After patiently waiting in the quiet room below to confirm the terrifying man was truly gone, Qi Yun finally made his move.

He stealthily activated his Breath-Concealing Bead and used Gathering Form and Scattering Qi, transforming into a thin wisp of air. He then drifted up the violently destroyed passageway.

Several minutes later, he returned to the lowest floor of Wanyan Building.

The sight before him made his eyes narrow.

The gate, forged from Divine Gold—once thick, sturdy, and covered in a dense web of Magic Patterns—was now brutally torn and twisted into a pile of scrap. Remnants of its broken patterns flickered on the metal heap, which lay scattered on either side.

Wanyan Building, once merely a place of debauchery and chaos,

had now become a true Chaotic Scene!

The overwhelming stench of blood, so thick it was almost impossible to breathe, assaulted his senses.

Severed limbs were scattered everywhere. The walls, the floor, and even the ceiling were splattered with viscous blood and unidentifiable chunks of flesh.

The alluring, lust-inducing Evil Souls from before were long gone, likely obliterated in the initial onslaught.

The few Cultivators and Yellow Springs Netherworld disciples who had miraculously survived the initial assault

now scrambled through the ruins like headless chickens, their desperate wails echoing in the chaos.

’It’s only been a few minutes...’ Qi Yun was stunned. ’That man really is like an Ancient Fierce Lion unleashed from its chains. Once his savagery is let loose, he’s this terrifying.’

The thought, however, was fleeting.

Ghost Wail Collection was a Demon Cave from the start, and none who gathered here were innocent. If they died, they died. It was just a case of criminals preying on criminals, dog-eat-dog.

His attention was soon drawn to a much louder series of roars coming from the distance.

He zipped outside the building and saw that the core area of Ghost Wail Collection had been thrown into utter chaos.

The escaped man was wreathed in roiling, pitch-black Demonic Qi that surged skyward like a signal fire, making his figure seem all the more towering and monstrous.

The Great Demon Tattoos on his body—each one an amalgam of tyrannical, deathly, and venomous intent—had now come completely alive. They writhed and roared madly across the surface of his skin.

With every kill, the tattoos absorbed blood and souls, growing more solid and lifelike. The Fierce Evil Qi they emanated grew more immense and terrifying!

Everywhere he went was like the aftermath of a hurricane—utter devastation!

A Qi Refining Seventh Layer Steward from the Yellow Springs Netherworld brought out an Evil Soul Banner, from which countless Fierce Ghosts howled forth.

But in the next instant, the man threw a punch. Where his fist passed, a thousand wailing souls were annihilated.

The force of the blow continued onward, blasting the Steward himself into a fine mist of blood!

Several Zombie Alliance Cultivators worked together, sending a Copper Armor Corpse King lunging forward. The man didn’t dodge. He simply caught the Corpse King’s massive descending arm and, with a great heave, tore it off!

RIIIP! The Copper Armor Corpse King, a product of countless hours of painstaking refinement, was brutally ripped in two.

Broken chunks of the corpse, mixed with foul blood and viscera, splattered all over him. Yet he only stuck out his tongue to lick the corner of his mouth, a smile of even greater excitement and cruelty spreading across his face.

A female cultivator from Hehuan Palace tried to use her Charm Divine Techniques to disrupt his Heart and Spirit. Her eyes turned sultry, and the enchanting notes of the Celestial Demon’s Mysterious Sound began to play.

The man, however, merely turned his scarlet eyes toward her. He opened his mouth and let out a silent roar. The female cultivator reeled as if from a physical blow. Blood poured from her seven orifices as her delicate body instantly withered, her entire Essence, Qi, and Spirit shattered by the force of that silent scream.

KILL! KILL! KILL!

The man made no distinction between friend and foe. In fact, every living thing in his vicinity was an enemy—and a meal.

His physical body was absurdly powerful. Magical Artifacts couldn’t harm him, Magic couldn’t penetrate his defenses. With just his pair of Demon’s Hands, he could meet and tear apart any attack!

The more he killed, the more savage his aura grew.

The Great Demon Tattoos on his body became more vivid, and his power seemed to climb without end.

The entire garrison of the Yellow Springs Netherworld stationed in Ghost Wail Collection was on high alert, pouring out in full force!

Streaks of Escape Light shot up from all over the Marketplace. At least several dozen Qi Refining Middle Late Stage Cultivators formed an Array, unleashing a torrent of Evil Poison Techniques and Soul-Binding Secret Treasures that rained down on the man,

trying to subdue him once more.

