"I heard Blood Rain Demon Venerable gathered five peerlessly beautiful female disciples, each astonishingly talented and possessed of a divine physique rarely seen. If I could drain every last drop of their blood essence, my strength would surely increase tremendously."
"Those wandering ghosts think they can swallow the world, but what they don't know is that they're still far too weak compared to me."
The man sneered, his white robes rippling, a hint of arrogance taking shape on his face.
Then he raised his head toward the heavens, looking at the sky's rolling dark clouds. As though he could already see the future, he murmured softly.
"Half a month! In half a month, once Kyoto's cultivation assembly begins, the calamity will begin its descent, and Kyoto will become a forbidden land. That will be my opportunity. I certainly won't let it slip away."
"Blood Rain Demon Venerable is nothing but an ant in the end."
Sneering, he gradually dissolved into a mist of blood, slowly dispersing into the night. Before long, he had vanished completely into the depths of the darkness.
The black-robed men disappeared along with him.
After they had all left, the Minister of Rites' residence seemed to regain its former bustle.
Madam, Miss, Madam...
All of them moved endlessly through the residence like walking corpses, their faces expressionless, waves of putrid stench emanating from their bodies.
Some read, some swept the corridors, and others cultivated. Everything looked as though nothing had happened, yet that eerie feeling only made one's hair stand further on end.
Kyoto, upon Jade Lake.
Red candles flickered.
A painted pleasure boat sailed steadily across the lake.
The red light rippled like ghostly shadows, lending everything an even colder air.
The pleasure boat had an antique elegance, its surface carved with numerous patterns,