578: Chapter 578 Soul of Life

Beast Taming Sect Main Mountain.

Heaven and Earth Palace

"Clang~"

The moment Daoist Lord Lihuo was completely annihilated by Liu Xuan, a long warning sound rang out from the Life Soul Hall.

"Hum!"

While many Disciples were still confused, several terrifying Divine Senses converged toward the Life Soul Hall.

"That kid Lihuo is dead!"

"Are the Southern Border Yao Race really that ruthless?"

"There's going to be a good show now!"

The Beast Taming Sect had not lost a Spirit Transformation Dao Lord in a very long time. Since the Sect's founding, it had developed smoothly, and its territory had expanded continuously and steadily.

A thousand years ago, all suitable lands near the Beast Taming Sect's Heaven and Earth Palace had been incorporated into its map. This time, Daoist Lord Lihuo had crossed the southern desert to pioneer the Southern Border for the first time, only to encounter such an incident.

Killing a Spirit Transformation Dao Lord of a major Sect was a rare sight indeed since the Great War of Late Antiquity and the Western Desert War.

"As expected of a youngster, simply unreliable!"

One Spirit Transformation Dao Lord's Divine Sense manifested into a form, shaking its head and sighing with a hint of schadenfreude in its tone.

For a beautiful opportunity like a Pioneering War, the benefits should have been shared equally by the Sect, but they were entirely monopolized by the Gentlemans Academy faction.

Now, seeing Lady Yaoguang suffer a setback, he wasn't the only one gloating.

In the Southern Border Pioneering War, Daoist Lord Lihuo was someone Lady Yaoguang had nurtured. Most of the high-level officials sent to the Southern Border battlefield were from the Gentlemans Academy, and even the large army of ordinary Cultivators mobilized was funded by Lady Yaoguang in the name of the Gentlemans Academy.

It could be said that Lady Yaoguang was the support behind the entire war; otherwise, a newly promoted Spirit Transformation like Daoist Lord Lihuo could never have accumulated such massive energy.

Gentlemans Academy.

A woman stood under a bluestone corridor, wearing a moon-white scholar's robe. She was elegant and dignified, with wide sleeves and a cinched waist, giving off the vibe of a refined male scholar in disguise.

Yet, she possessed a stunningly beautiful face that could overturn the Mortal World. Her fox-like eyes were naturally seductive, shimmering with a soft, watery light whenever she glanced around.

However, ordinary people could hardly see her true appearance, only a blurry outline; afterward, they couldn't even remember that blurry outline.

The habitually calm and gentle Lady Yaoguang closed the book in her hand, a hint of anger appearing between her brows.

"Investigate immediately! What exactly happened in the Southern Border?!"

"Yes!"

Soon, the Gentlemans Academy's intelligence System was fully activated, striving to retrieve all information from the Southern Border as quickly as possible.

At the same time, other Daoist Lord factions within the Beast Taming Sect were also rapidly investigating the Southern Border.

A Spirit Transformation Dao Lord had died, and while representing the Sect in a Pioneering War at that; no one dared to take it lightly.

Various pieces of intelligence from the Southern Border were constantly being sent to the Beast Taming Sect's Main Mountain, so the investigation was not difficult.

Soon, detailed intelligence on the Great Battle of Biyou Pool from several months ago was compiled and delivered to the various Daoist Lords.

Demon Saint Xuanyu had invited Ghost King Lianyue, who was at the Peak of the Middle Stage of Soul Transformation from the Black Death Marsh. The two had joined forces in a sneak attack, leaving Daoist Lord Lihuo heavily injured.

Detailed intelligence regarding Ghost King Lianyue was also delivered to the Daoist Lords.

Ghost King Lianyue, a Peak Middle Stage Soul Transformation Ghost King, controlled the Black Death Marsh, a place where Southern Border yin fiend gathered. Within her own territory, her combat strength was not inferior to the Late Stage of Soul Transformation.

This is problematic! After reading the information on Ghost King Lianyue, the expressions of the Beast Taming Sect's Daoist Lords turned grim one after another.

With a Ghost King whose combat power was comparable to a Late Stage Spirit Transformation Great Daoist Lord involved, they had to consider whether retaliation was worth it.

"Ghost King Lianyue!"

