piu~~ Huh?

Xu Zheng recalled how he met 'the Master' two years ago.

Two years ago... he led a group of elite disciples from the Void Sword Sect to explore an ancient ruin, where they were chased by strange ferocious beasts.

The ferocious beast was extremely powerful. In the blink of an eye, more than half of the disciples of the Void Sword Sect were killed or injured, and even Xu Zheng was seriously injured and almost died.

Just then, the powerful "Master" appeared. He intervened, repelling the ferocious beast and saving Xu Zheng and the remaining disciples' lives.

Through this life-saving grace, Xu Zheng met the all-powerful 'Master'.

Over the next two years, both he personally and the 'Void Sword Sect' received much help from the Master.

A deep friendship quickly developed between the two.

And now, this all-powerful 'sir' wants to kill him? Even destroy the Void Sword Sect?

"Because you have no value anymore." A servant glanced at Xu Zheng and spoke in a mechanical voice, "Everything in this world has its own value. Now, for me, Xu Zheng, your greatest value has been realized and has ended... Now, you still have one last bit of value for me... In the future, you and everyone in the Void Sword Sect can be transformed into my 'Blood Sea Stone' and become part of my resources."

Although it was the servant speaking, his tone was exactly that of the mysterious 'sir'.

Xu Zheng roared, "You've been deceiving me all along?"

"Yes, I'm truly glad you understand," the servant continued. "To reveal the truth to you in the final moments of your life, and then to savor your despair... for a 'liar,' there is nothing more pleasurable than this."

In just two years, he had completely deceived and manipulated the leader of a cultivation sect, demonstrating a significant improvement in his deception skills! This was something that pleased him even more than any advancement in his cultivation level.

"You're not the first person I've deceived... and you won't be the last, so don't be sad," the servant continued.

"Heh heh, why waste your breath on a dying man?" The Sea Urchin Warrior Chief let out a strange laugh, reached out and grabbed a sharp spike from his body, then plunged it fiercely into Xu Zheng's body.

This spike was unusual; as it pierced Xu Zheng's body, it began to draw out his 'True Blood' — True Blood is neither ordinary blood nor a cultivator's Natal Essence Blood. Even 'Master' didn't know the Sea Urchin Warrior's specific definition of 'True Blood,' but it must be a part of the blood, right?

Xu Zheng, enduring the pain, gritted his teeth and said, "Don't be too smug. This is Void Sword Sect territory. If you're ruthless, don't blame me for being unjust!"

Even though the Void Sword Sect is a very weak sect, it still has its own Guardian Sect Formation.

Even though he was physically weak, as the sect leader, he still had a way to activate the 'Guardian Sect Formation'. And now, these 'Sea Urchin Warrior' and the servants of these two 'gentlemen' were all in the Void Sword Sect.

"Die, all of you!" Xu Zheng activated the Guardian Sect Formation without hesitation.

Within the Void Sword Sect, streams of spiritual energy extended outwards, spreading throughout the entire Void Sword Sect and intertwining together.

This spiritual energy is formed from the Spirit Stone in the Void Sword Sect's treasure vault. Normally, the Spirit Stone are stored in the vault, and when needed, the spiritual energy inside them is released through an array, and then guided out of the vault through pre-prepared channels.

The spiritual energy, like water, transformed into terrifying sword energy through the 'Guardian Sect Formation,' annihilating all outsiders within the Killing Formation who were not disciples of the 'Void Sword Sect.'

"Hehe." The leader of the Sea Urchin Warrior smiled, letting Xu Zheng activate the sect's protective formation.

Outside, the protective formation for the sect was activated.

Thousands of sword energies formed in the void, some thick, some thin, some long, some short, hovering above the Void Sword Sect. They were there to annihilate any intruders who were not disciples of the Void Sword Sect. The sight was as magnificent as "Myriad Swords Returning to the Sect"!

Even though it's a small sect, the Void Sword Sect still has some tricks up its sleeve.

However, after these sword energies took shape, they hesitated to attack the 'Sea Urchin Warrior' who were slaughtering the disciples of the Void Sword Sect.

Sect Leader Xu Zheng was able to sense the situation inside the 'Guardian Sect Formation' through a special method.

He was stunned—why? Why wasn't the Guardian Sect Formation attacking the enemy?

"Confused? No need to be so surprised." The servant spoke again, his voice stiff. "Over the past two years, I've secretly studied your Void Sword Sect Guardian Sect Formation. After joining the Void Sword Sect, each disciple is secretly branded with a mark. This mark is used to distinguish 'enemy' from 'ally' when the Guardian Sect Formation is activated—a truly ancient method... Now that we know the principle, breaking your sect's formation becomes very easy. Because breaking an ' Enemy-Friend Mark isn't difficult."

"Now, all the Sea Urchin Warrior who have entered the Guardian Sect Formation are branded with the mark of the 'Void Sword Sect.' To your Guardian Sect Formation, they are 'one of us,' not 'enemies.' It's that simple."

Xu Zheng's eyes widened, his finger pointing at the servant, trembling uncontrollably.

"Are you done explaining? If you are, then let's end it here!" The leader of the Sea Urchin Warrior suddenly pulled out his spikes.

