The two gaunt elders cupped their hands in obedience and withdrew from the hall with utmost deference.
Only after traveling several miles from the temple and reaching a sinister, luxuriant old locust tree did they remove their hoods.
One had crimson hair and a crimson beard, which billowed like blazing flames in the chilling wind.
The other had brows shaped like lightning bolts and dark purple eyes, making him look even more vicious and brutal.
"This brat moves mysteriously and leaves few traces. And to kill over three hundred soul slaves in just a few months, he must possess some Unusual Art."
The red-haired elder said gravely, "We must first find his hiding place, or we may well suffer at his hands too."
"What's so difficult about that?"
The purple-eyed elder gave a dismissive snort.
"We need only join forces to cast the Thousand-Mile Soul-Searching Art and drag that rat out."
"I refuse to believe a mere outsider can overturn heaven and earth."
Having reached an agreement, the two sat cross-legged on the ground and pressed their palms together.
Both had reached the spirit transformation middle stage and could manipulate heaven and earth power at will.
At a thought from the purple-eyed elder, a mass of inky black mist first floated into the air.
Then it spread in every direction at tremendous speed.
In an instant, dark clouds shrouded the sky for thousands of miles around.
The red-haired elder condensed a flickering crimson fireball between his palms and casually tossed it into the air.
The fireball sank into the dark clouds like a clay ox entering the sea, vanishing without a trace.
But the next second, pairs of scarlet eyes slowly opened amid the thousand-mile expanse of Dark Clouds blotting out the sun.
Tens of thousands of pairs of eyes