This woman was none other than Liu Mei, one of Vermilion Bird Master's personal disciples.
Gui Mei lay sprawled on the scorching red jade floor. The moment sweat beaded on his skin, it evaporated into white steam.
His every organ throbbed with pain. The backlash from his shattered Martial Soul left him unable to lift even a finger.
"Master." Liu Mei stopped fanning herself. Her red lips parted, and her voice was as gentle as a spring breeze. But to Gui Mei, it carried a chill.
"There isn't a trace of spiritual energy in this man. He's nothing but an ordinary mortal."
Liu Mei took two steps forward. Her skirt brushed against the jade floor with a faint rustle.
"Still, the concealment technique he used to hide behind that pillar was rather interesting."
"It seems he was born with a physique that's naturally attuned to shadows."
Seated on the Fire Lotus Throne, Vermilion Bird Master stroked his grizzled beard. A mysterious smile appeared on his wrinkled face.
"Liu Mei, your eye for these things is as sharp as ever."
Vermilion Bird Master spoke slowly, his voice echoing through the great hall with the calm composure unique to those in power.
"As the ruler of Vermilion Bird Planet, I should, in theory, command every blade of grass and every tree on this planet, as well as all the major sects."
At that, Vermilion Bird Master's gaze suddenly darkened, a trace of undisguised greed flashing in his eyes.
"Only the Soul Refining Sect remains like a thorn lodged in my throat."
"That old monster Duntian has that sect's supreme treasure in his hands. He doesn't even take me, Vermilion Bird Master, seriously."
Gan Feng, the golden-robed young man standing to one side, grew solemn at those words and lowered his head slightly.
Liu Mei only smiled faintly, using her feather fan to cover half her face.
"Master, are you talking about the Soul Refining Sect's Billion Soul Banner?"
"The Billion Soul Banner..." Vermilion Bird Master murmured, tapping his fingers lightly against the armrest of his throne.
"Precisely."
"It seals the souls of a full billion living beings. Its power is beyond imagination."
"I dream of getting my hands on that treasure."
"Unfortunately, the Billion Soul Banner is far too wicked, and its power is immense. Even with my cultivation, stealing it by force would cost me dearly."
Vermilion Bird Master stopped tapping his fingers and turned his gaze back to Gui Mei on the floor.
"This little insect may be useless, but with his innate ability to merge with shadows, if we use a secret method to refine him into a puppet under our control..."
"Then we can quietly send him into Soul Refining Sect territory."
"Perhaps he can help me tear a tiny hole in that Billion Soul Banner."
Their conversation carried through the Sky Screen, every word reaching the ears of everyone on Douluo Continent.
The continent had already been eerily quiet. Now, not even the slightest sound could be heard.
Everyone struggled to process the information packed into those few sentences.
On the muddy field at Shrek Academy,
Tang San's legs gave way. He stumbled back two steps, his back hitting the trunk of a large tree.
His usually composed eyes were now bloodshot.
"A billion..."
Tang San's lips trembled. His voice was so quiet that only he could hear it.
Ma Hongjun crouched on the ground, counting on his short, stubby fingers. His face was full of confusion and fear.
"Third Brother, how much is a billion?"
"Do the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire together even have a billion people, counting all the ordinary folk and Soul Masters?" Ma Hongjun asked, his voice choked with tears.
Flender took off his crystal glasses and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a trembling hand.
"Don't bother counting."
Flender's voice was terrifyingly hoarse.
"Even if you added together every living person on all of Douluo Continent, we probably wouldn't make up a fraction of that number."
"A billion souls, all just to refine a weapon..."
"That Soul Refining Sect is nothing but a pack of fiends crawling out of hell!"
And if they were transported to that so-called Soul Refining Sect,
they probably wouldn't even qualify to pull a millstone. Their souls would be ripped out and stuffed into that banner called the Soul Banner, where they would suffer for all eternity.
Spirit City, Pope Palace.
Bibi Dong sat on her throne, feeling as if every ounce of strength had been drained from her.
She had always believed that Spirit Hall was the greatest and most invincible force on Douluo Continent.
She commanded tens of thousands of Soul Masters. What an imposing power that was.
But now, some random sect from the Renegade Immortal World had a treasure that sealed a billion souls!
A billion!
That number was piled up from mountains of corpses and seas of blood!
And from what the red-robed old man had said, even he—the ruler of an entire planet—was powerless against that Soul Refining Sect.
"What kind of higher-dimensional world is this...?"
Bibi Dong murmured to herself. The last shreds of pride in her heart were shattered.
Qian Daoliu, standing below the dais, looked equally pale.
He raised his head and gazed at the woman in red on the Sky Screen.
