Chapter 558: The Sect Leader Returns (10,000 Characters—Seeking Moon Tickets)

In the sky, an eighth-rank Hu Weng giant bird carried over fifty eighth-rank experts, flying at maximum speed.

Suddenly, Yu Shen, the Blood God Sect's leader, seated atop the Hu Weng, changed expression instantly; the bloodlight enveloping his body trembled violently, then he whirled to stare at Ju Zhang, the King of the Eight Wilderness.

Ju Zhang felt it too and spun around—Yu Shen's bloodlight had already surged toward him like a dragon, "Ju Zhang, you tricked me!"

As Ju Zhang waved his hand to block the bloodlight, he frowned, "Master Yu, what happened?"

"You knew the direction of the target but didn't tell me?" Master Yu roared.

"Master Yu, I lost track of him—" At that same moment, Ju Zhang realized something and turned pale; he leapt to his feet, "Master Yu, I'm coming with you at full speed to reinforce you!"

Yu Shen cast a skeptical glance at Ju Zhang but didn't fully believe him; yet now was no time to dwell on this—he waved his hand, "Even if we rush there at full speed, it's still too slow.

Prince Ju, I'll borrow one thing from you."

"Master Yu, say what you need—I'll help however I can!" Ju Zhang said.

"Good!"

BOOM!

Yu Shen stomped hard—the riders atop the Hu Weng staggered wildly; at the same instant, the Hu Weng beneath them let out a mournful cry, its body instantly bound in bloodlight, its soul shattered on the spot, life extinguished.

"Help me! Aid me in activating the Blood God Array to send me back to Blood Moon City!"

As Yu Shen shouted, a streak of bloodlight shot from his palm and instantly unfurled across the sky.

Simultaneously, the eight eighth-rank disciples Yu Shen brought—led by Han Yue Qing and Mu Geng—darted to the array's eight positions, each pouring blood-star energy into the array at full speed.

At the same moment, Yu Shen surged skyward, dragging the bound Hu Weng with him; the bloodlight entangling the beast instantly transformed into razor-thin threads, slicing the Hu Weng into over a hundred pieces.

The Blood God Array blazed with light—all falling flesh and blood was sucked in; the Hu Weng's body rapidly shriveled, while the array's power surged upward.

Watching the slain Hu Weng, Wang Ju Zhang's eyes filled with sorrow.

To some extent, an eighth-rank Hu Weng was rarer than an eighth-rank expert.

There were only two left on the entire Eight Wilderness Continent.

But Yu Shen acted too fast—he had no chance to stop him.

For now, he could only let it pass.

Seeing Ju Zhang's gaze, Yu Shen explained, "In Blood Moon City, I left a Blood God Beacon. With the Blood God Array and sufficient offerings, I can return in as little as thirty breaths."

Ju Zhang froze, glancing toward Blood Moon City.

That was nearly ten thousand li away—did the Blood God Sect possess such a secret technique?

He had never known.

But in the next instant, hope flickered in Ju Zhang's eyes: "Master Yu, can you take me with you? Together, we can trap and annihilate that thief!"

Yu Shen shook his head, "No.

Only my Blood God Beacon remains there.

But next time, if Prince Ju lends me a thread of your soul's origin, I can craft a Blood God Beacon for you."

Hearing this, Ju Zhang chuckled awkwardly, "Then forget it."

He added, "If so, I'll go ahead—I'll fly at full speed and arrive in three hundred breaths. Perhaps I can aid you."

In the next instant, Ju Zhang turned into a streak of golden light and vanished.

In a single blink, he disappeared from everyone's sight.

At that same moment, Ju Chang, Ju Song, and other close confidants of Ju Zhang received his orders.

They were to travel together and keep watch on every move of the Blood God Sect's leader.

Yu Shen's gaze, however, remained locked on the Blood God Array.

The array's fastest activation time was thirty breaths—but that was the absolute minimum.

Today's preparations were insufficient; it would take over forty breaths.

Yet every breath now was critical.

In this moment, Yu Shen felt as if each second stretched into a year.

Blood Moon City was the Blood God Sect's stronghold, its very foundation.

Worse still, urgent reports said Left Protector Fan Kai had died in battle.

Though the Blood God Sect's Blood Mark allowed resurrection, each death caused a severe drop in cultivation base.

Fan Kai was his designated second ninth-rank of the sect.

But now…

Yu Shen's fury was unimaginable.

In Blood Moon City, Xu Jin casually unleashed a Thunder Slash, obliterating Elder Xiao Xiao Wenfeng's Nascent Soul.

Simultaneously, he fully activated the Mingji Star Mark, his spiritual sense flooding outward—but his expression turned puzzled.

