Chapter 301: People never mind the trouble and hassle when doing bad things

Lei Lie actually understood very well why his Master did this.

The situation in the Eastern Region was turbulent; after the Battle of Canglan Mountain, the Jin Leizong, the Qingyu Qingshu Qingshu Xian Zong, and the Tianji Sect all fell to the bottom.

The Qingyu Qingshu Qingshu Xian Zong was sick and went to the doctor, angering Zhou Qing, almost causing the sect to be exterminated, and finally completely surrendered to the Taiqing Sect.

The Tianji Sect goes without saying; it had been a lackey of the Cangyan Dao Palace from beginning to end.

Coupled with the failure of the two Supreme Elders to refine the Nine Nether Lotus Seeds and their subsequent fall, everything forced the Jin Leizong to take a risk.

The "Corpse Scripture" became their only hope.

Therefore, the Master decided to try it himself.

But now...

Lei Lie looked toward the Thunder Pool, his heart becoming increasingly uneasy.

The Master had become less and less like a human; half of his body was rotting, his aura was cold like a corpse, and he even roared out of control from time to time, like a demonic evil cultivator.

He was really worried that if this continued, would the Jin Leizong...

Still be the Jin Leizong?

Just then, the roaring sound stopped abruptly.

Immediately after, heavy footsteps came from afar, each step seeming to tread on Lei Lie's heart.

He resisted the urge to retreat, couldn't help but swallow, and then looked up.

Only to see a figure wrapped in a black robe gradually becoming clear, stepping through the air.

Half of his face still maintained a human form, while the other half had rotted to the bone, and the exposed muscle tissue was covered with strange purple patterns.

Most terrifying were the eyes, one as usual, while the other glowed with a miserable green light.

Even more hair-raising was that floating behind him were one hundred and nineteen pitch-black coffins, each emitting a cold death aura, slowly rotating in mid-air.

"Lie'er..." Lei Wuji's voice was hoarse and harsh, "The next batch of blood food... must be prepared early..."

Lei Lie trembled all over, subconsciously taking half a step back.

He clearly saw the fishy-smelling saliva dripping uncontrollably from the corner of the Master's mouth when he spoke.

That greedy look was as if he were sizing up prey.

"Disciple... obeys."

Lei Lie swallowed hard, hurriedly lowered his head to salute, his eyes full of fear and worry.

And then hurriedly turned and left.

He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from vomiting, and the Master would inevitably think too much because of it.

Looking at Lei Lie's departing back, Lei Wuji suddenly turned his head to look not far away, and on the rotting half of his face, he couldn't help but show a hair-raising smile.

……

In the shadow of the cliff, Lei Luo curled up in a rock crevice, trembling all over.

Ever since his big brother Lei Lie took over the sect affairs, he had vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

The rotting stench coming from where the Sect Master was in seclusion, the strange silence of the five Supreme Elders, and the struggle that often flashed in his big brother's eyes.

Everything indicated that this matter was not simple.

What shocked him even more was that so many major events had happened in the outside world, yet the Sect Master still hadn't appeared, as if he had evaporated from the human world.

But whenever he wanted to get close to investigate, he would always be stopped by his big brother and those few suspicious Supreme Elders.

Today, he finally found an opportunity to sneak into this place, only to see a hair-raising scene.

The once majestic Sect Master had now turned into this ghostly appearance!

Something must have happened that he didn't know about; he had to find someone to help.

Yan Xiaohu, yes, he could only find Yan Xiaohu.

During the Five Sects War, the two played the best together.

They dug up the ancestral graves of the Cangyan Dao Palace together, snuck into their sect to pee in the square to provoke them, and experienced all sorts of things afterward.

With him coming forward, he could directly contact Zhou Shixiong Zhou Qing.

After all, Zhou Shixiong Zhou Qing was now the true decision-maker of the Taiqing Sect.

Without a word, he hurriedly took out the image stone and recorded the terrifying rotting appearance of Lei Wuji before him.

"Must... must save the Sect Master, save the Jin Leizong..." His teeth chattered uncontrollably, and cold sweat even soaked his back clothes at this moment.

Just like that, watching his big brother leave, he was also preparing to retreat quietly when Lei Wuji in the air suddenly looked toward where he was.

Lei Luo's entire heart stopped, and his blood froze instantly.

