Blood Shadow Sect

Behind the broken stone gate was a deep, secluded tunnel. Luminous ore inlaid in the rock walls cast a dim, hazy light on the path.

As White Night took his third step, a soft 'click' suddenly sounded beneath his foot. The rock ceiling instantly cracked open, and dozens of sharp stone spikes rained down like a storm. Faint gray protective wind swirled around the spikes—clearly a killing formation left from antiquity.

"A trivial trick."

He tapped his toe, his figure drifting backward like willow catkins. Simultaneously, three wind blades shot from his fingertips, accurately striking the grooves on both sides of the tunnel.

These grooves concealed the core mechanisms of the formation. The moment the wind blades severed the spiritual energy connection, the stone spikes froze mid-air, and the protective wind dissipated.

The Heavenly Heart Imprint had long seen through the formation's structure. This was the 'Falling Stone Formation,' which looked dangerous but could be broken simply by finding the formation eyes.

White Night slowly walked through the tunnel. The ore on the rock walls suddenly glowed red, illuminating murals on the stone walls: the paintings depicted armored soldiers battling three-headed, six-armed monsters, golden blood flowing on the ground, and a massive city floating in the sky. The words 'Nine Heavens' were carved on the city walls.

"Is this the war between the Nine Heavens Realm and the demons?" White Night paused to look closely. The final scene of the mural showed the city collapsing and countless cultivators falling into a rift. One figure among them was quite similar to the portrait in the Wind Earl's manuscript. "It seems the Wind Earl did indeed fall to the Qingxuan Continent at that time."

Passing through the tunnel, a circular hall appeared ahead. Three bronze statues stood in the center of the hall, holding long halberds, clad in tattered armor, their eyes flashing with red light.

The moment White Night stepped into the hall, the statues 'crunched' their necks, and three halberds simultaneously thrust toward him. The sharp whistle as the tips tore through the air made his scalp tingle.

"Puppets?" He sidestepped the halberds, spinning his iron sword to strike the joints of the statue with the sword's spine.

With a crisp 'clang,' the statue remained completely still. Instead, it seized the opening to sweep its halberd horizontally, forcing White Night to retreat repeatedly.

The material of these three puppets was neither gold nor stone, covered with a layer of faint golden patterns. They were clearly forged from special materials of the Nine Heavens Realm, and attacks from ordinary Deity Transformation Realm cultivators could not harm them in the slightest.

Even more bizarrely, their movements were perfectly synchronized, and the trajectory of the halberds sealed off all routes of evasion, coordinating flawlessly.

"A bit interesting." A hint of battle intent flashed in White Night's eyes. He suddenly circulated the Wind Law to the extreme, raising a cyan whirlwind around his body.

The whirlwind caused the air to vibrate violently, generating sound waves precisely opposite to the frequency of the puppets' joints. This was a technique he had comprehended during his mortal world training, learned from a musician who played chime bells: using vibration to break defenses.

"Buzz!"

Under the impact of the sound waves, sparks flew from the joints of the bronze statues, and their movements visibly slowed.

White Night seized the opportunity, thrusting his iron sword with the momentum of the wind. The sword tip accurately pierced the statue's eye socket, which was the source of the red light and the puppet's core.

"Sizzle!" The moment the red light extinguished, the statue froze in place. The golden patterns on its surface rapidly faded, turning it into a pile of ordinary bronze fragments.

The process of dealing with the other two puppets was identical. In less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the hall returned to silence.

An alcove was revealed where the statue had shattered, holding a black jade box.

White Night opened the jade box. Inside were three pills the size of longans. The pills were pale gold and exuded a refreshing fragrance that repaired the divine soul.

[Discovered Nine Heavens Realm medicinal pill, 'spirit condensing pill.' It can repair damage to the divine soul and is effective for Deity Transformation Realm cultivators.]

The system's prompt surprised him slightly. The quality of this pill was even higher than Qinglan Sect's best 'Soul Returning Pill.'

He stored the pill in his system space and continued forward.

There were four diverging paths at the end of the hall, each carved with a different rune: Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth.

White Night's Heavenly Heart Imprint sensed that the spiritual energy was most concentrated at the Wind path entrance, and there were faint fluctuations of Space Law. He entered without hesitation.