Yaoguang Demon Saint's eyes narrowed slightly. While others were afraid and worried, she did not take it to heart.

Comparable to the Late Stage of Soul Transformation? 'Comparable' was always just 'comparable'; there was still a gap compared to being a true Late Stage Soul Transformation.

"The Southern Border is a wild land where education does not flourish, order is chaotic, and etiquette does not exist. It should be crossed by the Saintly Dao!"

Her tone was calm, yet it possessed an unquestionable dominance that caused the Heaven and Earth Palace hall to fall silent for a moment.

Scanning the phantoms of the Daoist Lords who had manifested their Divine Senses in the hall with a cold gaze, she knew these people were not of one mind with her. Lady Yaoguang said no more and directly withdrew her Divine Sense.

The Southern Border was too far from the Beast Taming Sect's Main Mountain, so there would always be a delay in intelligence transmission.

Lady Yaoguang decided to send someone with a Dharma Image token. At that time, her Dharma Image would descend to personally understand the situation before deciding on a specific response.

"Upholding etiquette to civilize the barbarians, spreading the Dao to stabilize the wilds—no one shall stand in my way! Even if it means repeating the events of the Western Desert, I will not hesitate."

For this Southern Border Pioneering War, Lady Yaoguang had planned for hundreds of years. From supporting Lihuo's promotion to Spirit Transformation to the continuous investment after the war began, she had sacrificed too much; it was impossible to stop now.

If it came to a last resort, she would use all her power within the Beast Taming Sect to drag the entire Sect into the Southern Border war, even drawing the Central State Dao Court into the fray to start a large-scale war.

...

Star Academy.

Liu Residence.

Liu Xuan was unaware of what was happening at the Beast Taming Sect's Main Mountain. He still acted as the Senior Brother of the Lihuo Lineage and even sent invitations to all the high-level members of the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect, inviting them to celebrate Peach Blossom's promotion ceremony to Yao Saint.

In his words, Peach Blossom had long since joined Daoist Lord Lihuo and was considered part of the Lihuo Lineage, which naturally meant she was part of the Beast Taming Sect.

The death of Daoist Lord Lihuo had not been made public. In the Southern Border, only Ghost King Lianyue knew for certain; even Old Daoist Qingxuan and Demon Saint Xuanyu only had suspicions and were not sure.

Years ago, Peach Blossom had fought alongside Demon Saint Xuanyu at the Star Academy, so everyone had some level of trust in her. Now, with the Lihuo Lineage vouching for her, no one questioned it.

The Beast Taming Sect had gained a Hua Shen Demon Saint combatant. Since Daoist Lord Lihuo did not have a natal spirit beast of the same Realm, some boldly speculated that Peach Blossom was a replacement choice nurtured by Daoist Lord Lihuo, which was why she could successfully break through.

Due to various reasons, while Daoist Lord Lihuo was recovering from his injuries, Peach Blossom was the recognized highest authority of the Lihuo Lineage.

Although the Academy was not under the jurisdiction of the Lihuo Lineage, Daoist Lord Lihuo himself held a position in the Academy. With Peach Blossom acting in his name, she could almost command all matters of the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect.

Thus, when Liu Xuan sent out the invitations, all the Nascent Soul Cultivators of the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect arrived without exception.

The Star Academy instantly became the core of power for the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect. True Lord Guanxin, True Lord Shaoxia, True Lord Duyuan... Nascent Soul True Lords who were usually rarely seen all converged at the Star Academy.

Above the Star Palace.

"Greetings, True Lord Wanfa!"

"Greetings, True Lord Wanfa!"

...

Peach Blossom did not appear. The many Nascent Soul True Lords waited for a long time, only for Liu Xuan and several women at the Nascent Soul Realm by his side to arrive.

Liu Xuan was very satisfied with everyone's performance. He raised his hand to signal for silence and then smiled, "Peach Blossom has matters to attend to, so I will represent her to chat with you all."

"My Revered Master, Daoist Lord Lihuo, is currently recovering from his injuries. All matters of the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect are to be handled by Peach Blossom."

Liu Xuan leaned forward slightly, his gaze sweeping across the group of Nascent Soul True Lords below, and asked in a low voice, "Who supports this? Who objects?"