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“It seems they’ve all been defeated
”
Far from Ziluo City, a hoarse voice rang out.
The speaker was a middle-aged man in a golden silk belt and a crane cloak.
His expression was dark and utterly solemn.
Qu Yunzhong.
An Imperial Realm old monster of the Qu Family.
He was responsible for convening with the others after tonight’s operation.
It was already past dawn and the boundless horde of evil spirits had already retreated, yet Qu Changhen and his cohort had yet to return. This told Qu Yunzhong that something was amiss!
“Cui Longxiang isn’t here. How could the Cui Family have turned this around with the power at their disposal? How about
 we go have a look around Ziluo City?” said a visibly concerned, graying, baby-faced elder in blue.
Hong Tianhe.
He was an Emperor of the Hong Family with extreme seniority.
Him and Qu Yunzhong aside,  there was also an elder of the Tantai Family present.
His name was Tantai Che, and he was massive and powerful looking. He had a short halberd on his back, and his eyes flashed like lightning.
Tantai Che immediately rejected Hong Tianhe’s suggestion. “We cannot! No matter whether or not our allies fell in battle, we must leave immediately and send word to our respective factions!”
Qu Yunzhong took a deep breath, suppressed his agitation, and said gravely, “Brother Tantai is absolutely correct. If our allies have already fallen, going to Ziluo City now will no different from throwing ourselves into our enemies’ net.”
“But if we just leave, how will we explain ourselves to our clansmen?” Hong Tianhe furrowed his brow.
“All we have to do is tell them the truth,” sighed Qu Yunzhong.
During this year’s Lantern Festival, Cui Longxiang wasn’t present, while the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow had re-entered the world. They’d figured this was the perfect opportunity to overturn the Cui Family.
Several ancient clans had prepared for this, and a whole group of Emperors had joined forces; they’d thought victory was all but guaranteed.
But the results were entirely unexpected!
Ziluo City hadn’t fallen. It seemed highly likely that all of their allies had fallen instead!
“Everyone, I’ll be on my way!” Tantai Che wasn’t willing to stick around any longer. He turned and left, his tall, powerful figure quickly disappearing into the boundless darkness.
Qu Yunzhong and Hong Tianhe looked at each other and were just about to leave when——
A desperate, enraged shout emanated from the distant darkness.
That was Tantai Che!
Qu Yunzhong and Hong Tianhe’s hearts shook. Both of them looked over.
An indistinct, ten-thousand-foot figure appeared in the darkness, but before they could get a good look at it, it was gone.
Tantai Che’s shouts came to a complete stop.
Heaven and earth were deathly silent. The night was as dark as ink.
The night of the Lantern Festival was supposed to be devoid of light. Despite this, Tantai Che’s desperate shouts had filled the air, and a massive, illusory figure flashed in and out of view.
Both Qu Yunzhong and Hong Tianhe’s hearts shook, and chills coursed down their spines.
“Brother Qu, it seems Fellow Daoist Tantai has met with disaster. Let’s travel together and get the hell away from this blasted place. At the very least, we can look out for each other that way,” Hong Tianhe transmitted at top speeds. “If we leave separately, I’m afraid they’ll pick us off one by one.”
“Got it!” Qu Yunzhong agreed.
As he spoke, he flipped over his palm. A glittering silver flying sword floated above his hand, and his aura silently circulated as he got into peak condition.
Even the armor beneath his clothing rippled with energy fluctuations.
As for Hong Tianhe? He’d long since taken out a bronze short spear with a tip shaped like a bird’s beak, and he was readying himself for battle.
Both were Emperors with no shortage of combat experience. Despite their situation, neither panicked. Instead, they cautiously got ready.
Suddenly, a warm, amiable voice emanated from the distant darkness.
“No need to be nervous.”
Boom!
As soon as this voice rang out, Qu Yunzhong attacked without hesitation. His glittering flying sword shot forth, like a streak of lightning aimed at the source of the voice.
But before the sword hit its mark, an enormous hand took hold of it.
The hand was thin and withered, and its grip was gentle, as if it were holding not a monstrously destructive Imperial flying sword, but rather, something as fragile as a flower petal.
The silver flying sword trembled, then emanated misty light, illuminating a figure standing amidst the darkness.
It was an old man in worn-out Daoist robes. He had an amiable look on his face, and his hair and beard were graying. He smiled, looking kindly and benevolent.
At least, he would have if he weren’t carrying a still-bleeding head in his left hand. Its eyes bulged with fury, and helplessness and terror were written all over its face.
This head belonged to Tantai Che, the first of them to take his leave!
A mid-stage Profound Illumination Emperor of the Tantai Family!
Qu Yunzhong and Hong Tianhe’s expressions changed dramatically, and their hearts clenched.
Especially Qu Yunzhong; the old man had restrained his flying sword. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t retrieve it. This left his scalp numb with terror.
That old man in Daoist robes was undoubtedly an utterly terrifying existence!
Hong Tianhe took a deep breath and said gravely, “Fellow Daoist, who are you? Why attack us tonight?”
“I’m but an old man down on my luck, someone not worth mentioning.” The benevolent-looking old man in Daoist robes slowly drew closer. “As for why I’ve come tonight? I’m simply here on another’s behest and putting my all into my work. To that end, I hope to borrow your heads.”
