The mountain wind swept past his ears, sharp as a knife.
Zhao Hao became a black streak racing through the woods. The scenery beneath his feet hurtled backward as he left everything around him behind.
When killing someone, you had to cut out the roots along with the weeds.
He had understood that even in his previous life.
Now, he had the power to tear out those roots.
The newly upgraded high-grade Tracking Compass glimmered in his palm like a compass that claimed lives. Even a hundred miles away, the speck of light representing Jia Ren remained outrageously clear.
Two hours later, Zhao Hao abruptly stopped before an utterly unremarkable mountain hollow.
Jagged rocks littered the place, vegetation was sparse, and spiritual energy was pitifully scarce.
Jia Ren certainly knew how to pick a hiding place.
Zhao Hao silently spread his spiritual sense, enveloping the entire hollow in an instant. Soon, he locked onto a recessed rock face.
Behind it, an exceedingly faint aura struggled on the verge of death, desperately trying to recover.
Found you.
Zhao Hao wasted no words and had no intention of testing the waters.
The liquid spiritual power within him surged thunderously, pouring madly into the Ghost Bone Dagger in his hand!
Buzzz-!
The low-grade second-tier spiritual artifact gave a deep hum. Its black blade instantly extended to over three feet, and a chillingly sharp aura shot into the sky!
"Break!"
Zhao Hao raised his hand and pointed. The Ghost Bone Dagger became a bolt of pure black lightning, tearing through the air and cleaving viciously down at the rock face!
BOOM!!!
The mountain crumbled and the earth split!
The entire hollow shook violently. Shattered rocks flew through the air, and dust billowed into the sky.
That single strike blasted a terrifying crater several dozen feet deep into the rock face and the mountainside behind it!
"You've gone too far!"
An enraged but feeble roar rang out from the drifting dust.
Then a wretched figure scrambled and tumbled out of the crater.
It was Jia Ren!
Not a trace of his dignity as an administrative elder remained.
He was drenched in blood, with rags haphazardly wrapped around the stump at his left shoulder. His face was ghostly pale, blood still seeped through the hole in the back of his enchanted robe, and his aura had weakened to the extreme.
Clearly, Zhao Hao's thunderous strike had piled fresh injuries onto his old ones.
When he saw Zhao Hao hovering in midair, looking down at him as though he were already dead, boundless terror instantly overtook his pallid face.
He really caught up!
How was that possible? I used the Blood Escape Art three times in a row!
Seeing his miserable condition, Zhao Hao was no longer in a hurry to attack.
His eyes shifted slightly, and his Adam's apple bobbed. When he spoke, his voice turned deep and hoarse, like an evil ghost that had crawled out of the netherworld.
"Having learned my secret, did you think... you could escape?"
His voice was quiet, yet it drove into the depths of Jia Ren's soul like a spike of ice.
Jia Ren shuddered violently, and the last trace of color drained from his face.
He really was an old monster who had possessed this body!
I guessed right-and now I'm dead!
His last shred of hope shattered completely. His legs buckled, and he dropped straight to his knees with a thud.
"S-Senior, spare my life!"
Jia Ren's voice shook uncontrollably. He repeatedly knocked his head against the hard rubble, producing dull thumps.
"I was blind and offended you, Senior! I'm willing to compensate you. I'll swear a solemn oath upon the Heart Demon Law that I'll never reveal a single thing about you for as long as I live! Please spare me, Senior!"
He humbled himself into the dust, but in truth, he still kept his guard up.
Zhao Hao hovered in midair, his expression utterly composed, while sneering inwardly.
A solemn oath upon the Heart Demon Law? To a demonic cultivator, how was that any different from farting?
"Your oath is worth nothing beside my grand plan to possess a body and cultivate anew."
Still using that old monster's voice, Zhao Hao unhurriedly pronounced his judgment.
"However, I have only just returned, and I happen to need a servant to run errands for me."
"Open your sea of consciousness and allow me to place a restriction upon it. Then I may leave you a path to survival."
At those words, Jia Ren's kneeling body visibly stiffened.
Open my sea of consciousness and let him place a restriction on it?
How was that any different from placing my life entirely in someone else's hands?
From then on, whether I lived or died would depend on a single thought of his. I'd be worse off than a dog!
A flicker of conflict and resentment passed through his eyes.
Zhao Hao took in every change in his expression but did not rush him.
Even a cornered dog would leap over a wall.
Jia Ren was greedy, afraid of death, and exceedingly selfish. Zhao Hao did not know whether he possessed some formidable means of striking back.
To make him submit willingly, he needed to offer something sweet-to paint a promise so enticing that Jia Ren could not possibly refuse it.
Zhao Hao cleared his throat, changing his tone to convey a lofty air of "benevolence."
"If you accept me as your master, I can use a secret art to regrow your severed arm."
As he spoke, Zhao Hao waved his hand. Jia Ren's severed arm rose into the air and landed before him.
"Indeed, when I roamed supreme across the Northern Lands, those so-called Golden Core cultivators were merely souls slain beneath my sword. Sharing a few insights into cultivation and giving you some guidance would be no trouble."
"What would it matter if I let you... glimpse the great path to the golden core?"
The great path to the golden core!
Those words struck Jia Ren's heart like divine lightning from the highest heavens!
He abruptly raised his head and stared fixedly at Zhao Hao. Wild flames instantly blazed in his dead, ashen eyes!
The great path to the golden core!
This... this was something he had never even dared to dream of!
In his excitement, even the pain of his injuries seemed to ease considerably.
"Senior... do you truly mean that?!" he shrieked, like a dying beast that had glimpsed hope of survival.
Zhao Hao laughed inwardly, but his face remained indifferent.
"Hmph. Would I deceive an insignificant Foundation Establishment cultivator like you?"
Jia Ren's breathing grew tremendously heavy, his chest heaving.
Reason told him this might be a trap.
But that doorway leading to the golden core was simply too tempting!
He only had three spiritual roots. Countless ruthless schemes and strokes of luck had brought him to the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. Without some heaven-sent opportunity, the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage would be the end of his road in this life.
Now, a "senior" who might be a Golden Core cultivator-or even a Nascent Soul old monster-had personally promised to guide him onto the great path to the golden core!
I'll take the gamble!
Riches and honor were won amid danger!
Jia Ren gritted his teeth fiercely. Boundless zeal and reverence filled his face as he kowtowed heavily once more.
"I accept you as my master, Senior! I'll serve you like a faithful hound or steed, bending every effort to your service until my dying breath!"
With that, he truly closed his eyes, tilted his head slightly upward, and completely lowered the defenses around his sea of consciousness, leaving himself at Zhao Hao's mercy.
Now!
A cold gleam flashed through Zhao Hao's eyes.
The hovering Ghost Bone Dagger traced an almost imperceptible arc, sweeping past without a sound.
Pfft-
The sound of a blade slicing through flesh was almost too faint to hear.
Jia Ren's body abruptly stiffened. His eyes flew open, filled with bewilderment and disbelief.
The world spun in his vision.
He saw his own headless body still kneeling on the ground, a fountain of blood shooting skyward from its neck.
His mouth moved, as though he wanted to ask, "Why?"
A young man's clear voice sounded beside his ear.
"Elder Jia, you really can't blame me. I honestly don't know how to place soul restrictions. Otherwise, I really would've liked to keep you around."
Zhao Hao recalled the Ghost Bone Sword. Looking at the head on the ground, its eyes still wide in death, he softly added one final sentence.
"Elder Jia, remember to download an anti-fraud app in your next life."