Life-Slaying Disturbance, a Distant Gaze

This was a vast, boundless world, ethereal and endless.

At this moment, atop a mist-shrouded mountain somewhere in this world, five figures were chatting as they gathered together.

Several plates of fruit sat between them, and each person had a cup of fine wine before them.

The cups and plates were crystalline and translucent, with fine golden threads drifting through them like living creatures. They were far more exquisite than the most precious jewels in the mortal world, yet here they were merely vessels for wine and fruit.

Golden seal-script characters flickered in and out of sight within the jade-white fruits. From time to time, bubbles rose upon the wine's surface; within each bubble, worlds were born and destroyed.

The fruit was the Golden Jade Heart-Questioning Fruit, and the wine was Heart-Dream Traceless Wine.

At a certain moment, one of them—a refined middle-aged man in white robes with black hair cascading over his shoulders—suddenly let out a soft "Eh?"

The burly man beside him, clad in Black Armor and sporting three short horns atop his head, immediately stopped speaking and turned to ask, "Brother Lord Cang, what is it?"

"It's nothing. Just now, my Life-Slaying stirred slightly. I don't know why." The man in white gently stroked the black saber at his waist and shook his head.

"The Life-Slaying Saber." The Black Armor man glanced at the saber, revealing a trace of envy. "I truly envy you, Brother Lord Cang. With the Life-Slaying Saber aiding you, you can now battle across an entire major realm without being defeated."

"Haha, luck, just luck." Hearing this, the man in white waved his hand. "I merely happened to acquire a secret art. I only tried it casually, never expecting it to actually succeed."

Though his words were modest, the irrepressible smile on his face gave him away. He was very pleased with himself.

After all, the higher one's realm, the harder it became to fight above one's level.

The reason he could fight across a whole major realm was largely due to this Life-Slaying Saber. How could that not make him proud?

More importantly, only he could wield this saber. Even if someone else obtained it, they would be unable to control it. That also spared him much covetous attention, allowing him to display it openly without concern.

"To use the killing intent of a world's living beings as nourishment to nurture a weapon—I fear only Lord Cang in the entire Guanghan Domain could accomplish such a thing."

At that moment, a long-haired woman beside him, wearing a short aqua-green skirt, with vertical pupils and a green snake tail for her lower body, immediately replied, "Lord Cang, stop being so modest. When you explore secret realms in the future, don't forget about your little sister."

"Haha, don't say that. Sister Qingxian's innate talent, Petrification Gaze, is equally peerless. If we enter a secret realm together, it remains to be seen who will be helping whom."

The man in white immediately replied, "And Brother Jiao's Mountain Body—my Life-Slaying Saber can barely break through its defenses. Let's stop being modest here and discuss how to divide the spoils from this expedition into the Water Moon Secret Realm."

"Fine. There are five of us. I only want twenty percent."

"I..."

The arguments continued without end, lasting three days and three nights.

It could only be said that no matter how high one cultivated, human desires could never be completely severed.

Killing intent surged and roiled within his eyes, slowly circulating.

Gu Yang kept imagining the mastermind responsible for Cangzhou's state where ancestors could not be worshipped, relatives could not be remembered, the year-end season was under martial law, and clansmen turned their blades upon one another.

In a straightforward battle, general against general, king against king, he did not harbor such intense killing intent toward that kind of opponent.

But the other party had continually targeted the ordinary people of the Human Race. Nothing was more hateful than that.

After fighting the Specters, he understood that among martial artists, these Specters were not particularly powerful.

Yet because of their peculiar mode of existence, they were a calamity to ordinary people.

He himself was unafraid, but he had parents and family as well. He could not guarantee that there would not be commoners near where they lived who refused to believe in evil and still dared to offer sacrifices.

Therefore, the best method was to directly find the person creating the problem and resolve this conflict at its root!

As the killing intent in his heart continued to accumulate, his gaze seemed, in a daze, to pierce through mountains, wilderness, great rivers, and plains, finally arriving at a cave deep within a mountain range.

There, a figure in a black robe, whose features could not be seen, knelt on the ground and prayed before a pitch-black statue.

The surrounding void was filled with black threads that moved and wriggled endlessly like living things.

One end of the black threads connected to the dark statue, while the other extended deep into the void, into countless clusters of light of varying sizes packed tightly together.

The light clusters flickered in and out of existence. Sometimes they vanished, only to reappear with many more light clusters around them. At other times, when they vanished, they disappeared completely, and the black threads snapped.

Although he could not see the other party's appearance clearly, Gu Yang understood in his heart that this person was the mastermind he had been thinking of—the one manipulating the Specters.

Fortunately, the other party was still within the range of his perception.

After a long while, Gu Yang abruptly opened his eyes and muttered, "Found you!"

"What did you find?" Master Liao stood beside him. Hearing his murmur, he immediately asked in confusion.

"Master Liao, I know where the person behind the Specters is!" Turning his head, Gu Yang spoke word by word.

He knew very clearly that by himself, he could not possibly be the enemy's match. He might not even be able to find where the other party was.

If he wanted to kill the other party as soon as possible, he could only seek help from the Martial Academy, or even Canglong Island behind it.

Faced with a matter of such great importance, Gu Yang hesitated for a long time before deciding to tell Master Liao.

This was not only for those innocent commoners. More importantly, the talent he had gained by cultivating the Life-Slaying Saber was not something that absolutely had to be concealed.

After all, it was not some treasure, but a talent.

Moreover, with foreign enemies before them, the Human Race in this world was exceptionally united. Throughout Canglong Island's history, there had almost never been cases of elders bullying juniors to seize their opportunities.

Since that was the case, it could help those commoners, reveal his talent and earn him recognition, and gain him rewards from Canglong Island as well. A threefold victory—why not do it?

As long as he did not expose his most core secret, the Dao Seed of Creation, it would be fine.

"You... what did you say?" Master Liao's eyes widened as he asked in disbelief.

"Master Liao, I said I know where the person behind the Specters is!" Gu Yang looked at him sincerely and repeated himself solemnly.

"Can you be sure? You know this is not something to joke about casually!" Master Liao still found it hard to believe and repeatedly sought confirmation.

"I..." Lowering his head and closing his eyes, Gu Yang glanced at the words before him—Heart of Slaughter Profound Meaning—Heart of Slaughter Imprint—then gazed from afar once more toward that pitch-black cave whose location he did not know. He said firmly, "I'm sure. I know where he is!"

"Where?" Master Liao stepped forward and pressed him.

"I can't describe the location, but I can find him. He's to the south, somewhere I don't know how far away." Gu Yang closed his eyes to sense it before replying.

After hesitating for a moment, Master Liao suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "Though I cannot confirm whether what you said is true, I believe you would not joke about something like this. Come, return with me now to see the Academy Dean!"

As he spoke, Master Liao grabbed Gu Yang and raced toward Wan City.

The disciples watched Master Liao suddenly leave with Gu Yang, their expressions bewildered. For a moment, they had no idea what to do.

Fortunately, although Master Liao was excited, he had not forgotten them. As he ran, his voice carried back from afar.

"Gu Yang and I have urgent business and must leave first. Follow behind us and bring these commoners back to Wan City. I'll arrange for people to meet you!"

"..."