When the Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter appeared in the underground bar, Tian Lingling's face paled dramatically, and the glass in his hand shattered with a crack.
The Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter? When did she start targeting me? I've never even interacted with anyone from the Palace of Ceasing Slaughter before! Li Xianzong's mind raced, automatically pulling up information about the Palace Master.
Musician Class, suspected Peak Saint Stage. She calmly retreated during the Xiahou Family's recent encirclement and is currently wanted.
"Uncle Tian, what's the deal with the Chu Family's massacre? Does she seem to be here specifically for you?" Li Xianzong discreetly slipped his hand into his pocket, gripping the chalk.
"Li Xianzong, you fucking doomed me!"
Tian Lingling's face turned ashen. The moment he heard the words "Chu Family massacre," he knew this woman was after him. Li Xianzong must have been targeted first, and she followed the trail here.
"Kid, I'll hold her off. You find a way to escape," Tian Lingling said, his voice tight with urgency. Though he wanted nothing more than to smash Li Xianzong's head in, he made the rational decision.
As a Level 5 Mist Lord with the combat prowess of an Evil Class, he could hold his own against a Level 6 Orderly Class.
While he couldn't defeat the Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter, who was at the Peak Saint Stage, he could stall her long enough for Li Xianzong to escape.
Moreover, there were twenty to thirty Evil Class Walkers present, each with twisted personalities but formidable combat prowess.
At that moment, the villains in the underground bar hadn't yet reacted.
Several men near the staircase leered and whistled suggestively, taunting:
"Little sister, dressed so pretty for a night out? Tsk, that dress is something else—makes you look like a noble lady from ancient times."
"Noble lady, lift your skirt and show us what you're hiding, hmm?"
Laughter erupted as they assumed the girl in the red ancient-style dress was one of their own, here to indulge in the underground bar's vices.
The Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter turned her head, her gaze locking onto the man who had spoken.
In the next instant, a crimson thread as thin as a strand of hair lashed out with a piercing shriek.
The man's lewd grin froze on his face as his head slowly slid from his neck.
The thread coiled around the severed head, dragging it in a bloody trail toward the staircase and stopping at the hem of the Palace Master's skirt.
She lifted her delicate, jade-like foot and pressed it against the man's face, giggling sweetly. "Does my skirt look good from down there?"
The underground bar fell into deathly silence.
Where did this lunatic come from?
Her deranged laughter and ruthless demeanor were more bloodthirsty than a Seductive Demon and more twisted than an Illusion Master.
Tian Lingling shouted:
"Everyone, be careful! She's the Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter, a Peak Saint Musician. Let's work together and take her down!"
Rattle! Everyone stood up, their faces grim as they stared at the red-robed woman at the top of the stairs.
The couple froze mid-action. The woman released her leg from around the man's waist, and they hastily assumed defensive stances, still half-naked.
So this madwoman was the Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter. No wonder she was so formidable.
As native Songhai Walkers, they were well aware of the Palace Master's infamous reputation. She was one of the top two strongest individuals below the Elder-level.
"Fuck this shit! Tian Lingling, I came here to spend money, not to die!"
"What are you scared of? If this woman dares to show her face here, we'll wear her down with a rotation attack. No one below Sovereign-level leaves this place alive!"
"Tian Lingling is a Saint too! With our support, we can handle one crazy bitch!"
The Palace Master bent down, dipped her palm in the blood pooling on the floor, and smeared it across her silver mask, creating a ghastly, crimson visage.
In the next instant, countless slender red threads erupted from behind her, resembling a blooming crimson flower or a writhing mass of terrifying tentacles.
The bartender grabbed a shotgun from a drawer behind the bar and tossed it to Tian Lingling. The latter caught it, aimed at the Palace Master, and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Gunsmoke billowed from the muzzle as a hail of bullets swept toward the staircase entrance.
The devastating shotgun blasts were effortlessly deflected by crimson threads as thin as hair.
The shot ignited the chaotic melee. Evil Walkers by the booths drew their guns or activated their Items. Those without weapons resorted to skills and hand-to-hand combat.
The Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter tilted her snow-white, slender neck and unleashed a melodious, resonant song from her throat.
As the song echoed through the underground bar, the minds of the villains wavered slightly. Their murderous intent dissolved, their fear subsided, and their hearts filled with an inexplicable serenity.
Musicians could transmit emotions through their songs, influencing their listeners.
Mainstream Musicians possessed three primary abilities: hypnosis, pacification, and encouragement.
