313: Blood Slaughter and Beheading

On the water mirror in the Hanyue Valley Underground Palace, the figure of Blood Butcher was like a streak of blood-colored lightning, rushing towards the Prince of Zhenbeis Estate in the Northern Territory.

The blood mist swirling around him was much thinner than when they last met; clearly, his injuries had not yet fully healed, yet he exuded a madness of someone ready to burn both jade and stone—the lihun grass was the key to his Breakthrough to the Late Stage of the Land Immortal Realm, and it absolutely could not fall into the hands of The Net.

[Blood Butcher Status: Forcibly activating Blood Shadow Demonic Art (Vitality is draining)]

[Spiritual Power Fluctuation: Early Earthly Immortal Realm (Extremely unstable)]

[Objective: Retrieve the lihun grass, execute Qiao Feng]

Jun Xiaoyao tapped his fingertip on the light screen, sharing the real-time coordinates of Blood Butcher with the Sweeping Monk. In the image, the old monk was standing in front of the ruins of the Prince of Zhenbeis Estate, his broom resting lightly on his shoulder. A three-foot Aura wall around him emitted a faint golden light, forming a stark contrast with the blood mist rolling in from afar.

"Qiao Feng, take the lihun grass and the captives and retreat ten miles away." The Sweeping Monk's voice was calm but carried an unquestionable majesty. "Leave this to me."

Qiao Feng cupped his hands in acknowledgment and commanded the "Earth" group to escort Tuoba Lie and the remnants of the estate away. Before leaving, he looked back and saw that Blood Butcher's figure had already broken through the clouds, the blood mist transforming into a giant ghost claw, grasping towards the Sweeping Monk with the momentum to devour everything.

"Old bald donkey, daring to block my path, you're courting death!" Blood Butcher's roar shook the earth. He pushed the Blood Shadow Demonic Art to its limit, and even the surrounding air was stained with the fishy, sweet scent of blood.

The Sweeping Monk sighed softly, advancing instead of retreating, and swept his broom horizontally. It was a seemingly plain and unadorned movement, yet it carried a surging Righteous Path. The moment the golden light collided with the blood mist, the mist dissipated like melting snow, and the ghost claw shattered inch by inch.

"The Seventy-Two Ultimate Skills of Shaolin..." Blood Butcher's pupils constricted. He recognized this Shaolin martial art. "You are from Shaolin? Why would you help The Net?"

"I only protect the Righteous Path, regardless of origin." The Sweeping Monk pressed his palms together. "You have harmed living beings and colluded with feudal princes, entering the Demonic Path. Today, you shall face justice."

"Face justice?" Blood Butcher laughed wildly. As the blood mist churned, it condensed into hundreds of blood-colored Clones, each carrying the Aura of the Heavenly Human Realm. "With just you alone, can you stop me?"

Hundreds of Clones attacked simultaneously, the bone-eroding claws carrying black poison, covering the Sweeping Monk like a rainstorm. However, the old monk was unhurried. His three-foot Aura wall suddenly surged, blocking all attacks completely. His figure flickered, leaving a lingering image behind, and in the next second, he appeared in front of Blood Butcher's true body. He tapped lightly with his broom, striking him right in the chest.

"Pfft—" Blood Butcher spat out a mouthful of vital blood, looking at the charred mark on his chest in disbelief. "Your Cultivation Technique... why can it suppress my Demonic Technique?"

"Evil does not triumph over good; this has always been true." The Sweeping Monk's voice rang in his ears. "The Blood Shadow Demonic Art Cultivates by absorbing the vital blood of living beings, which violates the Heavenly Dao. When it encounters my Buddhist Sect's supreme Yang spiritual power, it naturally backfires."

Blood Butcher was both shocked and angry. He crazily activated his remaining spiritual power, and the blood mist condensed into a blood-colored long saber, slashing towards the Sweeping Monk with the momentum to destroy the world. This was his trump card—the "Blood Shadow Soul-Severing Saber." Each strike contained the resentment of thousands of lives, enough to contaminate the mind of an ordinary Martial Artist.

The Sweeping Monk closed his eyes and began to recite scriptures. The sound of the scriptures transformed into golden Sanskrit, forming a huge Buddha light in the air. The moment the blood-colored long saber touched the Buddha light, it shattered like glass, and the resentment was purified by the Sanskrit, dissipating into specks of golden light.

"Impossible!" Blood Butcher completely collapsed. His prideful Demonic Technique was vulnerable before the opponent. He turned to flee, but the Sweeping Monk entangled his ankle with the broom and pulled gently, causing him to fall face-first into the dirt.

"Evil creature, will you not surrender?"

A flicker of ruthlessness flashed in Blood Butcher's eyes. He suddenly took out a black pill from his bosom and swallowed it without hesitation. The blood mist around him instantly became as thick as ink, and his spiritual power fluctuation surged to the Mid-stage Terrestrial Immortal Realm. Only his eyes became hollow and crazy—he had taken the Blood Shadow Cult's forbidden drug, "Blood Fiend Pill," which could instantly increase one's Realm, at the cost of being completely exhausted afterwards.

"Let's die together!" Blood Butcher roared and lunged at the Sweeping Monk. Countless ghost claws extended from the blood mist, tearing even the space into tiny cracks.

