With this breath of true qi exhaled, the various iron swords, iron knives, and iron picks in the basket all transford into all sorts of birds and sparrows, flapping their wings and taking flight from the basket!
Knives beca cloud sparrows, swords turned into shrikes, iron picks into kingfishers.
Chen Shi flicked his sleeve, and one yellow talisman after another also morphed into soaring yellow pengs. The flock of birds flew toward the Taiping Sect.
Qian Shan Sanren's heart skipped a beat:
"It's definitely my spell!"
At this mont, the divine beast guarding the mountain gate and the patrolling disciple looked up, only seeing a flock of birds flying overhead. They did not stop them.
At night, it was the ti when evils and spirits road freely. Flocks of birds often took flight in panic, and so birds were nocturnal hunters, foraging in the darkness.
Such sights were commonplace.
A kingfisher alighted on a branch near that disciple, leisurely preening its feathers.
The patrolling disciple glanced at it and looked away.
Suddenly, the kingfisher turned back into an iron pick, streaking like lightning. With a puff, it pierced through the Taiping Sect disciple's left temple and erged from the right, trailing a spray of blood.
The iron pick thudded into the ground, burrowing a full zhang deep before its montum finally spent itself and ca to a halt.
The patrolling disciple felt a warmth by his ear and reached up to touch it. Suddenly, the world spun, and he toppled over.
Just as he collapsed, two yellow orioles landed on the divine beast statue guarding the mountain gate.
The two divine beasts seed to sense sothing amiss and turned their heads toward the fallen disciple. Upon seeing him crumple,
their eyes widened. They imdiately opened their mouths to roar a mountain-wide alarm.
The mont they opened their mouths, the two yellow pengs transford into two talismans that plastered themselves onto the divine beast statues—binding talismans!
The two divine beast statues were frozen in place, their divine auras immobilized, unable to move.
Their eyes bulged round as they watched helplessly while the flock of birds flew toward the Taiping Sect atop the mountain.
The alarm had been breached.
Chen Shi strode forward to the foot of the Taiping Sect's mountain gate, passing through it. Behind him ca the wooden cart and Blackie Pot, following him up the mountain.
Chen Shi's mind was tethered to these birds and sparrows, his vision encompassing everywhere their eyes passed—a panoramic view.
This was precisely the most critical mont of the day for the Taiping Sect.
At this hour, the ghost gods guarding the underworld swamp were deep in slumber, making it the pri ti to steal soul-restoring lotuses.
The Taiping Sect had few disciples—only fifty-seven, plus Sect Leader Peng Wanshan, making fifty-eight in total.
Plus twenty-four servants.
"Walking the night road so often, everyone's scared of ghosts."
Eleven servants, paired up, carried massive blood barrels, joking with each other. "There must be tons of ghosts in our Taiping Sect!"
The supervising old servant's face was stern. "Quiet! The masters don't like noise."
The barrels contained blood from so unknown beast, thick with a pungent, acrid stench.
They dragged the barrels to the altar platform. Below the platform, stone slabs ford the floor, engraved with all sorts of bizarre talisman patterns.
These ten servants hauled the barrels over and poured the blood onto each pattern. The blood flowed along the grooves, and before long, all the channels were filled.
At this mont, fourteen disciples who had ford golden cores stood guard at the altar platform. Each sat within
a divine shrine on the platform, offering up a golden core, preparing to cast their spells.
Their golden cores hovered above their heads, their visages solemn, resembling divinities.
Once the grooves brimd with blood, so young boys dragged in small boats, carrying blood barrels to trace the talisman markings on the boats.
"Don't slack off!"
In the lead divine shrine, the foremost disciple was nad Tao Jiangjiang, around thirty years old. His golden core had already reached the ninth revolution, making him extraordinarily powerful. His sharp gaze swept around, sending shivers through the boys.
"You miss even a single stroke, and soone in the underworld might die! Their lives hang on you!"
The children trembled, not daring to omit the slightest detail.
At that mont, a flock of birds flew nearby and perched on the adjacent rooftops. Under the moonlight, the birds were utterly still.
