Sacrificial Chancellor

Li Estate.

The man with slanted eyes shoved open the vermilion-lacquered gates and strode inside.

The gates immediately slammed shut.

Inside the courtyard, the blue-brick ground had been swept spotless.

Several gray-clad servants stood waiting by the wall with their hands lowered.

Their knuckles were thick, and veins bulged along their necks. At a glance, they were clearly men of formidable Qi-Blood, their aura extremely similar to those who had previously pursued Jiang Che.

In the middle of the courtyard stood a man in a white satin robe, wearing a crimson fox mask and clasping his hands behind his back.

"Li Jishi, where is he?!"

The masked man's voice was low and hoarse.

The slanted-eyed man addressed as Li Jishi hurriedly bowed, his voice filled with panic.

"Lord Sacrificial Chancellor! This subordinate tracked him to the small grove and found only signs of fighting. There was no sign of him, and even the footprints had been erased!"

"Hmm?"

Displeasure seeped into the masked man's voice.

Li Jishi bent even lower.

"That boy only just entered the Blood-Qi Realm. He could never have been a match for a Sacrificial Disciple! This subordinate suspects that an Iron Skin Realm expert—or perhaps even a Force-Entering Realm master—abducted him!"

Cold sweat seeped from his forehead.

The Sacrificial Chancellor before him possessed unfathomable strength.

Even though Li Jishi was already at the peak of the Iron Skin Realm, just a hair's breadth from entering the Force-Entering Realm—

When facing the Sacrificial Chancellor, he still felt that the other man could crush him to death with a single finger!

Moreover, this Lord Sacrificial Chancellor was mercurial. If anything displeased him, he would execute his subordinates.

Li Jishi's predecessor had been fed to a Blood Beast by the Sacrificial Chancellor merely for saying the wrong thing!

That Blood Beast had a blue face, vicious fangs, and glowing green eyes. It fed exclusively on human organs, and its palm, broad as a cattail fan, could crush a head in a single squeeze.

At the thought of himself being eaten, Li Jishi's face went white with terror.

"An expert?!" The Sacrificial Chancellor's voice carried anger. "Haven't we captured all the experts in Hengsha City? Where would another expert come from?!"

"This subordinate suspects... the Seven Star Gang!" Li Jishi hurriedly said.

"The Seven Star Gang?!" The Sacrificial Chancellor's voice suddenly rose.

"Yes... it must be that old bastard Li Hanchuan! He destroyed our Abyss-Facing City branch altar, causing a Blood Beast to escape. And now he has extended his hand into Hengsha City! He has gone too far!"

In an instant, his white robe stirred without wind as an exceedingly terrifying pressure spread through the air.

Li Jishi felt as though he were facing a tsunami, and his legs involuntarily buckled as he fell to his knees.

"You will eliminate one of the Seven Star Gang's stars! I want their seven stars to become six!" the Sacrificial Chancellor ordered.

Aside from their leader, Li Hanchuan, the Seven Star Gang had six elders. The seven were named after the Northern Dipper's seven stars.

Apart from Li Hanchuan, the Greedy Wolf Star, there were the Giant Gate Star, Wealth Preservation Star, Literary Star, Integrity Star, Martial Star, and Army Breaker Star.

Although the other six stars were inferior to Li Hanchuan, they were all first-rate experts.

Yet in this Sacrificial Chancellor's mouth, they seemed like fruit hanging from roadside trees, ready to be plucked at will.

Li Jishi instead breathed a sigh of relief. Though the other six stars were powerful, he was no weakling himself.

"This subordinate will not fail his mission!"

The Sacrificial Chancellor nodded and held his right hand across his chest, saying in a deep voice,

"Pain-Forged Divine Ladder, Ten Thousand Souls Return to the Abyss!"

Li Jishi's expression turned solemn. He likewise held his right hand across his chest and repeated the words.

"Pain-Forged Divine Ladder, Ten Thousand Souls Return to the Abyss!"

"Fine, withdraw!" The Sacrificial Chancellor waved a hand.

"Yes!"

Li Jishi immediately left through the gates and departed at speed.

The Sacrificial Chancellor turned and entered the inner room.

He sat down in a grandmaster's chair and lightly pressed the mechanism on its armrest.

Rumble—

In an instant, the entire wall behind him rotated together with the chair.

