138: Chapter 138 Announcement!

All that remained on the spot was a skeleton, curled up on the ground with its teeth bared and mouth agape, as if silently roaring.

Lady Hua withdrew her hand and stood in place, her pale green dress stained with a few drops of blood that glimmered faintly under the moonlight.

A few breaths later.

"Boom~"

A tall, burly figure walked over from the direction where Grand Elder Xuanfengzi and the others had departed.

The moonlight shone upon him, revealing a rugged face with thick brows and large eyes, his expression cold and stern. He had a pair of curved black beast horns on his head and wore a black beast-hide robe, exposing two muscular arms.

He carried a corpse in his hand as easily as if it were a dead chicken.

Walking closer, he casually tossed the corpse aside. It flew out, slammed into the ground, rolled twice, and stopped in front of Lady Hua.

It was none other than Grand Elder Xuanfengzi.

His eyes were still open, pupils dilated, with an expression of terror and unwillingness still lingering on his face. His chest was caved in, several ribs broken, and his internal organs were spilling out from the wound, blood staining the soil beneath him red.

The xuantian mirror slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. Its surface was shattered, cracks spreading like a spiderweb, the runes dim and lusterless, its spiritual light completely dissipated.

An Acquired Spirit Treasure was ruined just like that.

Jin Kui's tall figure stood in the moonlight, his disdainful gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally landing on Lady Hua, carrying a hint of reproach and a touch of helplessness.

"One still managed to escape."

"Madam Hua, you were too impulsive."

To this, Lady Hua smiled faintly. With a wave of her hand, she collected three Golden Cores from the ground—all left behind after those three had died—and then walked over to the Iron-Backed Bear King.

The Iron-Backed Bear King's massive body crouched among the rubble, his charred fur glimmering with a dull light under the moonlight.

He raised his head, his bronze bell-sized eyes looking at Lady Hua. He tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing an honest smile, and said in a muffled voice: "My Lady."

Lady Hua reached out and gently stroked the Iron-Backed Bear King's furry head.

"I suddenly feel that Xiao Hei was right. Since we have already torn off the mask, there is no need to continue like this."

"From today onwards, Taiyue Mountain is no longer a testing ground for the Human Race!"

"Announce to all the Yao Race in the outer reaches of Taiyue Mountain: in five years, I, Madam Hua, will personally take charge. If any human dares to step one foot into Taiyue Mountain, I will kill every single one that comes!"

Upon hearing these words, the Iron-Backed Bear King's bronze bell-sized eyes suddenly lit up. He patted his belly and said in a muffled voice, "My Lady, I have been waiting for these words from you for a long time!"

Lady Hua withdrew her hand and swept her gaze over the gathered Yao, who were all stirred to hot-blooded excitement by Madam Hua's domineering tone.

"What happened to Qing Lin?"

After the excitement subsided, Madam Hua asked again. Upon hearing this, Wu Li and the other Yao looked at each other in dismay.

They had been separated after entering the Secret Realm, each going their own way, and no one knew where the Green-Scaled Python had gone.

But the Azure-Horned Deer King's expression changed. He lowered his head, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke in a hoarse, low voice: "It is my fault."

Lady Hua's gaze fell upon him, but she did not speak.

The Azure-Horned Deer King took a deep breath, raised his head, and swept his gaze across the other Yao. "After entering the Secret Realm, Qing Lin and I traveled together. We walked for a long time and discovered a dilapidated pill room."

"Inside the pill room was a Medicinal Pill, entirely silver-white, emitting a rich medicinal fragrance."

"Qing Lin said that the Medicinal Pill made her Bloodline throb, and for a moment, she could not resist the temptation..."

A trace of pain flashed in the Azure-Horned Deer King's eyes, his voice hoarse and low. "She ate that Medicinal Pill, and her body began to undergo a mutation."

"At first, her cultivation did indeed have a Breakthrough, even jumping directly from the second rank to the third rank, turning into a giant one-eyed snake beast."

"However, this Medicinal Pill seemed to have a side effect. After consuming it, Qing Lin lost her reason. She no longer recognized me, nor did she recognize any of her kin, and in the end, she actually turned into a Vicious Beast, lost in Chaos and without intelligence."

Wu Li's pupils constricted slightly. A one-eyed snake beast, dark blue vertical pupils, pitch-black scales, no aura of life, only coldness and killing intent... Wasn't that the giant snake he had encountered before?

He had found it strange at the time; although the giant snake's aura was terrifying, there was always an indescribable sense of weirdness. So it turned out to be the Green-Scaled Python...

Wu Li's heart stirred. He hadn't expected that Qing Lin would end up with such a fate...

The Azure-Horned Deer King finished speaking, lowered his head, and remained silent. The Iron-Backed Bear King patted his belly and said in a muffled voice: "Old Deer, this is not your fault."

The Rift-Wind Wolf King licked his lips, a complex look flashing in his dark green eyes, but he did not speak.

Lady Hua was silent for a moment, then spoke. "Forget it, everyone has their own destiny."

After saying this, she turned around and walked toward the direction of Taiyue Mountain.

"Although I have torn off the mask with the Human Race, they have many concerns as well and will not make any major moves in the short term. You all should digest your resources as soon as possible."

"Yes!"

On this trip to the Secret Realm, each of the Yao had their own Opportunity. Wu Li wasn't sure about the others, but as for him now... with this amount of spiritual liquid in hand, he could devote himself entirely to Cultivate until he reached the third rank.

... Meanwhile, near the official road of Long City.

The moonlight was pale, shining on the corpses covering the ground, casting a dark red glow.

Everywhere here were the corpses of Xuanyi Sect Disciples, emitting a thick stench of blood.

Zhao Heng stood in the pile of corpses, his gray-white dharma robe stained with blood, a trace of excitement still on his face.

Behind him stood two Cultivators whose entire bodies emanated an eerie aura.

One was thin, his face as pale as paper, with a pair of long, narrow eyes glowing with a faint green light, resembling a venomous snake. The other was burly, with a face full of flabby flesh, his skin a grayish-blue like stone, exuding a cold, sinister aura.

The aura on both of them was similar to Zhao Heng's, but different—deeper and more eerie, as if they had crawled out of a grave.

"I really didn't expect the Yao Race to actually dispatch a third-rank Great Yao to ambush and kill the people of the Xuanyi Sect." The thin Cultivator spoke, his voice thin and cold.

The burly Cultivator nodded. "It seems the Yao Race does not intend to compromise this time."

Zhao Heng's eyes rolled, a smile plastered on his face, and he cupped his hands. "Two envoys, since that is the case, can we just sit back and watch the changes now?"

The two looked at each other and sneered in unison. The thin Cultivator spoke, his voice sharp and cold: "Of course. What follows will be very lively."

The burly Cultivator took over, his voice low and hoarse, carrying a hint of schadenfreude: "The two little ones from the Murong Family in the prefecture city don't seem to have come out either. I wonder if the Murong Family will go crazy."

A flash of sharp light crossed Zhao Heng's eyes, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, revealing a cold, sinister smile. He turned around, looked at the corpses covering the ground, and said in a hoarse, low voice, "Then let us just wait and watch the show."

"Zhao Heng, we leave this place to you."

"Now that these four sects have suddenly lost four Golden Core experts, their combat power is greatly diminished. This is the perfect Opportunity for our sect to act!"

"Rest assured, Divine Envoys, I will keep an eye on the Yao Race!"

"Hmm." The thin Cultivator and the burly Cultivator looked at each other, then quickly vanished.