Tao Jiangjiang looked up, a strange glint in his eyes. He whispered, "Fellow junior brothers and sisters, look at those birds—aren't there cloud sparrows among them, like the ones that stole the white lotuses a few days ago?"
Everyone focused their gaze and indeed spotted nurous cloud sparrows among the flock, though they couldn't tell which was the exact culprit.
"That cloud sparrow ca to steal white lotuses before, vanishing in a flash. Several uncles even grumbled that we were useless for failing to catch the little pest."
Tao Jiangjiang murmured, "Now it's brought so many companions. Could they be here to gather lotuses too? Once they enter the underworld, we'll set up nets outside the cave. We can definitely capture them all!"
A Taiping Sect disciple chuckled. "Senior Sister, if we get these birds, we won't need to buy boys and girls from the Tianlao Association anymore. Our Taiping Sect can save a fortune. Young Master will be thrilled and surely reward you handsoly."
Tao Jiangjiang bead with delight. "If Young Master truly rewards , I won't forget you all, junior brothers and sisters."
The fourteen birds perched quietly on the eaves, silent, rely tilting their heads to preen their feathers now and then.
The eleven servants carefully lifted the blood barrels to avoid any noise and departed the altar platform, entering a long corridor.
Dim lanterns lit the corridor. Suddenly, a flapping sound rang out. One servant startled and looked up—it was a shrike, with black brows, gray back, and white belly, like an oversized sparrow.
"It's just a bird. I thought it was a ghost."
The servant laughed.
"With so many dead in our Taiping Sect, there must be plenty of wronged souls."
The old servant sneered. "Keep babbling, and you'll beco one!"
Before his words finished, a sword light whistled through his forehead, erging from the back of his skull. It curved gracefully behind him, stabbing into another servant's temple, exiting the opposite temple, then plunging into yet another's brow!
This short sword darted and weaved at high speed through the corridor, trailing streaks of blood. When it struck a wooden pillar, it halted abruptly, the blood on the blade surging into the pillar.
Beneath the sword edge, blood plasma trickled slowly down the pillar.
In the corridor, corpse after corpse slumped softly, collapsing one after another.
Not far away, in the Ksitigarbha Pavilion, a plump woman wielded a whip, pointing at the children preparing to enter the underworld. She barked, "No slacking tonight! Whoever fails to gather lotuses gets no dinner tonight, no breakfast tomorrow, and a lashing to boot! Little Dingxiang's had her taste of the whip!"
She cracked the whip with a sharp snap, herding the children out of the Ksitigarbha Pavilion toward the altar platform.
They took another route and did not notice the sprawled corpses in the corridor.
The plump woman was the Aunt Wei that Little Dingxiang had ntioned—burly and broad, with thick brows and fierce eyes. She smacked the back of a lagging child's head,
nearly knocking the breath out of him. "Hurry up!"
She drove the children to the base of the altar platform and bowed to the fourteen golden core disciples atop it.
Tao Jiangjiang nodded lightly and waved for her to withdraw.
Aunt Wei retreated toward the Ksitigarbha Pavilion. Then she saw several people ahead silently crumple. Her heart jolted.
"Enemies!"
She shouted loudly, but before the word fully escaped, a cloud sparrow flew in, turning into a small knife that slashed across her throat.
Aunt Wei clutched the wall, straining to widen her eyes. It was a small knife, only six or seven inches long.
Not far off, over a dozen Taiping Sect disciples approached, chatting and laughing.
These disciples were at the Divine Embryo Realm, advanced enough to enter the inner halls. In another year or two of cultivation,
they could form golden cores and beco the sect's mainstay.
Aunt Wei wanted to yell a warning of enemies, but her throat was slit and she could make no sound.
One by one, birds swooped in, transforming into knives and swords that lanced like lightning through the disciples' hearts, throats, skulls—swift and rciless, no hesitation!
In a re instant, those dozen-plus Taiping Sect disciples toppled in all directions, as if struggling to stay upright before falling.
Corpses littered the corridor haphazardly.