Experienced Musicians, however, could perform more intricate manipulations. By leveraging specific songs, they could amplify the emotions embedded in the melody and lyrics, inducing corresponding feelings in their audience.
The greater the variety of songs at their disposal, the more versatile their methods became.
In the brief lull as the crowd lost their will to fight and found themselves pacified, crimson threads surged from behind the Palace Master. They split into two groups: one attacking the Evil Walkers by the booths, the other targeting Tian Lingling and Li Xianzong at the bar.
Thud, thud, thud...
Six or seven people instantly had their skulls or hearts pierced by the threads, dying silently.
Before his death, an Illusion Master let out a piercing scream.
Her voice couldn't compare to the Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter's singing, but like a small stone thrown into a pond, it created ripples. Tian Lingling, who had been desperately resisting the song, jolted awake, using the Illusion Master's mental shockwave to break free from its hypnotic grip.
Li Xianzong snapped awake, instinctively summoning his filthy, foul-smelling cloak and draping it over himself. He closed his eyes and muttered, "Can't hit me, can't hit me."
The crimson threads pierced Li Xianzong's abdomen, thighs, and arms, but the attacks targeting vital areas like his head and heart inexplicably split apart, some striking the ceiling while others fell to the ground.
He was using the third ability of this Saint-Tier Item—Blessing!
Since curses and fortune reduction couldn't affect the Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter, he decided to simply improve his own luck.
"Hiss~"
Li Xianzong's face contorted in pain.
Meanwhile, Tian Lingling stood motionless, his muscles bulging and tearing through his outer robe with a ripping sound. Two illusory, semi-solid arms emerged from his shoulder blades. One hand gripped a long blade, while the other held a short dagger.
Tian Lingling wielded two blades—one long, one short—to slash through the crimson threads that shot toward her.
The severed threads fluttered to the ground like crimson rain.
Just as Tian Lingling was about to grip her blades and engage the Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter in close combat, she noticed the red-robed woman at the top of the stairs raise her snow-white wrist and snap her fingers.
Snap!
The severed threads sprang back to life, coiling around Tian Lingling like living tendrils, binding her in layer upon layer.
The crimson threads tightened relentlessly, gradually slicing through the Mist Lord's skin. Blood trickled from the hairline wounds.
"Sovereign?"
Tian Lingling's expression finally shifted.
A signature skill of fifth-tier Mist Lords was Copper Head, Iron Arms.
This skill had established the Seductive Demon's dominance in close combat. Tian Lingling was supremely confident in her defenses, believing that even a Peak Saint Stage Orderly Class practitioner would struggle to breach her defenses.
Yet, at their first clash, the Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter's crimson threads had effortlessly pierced her vaunted iron body.
When did she become a Sovereign? The Slaughter Instance hasn't even started yet.
Sovereign? Li Xianzong's heart trembled. He quickly distanced himself from Tian Lingling, fleeing toward a corner of the underground bar while pulling a piece of chalk from his pocket.
Her real target is Tian Lingling, not me. If Tian Lingling can hold off this madwoman, I can escape.
On Tian Lingling's bald head, the twisted, crisscrossing tattoos glowed with an eerie black light. The light swirled into a vortex, distorting minds, conjuring hallucinations, and whispering phantom voices into ears.
The patterns on Tian Lingling's head weren't mere tattoos; they were the evolved manifestation of his Seduction power. In the Transcendent Phase, the Seductive Demon's Talismans remained hidden within his eyes. Upon reaching the Saint Stage, these Talismans would gradually spread throughout his body.
By the Sovereign Realm, the Seduction Talismans would permeate his entire being. Lower-level Walkers who merely glanced at him would instantly lose their minds, falling under his hypnotic sway.
"Kill her. Kill her at any cost," Tian Lingling's voice rasped, low and ethereal.
Immediately, the surviving Evil Class members near the booths, their eyes burning crimson, charged recklessly at the Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter.
The Palace Master raised her arm and swung it forcefully. Dense crimson threads erupted like a fountain, twisting wildly as they swept across the room.
A cacophony of crashes and bangs filled the air as chair backs splintered, fine cracks spiderwebbed across the bar counter, and tables split in two with clean, even cuts. The bodies of the Evil Class members were torn asunder, heads flying off, torsos severed at the waist, and limbs scattered like discarded toys.
Li Xianzong, relying on his Blessing, dodged most of the attacks. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his neck as a hair-thin red line grazed his skin.
He clutched his neck, staggering backward as blood gushed between his fingers.
