The scene of corpses strewn across the ground did not materialize; the Ziyun Sect appeared entirely unharmed.
The Third Elder was somewhat surprised.
What was going on?
Had they not opened the letter?
He was quite confident in his poison.
Since the other party was fine, he could only assume they hadn't opened the letter.
Fine.
He'd have to handle it himself then.
The sooner this was over, the sooner he could return to discuss breakthroughs with Wu Po Xie. It was far better than being in this backwater village!
"It's a pity you provoked someone you shouldn't have. Live a better life in your next reincarnation," the Third Elder muttered, slowly raising his right hand.
"Stop right there!" a sharp voice suddenly called out.
The Third Elder immediately dodged, assuming a defensive stance.
The fact that the other party could conceal their presence and aura from him forced him to be cautious!
As the space twisted, Zi Yu’s figure materialized.
It turned out she had just returned when the Third Elder appeared.
Initially, she thought the other party was there for someone from the Ziyun Sect, so she had no intention of disturbing them.
However, the tone of the other party's words clearly indicated an intention to attack the Ziyun Sect!
Attacking the master's sect = enemy = must be eliminated!
Zi Yu waved her right hand, and countless branches lunged towards the Third Elder.
The Third Elder felt a dizzy spell and lost consciousness...
Zi Yu, dragging the Third Elder's corpse, slipped into the nearby bushes.
The night in Ziyun Sect was quiet.
The eldest disciple of the Second Elder was wandering aimlessly within the sect.
Although the Second Elder had gone completely mad earlier, he still missed his master dearly.
He was an orphan; if the Second Elder hadn't taken him in, he would have long since perished.
Now, not only had he survived, but he had also learned the art of alchemy.
In his heart, the Second Elder was both master and father.
He was family!
Fortunately, Ziyun had told him that Ye Fan and the others had found the Second Elder, which finally eased his worries.
However, after not seeing him for several months, he couldn't help but miss him.
"I wonder how Master is doing now..." the eldest disciple sighed.
Besides missing his master, he had also reached a bottleneck in his alchemy.
Currently, no one in the entire sect could offer him guidance, leaving him feeling vexed.
Unconsciously, he ambled to the outside of the sect's mountain gate.
The cool night breeze cleared his mind a bit, alleviating some of his frustrations.
At the same time, a faint rustling sound carried over with the breeze.
At first, he thought he had misheard.
After listening carefully for a while, he realized there was indeed a sound.
He curiously followed the noise.
"Crack..."
"Crack..."
"Crack..."
...
The closer he got to the patch of bushes, the clearer the "crack" sound became.
The eldest disciple smiled faintly.
He figured some stray little animal must be foraging for food.
This sort of thing had happened before; many disciples had brought back small animals from the gate.
Although they were just ordinary animals and not spiritual beasts, it was good to keep them for companionship.
That would be nice.
Perhaps he should also find a small animal to keep for fun.
With this thought, the eldest disciple gently parted the bushes, which were more than half a person's height.
However, the scene he witnessed was not what he had imagined...
Instead of a small animal, he saw the back of a young woman.
It wasn't quite right to call her a young woman...
Her torso was that of a maiden, but her limbs and head were entirely composed of various flower petals and vines...
Hearing a rustle behind her, Zi Yu turned her head and greeted him.
"Hello there."
Normally, such a greeting would be fine, but she was currently in a half-human, half-flower state...
Her neck was adorned with scattered petals, and each petal had two rows of sharp fangs.
Unknown internal organs or other parts were clinging to the petals, slowly dripping blood...
And the vines on her body were piercing the Third Elder's corpse, relentlessly draining his blood and flesh.
Though the eldest disciple was a cultivator, he had never even experienced fighting a demon beast.
Let alone witnessing such a horrifying scene!
No screams, no shouts...
"Bang!"
The eldest disciple's eyes rolled back, and he fainted to the ground...
"Strange..." Zi Yu mused, "Why is this cultivator so timid?"
From her observations during this period, she understood that these cultivators gained strength by fighting demon beasts.
She had even secretly followed some disciples a few times, and the battles were quite intense.
It was common to disembowel demon beasts, so why such a fuss?
Zi Yu's thoughts were understandable.
After all, her contact with humans had been too brief, and no one had told her that consuming humans was something humans found utterly unacceptable...
In her eyes, humans and demon beasts were essentially no different.
Both were meat.
Both could be consumed to increase cultivation.
However, since she intended to integrate into human society, she couldn't just casually eat people anymore.
Of course.
Bad people like the one tonight were a different matter.
An enemy containing high energy = excellent flower fertilizer = great supplement.
It eliminated a villain and provided sustenance, killing two birds with one stone.
"I didn't expect to be scared unconscious like this. It seems I should try to hide when I eat in the future."
Zi Yu extended a vine and gently touched the eldest disciple's face:
"Never mind, I'll send him back later."
After finishing with the Third Elder, Zi Yu also consumed the blood-soaked soil and then reverted to human form, carrying the eldest disciple back to the Ziyun Sect.
Fortunately, they had been a distance from the sect, and coupled with her stealth abilities, the gate-keeping disciples didn't notice.
The next morning.
An outer sect disciple yawned and opened his eyes.
A day full of hope had begun; he needed to cultivate diligently!
However, as he prepared to get dressed, he realized something was amiss!
"Holy shit, there's an extra man in my bed?"
He instinctively reached out and touched behind him...
After carefully confirming there was no issue, he looked at the person in the bed with confusion.
Huh?
Isn't this Wang Yang, the eldest disciple of the Second Elder?
"There's a monster!"
Wang Yang, on the bed, shot up with a gasp, shouting in terror.
"Senior Brother Wang, what's going on?" the disciple quickly asked.
"There's a monster! A monster!" Wang Yang tightly gripped the disciple's shoulder, shouting in fear.
Half an hour later, Ziyun Zhenren arrived at the disciple's room.
"There's a monster! There's a monster!" Wang Yang still clung to the disciple's shoulder, his face a mask of terror as he continued to shout.
He looked as if he were possessed.
The disciple cast a pleading glance at Ziyun Zhenren.
Ever since Wang Yang woke up, he had been grabbing his shoulder and yelling about a monster. Fortunately, other fellow disciples had come looking for him, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to send a message...
Ziyun Zhenren quickly infused a stream of true qi into Wang Yang.
A few moments later, Wang Yang's emotions gradually calmed down.
"Sect Master, there was a monster!" Wang Yang recounted the events of the previous night with lingering fear.
Led by Wang Yang, Ziyun and the others went to the patch of bushes where Zi Yu had appeared the night before.