Chapter 28: Marching on the Blood Shadow Hall

The two figures transformed into twin streaks of light, tearing through the clouds as they raced toward Soul-Breaking Cliff.

Three days later, they finally arrived at their destination. Even before they drew close, an overwhelming stench of blood assaulted their senses, mingled with the foul aura of resentment, choking them until it was nearly impossible to breathe.

Xiao Yi’s brow furrowed tightly. "This bloodthirst mixed with resentment is even more intense than the ancient records suggested!" he said in a low, grim voice. "The beasts of the Blood Shadow Hall have harmed far more people than we imagined."

Su Wan condensed sword energy at her fingertips, her gaze sweeping over the caves embedded in the cliff face. "The wailing from those caves is endless. Countless innocents must be suffering in there. We must strike immediately; delays only invite disaster!"

High atop a watchtower on the cliff’s summit, two Blood Shadow Hall guards were scanning the surroundings with a bone mirror. This mirror, forged from the skulls of a hundred cultivators, could detect spiritual energy fluctuations within a ten-mile radius. Suddenly, the mirror’s surface erupted with a blinding red glare, alerting the guards.

"Enemy attack! The intruders are at least at the Nascent Soul stage!" The guard frantically grabbed a bone whistle and blew. A shrill, piercing sound, laced with malevolent energy, echoed through the valley.

Almost the moment the whistle sounded, dozens of dark silhouettes burst from the caves. Brandishing blood-blades, bone banners, and other evil artifacts, they swarmed like a rising tide to encircle the duo.

Leading them was a burly, bald cultivator with a necklace of skulls hanging around his neck. His triangular eyes glinted with malice as he stared at Xiao Yi and Su Wan. "Where did these stray dogs come from, daring to trespass on Blood Shadow Hall territory? State your names, and let your grandfather know which family’s brats are tired of living!"

Xiao Yi, having no patience for idle talk, saw flames surge violently upon his Heaven-Burning Sword. "Xiao Yi of the Profound Heaven Sect. I have come today to eradicate you band of demons!"

"The Profound Heaven Sect?" At these words, the bald cultivator’s pupils contracted sharply, and a chill flooded his heart. Three months ago, the Master of the Blood Shadow Hall, Blood Impermanence, had led several Void Refining elders in a failed attempt to infiltrate the Profound Heaven Sect and steal their spiritual veins, only to be slain on the spot by Sect Master Ye Chen. Following that battle, the Blood Shadow Hall’s power had been decimated, and they had been forced into hiding, living in utter disgrace while fleeing from various enemies.

However, a sudden thought of the deep blood feud involving his Master and the elders ignited a ruthless fire in the bald cultivator's eyes. "Oh? Your Sect Master killed our Hall Master, and now you send two Nascent Soul weaklings to deliver yourselves to their deaths? Brothers, tear them apart! Strip their skin and forge them into puppets! Let the Profound Heaven Sect know that even if the Blood Shadow Hall has fallen on hard times, we are no soft persimmons to be toyed with!"

"Understood!" The Blood Shadow Hall disciples launched their assault on Xiao Yi.

"Too much chatter. Go to hell!"

Golden-red Heaven-Burning Imperial Flames erupted around Xiao Yi. Without another word, he pushed his palms forward, and several jets of flame surged out like spirit snakes, precisely coiling around the dozens of Blood Shadow Hall cultivators.

"Ah—!" Screams erupted one after another. The Heaven-Burning Imperial Flames were the natural bane of all things dark and evil. The malevolent energy within the cultivators exploded upon contact with the fire, burning their physical bodies along with it. In a mere instant, the surrounding attackers were reduced to fine ash, not even leaving behind a scrap of bone.

The two guards on the watchtower tried to flee, but Su Wan’s Violet Lightning Heavenly Dragon Sword flashed like a bolt of golden light. Their heads fell to the ground in unison, and the bone mirror shattered with a sharp *crack*.

