The moment the Jade Sword Palace Leader watched his son collapse into a puddle of blood, his mind went blank.
His son's death had happened too quickly, so quickly that the fury surging through his chest had barely had time to turn into killing intent before another sensation suddenly seized him.
His strength was disappearing.
The Jade Sword Palace Leader's pupils contracted.
He looked down in disbelief.
A bloody hole had appeared in the centre of his chest.
He hadn't seen Lin Sheng move.
He hadn't even sensed the attack.
His Astral Gang, which had protected his body for decades, had been pierced as though it were nothing more than paper.
"How..."
Blood poured from his mouth.
His body fell from the sky.
Boom!
He crashed into the ruined street, creating a large crater as dust and broken stones flew in every direction.
The Jade Sword Palace Leader lay motionless at the bottom of the crater, his eyes still open, but the light within them had already disappeared.
The Wei Family Ancestor and Liu Family Ancestor witnessed everything.
For a brief moment, neither man moved.
Their expressions were filled with disbelief.
The three great forces had joined hands to destroy the Su Family, yet in the blink of an eye, one of their strongest experts had been killed.
And they hadn't even seen how.
The Wei Family Ancestor's heart sank.
"Run!"
He didn't hesitate.
His body erupted with lightning as he turned and fled towards the east.
At almost the same moment, the Liu Family Ancestor fled in the opposite direction.
Neither cared about the others anymore.
They only wanted to survive.
But Lin Sheng merely raised his eyes.
Two invisible waves of force swept through the battlefield.
The fleeing figures suddenly froze.
The Wei Family Ancestor's expression changed.
His lightning surged violently around his body as he desperately attempted to break free, but the space around him seemed to have transformed into an unbreakable cage.
The Liu Family Ancestor experienced the same thing.
Their bodies trembled.
Their expressions became terrified.
Then—
Boom!
The Wei Family Ancestor's body exploded into a blood mist high in the air.
At almost the same instant, the Liu Family Ancestor suffered the same fate.
Two clouds of blood mist drifted across the ruined sky.
Silence descended upon the battlefield.
The remaining members of the three great forces stared at the scene with pale faces.
Their ancestors had died.
The strongest people leading the assault had been killed one after another, and the enormous army that had surrounded the Su Family suddenly lost all courage.
Some dropped their weapons.
Others attempted to flee.
But none of them knew that the battle had already been decided from the moment Lin Sheng arrived.
Within the underground chamber beneath Dongtai Prefecture, however, the situation was completely different.
The ritual had already reached its final stage.
Dark Yin Qi filled the enormous underground cavern, flowing through the countless formations carved into the ground like rivers of black mist.
At the centre of the formation, the strange altar continued to tremble.
The countless incense flames surrounding it had already turned a sinister green.
The Mountain River Martial Hall Leader stood before the altar with his hands behind his back, calmly watching the final changes taking place.
The surrounding cultists were all tense.
Then—
Bang!
The entrance to the chamber suddenly opened.
A cultist stumbled inside.
"Hall Leader!"
His voice was filled with urgency.
"The Mingyuan Division and the Demon Suppression Division are outside!"
His breathing was ragged.
"They've discovered us! They're attacking our people in droves!"
Several cultists immediately turned towards the Mountain River Martial Hall Leader.
Yet the man's expression remained unchanged.
There was not even the slightest trace of panic in his eyes.
He simply glanced towards the entrance.
"How many?"
The cultist swallowed.
"Too many to count."
The Mountain River Martial Hall Leader was silent for a moment.
Then he calmly said,
"Go outside."
The surrounding cultists stared at him.
"Delay them."
His voice remained calm.
"Use your lives."
The meaning behind those words was obvious.
None of them were expected to return.
The standing cultists exchanged glances.
Then, without hesitation, they turned and rushed towards the exit.
One after another, figures disappeared into the passageway.
The underground chamber gradually became emptier.
The Mountain River Martial Hall Leader never looked back.
His attention remained fixed upon the ritual.
Outside, the battle had already become chaotic.
"Kill!"
Lou Feng's roar echoed through the streets.
He held a Geng Sword in his hand, moving through the battlefield with swift and precise swordsmanship.
Several other Geng Swords flew around him.
Yet he deliberately kept them in his hands whenever he fought, using them like ordinary swords rather than allowing their true power to attract unnecessary attention.
His wrist flicked.
Sword light flashed.