Yet, facing this overwhelming onslaught, the man paid it no mind. He charged straight into the Array with his physical body.

His Demonic Qi billowed like an out-of-control meteor as he smashed into the densest part of the formation!

BOOM!!!

Amid the deafening explosion, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and the screams were cut short.

The seemingly impenetrable Array had been torn open by his most savage and direct assault!

The surviving Yellow Springs Netherworld Cultivators continued their frantic assault.

All manner of chains, poisonous flames, and Yin Thunder wrapped around his body, but they could do little more than slow his advance.

They were completely unable to inflict any serious damage.

Instead, a steady stream of Cultivators were casually swatted aside or crushed in his grip, their very life force becoming part of his power.

The entirety of Ghost Wail Collection had descended into utter chaos. Cries of pain, explosions, the crash of collapsing buildings, and the man’s maniacal laughter all wove together into a symphony of apocalypse.

Hidden in the shadows, Qi Yun silently observed the man’s terrifying might for a moment. He was single-handedly taking on the entire Marketplace’s garrison. Qi Yun couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement.

’What a monster...’

He averted his gaze, deciding not to linger and watch the show.

While everyone’s attention was fixed on the peerless Fierce Demon, he took the opportunity to silently drift toward the outskirts of Ghost Wail Collection, sticking to the shadows.

’Time to go.’

’If that blood-crazed man were to spot me, I’d die a death far quicker and more gruesome than any of these Yellow Springs Netherworld Cultivators!’

’Better slip away. This is no place to linger.’

’Let this Demon and the Yellow Springs Netherworld continue their... "intimate exchange."’

Qi Yun had just stealthily slipped out of Ghost Wail Collection’s boundaries.

He hadn’t gotten far when the situation changed once more!

At the edge of Ghost Wail Collection, a ray of deep green light shot out from a small, unremarkable temple.

The light expanded as it met the air, transforming in the blink of an eye into a house-sized, deep-green cloth pouch.

Its opening gaped like a bottomless abyss. It was none other than the Yellow Springs Netherworld’s infamous and sinister Magical Artifact—the Five Yin Pouch!

The moment the Five Yin Pouch appeared, it emanated a terrifying pressure capable of freezing one’s very Divine Soul.

The body of the pouch itself seemed to be a writhing amalgamation of countless struggling, twisted faces of Resentful Souls, all letting out silent, agonized screams.

WHOOSH—

The Five Yin Pouch let out a low drone as a terrifying suction power descended upon the area.

On the chaotic battlefield below, any Cultivators who weren’t from the Three Sects—be they from other Sects or just Loose Cultivators who hadn’t fled in time or were hoping to loot in the chaos.

Anyone with slightly weaker Cultivation was helplessly swept into the air. They let out desperate screams as they were sucked into the bottomless opening of the pouch.

In an instant, the Five Yin Black Fiend brewing within the pouch refined them into the purest Flesh and Blood Essence Qi, causing the pouch’s green glow to become deeper and more sinister!

"Situ Huaji, do you truly have a death wish?"

A cold, stiff voice, utterly devoid of human emotion, suddenly rang out in the void. It sounded like two blocks of ice scraping against each other.

The owner of the voice did not appear, but their presence descended like an invisible mountain, blanketing the entire battlefield.

Their Cultivation seemed no weaker than Situ Huaji’s.

Hearing this voice, Situ Huaji—who was in the middle of crushing a Zombie Alliance Cultivator’s head with his bare hands—snapped his head up. A palpable, murderous light shot from his scarlet pupils.

Far from showing any fear, he broke into a wide, savage grin—a mixture of brutality and utter contempt. His voice boomed like a thunderclap:

"Wu Yushan! You little bastard!

"Haven’t seen you in a few hundred years, and you’re still hiding in the shadows!

"If you’ve got the balls, then show your real face and come see your Grandpa Situ!

"I’ll kick your ass so hard it splits, then stuff you into that shitty pouch of yours!"

The crude, deeply insulting taunt sounded exceptionally jarring on the now-silent battlefield.

Wu Yushan, still hidden, did not reply.

His only response was the Five Yin Pouch’s even more frenzied attack!

WHOOOOM—!!!

The pouch’s opening suddenly swelled, becoming like the maw of a great beast that could devour Heaven and Earth. A waterfall of deep green Evil Qi poured down from it.

It was no longer simply suction. The Evil Qi formed into countless twisted, black tentacles, each imbued with a strong, corrosive Refining Power. They shot toward Situ Huaji from all directions like a swarm of venomous pythons!

