Ba Xiyue's orders were issued extremely quickly.
The Moon Shadow Guard, like streaks of black lightning, assembled in an instant, their chilling aura filling the entire City Lord's Manor!
Upon receiving the news, Huo Xuedao arrived at the scene, his expression grave. "Your Highness," he said, "I have assembled the strongest warriors from the City Lord's Manor, and we are ready to depart at any time."
Ba Xiyue nodded slightly and said, "Leave half of them to guard the City Lord's Manor, the rest come with me."
Yang Shao and Qin Zhao exchanged a glance, both seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes... Was the appearance of the Evil Qi at this moment truly a coincidence?
"Go!" Qin Zhao said coldly, his figure already transforming into a streak of light as he rushed out of the hall.
Ye Qiubai, Hong Ying, and Xu Yeming followed closely behind.
Although Chu Ran looked displeased, he knew the situation was urgent. He snorted coldly and led the gray-robed old man away.
Representatives from the other factions within the hall also set off.
In an instant, streaks of light of various colors pierced the dim yellow sky over the border of Banan, speeding toward the Wind-Ming Valley to the west.
A distance of a thousand miles is but a short time for the cultivators present, barely enough time to drink half a cup of tea.
However, the closer one gets to Wind-Ming Valley, the more obvious the strangeness in the air becomes.
It should have been a place of clear mountain breezes and birdsong echoing through the secluded valleys...
At this moment, however, it was shrouded in a thick, dark red mist.
The mist was not still, but moved slowly like a living thing, with a faint, teeth-grinding hissing sound coming from it, as if countless tiny insects were gnawing at something.
At the valley entrance, the array light barrier that should have existed had long since shattered, and the remaining array base was charred black, emitting a pungent, fishy stench.
"The smell of blood is so strong..." Xu Yeming frowned.
A deathly, bloodthirsty Blood Qi, a mixture of despair, resentment, and madness!
As they landed at the valley entrance, the sight before them caused even those accustomed to life and death to shrink in surprise.
Within Wind-Ming Valley, the once well-arranged pavilions, terraces, and meditation chambers are now mostly reduced to ruins.
Amidst the ruins, dried, blackened bloodstains and contorted, desiccated corpses are everywhere.
These mummies were not naturally dried; rather, it was as if some force had instantly drained all their flesh and soul essence, leaving only a thin layer of skin clinging to the bones, their faces frozen in the extreme fear and pain of their deaths.
The vegetation in the valley had all withered, presenting a sickly gray color, and even the surface of the rocks seemed to have been eroded, covered with fine holes.
Yang Shao frowned and said, "Exactly the same as those people in the Withered Cloud Sect whose souls and blood were drained by Evil Cultivator."
Ba Xiyue said, "It seems the news is true. The Evil Cultivator of the Withered Cloud Sect and the Evil Cultivator come from the same Evil Cultivator organization."
Chu Ran scratched the back of his head and said impatiently, "Tsk, wasn't that Evil Cultivator taken away by the people from Mount Qingcheng? Where are the people from Mount Qingcheng now?"
Han Shouyi was not seen.
As the group continued forward...
A chilling formation is in operation!
Above the valley, a massive array composed of dark red patterns was slowly operating.
The formation covered almost the entire valley, its patterns complex and sinister, like countless interwoven blood vessels.
At the center was a constantly rotating vortex, greedily devouring the last traces of life and remnant souls emanating from the mummies and even the valley itself.
The formation emitted a suffocatingly malevolent aura, which was the source they sensed in the City Lord's Manor.
" The Blood Refinement Soul-Seizing Array..." Qin Zhao's voice was icy, tinged with a rare solemnity, "Judging from the array's completion, it has been operating for at least several days. The people in the valley are probably already..."
Before he could finish speaking, a rustling sound suddenly came from the depths of the valley, from the group of buildings that had not yet completely collapsed.
Immediately afterwards, dozens of figures staggered out.
They were dressed in the robes of Wind-Ming Valley disciples, but at this moment, they were no longer alive.
His skin was ashen and withered, his eye sockets were sunken, and two faint, ominous red lights burned in his pupils.
Their movements were stiff and strange, their joints seemed rusty, yet they stared intently at the crowd at the valley entrance with a reckless madness.
"A disciple of Wind-Ming Valley?" Yang Shao said in a deep voice, already holding a long sword in his hand.
Behind Ba Xiyue, the armored general growled, "Princess, be careful! They exude a strong Evil Qi, and..."
Before he finished speaking, the dozens of walking corpses that looked like disciples of Wind-Ming Valley suddenly let out a shrill scream that was not human.
Immediately, their previously slow pace suddenly accelerated, and they charged towards the group at the valley entrance with a frenzied attitude, completely disregarding their own physical and mental exhaustion!
Even more terrifying, during the sprint, their shriveled bodies swelled up as if inflated, and a dark red light shone brighter and brighter under their skin, with a violent and unstable energy fluctuation surging wildly from their bodies!
"They're going to self-destruct!" the gray-robed elder behind Chu Ran shouted sharply. At the same time, he rolled up his sleeves, and a soft gray light screen instantly unfolded, protecting Chu Ran.
"Retreat!" Ba Xiyue reacted extremely quickly, and the Moon Shadow Guard instantly formed a formation, with a silver-white light shield condensing in front of them.
However, the zombies were incredibly fast, and they were almost upon them in the blink of an eye before anyone could react.
The first zombie exploded with a bang when it was still ten feet away from the crowd!
There was no scene of flying blood and flesh, only a thick, ink-like, dark red blood mist that emitted a pungent, fishy stench suddenly spread out.
Wherever the blood mist passed, the ground hissed and corroded, the rocks were instantly eroded into pits, and a nauseating sweet and fishy smell filled the air.
The power of this self-destruction was not particularly strong, roughly equivalent to the full-force attack of a cultivator in the Early Stage of the Creation Realm, but the evil energy it contained was extremely corrosive, having a strong polluting effect on the protective aura and even the soul.
"Beware of the blood mist! It's highly poisonous and foul!"
Yang Shao swung his sword and unleashed a sharp Sword Qi, scattering the oncoming blood mist. However, the moment the Sword Qi made contact with the blood mist, it emitted a sizzling sound, and its spiritual light dimmed slightly.
Immediately afterwards, the second, the third... dozens of zombies exploded one after another around the crowd like lit firecrackers!
Boom boom boom boom--!
The Xuanjia general, Huo Xuedao, and the gray-robed elder behind Chu Ran simultaneously erected a defensive barrier.
Outside the barrier, space churns!
The explosive, violent Spiritual Qi continuously impacted the defensive barrier, causing it to tremble violently!
Fortunately, these disciples of Wind-Ming Valley were not highly skilled in their cultivation before their deaths, and the power from their self-destruction was insufficient to truly break through the barrier.
Seeing this, Xu Yeming said, "The blood in these people's bodies doesn't belong to them."
Um?
Yang Shao and the others were taken aback by Xu Yeming's words.
Xu Yeming pointed to the blood mist outside and said, "Everyone's bloodline has its own characteristics, even if it's inherited from Lineage... and the blood of these people clearly comes from the same person."
"I'm afraid... they were drained of their life force and then deliberately injected with evil blood."