Chapter 378: This Seat, Heavenly Court Sect's Dharma Protector, Netherworld Heavenly King

The withered elder saw Deputy Cult Master Shi suppressing him from all sides and silently acknowledged the danger. He had not expected this junior to be so incredibly powerful. Among the Integration Stage demonic cultivators in the Great Yu Dynasty, he was one of the strongest, feeling pressured only by the most formidable arch-demons of the same stage.

"Damn it, what luck!" he thought. "I went out to refine a Myriad Souls Banner, only to end up with a bunch of animals that don't understand commands. Now I've encountered a top-tier Integration Stage arch-demon. To meet such an opponent before the great struggle of the world had even fully erupted was astonishing. If the fight continued, he would surely lose."

The withered elder ceased fighting and turned to flee immediately. His extensive survival experience taught him that a temporary setback did not preclude future victory. As long as he cultivated diligently and sought revenge later, no one would mock his escape today. He harbored no designs on Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye. While they had solid foundations, their cultivation was too low; they were clearly the opponent's disciples. Demonic cultivators prioritize themselves; to them, threatening someone by kidnapping their disciples was nothing short of a joke. The withered elder left six demons behind to hinder pursuit, transforming himself into a streak of light and vanishing.

"Damn it, that old geezer is truly shameless, just running away!" Deputy Cult Master Shi cursed, appalled by the opponent's complete lack of masterly demeanor. He admitted, however, that he would have made the same choice if he were in the withered elder's shoes.

Suddenly, ripples shimmered in space, and a figure appeared silently behind the withered elder. The figure held a brick-like object and swung it, sending the withered elder tumbling. The withered elder stumbled, plummeting from the sky.

"Who are you?!" he cried, quickly adopting a defensive stance, but the blow to his head had been too hard and too skillfully delivered, leaving him dazed and unable to stand straight. Realizing another master was present, he prepared to escape once more.

The figure holding the brick curved his lips into a cold, bone-chilling smile. "You think you can run from me, the Heavenly King?" The figure stared at the withered elder, who instantly froze, unable to resist.

The withered elder remained in a daze for barely half a second before quickly snapping out of it. Yet, for an Integration Stage cultivator, half a second was ample time to act. The figure kicked the withered elder down and pinned him firmly to the ground. The withered elder attempted to escape by burrowing into the ground, but the figure calmly pointed a finger at the earth. The ground instantly hardened to the unyielding consistency of meteorite iron, becoming indestructible. The withered elder could not even shatter the earth by smashing his head against it.

"Finger into Steel?!" both the withered elder and Deputy Cult Master Shi exclaimed simultaneously, recognizing this powerful divine ability that countered earth evasion. This technique was nearly lost, known only to the Five Great Immortal Sects and ancient cultivators.

The figure looked indifferently at the withered elder, pressing down harder with his foot, which made the elder cry out in pain.

"Who are you?" The withered elder stared intently at the figure that had appeared so abruptly. If not for the figure's sudden arrival, he would have already fled. However, he found himself unable to resist, as the methods the figure had just demonstrated were even more potent than Deputy Cult Master Shi's.

Deputy Cult Master Shi also regarded the figure with a hint of wariness. The fact that the figure had intervened at such a critical moment suggested they had been tracking them all along, yet he had detected nothing. What an unfathomable concealment technique!

The figure's eyes were as deep and unfathomable as an ancient well. He glanced at the withered figure on the ground, then at Deputy Cult Master Shi, speaking in a calm tone that revealed both arrogance and disdain. "I am the Protector of the Heavenly Court Sect, the Underworld Heavenly King."

Deputy Cult Master Shi's expression shifted slightly. So, the figure was indeed a Protector of the Heavenly Court Sect. And given the title "Underworld," could there be a connection to the ancient Nine Underworlds? The withered elder looked utterly bewildered. What organization was the Heavenly Court Sect? He had researched all the major contemporary powers and had never heard of a Heavenly Court Sect.

Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye watched the Grand Elder standing on an ancient Integration Stage cultivator, openly disdaining the Demonic Sect's Deputy Cult Master with unrestrained arrogance, barely suppressing their urge to make a remark. For a dangerous undertaking like Lu Yang meeting the Demonic Sect's Deputy Cult Master, the Dao Seeking Sect naturally had to send someone. Originally, Lu Yang had no intention of having anyone accompany him. He was unsure how the Grand Elder learned that he and Tao Yaoye were going to meet Shi Huagu, but the Grand Elder had proactively offered his protection. This offer was even made under the guise of protecting the future of the Dao Seeking Sect. Observing the Grand Elder, Lu Yang suspected that the "protection" was merely a pretense, and the elder's true desire was to show off.

Once Deputy Cult Master Shi confirmed the Grand Elder was an ally, he relaxed. He then squatted down, slapped the withered elder twice, and sternly interrogated him.

"Tell me, why did you kill so many animals?!"

The withered elder was enraged, feeling thoroughly insulted by Deputy Cult Master Shi. "Am I insane to be killing animals?" he retorted. "I'm a demonic cultivator, not a butcher! If I knew the source of that bloody aura was a slaughterhouse, would I have bothered refining the Myriad Souls Banner?"

Shi Huagu conceded the withered elder had a point, and then slapped him twice more. "Tell me, how did the villagers disappear?!"

"What villagers? When I arrived, the place was already deserted!" The withered elder was perplexed. He had no prior grievance with Shi Huagu, so why was the latter so fixated on him?

"That doesn't make sense. It wasn't you?"

"No!"

Deputy Cult Master Shi could tell the withered elder was not lying. As fellow demonic cultivators, there was no reason for them to conceal their involvement in killings. "How peculiar."

***

At the Dao Seeking Sect, Immortal Livestock Farm.

The former Cult Master of the Immortal Sect gazed across the sprawling livestock farm, where cattle and sheep grazed peacefully. He sighed softly, taking in the tranquil scene.

"My lord, what's troubling you?" The three female ghosts, Xiao Wu, Xiao Liu, and Xiao Qi, seeing the Cult Master sigh, approached him with concern.

"I was just thinking back to when I was the Cult Master and also ran a slaughterhouse."

"You ran a slaughterhouse?"

"What a question! Doesn't everyone have their own personal hobbies? I've never told you, but before I joined the Immortal Sect, my family owned a slaughterhouse. I was later wanted by the authorities for tax evasion, and the Immortal Sect, recognizing my talent, recruited me. And little by little, I became the Cult Master."

"After I became the Cult Master, I often reminisced about the slaughterhouse days. My subordinates were as dim-witted as pigs, constantly infuriating me. Since the Immortal Sect had few members, it was difficult to replace them. So, I bought a large number of puppets, built a small village in the wilderness, and named it Huai'an Village. I controlled these puppets, disguised them as villagers, and opened a slaughterhouse. I killed pigs every day, imagining them as my frustrating subordinates. I continued this for three or four hundred years, and it became a well-known, long-standing slaughterhouse in the area."

"Eventually, I was apprehended, and the slaughterhouse was confiscated. All the pigs, cattle, and sheep were sold by the imperial court. The court then ordered me to cease all puppet activities and subsequently seized the puppets as well. Now, Huai'an Village is just an empty shell, with nothing but a lingering, useless bloody scent. The imperial court didn't know what to do with it, so they simply left it there."

"Couldn't that bloody scent be exploited by demonic cultivators, perhaps to refine into a Myriad Souls Banner?" Xiao Qi asked, concerned, remembering how they themselves had almost been refined into a soul banner.

The Cult Master burst out laughing. "How could that be? What idiotic demonic cultivator would use that bloody scent to refine a Myriad Souls Banner?"