For the first time in years, Lu Qingshan exited the sea of fog. Drastically improved senses gave him the location of his enemies without needing his flies to infiltrate.

  Behind him marched the Seven Mysteries Gate in full force. Each of his elders donned the best armor and weaponry they could. Many had elevated themselves to a whole new level. There was only one thing they followed, in this call to blood. One unwavering hope that would lead them to victory.

  Lu Qingshan raised his hand. The fog poured forth, courtesy of Li Fanghua who remained inside the formation coffin. Their entire collection of spirit stones were left behind to power this move.

  Immediately, the cultivators could tell something was wrong. But it was too late. The sea of fog quickly surrounded them and drowned out their spiritual senses. "Go," Lu Qingshan whispered, and his flies buzzed a signal across the sect.

  The Seven Mysteries Gate faded into the fog. Their goal was to execute as many Embryonic Breathing realm cultivators as they could before the stock of spirit stones ran out. The fog was the only thing preventing them from mounting an effective resistance.

  Silent screams rang out all over the forest. Lu Qingshan weaved in between the slaughter, aiming for greater prey: Qi Refinement. He found his first huddled behind a tree, frantically looking around. Calling for someone, like a child.

  His fist tore through their skull like air. It was so, so easy. He didn't even unleash the familiar burning through his veins of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique.

  "No!" screamed another. This one was stronger. But still prey nonetheless. Lu Qingshan deflected the fiery missile coming his way and leapt towards the enemy.

  He crashed down, shaking the earth. A spider slipped down from his robes and sank into the crevices. Soon he was dueling with the cultivator, flashes and bursts of flame just barely missing his steps. Two hits sent them reeling. Then a fang dug deep inside their skin. They froze.

  Lu Qingshan's claw ripped out their heart. He grasped both sides of their body and pulled. Bloody organs fell to the ground, and he tossed the corpse towards his flies.

  In moments, everything was gone, with puddles of blood and spots of soot as the sole testaments of battle.

  Lu Qingshan killed another Qi Refinement realm cultivator with his bare hands. Traveling deeper into the forest, he came to a stop. Ahead of him was Qin Ye. Two enemy immortal cultivators were staring him down.

  An easy smile hung on the elder’s face. A bright red light flashed. Two heads fell limply onto the ground.

  As Qin Ye gave the falling corpses a soft smile, Lu Qingshan noticed movement behind them. He shot forwards and grabbed the thing. In his hands was a trembling sphere, tinged with something wet.

  He crushed it. Juices and sharp bone fragments slid down from his red fingertips. As he moved away from the area, he noticed familiar clothes on the thing he had just killed. It was a demonic cultivator.

  Lu Qingshan narrowed his eyes and quickly disappeared from the area, leaving Qin Ye wondering what had just happened.

  He never made it to the next target. A few breaths later, the sea of fog began to recede. In the next few heartbeats, Lu Qingshan was only able to slaughter a small party of Embryonic Breathing cultivators who had gathered together. Then the Seven Mysteries Gate became exposed.

  His flies began to spread out across the forest and past enemy ranks. The second phase of the plan would soon begin. Now, all they could do was fight for their lives.

  The first death came from one of the weaker foreign martial artists who had stagnated at Marrow Tempering. Unable to do much, there was a fierce shout as he threw himself in the way of an attack meant for Meng Zhang. Other martial artists swarmed the killer soon after and filled them with wounds.

  As more immortal cultivators gathered together, the martial artists began to run into trouble. But Liu Yingting and Wu Ruoling led the charge. A Grandmaster level expert was not something most immortal cultivators could easily slay, even at Jade Cleansing.

  Lu Qingshan kept an eye on the Qi Refinement cultivators. Six remained, overseeing the situation with a grim look on their faces. They had been too quick to gather together once the sea of fog receded.

  He needed them dead. Currently, none of them knew who were the true threats among the Seven Mysteries Gate. There was a chance to seize here.

  But they were so wary. Losing six of their fellow cultivators had made them extremely paranoid of the killer. They simply stood there, watching as Liu Yingting poisoned their family, slaughtering their men. Wrathful looks filled their gazes but they were too self-centered to intervene.

  A few stray attacks soared into the martial artists, killing some. But the Seven Mysteries Gate quickly adjusted. They defended against the rest of the attacks, forcing Song Lin and An Zichen into action.

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  With the two Jade Cleansing stage cultivators revealed, one of the Qi Refinement cultivators sneered. They shot forwards — ignoring the shouts from his companions — and arrived right in front of the martial group. "Die!" he screamed.

  Qin Ye looked up with a sneer. A red light flashed. And a head slipped onto the ground.

  Five faces turned to face him, immediately launching into an offensive. Though Qin Ye was a powerful newly ascended Qi Refinement stage cultivator with a matching artifact, he couldn't fight five equals at the same time. He had to evade.

  Shells of earth rose to slow his enemies down. The flying sword weaved in between those barriers, coming close to cutting off another head. All five enemies became highly wary, stepping backwards, unwilling to be the first in line.

  There was no longer progress being made. Qin Ye’s flying sword toyed with them, cutting deeply inside a slower cultivators’ skin.