Aunt Wei clutched her throat tightly. Then she spotted a figure approaching—a youth of average height, followed by a wooden cart and a dog.
When he entered the corridor's light, his face was illuminated.
It was the boy from earlier in the day.
Aunt Wei recognized him, a gurgling rattle in her throat. She staggered toward the altar platform.
Her vision blurred more and more, her heart pounded faster, her steps grew heavier.
Her blood poured from the throat wound, streaming down her neck to stain her chest red.
She stumbled toward the altar platform, where Tao Jiangjiang and the other thirteen golden core cultivators had already activated various talismans. Clouds of qi swirled upward, floating in midair.
Then they urged their golden cores, channeling the talismans to open the underworld.
This was the critical mont.
The boys and girls all tilted their heads, gazing upward at the clouds where a round portal to the underworld was forming.
At that instant, Aunt Wei staggered into view, straining desperately to cry out.
Suddenly, cloud sparrows, shrikes, and kingfishers all took wing in a rush, diving into the divine shrines on the altar platform like birds plunging into a forest!
Muffled grunts echoed from the shrines, followed by golden cores flaring brilliantly. In an instant, blinding white light lit half the sky.
So golden cores went berserk, lting their shrines; the altar platform itself half-lted from the heat. Others exploded violently, while so shot off, collapsing several buildings!
Aunt Wei thudded to the ground, craning her neck with effort, staring blankly at the scene.
Fourteen golden core experts like Tao Jiangjiang hadn't even had ti to react before the birds-turned-knives, swords, and iron picks slaughtered them all!
Not one of the fourteen golden core cultivators survived!
Aunt Wei's vision darkened. She heard footsteps approaching from behind.
She wanted to move but had no strength left. Finally, her blood drained away, and she breathed her last.
Chen Shi walked past her from behind, the wooden cart rumbling along.
The flock whooshed overhead.
The commotion at the altar had alerted everyone in the Taiping Sect.
In the Listening Rain Pavilion, a middle-aged man sat rigidly, eyes closed in concentration. Monts later, the crown of his head parted, and a bean-sized nascent soul flew out from his heavenly gate.
This middle-aged man was the sa nascent soul out-of-body cultivator Chen Shi had encountered on his first visit to Phoenix Ridge. His na was Liu Rufeng, Sect Leader Peng Wanshan's junior brother, already at the Nascent Soul Realm.
Liu Rufeng's nascent soul phased through the doors, floating into the sky. Suddenly, he saw sword lights flashing at the platform, followed by the uncontrolled glows and blasts of golden cores!
Liu Rufeng's heart seized:
"Enemies have infiltrated the mountain!"
His reaction was lightning-fast. He imdiately flew toward the Listening Rain Pavilion. As he arrived outside, he spotted two yellow orioles perched on the roof.
Suddenly, the two yellow orioles distorted in his vision, becoming two Nine Heavens Wind and Thunder Talismans!
Liu Rufeng's face changed drastically as he rushed back into the pavilion.
At the sa instant, cloud sparrows streaked in toward the Listening Rain Pavilion!
"Chop my fleshly body? In your dreams!"
Inside the pavilion, Liu Rufeng's body flipped up, dodging a short sword from one cloud sparrow. But other cloud sparrows flapped around him, turning into streams of sword light.
Crack!
A bolt of thunder crashed from the heavens onto the Listening Rain Pavilion, pursuing Liu Rufeng's nascent soul.
With a deafening boom, the thunder struck the pavilion's corner. The supre nine suns power within erupted, flas roiling outward before dying down.
Liu Rufeng's nascent soul rushed into the pavilion just before the thunder hit!
Overjoyed, he sped toward his body. Suddenly, the circling cloud sparrows turned into short swords that stabbed into his heart!
Another short sword flew in, piercing his forehead and slamming his body against the rear wall!
Liu Rufeng's nascent soul roared in fury as its limbs hung limp, pinned to the wall.
"Who the hell is assassinating ? Which enemy? I've wronged no one!"
Liu Rufeng's nascent soul fled outward, but with his body dead and no vessel left, it began crumbling even as it flew.
