Each with Their Own Agenda

By the pool.

Hong Tai's face was grave. He slowly hauled up the Silver Net that had caught Ning Yao.

As Ning Yao drew closer to the surface, he could see her clearly. Only after confirming that all her limbs were intact did he quietly let out a breath of relief, still puzzled.

At last, he dared to pull with all his strength.

"Splash!"

Ning Yao's slender neck rose above the water. As she gasped for air, the two Pulse-Opening Realm leaders who had retreated when things looked bad returned, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Elder Hong."

Xu Rui, the original owner of the Silver Net, gave an awkward smile and clasped his hands, his face full of remorse. "We thought the Dark Giant Python would burst out and kill us, so we left in a hurry and forgot to say goodbye."

The masked man only gave a dry laugh and offered no explanation.

"You two certainly know how to look after yourselves."

Hong Tai gave them a smile that didn't reach his eyes, glanced at them, then turned his gaze back to Ning Yao, who was still shaken.

Rubbing his chin, he thought for a moment before saying, "Miss Ning, if you can tell me truthfully what you saw at the bottom of the pool, and I confirm that your words are true, I'll use you to exchange for one of my Dark Ghosts, a person imprisoned by your Seven Great Families."

"I can also promise you that you'll see your parents again with your virtue still intact."

Everyone's eyes turned to Ning Yao.

Freshly hauled out of the pool, Ning Yao's wet black hair fell naturally over her fragrant shoulders. She was in a state of extreme fury, making every slender vein in her snow-white neck stand out with unusual clarity.

She panted heavily inside the Silver Net. Her exquisite, rain-soaked figure looked quite alluring.

The Dark Ghost cultivators' eyes roamed over her most alluring features with predatory intent, making her feel unbearably uncomfortable.

At Hong Tai's promise, hesitation appeared deep in her still-furious eyes.

"You know I'll verify what you say, so please don't lie to me," Hong Tai reminded her with a smile.

Ning Yao gritted her teeth. Her voice trembled as she told the truth. "The Dark Giant Python you mentioned was pinned to the bottom of the pool by that Phoenix Bone. Its flesh and blood were devoured, leaving behind only bones like the Phoenix Bone itself."

"The Phoenix Bone is still embedded in its skull. That monster... Ouyang Duanhai is also at the bottom of the pool, waiting for something in front of the Phoenix Bone."

"And Pang Jian is still alive too. He's hiding in the darkness at the bottom of the pool!"

Ning Yao revealed everything she had seen without holding anything back.

She knew full well that these Dark Ghosts had braved such danger and waited until now for a reason. They would never give up.

In other words, they would eventually go down themselves and see at a glance whether she was telling the truth.

Sure enough.

Before Hong Tai could speak, Jin Yang drew a deep breath and exclaimed, "The bones of a Dark Giant Python are extremely valuable spirit materials too. If that Dark Giant Python wasn't only a lowly fourth-level creature, but had reached the fifth level, its enormous skeleton would be worth a fortune!"

"As for Ouyang Duanhai..." Hong Tai's eyes gradually brightened. He nodded with a smile. "No matter how strange he's become, his original cultivation realm is still too low. I should be able to deal with him."

"Here's what we'll do!" He looked at Xu Rui and ordered, "You're at the Pulse-Opening Realm, so you can stay underwater for quite a while."

"You'll go into the pool first. You don't have to descend all the way to the bottom. Just get a look at what's down there. If it's as this girl said, come back and tell us."

Xu Rui, who had just returned, wore a bitter expression. He sighed. "I'll send one of my subordinates."

"The pool is too deep. Anyone below the Pulse-Opening Realm will run out of breath before reaching the bottom." Hong Tai shook his head, insisting that he go.

Jin Yang frowned and glared at him too.

Xu Rui silently cursed, but couldn't defy the two men. He could only comply, sinking into the water and slowly swimming down.

At the bottom of the pool.

Hugging the dark space against the rock wall, Pang Jian had been watching the movement above. He immediately spotted Xu Rui descending and saw him looking around, quietly observing the scene below.

