Vermilion Bird! Ghost Ruin Land

After Shangguan Ye left the small cabin, he did not return. Instead, he left the sect and headed to a mountaintop.

"System, hand out the rewards," Shangguan Ye said.

"Master, the rewards have been issued. They will arrive shortly."

Shangguan Ye had just sat down when he looked up, a trace of confusion appearing on his face.

"Why is that star so bright?"

Shangguan Ye took a closer look, then activated his Reincarnation Eye. His expression changed drastically. That was no star—it was clearly a firebird vast enough to blot out the sky. Though startled, Shangguan Ye immediately realized that it was the Vermilion Bird.

Shangguan Ye rose to his feet. The Vermilion Bird had already arrived before him, waves of flame surrounding him. The flames slowly gathered, and a woman of peerless beauty gradually appeared. A red dress wrapped around her perfect figure. She slowly opened her eyes, and when she saw Shangguan Ye before her, a strange brilliance flashed in her gaze. She immediately dropped to one knee.

"Vermilion Bird greets my lord."

"Get up." Shangguan Ye helped her to her feet.

"By the way, don't you have a name?" Shangguan Ye asked curiously.

"No. Please bestow one upon me, my lord." Vermilion Bird shook her head.

"Then how about Feng Yu from now on?"

"Thank you for bestowing me with a name, my lord!" Feng Yu immediately tried to kneel again, but Shangguan Ye quickly stopped her.

"You won't need to kneel in the future."

"Right, what is your cultivation level?"

"Peak Martial Ancestor," Feng Yu replied calmly.

"Peak Martial Ancestor? Even the Feather God Sect's sect master has not reached peak Martial Ancestor, has he?" Shangguan Ye was startled. After giving it some thought, he imprinted a teleportation mark on Feng Yu's hand.

"You can stay in here from now on. If you want to come out, just do so yourself."

"Thank you, my lord." With a thought, Feng Yu entered the Mountain River Space.

"With a peak Martial Ancestor as a fighter, I won't have to worry about any sudden accidents in the future." Shangguan Ye slowly walked toward Xiao Yu's home.

Not long after Shangguan Ye returned, dawn broke. Xiao Yu called everyone together and said slowly, "Let's go to the Training Ground today."

"Sure."

Xiao Yu smiled faintly and led the group toward the Training Ground.

"The Training Ground we're going to this time is the Ghost Ruin Land. It was created by one of the Feather God Sect's ancestors. There are a great number of demon souls within the Ghost Ruin Land. Killing one will earn you a Soul Scale."

"However, the Ghost Ruin Land can only be entered for two days each month. Soul Scales will dissipate once taken outside, and they cannot be stored in spatial storage either. You can only exchange them for items on the spot." Xiao Yu pointed at two stewards.

"Just like the Sacred Spirit Immortal Realm, there's a ranking list here as well. Look." Xiao Yu pointed at a stone stele nearby.

"Let me see." Lu Piao ran over.

"Long Yuyin is in tenth place. She actually killed thirty thousand demon souls in two days. But we'll definitely get even more," Lu Piao said smugly.

"This place is nothing like the Sacred Spirit Immortal Realm. It's far more dangerous. People may obstruct us or even steal our demon souls, and the teleportation array will send us to different locations, so be careful," Xiao Yu reminded them.

"Understood. Let's go," Shangguan Ye and the other two replied.

"The vortex in the lake ahead is the entrance."

The four of them leaped forward and jumped in.

The moment Shangguan Ye landed, he discovered that he was alone. Nie Li and the other two had been teleported elsewhere.

"Roar!"

Several demon souls floating in the air spotted Shangguan Ye and immediately charged at him. The power of law around Shangguan Ye instantly annihilated them, leaving behind several Soul Scales. Shangguan Ye found a large sack and put them inside.

"These demon souls are so weak. Why did those people only collect so few in two days?" Shangguan Ye did not understand, but he respected it.

Shangguan Ye formed hand seals and created over a hundred clones, sending them rushing in every direction to gather Soul Scales. The Soul Scales collected by the clones were directly transferred into Shangguan Ye's sack through Space Law. Every thousand Soul Scales could be condensed into one large Soul Scale.

Before long, Shangguan Ye's sack was full of Soul Scales.

Meanwhile, Nie Li was collecting Soul Scales when a figure suddenly appeared above him and unleashed his aura.

"At least Heavenly Fate Fifth Realm. What is he trying to do?" Nie Li wondered.

Someone nearby recognized the newcomer.

"Isn't that Murong Yu?"

"Murong Yu? The one ranked first?" Nie Li recalled seeing Murong Yu's name outside earlier.

"So it's Senior Brother Murong. I never expected to meet you here after entering. It truly is my honor. All of us have always admired you, but some newcomers don't seem to hold you in much regard. We told him not to speak recklessly, yet he actually attacked us," a student suddenly ran over and said.

Murong Yu's expression darkened at those words.

"Oh?" A powerful pressure rushed toward Nie Li, but Nie Li was now at Heavenly Fate Fifth Realm as well. He was not afraid in the slightest and directly unleashed his own aura to resist it.

"Oh? I have to admit, you have some talent. But I'll be taking these Soul Scales you obtained through cheating," Murong Yu said with a smile.

"Cheating? If you want to rob me, just say so. Stop pretending. So the genius ranked first is this despicable too," Nie Li snapped.

"You're courting death?" Murong Yu drew his sword and swung it. A powerful sword qi shot toward Nie Li. Nie Li gathered power in his mouth and spat out a Light-Dark Yuan Qi Blast. The two attacks collided and exploded, but Murong Yu's sword qi did not disperse. It continued hurtling toward Nie Li.

Nie Li twisted aside and dodged, but the large sack of Soul Scales beside him was snatched away by Murong Yu from afar.

"Junior Brother, do you understand how to respect your senior now?" Murong Yu picked up the Soul Scales and was about to leave when a giant black skeletal hand suddenly descended from the sky. It was so fast that Murong Yu had no time to evade. He could only use Heavenly Dao Power to form a spiritual energy shield. Yet the instant the giant hand touched the shield, it exploded with a bang. The overwhelming force instantly crushed Murong Yu until he spat blood. Shangguan Ye slowly descended from the sky, while the black giant hand was Susanoo.

"You seem to be having a lot of fun?" Shangguan Ye controlled the giant hand to seize Murong Yu and drag him before him as he asked coldly.

"Y-you're Shangguan Ye..." Murong Yu said weakly.

"Very smart. But you'd better not use that cleverness on us." The giant hand tightened, and Murong Yu exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

Shangguan Ye looked at the fellow who had stirred things up just now. The man's scalp went numb, and just as he was about to flee, Shangguan Ye appeared before him and seized him by the throat, saying coldly,

"I don't care whether you work for Hua Ling or Hu Yong. Go back and tell your master that I'll pay him a visit when I have time." Shangguan Ye flung him away with force.

Shangguan Ye controlled the large sack of Soul Scales and sent it flying back to Nie Li.

"Thanks, Shangguan."

"I was only passing by. Even if I hadn't been here, with your strength, you probably would have robbed back his share too," Shangguan Ye said with a smile.

Many people witnessed Shangguan Ye kill Murong Yu in a single move, and word quickly spread. Murong Yu, who had just revived in the Soul Hall, wore an ashen expression.

"Shangguan Ye... I'm not finished with you."