News of the annihilation of the White Crane Camp spread like a meteorite thrown into a calm lake.
Within twelve hours, thousands of paper cranes emitting an eerie red light flew across the major cities of the cultivation world. The sect elders, high above the clouds, felt a chill run down their spines when they read the intelligence reports describing "dark red armour", "an indestructible demonic body" and a blood-red flag.
[Immortal Alliance Bounty: Top Tier]
Target: Remnant of the Far North, self-proclaimed 'Xiao Wuchen'
Crimes: Slaughter of 1,200 members of the White Crane Camp; plundering of forbidden spiritual veins; and challenging the order of the immortal sects.
Bounty: 50 million high-grade spirit stones, one quasi-immortal artefact, and one opportunity to cultivate in the Qingyun Sect's secret realm.
While the various sects were gathering their forces in a frenzy of greed for the bounty, the protagonist had already appeared in Thousand Lakes City, the most prosperous trading centre in the cultivation world.
At the heart of Thousand Lakes City stands a colossal, towering building: the headquarters of the Treasure Pavilion.
'Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the legendary Nine-Turn Resurrection Sand, which is capable of reviving the dead and reshaping the body!' There was an instant intake of breath from the audience. Just as the various sects were preparing to start bidding, the heavy black iron doors of the auction hall suddenly crashed open with a muffled bang. Each weighing tens of thousands of kilograms and engraved with anti-magic arrays, the two doors flew into the hall like leaves swept by a gale, smashing several rows of expensive mahogany chairs to pieces. 'The Madman Enters: Who is the Prey?' From the billowing black smoke emerged a tall, heavily armoured warrior, his body gleaming with a cold, dark gold light. With each step he took, the defensive array patterns on the floor groaned and quickly dimmed.
'No need to bid anymore.' Xiao Wuchen's hoarse, icy voice echoed throughout the arena. The short dagger, 'Rootless', wrapped in dark red patterns and held in his hand, emitted a nauseatingly bloody stench. 'I want this thing.'
'You audacious madman! How dare you cause trouble in the Myriad Treasures Pavilion!' An elder at the Nascent Soul stage, dressed in a long, gold-embroidered robe, slammed his fist on the table, his spiritual power surging. 'Do you know this place is protected by the Immortal Alliance?' Before he could finish speaking, the crimson light beneath Xiao Wuchen's helmet suddenly contracted.
Without moving, a black blade of light cut through the spatial distance and instantly severed the elder's protective magic artefact. 'I have no patience for your talk of order.' Xiao Wuchen slowly raised his left hand, with countless dark red threads dripping from his fingertips.
As the massive iron gate shattered, an eerie silence fell over the once bustling auction hall.
Usually arrogant figures such as rich families, sect elders and desperate rogue cultivators sat stiffly in their chairs, staring at the ebony iron-encased body at the entrance. They were not awed by the powerful figure, but gripped by an instinctive fear of impending doom.
'You are... Xiao Wuchen?' The chief auctioneer of Wanbao Pavilion — a seasoned Golden Core cultivator — gripped the gavel in his trembling hand. He recognised the armour and the dark red killing intent described in the intelligence report as 'the will to slay gods'.
Who rules? The bounty says I'm worth fifty million spirit stones.
Xiao Wuchen walked slowly, his black-gold boots clattering on the precious white jade tiles.
'It seems that Wanbaoge's sincerity isn't enough.' Xiao Wuchen stopped suddenly, clenching his left hand. A dark red wave erupted beneath his feet and spread rapidly across Thousand Lakes City. At the same time, five miles outside the city, three thousand Netherworld Iron Cavalry drew their chainsaw-like embroidered spring blades in perfect unison, three thousand Netherworld Erosion patterns illuminating simultaneously. The gathering killing intent transformed into a roaring, dark red behemoth that cracked the city's protective array above Thousand Lakes City.
The rogue cultivators, who had originally planned to take advantage of the chaos to collect rewards, gasped in shock upon sensing this army designed purely for slaughter. They quickly sheathed their magical weapons — this wasn't just one person causing trouble; it was clearly an army from hell knocking on the door!
