The Storm Approaches

Jiang Miao put away the Immortal-Catching Net she had taken from Fang Huai and paced back and forth.

"This is quite troublesome. Even though you didn't join willingly, you're still a member of the Ascension Society now."

After muttering to herself for a moment, a gleam of light suddenly flashed in her eyes. "What if I used the Oath Sha again and made you swear something like this? Forever loyal to me, forever obedient to my words!"

Fang Huai was greatly alarmed. Wasn't the whole point of cultivating immortality to roam freely across the heavens and earth? If he were truly bound to Jiang Miao forever, it would be better to die outright. He could tolerate temporary humiliation, but he could not endure being beneath someone else for his entire life!

With this thought, murderous intent had already arisen in his heart.

Jiang Miao, however, seemed to find it amusing. "I can smell your killing intent. What, you want to kill me, a Qi Refining Layer 8 cultivator, with your Qi Refining Layer 4 cultivation?"

"I wouldn't dare."

Jiang Miao appeared carefree, but her powers of observation were sharp.

She stepped forward, her body closing in on Fang Huai, a mixed scent of blood and faint fragrance drifting into his nostrils. "Using the Oath Sha costs lifespan. The deeper the karmic bond, the more binding the oath, and the more life it consumes. I heard from Jiang Jing that when she uses it, it only costs her a few months of life. But just now, when I used it on you, it cost me three years. If I were to actually make you swear eternal loyalty to me, I'm afraid it would directly drain thirty years of my life."

Fang Huai's heart trembled. If Jiang Miao wasn't lying to him, then what about Feng Wuwang? To control the thirty-plus members of Gengzi Hall, he must have used the Oath Sha at least thirty times, and with that level of binding power, the lifespan cost wouldn't have been short. Why was he willing to pay such a price for the Ascension Society? At this rate, even if his cultivation advanced, how many years would he have left to live?

Still, he couldn't fully trust Jiang Miao's words. After all, this madwoman had deceived him before in the Human Puppet Hall.

Seeing Fang Huai silent, Jiang Miao leaned close to his ear and said with a light laugh, "What do you think? Could our deep karmic bond mean that one day, you'll become my cauldron?"

"Fairy, please don't joke!" Fang Huai stepped back several paces, his killing intent reignited.

She had discovered his involvement with the Ascension Society and was provoking him like this—it was already beyond his tolerance. Though their cultivation levels were far apart, he still had plenty of system points, and with a surprise attack from the Little Corpse Meteor Insect, he might stand a chance. The only reason he had endured Jiang Miao this long was his fear that the sect's leader's lineage might trace the cause back to him through karma after her death.

Jiang Miao's expression suddenly turned cold. Several Wind Blades grazed past Fang Huai's body, cutting deep, bone-deep wounds. "Joining the Ascension Society is an unforgivable crime. These Wind Blades should have severed your neck, but since you still have some use, I'll spare your life for now."

Fang Huai endured the pain and spoke, "Fairy, whatever you command, just say it."

"In a few days, I'll arrange for you to go to Green Parasol City. There's a freshly matured Vegetation Sha there. No matter the cost, you must bring it back for me!"

Covered in blood, his Dao robe slashed to tatters.

When Fang Huai returned to his dwelling, Li Sirou was so startled she stammered, "H-how... how did this happen? You're not going to die, are you?"

"You'd better pray I don't die, or I'll drag you along as a burial maid," Fang Huai said, giving her a glare.

Though the wounds looked terrible, they had avoided his meridians. After all, Jiang Miao still needed him for her task, so this was just a warning.

Lying on the bed, he felt troubled.

Green Parasol City was located within the territory of the Mystic Sword Sect. As a demonic cultivator reeking of Sha Qi, he'd probably be pierced by a thousand swords from the Mystic Sword Sect's disciples before he even entered the city. Jiang Miao had only said he'd find out when the time came, then handed him a black talisman capable of unleashing a full-powered strike from a Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator before flying off into the night on a paper crane.