The closer one got to the Phoenix Bone, the brighter the water became; farther away, it grew darker.

Hidden in the shadows, Pang Jian could see Xu Rui descending beside the Phoenix Bone, but Xu Rui couldn't see him.

Before he had even reached the bottom, Xu Rui turned around and hurried back to the surface.

Pang Jian understood that Xu Rui must have learned about the bottom of the pool from Ning Yao and had come down specifically to confirm it.

Next, the Dark Ghost powerhouses, like Jin Yang, would likely descend one after another.

The Phoenix Bone, the Humanoid Monster whose condition was unknown, and the Dark Ghosts about to pour into the pool in large numbers threw Pang Jian's thoughts into disarray. He had no choice but to consider his options carefully.

Should he return to the stone gate and escape Blackwater Pool, or stay and watch what happened next? He had to make a choice.

Just as he hesitated, he saw numerous specks of white light suddenly appear inside the bone of the Phoenix Bone that pierced the python's skull. They gathered together like fireflies.

The Humanoid Monster, which had waited bitterly for so long, saw the deep red glow in its eyes flare several degrees brighter, like two blood-red lamps beneath the water.

"It's here!"

Seeing this, Pang Jian abandoned his plan to leave and chose to take the risk, staying to watch a little longer.

He first tossed the pouch he had taken from Ning Yao into the passage behind the stone gate, then closed the gate most of the way, leaving only a barely noticeable crack.

Once he had done all this, he stood waiting at the bottom of the pool, holding the Dragon-Patterned Spear, for the coming upheaval.

He had made up his mind.

If things got too dangerous, he would abandon his plan at once and escape through the passage on this side.

On the surface.

With a splash, Xu Rui emerged. After catching his breath, he waved to Hong Tai and shouted, "That girl wasn't lying. It's just as she said—the Dark Giant Python was killed by the Phoenix Bone!"

"Only Ouyang Duanhai, who's undergone a transformation, is down there. As for that kid called Pang Jian, I didn't see him. He's probably hiding somewhere in the dark."

Hong Tai's eyes lit up. He turned to Jin Yang and laughed heartily. "Our wait wasn't in vain!"

Jin Yang didn't smile. Instead, he glanced at Hong Tai's gloved hand and said, "I hope everything goes smoothly from here."

Hong Tai coughed twice. "There shouldn't be any trouble. We only need to deal with Ouyang Duanhai, and we'll get the Dark Giant Python's skeleton."

"You..."

He looked at the masked man. He was about to call him by name, but suddenly remembered that Ning Yao was nearby and that he had made her a promise. So he said, "Those at the Pulse-Opening Realm can stay underwater for quite a while. Come with me and kill Ouyang Duanhai."

He glanced at the others and frowned. "The rest of you, patrol outside and keep an eye on the situation inside and outside the valley."

The Dark Ghost retainers at the Qi Refining Realm immediately answered loudly.

With a series of splashes, Hong Tai, Jin Yang, and the man who had worn a mask the whole time all plunged into Blackwater Pool. Ning Yao, trapped in the Silver Net, and the black-and-white python also sank into the pool.

In the blink of an eye, only a group of Qi Refining Realm cultivators remained at the edge of Blackwater Pool.

"A Dark Giant Python from the Fifth Realm was killed by a fragment of the Heavenly Phoenix's Phoenix Bone. Clearly, the Phoenix Bone that chose its target will use the python's flesh and blood to condense Phoenix Marrow."

Hidden in the dark, the mysterious woman Hong Tai hadn't even noticed gazed pensively at the water.

"Those fools from the Dark Ghosts never stopped to wonder why a Dark Giant Python would appear in this godforsaken place?"

"Can't they tell that the Dark Giant Python was imprisoned in Blackwater Pool? Have they never considered how terrifying the being who could capture a Dark Giant Python from the eternally dark Fifth Realm must be?"

She murmured softly, then issued an order with her thoughts.

"Whoosh! Whoosh, whoosh!"