He detected no trace of the Blood Mark's divine blood used by Left Protector Fan Kai for resurrection.

His master Qi Qi Shanye had once said the divine blood used by Right Protector Lin Lin Mingshi for resurrection was kept in the City Lord's mansion.

Back then, he hadn't known—if he had, he could've destroyed it with Lei Guang and possibly severed Fan Kai's Blood Resurrection path.

If Lin Lin Mingshi did that, might Fan Kai have placed his latest resurrection blood in the City Lord's mansion too?

If so, destroying that drop would at least kill Fan Kai again—even if it didn't fully stop his resurrection.

That would completely resolve the spiritual control exerted by his master and his uncle.

Past experience showed: kill twice, and spiritual control vanishes.

But now, Xu Jin's spiritual sense swept the area around the City Lord's mansion—and found no trace of Fan Kai's Blood Mark blood.

Yet in an instant, he sensed Fan Kai's Numinous Space.

Xu Jin glanced around—the surrounding Blood God Sect disciples were all seventh-rank; not a single eighth-rank among them.

He activated his spiritual sense without hesitation and began pulling Fan Kai's Numinous Space.

Xu Jin's soul cultivation was immensely powerful; pulling Fan Kai's Numinous Space took only half a breath—just one second.

But in that one second, four seventh-rank disciples closed in, hurling star arts from afar at Xu Jin.

Xu Jin didn't move—he absorbed all four attacks head-on.

The Fish Curtain Golden Bell shattered instantly, but the residual force was absorbed by the low-grade Seven-Star Spirit Armor he had previously refined.

At nearly the same instant, Xu Jin pulled out Fan Kai's Numinous Space.

Without even glancing, he dumped everything into his own Numinous Space—and vanished on the spot.

More attacks were coming.

As he teleported away from the barrage, his counterattack began instantly!

The Five Elements Linked Thunder Slash erupted like scattered blossoms.

Three seventh-rank beginners were obliterated; four seventh-rank mid-to-late cultivators were severely wounded; eight sixth-rank disciples rushing in turned to ash on the spot.

Another blast of Lei Guang—those four seventh-rank mid-to-late cultivators were instantly killed; nearby sixth-ranks who had no idea what was happening were also caught in the chain lightning and reduced to charcoal.

This sight stunned the Blood God Sect disciples surging from all directions.

They were dumbfounded.

They weren't even on the same level!

Even mid-to-late seventh-ranks couldn't survive one strike—what was the point of charging?

As if by unspoken agreement, the surrounding disciples scattered instantly. The Blood God Sect's combat will was nothing compared to the Eight Wilderness barbarians.

Back in Green Snake City, those Green Snake barbarians kept attacking Xu Jin in formation—even after their chieftain and all seventh-ranks died, they fought like madmen.

Their will to fight was extraordinarily stubborn.

The Blood God Sect's? Not even comparable.

Of course, this was also because Blood Moon City now had no eighth-rank elders to command.

In the next instant, Xu Jin appeared instantly at the spot where he had slain the eighth-rank Elder Xiao Xiao Wenfeng; as he casually killed a few lowly disciples, he sensed Xiao Xiao Wenfeng's Numinous Space.

He pulled it instantly.

Danger?

Gone already!

Xu Jin's brief display of power had scared off the Blood God Sect's elite.

One second later, he pulled out Elder Xiao Xiao Wenfeng's Numinous Space and tossed it into his own.

He hadn't examined it closely—but a quick spiritual scan revealed a decent haul.

"Pity—only two eighth-ranks."

As Xu Jin sighed inwardly, he was about to pursue other seventh-ranks when he suddenly remembered his master's words.

A few hours ago, the Blood God Sect's leader had gifted twenty seventh-rank mid-to-late elites each a Star-Enhancing Seal.

In the Thousand Star Token, Xu Jin needed one hundred points to exchange for one such Seal—not even including shipping.

They were precious.

Since he had time, he rushed to the spots where he'd killed the four seventh-rank mid-to-late cultivators, pulled their Numinous Spaces, and sent a message to his master Qi Qi Shanye.

【Master, how much of your soul seal has been lifted?】

【I feel most of it has dissipated—over sixty percent gone.】

【Then I need to kill one more time. Do you know where Fan Kai is hiding?】

【I truly don't know. He'd never tell me something like that.】

【Good. I'll find another chance. By the way, Master—who were those twenty seventh-rank mid-to-late elites who received the Star-Enhancing Seals? I want to steal their Seals—they're very useful.】

【All are inside Blood Moon City, but I can't mark them for you now. Still, they're easy to find: only seventy or so seventh-rank mid-to-late elites exist in Blood Moon City, but most are elderly.】

【Those who received the gifts are all young, with growth potential.】

When you're looking for the target, I'll give you guidance when the moment comes.