"Did you notice?"
Qian Daoliu took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice steady.
"That old man, Vermilion Bird Master, is far too calculating."
"He actually wants to refine Gui Mei into a puppet and use him as a pawn against the Soul Refining Sect."
"If Gui Mei falls into their hands, he'll probably wish he were dead."
On the Sky Screen, inside the great hall on Vermilion Bird Mountain,
Gui Mei lay on the floor, listening to their conversation. Terror had consumed him completely.
A puppet!
The word stabbed into his mind like a blade.
He was a dignified elder of Spirit Hall. Was he really going to become a mindless corpse, manipulated by someone else?
"No... I won't become a puppet!"
With the last of his strength, Gui Mei raised his head and begged Vermilion Bird Master on the throne.
"My lord, senior! Please, show mercy!"
"I'll do anything. Just don't refine me into a puppet!"
Snot and tears streamed down his face, mixing with the sweat on the floor. He no longer looked anything like a Titled Douluo.
Vermilion Bird Master didn't even look at him.
To Vermilion Bird Master, Gui Mei was like a rock by the roadside that had started talking. He wasn't worth wasting time on.
Liu Mei stepped forward, her red skirt swaying gently.
She bowed slightly to Vermilion Bird Master.
"Master, why not leave the refining of this Shadow Puppet to me?"
There was a hint of inexplicable excitement in Liu Mei's voice.
"The Thousand Illusions Heartless Path I cultivate needs extreme fear and despair as nourishment."
"Although he's useless, his spiritual power seems a little stronger than that of an ordinary mortal."
"I'd like to use illusions to slowly wear down his mind. Once his consciousness has completely collapsed, I'll plant a Puppet Mark. That way, the tool we refine will be much more obedient."
Vermilion Bird Master leaned back on his throne and nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. I'll leave it to you."
"Remember, don't kill him. This material will still be useful."
Liu Mei answered with a smile, then turned around and slowly lowered her beautiful eyes to Gui Mei on the floor.
The corners of her mouth curved in a captivating smile.
"The Thousand Illusions Heartless Path..."
On Douluo Continent, Ning Fengzhi heard the name and furrowed his brow.
"From the name alone, it's clear this is an extremely vicious cultivation method."
Ning Fengzhi held a freshly replaced teacup. The tea rippled faintly inside.
"She'll use illusions to torture someone's mind until it completely breaks."
"That's a hundred times more cruel than killing him outright."
Inside the great hall,
Liu Mei slowly walked up to Gui Mei.
She crouched down, her red skirt spreading over the jade floor like a blooming crimson lotus.
She extended a slender, pale finger and stopped just an inch from Gui Mei's forehead.
"Don't be afraid."
Liu Mei's voice grew soft, imbued with a magic that made it almost impossible not to lose oneself in it.
"It'll be over soon. It'll be just like a dream."
Gui Mei stared at her beautiful face, so close to his own, yet it seemed more terrifying than the fiends of hell.
He wanted to retreat, but his body wouldn't obey him.
Then a faint white light ignited at Liu Mei's fingertip.
The light darted into the space between Gui Mei's brows.
Gui Mei's body stiffened violently.
The fear in his eyes vanished at once. His gaze went unfocused, turning utterly blank.
To everyone else, Gui Mei was simply lying on the floor, motionless and dazed.
But only Gui Mei knew what his soul was enduring.
Inside the illusion conjured by the Thousand Illusions Heartless Path,
he had returned to Spirit Hall, to its familiar great hall.
But Pope Bibi Dong had taken on Liu Mei's appearance.
The Spirit Hall elders around him—Qian Daoliu, Yue Guan—had all become hideous fiends.
They held knives, carving pieces of flesh from his body one cut at a time.
He could feel the excruciating pain, yet he couldn't make a sound.
He watched helplessly as his flesh was carved away, his soul ripped out and stuffed into a colossal black banner.
Inside the banner, countless vengeful souls tore at and devoured one another.
Endless despair and pain surged over him like a tide, swallowing him whole.
Liu Mei stood and dusted off her hands, looking down at Gui Mei's blank face.
"It'll take about three days for the illusion to completely wear away his mind."
Liu Mei turned to Vermilion Bird Master, her tone as casual as if she were discussing something trivial.
"Once those three days are up, I'll take this puppet there myself."
"Then I'll find a suitable opportunity to drop him within Soul Refining Sect territory."
Vermilion Bird Master nodded, slowly closing his eyes to rest.
Gan Feng, the young man in golden robes, glanced at Liu Mei with reverence.
He knew all too well how terrifying the Thousand Illusions Heartless Path she cultivated was.
