Old dog So it's you

"Ah—! Help! My spiritual energy... my hand!"

The shrill, agonizing scream instantly pierced the sweltering heat above the Chiyan Floating Terrace.

The yellow-robed rogue cultivator's right hand seemed glued to the bronze sphere. His originally plump and ruddy skin shriveled and turned an ashen grey at a visible rate.

It looked like an aged orange peel that had been baked in the sun for half a month.

"Pfft."

A soft sound echoed. It was the sound of bones shattering, having lost their support after the flesh and blood were completely drained.

The yellow-robed rogue cultivator collapsed limply to the ground like a deflated skin bag.

Not even a single drop of blood spilled out.

Because all the essence within his body—spiritual energy, vitality, and even the beast fire he used to show off—had been greedily devoured through those bizarre bronze tentacles.

But this was only the beginning.

"Disconnect! Quickly sever the spiritual energy connection!"

Someone roared in terror, wanting to chop off their own arm to survive.

But it was too late.

How did the Nine Nether Soul-Locking Flame inside the bronze sphere look anything like a "test" now?

It had transformed into a Taotie beast that had starved for millions of years, ruthlessly surging upstream along the twenty connecting pillars of spiritual light.

"No! I haven't even found a Dao companion yet! I refuse to accept this..."

A young cultivator's eyes bulged as he watched his Dantian rapidly collapse, his head of black hair instantly turning into withered white snow.

In less than three breaths.

Five more "mummies" in various postures appeared on the floating terrace.

The dozen or so people who were still alive were struggling bitterly. Their faces twisted and deformed from extreme agony, their protective spiritual lights flickering like candles in the wind.

"Hehehe..."

Up on the high platform, Patriarch Lin Zhennan, who usually appeared public-spirited and spouted morality and justice, finally tore off his disguise.

He stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the living hell below. His originally refined eyes now held nothing but sickening greed and fanaticism.

"What a delicious flavor."

He took a deep breath, as if the air was filled not with the stench of death, but with the mellow aroma of peerless fine wine.

"Fellow Daoists, stop struggling."

"To become the nourishment for my Lin family's 'Holy Fetus' and help me, Lin Zhennan, ascend to the Golden Core Great Dao is a blessing you've cultivated over several lifetimes!"

Behind him.

Lin Qingwan still sat upright in that wide red sandalwood chair.

She seemed terrified out of her wits by this scene, or perhaps the intense pain in her body had made her lose perception of the outside world.

She just stared blankly ahead, her hollow eyes reflecting the twisted faces of the cultivators struggling in despair before death.

That wedding dress, as bright red as fire, now looked like a burial shroud dyed red by the blood of countless people below the stage.

In a corner of the chaotic crowd.

Gu Yang's figure swayed slightly.

His face was deathly pale, seemingly enduring the massive suction force as well.

"Pfft!"

He suddenly bit the tip of his tongue, spat out a mouthful of blood, and staggered backward.

His acting was absolutely flawless.

The moment he fell to the ground, under the cover of his fluttering sleeves, his left hand hidden inside flicked a finger.

The movement was as fast as lightning and as light as a feather.

A strand of golden flame, only as thick as a hair, wrapped in obscure spiritual energy fluctuations, silently shot toward the high platform under the cover of the chaotic air currents.

That was a wisp of Golden Crow Origin Fire that Gu Yang had stripped away.

Its target was not Lin Zhennan's vitals.

But rather his thick-soled boots embroidered with gold patterns, stepping on the red carpet.

That wisp of Golden Crow Fire acted like a maggot in the bone, silently drilling into the sole of Lin Zhennan's shoe, and then—lay dormant.

Having done all this, Gu Yang took the opportunity to collapse next to the corpse of a dead cultivator.

He concealed all his aura, leaving only a heartbeat as faint as a gossamer thread.

The Withered Wood Breath Concealment Art was pushed to its absolute limit.

To outsiders, this rogue cultivator named Li Feiyu had already had his spiritual energy drained by the first wave due to his low cultivation base, and had breathed his last.

To make it even more realistic, Gu Yang specifically controlled his facial muscles to form a terrified expression of dying with unclosed eyes.

...

Meanwhile.

Zhu Lie, the True Disciple of the Blazing Sun Holy Land, who had been watching from the periphery without making a move, frowned deeply.

He looked at the massacre before him with no trace of pity in his eyes; instead, there was only the impatience of having his mood ruined.

"Hmph, demonic methods, as expected."

Zhu Lie snorted coldly in disdain, holding the crimson Sun-Seeking Compass in his palm, and was about to turn and leave.

He had no interest in meddling with the scheming of such a small countryside family.

He only wanted to find the Golden Crow Fire.

However.

Just as he turned around.

Buzz—!

The Sun-Seeking Compass in his hand, which had been silent for half the day, suddenly began to vibrate violently as if it had gone mad.

The needle, which had been spinning aimlessly, seemed to receive some supreme calling at this moment.

"Click!"

The needle suddenly locked into place, pointing rigidly in one direction.

Because it spun so fast, it even scraped a trail of sparks across the compass's surface!

The guiding fluctuation was unprecedentedly strong!

"This..."

Zhu Lie's pupils shrank sharply, and his heart skipped a beat.

He looked in the direction the needle was pointing.

At the end of his line of sight.

Was none other than Lin Zhennan, who was laughing wildly and acting incredibly arrogant on the high platform!

"Found it!!!"

A rush of wild joy shot straight to his head, instantly flushing Zhu Lie's originally arrogant face bright red.

"Excellent! What a Lin family!"

Zhu Lie fiercely crushed the railing in his hand. His crimson hair danced without any wind, and blazing flames as hot as magma instantly erupted around his body.

"No wonder the compass's reaction was faint before; it turns out you, old dog, have been using a demonic array to cover it up!"

"To dare steal the supreme treasure of my Blazing Sun Holy Land, and even dare to play tricks right under my nose!"

"Zhao Fen! Attack!"

Zhu Lie let out an explosive shout, and his entire body shot toward the high platform with a boom, like a fiery cannonball fired from its barrel.

"Old dog! Hand over the Golden Crow Fire, and I'll leave your corpse intact!"

Boom!

While still in mid-air, Zhu Lie had already struck out with a palm.

The violent spiritual energy of the Late Foundation Establishment stage poured out without reservation, transforming into a giant flaming palm the size of a millstone. With the momentum to burn mountains and boil seas, it smashed fiercely toward Lin Zhennan's face.

On the high platform.

Lin Zhennan, who was immersed in the joy of his harvest, had his smile freeze slightly.

Golden Crow Fire? What Golden Crow Fire?

And who were these two people?

But the giant flaming palm was already right in front of him, and the terrifying high temperature rushing at his face singed his hair and beard.

"Arrogant brat!"

Lin Zhennan was, after all, a veteran Peak Foundation Establishment expert, and his reaction was extremely fast.

He roared in anger and thrust his hands upward.

"Blood Fiend Shield!"

Whoosh!

The blood-colored tentacles originally connected to those mummies instantly retracted, intertwining in front of him to form a thick, dark red blood shield.

Bang—!

The flames and the blood shield clashed fiercely.

"Bang—!"

Air waves rolled, and crushed stones rained down.

Although a crack was smashed into the Blood Fiend Shield in front of Lin Zhennan, his entire body remained completely motionless. Instead, Zhu Lie in mid-air was forced back by the rebound force, shattering several bluestones when he landed.