This path was narrower than the tunnel. The rock walls were covered in claw marks, and a few cultivators' skeletons lay scattered on the ground. Beside the skeletons were rusty magical artifacts, which, based on their style, belonged to sects from the Qingxuan Continent.

One skeleton tightly clutched half of a jade slip. White Night picked it up and saw that the writing was blurred, though he could barely make out words like 'Blood Shadow Sect,' 'stealing treasure,' and 'perish together.'

"Blood Shadow Sect?" His heart stirred. This was an evil cultivation sect in the Northern Continent, rumored to specialize in refining blood puppets and employing vicious methods. He hadn't expected them to have visited this place too.

After penetrating a hundred zhang into the Wind path, the sound of fighting suddenly reached him.

White Night slowed his steps and quietly peeked out. He saw three black-robed cultivators surrounding a silver giant wolf. The wolf's front leg was already injured, blood staining the ground, but it still snarled and bared its teeth at the cultivators. The sonic waves contained in the wolf's howl caused the surrounding rocks to tremble.

"This is a 'Wind Howling Silver Wolf.' It contains a trace of the Wind Spirit bloodline, and its inner core is highly beneficial for cultivating the Wind Law." White Night recognized the demonic beast. Its strength was equivalent to the initial stage of the Deity Transformation Realm, but it was at a disadvantage because it was being besieged by three cultivators.

The three black-robed cultivators were indeed from the Blood Shadow Sect. The curved blades in their hands gleamed with dark red light. Where the blade light passed, a smell of blood permeated the air. This was the Blood Shadow Sect's evil technique, the 'Blood Shadow Blade,' which increased its power by absorbing the essence blood of living beings.

"Third Brother, finish this quickly! Don't forget the Sect Master's orders—we must find the world gate key before the Qinglan Sect people arrive!" The leader of the cultivators grinned maliciously and slashed out. The blade light transformed into a blood-red line, cutting toward the Silver Wolf's neck.

The Silver Wolf let out a mournful cry, about to lose its life to the blade, but White Night suddenly stepped out from the shadows: "Stop."

The three Blood Shadow Sect cultivators were startled. After seeing White Night's attire, a hint of greed flashed in the leader's eyes: "Qinglan Sect? Perfect, that saves us the trouble of looking for you!" He brandished his curved blade. "If you know what's good for you, hand over your storage bag, or you'll taste what it's like to have your essence blood drained!"

White Night couldn't be bothered with nonsense. The iron sword shot out abruptly, the sword light flashing like lightning. The three cultivators didn't even see his movements before they clutched their necks and collapsed onto the ground, blood gushing from between their fingers, their eyes still holding traces of unbelievable terror.

This sword strike was incredibly fast, the 'Wind Crevice Stab,' a technique that integrated Wind Crevice Shuttle. It was even more effective in a narrow passage.

The Wind Howling Silver Wolf watched him warily, a low growl rumbling in its throat.

White Night took out a spirit condensing pill, crushed it, and tossed it in front of the wolf: "Eat it, then go."

The pill's fragrance caused the Silver Wolf to relax its guard. It cautiously licked up the powder, and a faint golden light appeared over its wound, which healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Silver Wolf let out a soft cry toward White Night, then turned and drilled into the depths of the passage, disappearing into the darkness.

White Night continued forward. The end of the passage was a stone chamber, and on a stone platform in the center of the chamber lay a cyan jade box.

Just as he picked up the jade box, the ground beneath his feet suddenly collapsed, and he instantly fell into a pitch-black space.

"A trap?" He quickly stabilized himself, finding that he was in a massive karst cave. Countless luminous stalactites hung from the ceiling, illuminating the dense, red eyes below!

It was thousands of Blood Shadow Sect cultivators. They sat cross-legged on the ground, surrounded by thick bloody Qi, clearly performing some wicked ritual.

On the high platform in the center of the cave, an old man in blood-red robes held a bone staff. An ominous dark red bead was embedded in the staff's tip, and countless suffering human faces could vaguely be seen within the bead. This was the Blood Shadow Sect's Sect Master, the Late Stage Soul Transformation evil cultivator, Xue Wuchang!

"You finally came." Xue Wuchang slowly turned around, a strange smile on his face. "I set up the 'Soul Guiding Formation' precisely to lure a pure Wind Spirit Root like you for sacrifice. Thank you for walking right into the trap, little brat from the Qinglan Sect."