His voice was as mellow as a spring breeze or good-quality wine, but his words left both Qu Yunzhong and Hong Tianhe stunned.
“Dare I ask whose orders you’re acting on? And how you learned our origins?” Qu Yunzhong gulped with great difficulty.
Whoosh!
But Hong Tianhe’s response was even more direct; he turned tail and fled.
He shattered the golden talisman he’d prepared, bursting with golden talisman light as he disappeared into thin air.
Qu Yunzhong’s expression was instantly incomparably unsightly. He would never have guessed that Hong Tianhe, the one who’d suggested that they travel and fight together, would flee at the drop of a hat!
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But in just a few blinks of the eye, a muffled impact resounded in the distant darkness, and the ripple-like fluctuations of a formation spread through the inky darkness.
“Dammit! That old man’s already sealed off this entire stretch of heaven and earth!” the distant Hong Tianhe roared in surprise and fury.
The old man in Daoist robes sighed. “It’s shameful, but to ensure that I successfully acquired your heads, I had no choice but to resort to underhanded means. I’ve embarrassed myself in front of you.”
As he spoke, he put away the restricted silver flying sword, stretched out his hand, and grabbed.
Boom!
Intense ripples coursed through the sky, as if even space itself were tearing apart.
A moment later, Hong Tianhe came back into view. The old man held him aloft by the throat; he could no longer struggle.
“My apologies,” said the old man in Daoist robes.
Then, he ripped Hong Tianhe’s head from his shoulders!
Hong Tianhe’s body was silently chopped into fine chunks, which crumbled into ash as they hit the ground.
A Profound Illumination cultivator had just been decapitated! And his death was utterly strange!
Furthermore, from beginning to end, the old man seemed kindly, amiable, and even apologetic

Just watching, Qu Yuzhong felt as if he’d been plunged into an endless abyss, or as if his soul were leaving his body.
It had been a long, long time since he’d proven his Dao and become an Emperor, but this was his first time encountering such a terrifying foe!
“Who
 Who exactly are you?” rasped Qu Yunzhong.
The old man in Daoist robes was in no hurry. He took out a rope, then strung Hong Tianhe and Tantai Che’s heads together.
Then, he looked at Qu Yunzhong, thought for a moment, then said, “Very well. Before you pass on, I can give you a little peace of mind.”
As the old man’s voice rang out, misty gray light suddenly arose around him, creating an unbelievable scene in the air.
In this scene, an unearthly black lotus bloomed within an endless abyss, drawing in stars. As the stars plummeted into the abyss, the black lotus devoured them completely.
When he saw this, Qu Yunzhong reacted as if he’d been struck by lightning. “The Dark Oblivion Yao God!? How is this possible? How are you still alive?”
A long time ago, a black lotus appeared in a bottomless abyss. It controlled the powers of darkness and oblivion. It became a supreme figure of the yao path, and the world’s yao cultivators honored it as the Dark Oblivion Yao God!
Countless peak orthodoxies had tried to capture this lotus with innate control over the powers of darkness and oblivion. They hoped to take it alive and seize its Laws of the Grand Dao.
However, in the end, they suffered massive casualties. More than ten Emperors lost their lives.
The name of the Dark Oblivion Yao God resounded throughout the Netherworld. He was a Xiantian Yao Emperor of the yao path!
However, to the best of Qu Yunzhong’s knowledge, the Dark Oblivion Yao God had ventured into the Sea of Bitterness in search of good fortune tens of thousands of years ago, never to return.
There had been no word of him since.
Who’d have thought that this terrifying existence would appear before him tonight?
Furthermore, it seemed he was here specifically to kill the three of them!
“It’s true that I almost died in the Sea of Bitterness, in the ruins of King Chu Jiang’s palace,” the old man explained gently. “But it seems I was not destined to die there. After tens of thousands of years of confinement, I escaped with great difficulty.”
Qu Yunzhong said in quavering voice, “Senior, why
 why would someone of your level target the likes of us?”
The old man was instantly solemn. “I said it earlier: I’m here on another’s behest, and I must put my all into my work. I’d appreciate your cooperation, Fellow Daoist.”
Qu Yunzhong’s expression shifted erratically, and he grimaced. “Senior, if you want to kill me, do you really need my cooperation? Don’t tell me you want me to offer you my head?”
The old man in Daoist robes was instantly apologetic. “That was muddle-headed of me.”
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand, grabbed, and twisted.
Kccch!
Qu Yunzhong’s head was ripped from his shoulders. It then flew through the air and landed in the old man’s hand.
Just like Hong Tianhe, his corpse was quickly reduced to countless tiny chunks of meat. By the time they hit the ground, they’d already been reduced to ash.
This was the power of oblivion!
Against the old man in Daoist robes, Profound Illumination Emperors like Qu Yunzhong, Hong Tianhe, and Tantai Che couldn’t even fight back!
It was no wonder that, back at Meng Po Palace, even the Profound Serenity Realm Third High Elder Lu Changming treated the old man with such immense respect, not daring to be even the slightest bit negligent!
Once he had all three heads, the old man in Daoist robes relaxed and muttered, “I can finally report to Fellow Daoist Su.”
As his voice echoed through the darkness, he shot toward Ziluo City.