Everything Had Gone to Hell

Three threads of fate intertwined like ropes twisted into a braid. As they twisted and tore at one another, they spun into a vortex and hurtled off in another direction.

Chehou Yan's hair crackled, and a wisp of green smoke rose from his head. Every strand stood straight up. His whole body shuddered as though he'd been struck by lightning, his eyes rolling back until only the whites showed, his mouth hanging wide open.

The next instant, he sprang off the bed like a puppet on strings. His eyes bloodshot, he charged for the door.

At the same time, he shouted himself hoarse, "My lady! I'm coming to save you!"

Black Longyu stood beside the bed, bewilderment spreading across her ugly face.

Her thick lips trembled slightly. Her buck teeth gleamed with an oily sheen in the candlelight, and her vacant gaze fixed on the distance as she mumbled incoherently:

"My dear... I'm coming!"

At the same time, Fallen Leaf Valley underwent a sudden upheaval.

A pitch-black barrier crashed down from the sky, sealing the entire valley tight.

Dark red lines flowed across it, writhing like veins. The stench of blood was overpowering.

Then a voice rang out across the valley.

"Congratulations. You have been selected by the Blood Fiend Sect as trial subjects."

"From this moment on, this valley is the Blood Fiend Sect's trial grounds."

"Kill! Carve out a path of blood, and prove your Dao through slaughter. The Blood Slaughter Dao Foundation is within your grasp!"

After a brief, deathly silence, the cultivators in the valley finally reacted.

The Blood Fiend Sect! Trial grounds! Dao Foundation!

"Blood Fiend Sect! Have you lost your minds?! I'm Zhao Wudi of the Zhao family in Green Wood Immortal City! If you dare lay a finger on me, my family will slaughter every last one of you!"

A cultivator in fine robes drew his sword and roared.

Bang!

A pale bone hand burst through his chest, its five fingers clutching a still-beating heart.

An eerie smile played on Li Wuyou's lips. He licked the blood from his hand, his eyes glowing crimson.

"The Zhao family? Never heard of them."

All around them, shadowy figures flickered into view, each radiating an eerie aura, their faces like those of ghosts.

The valley filled with anguished cries as cultivators scattered and fled.

Shen Yue's expression shifted.

The Blood Fiend Sect meant to use every cultivator in Fallen Leaf Valley to forge Dao Foundations for their disciples!

Ancient Wei's cultivation system was bizarre. Here, a Dao Foundation wasn't forged through Foundation Establishment Pills or cultivation that brought one's essence, energy, and spirit to perfection, as in Chusheng Market. Instead, it was forged by meeting a specific condition or accomplishing something to the utmost degree.

For the path of slaughter, for instance, there was the method of "proving the Dao through slaughter." One had to kill a certain number of people and defeat a certain number of cultivators of the same realm to forge the Blood Slaughter Dao Foundation.

At this moment, Fallen Leaf Valley was the Blood Fiend Sect disciples' foundation-forging ground.

The old woman hadn't lied. A great calamity really was about to befall Fallen Leaf Valley.

Shen Yue looked toward the old woman again.

Just now, he'd clearly sensed her use some kind of secret technique on him.

But the technique had only reached the space in front of him before inexplicably veering away, as if something had drawn it elsewhere.

As he pondered this, Granny Withered Grass, who had been so cautious earlier, suddenly sauntered out of the shadows.

She cupped her face in both hands, running her withered fingers over her shriveled skin. In a coy, girlish voice, she cried, "Where are my natural adornments? Where are my precious black buck teeth?"

As she spoke, she pulled a bronze mirror from her sleeve and held it up to her face.

"Ah!"

A piercing scream split the sky.

Granny Withered Grass flew into a rage and flung the mirror to the ground. "I'm the darling of heaven, the number-one beauty of Black Soil Fortress! How did I end up looking like this?!"

She looked down at the ragged clothes woven from withered grass and recoiled in utter disgust.

"What are these rags? Do they suit my status?!"

She yanked at them, tore the grass robes off her body, and hurled them far away.

"Trash! Trash!"

But then—

Granny Withered Grass shuddered, a glimmer of clarity returning to her murky eyes.

She stared at the grass robes flying away. First she froze, then her expression changed dramatically.

"What... am I doing?!"