The surrounding Blood Shadow Sect cultivators rose simultaneously. The bloody Qi condensed behind them into gigantic phantom blood wolves. Thousands of Bloodthirst gazes locked onto White Night, making the scene horrifying.

White Night's expression remained calm. He even weighed the jade box in his hand: "Are you looking for this?" The jade box contained a pale cyan token engraved with the words 'Wind Division.' It was clearly the identity token of a Nine Heavens Realm cultivator, perhaps related to the world gate key.

"It is indeed on you!" Greed flashed in Xue Wuchang's eyes. He slammed his bone staff onto the ground. "Capture him! Whoever gets the token will be the next Young Sect Master!"

Thousands of Blood Shadow Sect cultivators surged forward like a tide. The blood wolves formed by bloody Qi roared and pounced at White Night.

He took a deep breath, and nine law halos lit up simultaneously. Black and white wind blades shot out like a torrential rain. Wherever they passed, the phantom blood wolves disintegrated, and the cultivators screamed and turned into ashes.

"Initial Stage Deity Transformation? Impossible! This power is at least Middle Stage Deity Transformation!" Xue Wuchang cried out in alarm. He had never seen such a terrifying Initial Stage Deity Transformation cultivator. The wind blades actually contained Space Law, capable of directly tearing apart the defense of bloody Qi.

White Night ignored his shock, his figure flickering as he appeared on the high platform, the iron sword pointing directly at Xue Wuchang's throat.

Xue Wuchang hurriedly raised his bone staff to block. The blood bead on the staff's tip erupted in a red light, forming a blood-colored barrier.

"Clang!"

The iron sword struck the barrier, causing the red light to tremble violently. Xue Wuchang retreated repeatedly, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth: "Such powerful strength! Who exactly are you?"

"The one taking your life." White Night's voice was cold. Wind and Space Law burst forth simultaneously, the space around the iron sword twisting slightly. The next moment, it pierced through the blood-colored barrier, the sword tip stopping right before Xue Wuchang's glabella.

Xue Wuchang was scared out of his wits. He suddenly pulled out a black talisman from his robes and slapped it fiercely onto his chest: "Blood Escape!" His body instantly turned into a mist of blood, fleeing toward the depths of the cave.

"Trying to run?" White Night snorted coldly, flicking a wind blade from his fingertip. The wind blade transformed into a large net in the air, firmly trapping the blood mist.

The blood mist tumbled violently within the net but could not break free. It finally re-condensed into Xue Wuchang's figure, though his aura was much weaker.

"Spare me! I am willing to submit!" Xue Wuchang pleaded in terror, his eyes filled with dread.

White Night did not hesitate, plunging the iron sword into his glabella.

There was no need to show mercy to such a wicked evil cultivator.

As Xue Wuchang's corpse fell, the blood bead at the top of the bone staff rolled onto the ground and was casually stored by White Night into his system space.

This bead contained pure bloody Qi. Though evil, it could be used to temper the physical body and might be useful in the future.

After dealing with Xue Wuchang, the remaining Blood Shadow Sect cultivators were already terrified out of their minds and knelt down, begging for mercy.

White Night did not exterminate them all; he merely crippled their cultivation and ordered them to get out of the Star Shattering Abyss. His goal was the world gate key, and he didn't need to waste time on these small fry.

After clearing the cave, he noticed that the cave walls were carved with patterns similar to the previous murals, only more detailed.

In the final pattern, a key-shaped item lay on a floating altar. Four large characters were carved around the altar: 'Four Symbols Merge into One.'

"It seems the world gate key requires collecting the tokens of the Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth divisions to be activated." White Night looked at the Wind Division token in his hand, a hint of understanding flashing in his eyes. "The other three tokens should be in the other three passages."

As soon as he walked out of the cave, he saw the Wind Howling Silver Wolf crouching at the entrance. Seeing him emerge, it walked over, carrying a token burning with flames in its mouth, and placed the token before him.

That token was the same style as the Wind Division token, but it was engraved with the words 'Fire Division.' The Silver Wolf had clearly retrieved it from another passage.

White Night raised an eyebrow and stroked the Silver Wolf's head: "Thanks."

The Silver Wolf let out a low cry and affectionately rubbed against his palm.