The Medicine King and the Calamity Ancestor

The commission Bai Luo had chosen was not a traditional one.

It was a joint commission.

It came from a remote town in the Star Luo Empire called Qingshan Town.

On the surface, it looked like an utterly ordinary town.

But it had a rule unknown to outsiders.

Every year.

Earl Wang, one of Qingshan Town's upper-class figures, would bring people to select suitable candidates.

He claimed it was to train them.

At first, the ordinary townsfolk of Qingshan Town naturally had no doubts about the goodwill shown by this noble imperial earl.

They rushed to send their children away, hoping for a chance to change their fate and bring glory to their ancestors.

But without exception.

None of those chosen "lucky ones" ever returned after being taken away.

The people Earl Wang sent would always respond, "His Lordship is currently guiding them in further studies and has no time to spare."

There were hardly any soul masters in Qingshan Town.

So they knew nothing about how true soul masters cultivated.

They only thought that the cultivation of such lofty soul masters might indeed be this busy.

But day after day.

More than ten years passed, yet not a single "lucky one" had ever returned.

This inevitably began to shake the faith of the townsfolk who had once trusted the earl completely.

Especially the families of those "lucky ones" who had been taken away.

In the end, they could not suppress the fear in their hearts and began investigating in secret.

And that investigation really did uncover a few clues.

But whenever they tried to follow those clues further.

Everything would always come to an abrupt halt at a crucial moment.

As though an invisible hand had erased everything beyond that point.

Despite all their efforts, the isolated and powerless townsfolk still found nothing.

They were nearly despairing.

Then, by chance, they heard of the Life Association.

Clinging to their last hope.

They sought out the Life Association.

After a series of investigations, the association had more or less reconstructed the full truth of the matter.

All Bai Luo had to do now was wrap everything up.

The moon was dark and the wind high.

In the silent night, cicadas occasionally chirped.

Rustle, rustle...

Before the brightly lit earl's manor.

No one noticed that, at some point, a black-robed figure had arrived before the manor under the cover of night.

Beneath the emerald mask.

Bai Luo's gaze rested on the entrance to the earl's manor.

His figure was like a ghost.

Silently, like ink spreading through water, he melted into the darkness.

The guards at the entrance, slacking off on duty, had no idea that someone had entered the manor right beneath their noses.

Inside a central room of the earl's manor.

The clinking of cups and the sounds of drinking rose one after another.

A bloated man in luxurious brocade robes had his arms around two seductive women dressed revealingly, their pale skin exposed in large swaths.

His fat palms roamed up and down.

His face wore a nauseatingly greasy, lecherous smile.

"This year's tributes are almost all here."

"After that, I'll have to trouble you, sir."

The fat man looked at the man before him.

A young man sat opposite him.

His face was pale as paper.

His features were gaunt.

The cheekbones on both sides of his face protruded sharply.

An unsettlingly cold aura surrounded him.

The young man withdrew his hand from the chest of the woman pouring drinks beside him and curled his lips into a smile.

"Rest assured, Earl Wang."

"Once we receive the tributes, we will do our part."

"We've been working together for more than ten years. Does Earl Wang still doubt our credibility?"

"Of course not!" Earl Wang burst into laughter.

The reason he had made it this far.

This fellow had contributed quite a bit.

Those political rivals who had stood in his way had all been secretly eliminated by these people.

To Earl Wang.

This deal could not have been more worthwhile.

This fellow dealt with his political enemies, while all he had to pay were some "children" gathered from various places—children who had nothing to do with him.

"The number of tributes has increased again this time. I'm sure you'll be satisfied, sir."

Earl Wang chuckled.

As if he were not speaking of living, breathing children.

But merely cattle and sheep awaiting slaughter.

"I am looking forward to it."

The young man's tongue lightly swept across his lips.

Thinking of the taste of those fresh souls, he could not help savoring the memory.

"Unfortunately, you won't live to see it."

A cold voice, as if from hell itself.

Rang through the room without warning.

The sudden change made Earl Wang and the young man, still intoxicated by lust and alcohol, shudder from head to toe.

Earl Wang roared in fury.

"Who is it?!"

The pale-faced young man said nothing. His gaze remained fixed on a certain spot in the room.

At some unknown point, a faceless figure had appeared there.

Half-reclining on the sofa.

His hands folded together.

He looked so relaxed and at ease, as though he had returned home.

The pale-faced young man's expression grew grave.

To appear here without him noticing at all...

This person was strong!

He slightly cupped his hands.

"I am Zhang Tao, Blood Soul of the Holy Spirit Cult. May I ask your name?"

Zhang Tao watched Bai Luo warily.

He deliberately invoked the Holy Spirit Cult, hoping to make him think twice.

"The Holy Spirit Cult?"

"So it really is you rats lurking in the gutters."

"I am the Calamity Ancestor. It does not matter if you do not know me."

"You only need to understand one thing."

"Today, your lives are mine."

Bai Luo's tone did not fluctuate in the slightest.

It was as though he were merely stating something utterly simple.

"The Calamity Ancestor..."

Upon hearing those two words, Zhang Tao suddenly thought of something. His pupils abruptly contracted.

His voice trembled slightly.

"You're the leader of the Life Association!"

If the title of the young divine physician, the Medicine King, was renowned across the continent in the open.

Then the name Longevity Plague Calamity Ancestor was thunderous throughout the underworld.

He was the mysterious existence who had single-handedly founded the Life Association, the most unusual assassin organization in the underworld.

He was famed throughout the underworld for his bizarre methods of killing.

When the Calamity Ancestor killed, no blood was ever spilled.

After he killed someone, the scene usually held neither pools of blood nor gruesome corpses and remains.

There would only be strange golden plants.

Beautiful and bewitching.

Thus, the underworld had another name for him.

Death's Planter.

Quite a few evil soul masters of the Holy Spirit Cult had died at this man's hands.

Several of Zhang Tao's friends within the Holy Spirit Cult had been killed by him.

He had seen the "plants" left behind at those scenes.

No, they were not plants at all!

They were demonic trees that sprouted from seeds within their bodies, feeding on their lives and souls as nourishment and soil.

The experts in the cult who specialized in souls had said.

Those demonic trees still retained remnants of the souls within them.

Though they would gradually dissipate.

In other words, for some time after being turned into plants, those people still had awareness!

They had awareness, yet could take no substantive action.

They could only clearly feel their souls slowly fade away.

Watching death draw closer and closer in terror.

Such methods.

Were simply even more evil than those of evil soul masters!