  In frustration, that immortal cultivator broke off from their group to strike at Liu Yingting. Without Qin Ye to defend, it looked as if they would succeed. Then a tendril of fog lashed out and wrapped them up.

  An Xin emerged from her hiding spot. She hurled a bright burning talisman from her hand, and a searing missile hit the restrained enemy and turned them into ashes.

  An Xin then hurried to join her brother against the Embryonic Breathing cultivators. With the addition of a few more talismans, the tide quickly turned. Only a few more martial artists had died in the chaos.

  Four cultivators closed in on Qin Ye. An Eight Thorns Spider emerged from a tree and bit into an unsuspecting woman. Then a sword cut deep into her torso the next moment. She screamed, but the spider had already torn through her body and escaped beneath the soil.

  "Stop!" one of the cultivators cried out. This one was the strongest, a third-level Qi Refinement realm. Lu Qingshan had been tempted to intervene more than once were it not for his instincts warning him of a greater threat.

  A second Eight Thorns Spider appeared, only to be forced into a full retreat. They were too prepared. As Qin Ye went in again, the three cultivators formed a defensive posture, slowly making their way back towards the main battle. It was clear from their bulging veins and eyes that the losses were great for them.

  One of the enemies screamed. He hurled himself into attacking Qin Ye with reckless abandon. He even managed to score a solid cut, forcing him back from chasing. The two dueled furiously, each wounding the other badly.

  Even with two full Qi Refinement cultivators targeting him, Liu Yingting simply responded with a mocking smile. An Xin tossed out her few remaining talismans and joined her brother along with Song Lin in defending against one of them. Meanwhile, the last one closed in on the martial artist.

  "Ant," he cursed, gripping Liu Yingting's throat with his hand. "I will flay your tendons, break your bones, and feed—!"

  A massive centipede emerged from Liu Yingting's open mouth. It bit down into the hand and immediately slipped inside their robes. Beneath their feet, an Eight Thorns Spider climbed up from the soil and onto the man's body as well.

  The combination of dual venoms paralyzed them. Even as a third-level Qi Refinement cultivator, it was all over when he entered the ambush range of the two gu.

  "Demon," was all the man could muster as Liu Yingting wrenched their mouth open and poured down a sickening black vial into their throat. Within moments, blood bloomed all over their body and cascaded outwards like a flower.

  Li Fanghua appeared above the battlefield. She made her way towards Qin Ye, busy fighting off the other cultivator. Meanwhile, Liu Yingting and his two gu joined the An siblings and Song Lin in assailing the remaining cultivator.

  The battle looked like a victory. But Lu Qingshan’s senses screamed at him to act. Without thinking, he instinctively activated the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique in full. His single drop of blood exploded into life. His body swelled in size, exceeding three meters.

  A claw soared towards the empty air. It ripped out a chunk of flesh that wasn’t supposed to be there. Blood spilled onto the soil like a river, but quickly slowed to a trickle.

  A person was revealed. Donning a dark cloak, it was clear who they were. “You killed Liu Wanli,” the man said, not looking the least fazed by his dripping wound. A spiked worm coiled deep inside his body poked its oval head out.

  Shadows poured from their cloak and covered their body. The man was trying to fade into the darkness again. But Lu Qingshan didn’t care. He instead hummed the Insect Harmony Mantra.

  Then, his mind exploded as the technique broke through to the next level. The rush of information coming through his brain would’ve been too much for him if he hadn’t just achieved a breakthrough. Within a single heartbeat, Lu Qingshan regained focus. And turned his head to avoid a splash of flame.

  Dark fire poured from the black flame demonic cultivator, who had remained hidden in an attempt at an ambush. But the Insect Harmony Mantra had caught his spiritual energy. Now, there was a spiritual connection locked onto a part of his head.

  Lu Qingshan tugged at that thread. Instead of controlling the individual, or reading their information, he simply disrupted their thoughts. The man shook; and the gout of fire paused.

  His fist blew open their skull moments later. Lu Qingshan locked onto his next target. Deep underground were three Eight Thorns Spiders making their way upwards.

  But their fangs failed to penetrate the demonic cultivator’s skin. Instead, a sudden burst of speed almost claimed one of the spiders’ lives. Liu Wanli’s master pivoted from his stomp into a defensive stance, blocking Lu Qingshan’s savage blow.

  Behind Lu Qingshan rose a massive pool of blood. It towered over the previous blood sea vision and completely overshadowed everything else around it. Several rotating spirals danced in the air.

  A whale-like creature emerged from the center. But this whale had the features of a dragon. On its forehead stood a long, spiral horn, and noble whiskers covered its face. Its roar split the wind.

  An oppressive fear and the disruption from chanting the Insect Harmony Mantra combined to stun Liu Wanli’s master for a moment. The three Eight Thorns Spiders tore through the open hole in his body and ripped open the long worm inside. Scattered chunks of flesh melted away in his bloodstream.

  Rendered catatonic, the man could not resist the hands that clasped his skull between them. Then he knew no more, as blood and brain matter spilled out onto the ground.

  Lu Qingshan laughed. It was a bright, uplifting laughter. Even as blood poured from his body, both his and not his, laughter continued to ring in the ears of the remaining cultivators who had long surrendered.