Because of Jiang Miao's Wind Blades, Fang Huai's Storage Bag had been cut, leaking spiritual energy and causing the storage space to shrink. He had no choice but to temporarily take out the items inside and wait until tomorrow to exchange for a new one at the Skinning Room.

But when he picked up the Blood Jade Leaf and was about to toss it into the vortex in the corner, Li Sirou's expression clearly changed.

"Do you know what this is?" Fang Huai asked.

"No, I don't." Li Sirou's eyes darted away.

Fang Huai was far too perceptive and immediately caught her evasion. "Rule eight: no lying."

Li Sirou hesitated for a long time before speaking. "Once, when the elders were in a meeting, I was asked to prepare some tea. When I entered the room, I happened to see an unfamiliar cultivator from another sect holding a leaf like this."

"An outer sect cultivator? Which sect?"

"It shouldn't be from the Chen Kingdom." Li Sirou continued, "That cultivator was at least at the Foundation Establishment Peak stage. The elder told me to call him Uncle Su. I've never heard of such a person among the sects of Chen Kingdom."

Foundation Establishment peak...

Fang Huai frowned. Most who possessed such cultivation were enshrined elders of a sect. Even Li Sirou, as the daughter of a sect elder, had never heard of them, which indeed suggested they might come from beyond the Chen Kingdom.

"So what did they say?"

"When they saw me come in, they put the leaf away. The only topic they discussed was how to break through their bottleneck. Bad guy, is there something special about this leaf?"

Fang Huai said, "Forget you ever saw this kind of leaf. No matter who asks you, say you've never seen it before."

The Blood Jade Leaf required corpses to nourish it; it was certainly not a righteous object.

That the Mystic Sword Sect, as the largest righteous sect in the Chen Kingdom, would be in contact with a cultivator holding such an evil artifact made Fang Huai's heart tremble.

Combining this with the rumors he had heard before about gu insects devouring people on the battlefield, Fang Huai had a terrifying speculation:

The Mystic Sword Sect, in order to take down the Corpse Sha Sect, had allied with demonic sects from outside the Chen Kingdom.

The wind was rising and the tower was shaking; the Corpse Sha Sect was truly on shaky ground.

After working in the Skinning Room for a few days with a heavy heart, Luo Heng thought he was worried about being besieged by the sect after joining the Ascension Society.

He said a bunch of comforting words to him and assigned him some demonic beasts with strong blood energy and simple operations.

A few days passed like this. One day, as Fang Huai stepped through the door of the Skinning Room again, he found everyone's spirits unusually high.

"The sect won a battle! Those hypocrites of the Mystic Sword Sect were beaten back like stray dogs, retreating step by step."

"I heard their sect master personally sued for peace and ceded a large area of territory to us as compensation."

"Is the sect master suing for peace an exaggeration? But the land cession is real, and all the mortals on that territory were given to us without compensation."

"... "

The Corpse Sha Sect had already been routed on all fronts, with half of its core cultivators lost. Even the stewards who usually managed logistics had to be conscripted to the battlefield to fill the gaps in the defensive line.

Under such a dire situation, if they had truly achieved such a major victory, the only possibility was that the sect's enshrined elders had personally joined the battle.

But such a desperate, short-sighted move was almost impossible.

The reason the Corpse Sha Sect could still cling to life and avoid total annihilation was precisely because both sides had tacitly agreed not to let their top-tier combatants enter the fray.

One had to know that the Mystic Sword Sect's foundation far surpassed the Corpse Sha Sect's. Once the balance was broken and the strongest experts fought to the death on the same stage, the Corpse Sha Sect would only hasten its own destruction.

Just as he was thinking this, his sea of consciousness stung, and his identity token grew slightly hot.

A sect-mandated mission?

Fang Huai took out his identity token and saw it emitting a white light.

A logistics mission?