Lihuo City, the main hall of the city lord's mansion.
Blood splattered throughout the hall, staining the stone slabs dark brown. Zhou Heng's body was split in two, and the bone spur was also broken into two pieces, losing its luster.
The main hall was completely silent.
Those Eternal True God stood still, looking at Zhou Heng's corpse, then at Lu Qingshan who had made the move, their eyes filled with shock.
In fact, when Zhou Heng took out that bone spur, they were already completely certain that Zhou Heng was the murderer of Master Yu, and that he was the traitor among them. After all, many people present had seen how Master Yu died.
But Zhou Heng's strength was far greater than they had imagined. This guy was hiding his true abilities too well; if he were to attack them, he could probably take them down in a single move.
However, such a powerful being was actually killed with a single strike when facing a disciple of the Flame Ruins Sect.
Even though Zhou Heng eventually realized what was happening and used the Eternal Divine Weapon to defend himself, it still didn't change the final outcome.
"Is this the true strength of a direct disciple of the Flame Ruins Sect? It's incredibly powerful!!"
A Eternal True God of the Lihuo City murmured to himself, his eyes filled with awe.
The city lord of Qin Chuan stood aside, his gaze equally complex. He had once been an inner disciple of the Flame Ruins Sect and had wondered if he would have had a chance to compete for a personal disciple position if he hadn't withdrawn from the outer sect. But now, this strike had shattered his dream.
The shock of seeing someone as powerful as himself killed with a single strike made him fully realize the vast gap between himself and his personal disciple.
" Divine Lord Xue You! Divine Lord Fire Saint, thank you for your hard work. Thank you for taking action to eliminate the traitor within our Lihuo City and to avenge Master Yu and those Eternal True God who fell before."
The city lord of Qin Chuan stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and spoke with even greater reverence than before.
He was respectful before because of their status as his personal disciples, but now he is in awe of their strength.
Especially this Divine Lord Xue You, he's really too strong.
"Thank you Divine Lord Xue You ----"
Thank you----
The Eternal True God of Lihuo City also expressed their gratitude, saying that eliminating Zhou Heng, the traitor, had relieved them of a crisis. If Zhou Heng had made another move, any one of them would have been very likely to perish.
Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, saying nothing more. He simply glanced down at Zhou Heng's corpse, then collected all the body parts and belongings. Since Zhou Heng had been killed, the spoils of war naturally belonged to him.
Of everyone present, if there was anyone who was still unhappy, it would only be the Fire Saint.
"Didn't you say you'd leave it to me?"
After the others dispersed, the Fire Saint quietly transmitted his voice.
"I've got him under control. Give me a little more time, and I'm sure I can kill him."
Lu Qingshan smiled slightly and said, "Next time. Zhou Heng is hiding his true colors very well. If I let you fight him for a while longer, you'll have already lowered your status as a personal disciple."
The Fire Saint's lips twitched slightly.
Although I wanted to refute it, I couldn't find a point to make.
Although he was confident that he could kill Zhou Heng, it would indeed take a long time, and he might even have to sacrifice some of his divine body. If it dragged on for too long, or if the other party accidentally escaped, then his status as a direct disciple of the Flame Ruins Sect would truly become a joke.
"Okay, okay, you're amazing!"
The Fire Saint was utterly speechless.
Killing Zhou Heng was just a minor incident. After resolving the matter, the City Lord of Qin Chuan prepared a lavish welcome banquet.
During the banquet, they also discussed how to deal with the Netherworld Sect.
Previously, the Netherworld Sect held the initiative, forcing them to defend. Now that their reinforcements have arrived, they naturally need to change the situation and take the initiative to attack the Netherworld Sect, since Lu Qingshan and Fire Saint's mission still needs to be completed.
As for the Zhou Family's future, Lu Qingshan did not inquire about it, as the City Lord of Qin Chuan would surely handle it properly.
As the mole, Zhou Heng meant that the Zhou Family, regardless of their innocence, could no longer remain in Lihuo City.
Not far from Lihuo City, in a dark palace in the wilderness.
The pitch-black walls were inlaid with countless gems that emitted a green light. Each gem contained the Soul Seal of a member of the Netherworld Sect. At that moment, the light of one of the gems dimmed.
Zhou Heng is dead.
A deep voice sounded.
The speaker was a figure shrouded in a long black robe. He sat on a throne high in the palace, his face obscured, only his bloodshot eyes visible.
How did he die?
Below him, in the first position, was a tall, thin man with an extremely powerful aura. He wore a dark gold metal glove on his right hand, which was engraved with dense primordial runes and had several colorful gems shimmering on it.
"The last message Zhou Heng sent me was a summons from the City Lord of Qin Chuan, saying that two personal disciples from the Flame Ruins Sect had come to provide support, one named Divine Lord Fire Saint and the other Divine Lord Xue You —after that, he lost contact, and his soul stone dimmed, clearly indicating that he should..."
They must have been killed by these two protégés.
The powerful figure with blood-red eyes spoke coldly.