A cultist's weapon was knocked aside before Lou Feng's sword swept across his chest.
Blood sprayed.
The man collapsed.
Another cultist immediately charged from the side.
Lou Feng turned his body, allowing the blade to pass beside him, then drove his elbow into the man's ribs before thrusting his sword through his abdomen.
"Die!"
Another group rushed towards him.
Lou Feng's expression became solemn.
There were simply too many.
The streets were packed with cultists.
The strange thing was that these people fought completely differently from ordinary martial artists.
They didn't defend.
They didn't retreat.
They didn't even seem to care whether they survived.
They simply charged forward.
Even when their companions were killed in front of them, the remaining cultists continued rushing towards the division soldiers as though their only purpose was to buy time.
Lou Feng's eyes narrowed.
"Something's wrong."
This wasn't a normal battle.
These people weren't trying to defeat them.
They were trying to delay them.
A Division Leader standing further ahead noticed the same thing.
"Don't stop!"
His voice thundered through the battlefield.
"Push forward!"
The members of the Mingyuan Division and Demon Suppression Division immediately advanced.
"Charge!"
The two divisions surged forward like a tide, crushing the cultists standing in their path.
Their target was the underground entrance.
They were already close.
Just a little further.
Then—
Boom!
A strange light suddenly burst from beneath the earth.
Lou Feng's expression changed instantly.
The light wasn't bright.
It was a dark, greenish glow filled with dense Yin Qi.
The moment it appeared, an enormous explosion erupted.
Boom!
The earth shook violently.
A terrifying crack spread across the ground.
Stone shattered.
Buildings trembled.
The entire street seemed to be splitting apart.
Lou Feng's pupils contracted.
He recognised this sensation.
It was the same Yin Qi he had encountered before.
"Everyone, watch out!"
His voice exploded across the battlefield.
"Don't get close!"
But it was already too late.
The Yin Qi erupted from the ground like a living creature.
It spread across the soldiers at the front, penetrating their bodies through their mouths, noses and wounds.
Several soldiers screamed.
Their bodies convulsed violently.
Their eyes immediately turned dark.
The Yin Qi burrowed deeper into their flesh, attaching itself to their blood and Qi as though it were attempting to parasitise their bodies.
"Ahhh!"
"Get it off me!"
"Something's inside my body!"
The soldiers at the very front had already been overwhelmed.
Their bodies twisted as the Yin Qi invaded their meridians.
Some collapsed immediately.
Others began attacking their own companions.
Lou Feng's expression became extremely ugly.
"Retreat!"
"Get away from the crack!"
The soldiers behind the front line hurriedly raised their protective techniques.
Some released their magic power.
Others circulated their true essence and Qi-Blood to protect their bodies.
Those who reacted quickly managed to prevent the Yin Qi from entering their bodies.
But the ground beneath them suddenly collapsed.
Rumble!
The enormous crack widened.
Stone and earth fell into the darkness below.
Countless soldiers lost their footing and fell into the newly opened rift.
"Careful!"
"Grab them!"
"Don't fall!"
But there were too many people.
The ground continued collapsing.
Lou Feng immediately activated his magic power.
A translucent barrier formed around his body, blocking the Yin Qi that surged upwards.
He looked down.
His face turned pale.
From beneath the earth came a strange green light.
It illuminated the depths of the enormous rift.
Then something moved.
Lou Feng's heart sank.
"Everyone, retreat!"
His voice became hoarse.
"Move back!"
The soldiers didn't need to be told twice.
They turned and fled.
The rift continued widening behind them.
A terrible feeling rose within Lou Feng's heart.
This was worse than they had expected.
Much worse.
Those damn cultists had succeeded.
The ritual had been completed.
A strange sound suddenly emerged from beneath the earth.
It sounded like countless people whispering at the same time.
Then came another sound.
A wail, then another. And another.
The sounds rapidly multiplied until the entire battlefield was filled with the cries of countless unseen beings.
Lou Feng looked towards the rift.
His face changed.
One greenish figure slowly emerged from beneath the earth.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Then hundreds.
Ghostly figures covered in dense Yin Qi rose from the depths, their pale faces twisted with hatred as they emerged from the underground rift.
They didn't stop.
They continued rising.
Thousands of ghostly figures poured into the sky like a dark river flowing backwards, spreading in every direction.
Lou Feng stood frozen for a moment.
His fingers tightened around his sword. His expression became extremely grim.
"Another rift has opened..."