"Greetings, Martial Uncle Ye."
Ye Lingtian nodded and handed over his identity token, then surveyed his surroundings. "These demonic cultivators really know how to pick a place."
After checking the identity token, the disciple in the lead respectfully returned it to Ye Lingtian and said, "Martial Uncle Ye, Martial Uncle Su from Law Enforcement Peak is already waiting for you."
He then handed Ye Lingtian an intelligence disc containing information obtained from a captured low-level demonic cultivator and gathered by the disciples.
Ye Lingtian waved to show there was no need for formalities. A touch of spiritual light gathered at his fingertip as he swept it over the intelligence disc, taking in a rough overview of the forces under Soul-Devouring Zhenren. He headed up the slope, and within a few steps, he spotted a figure in a red dress standing at the top.
The woman had a crimson-flame saber strapped to her back, and her high ponytail whipped in the mountain wind. On the stone table beside her sat half a pot of warmed spirit wine. She was none other than Su Mingyue, a true disciple of Law Enforcement Peak who had pursued Soul-Devouring Zhenren for three thousand li, only for him to escape using the Blood Soul Banner.
When she saw him coming, Su Mingyue tossed him a wineskin filled with spirit wine, a smile in her eyes. "You finally made it. If you'd taken any longer, I couldn't have waited to strike first."
"You still haven't learned your lesson from last time?" Ye Lingtian caught the wineskin and chuckled.
The reason Su Mingyue had let Soul-Devouring Zhenren escape before was that she had left the group to pursue him alone, allowing him to get away.
"Do you have to say it like that?"
Su Mingyue shot Ye Lingtian an annoyed glare and said regretfully, "That's why I waited for you to arrive before getting ready to act this time, isn't it?"
Ye Lingtian didn't answer. He sniffed the wine in the wineskin, then shook his head and handed it back. "You know I don't like drinking."
"You really don't know how to live." Su Mingyue took the wineskin, utterly speechless.
Ye Lingtian shrugged. "I'm already quite satisfied with my life as it is, all right? Let's get down to business. How's the target doing now?"
Su Mingyue rolled her eyes, then said solemnly, "Things might be a little troublesome this time."
"The Blood Soul Banner that old devil has spent fifty years building up is nearly refined to completion. If we can't deal with him this time, I'm afraid he'll be a major threat the next time he comes out."
"So we have to deal with him this time, or there's no telling how many innocent people he'll kill. Your Heavenly Dipper Sword Intent just happens to counter his Blood Soul Banner. If it were up to me, I really might not be able to stop him from escaping."
Su Mingyue cultivated the saber Dao, which favored sweeping, forceful moves. Her saber intent couldn't counter a demonic cultivator who primarily attacked with souls, and it was easily disrupted.
"Then let's finish this quickly." Ye Lingtian grew serious as well. A great devil on the verge of reaching the Nascent Soul realm had to be dealt with.
After speaking, Ye Lingtian looked over the dozen or so inner disciples standing in neat ranks below the slope. Spiritual light flickered at his fingertip, and his solemn voice reached every ear.
"Pass on my orders. The Law Enforcement Peak disciples are to set up the Demon-Trapping Soul-Locking Formation around the perimeter and seal every entrance and exit to Desolate City. Don't let so much as half a demonic cultivator escape. Late Foundation Establishment disciples, come inside with me."
"Yes! We respectfully obey your decree, Martial Uncle Ye!" The disciples bowed and answered in unison. Spiritual light flared from the magical implements in their sleeves, and they moved as swiftly as flying birds.
In the blink of an eye, they scattered according to the plan. Pale golden formation patterns spread bit by bit along the mountainside, silently surrounding all of Desolate City so tightly that not even water could have leaked through.
Su Mingyue slung her saber over her shoulder, crimson saber intent faintly seeping from her body. She smiled. "I've been itching to get started. I want to see just what's so special about the Blood Soul Banner this old devil has spent fifty years building up."
