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Deep within the rotting rock walls on the left side of the Thread of Sky gorge.

This was a naturally formed depression. The withered vines hanging from above and the poisonous mushrooms growing profusely below created a perfect visual blind spot.

Hua Nongying pressed her entire body against the slippery, cold rock wall, like a poisonous spider lurking in the shadows.

Attached to her body was a priceless, top-grade tier-two Shadowless Talisman. This talisman not only concealed her figure but also perfectly blended her restless demonic aura with the scent of the surrounding rotting rocks.

Rainwater dripped down the withered vines onto her eyelashes, yet she didn't even blink.

In those soul-stealing phoenix eyes, there was currently not the slightest hint of the seductive charm typical of Joyous Union Sect female cultivators. There was only a thick, unmelting resentment and the excitement of impending bloodshed.

Su Wanyin... my good junior sister...

Hua Nongying silently chanted this name over and over in her heart. With every repetition, her grip on the several Soul-Devouring Nails between her fingertips tightened a fraction more.

She had been the alternate Holy Maiden in the Joyous Union Sect for a full ten years.

The word alternate was like a thorn, piercing her heart day and night.

In terms of cultivation, she had reached the Foundation Establishment realm three years earlier than Su Wanyin; in terms of methods, to refine this Thousand Spider Myriad Poison Web, she had personally slaughtered a mortal city to cultivate Gu venom; in terms of ruthlessness, she made countless male cultivators within the sect tremble at the mere mention of her name.

And yet, just because that bitch Su Wanyin possessed a one-in-a-ten-thousand Charm Physique, possessing a skin that could captivate men's souls even if she did absolutely nothing but stand there, the sect's resources tilted toward her like flowing water.

On what grounds?

The cultivation world was originally a place where the strong preyed on the weak, so why should a face determine one's fate?

Today, I am going to ruin that face of yours.

The corners of Hua Nongying's mouth curled into an extremely cruel arc, the tip of her tongue gently licking her scarlet lips.

She had already rehearsed the upcoming scene countless times in her mind:

When Su Wanyin stepped into this narrow Thread of Sky with no way to retreat, she would first unleash the Thousand Spider Myriad Poison Web, corroding that bitch's proud skin inch by inch, watching that cold and arrogant face turn into pus under the deadly poison.

She would not let Su Wanyin die easily.

She wanted to leave Su Wanyin with a single breath, using a secret technique to refine her into the lowliest Alluring Corpse Puppet.

In the future, whenever male cultivators came to visit, she would have this disfigured puppet serve tea and pour water, and even... kneel on the ground like a dog for people's amusement.

Only in this way could she dissolve the hatred in her heart from these past ten years, and only then could she prove who was the true future of the Joyous Union Sect!

Half a quarter of an hour left...

Hua Nongying glanced at the burning wisp of Soul-Guiding Incense in her hand. It was a scent tracker she had spent a heavy price bribing Su Wanyin's maid to steal.

The incense was about to burn out, meaning the prey was already in the net.

Don't blame your senior sister for being ruthless. If you want to blame something, blame that body of yours for drawing too much hatred.

...

Ye Guxiao stood stiffly in the muddy water like a piece of dead wood. He had cast the Heavenly Sword Sect's secret Wooden Turtle Breath Technique; his breathing and heartbeat were almost non-existent, and even his body temperature had dropped to match the freezing rainwater around him.

But the flame named hatred in the depths of his eyes almost threatened to boil away this sky full of rain.

At this moment, every breath was a torment like death by a thousand cuts for him.

Guhong...

He silently chanted his younger brother's name in his heart. That brother who had followed behind him since childhood, who possessed outstanding talent and was hailed as the hope of the family, was now nothing but dead ashes, a shattered soul lamp.

Ye Guxiao closed his eyes, and his mind uncontrollably surfaced with the tragic state of his brother before his death.

Although he had not seen it with his own eyes, he was certain that falling into the hands of that demonic woman from the Joyous Union Sect meant only one outcome, having his primal yang drained, being humiliated into a dried corpse, and perhaps even... being refined into a walking corpse devoid of all dignity.

A feeling of extreme nausea accompanied by fury rushed from his stomach straight to the crown of his head.

Filthy. Too filthy.

He felt the rainwater sliding down his cheeks with disgust; it felt like the clammy tentacles of a demonic cultivator.

