Immeasurable Mountain, Clear Breeze Temple.
It was a cultivation force with a modest reputation within a hundred-mile radius.
Although the temple had only one Foundation Establishment cultivator, it was still a Foundation Establishment force.
Life was much easier for it than for those Qi Refining forces without even a single Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Clear Breeze Temple had several dozen disciples, each assigned a few plots of spirit farmland to tend. At harvest time, aside from the share handed over as tribute, they could also earn a relatively generous reward.
At that moment, peace reigned within the temple.
Disciples throughout the temple were busy with their own affairs.
Some were cultivating.
Some were tending the spirit farmland.
Some sat discussing the Dao, sharing their experiences in practicing cultivation methods.
The atmosphere of an immortal sanctuary pervaded Immeasurable Mountain.
"Second Senior Brother, don't forget what you promised me. Help water my spirit farmland when you return. You're the only one in the whole temple who's cultivated the Cloud and Rain Instruction to the sixth layer, so yours works best."
Chen Ling responded with a smile.
"Of course, of course!"
"Cultivate diligently, Junior Sister, and strive to reach the Qi Refining Ninth Layer soon. Your senior brother is off!"
With that said,
his tall, straight figure stepped onto the Cloud Mat Law Artifact, which slowly lifted him into the air and carried him west of Clear Breeze Temple.
When he had traveled roughly ten miles, terrifying waves of pressure suddenly descended from the sky, enveloping Chen Ling.
The Spiritual Power within him immediately churned, and the Cloud Mat beneath his feet swayed from side to side, nearly slipping beyond his control.
"This junior is Chen Ling of Clear Breeze Temple. I do not know which senior I have offended, but please do not hold it against me!"
He had barely finished speaking when a streak of light suddenly shot toward him.
Still bent in a bow, Chen Ling had not even raised his head before it rolled off his neck.
Immediately afterward, three black-robed figures riding flying swords appeared beside his corpse.
"Zhaoran, take the disciples and seal off the area around Clear Breeze Temple. Don't let any fish slip through the net."
"Haocheng, the two of us will charge straight up the mountain. Finish this quickly. Don't linger too long and risk exposing our movements or inviting unnecessary trouble."
Cultivators dressed in black robes silently appeared around Immeasurable Mountain.
Two of them rode their swords straight to the summit, directly above Clear Breeze Temple.
They wasted no words.
They immediately unleashed their flying swords, mercilessly cutting down every sign of life their Divine Sense detected.
Terrified screams rang out, rousing the sole Foundation Establishment cultivator cultivating in seclusion within the temple, who was also its master.
Li Yunzhou.
He immediately rose and rushed outside, releasing his Divine Sense.
He soon witnessed a sight that nearly split his eyes with rage.
Corpses lay strewn across the ground, their blood staining the earth red.
In their eyes,
there was bewilderment, despair, unwillingness, terror, and the agony of yearning to live yet being unable to.
"Aah!!!"
Rage consumed Li Yunzhou, and he let out a hysterical roar.
"Who!"
"Who did this!"
"Who did this!"
Reaching the outside, he looked up and saw the culprits behind it all.
They stood on flying swords, the hallmark of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
They wore black robes that blocked Divine Sense probes, hiding their heads and tails, not daring to show themselves openly.
Li Yunzhou guessed their identities.
They were clearly shameless bandit cultivators from some ostensibly righteous force that secretly slaughtered sects and lineages!
They were even more hateful than demons.
He had never imagined they would set their sights on Clear Breeze Temple.
The smell of blood filled Clear Breeze Temple, flooding Li Yunzhou's nostrils. Even with powerful enemies before him, he felt no fear.
For he already intended to die.
The force he had spent a century building
had vanished into nothing overnight. What meaning was there in surviving alone?
But even if he died,
he would tear a chunk of flesh from the murderers.
"Aah, die!"
A flying sword laden with boundless hatred pierced the sky. The might radiating from its blade was extraordinarily powerful, even exceeding what someone at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage should have been able to unleash.
"This madman actually burned his essence and foundation outright."
"Hmph, courting death. I have no time to waste tangling with you. Die!"
As one of the black-robed figures finished speaking, a dagger suddenly appeared behind Li Yunzhou and pierced his Dantian Qi sea while he was utterly unprepared.
A force erupted within him, churning his internal organs to pieces.
Li Yunzhou died on the spot.
His signs of life vanished.
The flying sword, now bereft of control, fell helplessly from the sky.
After using the lineage's treasured weapon to easily slay Clear Breeze Temple's master, Wang Haochang began pouring Spiritual Power into the dagger, repeatedly striking a very unusual spot within its internal space.
Then the rust-covered dagger suddenly became suffused with blood-red color.
It grew even more uncanny.
Then it slowly rose into the air.
A powerful suction erupted from within it.
Blood flowed upward from the corpses and the ground, pouring toward the dagger.
The sight looked exceedingly eerie.
Like the methods of demons.
The origins of the uncanny dagger in Wang Haochang's hand seemed to be revealing their first clues...
"I can handle things here alone. Go help Zhaoran clean up the battlefield. Once the lineage's treasured weapon finishes drinking the blood, we'll leave immediately and return to the lineage."
A thief had the guiltiest conscience.
Wang Haochang did not want to remain on Immeasurable Mountain a moment longer.
He wanted to return to the Wang Household as soon as possible.
And once again become the patriarch of a righteous immortal lineage.
