The night was thick, with the stars and moon hidden. The Yin Xuan Sect's back mountain was silent, save for the chirping of insects.
A dark shadow, almost one with the night, moved silently toward the Spirit Spring Eye, using the jagged rocks and swaying trees for cover. It was the Enforcement Elder, Zhang Ling. Even the darkness couldn't hide the twisted grimace on his face—a mix of greed, fear, and desperate resolve. If he succeeded, if he could drive that malicious object into the Spirit Spring Eye and destroy that annoying new array, the rewards promised by the Hall Master would be enough to break through his limitations and perhaps even glimpse the Golden Core Realm in the future!
The Spirit Spring Eye was already in sight. The misty spiritual energy was like a light veil, emanating a pure and intoxicating fragrance, the ultimate temptation in the world. Zhang Ling's heart pounded like a drum. He looked around, confirming the silence of the night, with no one in sight. Only then did he tremble and take out a black wooden box from his arms. Black energy lingered above the box, giving off an ominous feeling. He trembled his fingertips, opening the box – a three-inch-long bone nail lay quietly inside.
The nail was pitch black, its surface covered with bizarre blood-red runes, twisting and wriggling like living things. Dense corpse-qi overflowed from it, as if countless wronged souls were wailing and roaring. The surrounding air instantly became cold and sticky, making people feel sick. The Siphon Corpse Nail! Zhang Ling suppressed the throbbing in his heart, his eyes flashing with a desperate, all-or-nothing determination. He tightly held the bone nail, mobilizing what little spiritual power he had left, and aimed at the most concentrated spiritual energy – the core node of the Seventy-Two Earth Fiend Tortoise Shell Array, and raised his arm! Success or failure depended on this! However – just as the bone nail was about to be released, piercing the night sky!
Buzz——!!!
A sudden change! With the Spirit Spring Eye as the center, the ground suddenly lit up with an extremely complex and profound array of patterns! Green, red, yellow, white, and black, five-colored lights shot up into the sky, instantly weaving into a giant Five Elements light shield, forming an inverted giant glazed bowl, firmly enclosing Zhang Ling, who was holding up the bone nail! The Reversed Five Elements Array! "Not good!" Zhang Ling's face turned pale, and the alarm bells in his heart rang like thunder! He was terrified and wanted to retreat, but the array had already taken shape. An irresistible pulling force and chaotic, violent Five Elements energy instantly poured down, suppressing him like a trapped beast, his movements as slow as being mired in mud.
What terrified him even more – was the Siphon Corpse Nail in his hand! This malicious magic weapon was originally locked onto the spiritual energy of the Spirit Spring Eye, intending to inject endless evil energy into it. At this moment, the array suddenly appeared, and the aura of the Spirit Spring was instantly cut off. The Siphon Corpse Nail lost its target, and the accumulated terrifying evil energy, like a wild beast, followed its bloodthirsty instinct, and crazily backlashed towards the nearest living thing – Zhang Ling!
"Ah——!!!" A scream, piercing the silence of the night! Zhang Ling's right hand, holding the bone nail, withered at a visible speed, instantly turning as black as charcoal! The dense corpse-qi, like a maggot attached to the bone, frantically spread along his arm. Wherever it passed, flesh and blood melted away, and vitality was cut off! In the blink of an eye, half of his body was eroded by the heavy gray-black corpse-qi, his skin cracked like the bark of an old tree, emitting a nauseating stench. He twisted his face in pain, wanting to throw off the bone nail in his hand, but he was horrified to find that the evil thing was welded to his hand, unmoving, and instead, it devoured his vitality and spiritual power even more aggressively.
Just as Zhang Ling was in excruciating pain, his consciousness beginning to fade, a figure appeared silently outside the Reversed Five Elements Array like a ghost. It was Chen Changqing. He stood with his hands behind his back, calmly looking down at Zhang Ling, who was struggling and wailing like a trapped beast. There was no emotion in his eyes, nor a hint of pity.
"Elder Zhang, you trespassed into the forbidden grounds at night, intending to destroy the sect's spiritual veins. Do you admit your crime?" Chen Changqing's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached Zhang Ling's ears, like a cold wind from the underworld, making him shiver and feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave. "It's you! Chen Changqing! You... you knew all along?!" Zhang Ling was both shocked and furious. He looked at Chen Changqing with a gaze filled with resentment and disbelief. He couldn't understand how his secret actions could have been calculated so precisely by this seemingly harmless junior.
Chen Changqing didn't answer and simply raised a hand, pointing. The Reversed Five Elements Array's light flowed, and the chaotic power of the five elements instantly gathered, forming countless tiny energy chains that firmly bound the tormented Zhang Ling, rendering him unable to move. The Siphon Corpse Nail was also stripped away by a gentle but irresistible force, and it floated in the air, exuding an evil aura, but unable to harm anyone. Chen Changqing walked to the edge of the array and flicked his finger, sending a Heart-Cleansing Talisman into Zhang Ling's brow, temporarily stabilizing his collapsing soul.
"Speak. Who ordered you? What benefits did the Blood Fiend Sect offer you? What is their plan?" Chen Changqing's tone was indifferent, treating him as a prisoner. A struggle flashed in Zhang Ling's eyes, but the agonizing pain in half his body, the fear of death, and the dread of the Blood Fiend Sect's ruthless methods, weighed on his heart like three mountains. He gritted his teeth and refused to speak. "It seems, Elder Zhang, that you are unwilling to cooperate." Chen Changqing sighed softly, with a hint of barely perceptible regret, "In that case, for the safety of the sect, this junior must offend you."
