After hearing the others out, Elder Chang fell silent, his gaze sweeping back and forth over the surroundings.
His eye was sharp and his nature cautious; he rarely made mistakes.
To ensure this ambush would be foolproof, he had deliberately sent twice as many men. Yet it had still failed.
Not one of the eight had survived, and they had all died within less than a quarter of an hour.
That was enough to show that their opponent was far stronger than he had imagined.
What especially troubled Elder Chang was that after killing the men he had sent, the other party had not left at once. Instead, they had remained in place for an entire day, seemingly waiting for him to come after them again.
The opponent's composed manner made Elder Chang all the more unwilling to act rashly.
Before he had figured out the other party's true background, he would not make another reckless move.
Seeing Elder Chang remain silent, the others exchanged glances. "Elder Chang, have you determined how they died?"
"They were killed by Soul Imprint Vines."
"Soul Imprint Vines?"
The group looked at one another. What were those? Why had they never heard of them before?
Elder Chang took in their expressions, his tone calm.
"It is normal that you do not know of them. Soul Imprint Vines require extremely harsh conditions to grow. They sprout from the dry bones of evil creatures and survive by devouring divine souls. They move covertly and swiftly, making them impossible to guard against.
"For them to have been killed so easily by Soul Imprint Vines, the vines in their opponent's hands must have reached the Heavenly Demon Realm, and there must be quite a few of them."
"So that's how it is."
Looking at the corpses before them,