Liu Mei, Thousand Illusions Heartless Path!

This woman was none other than Liu Mei, one of the direct disciples of Vermilion Bird Master.

Ghost lay prone on the scorching red jade floor, his sweat turning into white steam the moment it beaded on his skin.

He felt his internal organs cramping in agony; the backlash from his shattered martial soul left him unable to lift even a single finger.

"Master." Liu Mei paused the feather fan in her hand. Her red lips parted slightly, and her voice was as soft as a spring breeze, yet to Ghost, it carried a biting chill.

"This person possesses not a shred of spiritual energy; he is nothing more than a common mortal."

Liu Mei took two steps forward, the hem of her skirt brushing against the jade floor with a faint rustle.

"However, the concealment technique he used to hide behind the pillar just now is somewhat interesting."

"It seems to be a constitution naturally attuned to shadows."

Vermilion Bird Master sat upon his Fire Lotus Throne, stroking his graying beard, a smile of unfathomable depth appearing on his wrinkled face.

"Liu Mei, your eye for talent remains as sharp as ever."

Vermilion Bird Master spoke slowly, his voice echoing through the great hall with the composure unique to those in power.

"As the master of this Vermilion Bird Planet, it stands to reason that every blade of grass, every tree, and every major sect on this planet should obey my commands."

As he said this, Vermilion Bird Master's eyes suddenly darkened, a flicker of undisguised greed flashing within them.

"Only that Soul Refining Sect has always been like a thorn stuck in my throat."

"That old monster Duntian relies on that sect-protecting treasure of his to show no respect even to me, the Vermilion Bird Master."

Standing to the side, the golden-robed youth Gan Feng heard these words, his expression turning solemn as he lowered his head slightly.

Liu Mei merely smiled softly, half-covering her face with her feather fan.

"Is Master referring to the Billion Soul Banner of the Soul Refining Sect?"

"The Billion Soul Banner..." Vermilion Bird Master murmured the name, his fingers tapping lightly against the armrest of his throne.

"Indeed."

"It seals the souls of a full billion living beings within it; its power is unimaginably vast."

"I dream of obtaining that artifact."

"Unfortunately, the Billion Soul Banner carries too much evil energy and possesses such immense power that even with my cultivation, I would have to pay a heavy price to seize it by force."

Vermilion Bird Master stopped tapping his fingers and turned his gaze back to Ghost on the floor.

"Although this little bug is a cripple, if his constitution—which naturally merges with shadows—were refined through secret arts into a puppet under our control..."

"When the time comes, we could quietly toss him into the territory of the Soul Refining Sect."

"Perhaps he could help me tear a small opening in that Billion Soul Banner."

This conversation between Vermilion Bird Master and Liu Mei was transmitted through the Sky Screen, reaching the ears of everyone on the Douluo Continent without a single word missed.

The continent, already unnervingly quiet, fell into a silence so profound that not even the slightest noise could be heard.

Everyone was desperately trying to digest the information contained in those few sentences.

On the dirt playground of Shrek Academy.

Tang San's legs went weak, and he stumbled back two steps, his spine slamming against the trunk of a large tree.

His eyes, which were always filled with composure, were now bloodshot.

"One billion..."

Tang San's lips trembled incessantly, his voice so faint that only he could hear it.

Fatty Ma Hongjun squatted on the ground, counting on his short, thick fingers, his face a mask of confusion and terror.

"Third Brother, how much is one billion?"

"If we add up all the commoners and spirit masters in our Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire combined, do we even have one billion people?" Ma Hongjun asked, his voice thick with tears.

Flender removed his crystal glasses and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a trembling hand.

"Stop counting."

Flender's voice was terrifyingly hoarse.

"Even if you added up every living person on our entire Douluo Continent, I fear we wouldn't even reach a fraction of that number."

"One billion souls, just to refine a single weapon..."

"That sect called the Soul Refining Sect is nothing but a pack of evil ghosts crawled out from hell!"

If they were to be transported to that so-called Soul Refining Sect, they probably wouldn't even qualify to be beasts of burden; they would be drained of their souls instantly, stuffed into that flag called the Soul Banner, and left to suffer for all eternity.

Spirit City, Pope Palace.

Bibi Dong sat upon her throne, her strength seemingly drained from her entire body.

She had always believed that Spirit Hall was the most massive and invincible power on the Douluo Continent.

She commanded tens of thousands of spirit masters, a position of such immense prestige.

Yet now, a random sect that had emerged from the Renegade Immortal World possessed a single magical treasure that contained ten billion sealed souls!

Ten billion!

That was a number piled up from mountains of corpses and seas of blood!

Moreover, judging by the implications of that red-robed old man, even he, as the master of the entire planet, was powerless against that Soul Refining Sect.

