That supremely arrogant voice boomed across the entire city like a thunderclap!
"Who dared lay a hand on my ghost pet?!"
Before the words had faded, a figure wreathed in dense ghostly qi stood in the sky above Blackstone City.
The newcomer wore black robes patterned with gold and held a ghastly white banner taller than himself. He unleashed the full pressure of his Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivation, making the very air throughout the city seem to freeze.
With a casual wave of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, ghostly figures swarmed across the sky!
The thin city-protecting formation that had just lit up overhead shattered like flimsy paper, unable to withstand even a single breath!
"Spare me, Senior!"
Inside the City Lord's Mansion, Li Song lay flat on the ground in terror, kowtowing repeatedly.
"Hmph. A herd of livestock raised for slaughter dares speak to me?"
The black-robed demonic cultivator sneered, his eyes brimming with cruelty.
"Very well. I'm in a foul mood today. I'll use the living souls of this entire city to make up for my loss!"
He swept the Ten Thousand Soul Banner fiercely through the air. A dense mass of ghostly figures poured out, blotting out the sky as he prepared to unleash a massacre.
"I'll start with you ants!"
The ghostly figures shrieked as they plunged from the sky, poised to turn the entire city into a realm of ghosts!
Now!
At the very instant the black-robed demonic cultivator activated his magical treasure and focused all his attention on it, Zhao Hao struck without hesitation!
He made no sound, but his actions were deadlier than any words!
Pushing his minor-accomplishment Sword Control Technique to its limit, he sent the Ghost Bone Sword, a low-grade second-tier spirit artifact, streaking forth as a pure black line. Without even a ringing note, it silently stabbed toward the black-robed demonic cultivator's back, straight for his heart!
"Hm?!"
The black-robed demonic cultivator instinctively sensed a deadly chill. Horrified, he forcibly interrupted his spell and shifted his body half an inch sideways at an impossible angle.
Squelch!
The black line flashed past.
The black-robed demonic cultivator's entire right arm, still holding the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, was severed cleanly at the shoulder. Blood sprayed wildly!
"Aah-! My arm!"
The excruciating pain drew a piercing scream from him.
Seeing this, Wu Tang and Sun Ze seized the once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity without the slightest hesitation!
The azure flying sword and blood-red flying wheel became two streaks of light, one on either side. Carrying fierce murderous intent, they instantly cut off every avenue of retreat!
"You're courting death!"
Shocked and furious, the black-robed demonic cultivator formed a hand seal with his left hand. A bone shield made of black qi instantly materialized before him, barely blocking their attacks.
Even so, the tremendous force sent him flying backward. His blood and qi churned, and he suffered internal injuries.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that this tiny mortal city would harbor three Foundation Establishment cultivators!
"Do you know who I am?!"
As the three surrounded him in a triangular formation, the black-robed demonic cultivator clutched his severed arm and roared, putting on a fierce front to hide his fear.
"I'm an inner disciple of the Ten Thousand Soul Hall! If you dare attack me again today, my sect's elders will hunt you to the ends of the earth! They'll extract your souls and refine your spirits, denying you rebirth for all eternity!"
The Ten Thousand Soul Hall!
At that name, the light of the azure flying sword beneath Wu Tang's feet faltered, and the blood-red flying wheel Sun Ze controlled slowed considerably.
That was the Ten Thousand Soul Hall! One of the three great demonic sects of the Northern Lands! A top-tier sect backed by a Nascent Soul True Lord!
Every disciple practiced secret ghost-path arts, employing bizarre methods. Worse, they were notorious for protecting their own and avenging even the slightest grievance! Provoking one was the same as stabbing a hornet's nest!
Wu Tang's heart tightened. He only wanted to attend the Alchemy Assembly on this journey, not invite such enormous trouble for no reason.
Sun Ze's eyes filled with terror. With his lifespan nearly exhausted, he had come seeking an opportunity, not death!
Seeing the wariness on their faces, the black-robed demonic cultivator felt reassured. Arrogance and viciousness returned to his expression.
"Scared now? Too late!"
"None of you three are leaving today!"
He believed he had successfully cowed them.
Yet, the instant his words fell silent-
In that brief breath while Wu Tang and Sun Ze hesitated-
A black sword light, faster and colder than before, swept past his eyes once more without the slightest warning.
The black-robed demonic cultivator's expression froze forever in that moment of shock and bewilderment.
His perfectly intact head flew into the sky.
His headless body remained suspended in midair for a breath before plummeting straight down.
Expressionless, Zhao Hao recalled the Ghost Bone Sword.
To him, once an enemy had become a mortal foe, only their death could ensure they kept his secrets.
But just as the headless corpse was about to hit the ground, something unexpected happened!
A bizarre, blood-red seal suddenly shot out from the crown of the corpse's head!
The seal moved at incredible speed, as though distance meant nothing to it. It traced a bloody line through the air and pierced straight through the protective spirit shield that had spontaneously formed around Zhao Hao!
Zhao Hao felt a chill against his chest. An intensely frigid aura branded itself into his flesh, clinging stubbornly like an abscess gnawing at the bone!
"The Soul-Chasing Seal! It's the Ten Thousand Soul Hall's Soul-Chasing Seal!"
Wu Tang's wariness suddenly turned to horror, and his shrill voice exploded above the City Lord's Mansion!
Sun Ze was so terrified that he retreated again and again, looking at Zhao Hao as though he were already dead.
"Fellow Daoist Zhao, you..."
Wu Tang's lips trembled. He abruptly pulled the pitch-black Heavenly Demon Contract scroll from his Storage Bag and forcibly poured spiritual power into it, disregarding the backlash!
"Anyone marked by this seal is doomed! The Ten Thousand Soul Hall's Golden Core elders will follow it here! Our contract is hereby void!"
The scroll exploded in his hands, turning to ash!
Having done this, Wu Tang did not even dare glance at Zhao Hao again, much less at the demonic cultivator's corpse and the magical artifacts scattered on the ground. He immediately took off on his flying sword, becoming a streak of azure light as he fled for his life without looking back!
Without another word, Sun Ze made the blood-red flying wheel beneath his feet flare with light and fled in panic in another direction, faster than he had ever moved in his life.
The allies who had fought shoulder to shoulder just a moment earlier scattered in an instant, terrified of having even the slightest connection to him.
In the blink of an eye, only Zhao Hao remained above the City Lord's Mansion, with a corpse on the ground that still retained a trace of warmth.
Zhao Hao lowered his head and pulled open the front of his robes.
A palm-sized, blood-red mark shaped like a vicious ghost was branded into his skin. It writhed faintly, radiating a bone-piercing chill that reached deep into his soul.
After a moment of silence, he slowly descended. He picked up the Ten Thousand Soul Banner and Storage Bag from the ground and put them away, then engulfed the corpse, severed arm, and fallen head with a Fireball Technique.
Once he had finished, he touched the mark on his chest, which seemed almost alive. Then his gaze settled on the pale golden screen that only he could see.
In the [Status] field, the words [Heavenly Demon Contract] had dimmed and vanished, replaced by a new and deadly entry.
[Soul-Chasing Seal].