Holy crap, I'm only at Qi Refining Layer Nine, and I have to go to war with a Nascent Soul sect?

True Person Corpse Heart's voice was like a cold wind from the Nine Nether, echoing through Zhao Hao's mind and jolting the spiritual power in his whole body until it nearly exploded.

Zhao Hao did not dare delay in the slightest.

He circulated the perfected-level Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art to its limit, and his surging cultivation at the ninth level of Qi Refining receded like an ebbing tide, leaving only an aura at the middle stage of the fourth level of Qi Refining leaking from the surface of his body.

To make the disguise more realistic, he even deliberately stirred a trace of pill toxin produced from taking pills, making the fluctuations of his spiritual power appear weak and unstable, and the image of a "genius" eager for quick success and lacking a solid foundation leaped vividly into view.

After finishing all this, he pushed open the stone door of his cave abode and tapped his foot.

His whole person turned into an afterimage difficult for ordinary disciples to catch, speeding toward the Ten Thousand Corpse Hall.

Along the way, the entire sect was filled with an air of grim killing intent. Countless disciples hurried about, their faces carrying shock, doubt, and unease; clearly, they had all received similar orders.

When Zhao Hao stepped into the Ten Thousand Corpse Hall, the air inside the hall was so oppressive it had almost congealed.

Upon the main seat, his master, True Person Corpse Heart, wore no expression on that dried-corpse-like face, but those familiar with him all knew this meant he was already furious to the extreme.

Two young men with auras as deep as a still abyss and as towering as mountains stood to either side, their expressions cold and stern. They were precisely the eldest senior brother and second senior brother he had not seen for a long time.

Jia Ren and the other deacon elders who had tested his spiritual roots back then all stood respectfully to one side at this moment, heads lowered and eyes deferential, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Jia Ren's gaze swept over Zhao Hao, and Zhao Hao noticed that the old fellow's Adam's apple rolled unconsciously.

If it had been before his breakthrough, he absolutely would not have been able to catch such a minute movement.

Zhao Hao's heart chilled, but on the surface he remained calm and collected. Imitating the other disciples, he found a corner to stand in and lowered his head without speaking.

Very soon, all disciples of the Corpse Refining Lineage above the middle stage of Qi Refining had arrived.

The stone doors of the great hall closed with a thunderous boom.

"Very good. Everyone is here."

There was no fluctuation in True Person Corpse Heart's voice, yet it made everyone's spine go cold.

His gaze moved slowly, finally stopping on a tall, thin inner-sect disciple at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

"Wang He, This Seat asks you: why have you been lingering around the Black Wind Mountain Range this past month?"

The disciple named Wang He's body suddenly trembled. With a thud, he knelt on the ground, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

"Mas... Master, this disciple... this disciple was investigating Senior Brother Wu's whereabouts..."

He shivered and stammered, unable to even speak a complete sentence.

True Person Corpse Heart let out a cold laugh of unclear meaning.

"Investigating his whereabouts?"

He did not even give Wang He another chance to explain. He merely raised his hand casually.

"Ah—!"

A shrill scream unlike a human voice had only just risen when, in an instant, it seemed as if an invisible great hand had seized it by the throat, and it stopped abruptly.

Wang He's soul was forcibly torn out from the crown of his head by an invisible power, turning into a twisted wisp of green smoke and sinking into a black banner in True Person Corpse Heart's hand.

Thud.

The soulless body collapsed limply to the floor, giving off a muffled echo in the deathly silent great hall.

With a casual wave of True Person Corpse Heart's hand, that corpse was taken into a black cloth bag.

The whole process flowed like moving clouds and running water, fast to the extreme.

An inner-sect disciple at the eighth level of Qi Refining was gone just like that.

Killing the chicken to warn the monkeys!

The hall was deathly still. All the disciples buried their heads even lower, afraid the next one would be themselves.

Zhao Hao's heart sank as well.

This was the cruelty of the Demonic Sect. Your life and death rested only within a single thought of those above.

Within the oppressive, deathly silence, True Person Corpse Heart finally spoke, announcing the first piece of news that shocked everyone.

"Eighth disciple Lin Yaoyao's soul lamp has gone out."

The hall instantly exploded like a pot.

"What? Eighth Senior Sister is dead?"

