138: Even if I die, I'll take a few people down with me!

Chen Nian's gaze swept indifferently across the room.

Finally, it settled on the middle-aged man at the head, who wore a purple robe and possessed the most sinister aura.

Without a doubt, this man was the leader of this pack of hiding rats—the Yongsheng Cult Leader.

Under Chen Nian's flat gaze, which seemed capable of piercing the Soul...

The Yongsheng Cult Leader felt a chill rush from his tailbone straight to the crown of his head, his four limbs and hundred bones becoming so stiff they refused to obey him.

The three trusted Elders by his side were even more pale, their bodies trembling uncontrollably as cold sweat instantly drenched their inner shirts.

Despair!

Boundless despair, like an icy tide, submerged every inch of their consciousness.

How did he get here so fast?!

The layers of defense outside, those loyal cultists, those powerful Elders... could they all be... They didn't even dare to think further.

Chen Nian slowly took a step forward.

His boot soles landed on the black stone tile floor, making a crisp sound.

In this deathly silent environment, the sound was no different from a clap of thunder, striking hard against the hearts of the Eternal Life Cult members.

“It seems you are the head of these rats?” Chen Nian spoke, his voice devoid of emotion, yet carrying a suffocating pressure.

The Yongsheng Cult Leader's throat bobbed dryly as he forced down the fear that was nearly bursting from his body.

He knew that at this moment, any plea for mercy or explanation would be futile.

The man before him had slaughtered his way in over the corpses of thousands of Eternal Life Cult members; his goal had been crystal clear from the start—total extermination!

But, he didn't want to die!

He had painstakingly managed the Eternal Life Cult for years, expending countless efforts and even sacrificing thousands of lives just to pursue the illusory realm of immortality. How could he die here?!

“Chen Nian!” The leader stared fixedly at Chen Nian, attempting a final struggle. “Do you truly intend to drive us to extinction? My Eternal Life Cult has no irreconcilable grudge with you!”

“Oh?” Chen Nian's brow twitched slightly, a playful smile appearing on his face. “You sent people to ambush me and activated a Formation to suppress and kill me, and now you tell me there's no grudge?”

Upon hearing this, an Elder was enraged and roared, “We had no such intention! We even wanted to bring you along to create a glorious future and enjoy this world together!”

“Is this how you respond to us?”

However, Chen Nian smiled cruelly. “Acting on your own whims and moving yourselves to tears—did I ever ask you to do that?”

As he spoke, he simply flicked a finger.

“Swoosh—!”

A tiny yet extremely condensed blood-colored thread manifested out of thin air, slashing toward the shouting Elder at a speed exceeding visual perception.

“Puchi!”

A soft sound rang out.

The terrified expression on that Elder's face instantly froze.

A bloodline spread straight down from his head, passing through the bridge of his nose, lips, chin, chest... In the next second...

“Crash—!”

His body split neatly in two along that bloodline, sliding to the left and right as he collapsed.

Organs and blood splattered across the floor, and a thick, metallic stench instantly filled the air.

[Ding! Killed a Rank 5 Evil Cultivator, gained 17,233 points!]

An instant kill!

Done casually, as if brushing away a speck of dust.

The pupils of the remaining two trusted Elders and the leader suddenly shrank to the size of needlepoints, a boundless chill rushing from the soles of their feet to the crown of their heads.

They hadn't even clearly seen how their companion died, but they could no longer sit still.

“Attack! Kill him!”

The instinct to survive overwhelmed their fear, and another trusted Elder let out a desperate roar.

He knew begging for mercy was useless; only a life-or-death struggle might win them that slim, infinitesimal chance of survival!

He and the last Elder simultaneously erupted with their full evil power, black Qi surging around them as they transformed into two hideous ghostly shadows pouncing toward Chen Nian.

One formed hand seals, spewing a towering river of filthy blood from his mouth that reeked and corroded everything.

The other's body swelled, his flesh mutating into a terrifying monster covered in bone spikes, his claws tearing through the air with a piercing shriek as he lunged for Chen Nian's head.

This was their sacrificial strike, fueled by burning their lives and Souls, powerful enough to instantly wound or even kill a powerhouse of the same rank!

However, facing this desperate counterattack, not even a ripple appeared in Chen Nian's eyes.

He simply uttered two words: “Noisy.”

Immediately, he raised his hand again, fingers spread, and lightly clenched the void in front of him.

Evil-Warding Heavenly Thunder, activate!

“Rumble—!!!”

Two violent bolts of purple lightning instantly erupted from the center of his palm, swallowing the two pouncing figures.

The lightning power, of the utmost Yang and rigidity, naturally countered all things dark and filthy.

The filthy blood river made a “sizzle” sound in the lightning, instantly evaporated and purified until it vanished without a trace.

As for the bone-spiked monster, he didn't even have time to let out a scream before he was carbonized, decomposed, and finally completely annihilated under the bombardment of endless lightning snakes, leaving not even a speck of ash behind.

