"The Hidden Sword Villa once joined forces with my Shen Family to attack the Blood Garment Sect. Three months ago, someone suddenly discovered that the entire Hidden Sword Villa had been slaughtered, its corpses strewn everywhere. Only its young master, Liu Jing, had escaped disaster because he was away visiting a friend."
"The Green Mountain Sect was also a main force in the campaign against the Blood Garment Sect back then. Two months ago, its sect master suddenly fell gravely ill and died.
That same day, someone saw the Blood Garment Sect's remnants lead a group of people into the Green Mountain Sect. Afterward, not one of the sect's 102 members survived,"
The sudden turn of events left everyone in Tianyou City on edge.
The remnants of that demonic cult no longer fled like dogs driven from their homes. Instead, they brazenly regrouped.
They even dared to slaughter the orthodox sects at will.
When Shen Zhou learned of this, as the martial arts alliance leader whom everyone had chosen, he naturally couldn't sit by and do nothing!
He took in the young master of the Hidden Sword Villa and the others who had suffered the sect's annihilation.
Then he issued a warrant for the cult's arrest and once again summoned the heroes of the martial world to join forces against the demonic cult.
He swore to wipe out the Blood Garment Sect completely and restore peace and justice to Tianyou City's martial world.
Thanks to Shen Zhou's prestige, as soon as word spread, people answered the call from every direction.
Before long, large numbers of valiant martial artists had gathered.
"After searching high and low, my Shen Family finally found the Blood Garment Sect's hideout."
Shen Zhiyun spoke in a grave tone. "In just a few short months, the Blood Garment Sect, which had already been wiped out, gathered several thousand followers once again. Its strength was nearly on par with its heyday."
"And the one who led the Blood Garment Sect back from the dead was none other than Gu Ming, an ordinary disciple who had luckily escaped the sect's destruction all those years ago."
Even now, he still found the news hard to believe.
"An ordinary Blood Garment Sect disciple had enough influence to revive a destroyed sect in just five years?"
Shen Mo looked astonished.
This was practically the script of a web-novel protagonist.
"That's right. Gu Ming was once nothing more than an unremarkable, ordinary disciple of the Blood Garment Sect. Back then, my Shen Family only executed the chief culprits. We didn't even consider him worth killing."
Shen Zhiyun gave a bitter smile. "Who would've thought we'd be sowing the seeds of disaster?"
"After returning, he called himself King Ming. Somehow, he found a group of experts, each one peerless in cultivation."
"My Shen Family gathered many martial arts experts from Tianyou City. We thought we could easily wipe out the Blood Garment Sect, that demonic cult risen from the ashes."
"Instead, we suffered a crushing defeat."
"A crushing defeat?" Shen Mo furrowed his brow.
"That's right. A crushing defeat." Shen Zhiyun gave a bitter laugh. "We never even saw King Ming's face before the Blood Garment Sect's four hall masters led their followers and drove us back."
"From what Father said, each of the four hall masters under King Ming is a supreme expert. If even the hall masters are that formidable, then King Ming has most likely already entered the realm of the Innate Grandmaster."
Innate Grandmaster?
Shen Mo didn't understand the martial artists' realms he was talking about, but he didn't interrupt him, letting him continue.
"After driving us back, the Blood Garment Sect's leader sent out word that fifteen days from now, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he would lead his followers to slaughter my entire Shen Family and avenge the grudge from all those years ago!"
After that battle, the people of Tianyou City were horrified to discover that the Blood Garment Sect's strength and influence were even greater than they'd been at its peak.
So, along with their shock, the orthodox martial artists of Tianyou City were gripped by fear.
The Shen Family, too, had fallen into disarray.
"If you can't beat them, why not run?" Shen Mo asked curiously.
They'd even been given fifteen days. That was plenty of time to flee.
"Run?" Shen Zhiyun hadn't expected Shen Mo to ask that. He was at a loss for words, and only after a long while did he answer. "My Shen Family has spent over a hundred years building its foundation and achievements in Tianyou City. How can we abandon everything now?"
"Besides, Father is the martial arts alliance leader of Tianyou City. If he runs away out of fear for his life and hides from the world, everyone under heaven will laugh at him."
"The way King Ming of the Blood Garment Sect is acting, he clearly wants my Shen Family to flee with our tails between our legs. If we really run, we'll fall right into their trap."
A chivalrous man like Shen Zhou, who prided himself on being a pillar of the orthodox path, would rather die than flee and lose face.
"What useless pride."
Shen Mo could never understand people who valued their reputation more than their lives. To him, life was more precious than anything else. Only by staying alive could one make a comeback!
"Though Father has decided not to leave, he still knows the demonic cult is too powerful. My Shen Family may not escape this calamity."
"So he summoned us younger members and told us to leave the family and seek our own futures. If the Shen Family really is wiped out..."
"At least we won't be completely wiped out. Our bloodline will still live on in the world."
At this point, Shen Zhiyun's eyes reddened. He murmured, "I wanted to stay behind. I didn't want to leave, but Father was adamant..."
"On the way out, I remembered that you once sent me a letter. I heard you were cultivating in some Immortal Sect, so I thought of coming to find you, my cousin."
After hearing him out, Shen Mo had a rough understanding of what had happened.
"That's right." Shen Zhiyun nodded. "I thought that if my cousin really had made something of himself in an immortal sect, he might be willing to return to the family. Perhaps he could save my Shen Family from this deadly calamity."
But he didn't know that Shen Yuanchang had died many years ago.
The only person he could ask for help now was this immortal-master cousin of his.
"I beg you, Immortal Master, for the sake of our shared bloodline, please help the Shen Family!"
Shen Zhiyun clenched his teeth and started to kneel, but Shen Mo stopped him and lifted him back up.
"Since I still have ties to the Shen Family, helping you out is no trouble."
He looked at Shen Zhiyun and spoke calmly.
The original owner's lingering will clearly wanted to help.
If Shen Mo stood by and did nothing, going against his own heart might cloud his Dao heart and affect his future cultivation.
There was just one more thing he needed to ask.
"That Innate Grandmaster you mentioned—just how powerful is he?"
Though Shen Mo knew that mortal martial artists were as weak as ants before cultivators in this world of immortals and heroes, he was still hovering at the bottom of the cultivation world. Out of caution, he asked in detail about the strength of these mortal martial artists.
A cautious sailor never sailed a long voyage on a calm sea.
"An Innate Grandmaster is the peak of martial arts. They say that martial artists at this level can wield two thousand jin of force, and the true qi within them is vast enough that even a plucked leaf or tossed flower can injure someone."
Two thousand jin of force?
That meant their strength was roughly equal to that of an ordinary cultivator at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm.
Hearing this, Shen Mo no longer had any reservations.
His strength far exceeded that level.
And with all his immortal techniques and other trump cards, killing the so-called Innate Grandmasters of the mortal world would be as easy as reaching into a bag to grab something.
"Someone with that level of strength would be easy for me to capture. But for him to rise so quickly in just five years, there must be something unusual going on.
"Either he had an Encounter, or there was an expert behind him guiding and helping him."
"I still need to be cautious."
After turning it over in his mind, Shen Mo finally decided, "Let's go take a look first!"
Before you continue