"Blood... I need blood!" Li Xianzong's eyes darted wildly around the room, landing on an Evil Walker a few meters away. The Walker's upper and lower body had been severed, leaving him writhing in agony, not yet dead.
He stumbled toward his target.
Meanwhile, Tian Lingling seized the opportunity to sever the red lines binding him and fled toward the bar's back door. As he fled, he grabbed a battered black clay jar from his Inventory and smashed it against the floor.
Instantly, layered, distorted illusions flooded the space.
The Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter's body abruptly dissolved into a crimson tidal wave, surging into the illusions in pursuit of Tian Lingling.
Li Xianzong seized his chance, drawing his butterfly knife and plunging it into the Evil Walker's heart.
The Seductive Demon's Bloodlust passive activated, and crimson light flared in Li Xianzong's pupils. He relentlessly drained the enemy's life essence, causing the wound on his neck to slowly heal.
Ignoring the terrifying, distorted illusions around him, he quickly crouched down and drew a circle around himself.
A hazy yellow light descended, enveloping him and causing him to vanish.
Behind the bar.
Limbs, torsos, and steaming organs lay scattered across the floor, mixed with flowing blood.
The Palace Master of Ceasing Slaughter stepped barefoot through the gore, holding Tian Lingling's severed head in her hand. She meticulously pieced the body back together.
Then, she draped herself in a black cloak radiating sinister energy. Instantly, a viscous, pitch-black power surged through her pupils, establishing a connection with the Spectral Entity within the corpse.
"Tian Lingling, Earth Spirit, tell me which Heavenly King led the massacre of the Chu Family twenty-one years ago. Where is the Chu Family's Rule Item?"
She chanted the incantation several times before swallowing the Spectral Entity whole.
Official Forum.
[ Li Xianzong Attacks Pingtai Hospital, Target: Primordial Heavenly Venerable ]
This afternoon, a post surged to the top of the Official Forum, highlighted in red and pinned.
"According to a reliable senior from the Taiyi Sect, today's attack on Pingtai Hospital in Songhai was a meticulously planned assassination attempt against the Primordial Heavenly Venerable by Li Xianzong of the Military Doctrine Sect.
"Fortunately, though the Primordial Heavenly Venerable sustained severe injuries, he survived. This incident allows us to analyze the power disparity between the two sides. The Taiyi Sect senior revealed that the dense fog enveloping the hospital lasted only two minutes before dissipating.
"Yet when colleagues from the Songhai Branch found the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, he was already on the brink of death. This demonstrates Li Xianzong's formidable strength, which should not be underestimated.
"This attack marks the beginning of the Evil Class Trial. All Branch colleagues are urged to remain vigilant against potential ambushes in the coming days.
"Updates on the Primordial Heavenly Venerable and Li Xianzong's subsequent actions will be continuously posted in this thread. Please follow for further updates."
In the days that followed, Official Walkers across the country remained on high alert, though the situation remained relatively calm. As the post indicated, Li Xianzong's terroristic act had indeed signaled the start of the Evil Faction's Trial.
Following this, Evil Classes across the land would undoubtedly be stirred into action, launching hunts against their chosen targets.
[ Ample Time Ahead: Even the Primordial Heavenly Venerable couldn't defeat Li Xianzong? I never imagined he'd fall in under two minutes. ]
[ The Bitter Past: The Primordial Heavenly Venerable still lacks foundational strength. While powerful in the Transcendent Phase, he's still far behind the true elites. This clash has given us a clearer picture of his capabilities. ]
[ Queen: Why are you two not calling him "Heavenly Venerable" anymore? Don't boost your enemies' morale while undermining your own. The Primordial Heavenly Venerable has only been a Spirit Realm Walker for a little over a month. Give him another six months, and he might not lose to Li Xianzong. ]
[ Little Pig George: I always knew he'd attract the attention of Evil Organizations, but I never expected it would be Li Xianzong. I hope he can weather this storm. ]
[ Jiang Yang: Just to be safe, I think the Primordial Heavenly Venerable should lie low for a while and avoid the spotlight. ]
[ Passionate Jenny: Old Jiang's lazy streak is showing again! Why hide? We should hunt down Li Xianzong, take him out, and claim the bounty. ]
On the Official Forum, Official Walkers from across the country actively participated in the discussion.
The forum was always at its busiest and most somber during the mid-year and year-end periods. A colleague who had earned glory one day might be dead the next, slain by an Evil Class attack.
Li Xianzong's brazen assault infuriated Official Walkers across the regions, yet they remained powerless to act.