In just an instant, Lei Wuji appeared before him.

Meeting that eye glowing with green light, and the indescribable stench, Lei Luo's mind went blank.

"Sect... Sect Master!" His throat tightened, and the image stone "clattered" to the ground.

Lei Wuji looked at the image stone rolling to the ground, and his withered claws pinched his throat.

Lei Luo's feet left the ground, kicking frantically, his face turning red rapidly.

"It's... it's me! It's Lei Luo from our thunder lineage!" He squeezed out a voice desperately, his eyes full of the desire to survive.

Lei Wuji's movements suddenly stopped, and a trace of clarity flashed in his intact left eye.

The force pinching his neck loosened slightly...

But the next second!

The green light in his right eye flared, and his rotting mouth tore open to the ear, revealing sharp, white fangs.

"Crack!"

The crisp sound of broken neck bones echoed in the mountains, and Lei Luo's head hung down powerlessly.

Then he hooked his five fingers like claws into Lei Luo's crown, and with a teeth-aching tearing sound, Lei Luo's head was actually torn off alive.

The blood from the broken neck sprayed directly onto Lei Wuji's rotting cheeks, which made him stretch out his black long tongue to lick the corners of his mouth intoxicatedly.

In an instant, a stream of light fled from the corpse in a panic; it was Lei Luo's primordial infant.

"Big Brother! Save me—"

Lei Luo's primordial infant let out a shrill scream, fleeing desperately in the direction Lei Lie had left.

However, before flying three zhang, a withered claw covered in corpse spots struck suddenly, and with a close of five fingers, it grabbed the primordial infant in its palm.

Lei Luo's primordial infant struggled frantically between the fingers, emitting a heart-rending soul howl: "Sect Master, spare my life! I am the direct descendant of the thunder lineage—"

Lei Wuji did not pay attention, his rotting mouth twisting into a strange arc.

The bloody maw opened slowly, and the corpse aura rolling in his throat eroded the primordial infant's spiritual light inch by inch.

With a "gulp" of his Adam's apple, he actually swallowed the living primordial infant whole.

He licked the residual spiritual light of the primordial infant from the corners of his mouth with satisfaction, but the intact left eye shed a line of turbid bloody tears at this moment.

But it quickly returned to clarity.

"Since I've decided to achieve a great cause, I should... be willing to sacrifice..."

A hoarse voice squeezed from the depths of his throat, and Lei Wuji slowly closed his eyes.

"The taste... is still a bit lacking, it's time to taste... the Divine Transformation realm..."

……

Seven days later, Cangyan Dao Palace!

Sikong Yan leaned on a couch carved from thousand-year cold jade, his slender fingers playing with an image stone emitting a faint light.

What was projected on it at this moment was the terrifying scene of Lei Wuji devouring Lei Luo's primordial infant.

The corner of his mouth couldn't help but hook into a playful smile, marveling: "The dignified Jin Leizong Sect Master has actually fallen to the point of swallowing his own disciples."

Muttering to this point, he suddenly burst into loud laughter: "I wonder how Lei Lie would feel if he saw his only biological brother die like this at the hands of his own Master?"

He changed his posture lazily, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Will he avenge his relative, commit the unfilial act of killing his master, and then lose everything he currently possesses?"

"Or... choose to pretend he doesn't know anything and continue to swallow his anger? Oh my, just thinking about it feels so interesting."

Sikong Yan let out another "tsk tsk."

"Everyone says I, Sikong Yan, am heinous, but look at this Lei Sect Master who prides himself on being righteous; he's much more ruthless than this Palace Master."

Saying this, he casually took out three other image stones.

They were lined up in order on the jade table in front of him.

As spiritual power was injected, the first one projected was the scene of Shen Yunzhou being chased by Lei Wuji after breaking into the Gobi restriction in the night.

The second piece showed the scene where the entire Gobi turned into ruins in a heaven-shaking explosion shortly after Cao Zhengyang and his party followed Shen Yunzhou into the cave.

As for the third one, it was Yuhangzi sneaking around, quietly recording Lei Wuji and others moving away those hundred-plus coffins in the dark.

"Busy, everyone is busy!" Sikong Yan sighed long, and then looked at a jade slip on the jade table.