What kind of high-dimensional world is this...

Bibi Dong muttered to herself, her pride shattered into pieces.

Below in the great hall, Qian Daoliu's face was equally pale.

He looked up at the woman in the red dress within the Sky Screen.

"Did you notice?"

Qian Daoliu took a deep breath, trying his best to keep his voice steady.

"That old man called Vermilion Bird Master is far too calculating."

"He actually intends to refine Ghost into a puppet to use as a pawn against the Soul Refining Sect."

"Once Ghost falls into their hands, I fear even death will be a luxury."

Within the Sky Screen, inside the great hall of Vermilion Bird Mountain.

Ghost lay on the ground, listening to the conversation above, his fear reaching its absolute peak.

A puppet!

These two words struck his mind like a sharp blade.

As a dignified elder of Spirit Hall, was he to become a mindless, manipulated walking corpse?

"No... I don't want to be a puppet!"

Ghost used the last of his strength to lift his head, pleading loudly to Vermilion Bird Master on the throne.

"My Lord, Senior! Please, have mercy!"

"I am willing to do anything, just don't refine me into a puppet!"

His face was covered in snot and tears, mixing with the sweat on the floor; there was no trace left of a titled Douluo.

Vermilion Bird Master did not even glance at him.

To Vermilion Bird Master, this was no different from a stone on the roadside speaking; it was not worth his time to respond.

Liu Mei stepped forward, her red skirt swaying gently.

She bowed slightly toward Vermilion Bird Master.

"Master, why not leave the task of refining this Shadow Puppet to your disciple?"

There was a hint of inexplicable excitement in Liu Mei's voice.

"The Thousand Illusions Heartless Path I cultivate happens to require extreme fear and despair as nourishment."

"Although this man is a cripple, his spiritual power seems slightly stronger than that of an ordinary mortal."

"I wish to use illusions to slowly erode his sanity. Once his consciousness has completely collapsed, I will plant the Puppet Mark. The tool refined in this way will be much more obedient."

Vermilion Bird Master leaned back on his throne and nodded in satisfaction.

"Very well, I leave it to you."

"Remember, do not kill him; this material still has great use."

Liu Mei responded with a smile, then turned around, her beautiful eyes slowly settling on Ghost on the floor.

A captivating curve tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Thousand Illusions Heartless Path..."

Back on the Douluo Continent, Ning Fengzhi frowned deeply upon hearing the name.

"The name alone tells you that this is an extremely vicious cultivation method."

Ning Fengzhi held a freshly replaced teacup, the tea inside rippling slightly.

"Using illusions to torture a person's spirit until they completely collapse."

"That is a hundred times more cruel than killing him outright."

In the great hall.

Liu Mei walked slowly toward Ghost.

She crouched down, her red skirt spreading across the jade floor like a blooming blood-colored lotus.

She extended a fair, slender finger, stopping an inch from Ghost's forehead.

"Don't be afraid."

Liu Mei's voice became very gentle, even possessing a magical quality that made one want to be lost in it.

"It will be over soon, like a dream."

Ghost looked at the beautiful face so close to him, but found it more terrifying than any demon from hell.

He wanted to retreat, but his body refused to obey.

Immediately, a faint white light appeared at the tip of Liu Mei's finger.

The white light instantly drilled into Ghost's brow.

Ghost's body stiffened abruptly.

His eyes, once filled with terror, instantly lost their focus, becoming utterly vacant.

To outsiders, Ghost merely lay still on the ground, unmoving.

But only Ghost himself knew what his soul was truly experiencing.

Within the illusion created by the Thousand Illusions Heartless Path.

He returned to Spirit Hall, to the familiar great hall.

However, Pope Bibi Dong had transformed into Liu Mei's likeness.

The surrounding Spirit Hall elders, Qian Daoliu, Yue Guan, had all become ferocious, grim-faced demons.

They held knives and, with each slash, carved flesh from his body.

He could clearly feel the heart-wrenching pain, yet he couldn't utter a sound.

He watched as his flesh was completely carved away, his soul extracted, and stuffed into an enormous black banner.

Within that banner, countless vengeful souls tore and devoured each other.

Endless despair, endless suffering, washed over him like a tide.

Liu Mei stood up, clapped her hands, and looked down at the dazed Ghost.

"It will take about three days for his consciousness to be completely eroded by the illusion."

Liu Mei turned to Vermilion Bird Master, her tone as relaxed as if discussing a trivial matter.

"After three days, this disciple will personally take this puppet."

"Then, when a suitable opportunity arises, I will cast him into the Soul Refining Sect's territory."

Vermilion Bird Master nodded and slowly closed his eyes, beginning to rest.

The golden-robed youth, Gan Feng, cast a reverent glance at Liu Mei.