[Ding! Killed a Rank 5 Evil Cultivator, gained 18,891 points!]

[Ding! Killed a Rank 5 Evil Cultivator, gained 19,557 points!]

The System notification rang out again.

As the lightning dissipated, only a few stray electric arcs and a scorched scent remained at the scene.

Two Rank 5 Elders, who had given their all, had been reduced to ash in the blink of an eye.

Now, within the entire secret chamber, besides Chen Nian, only the Yongsheng Cult Leader remained, trembling like a sieve.

The color had long since drained from his face, and his eyes were filled with unprecedented fear and despair as he looked at Chen Nian.

His greatest reliance, the heart of the evil god, had been destroyed.

His loyal, trusted Elders had been casually crushed like chickens.

The foundation he had built over many years had turned into a land of death in a short time.

Now, it was his turn.

Chen Nian slowly lowered his hand, his gaze falling back onto the cult leader, as he walked toward him step by step.

His boot soles stepped on the cold floor, making clear and rhythmic “tap, tap” sounds.

In this deathly silent environment, the sound was like a countdown to death, striking the cult leader's heart again and again.

“No... don't come over...”

The cult leader subconsciously retreated, stumbling and nearly falling.

The muscles on his face twisted with extreme fear; not a shred of his dignity as a cult leader remained, only the most primal desire to survive.

“Chen Nian... Lord Chen Nian! Spare me! Spare my life!”

He begged for mercy in a shrill, incoherent voice.

“I am willing to submit, I am willing to offer all the Treasure Troves and secrets of the Eternal Life Cult. I am useful to you, I can be your most loyal dog!”

“Just please don't kill me, don't kill me!”

Chen Nian did not stop his pace and was already standing before him, looking down from above.

His gaze was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice, devoid of any human emotion.

“Your loyalty?”

Chen Nian let out a scoff.

“An old dog of an evil cult—how are you worthy of speaking of loyalty?”

As the words fell, Chen Nian slowly raised his hand.

The cult leader stared at that palm, which seemed to contain endless destructive power, his eyes completely consumed by despair.

He knew everything was over.

However, at this final moment, a flash of extreme madness and malice suddenly flickered deep in his eyes.

“The Evil God Cult!”

The Yongsheng Cult Leader let out a hysterical roar.

Upon hearing this, Chen Nian's hand, which was about to swing down, hung suspended in mid-air.

The Yongsheng Cult Leader no longer cared about anything else; since he was going to die anyway, even in death, he would take a few down with him.

“All of this was instructed by the Evil God Cult. They wanted us to contact you and win you over.”

“Moreover, they said that if we couldn't win you over, we had to kill you to leave no future troubles.”

“It's all their fault! If you want to kill, then kill them too!”

Having him contact Chen Nian, right?

Having him win Chen Nian over, right?

What was the point of trying to win over a devil like this? They were not the same kind of people at all.

Now that he couldn't live, they shouldn't think about staying alive either!

Hearing his words, Chen Nian felt a bit of interest.

The Evil God Cult?

Who would have thought there were even more experts behind the scenes?

He was in no hurry to kill the Yongsheng Cult Leader and asked indifferently, “Then where should I go to find this Evil God Cult?”

Upon hearing this, the Yongsheng Cult Leader pulled out an object; it was a jade pendant emitting an evil aura.

“This is a treasure linked to the Evil God Cult. Through it, you will naturally be able to find them.”

Chen Nian took the jade pendant and nodded with satisfaction.

Then, he looked back at the Yongsheng Cult Leader and asked, “Are you finished?”

The Yongsheng Cult Leader suddenly became defiant and said, “I'm finished. Do it.”

Hearing this, Chen Nian merely gave a contemptuous smile as powerful golden energy condensed in his palm.

In the next second, without any hesitation, his hand fell directly.

A lightning-fast hand-blade strike accurately chopped into the Yongsheng Cult Leader's neck.

“Crack—!”

An incredibly crisp sound of bone fracturing rang out.

All of the leader's movements and incantations came to an abrupt halt.

His head flew high into the air, blood gushed from his neck, and his body slumped limply to the ground, his life force instantly extinguished.

[Ding! Killed a Rank 6 Evil Cultivator, gained 22,580 points!]

The System notification rang out.

Chen Nian shook the blood from his hand, not even looking at the gradually cooling corpse on the ground.

At this point, the malignant tumor that had occupied the East Sea and its surrounding areas for many years—the Eternal Life Cult—was completely uprooted and declared destroyed.

Chen Nian looked around; this final secret chamber had also become a mess from the aftershocks of the lightning just now.

His perception spread out like spilled mercury, carefully scanning every corner of the place.

After confirming there were no more hidden survivors or noteworthy energy fluctuations, he finally nodded with satisfaction.

The harvest was bountiful.

It was time to go back.