Chapter 1092: Silent Red Butterfly

The eastern part of the Black Soul Mountain Range is under the jurisdiction of the Soul Sect.

Lei Kuangfeng, the Vice Hall Master of the Soul Sect’s 36th Hall, was a tall man with a stern face. His authoritative gaze swept over the disciples standing neatly before him.

“Something has happened in Blackya City, and the Hall Master went there this morning. Therefore, I will supervise this assessment,” Lei Kuangfeng said, his deep voice scanning the group. “You are the top one hundred disciples out of the thirty thousand in the 36th Hall! The future of our 36th Hall, and indeed the entire Soul Sect, rests on your shoulders. You have every reason to be proud!”

“However, only twenty of you will be able to participate in the Grand Sect Competition three months from now. Today is the first stage of the assessment. If you want to join the Grand Sect Competition, then show me what you’ve got!”

Before him were one hundred Soul Sect disciples, clearly of the younger generation. Their profound energy auras were astonishing: nearly sixty percent were at the late stage of the Divine Origin Realm, while the remaining forty percent had remarkably reached the Divine Soul Realm. The strongest among them were close to the middle stage of the Divine Soul Realm.

To achieve such cultivation at less than sixty years of age was truly a source of immense pride for peak talents in the Lower Star Realm.

They were the top one hundred among the tens of thousands of young disciples in the Soul Sect’s 36th Hall, and were considered top-tier existences among the younger generation in the entire Blackya Realm.

“The rules have been made very clear. You only have two hours,” Lei Kuangfeng said, extending two fingers. “Within two hours, regardless of your achievements, you must return here. If you exceed two hours, even by a single breath, don’t bother coming back. Just roll back to the sect! Do you understand?!”

“Understood!” the disciples responded in unison.

“Good! The assessment begins. You may go!”

At Lei Kuangfeng’s command, the disciples quickly dispersed, their figures vanishing into various corners of the Black Soul Mountain Range. Lei Kuangfeng remained in place, closing his eyes to rest.

A moment later, in a valley between two low mountains, a Soul Sect disciple slowly advanced. As a young disciple of the Divine Soul Realm, he possessed ample reason for pride and the qualifications to venture alone.

He sensed the aura of a profound beast not far ahead, slowly approaching… yet he was completely unaware that just five feet to his side, an invisible figure existed, undetectable by his spiritual sense and unseen by his eyes. As he moved forward, the unseen figure silently raised a small, blue butterfly-like short blade.

Clink!!

A profound energy, not strong, even weak, burst forth instantly and vanished in a fleeting moment, almost imperceptibly. The Soul Sect disciple suddenly felt an itch on his neck, as if bitten by an insect. He instinctively slapped it, and then his vision suddenly distorted…

His head smoothly fell from his neck, his face unable to even register horror, much less utter a scream.

As the profound energy was instantly released, Yun Che’s figure appeared. He swiftly pointed a finger backward, and the disciple’s corpse, still standing, was immediately encased in a thin layer of ice. His life force, before it could even dissipate, was sealed within.

Yun Che did not glance back. He took two steps forward, and his figure vanished into the air once more.

At the entrance of the valley, a second Soul Sect disciple appeared. He saw the headless corpse at a glance, his face showing shock. Just as he was about to rush over, a cold gleam suddenly shot out from the air to his right, a single blade slitting his throat!

In another direction, four Soul Sect disciples were traveling together. Yun Che, concealed on a tall rock formation, had his indifferent gaze locked onto the four.

Using “Broken Moon Flickering Shadow” in conjunction with “Sound Butterfly Blade” for assassination, he was confident he could achieve absolute silence, invisibility, and no risk against anyone below the Divine Tribulation Realm. However, this was only suitable for assassinating solitary targets. For multiple people, to achieve an imperceptible instant throat-slit, two were manageable, three were a bit difficult, and four would be too challenging… After all, these were not ordinary Soul Sect disciples!

When the four came within Yun Che’s line of sight below him, he did not move; instead, he suddenly revealed himself. In his indifferent pupils, two points of crimson-gold flame ignited.

An invisible spiritual force enveloped the surroundings.

Illusion Realm—Crimson Butterfly!!

The four Soul Sect disciples’ steps simultaneously halted. Their gazes stared forward, gradually becoming vacant. In their pupils, a crimson butterfly, fluttering its wings, was reflected.

“Do you see it? A butterfly, like fire,” one disciple said.

“Nonsense, of course I see it,” another Soul Sect disciple said. “But it’s my first time seeing a butterfly like this. Could it be some kind of fire spirit?” He gazed at the crimson butterfly fluttering “before their eyes” without sensing any abnormality.

“How could there be a fire spirit here? Oh, here comes another one… and another dozen. Strange, where are they all flying from?” As he spoke, he was completely unaware that his eyes were becoming more vacant and his voice growing fainter.

“It seems like… more and more… more and more… more… and more… more…”

The fiery crimson butterflies fluttering in their vision turned from one to two, then in a daze, became a dozen… hundreds… thousands… until they filled their entire vision, their entire world… In the end, there was no longer any trace of the crimson butterflies in their sight, only a blazing inferno.

