"N-no... that can't be, can it? Second Elder, you... you're joking, right?"
When the tall, thin old man heard the cry of alarm from the man beside him, the fury on his face froze. He turned his head stiffly toward the short, stout old man and asked in a trembling voice.
His eyes remained fixed on the short, stout old man's fleshy face, searching for some hint that he was joking. To his disappointment, however, the utter horror on that face showed no sign of being feigned, and his heart promptly sank to the bottom of a ravine.
Over the years, almost every major event on the Northwest Continent had been sparked by the Netherworld Hall. As one of the continent's most powerful Dou Zun factions, the Heavenly Snake Mansion naturally could not have ignored these developments.
In particular, the Netherworld Hall's Hall Master, Ghost Soul Venerable, had once displayed terrifying might, single-handedly slaughtering all the strongest combatants of the major factions besieging the Netherworld Hall. Even their Dou Zun experts had been no exception. When that news spread, the entire Northwest Continent fell silent.
At first, many people had refused to believe it. That allied army had marched forth so aggressively, its ranks a terrifying sight, its members capable of destroying cities and annihilating nations with a mere gesture. Yet a single Ghost Soul Venerable had slaughtered every last one of them!
Only after the Netherworld Hall seized the headquarters of those invading factions with the speed of thunder that left no time to cover one's ears had everyone been forced to accept reality. For a time, all the Northwest Continent's leading factions felt an emotion called fear toward the Netherworld Hall's Hall Master, Ghost Soul Venerable, whom they had never even met.
Back then, the Mansion Master of