Elder Jia, remember to download an anti-fraud app in your next life!

The mountain wind scraped past his ears, sharp as knives.

Zhao Hao's figure turned into a racing black line through the forest. The scenery beneath his feet flew backward at terrifying speed, and everything around him was thrown far behind.

When killing, one had to cut the weeds and pull up the roots.

He had understood that principle in his previous life.

Now, he had the ability to pull up the roots.

The newly upgraded high-grade Tracking Compass glimmered faintly in his palm, like a compass that demanded lives. The point of light representing Jia Ren remained outrageously clear even from a hundred li away.

An hour later, Zhao Hao's figure came to an abrupt stop before an utterly unremarkable mountain hollow.

Jagged rocks littered the place, the grass and trees were sparse, and the spiritual energy was pitifully thin.

Jia Ren did know how to pick a place.

Zhao Hao's divine sense spread out soundlessly, instantly enveloping the entire mountain hollow. Very quickly, it locked onto an inward-sunken stone wall.

Behind the stone wall, an extremely faint aura that was still struggling at death's door was working hard to recover.

Found him.

Zhao Hao did not waste a single word, nor did he have any intention of probing.

The liquid spiritual energy inside his body surged with a boom, madly pouring into the Ghost Bone Dagger in his palm!

Bzzz—!

The second-tier low-grade spiritual weapon let out a deep hum. Its black blade instantly swelled to more than three feet long, and a sharp, chilling aura shot into the sky!

"Break!"

Zhao Hao raised his hand and pointed. The Ghost Bone Dagger transformed into a streak of pure black lightning, tearing through the air as it chopped down viciously toward that stone wall!

Rumble!!!

The mountain collapsed and the earth split!

The entire mountain hollow shook violently. Shattered rocks pierced the air, and smoke and dust soared into the sky.

That stone wall, together with the mountain behind it, was forcibly blasted by this one strike into a terrifying pit several zhang deep!

"You go too far!"

A furious roar, flustered and exasperated yet lacking in strength, rang out from within the spreading smoke and dust.

Immediately after, a wretched figure scrambled out from the bottom of the pit, rolling and crawling.

It was Jia Ren!

At this moment, how could he still have even the slightest trace of the dignity of an elder deacon?

His whole body was covered in blood. The severed wound at his left shoulder had been messily wrapped with torn cloth, his face was as pale as a ghost, and blood was still seeping from the hole in the back of his spell robe. His aura had weakened to the extreme.

Clearly, Zhao Hao's thunderous strike had only added injury to injury.

When he saw Zhao Hao suspended in midair, looking down at him with the expression one used to look at a dead man, that deathly pale face was instantly replaced by boundless terror.

He had actually caught up!

How was that possible! He had clearly used the Blood Escape Art three times in a row!

Seeing his miserable state, Zhao Hao was instead in no hurry to act.

His eyes shifted slightly, his Adam's apple bobbed, and the voice he produced became low and hoarse, like an evil ghost crawling out of the Nine Nether Hells.

"You learned this Venerable One's secret, and you thought... you could escape?"

The voice was not loud, but it was like an ice awl, stabbing hard into the depths of Jia Ren's soul.

Jia Ren's entire body shook violently, and the last trace of blood drained completely from his face.

It really was an old monster who had seized a body!

He had guessed right, and he was dead for certain!

The last shred of hope in his heart shattered completely. His legs went weak, and with a "thud," he actually dropped straight to his knees.

"Se-Senior, spare my life!"

Jia Ren's voice trembled beyond recognition. His head knocked again and again against the hard broken stones, making dull thuds.

"This junior was blind and failed to recognize Mount Tai, offending Senior! This junior is willing to make compensation. I am willing to swear a great heart-demon oath that I will never reveal the slightest news about Senior in this life! I beg Senior to spare my life!"

His posture was humble to the point of being ground into the dust, but in truth, he was still keeping himself on guard.

Zhao Hao hovered in midair, his face without the slightest ripple, while he sneered inwardly.

A great heart-demon oath? To a demonic cultivator, what difference was that thing from a fart?

"Your oath is not worth a single coin before This Seat's grand plan to seize a body and cultivate anew."