The two said no more. Wrapped in rushing wind, one streak of azure spiritual light and one of red shot straight toward Desolate City, without letting the slightest trace of their presence reach the demonic cultivators inside.
At that moment, inside the city lord's residence in Desolate City, which was shrouded in dense blood mist, Soul-Devouring Zhenren sat cross-legged on a cushion covered in white bones. The ten-foot-tall Blood Soul Banner stood planted before him.
The banner's surface was densely entwined with the spectral forms of tens of thousands of living souls. Their venomous howls could make a person's eardrums ache even from several yards away.
As for what had happened a week ago, he no longer cared. In his eyes, a Qi Refining Stage menial of unknown origin wasn't even worth spending the slightest extra effort to pursue and kill.
Now, the Blood Soul Banner he had spent fifty years building up was just one final step away from being refined to completion. As long as he devoured the tens of thousands of living souls within it, he could break through the Golden Core barrier and enter the Nascent Soul realm without a hitch.
When that happened, never mind the few mortal cities on the border-even if he attacked the gates of the Primordial Sect, no one would be able to stop him.
He immediately waved his hand and sent all the low-level demonic cultivators to guard the perimeter of the city lord's residence, issuing strict orders that no one was to enter and disturb his seclusion. He hadn't noticed in the slightest that a net had long since been cast over his head.
By then, the Demon-Trapping Formation around Desolate City had been fully established. Ye Lingtian stood atop the city wall, and the Clear Profound Sword rang as it left its sheath at his waist. Azure Heavenly Dipper Sword Intent spread instantly across the mountains and fields.
The low-level demonic cultivators guarding the perimeter of the city lord's residence hadn't even had time to react. Without so much as a scream, they were shredded by the incomparably sharp sword intent into a blood mist that filled the sky, leaving not a scrap behind.
Su Mingyue landed beside him with her saber over her shoulder. Looking at the thick blood-colored mist churning around the city lord's residence, she raised a brow and smiled. "Junior Brother Ye, your sword intent is getting more and more overbearing. I haven't even drawn my saber, and you've already cleared out all the small fry."
Ye Lingtian pointed toward the city lord's residence ahead, his expression showing no sign of relaxation.
"Enough joking. That old devil's presence is growing stronger. I'm afraid it won't be long before he starts his breakthrough. Once he calls down the lightning tribulation, the tens of thousands of mortals in the three nearby cities will all be captured and used as stepping stones for a blood sacrifice."
Inside the city lord's residence, Soul-Devouring Zhenren still had no idea his death was at hand. His eyes closed, he circulated his cultivation technique, pouring the tens of thousands of living souls in the Blood Soul Banner into his meridians. A self-satisfied smile had already appeared at the corners of his mouth.
Once he formed his Nascent Soul, no one in the entire Primordial Sect would be able to stop him. When the time came, every Golden Core sword cultivator and every Law Enforcement true disciple would be refined into nourishment for the living souls beneath his banner.
He still didn't know that the Primordial Sect had sent not only two Golden Core Perfection cultivators to deal with him this time, but that one of them was Ye Lingtian, a sword cultivator who cultivated Heavenly Dipper Sword Intent-the Blood Soul Banner's foremost natural nemesis.
Soul-Devouring Zhenren continued driving tens of thousands of living souls into his meridians, and the blood mist around him was on the verge of taking solid form.
Suddenly, a chorus of screams rose and fell outside the door.
His pupils abruptly contracted. He sent out his spiritual sense and immediately detected numerous unfamiliar presences attacking his subordinates. He sprang to his feet and seized the Blood Soul Banner's pole, his fury nearly lifting the roof. "What scum dares disturb this old man's breakthrough?!"
He hurled the ten-foot-tall Blood Soul Banner into the sky. Countless wisps of eerie blood mist poured from its surface, and amid ghostly wails and howls, a pitch-black specter appeared outside the banner. It was the Blood Soul Banner's item spirit.
"Attack! Don't let anyone disturb me!"