng Yun was in the right. He didn't even need to know all the facts. The confident look that Feng Yun gave him was enough for him to know the truth. Besides, Qiang Lu was an intelligent man. He knew exactly when people were trying to cheat him or not. He turned to Du Gu Yang and Zhou Guan's figures, his eyes filled with burning hot fury.

"You two bastards actually dared to conspire against a twelve year old boy so shamefully?! How can you even call yourselves cultivators with your attitude and disgusting disposition?! The world is better off without your existences plaquing it!"

"NO! Please, please have mercy! Don't kill me, I have a family to care for!"

Qiang Lu looked at the pleading Zhou Guan with an indifferent gaze and said,

"Don't we all."

Qiang Lu lifted his hands and an immensely strong killing intent manifested itself on the atmosphere. Zhou Guan felt his legs become numb and his body felt stiff. He was completely frozen in place for the pressure would not let him go. He had no power to resist whatsoever.

"You know, even if the boy had done something wrong, I probably would have still supported him. After all, he's certainly worth more than a bunch of morons like you."

Qiang Lu viciously delivered the truth to the two men. The two men felt despair reach their hearts and prepared to accept death. Their efforts to deceive him were for nothing. Even if they had deceived him, the man would still have sided with Feng Yun. Qiang Lu exhaled a breath of air and his hand shot out quickly, latching onto the man's throat. He slowly and casually increased the pressure on the throat as seconds passed.

"N-no...c-can't...b-b-b-b-breathe. P-p-p-p-please!"

Zhou Guan struggled to get the words out of his mouth through the hand clamped around his throat. However, all of his attempts were futile as it only made Qiang Lu strengthen his grip. Qiang Lu smiled coldly as he slowly said,

"Die."

With that, Qiang Lu's other hand summoned a large amount of killing energy into his palms that appeared to the audience like a burning red sun, and plunged directly into Zhou Guan's chest. The hand shot straight through and ended up behind his back. Then, with a grunt, Qiang Lu withdrew his hand that had burst Zhou Guan's heart and let the body drop to the ground from the skies, blood and gore dripping from his body as he descended. Zhou Yanling was utterly horrified as she screamed,

"FATHER NO!!!!"