At the summit of the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems.
Zhen Wu stood within the Hall Of White-Robes.
Beside him, mist-like Spiritual Qi rose from the corpse of the seven-colored falcon, while blood flowed unceasingly from its remains.
Gazing at the prayer mats within the Hall—positioned in the east, south, west, and north, where the Four Great Masters of the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems once sat in cultivation—a complicated expression flashed across Zhen Wu's handsome face.
"I never expected that you were one of us as well."
Behind him, He Hao's brows remained tightly knit.
Unless members of the Grand Tower engaged in direct combat, they were unable to perceive the "Dao Seed" within one another.
Upon arriving at the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems and clashing with Zhen Wu, even He Hao had been struck with indescribable shock.
Even now, he pondered silently, just how many of us are there?
It seems it isn't just me; there are many others who harbor the same Dao Seed.
Zhen Wu asked, "Sect Master of the Eternal Immortal Sect? How exactly did you come to join the Grand Tower?"
Hearing this, He Hao hesitated for a moment before replying,
"Thirty thousand years ago. At that time, my clan was destroyed, and I bore a blood feud as deep as the sea.
That was when I encountered the people of the Grand Tower.
They took pity on my natural talent, imparting the Dao of Talismans to me and bestowing upon me the methods of cultivation.
But there is no such thing as a free meal in this world; the Dao Seed was the price I had to pay.
To the outside world, my background appeared spotless.
After I ascended the Nascent Divinity List, the elders of the Eternal Immortal Sect, who were traveling abroad in search of seedlings of immortality, sought me out."
"And you?"
He Hao could tell that Zhen Wu's situation likely did not differ much from his own.
The moment they had exchanged blows, he had also clearly seen Zhen Wu's astonishment.
"I was once a Purple Robe. The Grand Tower possesses the Art of Corpse Stitching; for me to advance to the Void Refinement Realm was an effortless feat."
Zhen Wu lowered his gaze, looking down at Ling Xu's corpse on the ground.
"She shouldn't have learned of the Grand Tower's affairs, nor that our people were concealed here... and she certainly shouldn't have died by my hand."
It was only now, upon discovering the truth about Sect Master He Hao, that Zhen Wu truly realized the terrifying power of the Grand Tower!
His eyes turned red.
"From the moment I donned the White Robe, Huan Gui, Taotie, and Ling Xu had been concealing their true strength.
They knew that being exploited by the Grand Tower indefinitely was no way to survive.
They were secretly wary of the Grand Tower, knowing that one day this relationship of mutual benefit would come to an end, and so they made a great many preparations."
"Over the years, I tried to tell them the truth, but the Dao Seed would always remind me: betrayal is synonymous with death!"
Zhen Wu exhaled a long breath.
"Every single preparation they made was fully within the Grand Tower's control."
He Hao lowered his head, glancing at his hands stained with the blood of his fellow sect members, and said no more.
"My orders were to retrieve the Three Corpses and, without exposing my identity, kill as many members of the Department of Immortal Suppression and the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems as possible."
The two exchanged a glance.
They both sensed the desolation in the other's expression.
There were a thousand things they wanted to say, yet the words were stuck in their throats.
"The Three Corpses are right here."
Zhen Wu spoke no more.
With a casual wave of his hand, the Eight Trigrams formation map on the temple floor flickered with runic light, and the ground split open.
Instantly, the unique fragrance of Divine Blood assaulted their senses, and the opening revealed a bewitching display of colors.
However, the two suddenly froze in place.
"Where are the bodies?!!"
Zhen Wu exclaimed in shock.
The blood pool should have been filled with Divine Blood—the very supply used by all the Purple Robe Elders of the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems.
Floating in the center should have been the headless torsos of the Three Corpses of Ling Tian.
The pool was inscribed with formations and made of high-grade materials; it should have been flowing with brilliance.
But now...
Within the blood pool, there remained only turbid, muddy blood.
This blood reeked with an incomparable foulness, yet it had been masked by the lingering fragrance of the Divine Blood.
It was only when the formation opened that the stench, steadily assaulting their noses, was revealed!
It wasn't just that the headless torsos of Ling Tian's Three Corpses were missing.
The interior of the formation—the very bricks and stones made of high-grade materials that contained the blood on all sides—had been stripped bare.
The ground was pitted and uneven, as if it had been bombarded by Spiritual power!
"This is absolutely impossible!
We had already decided to abandon the Three Corpses to secure a path of survival for the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems.
Those who know the location of the Three Corpses would never touch this place—how could anyone have arrived here ahead of me?!!"
Zhen Wu gritted his teeth.
Just then, the expressions of both men changed once again.
Tap-tap... tap-tap...
The sound of footsteps rang out clearly within the temple.
The filthy blood in the pool began to churn, as if it were alive, crawling up along the pitted edges of the pool and gradually spreading outward.
"Tch—"
It was the sound of a long sword dragging across the ground!
At the entrance of the temple, two figures appeared.
Li Dalong and Li Yaozu had arrived together!
No. Or rather, three figures.
Behind them, an ancestral spirit tablet was shrouded in black mist, appearing as if some great horror were about to emerge from it at any moment.
The father and son approached in silence.
Both were clad in armor, their demeanor solemn to the extreme.
Engraved upon their armor were the words [Li Yaotie's Dad] and [Li Yaotie's Elder Brother].
Yet, these inscriptions could not conceal the gravity of their expressions nor the killing intent that was fully revealed.