The bald cultivator’s pupils constricted in horror, his legs turning to jelly as he nearly collapsed. Just as he turned to scramble away, a wisp of flame flickered from Xiao Yi’s fingertip, piercing through him instantly.

In only a few seconds, the surrounding Blood Shadow Hall guards had been wiped out.

"My god! What kind of flame is that? The power is incredible!" A Blood Shadow Hall cultivator, having just peeked out from a cave, shrank back in terror, his legs shaking like chaff. "This is no Nascent Soul stage! This power is stronger than a Void Refining cultivator!"

The two descended to the base of the cliff. Suddenly, the ground split open with dozens of fissures, and pitch-black malevolent energy surged out, coalescing in the air into a giant ghost claw that blotted out the sky. It was the Nine Nether Ghost Array, the pride of the Blood Shadow Hall’s Great Protector, Mo You.

This array was built upon the bones and blood of a hundred thousand wronged souls. Its corrosive power could disintegrate spiritual veins; even a Void Refining cultivator caught within it would face the total destruction of their cultivation.

"Little dolls, you dare intrude upon my Blood Shadow Hall? Let me let you taste the agony of a thousand souls devouring your hearts!" In the center of the formation, Mo You, clad in black armor, stood atop a bone altar laughing manically. He pointed his Soul-Sucking Staff, and the ghost claw tightened, the air cracking with the pressure.

"Do you really think a mere evil array can run rampant?" Xiao Yi did not retreat but advanced instead. He pushed his Fire Spirit Sacred Body to its limit, driving the power of the Heaven-Burning Imperial Flames to its peak until the flames around him rose ten feet high.

"Heaven-Burning Palm: Blazing Sun Break!"

A golden-red palm print condensed in his palm like a miniature sun. Wherever it passed, the air shrieked, and even light itself was distorted. As soon as the ghost claw—formed from a hundred thousand souls—touched the palm print, it began to dissolve with a sizzling sound. The black malevolent energy retreated like snow meeting a scorching sun, and countless transparent phantoms of the wronged souls wailed as they vanished into the flames.

"Impossible!" Mo You’s eyes bulged, and his hand holding the staff trembled. "This formation cannot even be resisted by Void Refining cultivators! How could you, a Nascent Soul cultivator, possibly..."

He did not know that Xiao Yi’s Fire Spirit Sacred Body was inherently suppressive toward evil, and when combined with the Heaven-Burning Imperial Flames—an exotic fire of heaven and earth—the array's malevolent energy was no more than paper before him.

Before he could finish, a streak of violet light flashed like lightning.

"Sword Rain of the Startled Swan!"

Su Wan moved through the malevolent energy. The extreme speed granted by her Innate Sword Body, combined with the thunderous power channeled by the Violet Lightning Heavenly Dragon Sword, allowed her to traverse the miasma as if it were nothing. Her blade carved out thousands of sword shadows.

The moment the violet light pierced through the darkness, a sword shadow swept across the altar. The light pierced his throat, shattering his protective spiritual energy—which should have been the strength of a third-layer Void Refining expert—as if it were made of paper. The suppression of the Innate Sword Body against evil, combined with the sharpness of the Violet Lightning Heavenly Dragon Sword, meant that even a fifth-layer Void Refining expert might not have been able to stop it.

"My god! What kind of power is this?! How is this the Nascent Soul stage? A first-layer Nascent Soul cultivator just killed a third-layer Void Refining expert with one sword strike?" The Blood Shadow Hall cultivator in the cave was so terrified his soul nearly left his body, and he scrambled back, his legs trembling violently. "Even the old monsters of the Void Refining stage couldn't withstand their attacks!"

Xiao Yi kicked the bone altar into pieces, and the flames roared, sweeping across the entire base of the cliff and burning the remaining malevolent energy until nothing remained.

Su Wan returned her sword to its sheath. The violet lightning crackled along the spine of the blade, as if it were filled with excitement.