The Heavenly Star Dynasty had stood for nearly a thousand years.
As one of the dominant powers within the dynasty, the Ghost King Sect had always awed all around it with its sinister, netherworld power.
"Yet today's sudden change in the news shook the entire sect, and even the entire dynasty."
Night hung low, and candlelight flickered within the Ghost King Sect.
It illuminated a hurried figure, a deacon of the Ghost King Sect, his face pale as he clutched a secret talisman and rushed through the winding corridors.
"Sect Master, something terrible has happened!" The deacon's voice echoed through the empty hall.
It disturbed Qi Tianlong, the Ghost King Sect's master, who was sitting in meditation and cultivating.
Qi Tianlong opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them, and looked at him with displeasure.
"What has you so flustered?" he asked in a deep voice.
The deacon knelt on the floor and presented a jade talisman with trembling hands, his voice filled with undisguised panic. "Sect Master, the Fifth Elder, several outer sect elders, and the disciples."
"Met with disaster in Fengluo City. They were wiped out..."
At those words, the entire Sect Master's Hall seemed to freeze, the air thick with oppression and killing intent.
Qi Tianlong took the jade talisman. After reading its contents, his expression instantly darkened like ink.
He sprang to his feet, Spiritual Qi erupting around him as the seat behind him exploded into powder.
"Shadow Pavilion! What a Shadow Pavilion!" Qi Tianlong laughed in his fury, his voice revealing boundless coldness!!
Two peak Yin-Yang realm cultivators.
And a young man claiming to be the [Shadow Pavilion]'s young master, whose cultivation had instantly risen from the sea transformation realm to the mid Yin-Yang realm?
This was not a local force at all. An outside force must have entered the Heavenly Star Dynasty.
His fury soaring to the heavens, Qi Tianlong shouted, "Go summon all the elders for a meeting immediately!"
"Yes, Sect Master!" With that, the deacon hurried off to notify the elders!
A short while later, all the elders had arrived. They hurried forward to ask, "Sect Master, has something major happened?"
Qi Tianlong looked at the elders present. "The Fifth Elder and several deacon elders have fallen!"
The elders' faces filled with shock. "What?"
"How is that possible?"
"Could a tribulation crossing realm expert from the Shadow Pavilion have made a move?"
Qi Tianlong waved his hand. "The ones who acted were two peak Yin-Yang realm martial artists and a young master of the Shadow Pavilion, whose cultivation was at the mid Yin-Yang realm!"
"Judging by the current situation, the Shadow Pavilion's master must be a tribulation crossing realm expert."
"We just don't know how many tribulation crossing realm experts the Shadow Pavilion has."
"If there are only one or two, it won't be much of a problem!"
"At least we can handle them!"
"The current situation does not bode well for our Ghost King Sect."
"How could an assassin organization show itself so brazenly!"
Qi Tianlong asked them, "Elders, tell me, what should we do now?"
One elder said, "Sect Master, this Shadow Pavilion probably isn't a force from within our Heavenly Star Dynasty."
"For a mere young master to possess a means of instantly raising his strength to the Yin-Yang realm is impossible within the dynasty!"
"Something like that could only exist among the great powers of the Southern Region."
"But if they are a great power, why come to this little place?"
"Exactly. That's what I was thinking too."
Qi Tianlong looked toward a white-haired old man and asked, "First Elder! What do you think we should do about this?"
Gui Ming, the Ghost King Sect's First Elder, was at the early tribulation transcendence realm.
"He was also one of the renowned experts within the Heavenly Star Dynasty!"
Gui Ming thought for a moment. "Sect Master, the situation is still unclear."
"The Shadow Pavilion's reserves are unknown. It would be best not to act rashly!"
"Lest the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect and the imperial family launch a sneak attack!"
"Once our high-end fighting strength suffers heavy losses, those two will certainly look for a chance to strike!!"
"A mere Heavenly Wolf Gang is dispensable. Its loss has little impact on the Ghost King Sect!"
"I think our next step should be to watch the Shadow Pavilion's movements before making further plans!"
Another elder said doubtfully, "If we make no other response."
"I fear the reputation our Ghost King Sect has built over centuries in the Heavenly Star Dynasty will plummet a thousand fathoms!"
"There is another way. Why not secretly send someone to post a mission with the Blood Kill Organization?"
"Have them assassinate the Shadow Pavilion's higher-ups!"
"As long as we can pay the price, they will certainly act!"
"We can probe the Shadow Pavilion's reserves along the way and also bring Blood Slaughter into conflict with the Shadow Pavilion."
Qi Tianlong nodded at that. "Mm, let's do that!"
"I'll go post the mission with the Blood Kill Organization. It doesn't matter if the reward is higher. We cannot just let this grudge go!!"
Meanwhile, throughout the Heavenly Star Dynasty, news of the Ghost King Sect's Fifth Elder's death spread like wildfire, stirring up towering waves.
People discussed it animatedly, some marveling at the speed of the Shadow Pavilion's rise.
Others worried about how this sudden upheaval would affect the balance of power in the Heavenly Star Dynasty.
The rise of yet another assassin organization...