Xiao Wuchen pulled a tattered, blood-soaked scroll from his robes and flicked it open. Like an arrow, the scroll embedded itself in the centre of the auction stage, right next to the 'Nine-Turn Resurrection Sand' — a long-vanished 'confiscation order' from the Great Qian Dynasty.
'For three thousand years, the Wanbao Pavilion has amassed this fortune by sucking the blood of mortals. Today, I'm here to collect the debt. I'll give you three breaths. Leave the sand and get out of this building.' Xiao Wuchen's voice was devoid of emotion.
The temperature in the auction hall plummeted. The elders on the second floor exchanged glances, each seeing the struggle and fear in the others' eyes. They couldn't sense the spiritual energy fluctuations of the dark red demonic sword, 'Rootless', meaning its level far exceeded their understanding of 'cultivation'.
A suffocating silence fell over the entire Wanbao Pavilion. 'One,' said Xiao Wuchen, his voice as calm as the permafrost beneath the Arctic ice plains.
In a private room on the second floor, the Blazing Sun Sword Master stared at his golden sword, which was now crumpled like scrap metal. Veins bulged on his forehead. As a Nascent Soul cultivator, he had never experienced such humiliation. However, under the terrifying pressure emanating from his black gold armour, his primordial spirit trembled slightly as if in the presence of an ancient beast about to awaken.
'Two.'
Xiao Wuchen stepped forward, each step matching the heartbeats of the cultivators present.
'Madman! Do you really think Wanbao Pavilion has not suffered humiliation?" Finally, unable to bear the oppressive humiliation any longer, another elder — he was the guardian spirit beast of Tianbao Pavilion, the 'Devouring Heaven Flood Dragon' — let out a piercing roar.
Its immense demonic energy, mixed with spiritual power, transformed into a gigantic purple claw which slammed down from the ceiling!
Instead of storing the sand in his storage space, he forcefully pressed it into the pulsating, cold iron core in his chest. A beam of pure white and dark red light shot into the sky from his chest, shattering the gilded dome of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion — said to be able to withstand a blow from a Mahayana cultivator — directly.
The so-called worshippers and elders were as fragile as leaves in a storm in the face of this violent energy surge and were swept away in unison.
[System residual log: Divine-grade material detected: Nine-Turn Resurrection Sand.
[Judgment: Initiating 'Flesh Metallization' deep fusion. Synchronization rate: 62% → 75%.
[Functional mutation: generating 'undying nervous system'].
In the blinding light, everyone witnessed a scene they would never forget: the once stiff and cold black armour began to writhe and twitch like living tissue after absorbing the Resurrection Sand, with dark red filaments resembling muscle fibres growing from the hard metal seams.
The armour was becoming Xiao Wuchen's true flesh and blood. He was no longer a remnant soul 'parasitising' the armour; he was merging completely with this god-slaying weapon.
A harbinger of slaughter. The blinding light gradually dissipated.
Xiao Wuchen stood once more in the centre of the ruins, his figure seemingly growing taller. His once jet-black armour now had a dark red, crystalline quality and the edges of each plate were so sharp they could cleave space itself. He raised his head and a crack appeared in his helmet, revealing eyes that burned with dark purple flames.
'The Sand, I've accepted it.' He looked at the trembling auctioneer, then swept his gaze over the silent, powerful figures on the second floor. 'Next, the Spirit Vein.'
He stomped his foot and Thousand Lakes City groaned in response. The supreme-grade Dragon Head Spirit Vein, which was buried deep underground and had been supporting the city's operations, was forced to manifest itself by this stomp. Countless streams of liquefied spiritual energy surged wildly through the crack in the ground towards the newly-born demon god.
[Battle Results]
Core item: the Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Sand has been fully fused, granting Xiao Wuchen near-Undying Body status.
Combat Power Assessment: The synchronization rate has reached 75%, enabling him to utilise certain spatial displacement skills that consume divine sense.
City status: The spiritual veins of Thousand Lakes City have been forcibly sealed, causing all cultivators in the city to be at risk of spiritual energy depletion.