Hua Yuntian's steps faltered mid-exit. He turned silently, his gaze locking on Jiang Ling.
Chirp?
Jincancan let out a low cry, its glazed eyes brimming with confusion.
Ye Qingshuang's fingers tightened around her Ice Soul Sword, her small face set in a rigid frown.
Scarlet Sun Demon Sage and Black Rock Demon Lord, sensing the rare murderous aura rising from Jiang Ling, furrowed their brows slightly.
"The Shadow Demon Sect sent a spy to infiltrate our sect, and he was exposed by the Jade Capital Platform," Jiang Ling explained flatly. "A thief may steal for a thousand days, but no one can guard against theft for a thousand days. Since they bear our Primordial Beginning Sect a grudge, we'd strike first and send their entire sect to meet the Dao Ancestor."
A chill ran down everyone's spine at his words.
None of them had expected Jiang Ling to keep them behind for a strike against the Shadow Demon Sect!
What sent an even colder dread through their hearts was how this seemingly mild and laid-back Sect Master could speak of annihilating an entire sect with such calm composure—utterly contradicting the image they had of him.
"Let's go. The longer we delay, the more days they get to live."
Jiang Ling was well aware of their thoughts, but he cared not a whit. With a wave of his hand, a gentle force wrapped around his three disciples, and in an instant, they tore through the night sky, streaking straight for the Shadow Demon Sect's mountain gate, three hundred li away.
...
Falling Sparrow Ridge lived up to its name—its peaks jutted like a drooping, ailing sparrow, shrouded in demonic miasma and a deathly stillness.
The Shadow Demon Sect was built into the mountain, a festering tumor clinging to the sparrow's back.
"Falling Sparrow Ridge?" A cold chuckle rumbled from Scarlet Sun Demon Sage. His eyes blazed with golden flames as he stared at the three large characters on the mountain gate plaque, a surge of murderous rage boiling forth.
Jincancan let out an angry chirp, its golden plumes bristling all over its body.
Falling Sparrow—was this a deliberate snub to it?
"Who dares trespass on the Shadow Demon Sect?!"
The gate guards shouted sharply, their voices ringing with anger.
Jiang Ling had no patience for words. He gave the order directly: "Great Sage, breach the gate. Demon Lord, suppress all who resist. Jincancan, Qingshuang, Yuntian—clean up the fodder. Leave no one alive!"
"Yes!"
"Your will!"
Scarlet Sun Demon Sage let out a malicious grin. His figure blazed into a crimson meteor tearing through the night sky, carrying a terrifying heat that could incinerate all things, and streaked straight for the Shadow Demon Sect's mountain gate.
BOOM!
It was like the wrath of heaven descending!
The crimson meteor slammed into the Shadow Demon Sect's mountain-protecting formation!
The sect's vaunted mountain gate restriction shattered like paper under Scarlet Sun Demon Sage's enraged strike, and the gate archway, along with several nearby buildings, was blasted to smithereens in an instant.
Flames soared into the sky, dyeing half the firmament red.
"Enemy attack!"
A shrill alarm finally blared—but what awaited them was an even more horrific nightmare.
Black Rock Demon Lord had been stewing in unspent fury, and now he charged into the Shadow Demon Sect like a mobile mountain range.
BOOM!
A colossal bear paw slammed down, and the sect's buildings burst apart like paper, reduced to splinters in an instant.
Rising flames merged with deafening explosions, igniting the silent Falling Sparrow Ridge in the blink of an eye and painting half the sky as bright as day.
Countless Shadow Demon Sect disciples met their end in their sleep, their souls dragged straight to the netherworld!
Chirp!
Dare to name yourselves after a falling sparrow? I'll raze you to the ground today!
Jincancan was seething with rage. To its mind, those two characters were a deliberate curse—and Falling Sparrow Ridge would be erased for it.
Chirp chirp!
It beat its wings and shot forward as a golden streak of light, faster than lightning, weaving through fire and smoke.
Its razor-sharp plumes were deadliest weapons, piercing the defensive demonic auras of Foundation Establishment disciples with ease and spattering blood in every direction.
Ye Qingshuang moved like the Grim Reaper in the night. Every time her Ice Soul Sword was unsheathed, it sent a spray of frigid light cutting through the air.
