"Brother Hong, Master Hong, spare us! Spare our lives!"
"Master Hong, we're just grunts who run errands! Please, we beg you, spare our lives..."
The vicious-looking thieves knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for rcy.
If they had any fight left in them before, it was utterly crushed after they witnessed Hong Yu kill Ghost Six, cripple the powerful Fifth Commander, and display his invincible might. The last of their resolve crumbled rcilessly.
Hong Yu's indifferent gaze swept over the thieves.
He felt not a shred of pity.
Before leaving the Cyan Nether Sword Sect, he had received intelligence on this gang of thieves. They burned, killed, and pillaged, sparing no one—not the old, the weak, the won, or the children. They had even massacred a town of over ten thousand people. It was clear that every one of them had a debt of sin and blood on their hands.
For butchers like these, he had no reason to feel even a flicker of compassion.
Sensing Hong Yu's killing intent, the thieves kowtowed even more frantically.
"Master Hong, I-I'll tell you a shocking secret! Please, just spare !" a thief suddenly shouted, raising his head.
Hong Yu paused, his eyes narrowing. "Oh?"
Seeing Hong Yu unmoved, the thief grew anxious and quickly said, "Master Hong, I guarantee you'll be interested in this secret. It concerns a world-shaking secret..."
"And why should I believe you?"
Hong Yu said.
The thief hurriedly replied, "I swear..."
Hong Yu shook his head. "Oaths are just empty words. They can't be trusted!"
"Then... then what will it take for you to believe ?" The thief was on the verge of tears.
Hong Yu was silent for a mont before saying, "Go on, tell . I'll be the judge of whether it's true or false!"
"O-Okay!"
With a miserable expression, the thief slowly began, "Master Hong, our Mountain Opening Tiger Thief Gang isn't from the Fengyue Kingdom. We ca from the Celestial Star Kingdom, which is outside Fengyue. When we first arrived, we didn't know why the First Master brought us all this way. But by chance, I overheard our three masters talking. I vaguely heard them say they ca here to search for a cave abode left behind by a Primordial Core Realm expert..."
"What? The cave abode of a Primordial Core Realm expert?" Hong Yu's eyes flashed.
Hong Yu had heard that the strongest expert in the Fengyue Kingdom was the Cyan Nether Sword Sect's own Sect Leader, Wang Jiankun, a supre master who had reached the Primordial Core Realm. Legend had it that decades ago, the Fengyue Kingdom had faced an invasion from the Celestial Star Kingdom and was on the brink of destruction. It was Sect Leader Wang Jiankun who acted at the final mont.
He single-handedly charged in and out of the million-strong army seven tis. With just his sword, he slaughtered over six hundred thousand soldiers from the Celestial Star Kingdom's army, thereby saving the Fengyue Kingdom.
One man, one sword, slaughtering an elite army of six hundred thousand!
What kind of magnificent spirit was that?
What kind of terrifying power was that?
A single Primordial Core Realm expert was enough to decide the fate of a nation. One could only imagine how revered and transcendent such a being was.
From this, it was clear that if there truly was a Primordial Core Realm expert's cave abode in Liger Ravine, it would indeed explain why this band of thieves had appeared here.
However, Hong Yu obviously couldn't just take one man's word for it. He turned his cold gaze to another thief and asked indifferently, "What have you all been doing in Liger Ravine these past days?"
"E-Ever since we arrived at Liger Ravine, the three masters ordered us to expand our territory and eliminate all other forces and residents within the ravine." The thief thought for a mont before continuing, "As for the three masters, they haven't shown themselves at all. We don't know what they're doing."
"What is the cultivation level of your three masters?" Hong Yu continued to ask.
The thief thought and replied, "The First Master rarely acts, so we don't know his true strength. As for the Second and Third Masters, they are both Late-stage Earth Soul Realm experts."
Hong Yu questioned more than ten other n, and their answers were all similar.
'It seems this band of thieves really is looking for sothing.'
Hong Yu ca to a conclusion, but it was followed by worry. 'But the strength of their three masters is truly formidable. And then there's the First Master, whose depth is unknown. I'm afraid he's even stronger. With the strength of our group of new disciples, we'd be no match for those three. This is a matter that we new disciples are no longer qualified to handle...'
But then, an idea ca to him, and he made his decision.
He called over the thief who had spoken up first, reached out, and shattered his Dantian, crippling his cultivation. "I'll cripple your cultivation in exchange for your life," he said lightly.
"Thank you, Master Hong! Thank you, Master Hong!"
The thief endured the excruciating pain, kowtowing repeatedly in gratitude.
Strength?
What good was strength if you weren't alive to use it!
"As for the rest of you..."
Hong Yu's cold eyes swept over the hundred or so remaining thieves, and a cold sneer ford on his lips. "Every single one of you has the blood of countless innocent people on your hands. You've committed endless evil. You will not be spared!"
"No! Master Hong, you can't..."
"Master Hong, you promised you wouldn't kill us..."
The thieves roared in terror and fury.
But Hong Yu paid them no mind. He activated his Profound Skill, his body moving like a Wandering Dragon as he charged in for the kill.
How could this mob, whose strongest was only at the Ninth Layer of the Essence Realm, possibly withstand Hong Yu's rciless slaughter? Within minutes, the blood-soaked thieves were all dead.
The ruthless display made the spared thief standing beside him gulp, secretly thinking how lucky he was.
