Chapter 1090 - The Beginning of Revenge
Black Soul Divine Sect.
Rushing crazily all the way back while carrying the corpses of the disciples, Lei Kuangfeng finally returned to the sect, seemingly yet not completely recovered from the fright. As a vice hall master of the Black Soul Divine Sect, he was quite a distinguished big shot, even in the Darkya Realm, but it was his first time experiencing such a strange and terrifying thing.
Just when he was about to dash straight to the chief hall, he caught sight of a person currently walking over to him and immediately increased his pace.
The person was of a short and stout stature but the look in his eyes was eerie and vicious. No expression could be seen on his face but the coercion emitting from his body would make people’s hearts palpitate in fear. With every step he took forward, an almost fearsome oppressive feeling would follow closely around him. It was the terrifying aura of the Divine Spirit Realm. No matter where he went, all the guard disciples in the sect would immediately kneel down on one knee to kowtow to him.
Lei Tiangang was the chief hall master of the sixty-four halls and cousin of Sect Master Lei Qianfeng. His standing was equal to that of all the elders in the Black Soul Divine Sect and the level of his profound strength had reached as high as the middle stages of the Divine Spirit Realm. In the Darkya Realm, he was a person of topnotch standing, who would made make people change their expressions whenever his name was brought up in a conversation. Whether it was within or outside the sect, no one would dare to offend him.
“Chief Hall Master!” Lei Kuangfeng quickly rushed over to Lei Tiangang.
Seeing the corpses in Lei Kuangfeng’s hands, Lei Tiangang asked with a frown, “What happened to them?”
“Chief Hall Master, this subordinate was supervising the assessment for disciple selection today, in place of the hall master at the Black Soul Mountain. But unexpectedly… all one hundred of them met their deaths in the Black Soul Mountain.” While answering, Lei Kuangfeng kept on wiping the cold sweat off his forehead.
“What!?” Lei Tiangang was greatly angered. “Someone actually dared to plot against the disciples of my Black Soul Divine Sect? Who did it?”
“This subordinate has no idea,” Lei Kuangfeng said. “When this subordinate discovered them, all of them were already dead. The whole incident happened within a period of two hours. This subordinate was not that far away from their locations but was unable to sense any irregularity when was happening.”
“What did you say?” Lei Tiangang wrinkled his brows but clearly didn’t believe his words.
Lei Kuangfeng put down the corpses in his hands, “Not only that, the way these disciples died is also extremely strange. Some of them were beheaded, without any signs of having fought against the enemy and even more disciples were… turned into the living dead.”
Lei Tiangang crouched down, as he stretched out his hand and placed it on the chest of a corpse. Soon after, a frown appeared on his face. Then, he grabbed onto the top of his head and stayed that way for a very long while, before slowly standing up with a dark and uncertain expression.
“Chief Hall Master, what exactly is the reason behind their deaths?” Lei Kuangfeng asked.
Lei Tiangang had a gloomy and turbid look in her eyes, as he inquired in a heavy voice, “How far was the location of the corpses of these disciples from you?”
“Less than twenty five kilometers, at the most,” Lei Kuangfeng replied. Considering the fact that the disciples were able to get only so far away, it was likely that all of them had in fact died within fifteen minutes after the beginning of the assessment.
“Hmph! If you’re speaking the truth, the enemy was able to kill all one hundred disciples without alarming anyone, or being detected by you, even though you were only a short distance away… It’s something even I might not be able to do!”
Lei Kuangfeng was frightened in his heart, “This subordinate would absolutely not dare to pull the wool over Chief Hall Master’s eyes!”
“So I’d assume!” Lei Tiangang still had a dark look on his face. “The way they met their death is even odder. There’s no internal or external injury on their bodies and even their lifeforce still exists in their bodies, as if they died due to being put through a soul searching art… This disciple is already at the Divine Soul Realm and hence, his soul origin is invulnerable to attack. Unless he himself abandoned all resistance, it would be impossible even for the Sect Master to be able to search his soul!”