After all, the attack hadn't occurred within their jurisdictions.
At most, they could offer suggestions: advise the Primordial Heavenly Venerable to lie low for a while, reminding him that a gentleman's revenge is never too late, even if it takes ten years. Patience would bring calm, and perhaps Li Xianzong would be killed in a siege within days, sparing the Venerable the need to act himself.
At the Songhai Branch, Official Walkers from other districts swore oaths to hunt down Li Xianzong, their words dripping with contempt for the Kangyang District Official Walkers' perceived incompetence.
Meanwhile, in the Underground Black Market, the Boxing King led his team on patrol, maintaining order within his territory.
Songhai's Spirit Realm Walkers hadn't grown skittish due to the escalating conflict between factions. On the contrary, their visits to the black market had become more frequent.
This was partly because intelligence and information had become crucial during this critical period. But it was also because the Underground Black Market always saw a surge in gambling activity during such times.
Gambling, after all, was a fundamental human weakness.
One of the Boxing King's team members kept glancing at the gambling tables, whispering:
"Boss, the odds for Primordial Heavenly Venerable and Li Xianzong have reached 1:20. You just returned from the meeting today, so you must have some intel. What do you think about betting on him to win?"
The Boxing King glanced at him. "You can bet on a draw, but don't bet on Primordial Heavenly Venerable to win."
The lackeys behind him immediately understood that the forum posts were telling the truth.
Under the deep night sky, at the Huayu Hotel...
In the presidential suite, Xie Lingxi sat on the balcony, frowning as she repeatedly refreshed the Five Elements Alliance's Official Forum.
Her female assistant stood beside her, reporting:
"We've already inquired with Kangyang District Second Team. Primordial Heavenly Venerable is recuperating at home and is out of danger. However, I heard that when The Officials found him, he was on the brink of death."
"Young Miss, if you're so concerned about Primordial Heavenly Venerable, why don't you just call him yourself?"
Xie Lingxi snapped irritably, "You've never been in love. I wouldn't expect you to understand."
And neither have you, the assistant thought, stung by the mockery.
Xie Lingxi frowned slightly. "If the forum posts aren't exaggerating, the gap between Brother Primordial and Li Xianzong is indeed vast. Sigh, he's in real danger this time. It's best for him to lay low for a while."
"After all, he's a talent cultivated by the Military Doctrine Sect, one of the best in the Transcendent Phase," the female assistant said.
Xie Lingxi closed her laptop and looked at the assistant. "My dad told me to observe Brother Primordial more closely. Now that this has happened, he hasn't contacted me. He must have spoken to you privately today. What did he say?"
The assistant hesitated before answering truthfully, "He didn't say much. The Patriarch instructed me to remain neutral, keep a close eye on you, and avoid any contact with Primordial Heavenly Venerable. He probably wants to see if he can survive."
"I see. He's always been cautious with investments," Xie Lingxi said with a pout.
But I have my own style.
She grabbed her phone and sent a sweet, coquettish voice message: "Brother Primordial, can you come to the hotel tomorrow? I want to treat you to dinner."
In his bedroom, Zhang Yuanqing lay on the bed, feigning sleep with his eyes closed. His Mental Energy settled within him as he channeled Lunar Power to slowly nourish Little Goofball.
His face was pale and gaunt, as if he were recovering from a serious illness.
Even with a Nightwalker's robust vitality, it would take at least two more days to fully recover.
While nurturing Little Goofball, he replayed the day's battle in his mind, reviewing every detail again and again.
"No matter how I respond, I have no chance of winning. The Red Dancing Shoes aren't with me, and there's a level gap between us. Using the Red Veil to scare him off is the least risky option.
"But I only have one use left of the Red Veil, and Li Xianzong possesses a 'teleportation' Item, making him far more dangerous than Unbridled. If he attacks me just once or twice more, I'm dead.
"I need to reach Level 3 as soon as possible."
The crushing defeat at Li Xianzong's hands was impossible to ignore. Even though Li Xianzong was a higher level, they were roughly the same age, both in the Transcendent Phase, and considered peers.
Trying to comfort himself by saying he hadn't been a Spirit Realm Walker long enough felt like self-deception.
Today, not only had he been severely injured, but Little Goofball had nearly been obliterated.
He swore revenge, but the overwhelming difference in their combat power left Zhang Yuanqing feeling discouraged and powerless.
Just then, light footsteps approached from outside the door.
From the sound alone, he knew it was his Aunt.