136: Chapter 136 Unfathomable and Unfathomable

Deep within the mountains, blood-colored mist surged like a tide.

Three figures hovered in mid-air, their gazes sharp as knives, scanning the barren valley below that had been eroded by Devilish Qi until not a single blade of grass remained.

Ancestor Zhou Huaixu stood with his hands behind his back, his face as dark as water.

Beside him, Daoist Ziyang and Daoist Yunlan stood side by side, their expressions equally solemn, their eyes filled with irrepressible anger.

Three days ago, Venerable Lingyun sneaked into the Qingyang Sect and assassinated three Mahayana Stage Elders right under the nose of the mountain-protecting Formation.

Those three Elders were all mainstays of the Qingyang Sect; even the weakest among them was at the Middle Mahayana Stage. Highly respected within the Sect, they had their lives taken silently in their own Immortal Caves.

When the news spread, the Southern Wilderness was shaken. Lord Yangtian, the Sect Master of the Qingyang Sect, was instantly enraged and swore to tear that Devil Head into ten thousand pieces.

While the entire Qingyang Sect was still grieving the deaths of the three Elders, Venerable Lingyun appeared again at a major border town of the Xuanyuan Dynasty.

Tens of thousands of Cultivators were stationed in that major town, making it a crucial node of the Xuanyuan Dynasty's eastern defensive line.

By the time Ancestor Xu Tianyan arrived with reinforcements, the entire major town had already turned into a dead zone. The essence blood of tens of thousands of Cultivators had been drained dry, their corpses scattered across the ground like dry firewood, with not even their Divine Souls escaping.

Ancestor Zhou Huaixu closed his eyes and took a deep breath, suppressing the surging killing intent in his heart.

He had lived for tens of thousands of years and witnessed countless bloody scenes, but this time, he was still thoroughly enraged.

After every crime, Venerable Lingyun would leave a Divine Thought imprint at the scene, containing only a single sentence: "Ants of the Southern Wilderness, this seat will eat you all clean, one by one."

"Have you found him?" Ancestor Zhou Huaixu opened his eyes, his voice hoarse and low.

Daoist Ziyang shook his head, his face ash-pale. "No, that Devil Head's aura is different every time it appears. Sometimes it's in the east, sometimes in the west, and sometimes in the north. There is no pattern to it at all."

"This old man has performed deductions for three days, only to arrive at one conclusion: he is deliberately playing with us."

Daoist Yunlan snorted coldly, his voice full of anger. "Playing with us? Just with him, a Mahayana Stage Devil Head? If his Cultivation Technique weren't so bizarre, this old man would have slapped him to death long ago."

Ancestor Zhou Huaixu did not speak; he naturally knew that Daoist Yunlan's words were not boastful.

Venerable Lingyun's cultivation was indeed only at the Mahayana Stage; this was something the three of them had confirmed repeatedly.

However, the Cultivation Technique that Devil Head practiced was bizarre to the extreme. Not only could he alter his aura and conceal his tracks at will, but he could also open temporary spatial passages in the Void Realm, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, making him utterly untraceable.

Over the past three days, the three of them had joined forces to pursue him, but every single time they were just one step too late, letting that Devil Head slip through their fingers.

He even suspected that Venerable Lingyun was not at the Mahayana Stage at all, but had already restored his cultivation and was merely feigning weakness to play with them.

Ancestor Zhou Huaixu took a deep breath, suppressing the irritation in his heart.

"Keep searching," his voice was calm and firm. "Since that Devil Head dares to run wild in the Southern Wilderness, he must pay the price. He can run for a moment, but he cannot run forever."

Daoist Ziyang and Daoist Yunlan exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously.

The three figures soared up from above the barren valley, turning into three streams of light that shot rapidly in different directions.

The Tribulation Transcenders of the other forces were also constantly searching for Venerable Lingyun's tracks, yet they were still unable to lock onto him.

Deepest within the mountains of the Eastern Southern Wilderness, inside an underground Immortal Cave.

Dark red light rippled across the cave walls, illuminating the entire space in a blood-red glow.