This was just sent by someone entrusted by Cao Zhengyang, clearly stating that Tian Tian Shu Zi and Ling Xuzi were dead.

"Is this testing my tone?"

Sikong Yan chuckled.

"Look, this is the wonder of the human heart!" Sikong Yan's mouth revealed a playful smile.

"Not moving is moving, not speaking wins over speaking. Let the seeds of suspicion take root and sprout in their hearts; only then will they bloom the flowers we want, right, Nannan—"

Sikong Yan turned his head to look to the side, only to see not far away, a complex array was operating.

And lying at the array eye was a little girl in a floral dress, about five or six years old, with innocent dimples on her pale little face.

Only at this moment, her whole body was cold, and there was no rise or fall in her chest.

Besides that, there were tens of thousands of black-clothed puppets surrounding her like stars around the moon.

Each puppet had a gray airflow extending from its heart, continuously injecting into the girl's body along the array patterns.

Sikong Yan walked over slowly, watching all this quietly.

"If you don't speak, I'll take it as your default; also, they are busy, and Uncle hasn't been idle either!"

Sikong Yan said this, and a look of disappointment appeared on his face.

"It seems that the essence blood of that Fifth Prince is not useful at all; could it be that this guy isn't of the Xuan Yuan family's seed?"

Sikong Yan's eyes couldn't help but reveal curiosity.

"It is said that after a person breaks through Soul Severance, their bloodline will be activated synchronously, and the probability of descendants breaking through Soul Severance later will be higher; similarly, their bloodline will become a treasure medicine."

"Now it seems, either the rumor is false, or the mother of this Fifth Prince gave the current Emperor Xuan Yuan Hao a green hat."

Speaking to this point, he tilted his head slightly and teased the white-clothed figure behind the corpse puppet group.

"I say, that Concubine Chen still misses you to this day; why don't you return a hat?"

The white-clothed person didn't move, as if an ice sculpture.

For a long time, a cold voice penetrated the darkness: "Why don't you go? You are the real Lin Jin!"

"Hahaha—" Sikong Yan suddenly burst into loud laughter.

"I haven't been for a long time! Lin Jin is already dead! The one standing here now is Sikong Yan, the Palace Master of the Cangyan Dao Palace!"

"Then who am I? Since Lin Jin is already dead," the white-clothed person asked back.

Sikong Yan: "..."

"Why do you like to argue so much? Why didn't I notice I was so annoying before!" Sikong Yan cursed.

Subsequently, he didn't pay attention anymore, but turned his head to look at the little girl in the array again.

"I heard that Gao Xuan has come out of seclusion; now a good game has lost its fun, it's truly boring!"

After Sikong Yan finished speaking, he turned to these black-clothed people, knocked hard with his hand, and then shook his head.

"It seems that these broken secret methods picked up from the periphery of the forbidden area are indeed a bit low-grade."

"However, through simulation, I have successfully gone deep twice; perhaps that 'Rebirth Lotus' can be tried." Sikong Yan muttered to himself.

White-clothed Lin Jin spoke at this time: "Just to save her, you've been tossing for so long?"

Sikong Yan turned around abruptly, his face hanging that playful smile again: "You also know, when people do bad things..."

He opened his arms and turned around, taking a deep breath, "They never mind the trouble~"

"But are you doing bad things?" The white-clothed person asked again.

"Naturally!" Sikong Yan suddenly grabbed a corpse puppet excitedly and pried open its eyelids.

"Look, these are all living people! Cultivated step by step from the Qi Condensation stage, but now they have become this appearance; it's all my fault."

"Go out and ask now, which sect in the Eastern Region doesn't hate me to the bone."

The white-clothed person was silent, and after a long time, spoke again: "When will it start?"

"Don't change the subject... wait, are you ready?" Sikong Yan's eyes lit up, but soon shook his head again: "But I'm not, wait a little longer."

After speaking, he squatted down and began to tinker with these arrays with full concentration.

……

Taiqing Sect!

Cave Heaven Forbidden Area!

Since the deaths of Ling Xuzi and Tian Tian Shu Zi, the only thing left in the dungeon in the back mountain was the dry corpse that could be used as a test subject.

So only one person was left to guard it, and the others re-entered the Cave Heaven.

Fortunately, now that the first coffin was completely sealed because of the Ghost Emperor, Canglong True Person, no more wandering souls were coming out.

