The Civil War

The night was silent.

It was late winter, and the March wind still carried a chill.

Fine snowflakes drifted down from the sky, and the bustling city streets were filled with people in all kinds of thick clothing. Children held their parents’ hands for warmth, adults played in the snow with them, bought sesame cakes...

Beyond the brightly lit city walls, in a place unseen by others, a dozen figures stood on a mountaintop, gazing into the distance.

The wind made Ye Shu’s wedding robe rustle loudly, like a flag fluttering in the night.

He stared coldly at the people in the city, expressionless.

These poor souls had no idea they had already been chosen as blood sacrifices for the demonic ritual.

Aqi stood behind Ye Shu, faithfully carrying out his duties. Further back were the demonic disciples in charge of this blood sacrifice, led by a young man.

“So this is the new Holy Son?”

The young man at the head curled his lips in disdain. A useless cripple—if it weren’t for the Son of Fortune rising in prominence and fears that the demonic path might wane, the sect leader wouldn’t have been so desperate to nurture such a candidate. Not in a million years would it have fallen to him.

As if sensing the young man’s gaze,

Ye Shu slowly turned and asked Aqi in a low voice, “Who is that?”

“The one overseeing this blood sacrifice formation,” Aqi replied gravely.

“He’s also the chief disciple of the Grand Elder, Ye Jingfeng. He’s already at the Nascent Soul cultivation level. He was supposed to be a strong contender for the Holy Son position.”

“I see.”

Ye Shu nodded, a glint flashing in his eyes.

Blocking someone’s path to advancement was like killing their parents—no wonder the guy was hostile toward him.

Hatred? Then things were easier to deal with.

“Alright, let’s begin the ritual.”

Ye Jingfeng, unaware of the schemes brewing in Ye Shu’s mind, called out impatiently to the disciples behind him to set up the formation.

He was afraid that staying too long around Ye Shu might make him lose control and strike.

This blood sacrifice wasn’t on a large scale.

It was just a small city of about a hundred thousand people, not even a single Nascent Soul cultivator inside. The main goal was to get Ye Shu’s hands stained with blood, so only Ye Jingfeng from the Grand Elder’s faction had been sent along with a dozen disciples—more than enough to control the situation.

“What’s the secret behind this blood sacrifice formation?”

Seeing them pull out a formation plate instead of setting up an array on site, Ye Shu couldn’t help asking.

“Hmph! You call yourself the Holy Son and don’t even know this?”

Ye Jingfeng shot him a contemptuous glance. “This is a portable translocation array. While you were still cozying up to Liu Ruyi in bed, my men had already set up the full-scale blood sacrifice formation in these mountains.”

“All I have to do is activate this translocation plate, and the formation underneath our feet will instantly shift into the city. Caught off guard, everything alive will be trapped under the formation.”

“Inside this blood sacrifice array, ordinary people’s strength is reduced by at least thirty percent, and their vital energy will be continuously drawn out to fuel the formation. They won’t be able to escape—they’ll just watch their own lives drain away.”

“This way, there’s no need to set up outside the city and risk alerting them, while ensuring everything goes smoothly.”

“Such a clever method.”

Even Ye Shu had to admit it was impressive.

Just a simple combination of two formations had created an almost undetectable way to perform a blood sacrifice.

One could only say that when it came to villainy, ingenuity knew no bounds.

Ye Shu stood behind Ye Jingfeng, watching as he laid out the blood sacrifice formation step by step—how to arrange it, how to cast the spell.

After finally finishing, Ye Jingfeng looked up.

“Do you even understand formations? Are you sure you can follow?”

“No,” Ye Shu shook his head.

“Ha, knew it.” Ye Jingfeng sneered, turning away. He called out to his disciples: “Prepare to begin.”

The disciples responded immediately, taking their positions around the formation and forming hand seals to channel spiritual energy into it.

In an instant, the entire valley blazed with an eerie red glow.

It flickered faintly, barely visible in the darkness, but carried a repulsive aura.

“So, let’s begin, Holy Son.”

Ye Jingfeng handed the formation plate to Ye Shu. “Just inject your spiritual energy into it, and the formation will do the rest. You don’t need to do anything else.”

A one-button, foolproof operation. What could possibly go wrong?

Ye Shu took the plate and examined it top to bottom, but instead of activating it immediately, he looked up into Ye Jingfeng’s eyes, saying nothing.

“What’s the matter?”

Seeing his hesitation, Ye Jingfeng frowned, a surge of inexplicable anger rising within him.

This useless piece of trash! Did he know that every second the array remained inactive drained the disciples’ spiritual energy!

Even with something this simple, he was still hesitating!

What the hell did the sect leader see in him? No skill, no looks—yet he somehow got linked up with Liu Ruyi and shared her bed.

Everything should have been his.

Instead, it was stolen by this good-for-nothing who came out of nowhere.

Ye Jingfeng breathed heavily, his anger mounting.

“Wait!”

It suddenly hit him—right now, only he and his people were here. If he killed Ye Shu... wouldn’t the Holy Son position and Liu Ruyi both belong to him?

The thought ignited a murderous intent in Ye Jingfeng’s eyes.

He shot his right hand forward, a dark-red light swirling around it, aimed directly at Ye Shu.

“Die, you scum!”

The palm wind howled like a blade as it sliced through the air.

But Ye Shu didn’t dodge. Instead, a faint, almost imperceptible smile crept onto his lips.

Wrong!

Mid-strike, Ye Jingfeng suddenly pulled back, his arm frozen in the air, his eyes filled with shock and suspicion.

No, why had he suddenly wanted to kill Ye Shu?

Setting aside whether he could even succeed, the sect leader and Liu Ruyi would be the first to hunt him down. Killing him would only drag Ye Jingfeng into an irredeemable abyss.

No! Something was very wrong!

Ye Jingfeng jerked his head up and stared straight into Ye Shu’s eyes, catching a barely noticeable red glint within them.

“You’re the one behind this!”

“Realized it, have you? Too bad—it’s too late.” Ye Shu gave him a gentle smile, then suddenly stepped forward, colliding headfirst with Ye Jingfeng’s still-outstretched hand.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Ye Jingfeng’s hand pierced straight through Ye Shu’s body, blood pouring from the wound, staining the red robe an even more vivid scarlet.

“You!”

Ye Jingfeng’s pupils shrank, his face a mask of disbelief as he stared at the scene before him.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Madman!

This was a total madman!

Ye Jingfeng couldn’t comprehend the motive behind such an act.

Meanwhile, the disciples at the formation’s nodes saw everything.

But because they were too far away and focused on maintaining the array, all they could make out was Ye Jingfeng suddenly attacking, striking Ye Shu through the chest.

“Senior Brother Ye! What have you done?!”