Wherever the tentacles passed, the very air sizzled with corrosion, and space itself seemed to warp. It was a terrifying sight.

"Bring it on!"

Situ Huaji let out a wild roar. The Demon Patterns all over his body erupted in a blinding, blood-red light. He didn’t even try to dodge.

His fists, like two heaven-shaking warhammers, were wreathed in roiling Demonic Qi as he smashed them into the incoming tentacles of Evil Qi!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Fists and tentacles collided in a frenzy, creating a continuous series of deep, booming impacts.

The Demonic Qi and the Five Yin Black Fiend corroded and annihilated one another, producing a grating SSSSSS that set one’s teeth on edge.

Situ Huaji’s fists were indestructible. A single punch could often shatter several tentacles.

But the Five Yin Black Fiend was endless. No sooner was it dispersed than it would re-form, replenished by the Evil Qi from the pouch’s mouth, and lash out once more.

It was like a cancer clinging to his bones, constantly draining his strength.

It even tried to seep through his pores to refine his very flesh and blood!

For a moment, Situ Huaji found himself trapped by the sky-filling swarm of Evil Qi tentacles.

He was like a fish caught in a vast, ever-tightening net.

"BREAK FOR ME...!!"

Unable to break free, Situ Huaji’s savage nature was fully provoked!

The scarlet light in his eyes was so intense it looked as if they might start bleeding. He completely abandoned all defense.

He condensed all his Demonic Qi into his right fist, which seemed to transform into the arm of a great demon!

He locked onto the Five Yin Pouch itself. Ignoring the countless tentacles of Evil Qi that lashed his body, leaving behind sizzling, corrosive wounds deep enough to reveal bone, he threw a ferocious punch.

With absolute resolve, he punched through the layers of the Evil Qi blockade and slammed his fist directly into the body of the Five Yin Pouch!

THWUMP—!

It was the muffled sound of tough leather being ripped apart!

The incredibly durable Five Yin Pouch, which had refined the lives of countless beings, had been pierced by Situ Huaji’s desperate, all-or-nothing punch. A massive hole was torn straight through it.

Countless streams of pure Flesh and Blood Essence Qi and foul Evil Qi gushed madly from the breach, like water from a broken dam.

"Argh!"

For the first time, a flicker of emotion—a pained, suppressed grunt—broke through the cold voice in the void.

A Magical Artifact is linked to its master’s Heart and Spirit. With the Five Yin Pouch severely damaged, the hidden Wu Yushan immediately suffered a backlash.

Almost at the same instant.

An extremely faint streak of Escape Light shot up from the small temple and fled into the distance at astonishing speed. He didn’t even bother to retrieve the damaged Five Yin Pouch.

Clearly, Wu Yushan, seeing his Magical Artifact broken and himself injured, had decisively chosen to retreat.

But Situ Huaji was not unscathed. His right arm, the one he had used to punch through the Five Yin Pouch, was a charred, bloody mess from fist to elbow. One could even see bone, being slowly eroded and dissolved by the Evil Qi.

The Refining Power of the Five Yin Black Fiend was nothing to be trifled with.

He glanced at the fleeing Wu Yushan, then down at his own nearly useless right arm. A savage grin spread across Situ Huaji’s face. He wrapped himself in his Demonic Qi, transformed into a black streak of light, and shot off in pursuit.

It was clear he wouldn’t rest until one of them was dead.

After this battle, Ghost Wail Collection had been practically razed to the ground.

The garrison of the Yellow Springs Netherworld had suffered catastrophic losses—a blow of unprecedented severity.

And amid the ruins and smoke, the hidden Inner Mansion True Cultivators of the Wuji Holy Sect used this once-in-a-millennium opportunity. Capitalizing on the chaos, they each used their own methods to easily slip past the remaining defenses.

They quickly completed their assigned reconnaissance tasks: mapping the ley lines, identifying defensive weaknesses, recording the distribution of powerful experts, and more.

Less than two days later, the Holy Sect’s True Cultivators who had participated in the advance mission regrouped as planned at the hidden mountain stream from which they had departed.

They all looked at one another, and without a word being said, knowing smiles spread across their faces.

They might have looked a little travel-worn, but their eyes were shockingly bright.

Yuan Zong scanned the group. Confirming that nearly everyone was present, a rare look of satisfaction touched his sallow features.

"My fellow brothers, you’ve worked hard."

"The fruit is ripe."

"It is time for the harvest!"

...