All for Show

The Foundation Establishment Realm sword cultivator from the Immortal Sect was extremely powerful.

The Ghost General's pitch-black spear, formed from Yin energy, was split apart by a single stroke of his sword, and the bronze carriage was sent skidding back several dozen feet.

Taking advantage of this opening, the sword cultivator controlled his flying sword and slashed toward the countless Shade Souls.

Sword light crisscrossed the sky, rampaging wildly.

It was as though an invisible, formless, profound fluctuation had stirred wave after wave of visible ripples among the countless Shade Souls.

The fierce, ruthless flying sword hacked the countless Shade Souls apart, scattering their souls into oblivion.

The Ghost General was utterly enraged and threw back his head with a savage howl.

Boundless black mist rose around him, transforming into dozens of black spears that shot toward the distant sword cultivator.

With a wave of the sword cultivator's hand, the flying sword came hurtling over and swept all dozens of pitch-black spears away.

Although the Ghost General was formidable, he was truly no match for the sword cultivator.

Of the Immortal Sect's several flying boats, no one besides this Foundation Establishment Realm sword cultivator had come out to fight.

Although the Ghost General was being thoroughly suppressed by the sword cultivator, he had also tied the sword cultivator down completely.

At that moment, a massive Bone Vulture burst out of the pitch-black night.

The Bone Vulture's wings stretched more than a hundred feet across, and each flap of its wings produced a harsh, clicking sound.

A Black Robe Cultivator rode the Bone Vulture straight toward a distant flying boat.

The Bone Vulture looked clumsy, but its speed was astonishingly fast. It roared past the flying boat.

Its bone wing swept violently, and the savage bone spines on its tip tore through the flying boat's Spiritual Energy Shield.

The Black Robe Cultivator suddenly swung his arm, and countless bone spines came crashing down like a violent storm, blotting out the sky as they rained upon the distant flying boat.

Without the protection of its Spirit Qi Barrier, the countless bone spines came crashing down. The several-dozen-zhang flying boat was battered full of holes and plunged headfirst from the sky.

Two figures leaped out of a nearby flying boat and surrounded the White Bone Path demon cultivator.

At that moment, four more Foundation Establishment Realm demon cultivators joined the battle from other directions, clashing with the Immortal Sect's Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.

Several Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators fought until heaven and earth blurred.

Although the sword cultivator was powerful and the Immortal Sect cultivators were exceptionally tenacious, the disparity in strength was ultimately too great, and the several flying boats were shot down one after another.

Apart from the sword cultivator, who escaped at the final moment, the Immortal Sect's two Foundation Establishment cultivators and the cultivators aboard the several flying boats were all slaughtered by the demon cultivators.

Su Fan stood atop the Bone Boat and witnessed the entire battle.

The demon sect had sent six Foundation Establishment cultivators to Shaoyang Market Town alone. It seemed the True Demonic Sect had truly emptied its nest.

Moreover, aside from the sword cultivator, the other Immortal Sect cultivators' combat power was worrying.

Faced with the demon sect cultivators' ferocity and their endless bizarre methods, the Immortal Sect cultivators were passive at every turn.

Boom!!

Just as Su Fan was lost in thought, the Bone Boat had already landed near Shaoyang Market Town.

The True Demonic Sect had not only seized Shaoyang Market Town; even the Lesser Yang Sect's mountain gate had fallen.

The Lesser Yang Sect Foundation Establishment cultivator stationed in the market town had died in battle, while most of the remaining disciples within the sect had either been killed or captured.

As soon as he entered Shaoyang Market Town, Su Fan was stunned by the scene before him.

Corpses lay everywhere inside and outside the market town, and ruins were scattered in every direction, as though the apocalypse had descended.

Su Fan knew perfectly well that the vast majority of those who had died had fallen to the Rogue Cultivators' mutual slaughter.

No matter where it was, once order was lost, chaos would take over.

The Shaoyang Market Town of today was no longer what it had been. In the eyes of the Rogue Cultivators, this place was a mountain of gold and a sea of silver.

After the demon sect broke through the market town, many Rogue Cultivators had followed along to loot it while it burned.

Watching the once-prosperous Shaoyang Market become a field of Ruins, Su Fan could not help sighing wistfully.

He had been here ever since transmigrating and had stayed for more than a year. He still felt some attachment to Shaoyang Market Town.

The Rogue Cultivators who had survived in the market town had now all shut themselves indoors, quietly licking their wounds at home.

Although the demon sect was savage, its treatment of the Rogue Cultivators near the market town was much the same as the Immortal Sect's.

For the first few days, the demon sect had conscripted large numbers of Rogue Cultivators from the market town to clean up the area inside and outside it, then promptly stopped paying them any attention.