She was only at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, yet paired with the Devouring Demon Art, countless Shadow Demon Sect disciples fell to her blade.
Clang!
Where her sword light reached, her small hand followed, the Devouring Demon Art spinning silently to devour her foes' essence and vitality, turning it into her own power.
Her eyes were cold, her movements efficient, striking only at the Qi Refining disciples who tried to resist.
Caught off guard, even some late-stage Qi Refining disciples could not escape her grasp.
As bodies crumpled to the ground for no apparent reason, the surrounding Shadow Demon Sect disciples stared at her with eyes filled with terror.
"Ah! A devil!"
"Spare us!"
Her sword never faltered.
Hua Yuntian's face was impassive as he wielded a spirit sword, gliding through the crowd as if strolling in a garden. Yet his blade found its mark with deadly precision in the chaos, claiming a life with every strike.
In the forbidden grounds of the rear mountain.
Ancestor Bloodshadow had just solidified his Early Nascent Soul cultivation. He was sitting in his secret chamber, dreaming of the glory the Shadow Demon Sect would enjoy after advancing to Seventh-Rank—when the apocalyptic disaster jolted him out of his reverie, scaring him out of his wits.
He burst out of the chamber, and the sight of the mountain gate engulfed in flames, his disciples being slaughtered one-sidedly, and most of all, the hundred-zhang giant of flame and the mountain-like Black Rock Demon Lord rampaging through the sect, turned his blood to ice!
"Stop! Who are you, to annihilate the entire Shadow Demon Sect?!"
Ancestor Bloodshadow's eyes bulged with rage as he roared: "The Shadow Demon Sect is a branch of Black Wind Ridge! Daring to do this—do you not fear the overwhelming wrath of Black Wind Ridge, reducing you all to powder?!"
"Black Wind Ridge?"
Jiang Ling stood suspended in the void, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly at the name.
It was a titanic reputation—one of only nine First-Rank forces in the Canglan Realm, its prestige shaking the entire Border Wasteland, a true behemoth.
Black Rock Demon Lord's bear paw froze mid-stomp. He twisted his head to look at Jiang Ling.
Even Scarlet Sun Demon Sage's movements halted for a heartbeat, a hint of solemnity flashing in his eyes.
Ancestor Bloodshadow saw their hesitation and felt a flicker of relief. He shouted sharply: "Now you know fear? Flee at once, hand over the murderers, and I may intercede for you with the lords of Black Wind Ridge..."
"Shut up."
Jiang Ling's cold voice cut through Ancestor Bloodshadow's delusions like the bitter wind of the netherworld. "Kill him."
A moment of weighing was instantly replaced by resolve.
There was no turning back once the bow was drawn.
The Shadow Demon Sect had to be annihilated—and they had already forged a grudge with Black Wind Ridge. Spare Ancestor Bloodshadow today, and tomorrow, Black Wind Ridge's powerhouses would come for their heads.
If a confrontation was inevitable, better to cut the weeds and dig up the roots.
And the Nine Heavens Earthly Dragon Guard Array was his greatest trump card!
ROAR!
Scarlet Sun Demon Sage hesitated no more. A colossal flaming palm, wreathed in the aura of annihilation, blotted out the sky and grabbed for Ancestor Bloodshadow.
Black Rock Demon Lord let out a thunderous roar, his massive body slamming into Ancestor Bloodshadow like a meteor!
"No! You're insane! Black Wind Ridge will never let you go!"
Ancestor Bloodshadow let out a desperate shriek, frantically summoning his life magic treasure—the Thousand Soul Banner. Countless vengeful spirits howled out, trying to block the assault.
But against the combined, enraged full force of two powerhouses far surpassing him in cultivation, the resistance of an Early Nascent Soul cultivator was laughably feeble.
Sizzle!
The True Sun Fire incinerated the Thousand Soul Banner in an instant. Countless vengeful spirits vanished into ash in the golden flames, letting out shrill wails of agony.
Black Rock Demon Lord's colossal fist, brimming with terrifying power, smashed through the layers of demonic miasma shields Ancestor Bloodshadow had hastily erected as easily as breaking rotting wood.