Swish, swish-swish!
Seven figures appeared in succession above the Demon Talisman Sect.
A few of them swept their divine sense outward.
Before long, one of them reported, "Elder Li, Elder Qi, the Demon Talisman Sect is completely deserted."
Hearing this, Li Qiuyuan furrowed his brow slightly and looked toward his companion. "Elder Qi, it seems we've arrived too late!"
"Elder Li, let us divide our forces and search the surrounding area. Yun Qingfeng left late in the day, so they can't have gotten far. I refuse to believe these stragglers can slip through our fingers!" Qi Fengyu said coldly.
He thought of his Soul Sword Sect, once the premier sect in the Yunyou Mountain Range. Although eventually surpassed by the Netherflame Sect, they had still been a force to be reckoned with throughout the Yunyou Mountain Range. Now, a petty little Demon Talisman Sect dared to demand a million Source Crystals to ransom hostages. If he didn't wipe out the Demon Talisman Sect completely, how could the Soul Sword Sect ever show their faces in the Yunyou Mountain Range again?
On a distant peak, the members of the Demon Talisman Sect watched the cultivators of the two sects disperse in utter confusion.
"Could it be that the Senior isn't in the sect?" Lin Xi asked with a puzzled expression.
"Impossible, his aura was here just a moment ago!" Xia Yunting said with certainty.
"Is this Senior Zhou's way of solving the problem?" Li Nanwei asked, her eyes widening as she looked around at the others.
"No way! The Senior is so powerful—did he run away?" Lin Xi doubted aloud.
"Junior Brother, what do you make of this?" Xia Yunting asked Yun Qingfeng, who stood in silence.
"Knowing Fellow Daoist Zhou's style, he likely wouldn't resolve the issue this way. If my guess is correct, Fellow Daoist Zhou has probably already gone to the Soul Sword Sect!"
"Ah!"
Yun Qingfeng's words drew a chorus of gasps.
"Grand Uncle-Master, why would you say that?"
Looking at the assembled disciples, Yun Qingfeng smiled faintly. "Have you all forgotten Hua Juefei?"
"Right!"
Reminded by Yun Qingfeng, the group instantly remembered.
The Soul Sword Sect was located in the northern part of the Yunyou Mountain Range. At that moment, two figures came streaking through the air from afar—none other than Zhou Shi and Hua Juefei.
After recovering to the peak of the Demon Condensation Realm, Zhou Shi had explained his situation to Hua Juefei, giving him two choices: refuse to cooperate and be struck dead by a single palm strike, or choose to cooperate and be granted a way out once the matter was settled.
Unsurprisingly, Hua Juefei immediately chose cooperation. Thus, guided by Hua Juefei, the two of them quietly made their way toward the Soul Sword Sect.
When Zhou Shi learned from Xia Yunting that the Soul Sword Sect had once controlled a giant Source Vein, he had already formed this plan. Repelling the cultivators of the two sects was not difficult for him, but it offered little benefit. Rather than doing that, why not take advantage of the two sects' expedition to the Demon Talisman Sect and pay a visit to their home base?
Guided by Hua Juefei, the two of them slipped silently into the Soul Sword Sect and reached the sect treasury. The barriers here were completely useless against Zhou Shi, easily undone with a flick of his finger. At that moment, he finally understood why the two sects were so obsessed with obtaining the Demon Talisman Atlas.
Zhou Shi had no interest in the other items in the treasury and headed straight for its depths. What baffled him, however, was that he couldn't find a single Source Crystal.
"Could they not be here?" Just as he was wondering, he sensed a concealed barrier.
"So they're here!"
Once the barrier was broken, Zhou Shi was teleported into an independent space. Gazing at the mountains of piled-up Source Crystals, his eyes lit up. The accumulated wealth of the Soul Sword Sect far exceeded that of the Demon Talisman Sect. Without a moment's hesitation, Zhou Shi sat cross-legged and began absorbing them frantically.
