Grass! He Slaughtered Cities, and the Karma Fell on My Head?

Seven li beneath the earth, all was silent.

[Status: Entangled by Causal Karma]

A line of tiny characters, red as blood, had appeared in the status panel at some unknown time, radiating an ominous aura that seeped into his very bones.

Causality? Karmic Retribution?

Zhao Hao's mind buzzed.

He had been hiding deep underground, cut off from the world. How had he somehow become entangled with something so mysterious and profound?

Could it have something to do with the Ten Thousand Soul Hall disciple he had killed ten days ago?

Damn it!

But he had clearly cleaned everything up without leaving a trace. Even the Soul-Chasing Seal had been destroyed through the system. How could this still have happened?

A chill shot from the soles of Zhao Hao's feet straight to the crown of his head. This feeling of having absolutely no control was a hundred times more terrifying than any visible enemy!

No, he had to go out and take a look!

He used the Earth Escape Art, silently passing through thick layers of rock and soil before returning to the surface.

The first thing he did was head for Blackstone City.

Half an hour later, when Zhao Hao emerged from the earth dozens of li away, he spotted numerous birds circling above Blackstone City from afar.

There was no cooking smoke, no human voices.

Dead silence.

His figure swiftly approached, stopping one li outside the city gates. His divine sense cautiously extended into the city.

The next moment, even though he was accustomed to the bloodshed of the Demonic Sect, his stomach still churned violently.

There was not a single living person in the city.

The peddlers by the streets had fallen while still holding their goods out for sale, their eyes unclosed.

Inside the taverns, diners lay sprawled across the floor, and the wine in the cups on their tables had not even gone cold.

Having witnessed the Extreme Yin Sect's soul-extraction scenes before, Zhao Hao understood that everyone's souls had been taken.

"What a madman..."

Zhao Hao's voice was somewhat hoarse.

After failing to find him, that pursuer from the Ten Thousand Soul Hall had actually gone mad and slaughtered an entire city!

That was tens of thousands of lives!

At this moment, he finally understood exactly where that bloody line of [Entangled by Causal Karma] on his system panel had come from.

He was no saint, nor had he ever considered himself a good man.

But tens of thousands of living beings had died because of his involvement. This black pot weighed heavily upon him, leaving him almost unable to breathe.

That was not the crucial part.

The most crucial part was that when he advanced in cultivation later on, this Karmic Retribution representing monstrous slaughter might get him struck dead by heavenly tribulation!

"Fuck!"

Zhao Hao cursed under his breath, the frustration and fury in his heart nearly bursting forth.

"He killed those people, and the Karmic Retribution got pinned on my head? Is there any fucking justice in this world?!"

After thinking it over briefly, he placed the Yin Soul Nail spell into the enhancement slot. Sure enough, the Material Slot allowed him to select Karmic Retribution.

When he tried selecting Karmic Retribution, the enhancement success rate of one million gave Zhao Hao quite a fright.

This Karmic Retribution was actually a good thing. Better keep it for now, keep it for now.

He could no longer remain in Blackstone City.

He did not dare fly toward Ten Thousand Immortal City as originally planned. Heaven knew whether that Golden Core demonic cultivator had set up some backup measures along the way.

After a moment's consideration, he changed direction and flew toward the territory controlled by Thousand Buddha Temple.

His cultivation method had now been completely replaced, and his body was filled with pure Li Fire Power, without the slightest trace of the Demonic Sect's cold yin aura. Going to righteous territory might actually be safer.

Three days later.

A large market called "Qiandu" bustled with voices and activity.

Wearing a mask and suppressing his cultivation to the seventh level of Qi Refining, Zhao Hao blended into the crowd and entered an immortal tavern.

He needed intelligence.

He had just found a seat in a corner when the conversation of several cultivators at the neighboring table drifted over.

"Have you heard? That 'City-Destroying Demon' has finally been executed!" A bearded man gulped down a mouthful of wine and lowered his voice, though he could not hide his excitement.

"Really? That demon was a Golden Core powerhouse!"