Got it.

As they spoke, Xu Jin had already drawn out two Numinous Spaces, and with his spiritual sense sweeping through, he indeed found the Star-Reflecting Seal—but only one.

Pull out the other two as well.

"Jin'er, when you chase down the other seventh-rankers later, remember to find a chance to seriously injure me. Don't hold back—best to publicly blast me to the brink of death! My soul control hasn't been lifted yet, so I still need to stay here. If I'm unharmed, they'll suspect something." Qi Qi Shanye sent Xu Jin another star-message.

Got it.

Xu Jin agreed without hesitation.

This was currently the best method; otherwise, Qi Qi Shanye would be in danger.

At the seventh-rank, as long as no limbs are severed, flesh wounds aren't serious—especially with the Blood God Sect's Ten Thousand Spirits Blood Pill, which heals injuries with astonishing speed!

While discussing, Xu Jin had already drawn out the other two seventh-rank late-stage Numinous Spaces, found one Star-Reflecting Seal in each, and without organizing them, tossed them straight into the Numinous Spaces.

The next instant, Xu Jin flashed forward and appeared before a seventh-rank late-stage elite pointed out by Qi Qi Shanye; with a single Thundering Slash, he ended him.

As for the other Blood God Sect disciples, they immediately scattered.

These Blood God Sect disciples, without leadership, had already been terrified into submission, daring not to retaliate, only to flee.

One breath later, Xu Jin successfully drew out another Numinous Space and acquired another Star-Reflecting Seal.

Because the allotted time was short, most people hadn't used their Star-Reflecting Seals.

Ten breaths later, Xu Jin gained five more Star-Reflecting Seals.

At the same time, Xu Jin received intelligence from three inner agents he controlled among the Eight Wilderness Tribes.

"My lord, I, Wang Envoy Ju Zhang, have already charged alone toward Blood Moon City at incredible speed." All three messages were nearly identical.

This intelligence eased Xu Jin's mind considerably.

Even if Envoy Ju Zhang moved as fast as he could, he'd still need two to three hundred breaths to reach Blood Moon City.

How long had he been inside Blood Moon City? Barely thirty breaths!

Suddenly, Xu Jin thought of another point and directly sent a message via the Eight Wilderness Golden Token: "What about the Blood God Sect Master? Where is he?"

"Still in place, but fiddling with a formation—we don't know what it does," Ju Man replied immediately.

The moment Xu Jin saw the message, his heart froze.

At this critical moment, any formation the Blood God Sect was crafting must have a special function.

Even if it wasn't a teleportation formation, it was certainly related to one.

"No good—I must speed up. I need to leave right away."

The instant Xu Jin made his decision, he received a notification from his master Qi Qi Shanye: he was ready.

He was gathered with seven or eight seventh-rankers, three of whom were the seventh-rankers previously granted Star-Reflecting Seals.

The next instant, Xu Jin vanished from his spot and reappeared directly within sight.

The moment he appeared, the seventh-rankers screamed in alarm and scattered like thunderstruck birds.

They reacted quickly, but Xu Jin's Five Elements Linked Thundering Slash was faster.

In an instant, the fleeing seventh-rankers fell from the sky like dumplings dropped into boiling water—including Qi Qi Shanye, who was mixed among them.

But Qi Qi Shanye's cultivation was formidable; under the blow, only his protective starlight shattered, leaving him with minor injuries.

Waiting half a second, Xu Jin saw Qi Qi Shanye's protective starlight just beginning to rise—and unleashed the Five Elements Linked Thundering Slash again.

BOOM!

Several seventh-rankers were instantly obliterated; Qi Qi Shanye's body erupted in flames, becoming a fiery ball plummeting toward the ground.

"Is he cooked yet?" Xu Jin watched this scene, worried.

But at that very moment, a streak of bloodlight suddenly exploded from the center of the Blood Spirit Holy Hall in Blood Moon City, and an immense ninth-rank aura instantly materialized within the city.

"Has the Blood God Sect Master returned?"

Xu Jin's pupils contracted; almost instinctively, he activated the Spatial Orientation Teleportation Star Technique to escape.

He had no need to directly confront a ninth-rank now!

But Xu Jin reacted quickly—the moment the Blood God Sect Master descended, the bloodlight that had exploded from the Blood Spirit Holy Hall had already spread and engulfed the entire Blood Moon City!

Xu Jin felt his mind darken; his Yuan Spirit spiritual sense instantly lost all connection to space.

"You're asking for death!"

The next instant, a blood-colored figure leapt from the Blood Spirit Holy Hall; all the crimson in the sky coalesced into a colossal blood handprint, descending like a sky-covering net toward Xu Jin!

(End of Chapter)