Xiong Changhai sat upright in the grand hall, his expression heavy with grief.
He remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking, his voice filled with undisguised sorrow and heaviness. "Elder Ren's soul lamp... went out yesterday. He truly fell at Blood Dragon Mountain, at the hands of that Body Cultivator."
At those words, Zhou Yunshan's fury surged. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "Sect Master! We must avenge Elder Ren! That fiend killed an elder of our Five Peaks Sword Sect and humiliated our sect's prestige. If we do not tear him into ten thousand pieces, how will the Five Peaks Sword Sect retain its foothold in Azure Billow Central Province?"
Xiong Changhai looked outside the hall with a complicated expression, his gaze passing through the carved window lattice to the rolling, ever-shifting sea of clouds on the horizon.
After pondering for a moment, he said in a grave voice, "Revenge must naturally be taken. But since this Body Cultivator could kill Elder Ren, his strength is certainly no trifling matter. He is absolutely not as simple as a fourth-layer Void Refinement Realm cultivator appears to be. Moreover, he is now hiding deep within a cave in the Primal Magnetism Iron Ore mine. The space there is narrow and cramped. If we rush in rashly, we will only play right into his hands."
"Sect Master, you mean..." Zhou Yunshan hurriedly pressed.
Xiong Changhai slowly clenched his fist, a sharp, icy gleam flashing through his eyes. "Steel Sword Elder received word yesterday and will emerge from seclusion tomorrow. At that time, Steel Sword Elder will personally lead the way, accompanied by the other five Fusion Realm elders of the sect, to join forces and encircle him. With such a powerful lineup, I refuse to believe that Body