"Absolutely true! Wuxiang Buddha Son of Thousand Buddha Temple personally took action!"

The bearded man wore an expression of reverence. "My brother-in-law was in Anyang City and saw it with his own eyes!"

"That day, black clouds pressed down upon the city, while ghosts wailed and spirits howled. The entire city thought it was doomed!"

"Then Wuxiang Buddha Son descended from the heavens, with a hundred-zhang vajra behind him. With one palm strike, he blasted that demon until his soul scattered and spirit dispersed!"

"Glory to the Buddha Son!"

Cheers erupted throughout the tavern.

Holding his teacup, Zhao Hao perked up.

The City-Destroying Demon? He sounded like a scourge. It was best that he was dead.

Zhao Hao pricked up his ears and kept listening.

As the cultivators at the next table spoke, one horrifying massacre after another was pieced together.

Over the past half month, a Golden Core demonic cultivator had apparently gone insane. From the border of the Northern Lands, he had traveled westward, slaughtering seven mortal cities and two cultivation markets in succession. More than a million living beings had died by his hand!

Wait...

Westward all the way?

Zhao Hao's heart skipped a beat.

Why did that route vaguely overlap with the route he had previously planned?

The Karmic Retribution on his panel was so red it had turned black, as though blood might drip from it. This was not something that could come from killing the mortals of one city, unless...

Unless the Causality Law of those million living beings had also become entangled with him!

The moment that thought arose, even the hand holding Zhao Hao's teacup became unsteady.

"Thank goodness he's dead. Good that he's dead..."

He could only console himself this way. As long as the greatest threat had vanished, he would still have room to maneuver.

Yet just as that thought emerged, an even deadlier question made goosebumps explode across his skin.

Buddha Son... Thousand Buddha Temple...

Now that he was carrying Karmic Retribution so dense it was almost tangible, coming to Thousand Buddha Temple's territory was no different from walking straight into the muzzle of a gun, was it?

What if he ran into another eminent Buddhist monk? The man would take one look and think, Well, well, here's a walking collection of a million karmic burdens. Then, without another word, he would purify Zhao Hao with a Great Might Heavenly Dragon. Who would he even complain to then?

No! Absolutely not!

The territory of Thousand Buddha Temple was now even more dangerous than a dragon's pool or a tiger's den!

Zhao Hao instantly overturned his previous decision.

The only place left for him was Ten Thousand Immortal City, where no Golden Core demon had established a blockade!

That neutral immortal city, where righteous and demonic cultivators lived together and Nascent Soul ancestors stood watch, was instead his best haven from the storm.

There, as long as one had spirit stones, no one would care whether one was bathed in Buddhist light or Entangled by Causal Karma.

Having made up his mind, Zhao Hao tossed down several spirit stones and rose to leave without lingering for even a moment.

Meanwhile.

Outside a colossal city even grander and more prosperous than Anyang Market.

Ten Thousand Immortal City.

A stream of people flowed endlessly through the city gates.

Righteous cultivators, demonic titans, Rogue Cultivator laborers—people of every kind gathered here, yet all obeyed this place's sole rule: private fighting was forbidden within the city.

A young cultivator with an ordinary face, dressed in the most common azure robe, slowly entered through the gates with the crowd.

He appeared to be only around twenty years old, and his cultivation had merely just stabilized at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. There was nothing remarkable about him.

He paid the entry fee and received a temporary identity token, remaining silent and obedient throughout the process.

However, when he raised his head and looked toward the towering pavilion that reached into the clouds, known as Hundred Treasures Pavilion, a flash of resentment and hatred seeped from the depths of his bones into those clear eyes that should have belonged to a young man—hatred entirely at odds with both his identity and age.

"Zhao..."

"Bald donkeys of Thousand Buddha Temple..."

Li Mingyuan, reborn through possession, enunciated these two names word by word in a voice only he could hear.

He withdrew his gaze and buried all his hatred deep within, blending into the crowd. His figure soon vanished amid the prosperity of Ten Thousand Immortal City.