Upon receiving the order, Wang Haofeng immediately descended. Together with Wang Zhaoran and the lineage disciples arriving from outside Immeasurable Mountain, he collected the belongings left on Clear Breeze Temple's dead disciples, then searched the rest of the temple for its treasury.
Destroying Clear Breeze Temple this time
would not only strengthen the dagger's might but also yield the accumulated wealth of a Foundation Establishment force built up over nearly a century.
It was an enormous windfall, killing two birds with one stone.
Wang Haofeng had been the first to propose this affair and bring it about.
Initially, however, Wang Haochang had disagreed. He felt that this act was no different from the devil path, tantamount to dragging the entire Wang Household into the ranks of devil cultivators.
It would be fine if they were not exposed.
But once exposed, they would surely provoke the entire cultivation world into attacking them together.
The Wang Household's only possible fate would be to turn to ash and smoke.
In truth, Wang Haofeng had merely offered a suggestion, and his heart had been deeply conflicted as well.
Yet the pressure from the Lu Household ultimately drove him and Patriarch Wang Haochang down the bandit cultivator's road of no return.
First, to strengthen the dagger; second, to seize resources.
Thus, the relatively weak Clear Breeze Temple became the first unlucky victim they chose.
The Wang Household's people searched all of Immeasurable Mountain.
Meanwhile, the blood-red dagger had drained all the dead Clear Breeze Temple cultivators into desiccated corpses.
It returned to its previous appearance.
Holding it in his hand and carefully sensing it, Wang Haochang involuntarily curled his lips into a chilling smile.
"Just as I thought, a bloodthirsty dagger needs to drink blood!"
Once there was a first time, there would be a second.
Since they had chosen this road,
there was no room to turn back.
Wang Haochang might still have harbored illusions before, but now his demonic nature had been fully drawn out.
In the future, it would spiral beyond control.
This time, it was Clear Breeze Temple.
Who knew which unlucky force would be next?
But one thing was certain: the Lu Household would be among them.
The Lu Household had ambushed and surrounded their Wang Household's Foundation Establishment elder to kill him, and seized half the resources of Mystic Wood Forest. They had long since given themselves cause to die.
After committing the slaughter, the black-robed figures soon vanished from Immeasurable Mountain.
News of Clear Breeze Temple's destruction only spread a day later.
Quite a few people went to investigate the scene.
After seeing the desiccated corpses strewn across the ground, two words involuntarily surfaced in their minds.
"Devil cultivators!"
It looked like the work of devil cultivators, but whether they truly were devil cultivators could only be known by finding the culprits.
Clear Breeze Temple's superior sect was the Spirit Creek Sect, a Golden Core force comparable in strength to the Crimson Firmament Sect.
Upon receiving the news, the Spirit Creek Sect immediately dispatched several Foundation Establishment cultivators to investigate.
They searched for traces but found nothing.
Whoever had acted had somehow severed all traces.
This was actually thanks to the dagger as well.
Without a diamond drill, who would dare take on porcelain work?
Wang Haochang was an old fox who placed great importance on playing it safe.
The entire Wang Household was now celebrating. Having just completed a major piece of business, everyone in the lineage had received resources as a reward.
Wang Haofeng, whose face had previously been full of worry, was now brimming with confidence.
The Lu Household could no longer put him under pressure.
As the dagger grew ever stronger, the Lu Household would soon become the next Clear Breeze Temple.
News of Clear Breeze Temple's destruction also reached the Lu Household.
Alarm bells immediately rang in Lu Changfeng's heart.
The attackers were suspected devil cultivators. Devil cultivators were called such not only because they practiced devil-path cultivation methods, but even more because most strengthened themselves through slaughter.
Such beings would not reason with you at all.
An encounter with them meant a fight to the death.
Clear Breeze Temple was not far away. If they set their sights on the Lu Household...
The main issue was that Lu Changgeng and Lu Xuanming had gone to Spirit Spring Market. The Lu Household currently had only him and Little Chenxing as its two Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Their defensive strength was insufficient.
A faint unease arose in Lu Changfeng's heart. Unable to settle down and cultivate, he simply stopped for the time being and spread his Divine Sense over the surrounding area, monitoring all directions in real time.
This continued until Lu Changgeng and Lu Xuanming returned five days later.
"What? Clear Breeze Temple was destroyed by devil cultivators?" Lu Changgeng cried out upon hearing the news.
Lu Xuanming also sighed with emotion.
"A force that developed for nearly a century, gone just like that. Alas!"
"Has the Spirit Creek Sect found any trace of the devil cultivators?"
Lu Changfeng shook his head slightly.
"The attackers probably had some means of erasing their traces. It might also be that the Spirit Creek Sect didn't place much importance on Clear Breeze Temple, so they didn't investigate with all their strength."
Among Foundation Establishment forces, Clear Breeze Temple likely belonged to the weakest group.
What sort of existence was the Spirit Creek Sect?
It had three Golden Core True Persons.
Sending people to investigate after a subordinate sect was destroyed was already more than decent of them, yet they were supposed to devote all their efforts to it?
How could that be possible!
After destroying Clear Breeze Temple, the devil cultivators vanished without a trace.
This also plunged the other Foundation Establishment forces of all sizes in the surrounding area into fear and unease, terrified that they would be next.
The Lu Household was among them.
In times of peace, one had to consider danger.
They could not wait until devil cultivators came knocking before scrambling to respond.
So Lu Changfeng felt they needed to prepare a few things in advance.