With all his True Blood drained, Xu Zheng became even weaker, unable to move even a finger.

"Yes, leave the rest to us." The servant said mechanically, stepping forward and stabbing Xu Zheng in the chest.

His hands, like straws, drained Xu Zheng's blood in just a few breaths, turning him into a dried-up corpse.

The leader of the Void Sword Sect was annihilated, both body and soul...

"Let's go. Before the Chu Household and those powerful cultivators notice, let's activate the Sacrificial Method and condense the 'Blood Sea Stone'," the two servants said to the Sea Urchin Warrior.

What a pity... If that 'Blood Demon' hadn't met with an accident, he could have guided the Blood Demon to the Void Sword Sect's location. At that time, not only the disciples of the Void Sword Sect, but even these Sea Urchin Warriors would have been crushed by the Blood Demon.

Although the Blood Demon devours most of the Sea Urchin Warrior's corpses, 'Sir' has a way to snatch food from the Blood Demon's mouth and secretly take away most of the Sea Urchin Warrior's bodies.

In this way, he can refine even more 'Blood Sea Stone'.

He just hadn't expected that the Blood Demon, who was supposedly at the 'Sixth-Grade' level, would be so useless, getting blown up in no time.

Fine, let these Sea Urchin Warrior live a little longer. Next time I have the chance, I'll definitely refine them into 'Blood Sea Stone' too.

***************************

In that underground Magma Cavern, a hundred miles away from the Chu Household.

The 'Master' opened his eyes, temporarily ending his control over the two puppets in the Void Sword Sect. Next, after the Sea Urchin Warrior slaughtered everyone in the Void Sword Sect, he would control the puppets again to activate the Sacrificial Method, turning the disciples of the Void Sword Sect into 'Blood Sea Stone'.

"Now, the most important moment has arrived!" The man took the scroll of the <Sword Formula> from the Black Dragon Puppet. Then, a servant came from the Magma Cavern and handed over three other scrolls.

With the help of the puppet servants, four huge scrolls depicting 'Li Tiansu' were unfurled.

The man, his face flushed with excitement, took out the two vials of blood from the 'traitor of the Chu Household's from his pocket.

"Open the key to the Secret Realm that holds the secret of 'Longevity' for me!" the man murmured, smearing the blood of the 'traitor of the Chu Household's onto the four scrolls.

The next moment... the scroll radiated light!

"Oh, oh, oh, this feeling... So the blood of the direct descendants of the Chu Household is indeed the key to unlocking the secrets of the scroll?" the gentleman exclaimed excitedly—he had already seen it; the gate to Longevity was opening for him.

What's Fifth-Grade Spirit Emperor? Sixth-Grade, Seventh-Grade, even Eighth-Grade are nothing. His ambition is vast; he's aiming for Longevity!

******************************

On the other side.

Song Shuhang and Venerable White flew and flew... and finally found the Void Sword Sect. They had made a real mistake by not asking about the location of the Void Sword Sect before setting off.

When they arrived above the Void Sword Sect, they unexpectedly saw three familiar figures standing on a giant cloud artifact, floating above the Void Sword Sect.

The three figures were none other than Venerable Spirit Butterfly, Soft Feather, and Liu Jianyi.

"Huh? It's Venerable Spirit Butterfly and Soft Feather." Song Shuhang exclaimed—what are Venerable Spirit Butterfly and the others doing here?

"Senior Song!" Soft Feather called out cheerfully when she saw Song Shuhang and waved to him.

Sure enough, the bald version of Senior Song was more interesting. Looking at Song Shuhang's familiar, kind face, Soft Feather felt a sense of warmth.

Venerable White led Song Shuhang as they landed on the colorful cloud.

On the clouds, Venerable Spirit Butterfly turned around and looked at Venerable White: "Fellow Daoist White?"

Venerable White smiled slightly at Venerable Spirit Butterfly: "Fellow Daoist Spirit Butterfly, hello."

One was exceptionally handsome, so handsome he had no friends; the other was like a celestial being banished from the mortal world, seemingly otherworldly.

To be honest, the two had always corresponded by letter, and this was the first time they had actually met in person.

"Fellow Daoist Bai, are you also interested in the 'Sea Urchin Warrior'?" Venerable Spirit Butterfly asked.

Venerable White shook his head. "I was just passing by with my young friend Shuhang, and happened to check out the location of the Void Sword Sect. Then... huh?"

"What's wrong, Fellow Daoist Bai?" Venerable Spirit Butterfly asked in confusion.

"Hmm, I seem to have accidentally messed up one of the runes in the modified version," the Venerable White said, stroking his chin.

Song Shuhang: "?"

Soft Feather: "?"

Liu Jianyi: "?"

Venerable Spirit Butterfly: "?"

While everyone was wondering what was going on, suddenly, Venerable White's body flew away with a 'piu~~'.

It flew incredibly fast, turning into a tiny black dot in the blink of an eye.

"Spirit Butterfly, I'll be right back... Young friend Shuhang, could you please look after him for a while?"

Ahhhhh~~ The last syllable of the Venerable White echoed in the sky.

The Venerable White has flown away.

This is the first update. There will be three updates today. Congratulations to Whirlwind for becoming the eleventh Alliance Master on Qidian.