"A direct disciple of the Flame Ruins Sect? I know that Fire Saint, but his strength is quite average. He only became a direct disciple through connections. Who is Xue You? Why isn't he mentioned in my information?"
The tall, thin man stood up, the gem on his right glove gleaming.
"After receiving the message from Zhou Heng, I inquired with the sect. It turns out that Divine Lord Xue You only recently joined the Flame Ruins Sect and is currently only an inner disciple. However, all direct disciples of the Flame Ruins Sect need to pass an examination to become official disciples. At this moment, he should only be a prospective direct disciple. Their purpose in coming here is probably to take the direct disciple examination."
The man with bloodshot eyes spoke calmly.
"Personal disciple assessment, haha—doesn't that mean they're not personal disciples yet? What's there to be afraid of? Let me go and meet them."
A startling fighting spirit flashed in the tall, thin man's eyes, and the gems on his gloves shone even brighter.
" Demon Hand, don't underestimate your opponent."
The man in black shook his head and said, "Although Zhou Heng joined our Netherworld Sect, he has always held back. I suspect his strength is greater than he appeared, perhaps even comparable to Qin Chuan. Such strength, yet he was killed so quickly. Those two might be even more powerful than I thought. We must investigate thoroughly before taking action—"
" Heart Demon, you're just too cautious. You're a direct disciple of our Netherworld Sect. If you had acted sooner, we would have already taken over the Scarlet Fire Chaos Prefecture. Why would we have waited until today?"
The Demonic Hand Divine Lord said dismissively.
If he were the commander, he would have already joined forces with the Divine Lord Heart Demon to kill Qin Chuan and the others; there would be no need to wait until now.
Unfortunately, it wasn't him who had the final say in the Netherworld Sect; it was the direct disciple, the Divine Lord Heart Demon, who did the final say. Although he was powerful, he wasn't a true direct disciple.
"It's not as simple as you think—"
The Divine Lord Heart Demon shook his head slightly.
Seeing that the Demonic Hand Divine Lord was still unconvinced, he frowned slightly and continued, "If you really want to make a move, that's fine. You can test their strength first, but don't linger in battle. If you are no match for them, I will help you retreat."
"Clear!"
Upon hearing this, the Demonic Hand Divine Lord smiled, and his dissatisfaction dissipated.
He was a battle maniac by nature, and he had almost killed the Lihuo City Lord before. Now that he knew that two personal disciples of the Flame Ruins Sect had come, he naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity.
He was very confident in his ability to survive. Even a direct disciple of the Netherworld Sect couldn't possibly capture him, let alone a quasi-direct disciple of the Flame Ruins Sect. Moreover, with the help of the Divine Lord Heart Demon, he was even more invincible.
If he could kill these two disciples, he would surely gain the status of a disciple of the Netherworld Sect based on this achievement.
Becoming a disciple would grant him access to higher-level secret techniques of the Netherworld Sect, allowing him to further enhance his strength.
On the other side, after the banquet ended, Lu Qingshan also arrived at the residence arranged for him by the City Lord of Qin Chuan.
This is the best cave dwelling in Lihuo City, with the Chaos Ruins right in front of it.
The cave even has a path leading to the Chaos Ruins, where you can find a lot of Chaos Crystal and Chaos Stone just by going out.
Back here, Lu Qingshan checked his haul.
After killing Zhou Heng, Zhou Heng's spoils naturally belonged to him.
First, the corpse----
The corpse of Eternal True God is a considerable fortune; if sold, it could easily fetch thousands of Cosmic Sand, especially since Zhou Heng's corpse is relatively intact.
However, Lu Qingshan didn't care about these things. He kept Zhou Heng's corpse so he could extract the essence and blood of the Eternal True God, which might have some use. Of course, if he encountered Chi You, he could also feed it to Chi You.
Zhou Heng was very powerful; the energy contained in his corpse was comparable to that of more than a dozen Eternal True God.
Lu Qingshan then examined the other spoils of war.
"More than 30,000 tons of Cosmic Sand ----"
This amount is not much. Although the assets of Eternal True God are generally only ten thousand Cosmic Sand, Zhou Heng's strength is obviously not comparable to that of an ordinary Eternal True God. For him, only thirty thousand Cosmic Sand is really meager. Perhaps some of it is still left in the Zhou Family.
In addition, there are several secret treasures of the Eternal True God Level.
A broken bone spur, a long spear, a suit of armor, a palace of the Eternal True God Level ----
There are also several secret manuals.
Lu Qingshan picked it up and looked at it.
Zhoutian Spear Technique!
This is a secret technique for spear fighting, probably a family heirloom of the Zhou Family. Lu Qingshan took a look and found it to be quite good, a rare secret technique at the Eternal True God Level.
Unfortunately, after Zhou Heng's death, the Zhou Family will also perish, and this secret technique will probably not be passed down again.
Then Lu Qingshan picked up another secret manual.
The pages of this esoteric book are yellowed, clearly showing the passage of time.