And when the flames extinguished, their soul fires had also been burnt out.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The four Soul Sect disciples fell one after another within two breaths, like four wooden stakes toppled by the wind. Their death scenes were identical… expressions vacant, eyes wide open, but utterly devoid of luster, only a dull grayish-white.

Yet their bodies still emitted signs of life; blood circulated normally, and their hearts beat steadily… yet they would never awaken.

Yun Che’s figure also vanished again at this moment, approaching his next target, unseen and unheard.

The Crimson Butterfly Domain, a power from the eighth stage of the Golden Crow Burning World Record. It was Yun Che’s second spiritual domain, after the Dragon Soul Domain. The difference was that the Dragon Soul Domain was an immensely powerful soul deterrence, while the Crimson Butterfly Domain, though far less domineering than the Dragon Soul Domain, was far more cruel and merciless—soul incineration!

Even more terrifying was its ability to release Golden Crow Flames using the soul as a medium without any outward manifestation of the flames. If controlled properly, it could be done completely silently and imperceptibly!

There was still nearly an hour left before the assessment ended, yet Lei Kuangfeng suddenly opened his eyes.

He felt that something was wrong.

The mountain region before him was unusually quiet. There were no shouts from disciples, no roars from profound beasts, and every wisp of breeze rustling past his ears was exceptionally clear.

A sudden sense of inexplicable unease arose in his heart. He soared into the air, rapidly releasing his spiritual sense, but for a long time, he detected no aura from any disciple.

The unease in his heart instantly magnified. He immediately flew deeper into the mountain range, his gaze sweeping below. He finally detected several life auras at one point… But then, his pupils contracted, and he plunged downwards.

Six people lay stiff on the ground, eyes wide open, but their pupils were nonexistent. Their breathing and aura were extremely faint. There were no wounds or blood on their bodies, yet they were completely motionless, as if their souls had departed.

“This… what is going on!?” Lei Kuangfeng was greatly alarmed. He then abruptly stood up, releasing his profound energy, and roared: “Who! Who dares to plot against my Soul Sect! Get out here!!”

His roar echoed far through the mountain region, but there was no response.

As the ice layers melted, the previously sealed blood energy began to rapidly dissipate. Following the blood energy, Lei Kuangfeng found one disciple’s corpse after another. The death scenes of these disciples were all identical: bodies separated from heads, with the cuts on the neck and body as smooth as if polished.

There was rarely any sign of terror on the faces of the severed heads; some even showed an expression of peace.

As for the disciples whose heads were not severed, all had their eyes wide open, their bodies still possessing life, but their consciousness had turned to nothingness.

As his horror gradually intensified, six… ten… thirty… sixty… one hundred…

All one hundred disciples’ bodies were found, none spared!!

Yet he had never detected the slightest abnormal sound or aura, nor heard any communication from the disciples.

The only explanation was that these disciples, whether acting alone or in groups, were all instantly killed, and their deaths were soundless! Otherwise, even if it was just half a breath, and any disciple made a slightly louder scream, he would have noticed.

What was even more terrifying than instant annihilation was that to instantly kill a Divine Soul Realm disciple, even a Divine Tribulation Realm practitioner would need to use over fifty percent of their power. Given that level of power and the relatively close distance, he should have detected it, even if it was immediately retracted after being released.

But, with all one hundred disciples dead, he had remained completely oblivious!

This unknown fear made Lei Kuangfeng’s scalp tingle. A chill surged wildly up his spine… Impossible! Such a thing couldn’t happen. Was it a ghost… could it be a ghost god?

“Who! Show yourself and get out here!! Dare to provoke our Soul Sect, and you can expect your entire clan to be exterminated!!”

Lei Kuangfeng continued to roar wildly while rapidly turning his body in the air. Beneath the seemingly awe-inspiring momentum of his shouts, lay trembling and terror.

If these were just ordinary young disciples of the Soul Sect, it would be one thing. But… these one hundred Soul Sect disciples, who died so bizarrely, were not only not ordinary disciples but also the one hundred most outstanding disciples of his 36th Hall of this generation. For the 36th Hall, and even for the entire Soul Sect, this was an immeasurably huge loss.

The most direct consequence was that in the subsequent Grand Sect Competition, his 36th Hall would directly fall to the bottom, with no one left among the younger generation worthy of attention.

Under the chilling ice and fear within his heart, his forced composure quickly collapsed. He casually grabbed two disciples and quickly flew towards the main sect. As he flew back to his previous location, he suddenly detected a rather strong, pungent bloody aura.

In the very spot where he had been resting with his eyes closed for an hour, two lines of rather large characters, written in blood, were now imprinted:

One hundred thousand Black Soul lives, a blood sacrifice for the Wood Soul!—Ling Yun.

The blood energy was overflowing, clearly indicating it had just been written. Yet, neither before nor now had he detected any aura.

Lei Kuangfeng felt his body begin to tremble uncontrollably. He took out a profound imaging stone and imprinted the image of the blood characters, but no longer dared to let out another roar. Instead, he dashed towards the sect as if his life depended on it.