"How is that possible! Eighth Senior Sister was at perfect Qi Refining!"

"Could it have been that bastard Wu De?"

Just then, Third Senior Brother Shi Lei's gaze, like cold ice, nailed itself onto Zhao Hao.

"Zhao Hao, you went out together with Old Eight. Why is she in trouble, yet you are here?"

In an instant, the gazes of everyone in the hall focused on Zhao Hao's corner—suspicion, scrutiny, taking pleasure in his misfortune, all sorts of looks.

Zhao Hao's body suddenly shook, as though this spectacle had frightened his soul right out of him.

He raised his head. That young face was filled with terror and confusion, and even his voice trembled.

"Th... Third Senior Brother, I... I don't know!"

"I searched with Eighth Senior Sister for more than half a month. Seventh Senior Brother, he... he set so many traps. Our Corpse Refining... all... all got blown away."

"After that, Senior Sister said we should each rest and recover first. I... I'm timid, so I didn't dare stay outside long. I went straight back to the market and rented a cave dwelling to recuperate... I really didn't know Senior Sister, she..."

His words were disjointed and confused, yet they perfectly recreated the image of a cowardly, trouble-fearing boy in his teens who had been scared out of his wits.

This story was reasonable and logical, without the slightest flaw to pick at.

After all, everyone knew Zhao Hao was only a newly accepted disciple, low in cultivation. It was perfectly normal for him to be cowardly when trouble struck.

Shi Lei frowned, but in the end, he did not keep questioning him.

Everyone's gazes soon shifted away from him as well.

Only True Person Corpse Heart, seated in the main seat, let those bottomless eyes linger on Zhao Hao for a moment longer.

In that instant, Zhao Hao felt an icy chill crawl up his spine to the back of his skull, as if he had been seen through completely, inside and out.

Fortunately, that gaze soon moved away.

True Person Corpse Heart then threw out a second piece of news, one even more explosive.

"Old Eighth is indeed dead."

"He was killed by that Foundation Establishment Late Stage sword cultivator from Heavenly Sword Sect."

"This Seat has already received definite information. Wu De, that wicked disciple, refined the granddaughter of a Golden Core elder of Heavenly Sword Sect into a living corpse and placed her in a brothel in Donglai Market to receive clients and suffer humiliation."

"Half a month ago, that sword cultivator had already brought the corpse back to his sect. Just three days ago, Heavenly Sword Sect launched a large-scale invasion of my Extreme Yin Sect's territory. They have already taken three markets in succession, and even seized one of our low-grade spirit stone mines!"

The moment these words emerged, the entire room was shocked!

A Nascent Soul sect was attacking?!

Didn't that mean they were doomed?!

Looking at the undisguisable fear on the faces of the disciples in the hall, True Person Corpse Heart seemed to have expected it long ago, and his voice remained flat.

"What are you panicking for?"

"In wars between sects, cultivators at the Golden Core stage and above are not permitted to take action. This is the covenant of the Northern Lands Sect Alliance, personally issued by the Spirit Transformation Sacred Land. Whoever dares violate it, the Spirit Transformation Sacred Land will naturally take action and erase their sect from the Northern Lands."

Hearing this, everyone's hearts finally settled a little.

As long as the Golden Core ancestors did not act, then they still had the strength to fight.

As though he felt this news was not explosive enough, True Person Corpse Heart added another sentence.

"Also, Sect Master Old Ancestor Extreme Yin has already left the sect. At present, even I do not know his whereabouts."

"So go to Soul-Severing Plain at ease, and have a good time playing with those hypocrites from Heavenly Sword Sect."

"If the other side really has some shameless Golden Core or Nascent Soul step onto the field, hehe... the Old Ancestor will naturally go invite their disciples and descendants to gather inside the Ten Thousand Soul Banner."

As his voice fell, the great hall turned deathly silent.

Everyone was struck dizzy by this sudden order for war.

Soul-Severing Plain? Fighting to the death with the disciples of a Nascent Soul sect?

Zhao Hao lowered his head. At first, his heart also shook, but immediately after, a mad thought uncontrollably sprang up from the depths of his heart, instantly scattering all his fear.

A battlefield...

Did that not mean there would be countless materials there for him to strengthen? Was that not far better than staying in the sect, living in constant fear?