Even her fellow disciples didn't dare provoke her lightly, much less the useless man on the ground, who had not a trace of spiritual energy.
The scene on the Sky Screen began to dim.
Ripples like waves shimmered along the edges of the screen, as if it were preparing to shift to the next scene.
The audience across Douluo Continent held their breath.
Three days from now, Liu Mei would throw Gui Mei, now a puppet, into Soul Refining Sect territory?
That terrifying sect possessed a treasure sealing a billion souls!
What did the Soul Refining Sect look like—the sect that even the ruler of Vermilion Bird Planet was powerless against?
The intense anticipation was like a tiny hook, digging deep into the heart of every person on the continent.
They were afraid of seeing even more brutal scenes, yet couldn't help wanting to know what would happen next.
Fear and curiosity about the unknown twisted together, leaving them unable to look away.
After the heart-stopping brush with death Yue Guan had just endured, the scene on the Sky Screen finally began to shift.
This time, the image split in two.
On the left was the Spirit Beast Pen of the Troll Race.
On the right was the imposing great hall on Vermilion Bird Mountain.
One filthy, the other luxurious—a contrast that made people deeply uncomfortable.
The audience across Douluo Continent now felt their hearts in their throats.
On the field at Shrek Academy in Fasinuo Province, the night wind rattled the leaves.
Tang San knelt in the mud, his eyes bloodshot as he stared without blinking at the screen on the left.
In the scene, Yu Xiaogang was slumped beside the enormous Black Wind Pig.
The half-skull, blackened amid the piles of filth, had chilled the blood in this master of theory.
He didn't dare make a sound, afraid of waking the Black Wind Pig snoring beside him. He could only cover his mouth with his hand as his body trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind.
This was the bottom rung of the Renegade Immortal World.
There was no justice here. Ordinary people and low-level cultivators could become minced meat in a spirit beast's feeding trough at any moment.
Yu Xiaogang swallowed, fighting the nausea churning in his stomach.
He knew that if he didn't clear the filth from this shed before nightfall, tomorrow he'd be the one lying in that stone trough, reduced to bones.
The instinct to survive overpowered all fear and humiliation.
Gritting his teeth, Yu Xiaogang crawled over on his hands and feet and grabbed the heavy iron shovel.
He couldn't push it, so he leaned his whole weight against the wooden handle, inch by inch forcing the stinking mud and dung out of the way.
"Click."
The edge of the shovel struck something hard again.
Yu Xiaogang jumped, thinking he'd dug up another ghastly bone.
He stopped and, taking courage from the last rays of sunlight filtering into the shed, leaned closer for a look.
It wasn't a bone.
It was a shard of jade, barely half the size of his palm and covered in cracks.
Filth encrusted the shard, hiding its original color, but a faint, warm luster glimmered beneath.
Yu Xiaogang froze for a moment.
As if in a daze, he reached out with his mud-smeared hand and pried the broken shard from the dung heap.
The moment it touched his palm, one of its sharp, jagged edges cut his index finger.
A drop of bright red blood welled up and landed on the shard's surface.
A miraculous scene unfolded.
The drop didn't slide off. It was as if it had fallen into a sponge, and the shard absorbed it in an instant.
Then a faint green glow shimmered across the shard's surface.
The light followed the wound on Yu Xiaogang's finger and burrowed straight into his body, racing up his arm before surging into his mind.
"Buzz!"
Yu Xiaogang felt as if someone had struck him over the head with a club. His vision went black.
Then a vast, unfamiliar stream of information erupted without warning from the depths of his memory.
Basic Qi Condensation and Breathing.
The few ancient-looking characters seemed to hold a strange magic, etching themselves deep into Yu Xiaogang's consciousness.
Along with them came detailed instructions on how to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, draw it into the body, and circulate it through the meridians.
It was a broken Jade Slip, the lowest and most worthless kind in the Cultivation World.
Perhaps some unlucky low-level rogue cultivator had once been captured and fed to a Black Wind Pig, leaving this Jade Slip, which recorded a basic cultivation method, abandoned in the dung heap.
But to Yu Xiaogang, it was nothing less than a beacon shining in the darkness!
"Draw the energy of heaven and earth into the dantian..."
Kneeling in the mud, Yu Xiaogang's eyes flew open. The pupils that had been scattered with fear suddenly blazed with an almost feverish light.
"This isn't Soul Power! This isn't the cultivation system of Douluo Continent at all!"
He held the broken Jade Slip in both hands, trembling with excitement.
"There's no need to hunt Soul Beasts for Soul Rings, and no innate restrictions from Martial Soul Awakening."
"As long as you can sense this thing called 'spiritual energy,' even a good-for-nothing can set foot on the path of cultivation!"