Zhao Hao continued using that old-monster tone, unhurriedly pronouncing judgment.

"However, This Seat has only just returned, and it just so happens that I lack a servant at my side to run errands and handle matters."

"Open your sea of consciousness and let This Seat plant a restriction. This Seat may yet leave you a path to live."

The moment those words were spoken, Jia Ren, kneeling on the ground, visibly stiffened.

Open his sea of consciousness and have a restriction planted?

How was that any different from handing his vital gate, completely and utterly, into someone else's hands?

From then on, life and death would rest in the other party's every thought. It would be worse than being a dog!

A trace of struggle and unwillingness flashed through his eyes.

Zhao Hao took every change in his expression in, but he did not urge him.

Even a cornered dog would leap over a wall.

Jia Ren was greedy, afraid of death, and extremely selfish. He also did not know whether the man had any powerful means of counterattack.

If he wanted him to submit willingly, he had to give him a little sweetness, paint him a grand pie he simply could not refuse.

Zhao Hao cleared his throat, his tone shifting, carrying a bit of lofty "bestowal."

"If you are willing to honor This Venerable One as master, This Venerable One can not only use a secret art to make this severed arm of yours regrow."

As he spoke, Zhao Hao raised his hand, and Jia Ren's severed arm flew up out of thin air, landing before him.

"Moreover, when This Seat once roamed unhindered across the Northern Lands, so-called Golden Cores were nothing more than souls beneath This Seat's sword. A few trifling cultivation insights—giving you a pointer or two would be no difficult matter."

"To let you... glimpse the great Dao of the Golden Core, what of it?"

The great Dao of the Golden Core!

Those four words were like a divine thunderbolt from the ninth heaven, striking Jia Ren's heart viciously!

He jerked his head up and stared fixedly at Zhao Hao. In those death-gray eyes, a mad flame ignited in an instant!

The great Dao of the Golden Core!

This... this was something he would not even dare dream of!

In his agitation, he even felt the pain of his injuries lessen by quite a bit.

"Senior... are those words true?!" His voice shrieked hoarsely, like a dying beast that had seen hope of survival.

Zhao Hao laughed inwardly, but his face remained utterly indifferent.

"Hmph. Would This Venerable One deceive a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like you?"

Jia Ren's breathing became incomparably heavy, his chest heaving violently.

Reason told him this might be a trap.

But that gate leading to the Golden Core was far too tempting!

He was only a three-spirit-root cultivator. He had climbed to the Foundation Establishment Early Stage only by relying on countless vicious methods and luck. If he had no heaven-defying opportunity in this life, the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage would be his end.

Now, a "senior" who might be a Golden Core, or even a Nascent Soul old monster, had personally promised to lead him onto the great Dao of the Golden Core!

He would bet on it!

Wealth and honor were sought amid danger!

Jia Ren suddenly gritted his teeth, an incomparably fanatical and respectful expression appearing on his face, and kowtowed heavily once more.

"I am willing to honor Senior as master! To serve Senior like dog and horse, to bend my back and exhaust myself, unto death and only then cease!"

After saying this, he truly closed his eyes, tilted his head up slightly, and completely opened the defenses of his sea of consciousness, looking as though he would let the other do as he pleased.

Now!

A cold glint flashed through Zhao Hao's eyes.

The hovering Ghost Bone Dagger traced an almost imperceptible arc and swept past without a sound.

Pfft—

The sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh was so faint it was nearly inaudible.

Jia Ren's body suddenly stiffened, and his eyes flew open, filled with astonishment and confusion.

His vision spun heaven and earth around.

He saw his own headless body still kneeling on the ground. At the neck, a fountain of blood was shooting into the sky.

He opened his mouth, as if wanting to ask, "Why?"

A clear young man's voice sounded beside his ear.

"Elder Jia, you really can't blame me. I genuinely don't know any soul restrictions. Otherwise, I really would've wanted to keep you around for a wave."

Zhao Hao withdrew the Ghost Bone Sword, looked at the head on the ground that had died with its eyes still open, and softly added the final sentence.

"Elder Jia, in your next life, remember to download an anti-fraud app."