Therefore, Duanmu Shu and the others found Yan Xiaohu to go in, and after opening the key, they entered easily.

Looking at the scenes of the blood river, dead trees, dead crows, and coffins in front of them, the seven looked at each other, their eyes full of deep doubt.

"According to Zhou Qing, Canglong is in the first coffin, so he controlled the wandering souls to cover the gravity zone to strengthen the training of the disciples."

A Supreme Elder broke the silence first.

"Not necessarily!" Another elder shook his head, "When guarding Tian Tian Shu Zi, I kept thinking about a question."

"If it really was training, what was the final result? Except for Zhou Qing, who passed through it? Even Zhou Qing was in danger every time."

He looked around at everyone and continued: "More importantly, these wandering souls only appeared in recent years."

"But Canglong has been dead for how many years; I am more inclined to believe that he couldn't fully control these wandering souls initially."

These words made everyone nod one after another.

But new questions followed: Why did Canglong want to stop the disciples from entering? Was it for his own reasons, or was there a hidden secret?

"However..." another elder pondered, "From the Spirit Skull Mountain Mystical Realm matter, and the thirteen Yin Spirit Stones he gifted Zhou Qing when 'Second Grandpa' brought Zhou Qing in, at least it can be determined that Canglong has no malice toward the sect."

Everyone sighed in unison upon hearing this.

Divine Transformation realm cultivators, whether early stage or perfection, have a lifespan of no more than two thousand years.

But the heavy burden of serving as a sect master often makes this deadline greatly discounted.

All kinds of affairs, internal strife, either injured or using secret techniques with lifespan.

So much so that they, the junior uncles, are still alive, while the sect master of that year has long since passed away.

It's not just the Taiqing Sect; the other major sects are the same.

It's just that they didn't expect that Canglong was still alive and had become a Ghost Emperor.

"Forget it, coming here today is to discuss that important matter." An elder interrupted everyone's thoughts with a solemn expression.

"Calculating the time, the sisters Lu Yuanzhi and Lu Yuanjiu mentioned by Zhou Qing will arrive in two or three years." He looked around at everyone.

"By then, the two sisters will be stationed here; regarding our mystical realm, even if we don't say it, after a long time, they will learn it from other disciples."

"At that time, if they propose to visit the mystical realm? Do we agree or refuse?"

"If we refuse, they came from thousands of miles away, secretly protecting us, and becoming the greatest reliance our sect has ever had."

"Zhou Qing even said they would exchange insights on breaking through the Soul Severance realm and give all help; this is a great kindness."

"But if we agree, our forbidden area has never let any outsider see it through the ages, and there are clearly endless treasures inside that have not been developed."

"This is the inheritance we leave for Zhou Qing in the future, just like our predecessors!"

Everyone pondered for a while, and then said: "Our lifespan is not long anyway; next, let's discuss it carefully here!"

Subsequently, the seven sat down and began to discuss various disadvantages.

……

Two months later!

In the Taiqing Sect's discussion hall, Cao Zhengyang held a message jade slip with a gloomy face.

Seven more sects had been exterminated overnight without a sound, leaving not even a chicken or dog, and even a Sect Master in the early Divine Transformation realm had not been spared.

"Fortunately, all the corpses are still there..." Cao Zhengyang muttered to himself.

His gaze swept over the detailed list on the jade slip, "At least there is no sign of that kind of infection army yet."

Mo Xingjian sat on the side, his slender fingers tapping rhythmically on the sandalwood table, making a dull sound.

His brows furrowed tightly: "This shows that Lei Wuji is currently only accumulating power for himself. But such frequent slaughter..."

The two looked at each other, both seeing deep worry in each other's eyes.

This scale of slaughter meant that Lei Wuji was not far from implementing the next step of his plan.

"The sects are too scattered," Cao Zhengyang sighed long, "We have no ability to monitor comprehensively. If this continues..."

Mo Xingjian suddenly stopped tapping the table: "Since locking onto the Jin Leizong, Junior Brother Ling and the other three have been monitoring the periphery closely, but strangely..."

He narrowed his eyes, "I have never seen a large number of people entering or leaving the sect."

Mo Xingjian looked at each other with Cao Zhengyang.

