The sect leader stood with his hands behind his back, his face wearing an air of otherworldly grace, yet his heart felt like blackened, weathered granite.
"Don't be foolish. Your hands are stained with the blood of Chixiao Sect disciples. Surrendering will only strip you of your last shred of dignity."
As Ji Fu spoke, the sect leader suddenly moved like a wisp of white smoke, instantly appearing before the Ji clan members. "Well said, you sharp-tongued girl. I've suddenly had a brilliant idea."
The sect leader unleashed a palm strike. How could the Ji clan members withstand a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage? They were instantly sent flying to both sides like waves being cleaved. He leaned forward, his wide sleeve drawing Ji Fu to his arm. Just as Ji Fu was about to struggle, her major acupoints were sealed, rendering her unable to move.
"Your mother was beautiful, but not as sharp-tongued as you. If one must keep a broodmare, you are not the prime candidate. Therefore, I've decided to offer you as a sacrifice to the heavens!"
The sect leader reversed his true qi and struck Ji Fu, sending her hurtling towards a wooden pillar where people were not tied. He then threw seven silver nails, which pierced through Ji Fu's limbs and clothing, pinning her to the pillar!
"Young Mistress!"
The Ji clan members, their eyes bloodshot, charged forward. The sect leader made no pretense of holding back. With a wave of his sleeve, several nails directly embedded themselves into their foreheads. They were clearly beyond saving.
At this moment, the altar was strewn with corpses, the blood dyeing everything as dark as ink. Looking down, it was a scene of hell on earth.
The sect leader took a deep breath and slowly walked towards Dongfang Jing. "It seems you've become a walking corpse. Why don't you be offered to the heavens as well!"
He followed the same procedure, and Dongfang Jing instantly became the third beautiful woman nailed to a wooden pillar.
"Well, have you made up your minds? Light this fire, and you can escape this hell. Those who defy me will only find death!"
The sect leader's voice thundered like the heavens. Seeing that both the Dongfang and Ji clan members were annihilated, it was as if the last spark of hope had been extinguished in their hearts. One by one, like soulless specters, they involuntarily picked up torches and ignited the dry wood.
The flames, fanned by the wind, instantly erupted. Liu Fuqu merely lowered her head, smoke rising slowly, caressing her cloud-like black hair. Her pale, exquisitely beautiful face, illuminated by the firelight, gained an added touch of allure.
No, it was more like a white rose blooming in a war-torn, desolate land.
And she, as if still dreaming.
In her dream, there was her beloved Fuqu. Outside her small house flowed a babbling brook, not a powerful current, but emitting the sound of clear springs washing over stones at every bend. Willow trees with graceful postures lined the stream, with violet wisteria trees interspersed. The nascent sun skirted the ridgeline. When the first rays of light pierced through the forest and slanted into her window lattice, the entire world was hazy and dreamlike, as if in a fairyland.
Farmers headed out early with hoes and sickles. As they passed by her house, they would shyly greet her. Their accented voices were filled with simplicity, even making her forget her heart's corrupting desires.
Perhaps, living in such a place would be nice.
However, her dreamscape suddenly seemed to catch fire. The sun instantly shattered into several pieces, the fragments colliding with the mountaintops at an extremely rapid speed. In the blink of an eye, the entire world was engulfed in a sea of flames.
The willow branches drooped under the scorching heat, their twigs curling like shrimp. The violet wisteria turned to ashes, and her Fuqu, long since consumed by the world-burning inferno, was reduced to nothing but black dust.
...
She finally felt a searing heat. A cough pulled her from her trembling nightmare back to reality.
But reality, to her, was still hell.
"Cough, cough~"
"Yashang, you're finally awake. Look at what's before you. All who opposed the Chixiao Sect will meet such an end. Your mercy and kindness cannot save them; instead, they will drag them into eternal damnation."
The sect leader laughed maniacally, covering his face. Since ancient times, before cultivators, mortals were as insignificant as weeds. With a surge of anger, the heavens and earth would crumble. Although cultivators were now in decline, the accumulated malice of ages had reached a point where it could erupt at any moment.
Mortals could never withstand the wrath of another dimension.
"Cough, cough~"
Liu Fuqu coughed incessantly, the smoke making it difficult for her to open her eyes. However, her peripheral vision swept across the scene of widespread corpses and rivers of blood. Looking left and right, not only were Ren Yuanhao's friends bound to wooden pillars, but two unfamiliar, stunning women were also nailed to them. Ultimately, she and these people would all perish in the flames.
Just then, her eyes suddenly caught sight of the three women beneath the wooden pillars. These were the women Ren Yuanhao cherished most. This meant he had also come?
"Yashang, even at this point, are you still pinning your hopes on that man coming to save you? Look, his women have met such a fate, and you still expect him to save you?"
The sect leader's laughter was unbridled, his thunderous voice echoing through the mountains, as if another giant tree had been struck and scorched, cracking apart.
"Let me tell you, the man you're hoping for is probably already dead, having fallen victim to the elaborate mechanisms of the Black Water Prison. Ah, yes, most likely he's been dissolved by sulfuric acid by now, not even a speck of bone remaining!"
The sect leader was utterly unrestrained. Dongfang Ji was gone, and the only one who could pose even a slight threat to him was that one man. He threw his head back and roared with laughter, his disciples prostrating themselves in worship, while he stood as if he were the sovereign.
"You've done well, and I can spare you. However, the condition is that each of you must take a weapon and stab those three women one by one. This will serve to cleanse your sins and demonstrate your sincerity in joining the Chixiao Sect."
The two clans had long lost all spirit. How could they care about martial ethics any longer? Picking up their swords, they stumbled like walking dead towards the three unconscious women.
"Hahahaha, Chixiao is blessed by heaven! Who else dares to fight me!"
The sect leader's arrogance reached its zenith, his demeanor utterly contemptuous of all.
But at that very moment, three black shadows darted down from the giant logs. One of them spoke loudly, "May I know if I, Ren Yuanhao, am worthy to fight!"
Upon hearing Ren Yuanhao's voice, the members of the two clans immediately halted their actions. Had they been a second later, the three women would surely have become the souls of their swords.
After speaking, Ren Yuanhao surveyed his surroundings.
Dongfang Ji, lying in a pool of blood, had completely lost all signs of life, his chest sunken. Corpses of the esper and the elites of the four clans were scattered everywhere. Under the firelight, their faces, which had died with their eyes wide open, stared. The flames beneath Liu Fuqu's body blazed fiercely, and within two minutes, her life would be in peril from the fire. Dongfang Jing and Ji Fu were firmly pinned to the wooden pillars by seven nails, blood trickling down the wood, their survival unknown.