The blood pool churned, the plasma boiling as bubbles constantly rose from the bottom to pop on the surface, releasing thick, blood-colored mist.

Venerable Lingyun sat cross-legged in the blood pool, his entire body surrounded by a blood-red light so dense it had almost solidified.

His aura was several times stronger than it had been three months ago. Although he was still at the Mahayana Stage, he had already faintly touched the threshold of Undergoing Tribulation.

His brow was slightly furrowed, and his expression was rather unsightly.

When he snuck into the Qingyang Sect three days ago to assassinate those three Mahayana Stage Elders, he had thought he could use the opportunity to make a Breakthrough to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

The essence blood of those three Elders was indeed pure and had indeed greatly boosted his cultivation, but he was still just a tiny bit away from the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

Afterward, he had gone to that major town of the Xuanyuan Dynasty. With the essence blood of tens of thousands of Cultivators combined with the Spiritual Qi of the underground Spiritual Vein of that town, he thought it would be enough this time.

But when that essence blood and Spiritual Qi surged into his body, he realized he was gravely mistaken.

The essence blood of those low-level Cultivators contained too many Impurities. Refining it was not only highly inefficient, but it would also contaminate the already scarce immortal force Foundation within his body.

What he needed was the essence blood of high-level Cultivators, pure spiritual power of the highest order, and nutrients that he could absorb directly without having to go through the trouble of refining.

Instead of the garbage of these low-level Cultivators, which required spitting out the dregs after consuming them.

Venerable Lingyun opened his eyes, his gaze falling upon the several dry corpses at the edge of the blood pool.

Those were the corpses of the Mahayana Stage Elders he had brought back from the Qingyang Sect three days ago. Their essence blood had been completely refined, leaving behind only shriveled husks that looked exceptionally terrifying under the reflection of the blood-red light.

"Still not enough," he muttered to himself, his voice hoarse and cold. "I need more."

His gaze pierced through the dome of the Immortal Cave, looking toward the surface.

Up there, the Tribulation Transcenders of the Seven Great Factions were searching everywhere for his tracks, each one utterly enraged, wishing they could tear him into ten thousand pieces.

A playful expression also appeared on Venerable Lingyun's face.

As for those Tribulation Transcenders, he had no wish to touch them for the time being—not because he couldn't, but because it wasn't worth it.

Killing them would certainly boost his cultivation greatly, but it would also bring about even greater trouble. Although the Southern Wilderness was weak, it was not completely devoid of existences that could contend with him.

At least before restoring his cultivation to that of a Half-Step Immortal, he did not want to appear before the world.

Venerable Lingyun pulled back his thoughts and was about to continue refining the remaining essence blood in the blood pool.

Suddenly, a figure appeared inside the Immortal Cave at some unknown moment, standing right at the edge of the blood pool, looking down at him from above.

Venerable Lingyun's pupils contracted sharply. His body shot out from the blood pool as he retreated to the other side of the Immortal Cave, blood-red light surging wildly around him, condensing into layer upon layer of protection.

His eyes stared fixedly at the figure, a tumultuous storm raging in his heart.

How did this person get in?

He had set up dozens of Formations and Restrictions around this Immortal Cave, each one sufficient to trap a Tribulation Transcender for a moment.

Even if someone could crack these Restrictions, it was absolutely impossible for them to appear before him completely silently.

Yet this person just stood there as if those Restrictions did not exist at all.

Venerable Lingyun's gaze swept over the figure, attempting to perceive the other party's cultivation.

But no matter how hard he tried, he could not sense any spiritual power fluctuations. It was as if the one standing before him was not a Cultivator, but a shadow, a gust of wind, a patch of nothingness.

His expression grew increasingly solemn.

"Who are you?"

Venerable Lingyun spoke, his voice hoarse and low, carrying an irrepressible vigilance.

The figure did not speak, only looking at him quietly, as if examining an interesting object.

Venerable Lingyun's brow furrowed even deeper.

He had lived through countless ages and met countless experts, yet he had never seen anyone like this. Clearly standing right in front of him, yet giving him the feeling of facing an abyss.

Bottomless and unfathomable.