The Sweeping Monk frowned slightly and stopped holding back. He formed a seal with his hands, and a huge golden Buddha phantom appeared behind him. It was the "Tathagata Palm" from the Seventy-Two Ultimate Skills of Shaolin. The golden Buddha's palm pressed down slowly, carrying the majestic Heavenly Dao. Everywhere it passed, the blood mist completely dissipated, and the ghost claws were annihilated inch by inch.

"Boom—"

The golden Buddha's palm landed on Blood Butcher. There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a dull thud. Blood Butcher's body shattered like paper, and the blood mist was completely purified by the golden light, leaving not even a trace of his soul. Only an dark golden token flew out from the fragments, which the Sweeping Monk caught with his spiritual power—it was the Blood Shadow Cult's leader token.

Before the water mirror, Jun Xiaoyao watched as the two characters "Blood Shadow" on the token gradually faded, turning into a piece of ordinary scrap iron. He said to Zhao Gao, "The Blood Shadow Cult is completely finished."

Zhao Gao held the newly tallied battle results, his voice filled with excitement: "Young Lord, the Blood Shadow Cult's main altar has been broken by the Marshal of the Unruly and Shangguan Jinhong. We captured three volumes of the poison scripture, fifty thousand shi of grain, and the roster of the Blood Crow Guards, which marked their moles in various forces..."

"Moles?" Jun Xiaoyao took the roster and flipped to one page, his eyebrows raising slightly. "I didn't expect an Elder of the Heavenly Dao Sect to be a member of the Blood Shadow Cult. No wonder they have been helping the Blood Shadow Cult cover up all this time."

He tapped his fingertip on the name of the Heavenly Dao Sect: "Send Li Xunhuan to the Heavenly Dao Sect and pull out this 'nail'. Remember, don't make too much noise. After all, they are a top Sect, and falling out with them won't benefit us."

"Yes!"

At this moment, the summoning array suddenly lit up with dazzling light. The spiritual power in the array eye surged to 95% due to the execution of Blood Butcher and the destruction of the Blood Shadow Cult. A new list of summonable characters appeared on the light screen, and the Realm behind their names made Jun Xiaoyao's eyes flicker.

[Summonable Character: Ye Gucheng]

[From: "legend of lu xiaofeng" world]

[Realm: Peak Heaven-Human Realm]

[Martial Skill: Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens (Perfection), Flowing Cloud Flying Sleeve (Major Achievement)]

[Loyalty: 75%]

[Summoning Cost: 60% spiritual power]

"Ye Gucheng..." Jun Xiaoyao brushed his fingertip over the array eye. "His Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens is quite comparable to West Gate Blows Snow." He did not summon immediately, but cast his gaze towards the Sweeping Monk in the water mirror who was counting the spoils.

The old monk was handing the captured Blood Shadow Cult poison scripture to Qiao Feng, saying, "These poisons are used to harm people; it is better to destroy them."

Qiao Feng nodded and said, "The Great Master is right, but a few of them record methods of detoxification, which might be useful for The Net."

Jun Xiaoyao said to Zhao Gao, "Send the poison scripture to Yellow Pharmacist and let him see if he can improve it to create an antidote that restrains all the strange poisons in the world. Also, send a message to the Sweeping Monk, telling him not to return to Hanyue Valley, but to sit in the Northern Territory first and deal with the remnants of the Blood Shadow Cult."

"Yes!"

After arranging these, Jun Xiaoyao stood up and walked to the treasure vault of the Underground Palace. Here were stored various resources captured since the establishment of Beyond Heaven: Cultivation Techniques from the Wanfa Holy Land, poison scripture from the Blood Shadow Cult, lihun grass from the Prince of Zhenbei... It was dazzling, enough to make any force jealous.

He picked up a stalk of lihun grass. After injecting spiritual power, the leaves emitted a faint purple light. "Although this thing can refine a realm-breaking pill, it has side effects. I must let Yellow Pharmacist research how to purify it."

At this moment, the message talisman beside the summoning array lit up. It was news from Li Xunhuan at the Heavenly Dao Sect: The mole has been removed. To show his apology, the Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Sect is willing to send three pieces of Heaven And Earth Treasure, only asking to leave Beyond Heaven alone.

"Leave us alone?" Jun Xiaoyao chuckled. "When they truly understand the strength of Beyond Heaven, they won't say that."

He put the lihun grass back into the treasury and turned to look at the summoning array. 95% spiritual power was enough to summon Ye Gucheng, and even have some left over. But he was not in a hurry to act. Instead, he pulled up the power distribution map of The Net—after the battle with the Blood Shadow Cult, the tentacles of The Net had spread throughout the Western Regions, the Northern Territory, and Jiangnan, leaving only the core area of the Imperial Dynasty and a few top Holy Lands not yet infiltrated.

"Take it slow." Jun Xiaoyao whispered to himself, "The Net still needs a sharper blade, and the Foundation of Beyond Heaven also needs to be planted deeper."

Outside the Underground Palace, the moonlight of Hanyue Valley shone through the cracks in the stone, illuminating the runes flowing on the summoning array. The destruction of the Blood Shadow Cult was like pushing over the first domino, and the power structure of Jianghu had begun to change quietly.

And Jun Xiaoyao, hiding behind the scenes, was calmly watching every step on the chessboard, waiting for the best moment to make his move.

The era belonging to Beyond Heaven had just begun.