"Teleportation array—" the two blurted out almost simultaneously.

This guess made their faces even uglier.

If there is a teleportation array inside the Jin Leizong, then tracking Lei Wuji's whereabouts will be even more difficult.

Cold light flashed in Mo Xingjian's eyes, and he lowered his voice: "Why don't we..."

Cao Zhengyang naturally understood what he meant, but just shook his head heavily.

Right now, the situation on the Tianji Sect side has just stabilized, and it will take at least fifty years to fully control it.

Launching a sect war at this time will not only make the outcome unpredictable, but will also make the Taiqing Sect bear the infamy of being the "Eastern Region Overlord."

Occupying the Qingyu Qingshu Qingshu Xian Zong and the Tianji Sect one after another, and now the Jin Leizong, do you think the Cangyan Dao Palace will sit idly by?

The Cangyan Dao Palace also has twelve Supreme Elders at the Divine Transformation Great Perfection.

And the Nine Nether Lotus Seeds, black-clothed puppets that can fight three with one, incomplete five-color magic arrays, four-color killing arrays, etc., exposed by Sikong Yan at Canglan Mountain back then.

All indicate that the means they hide are not just a few.

To be honest, even though the Taiqing Sect's strength has greatly increased, he is still three parts wary of that madman.

Not to mention that Lei Wuji is now a walking poison king.

As long as he finds an opportunity, what they might face in an instant is one of their own peak masters.

"This matter still needs long-term consideration." Cao Zhengyang finally said in a deep voice, "Right now... we can only take one step at a time."

……

A year passed in a flash; it had been more than a year and three months since Zhou Qing went into seclusion, and during this period, thirteen more sects were exterminated.

For a time, people were panicked.

Although the Taiqing Sect knew who did it, there was no solid evidence, and they couldn't catch them in the act, so there was nothing they could do.

But everyone knew that the Jin Leizong was truly playing with fire on paper.

And just today, above the firmament, a giant flying boat made entirely of pitch-black material broke through the clouds.

The boat body was engraved with complex golden dragon patterns, the bow was like a ferocious beast head, and blood-colored flags hung on both sides, flapping in the wind.

Before the flying boat landed, a suffocating pressure had already enveloped the entire Taiqing Sect.

The disciples guarding outside the mountain gate changed color one after another, and even the mountain-protecting array trembled faintly, manifesting two-color light from invisibility.

Elder Wu Zhu walked out from behind the rippling mountain gate, looking up with a solemn expression.

"Boom—"

The flying boat landed heavily, shaking the ground until it cracked, and dust rose everywhere.

The cabin door opened slowly, and a team of cultivators in mysterious armor stepped out, their steps neat, their auras cold, all of them elite Divine Transformation realm experts.

Immediately after, two familiar figures walked out.

They were none other than the Long Yuanjun Governor Zhong Yao and the Lingyun Mansion Master Xiao Ji.

At this moment, the two looked at Elder Wu Zhu with bitter expressions and then retreated silently to the side.

Subsequently, a graceful and luxurious palace-dressed woman walked out slowly.

Her face was beautiful but cold as frost, and the cinnabar mole on her brow added a bit of sharpness.

A luxurious purple-gold phoenix-patterned long skirt trailed on the ground, and every move was full of the dignity of a superior.

And behind her, five gray-robed old men followed like shadows.

These people's eyes were as sharp as hawks, and killing intent lingered around them.

What was shocking was that their momentum was not inferior to Zhong Yao, the Long Yuanjun Governor!

You must know that in the eight counties and seventy-two mansions of the Sacred Martial Dynasty, the strength of every governor far exceeds that of ordinary Divine Transformation Great Perfection experts.

Coupled with various divine abilities, magic treasures, and unknown secret techniques bestowed by the dynasty, they could almost be regarded as half-step Soul Severance realm existences.

Looking at this group of unfriendly visitors, Elder Wu Zhu's heart tightened.

Before he could speak, Cao Zhengyang stepped out with a smile: "Brother Zhong, Brother Xiao, how have you been!"

Zhong Yao and Xiao Ji stepped forward to salute, their expressions carrying a hint of helplessness: "Brother Cao, this time I'm afraid we're disturbing you again."

Cao Zhengyang's gaze swept over the silent visitors and nodded slightly: "These few are—"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 302 =====