The many Spirit Shas she had refined crept through the grass, silently approaching Blackwater Pool. Then, without warning, they pounced on the Dark Ghost cultivators left outside.

Not a single Qi Refining Realm Dark Ghost cultivator escaped. Every one of them was possessed by the Spirit Shas.

In a very short time, all the Qi Refining Realm Dark Ghost cultivators had vacant, lifeless eyes. They stood by the water like corpses, no longer speaking.

The woman, who had stayed hidden for a long time, drifted gracefully to the portion of the Phoenix Bone jutting out of the water, her slender figure surrounded by a hazy blood mist.

She stepped lightly onto the Phoenix Bone and gazed down at the pool, watching Hong Tai and the others fade from view.

Even a being as powerful as her couldn't see the scene at the bottom of the pool. She wasn't in a hurry to send the Dark Ghost cultivators possessed by the Spirit Shas down. Instead, she waited patiently.

She wasn't afraid of Ouyang Duanhai, whose heart was being devoured by the Phoenix Marrow. She wasn't afraid of Hong Tai, at the Xisui Realm, or of the new Phoenix Marrow about to form.

The only reason she didn't dare act rashly was that she wasn't sure whether the true master who had captured the Dark Giant Python and "raised" it in Blackwater Pool was still there.

"They're finally here!"

In the shadows at the bottom of the pool, Pang Jian watched Xu Rui, who had just come down, as well as Jin Yang and the masked man. Hong Tai, who had been pursuing Zhou Qingchen, appeared last.

Seeing Hong Tai again, Pang Jian felt sorry for Zhou Qingchen. He figured this decent young master of the Zhou Family had almost certainly fallen victim to Hong Tai.

"If I make it out alive, and I get the chance one day, I'll kill every Dark Ghost cultivator involved in this."

Like Zhou Qingchen, Pang Jian silently swore an oath in the icy pool water.

He hadn't met many people. Over the years, he had hunted in the mountains and traded his prey for the daily necessities he and his sister needed to survive.

After the changes in the Cenji Mountains, Ning Yao had "hired" him with a pouch of silver fragments. Of all the young scions of the families he had encountered, none had ever looked him in the eye. Not one had treated him as an equal... as a person.

Only that young master of the Zhou Family had.

Although Zhou Qingchen had his own motives, he had always treated Pang Jian with courtesy. He had even offered him a place with the Zhou Family early on, and had stood by his offer even after Pang Jian said he lacked talent.

For Pang Jian's sake, Zhou Qingchen had even been willing to give up the spirit materials that might be inside the Indeterminate Ferry, helping that Gray Ape regain its freedom.

Pang Jian valued clear-cut kindness and grudges. Of everyone involved in this expedition into the Cenji Mountains, Zhou Qingchen was the only one he truly approved of.

He thought that since the young master of the Zhou Family had already been killed, the least he could do was avenge him one day.

For now, he didn't think he had the ability.

As Pang Jian watched those descending into the pool, he noticed Jin Yang, a man of high standing, suddenly look toward the very bottom of the Phoenix Bone, his attention fixed on the glowing white specks inside it.

Jin Yang seemed to remember something. His face suddenly filled with joy and disbelief.

Before he had even reached the bottom, Jin Yang pointed at the Humanoid Monster, signaling for Hong Tai and the other two to help him kill it.

This Dark Ghost powerhouse of distinguished birth seemed to know that the Phoenix Bone was about to undergo a change. He had even recognized the origin of those mysterious specks of light.

At Jin Yang's repeated signals, Hong Tai and the other two leaders understood what he wanted, of course.

They hesitated, unsure whether to attack Ouyang Duanhai at once. But then they saw Jin Yang already lunging toward the lower end of the Phoenix Bone.

Ouyang Duanhai, who had remained motionless for a long time as he waited for the Phoenix Marrow to take shape, immediately fixed his blood-red eyes on Jin Yang.

He suddenly charged at him.

It seemed that anyone who dared touch the Phoenix Marrow would be the first to die.