Chapter 66

Cheng Yuanzhen did not stop his pace, ignoring even his own subordinates, and fled all the way down the mountain.

He was not one of these Jianghu people; he served by the Emperor's side and spent his days in the palace, so he knew what "Above the Pinnacle" meant!

"Must not fight him head-on!"

As long as he could bring the news back to Shuntian Prefecture that the "Ming Cult has another Above the Pinnacle," it would be enough!

After the three sect leaders had run a certain distance and saw that Yun Zelin was not pursuing, they cautiously turned back to rescue a portion of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, soldiers, and Mount Taishan disciples, before fleeing down the mountain together.

Yet they did not know that the foot of the mountain was in equal chaos.

Outside Tai'an City, at a farmstead.

"Senior Brother Lan is dead?" A middle-aged woman slammed her hand on the table and glared at the person before her.

"Yes..." The man hesitated for a moment. "The Right Envoy ordered us to seal the news and not let anyone else know."

"This subordinate also did not know the Right Envoy's whereabouts and feared delaying the Sacred Cult's grand plan, which is why I reported it to you, Protector Mao."

This middle-aged woman was none other than Mao Yingxia, the head of the Ming Cult's Four Great Protectors. She and Lan Lechuan were fellow disciples, both personal students of the former Ming Cult leader, Ji Tianrui.

"Senior Brother Lan..." She fell silent for a moment, a look of sorrow appearing on her face.

"Why bother... Zuo Lishan was gone, so be it; we could just find another blood-offering... Why go to such lengths..."

"Where is the body now?" Mao Yingxia asked.

"I do not know... Perhaps still on Mount Taishan."

Boom!

Mao Yingxia actually slammed her palm onto the table. The table shattered in response, leaving a deep palm print on the ground.

"Yun Zelin! Yun Zelin! Madman, madman!"

She gritted her teeth and said, "I always felt he was crazy and harboring evil intentions!"

"I truly don't know why Master chose him to be this Right Envoy. The cult wasted so much effort reshaping his foundation, only to raise a white-eyed wolf that bites its master!"

She looked far off toward Tai'an City, where she could faintly hear wails coming from within and see several fires.

"...Forget it."

"When Yun Zelin sent word this afternoon for me to enter the city early, I felt something was wrong."

"He is using our Ming Cult's manpower to hold back his enemies, all to serve his own schemes."

Mao Yingxia frowned in thought for a moment, then waved her hand.

"Notify the cult members; there is no need to send more men to Mount Taishan. If Yun Zelin wants to go mad, let him go mad alone. Having used Zuo Lishan's heart, he won't live much longer anyway."

"Send someone to notify Flag Master Wei; no need to wait for dawn, enter the city directly."

"As long as we can successfully train these three thousand 'Gu soldiers,' our Ming Cult's grand plan can be achieved!"

The man went off to carry out the order, while Mao Yingxia slumped dejectedly into her chair.

This was because she and Lan Lechuan were not just fellow disciples; they had also shared a brief, fleeting romance.

"Senior Brother Lan, oh Senior Brother Lan... why bother..."

"You clearly sensed that the Cult Leader had placed a Gu in you, so why fight so desperately..."

"Was it unwillingness to be reduced to a blood-offering, preferring to die in battle... or are you truly just that foolishly loyal..."

"Sigh..."

The person was gone, and their thoughts would never be known to the living again.

After a long while, Mao Yingxia pulled herself together, stood up, and prepared to go out to see how the cult members were preparing.

But she suddenly heard a thunderous roar from outside.

"!!!" Mao Yingxia walked out quickly and gazed into the distance.

In the distance, several Ming Cult disciples were suddenly sent flying three or four zhang into the air, before crashing heavily to the ground with a dull thud.

Dust filled the air, and thunderous sounds continued to ring out.

Mao Yingxia's gaze sharpened, and she muttered "xixi susu" for a while, as if reciting a mantra.

After finishing, she used her light-body technique to rush toward that direction.

As the distance closed, the screams, roars, and wails of the Ming Cult disciples became increasingly piercing.

Finally, Mao Yingxia stopped a hundred zhang outside the battlefield.

Before her lay a "blood pool."

In the center of the "blood pool," Li Miao threw a punch, causing a Ming Cult disciple's back to explode, flesh and blood spraying, leaving a hole straight through.

Surrounding Ming Cult disciples barely managed to step forward, their weapons striking Li Miao's body, yet producing the sound of clashing metal.

Li Miao swung his arm like a sweeping spear, and those weapons shattered one after another.

Then, he struck out with a palm through the air, his Qi leaving his body to hit the broken weapons, which shot out like sharp arrows, instantly skewering four or five people to the ground like kebabs, where they continued to wail.

Flesh and blood accumulated on the ground, making a sticky sound when stepped upon.

"Li! Miao!" Mao Yingxia gritted her teeth as she spoke.

Li Miao sensed the killing intent, turned his head, and locked eyes with Mao Yingxia.

Without a word, Li Miao moved his feet, instantly flashing forward more than ten zhang, sharply closing the distance between him and Mao Yingxia.

Mao Yingxia knew she was no match, stepped on the ground, and drifted backward.

One pursuing, one fleeing, the surrounding Ming Cult disciples continued to swarm in.

Li Miao simply pursued Mao Yingxia in a straight line.

Looking from above, on the vast wilderness, dots of people were densely packed like a gathering colony of ants.

And in the middle of this ant colony, a blood-colored line was constantly extending.

It was like a child at play, using a brush to draw a straight line through a swarm of insects.

Using the earth as a canvas, and blood as paint.

Li Miao did not look aside, his hearing already conveying the information from all around.

One punch, piercing through a chest.

One palm, tearing apart a body.

A sharp sword flew backward, slicing a human body in two.

A long spear shot straight into the crowd, pinning those not yet dead to the ground, where they struggled and wailed incessantly.

This place was like purgatory.

And the distance between Mao Yingxia and Li Miao was constantly shrinking.

Gradually, the speed at which the Ming Cult disciples swarmed in slowed down.

They were afraid.

The so-called fearlessness was merely a false illusion, like a soap bubble that popped at a single touch. Most people's "fearlessness" was actually just a reckless, frivolous attitude toward things they did not understand.

Only when death truly arrived before them would they feel that bone-deep terror.

They were accustomed to the deaths of others, so they arrogantly assumed life and death were nothing more than that.

But at this very moment, before Li Miao, "death" was no longer an abstract concept.

Death was not the tranquility of all things being empty.

Death was not a result, but a painful process.

"Death" was broken limbs, uncontrollable wails; it was dried-out eyeballs with flies crawling over them; it was desperate struggling, a coldness sweeping through the entire body;

It was flowing viscera, iron implements inserted into the body, splashing flesh and blood, and a nauseating stench.

Faced with such concrete and intense death, they began to hesitate, began to retreat.

Thus, Li Miao's speed increased once more.

Mao Yingxia listened to the screams closing in behind her, sweat seeping from her forehead as she fled with all her might.

"How can this be! How can this be!"

"'Vajra,' 'Atom'! How could he have mastered two paths of Above the Pinnacle! How could he still be alive after mastering them!"

"No, no, almost there! Almost there!"

Finally, a look of joy appeared on Mao Yingxia's face.

"Xixi susu, xixi susu..." The obscure mantra once again came from her mouth.