She scrambled to retrieve them.

Shen Yue reacted in a flash. He darted forward, snatched up the grass robes, and retreated.

Though they looked like they were woven from withered grass, spiritual energy surged through them. They were unquestionably a priceless treasure!

"You're asking for death!"

Granny Withered Grass flew into a rage, her eyes instantly bloodshot. "How dare you steal my treasured robe!"

She raised a hand to cast a spell, but halfway through, her body stiffened again. Her gaze grew vacant as she muttered, "Treasured robe? It's trash. Not good enough for me!"

Before she'd finished speaking, her eyes changed again and she screamed in panic, "Give me back my robe!"

In the blink of an eye, her expression changed four or five times, shifting from girlish coyness to an old woman's panic.

At last, her eyes widened in fury.

"You dare steal my things? Die!"

Granny Withered Grass spread her arms. More than a dozen withered vines poured from her body, transforming in an instant into as many black crows.

Each one had glowing red eyes and a hooked beak.

"Go!"

The crows shot toward Shen Yue like arrows, shrieking sharply. A rotten aura wafted from their beating wings.

Shen Yue's heart lurched. He quickly stepped back, not daring to meet them head-on.

The crows swooped down on the spot where he'd been standing. The bluestone ground was instantly eaten away, leaving smoking pits. Then they wheeled around and charged at him again.

"Miss Long Ying! I'm coming to save you!"

Just then, a figure rushed over at an unbelievable speed.

Chehou Yan's gaze burned with fervor. He spread his arms and swept Granny Withered Grass into an embrace, shielding her behind him.

The crows halted in midair, their shrieks cutting off.

"Miss Long Ying!" Chehou Yan looked at the old woman's deeply lined face, his eyes overflowing with compassion. "Who did this to you?!"

Then he glanced at the hovering crows and cried out in anguish, "You're reduced to using such low-grade treasures... Miss Long Ying, you've suffered!"

With that, he swept out a hand and produced two glittering treasures.

One was a Feather Cloak, the other a gold crown encrusted with gems. Both blazed with treasure-light and radiated astonishing spiritual energy.

"With your peerless beauty, Miss Long Ying, you deserve peerless treasures!" Chehou Yan unhesitatingly shoved them into the old woman's hands.

Granny Withered Grass stared at him blankly.

"Trash!"

She suddenly erupted and hurled the cloak and crown more than ten meters away.

"I'm the Black Fortress Holy Maiden. Why would I use such ugly things?!" Granny Withered Grass planted her hands on her hips and laughed, showing a mouthful of crooked yellow teeth.

"Miss Long Ying, you don't like them? Then I'll find something better..."

"You're trash too! Hideous and revolting!"

Granny Withered Grass spread her arms. Withered vines surged from her body, rapidly growing into a gigantic ball of vines several zhang tall. It swallowed both her and Chehou Yan, then continued to expand at a furious pace.

Shen Yue flashed forward, snatched up the colorful cloak and gold crown, and retreated.

By the time he'd fled two streets away, the vines behind him blotted out the sky, a vast, black mass.

The whole of Fallen Leaf Valley was in chaos now. Cultivators fled everywhere, spiritual weapons filled the air, and talismans exploded all around.

Shen Yue didn't stop. He headed straight for the market.

The more chaos there was, the easier it was to fish in troubled waters.

At the market entrance.

Black Longyu's huge buck teeth stood out in the crowd.

She walked unsteadily, her gaze unfocused as she muttered to herself.

A young male cultivator hurried past her in a panic.

"Fellow Daoist, wait!" Black Longyu sprang forward and clamped her thick hand around his wrist. "This old woman has something to say."

The young cultivator turned around, saw a mouthful of buck teeth facing him, and went deathly pale. "Let go!"

"My dear, why don't you try what this old woman can do?" Black Longyu licked her buck teeth, a strange glint in her eyes.

The young cultivator was disgusted. "I cultivate the Dual Cultivation Art! I'm a woman!"

"Shut up! It's your good fortune that I'm sucking your essence!" Black Longyu snapped.

Everything was too chaotic.

It was simply too awful to watch.

Shen Yue passed the pair and slipped into the market.

"Dear Shen, Long Ying has finally found you." A soft, sweet voice suddenly rang out.