Hua Juefei had never felt so exhilarated in his entire life. Any treasure that caught his eye, he took as much as he wanted. He took only the best; he wouldn't touch anything of lesser quality. Whenever he saw a superior treasure that exceeded what he could carry, he immediately swapped it out. Heavenly treasures, peerless spirit liquids—he grabbed them all wildly. If he couldn't carry any more, he ate and drank them on the spot. In short, he wanted to claw back everything he had given to the Soul Sword Sect over his lifetime, taking it all back through plunder and consumption.
It wasn't until he could carry no more and eat no more that he remembered Zhou Shi. But when he walked into the depths of the treasury, he found no trace of him. He thought about fleeing, but remembering the restrictions placed upon him, he instantly dismissed the idea. Instead, he found a secluded spot and began circulating his energy to refine the power within his body.
Who knows how much time passed? When Hua Juefei woke up, he discovered that Zhou Shi had yet to reappear. Just as he was feeling puzzled, a flash of light burst from the depths of the treasury, and Zhou Shi stepped out.
"His aura has grown stronger again!" Hua Juefei thought to himself, sensing Zhou Shi's presence.
"Let's go!" With that, the two left the treasury and headed toward the back mountain.
Suddenly, Zhou Shi faintly caught the sound of distant, ethereal screams. "Did you hear that screaming?"
"N-no!"
Seeing him stammer, Zhou Shi narrowed his eyes. "Tell the truth!"
"It must be Hun Miesheng refining the Senluo Seal!" Hua Juefei said softly.
"The Senluo Seal?"
"Yes, it's a magic treasure!"
Hearing this, a fierce glint flashed in Zhou Shi's eyes. He remembered that the Soul Sword Sect had always forged their swords using the souls of mortals. No doubt this "Senluo Seal" was made the same way.
"Damn them!"
At that thought, Zhou Shi's figure flickered and vanished in an instant.
The forbidden grounds at the back mountain of the Soul Sword Sect.
A mountain peak covered in bloody runes hovered in the void. Shrill, wailing soul wraiths swirled around the peak. Below, eighteen soul pools were arranged in a bizarre formation. Mountains of skeletons piled inside each pool, teeming with tens of thousands of soul wraiths.
Tens of thousands of soul wraiths slaughtered and devoured one another within the pools, ultimately transforming into eighteen fierce souls that merged into the blood-runed peak.
"Senluo Seal, retract!"
As the magic treasure entered his body, a sinister look flashed in Hun Miesheng's eyes. Ever since the Soul Sword Sect had been surpassed by the Netherflame Sect, he had dreamed day and night of reclaiming their supremacy. It was just a pity that he dared not provoke the person backing the Netherflame Sect, leaving him no choice but to feign compliance with them while awaiting the right opportunity.
"You must be Hun Miesheng, Master of the Soul Sword Sect?"
"Who's there?" The sudden voice startled Hun Miesheng greatly. This was the forbidden back mountain of the Soul Sword Sect; no one else could possibly enter here.
"Today, no one can save you!"
Gazing at the eighteen soul pools piled high with corpses, Zhou Shi's voice was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.
"It's actually you. Interesting!"
Catching sight of the white-haired, cyan-robed figure, Hun Miesheng remembered who he was. "Shouldn't you be at the Demon Talisman Sect?" Hun Miesheng asked, puzzled.
"I left the Demon Talisman Sect for the two of you to play with at your leisure. This is the root of it all!"
Before his voice finished trailing off, Zhou Shi took a single step forward and instantly unleashed six lethal strikes. Each blow erupted with the might to shatter mountains, overturn seas, and shake the heavens. It was the "Six Demon Condensation Strikes," a technique that could only be executed at the peak of the Demon Condensation Realm; otherwise, the body could not withstand using them consecutively.
Bang, bang-bang...
In an instant, nether flames splattered across the forbidden grounds, and the sound of collisions shook the heavens and earth. Hun Miesheng had not expected Zhou Shi to launch such a ferocious attack before they had even finished exchanging two sentences. Caught off guard, he rapidly condensed several layers of nether flame shields, yet still failed to block the ocean-like, violent assault. In the end, he was forced to unleash his soul sword, using thousands of soul wraiths to protect his body just to stay alive.
"You are strong. What a pity you're merely a Body Cultivator—the dregs of the cultivation world!"