He knew very well how terrifying the Thousand Illusions Heartless Path his junior sister cultivated was.

Even fellow disciples dared not provoke her lightly, let alone the spiritless husk on the ground.

The image on the Sky Screen slowly dimmed at this moment.

The edges of the light screen rippled like water, as if preparing for the next scene change.

The audience on Douluo Continent held their breath.

In three days, Liu Mei would throw the puppet Ghost into the territory of the Soul Refining Sect?

That terrifying sect possessing a magic treasure that sealed a billion souls!

What would the Soul Refining Sect, which even the ruler of Vermilion Bird Planet could not deal with, look like?

This intense anticipation, like a small hook, firmly snagged the hearts of everyone on the continent.

They feared seeing more brutal scenes, yet they couldn't help but want to know the subsequent developments.

The fear of the unknown intertwined with curiosity, making it impossible to stop.

After the thrilling scene of Yue Guan on the brink of life and death, the image on the Sky Screen finally began to switch scenes slowly.

This time, the screen split into two sections.

On the left was the spirit beast enclosure of the Troll Race.

On the right was the majestic great hall of Vermilion Bird Mountain.

One foul, one luxurious, creating an unsettling contrast.

The audience on Douluo Continent now had their hearts in their throats.

On the training grounds of Shrek Academy in Fasno Province, the night wind rustled the leaves.

Tang San knelt in the mud, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently at the screen on the left.

In the image, Yu Xiaogang was slumped beside a giant Black Wind Pig.

The blackened, half-rotted skull in the dung heap sent a chill through the entire body of the theory master.

He dared not make a sound, terrified of waking the Black Wind Pig snoring beside him; he could only cover his mouth with his hand, his body trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind.

This was the bottom rung of the Renegade Immortal World.

There was no logic to be found here; mortals or low-level cultivators could be reduced to scraps of meat in a spirit beast's trough at any moment.

Yu Xiaogang swallowed hard, forcing down the overwhelming nausea churning in his stomach.

He knew that if he didn't clear the filth from this shed before nightfall, the bones lying in that stone trough tomorrow would be his own.

The instinct to survive eclipsed all fear and humiliation.

Gritting his teeth, Yu Xiaogang crawled forward on his hands and knees, gripping the heavy iron shovel.

He couldn't push it, so he threw his entire body weight onto the wooden handle, inch by inch shoving the foul-smelling muck and excrement outward.

"Click."

The edge of the shovel struck something hard once again.

Yu Xiaogang jumped, fearing he had unearthed more ghastly bones.

He stopped moving and, using the twilight filtering into the shed, gathered his courage to lean in and take a look.

It wasn't a bone.

It was a jade shard, no larger than half a palm, its surface covered in cracks.

The jade was coated in filth, making its original color impossible to discern, yet it faintly emitted a warm, gentle luster.

Yu Xiaogang froze.

As if possessed, he reached out with his mud-stained hand and pried the broken jade shard from the dung heap.

The moment it touched his palm, the sharp, jagged edge of the jade sliced into his index finger.

A drop of bright red blood seeped out, landing precisely on the surface of the jade.

A miraculous scene unfolded.

The drop of blood did not slide off the jade; instead, it was absorbed instantly, as if sinking into a sponge.

Immediately following, a faint cyan light rippled across the surface of the jade.

This cyan light traveled from the wound on Yu Xiaogang's finger, surged into his body, raced up his arm, and slammed into his mind.

"Hum!"

Yu Xiaogang felt as if his head had been struck by a heavy club, and his vision went black.

Then, a vast and obscure stream of information exploded deep within his memory without warning.

Basic Qi Condensation and Breathing.

These simple, ancient characters seemed to carry a strange magic, branding themselves deeply into Yu Xiaogang's consciousness.

Accompanying them was a detailed incantation on how to perceive the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, how to draw that energy into the body, and how to circulate it through the meridians.

This was the most basic, bottom-tier, and broken jade slip in the Cultivation World.

Perhaps some unlucky low-level rogue cultivator had been captured and fed to the Black Wind Pig, leaving this jade slip, which recorded a foundational technique, abandoned in the dung heap.

But to Yu Xiaogang, this was a beacon of light in the darkness!

"The energy of heaven and earth, gathered in the dantian..."

Yu Xiaogang knelt in the mud, his eyes snapping open. The pupils that had been unfocused from fear now erupted with a near-maniacal brilliance.

"This isn't soul power! This isn't the cultivation system of our Douluo Continent at all!"

He cradled the broken jade slip in his hands, trembling with excitement.

"There is no need to hunt soul beasts to obtain soul rings, nor is there any innate restriction from a martial soul awakening."

"As long as one can perceive this thing called 'spiritual energy,' even a cripple can embark on the path of cultivation!"