Upon opening it, I saw...
Lu Qingshan's pupils contracted slightly.
this----
Spectral Spear Canon
This secret technique is clearly incomparable to the Zhou Heng family's Zhou Tian Zhoutian Spear Technique. If it were at the level of Eternal True God, this spear technique would definitely be considered top-tier. Moreover, this spear technique also has follow-up techniques at the level of Chaos Great Sage, involving branches of the Great Dao.
"Could it be that Zhou Heng's defection to the Netherworld Sect is because of this secret technique?"
Lu Qingshan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Of course, he didn't believe that this secret technique was given to him by the Netherworld Sect. Even within the Netherworld Sect, a secret technique of this level would be considered a core technique, and it would be impossible for it to be given to an outsider other than a direct disciple. Moreover, even if the Netherworld Sect opened the door to convenience for the sake of the Scarlet Fire Chaos Prefecture, it would not be possible to take out the original secret technique. At most, they would give him a memory stone.
"This should be Zhou Heng's own good fortune."
Lu Qingshan analyzed it silently.
Zhou Heng's strength is so great because he has cultivated the " Spectral Spear Canon ". As for why he joined the Netherworld Sect, it is because the cultivation of the Spectral Spear Canon requires countless resources, some of which are not for sale by the Netherworld Sect. It is obvious that the Zhou Family alone cannot obtain these resources.
The Netherworld Sect used these resources to recruit Zhou Heng to work for them. Zhou Heng also used these resources to continuously improve himself, eventually raising his strength to the level of a top disciple of the Flame Ruins Sect. Even the Fire Saint, a direct disciple, found it difficult to defeat him for a while.
"Truly a genius! To have mastered such a secret technique through self-study alone, and to have cultivated it to such a level—if he doesn't perish, he might have even more opportunities to advance in the future—"
Before breaking through to the Chaos Realm, Lu Qingshan generally wouldn't examine the aptitude of someone of the same level, so he didn't look at Zhou Heng's talent level. If he had discovered that the other party was Second-Class Genius, he might have had other ideas.
Of course, this possibility is very small, and once it's missed, it's missed. As the saying goes, a fallen genius is not a genius at all.
After all, this is the core of the Source World, not the Universe Ocean. You can be resurrected after you die, but once you perish, you perish completely.
After looking at it for a while, Lu Qingshan noticed many puzzling points and put it away.
This secret technique is indeed quite good, and it can provide valuable insights for his future Creation Secret Technique.
Moreover, since the Fire Saint cultivates spear techniques, this secret manual could also be given to him. After all, although he had previously killed Zhou Heng...
Although it was to save face for his direct disciple, it could still be considered as stealing the Fire Saint's head.
Originally, Lu Qingshan intended to bestow it upon his disciple, Wu Huan.
This secret technique itself involves a branch of the Great Dao. If the Wu Huan are granted a ten-thousand-fold return, the level of the return technique will definitely be higher, and it may even be another secret transmission from a God King.
The God King's Secret Transmission is the most core inheritance of the God King's power. It is a secret that the God King does not pass on. There are only three copies of this level of inheritance in Duan Donghe Inheritance and only six copies in Wu Kingdom Inheritance.
Having more secret teachings from the God King will naturally bring many benefits; one can learn from them in cultivation or exchange them for resources.
After counting all the spoils...
Lu Qingshan then found Fire Saint, made a copy of the " Spectral Spear Canon," and gave it to him.
This made the Fire Saint, who was initially a little depressed, smile again.
This secret technique was indeed of great help to him, and the cultivation resources were nothing to him. Zhou Heng needed these conditions to join the Netherworld Sect, but the Fire Saint was a direct disciple of the Flame Ruins Sect. Even though the Netherworld Sect did not sell his skills, it would be easy to obtain him by relying on the Flame Ruins Sect's connections.
Moreover, the opportunity that Fire Saint obtained in Sunken Moon Pool was a spear soul. The more spear techniques he cultivates, the stronger he becomes. Although Flame Ruins Sect is a powerful force of the God King, its core heritage is still weapon crafting, and it doesn't have many powerful spear techniques.
In the following days, Lihuo City was unsealed, and the City Lord of Qin Chuan communicated with the Great Sage Scarlet Fire to investigate the Netherworld Sect.
The information over there indicates they are planning a counterattack.
However, they hadn't even found the Netherworld Sect's lair yet.
The Netherworld Sect, however, came to their door on its own.
Lihuo City, above the Endless wasteland, countless black warships Shrouding the Heavens.
Each of these warships is a mechanical legion, piloted by Eternal True God, capable of unleashing power far exceeding that of ordinary Eternal True God.
At the very front of this legion stood a tall, slender figure, standing proudly in the void, his hands behind his back, the multicolored gems on his gloves sparkling.
"It's the Demonic Hand Divine Lord, he's here!"
On the city wall, the city lord of Qin Chuan looked very unwell.
He was injured by the other party last time, and he hasn't recovered yet.