Not only that, it would recruit Rogue Cultivators in the future to participate in the war against the Immortal Sect.

Of course, because the evil cultivators had all been implanted with Heart-Shattering Gu, the True Demonic Sect currently trusted them more.

The True Demonic Sect was actively preparing for war, so it handed the task of patrolling public order in the shantytowns around the market town to the evil cultivators.

Su Fan and several evil cultivators were assigned to a shantytown near the market town, where they were responsible for maintaining order.

The corpses scattered everywhere, along with the living souls drifting through the area, had all been scavenged clean by the Zombie Path and Ghost Path cultivators of the demon sect.

The more than one hundred recruited evil cultivators also gained quite a few benefits.

Su Fan picked out several Rogue Cultivator corpses and used the Evil Ghost Banner to collect more than a dozen Shade Souls.

There was nothing he could do. He was an evil cultivator now, so he had to at least put on a show.

Over the next two days, Su Fan was assigned the night shift and patrolled the market town every night.

While patrolling, he took the opportunity to send Sister Zhen out to check on his own courtyard.

Damn it, the house had already been burned to the ground.

Perhaps some bastard had gone to his home, found not a single hair left, and burned the house down in a fit of rage.

Although he had lived in the little courtyard for only a few months, he had been quite comfortable there. He had never expected it to disappear just like that.

Old Xu's home, on the other hand, had remained intact, but it was empty of people. He was probably dead or worse.

These evil cultivators were not easy to get along with, either. They often went door to door looting the Rogue Cultivators.

Su Fan naturally would not act so differently from everyone else. In just a few days, he had been allocated quite a lot of cultivation resources, as well as several hundred spirit stones.

Over the past few days, cultivators from the True Demonic Sect had kept arriving at Shaoyang Market aboard Bone Boats.

It was said that a Golden Core Cultivator had also arrived and was now stationed at the Lesser Yang Sect's mountain gate.

The demon sect's enormous Bone Boats also kept flying over the market town, and everywhere was filled with the atmosphere of a great war on the verge of erupting.

With the Chu Kingdom fallen, even the Immortal Sects of the Central Plains probably could not sit still.

The Immortal Sects of Ganzhou and Lanzhou certainly would not allow the demon sect to occupy the Chu Kingdom.

The Immortal Sects would surely organize forces to retake the Chu Kingdom soon and reopen the connection with the Qin State.

The Chu Kingdom would certainly become the main battlefield of the future conflict between immortals and demons. Su Fan had no desire to serve as cannon fodder for the demon sect—when the time came, he might die without even knowing how.

Thus, over the past few days, he had begun pondering how to escape Shaoyang Market Town.

The first issue was the Heart-Shattering Gu. He did not know whether the purple lightning within his body, born from the Lightning Dao Seed, could eliminate this hidden danger.

Over the past few days, he had been looking for an opportunity to try it outside the market town.

If not for the Heart-Shattering Gu inside him, Su Fan would have fled long ago.

The second issue was how to leave. Without a flying artifact, could he really be expected to walk away on his own two legs?

Then there was the route. His first choice was naturally the direction of Ganzhou.

But judging from the current situation, he would have to wait until the Immortal Sect retook the Chu Kingdom before he had a chance to take a flying boat to Ganzhou.

Therefore, Su Fan decided to find a suitable opportunity to escape into Shaoyang Mountain first.

He would find a safe place deep in the mountains and stay there for several months. Once the Immortal Sect retook the Chu Kingdom, he would emerge.

Over the next few days, Su Fan used his identity as an evil cultivator to make inquiries all over the market town.

After observing and investigating, he formulated several escape plans, ready for any unforeseen need.

At that moment, a massive Bone Boat had just entered the territory of the Chu Kingdom.

Gu Qinghuan sat cross-legged inside the cabin with her eyes tightly shut, dense Black Qi constantly swirling around her.

An elderly cultivator with a gaunt, withered face pushed open the cabin door and walked in.

Gu Qinghuan opened her eyes. When she saw the old man, she hurriedly stood and saluted.

"Master..."

The old man smiled and waved a hand at her.

"We've just entered the Chu Kingdom. In another two hours, we'll reach Shaoyang Market."

Hearing her Master's words, Gu Qinghuan breathed a sigh of relief, but a trace of unease appeared on her face.

"Master, I..."

The old man chuckled and said, "The Sect Master was right. You've had things go too smoothly. If you want your Dao Heart to reach perfection, stumbling once in a while isn't a bad thing..."

Gu Qinghuan said nothing. She forced a smile and turned her head to look out the window.

"Little thief, your granny's here..."