Then he saw a figure approaching the Listening Rain Pavilion—a shortish youth, followed by a cart and a dog.
He must be the killer. Kill him... no, possess him!
His nascent soul burst from the pavilion just as a thunderbolt struck, reducing it to ash.
In the Taiping Palace, Sect Leader Peng Wanshan bowed in attendance. Before him floated a burning light—a Thousand-Li Sound Transmission Talisman.
The other end carried Young Master's voice.
Peng Wanshan listened and nodded. When Young Master finished, he replied, "Young Master, rest assured. This year's soul-restoring lotuses from Bath Capital won't be fewer than last year's. It's just that the Tianlao Association hasn't sent boys and girls lately, so we're short-handed. Grant us two days, and this subordinate will personally deliver them to Bath Capital to make ands."
Young Master's voice ca from the talisman: "Gongzhou has been unstable lately. The Tianlao Association has been wiped out. Sect Leader Peng, you must be cautious."
Peng Wanshan was stunned. "The Tianlao Association wiped out? By whom? Isn't it the Xia family's business? Who dares touch the Xia family's holdings?"
At that mont, a rumbling thunderclap echoed from outside.
Peng Wanshan glanced toward the hall doors, seeing lightning flashing across the sky amid rolling thunder, as if a storm brewed.
Flapping sounds filled the air as many birds, seemingly startled, flew into the hall to shelter from the thunder.
"What's happening, Peng Wanshan?" Young Master asked.
"Many birds have flown into the hall, Young Master," Peng Wanshan replied casually.
He also heard other noises from the mountain but had no ti to check with Young Master speaking.
Crack!
The roof of the Taiping Palace's great hall suddenly tore open under a burst of sword qi, the sections spinning away.
Peng Wanshan's eye twitched as torrential rain poured down from the heavens.
Thunderbolts like electric serpents danced through the rain,
while birds wheeled around him in the air, braving the downpour.
"What's happening, Peng Wanshan?"
Young Master demanded loudly.
Peng Wanshan looked up to see talismans gleaming brilliantly overhead amid lightning and thunder, casting shadows of five sacred mountains.
The five mountains pressed down, their intangible weight pinning Peng Wanshan, drawing a grunt from him as movent beca labored.
"Where are my junior brothers and sisters?"
Peng Wanshan bellowed amid the deluge. "Liu Rufeng, Han Qiuyue—where are you? Junior Sister Qi, Junior Brother Gu! Where is everyone on the mountain? I've been ambushed—co quickly!"
Young Master's voice grew displeased. "Answer !"
Peng Wanshan ignored him, scanning tensely. His nascent soul stirred,
itching to erge, but the thunder overhead made him hesitate.
Birdsong rang out as birds dove at him.
Peng Wanshan roared, channeling his power to the utmost. His nascent soul's force field expanded, straining against the five mountains' suppression.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Streams of sword and blade light flew in, lting away in the nascent soul's force field—even iron liquified and vaporized!
But the sword and blade qi pierced straight through his body!
Peng Wanshan spat blood, his mana surging out uncontrollably. Unable to withstand the five mountains' pressure any longer, his body shattered beneath them, reduced to a puddle of muck.
In the pouring rain, Young Master's voice emanated from the Thousand-Li Sound Transmission Talisman: "What's happening? Sect Leader Peng, speak!"
Chen Shi approached through the rain, ear close to the talisman.
"Young Master..."
Peng Wanshan's voice issued from his mouth.
"What are your orders?"
Yet Young Master on the other end felt a chill of horror. After a silence, he said, "You're not Peng Wanshan.
You dare kill him? Such audacity."
"Young Master... I rember your voice,"
Chen Shi said woodenly.
"I'll find you and send you to reunite with him."
"You dare threaten ? You—"
Young Master started to retort, but Chen Shi crushed the Thousand-Li Sound Transmission Talisman and turned to descend the mountain.
At the mountain gate, he pulverized the divine beast statues with two punches and kicked down the gate itself.
On the mountain, aside from the trafficked children, not a soul remained alive!
This was true felling of the mountain, extermination of the sect!
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