【You didn’t strike directly.】
【The Immortal Alliance is no paper tiger. To dare to tug at a tiger’s whiskers is to prepare for a heavy counterattack. And with the Four Golden Core cultivators stationed in Wanhun Yin City, even if you wield three Golden Core treasures, it’s impossible to easily take on all four at once.】
【You are waiting for a moment—a suitable moment.】
Rumble!!
The sudden roar shook heaven and earth. Several thick streaks of bloody light shot abruptly into the sky, intertwining with the air like a terrifying crimson web that enveloped the vast three-thousand-li city, cutting off inside from outside, shielding it from heaven and earth!!
The stench of blood spread, making people nauseous.
Blood rays shot downward from the nodes of the crimson net. The cultivators below saw some struck by the blood light instantly melt away as if ice met blazing fire, dissolving at a shocking speed.
The shadows of the souls illuminated by the blood light seemed to be activated into a berserk mode, their eyes gleaming with ferocity and their murderous intent soaring!
The time has come.
Su Bai’s lips curled slightly as she leapt up, hovering in the sky. From within her sleeve, a mysterious black banner flew out, stretching long in the wind.
The cultivators below saw a sudden appearance of the black banner midair, growing with the wind until it reached hundreds, even thousands of zhang tall, blocking out the entire sky.
Then, a vast and limitless male voice resounded.
“One million shadow souls, return!”
The black banner trembled violently, faint ghostly lights flickering across its surface. The shadow souls that had been rampaging through the city seemed to receive a powerful summons; they all ceased their attacks and surged toward the banner’s direction.
The shadow souls surged like a black tide, emitting piercing, mournful shrieks that seemed capable of tearing apart a person’s soul.
Each shadow soul’s eyes flickered with eerie light as they quickly merged into the banner. The banner’s glow grew stronger, as if a mysterious power was being born within it.
The black banner melted countless vicious shadow souls. Gradually, it turned a dark purple-black, exuding a more ferocious shadowy energy. Its aura grew ever sharper and denser, like a colossal beast swallowing heaven and earth, treating the endless shadow souls as mere snacks.
Just as the seemingly endless shadow souls sensed something was amiss and let out shrill cries to escape, the boundless banner trembled, releasing an unmatched suction that forcibly drew the blood-red shadow souls’ endless black cloud into the banner.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the sky again radiated a faint blood-red glow.
Soon, a young Daoist appeared before the crowd, holding a purple-black banner over a zhang long. His eyebrows were sharp, exuding heroic spirit; his appearance was above average, with deep, dark eyes like a complex abyss hiding the most intricate emotions.
“What a magnificent Wanhun Banner.”
A teleportation light shot up from a nearby garrison mansion. After the light faded, a man in black robes appeared—Li An. He glanced at Su Bai, his eyes sharp as a vulture, and coldly asked,
“I don’t know which Daoist dares to ruin the grand plan of my sect.”
“Jiuyou Sect, Fang Xiu.”
Su Bai remained calm.
The name she used now wasn’t her real one; even this skin was from her cheap junior disciple. Doing this job required a disguise.
“Jiuyou Sect,” Li An laughed loudly upon hearing this, his eyes flashing with murderous intent.
“What vile demonic cultivator dares to act in the name of my Jiuyou Sect?”
“If I say I am Jiuyou Sect, then I am Jiuyou Sect.”
“Earth Sovereign… Refining Demon Cauldron, rise!!”
Su Bai was too lazy to argue. She flicked her right index finger, and a huge bronze cauldron suddenly appeared above Li An’s head, crashing down with a roar!!
Seeing the giant cauldron falling toward him, Li An was frozen as if restrained and screamed in terror,
“Sect Leader, save me!!”
At that moment, a ghostly figure suddenly appeared before Li An, lightly raising a hand to effortlessly neutralize the fierce attack.
Su Bai furrowed her brows—not because of the strange technique displayed, but because of the extremely unsettling appearance of this figure: gaunt like a withered corpse, yet radiating a fetal glow, its soul self-generated. It had no trace of Golden Core fluctuations but possessed strength approaching Golden Core level.
A very peculiar Golden Core… probably?
After blocking the attack, the ghostly figure didn’t move to strike back but instead looked toward Su Bai with a kind smile.
“Daoist, since you claim to be a disciple of my Jiuyou Sect, would you be willing to serve as a deputy leader within the sect?”
Deputy leader?
Then he is…
Su Bai’s heart trembled, and the ghostly figure seemed to see through her doubt and explained proactively, “You may call me Bai Zhu.”
Su Bai: …
Jiuyou Sect Bai Zhu, one of the five leaders in the previous life, a Cultivation God-level master.
Damn it! My luck…
As a noble second-round player, she hadn’t even enjoyed the fun yet before hitting a snag… Wait, that cultivation strength—
“May I ask the sect leader’s true strength?” Su Bai tightened her grip on the banner, Earth Sovereign Cauldron and Heaven Sovereign Divine Mirror quickly appearing to guard her flanks.
“The out-of-body shadow spirit is the supreme reward of the Jiuyou Sect,” Bai Zhu said, seeming to treasure Su Bai’s talent, and noticing her confusion, he explained further.
“Three Treasures transcend the mortal realm: nourish the body, refine the shadow spirit, preserve the Yang spirit, and ultimately ascend. This is the path ordained by the supreme Jiuyou.”
The path?
Su Bai’s mind stirred slightly. It seemed that in both the previous and this round, the Jiuyou Sect was always so mystical. Every time they performed the blood sacrifice on the city, they chanted phrases like “For the Great Unity of All Things and the New World,” “Supreme Jiuyou Saves the World,” or “Taiyi Jiuyou Kills to Save the World.”
“Jiuyou has shown me the answer.”
Suddenly, Bai Zhu stopped his rambling. His gaze toward Su Bai shifted from eager to joyful. Then he turned to look at the figure behind—Li An.
“From today onward, you are Bai Zhu.”
“This is the command of Jiuyou.”
After speaking, before Li An could react, Bai Zhu struck a palm out, sending Li An flying, piercing through the blood-light formation, disappearing into the sky.
Then he turned back to Su Bai, spreading his arms with a smile blooming on his aged face.
“Jiuyou has told me—I am destined to die at your hands.”
“Kill me, then, Child of Heaven’s Mandate.”