Spirit Realm.
Near the borders of human territory, across a vast stretch of sea.
Alien beings with human upper bodies and fish tails floated on the surface. Blood spilled from them, dyeing the surrounding waters crimson.
A blood cloud hung in the sky. Within it stood a black-robed alien, his face concealed and even his aura murky. He held a Blood-Jade Soul Banner and formed hand seals, sending spell after spell into its surface.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Countless streams of black qi formed whirlpools across the banner, drawing in the souls of the Mirror-Scaled Fish Clan one after another.
Nor did he stop at their souls. He changed his hand seal, and in an instant, the blood-red seawater began to boil.
Droplets of blood were refined from it and rose into the air like rain falling upward. They streamed toward him like a waterspout and vanished into the gourd in his hand.
"Good... As expected of the Mirror-Scaled Fish Clan. Born close to water, with such rich bloodline power... If I find a few more tribes, perhaps I'll have enough for that 'pseudo-immortal artifact'?"
The black-robed alien muttered to himself. His figure suddenly shifted, and the light and shadows around him changed, dreamlike and illusory.
Swish, swish, swish!
Three streaks of waterlight appeared. Mirrors rose on every side, forming a gleaming palace that seemed carved from ice crystals.
But the black-robed alien had already vanished.
Several Profound Insight cultivators of the Mirror-Scaled Fish Clan appeared above the crystal Mirror Palace. The scales on the leader's tail were azure, threaded with gold and radiating a brilliant halo. At the sight of the countless shriveled corpses of his kin below, he roared, "What outsider dares slaughter my people?"
"Heh, heh... Three Profound Insight cultivators. One at the late stage, two at the early