In the blink of an eye, he had arrived on the other side of the wall.

Before him was a stone stairway descending underground.

He slowly walked down the stone steps and soon arrived at a dungeon.

The dungeon was enormous, containing several hundred iron cages, with men, women, young, and old imprisoned inside.

Their clothes were ragged, their faces sallow, and their eyes devoid of light.

Outside the cages, a group of gray-clad servants patrolled back and forth.

Upon seeing the Sacrificial Chancellor descend, they saluted in unison.

"Greetings, Lord Sacrificial Chancellor!"

These were the Sacrificial Disciples.

The Sacrificial Chancellor gave a slight nod and walked straight inward.

The people in the cages saw the Sacrificial Chancellor and shrank into the corners in terror, afraid that he might notice them.

Without pausing, the Sacrificial Chancellor walked all the way to the end.

At the end stood an especially massive iron cage.

Inside was imprisoned a "man" nearly two meters tall, with long arms and legs, his entire body covered in green fur.

His hair hung in wild disarray. His face was blue, his fangs bared, and a dim green glow emanated from his eyes, like an evil ghost that had crawled out of hell.

A Sacrificial Disciple stood guard before the cage. Upon seeing the Sacrificial Chancellor, he immediately saluted.

"How is this Blood Beast's condition?" the Sacrificial Chancellor asked.

"Reporting to Lord Sacrificial Chancellor, this Blood Beast has completely undergone blood replacement, and its Black Abyss Flesh has begun to condense! In another year, it should be able to welcome our lord's avatar descending!" the Sacrificial Disciple said fervently.

"Hmph! If not for that old bastard Li Hanchuan, why would I need to raise another Blood Beast from scratch!" A trace of fury laced the Sacrificial Chancellor's voice.

Having said that, he turned and opened a dungeon cell beside him.

The people inside instantly fell into extreme terror, wailing as they scrambled backward.

The Sacrificial Chancellor swept his gaze across them, then suddenly seized a middle-aged woman by the ankle and dragged her out as though she were a dead dog.

The middle-aged woman screamed and clawed desperately at the ground. All ten fingers were ground raw, leaving ten bloody streaks across the floor, yet she was still thrown into the Blood Beast's cage.

Seeing someone thrown inside, the Blood Beast gave a savage grin and instantly leaped over.

Its enormous palm lightly closed around the woman's head. With the slightest exertion, her head burst like a watermelon!

Then it extended its long nails and gave a light slash. The headless corpse was immediately disemboweled, exposing the organs within.

It then pulled out the organs, lowered its head, and began to gnaw.

After leaving the small grove, Jiang Che hurried all the way toward the place agreed upon earlier with the escort caravan.

As he walked, he pondered who exactly that servant pursuing him had been.

That man's accent had been strange, unlike any accent Jiang Che had ever heard.

He was certain that the man was not a local.

Moreover, a mere servant possessed the cultivation of the Stone Skin Realm!

It was simply horrifying!

In the Stone Skin Realm, even the leaders of many mid-sized gangs were merely at the Stone Skin Realm!

How could an ordinary wealthy man's servants actually possess Stone Skin?

How was that possible?! It was not some inner court of the Imperial Palace!

There was definitely a huge problem with this Li Estate!

His parents' disappearance absolutely had something to do with them as well!

The more Jiang Che thought about it, the more his scalp prickled.

This Li Estate was far too dangerous. He had to flee back to Abyss-Facing City at once!

As for his parents' whereabouts, he could only wait until he had grown stronger before coming back to investigate.

He had also considered reporting it to the authorities, but quickly dismissed the idea.

Setting aside the fact that he had just killed someone and the authorities would certainly pursue the matter—

What if Li Estate and the authorities were in league? Would he not be walking straight into the net?

Even if they were not in league, judging by the authorities' usual conduct, they would most likely just brush the matter aside.

In short, he could not casually tell anyone about this, or he might instead bring disaster upon himself!

And deep down, he vaguely felt that his parents might already be gone.

But as their son, no matter what, he had to uncover the truth!

Otherwise, his heart would know no peace!

A gentleman's revenge can wait ten years!

Jiang Che quickened his pace. Before long, he caught sight of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency caravan.

He hurried over, and his heart settled slightly.