Hong Yu freed the bound Cyan Nether Sword Sect disciples and took out Rejuvenation Pills from the Profound Celestial Tower to distribute among them. After taking the pills, everyone recovered so of their vitality. Only Liu Liyun's grievous injuries were difficult to heal. Hong Yu frowned, looked at the other nine, and said in a grave voice, "Lao Liu is too badly injured. The Rejuvenation Pill can only temporarily suppress his wounds. Take him back to the Sect now!"
"Brother Hong, we're still within the mission's ti limit. If we go back now, I'm afraid..." one of them said hesitantly.
Hong Yu glanced at him. "What's your na?"
The young man quickly replied, "My na is Gao Zijie!"
"Gao Zijie, you should have heard what those n said just now. This matter is of great importance. The rest of you, take Lao Liu and this fellow back to the Sect and report what happened here to the Sect's upper echelons."
Hong Yu said calmly, "Regardless of whether it's true or not, the Sword Sect won't punish you. If it turns out to be true, you'll even receive a great reward. That's much safer than risking your lives here for points, isn't it?"
Gao Zijie was taken aback, then nodded. "Alright, we'll follow Brother Hong's arrangents!"
"Mm!"
Hong Yu handed the unconscious Liu Liyun and the miserable-looking thief over to the group. As they were about to part, he asked, "Right, I forgot to ask. Your squad only has ten people. How did you end up being chased by several hundred thieves?"
"Shi Tao! It was that bastard Shi Tao! He deliberately leaked our position to make us draw this gang of thieves away," Gao Zijie said, grinding his teeth.
If Shi Tao hadn't done that, how could they have been hunted by several hundred thieves?
If Hong Yu hadn't appeared in ti, they would have long since t their end at the Yellow Springs.
All nine of them had expressions of fury.
"Shi Tao? That guy again?" Hong Yu's eyes narrowed, a hint of killing intent stirring within him.
He took a deep breath and said, "Don't worry. I'll help you settle this score."
Gao Zijie was grateful at first, but then he shook his head with a bitter smile. "Brother Hong, I think it's better to forget it. Shi Tao has Guo Fei, the number one person on the Earth List, as his backer. He's not soone to be provoked. Besides, Sword Sect disciples are forbidden from killing each other. Since we're all safe now, it's not worth you breaking the Sect rules for our sake."
"I have my own plans. You should get going," Hong Yu said.
Gao Zijie hesitated, but knowing he couldn't persuade Hong Yu, he gave a bitter laugh and led the others away.
Once Gao Zijie's group was far away, Hong Yu turned his gaze toward the depths of Liger Ravine. His features twisted into a strange expression—a mixture of anger, coldness, and resolution. 'Shi Tao, oh, Shi Tao, you'd better pray you don't run into before the Sect's experts arrive! Otherwise, heh heh, it'll be ti for us to settle all our scores, new and old!'
Gently stroking the Breaking Army Spear, Hong Yu casually summoned Xingtian.
"Huhu!"
Little Beast Huhu was sleeping on Xingtian's shoulder. When it suddenly saw Hong Yu, a flash of delight appeared in its eyes, and it tried to leap with its chubby body into Hong Yu's arms.
Unfortunately...
The little guy was too fat to make the jump!
PLOP!
The little creature landed right on its bottom, wincing in pain. It looked at Hong Yu with aggrieved eyes, letting out a mournful "huhu" cry.
"You silly little thing..."
Hong Yu laughed in surprise, picked up the little creature, and gently patted the dirt off its back. "You should be more careful, knowing how fat you are!" he scolded with a smile.
"Hu!"
The little creature's eyes went wide with indignation. It waved its paws as if to say: 'Where am I fat? Just look at , where am I fat? This is called being pleasantly plump, okay?'
"Alright, alright, you're not fat!"
Hong Yu shook his head with a wry smile, then turned to Xingtian. "Xingtian, absorb all of their souls!"
ROAR!
A flicker of excitent passed through Xingtian's eyes. It spat out the Seed of Misfortune and began to absorb the Lost Souls.
There were several hundred corpses here.
In terms of quality, they were superior to the last batch. After absorbing these Lost Souls, Xingtian's entire figure seed to grow a bit taller and more robust. The Seed of Misfortune also grew a size larger, and a tiny green sprout could be faintly seen erging from it.
Once that sprout fully ford, it would be ti for Xingtian to advance to a First-Tribulation Execution Corpse.
Hong Yu recalled the sated Xingtian back into the Profound Celestial Tower and gazed at the field of corpses, his expression complicated.
Once upon a ti, he had been a weak ant who could only look up to the Earth Soul Realm.
Tis had changed. Now, relying on the Nine Refinents of the Primordial Spirit and the Mortal-Level Martial Skill, Three Flas Palm, he could slaughter Essence Realm cultivators like pigs and dogs. He could even kill the once-lofty experts of the Earth Soul Realm. The transformation was so great that even Hong Yu himself found it hard to believe.
This entire transformation had taken only a few months.
As his strength grew, so did Hong Yu's anticipation for the Profound Celestial Tower.
Just opening the First Layer had brought about such a massive change. He had no idea what awaited him in the Second Layer, the Third Layer, and beyond...
"Heh, I'm overthinking things!"
Hong Yu chuckled and shook his head, gently stroking Huhu's soft fur. His profound gaze peered into the depths of Liger Ravine, a deep, bright light like a star flickering within his eyes...
'Does the cave abode of a Primordial Core Realm expert truly exist?'
PS: Third chapter of the day is done!
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