In his eyes, everything in this world besides the swords of the Heavenly Sword Sect was filth.

Especially those people from the demonic sects. They were sinister, cunning, and completely bottomless, a bunch of bedbugs who only knew how to hide in the gutters using poison, puppets, and underhanded methods.

Calm down... I must calm down...

Ye Guxiao gritted his teeth tightly, his jaw muscles taut as an iron plate.

The top-grade magical artifact Water-Severing Sword in his hand let out a faint whine from being gripped too tightly.

He was waiting.

But he had waited too long.

As time passed, the venomous snake known as anxiety began to gnaw at his sanity.

Why hadn't she come yet?

Had that demonic woman already noticed?

What was she plotting?

Demonic cultivators never met their enemies head-on; had she laid traps nearby?

Had she already prepared a deadly poison targeting divine sense?

Or... had she brought helpers and was currently hiding in the dark, watching him like a monkey?

No... I absolutely cannot give her a chance to speak.

Ye Guxiao suddenly opened his eyes, his crimson eyes covered in ferocious bloodshot veins.

His nerves were stretched to the absolute limit, like a bowstring drawn so tight it was about to snap.

He rehearsed the upcoming slaughter over and over in his mind: no need for nonsense, no need for interrogation. As long as he saw that flash of red, as long as he sensed a single trace of demonic aura, he would pour out all his strength and use the most violent Myriad Sword Art to blast the opponent into dust!

He was afraid.

Not afraid of death, but afraid of being toyed with by these sinister demonic cultivators again, afraid of the shame of failing to avenge his brother.

This extreme tension and paranoia left him in a morbid stress response state at this moment.

Right now, he was like an injured lone wolf; even a falling leaf landing on his shoulder would trigger a devastating counterattack from him.

Just then.

Tap, tap, tap.

Footsteps rang out without any concealment.

...

Meanwhile, fifty zhang behind her, in the shadow of a withered tree that blended into the rock wall.

Gu Yang wore a bamboo hat and a coir raincoat, his breathing and heartbeat nearly non-existent.

Rainwater slid down his raincoat without making the slightest sound.

Arrived at the location.

In the shadows of the rock wall on the left hid Hua Nongying, the good senior sister of the Joyous Union Sect who wanted to disfigure and refine a corpse.

In the reed marshes on the right crouched Ye Guxiao, the mad dog of the Heavenly Sword Sect in a state of extreme stress, wanting to avenge his brother.

In the middle was the bait, Su Wanyin, who only had half a life left.

A perfect three points on one line.

He pulled out a disguise storage bag from his robes and stuffed several heavy stones into it.

Immediately after, he circulated his spiritual energy and locked onto the position where Hua Nongying was hiding on the left.

The good show begins.

...

Inside the Thread of Sky, the atmosphere had frozen to the extreme.

Behind the rotting rocks on the left, Hua Nongying held her breath, the poisoned needles at her fingertips gleaming with a faint blue light.

She was waiting for Su Wanyin to walk into the optimal firing range.

In the reed marsh on the right, Ye Guxiao's eyes were bloodshot, and the Water-Severing Sword in his hand trembled slightly. He was waiting for the demonic cultivator to reveal a flaw.

Right at the instant Su Wanyin was about to step into that certain-death trap.

Swish!

The sound of something piercing the air exploded without warning from the darkness behind Su Wanyin!

Su Wanyin looked back in terror, only to see a black object whistling through the air with a sharp gale. Grazing her scalp, it traced a precise parabola in the sky and plummeted straight toward the seemingly empty shadow of the decaying rocks on her left!

The next instant.

A male voice, disguised by spiritual energy to sound gruff and anxious, exploded within the narrow gorge like a clap of thunder, causing the rock walls on both sides to tremble and hum:

"Senior Sister Hua! Strike now!!!"

The shout was full of vigor and carried a wild ecstasy of a long-awaited ambush.

"Just as you predicted, that fool from the Heavenly Sword Sect actually chased us here!!"

In the darkness, Gu Yang's voice was incredibly piercing. He spoke at a breakneck pace, leaving absolutely no time for anyone to process the situation:

"Quickly summon your Thousand-Spider Myriad-Poison Web and refine him into a flesh puppet for our Hehuan Sect!!"

"Everything is in this bag! Catch!"