He extended his right hand, a faint spiritual light shining from his fingertip. The fingertip pointed towards Zhang Ling's brow. Zhang Ling's eyes were instantly filled with boundless terror. He struggled desperately, but was firmly suppressed by the array's power, like a fish on a chopping board, able only to watch as the fingertip approached his forehead. Soul Searching Technique (Simplified Safe Version)! This was a soul-searching secret technique that Chen Changqing had deduced and improved based on the remnants of the Primal Calculation Scripture, combined with the Karma Heavenly Eye. Compared to the original soul-searching technique's domineering nature and after-effects, this version, although only able to read some shallow, intense memory fragments, was safe and controllable, causing no irreversible damage to the caster or the receiver, which was more in line with his principles.
A gentle but irresistible spiritual force, like a gentle stream, seeped into Zhang Ling's sea of consciousness. Broken memory fragments flashed through Chen Changqing's mind like a revolving lantern. A blood-red altar... cold orders... the sinister face hidden behind the glasses of Zhou Mo... a withered middle-aged man known as "Blood Slaughter"... and a terrifying, dried corpse, enveloped in a thick blood fiend aura, exuding immense power...
After a moment, Chen Changqing withdrew his finger, a look of understanding flashing in his eyes. It was indeed the Blood Fiend Sect! The leading hall master was named "Blood Slaughter," with a late Foundation Establishment cultivation level. That terrifying dried corpse was the Blood Fiend Corpse King, refined by Blood Slaughter's Golden Core Realm master, and sealed with the remnant soul of an ancient drought demon, possessing terrifying power!
Their plan was to attack from both inside and outside. First, Zhang Ling would use the Siphon Corpse Nail to destroy the Spirit Spring Eye's array base, undermining the foundation of the mountain-protecting array. Then, Blood Slaughter would lead the Blood Fiend Corpse King to attack from the outside, taking the Yin Xuan Sect in one fell swoop and turning it into a "Corpse Breeding Ground"! What a meticulous plan, what a vicious heart! Chen Changqing looked down at Zhang Ling, who was slumped in the array like mud, barely breathing, his eyes devoid of emotion. Colluding with external enemies and plotting against the sect was a crime beyond redemption. He raised his hand and waved, sending several strands of spiritual power into Zhang Ling's body, completely abolishing his cultivation and severing all of his meridians. Chen Changqing never showed mercy to traitors. After doing all this, he sent a spiritual message, notifying the trusted disciples who had long been planted in the Enforcement Hall. Soon, several disciples wearing Enforcement Hall attire hurried over. Seeing Zhang Ling in the array and the bone nail exuding an evil aura, they were all shocked.
"Take Zhang Ling to the Hall of Law Enforcement and keep him under strict guard," Chen Changqing ordered calmly. "Announce to the public that Elder Zhang Ling has been cultivating evil techniques and has become possessed, resulting in the loss of his cultivation. He is to be imprisoned."
"Yes, Senior Brother!" Several disciples respectfully took the order, not daring to ask further, and quickly dragged Zhang Ling away.
Chen Changqing's gaze fell on the suspended Siphon Corpse Nail. He activated his Karma Heavenly Eye to its full extent, analyzing the blood fiend runes and energy structure on it. Although this item was vicious, the Nine Nether Qi and the refining methods it contained were of considerable reference value for his research on the characteristics of the Blood Fiend Sect's techniques. He carefully took out a specially made jade box, set up layers of seals, and put the bone nail inside. Eliminating internal threats, obtaining intelligence, and incidentally gaining a "research material"—Chen Changqing felt a slight sense of relief. With the internal troubles resolved, the next step was to deal with the external enemies.
On a Wupeng Boat on the Yangtze River, at the foot of the Yin Xuan Sect's mountain. The Blood Slaughter, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes, and a look of shock and anger appeared on his withered face! Just now, the trace of spiritual imprint he had left on the Siphon Corpse Nail was abruptly erased by a pure power of the Five Elements! At the same time, the faint connection he had with the insider Zhang Ling was also completely severed!
"Waste!" The Blood Slaughter roared in a low voice, his face ashen as if ink was about to drip. "He couldn't even handle such a small matter! It seems that there's a tough opponent hiding within the Yin Xuan Sect!" He had originally planned to wait for Zhang Ling to succeed, coordinating from within and without to easily take down the Yin Xuan Sect. Now, it seemed that the plan had failed, and the only option was a direct assault!
"Roar—!" As if sensing its master's fury, the Blood Fiend Corpse King standing behind the Blood Slaughter, its tightly closed eyes suddenly opened! Two scarlet blood rays shot out, and a terrifying Qi, cold, violent, and destructive, spread out like a tangible substance!
Crack! Crack!
With the Wupeng Boat as the center, the surrounding area of dozens of meters on the river's surface began to freeze, visible to the naked eye! The dark river water solidified into a dark red ice layer, emitting a chilling coldness and deathly aura! The Blood Slaughter's mouth curled into a grin, his eyes flashing with madness and bloodlust: "Very well! Since we can't be clever, then let this Yin Xuan Sect taste the power of my Blood Fiend Corpse King!" He suddenly bit his fingertip, squeezed out a drop of dark red essence blood, and flicked it towards the Blood Fiend Corpse King's forehead. At the same time, he muttered something, activating a certain blood fiend secret technique! "Go! Flatten that mountain for me!"
Buzz—!
The Blood Fiend Corpse King let out a silent roar to the sky, and the blood fiend Qi around its body erupted! Its huge body turned into a streak of blood-colored light, tearing through the air, carrying boundless ferocity, and directly pouncing towards the cloud-shrouded mountain gate of the Yin Xuan Sect!
The enemy is here!