Chương 115: Chapter 4: The Frightened Retreat

"Reyn, you wretched whelp! Release me this instant, and I swear upon the Heavens that our past grievances shall be struck from the record! I will even grant you a legacy beyond your wildest dreams!" Ancestor Ming Diao's Primordial Spirit shrieked, his voice a jagged edge of desperation and hollow bravado.

"But mark my words—if any harm befalls me, Sect Leader Tiandaozi will hunt you to the ends of the earth! He will spare no cost to see your soul extinguished in my name!" Reyn's response was a chilling, mirthless smile. He didn't offer the dignity of a rebuttal. Instead, his hand shot forward like a striking viper, clamping onto the translucent form of the Primordial Spirit. Without a moment's hesitation, he unleashed the Soul-Searching Art.

As a Golden Core cultivator, Ming Diao's spirit possessed a natural, formidable resilience. However, the Shura Secret Bone had already ravaged his essence, leaving him a fractured shell. After a brief, futile resistance, the old man's eyes rolled back into a vacant white stare. The floodgates of his life's memories—centuries of cultivation, secrets, and sins—were violently pried open by Reyn's relentless mental intrusion. A long moment passed before Reyn finally exhaled, his eyes snapping open.

His already waxen complexion had turned a shade paler; performing a Soul-Search on a Golden Core expert was a grueling tax on his own spiritual reserves. A flicker of murderous intent danced in his gaze as he paused to steady his breathing. Then, with a cold flick of his wrist, he commanded: "Devour him." The hollow sockets of the Shura Secret Bone suddenly flared with two pinpricks of crimson light.

Its jaw unhinged, unnaturally wide, and it inhaled the unconscious Primordial Spirit of Ancestor Ming Diao directly into its ribcage. Through the gaps in the bone, one could see fine, capillary-like threads of blood-red energy lashing out like hungry leeches, burrowing deep into the spirit's essence. The threads pulsed with a sickening radiance as Ming Diao's form withered and turned translucent. Within seconds, the Golden Core expert was erased from existence, consumed entirely.

As the crimson threads retracted, the light in the skeleton's eyes burned far brighter than before, and the baleful aura radiating from its frame surged with newfound potency. Reyn nodded in grim satisfaction; devouring a Golden Core soul had clearly empowered the artifact. Yet, this was no time for experimentation. He traced several mudras in the air, and the skeleton shrank rapidly, turning back into a miniature bone that he vanished into his storage bag.

A sudden wave of vertigo washed over Reyn, and his vision blurred. He swayed on his feet, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. Though he had utilized every trick in his arsenal to slay the old ghost while his guard was down, the toll on his body was catastrophic. His injuries were bordering on the terminal. With a faint shimmer of light, he descended to the ground, retrieved Ming Diao's storage bag, and performed a meticulous sweep of the area.

Ensuring no trace of the battle remained, he began to limp away with labored, heavy steps. Moments later, a streak of light flickered, and Reyn reappeared at the very spot he had just left. His face was a mask of confusion as he muttered to himself, "Could my senses have deceived me?" His breathing was now long and rhythmic, and his internal True Essence seemed to circulate with effortless grace. There wasn't a single trace of the debilitating weakness he had displayed moments prior.

His cold, piercing gaze swept the surrounding forest like a scythe. After a tense silence, he let out a sharp huff of disdain. With a wave of his hand, a fireball incinerated Ming Diao's physical remains into ash. Then, he transformed into a blur of light and vanished into the distance. Stolen novel; please report. Nearly fifteen minutes passed in absolute silence. Then, less than a hundred meters from the site of the incineration, a figure slowly materialized atop a massive ancient tree.

The man's face was somber, his eyes fixed on the direction Reyn had fled. Only then did the thick shroud of terror in his gaze begin to dissipate. This was none other than Bai Sha, the Sect Leader of the Earth Fiend Sect.

"How deep does this boy's scheme run?" Bai Sha whispered, his voice trembling with a hint of suppressed fear.

"I watched him struggle, appearing to have exhausted his lifeblood just to slay Ming Diao. And yet, he returned mere moments later, perfectly composed. Did he truly sense my presence?" Bai Sha's expression darkened. He had been tailing Ming Diao, hoping to act as the fisherman catching the exhausted prey. He never expected to witness a Golden Core ancestor being slaughtered by a mere ant at the Qi Condensation stage.

"His return was a gamble," Bai Sha reasoned internally.

"He either has another terrifying trump card and was trying to lure me out to finish me, or he truly is crippled and was merely putting on a grand performance to scare me off. The latter is far more likely—a seventy percent probability. But..." He paused, a cold sweat breaking on his brow.

"Even with a seventy percent certainty, I cannot risk it. If I am wrong, I will end up like that old ghost. Without my protection, the Earth Fiend Sect would crumble in a day, and a thousand years of legacy would vanish." He sighed, a heavy, defeated sound.

"So be it. I shall stay my hand. With a disciple like this, the Xuanxiao Sect is destined to dominate the North Yue State for the next few centuries. Once I return, I will announce a century of sect seclusion. Until a new Golden Core cultivator is born, we shall withdraw from the world's conflicts." Bai Sha cast one final, mournful look at the spot where Ming Diao had perished. Despite their past rivalries, seeing a fellow Golden Core expert fall so ignobly filled him with a sense of existential dread.

In North Yue State, such figures were living legends; it had been centuries since one had been slain.

"A great storm is coming to the North Yue State," he lamented. With a flash of light, he turned and vanished into the horizon. Dozen of miles away, Reyn's light flickered and died outside a secluded mountain cave. His aura collapsed instantly; his breath became short and ragged, and his face turned a sickly, jaundiced yellow. He stumbled into the darkness of the cave, barely managing to slap a few concealment talismans onto the entrance before collapsing onto a cold stone slab.

"Is he... is he gone?" Reyn wheezed. After a long silence, the faint, slightly weary voice of Yu Meiren echoed in his mind.

"You can rest. His fear got the better of him. He is gone." Reyn's tension snapped. His vision went black, and he plummeted into a deep, death-like unconsciousness. At that very moment, within the grand hall of the Qingyan Sect, Tiandaozi stood as still as a statue. His lips trembled with suppressed rage as he stared at a high altar where two soul jade slips were housed. One of them lay in a pile of shattered, dull shards.

Behind him, over a dozen elders and protectors bowed their heads in terrified silence, not daring to even breathe.

"From this day forward, activate the Great Sect-Protecting Array!" Tiandaozi roared, his voice low and vibrating with murderous intent.

"Recall every disciple from the outside world. Prepare for total war!" The elders shuddered in unison, offering a chorus of compliance before hurrying away with heavy hearts.

"Reyn... I will see you buried in a thousand pieces!" Tiandaozi's eyes locked onto the broken jade. A monstrous, suffocating hatred erupted from his body, his robes billowing violently and his white hair whipping in a phantom wind. Meanwhile, outside the gates of the Xuanxiao Sect, a streak of light landed, revealing Lei Tianqi. His face was deathly pale, his eyes wide with frantic worry. He quickly struck several mudras into the sect's barrier and vanished inside.

Moments later, two overwhelming auras erupted from the back mountains, piercing the heavens! The sky darkened instantly as thunderous clouds rolled in and fierce winds howled. Qingxiaozi and Dan Chenzi emerged, their faces grim and thunderous. In a blur of light, they shot toward the horizon at a desperate speed. Behind them, over a dozen Xuanxiao Sect elders followed, each leading a contingent of disciples.

The sky was filled with the rhythmic, piercing whistle of countless cultivators breaking the sound barrier, all converging on a single point.