Lei Kuangfeng’s scalp went numb, “Could it really be the work of some ghost or spirit?”
“What kind of nonsense is that!?” Lei Tiangang angrily rebuked. He asked all of a sudden, “Did the other party really not leave any traces behind?”
Lei Kuangfeng quickly took out the Profound Imagery Stone and displayed the image that had been traced by it earlier, “He must be the one who left behind these words.”
The lives of a hundred thousand Black Soul Divine Sect disciples, to commemorate the souls of the wood spirits!
“Ling Yun!?” The expression on Lei Tiangang’s face abruptly changed. He at once raised his head as he roared loudly, “Immediately send notifications to each hall to mobilize at least five thousand disciples and have them promptly sent to conduct a search in the mountains! They must catch any living person they find over there! I give my permission to severely injure or cripple the targets, but they have to make sure to bring them alive!!”
Lei Kuangfeng was startled. Although so many disciples of the Black Soul Divine Sect were assassinated, it would be a bit too exaggerated to perform such a large scale search in the mountain, “Chief Hall Master, who exactly is this Ling Yun…?”
“Don’t ask any questions!” Lei Tiangang said in a heavy voice. “Do you know why the Sect Master personally travelled through the night to go to Darkya City all of a sudden? Who would have thought that he would actually take the initiative to come to us… The lives of a hundred thousand disciples of the Black Soul Divine Sect, huh? That’s some truly frightening words, heh—What are you still doing here? Quickly go and do as I said! Remember, the captives must be alive when they’re brought back to the sect!”
“Understood!” Receiving the order from his superior, Lei Kuangfeng immediately left to carry out his task.
Lei Tiangang took out a Sound Transmission Jade as he said, “Sect Master, there’s no need to go to Darkya City now. Ling Yun himself has come to us!”
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Before long, clamor arose everywhere in the Black Soul Divine Sect. Several hundred thousand disciples walked out of the sect in a line and rushed straight into the Black Soul Mountain Range. It was absolutely the first instance of dispatching close to ten percent of the disciples in the entire sect at a time, to search around in the mountain. Furthermore, it happened without any prior indication.
The Black Soul Mountain Range was home to countless dangerous profound beasts. There were extremely few profound practitioners who would take the risk of entering there, to say nothing of heading into the depths. The eastern region of the mountain range belonged to the Black Soul Divine Sect. So unless one was tired of living, there wasn’t any profound practitioner in the Darkya Realm who would dare to approach the place, no matter how bold they were.
Therefore, although the large scale search continued from day to night, other than the numerous profound beasts that were alarmed by their movements, the disciples of the sect didn’t find the figure of a single person.
As the curtain of night fell, a thick layer of gray fog enveloped the entire mountain range.
Having accomplished nothing, the search teams returned back to the sect one after another and reported the result to Lei Tiangang.
“Chief Hall Master, we searched for a whole day but let alone a person, we didn’t even find a sign of an outsider appearing there.” The person then glanced sideways at Lei Kuangfeng, “Lei Kuangfeng, did you really speak the truth?”
“How could I dare joke about such a matter?!” Lei Kuangfeng said in an angry voice. “Chief Hall Master, I believe that he must have fled away soon after he succeeded in his scheme. However, so long as he hasn’t left the Darkya Realm, he will definiely fall in our hands, sooner or later.”
“Seems like he has really fled from the mountain range. I was wrong to be under the impression that he truly wants to take the lives of a hundred thousand of our disciples. Sect Master must be about to get here, so let’s wait for him before further discussing this matter.” Lei Tiangang swept his gaze over all the hall masters, before saying suddenly, “Why is there one less of you? What about the one from the Eleventh Hall?”
“Chief Hall Master!” The moment he finished his words, the sound of urgent footsteps came from outside. Very soon, a middle aged man hurriedly dashed inside. He was one of the Vice Hall Masters of the Eleventh Hall, Lei Chuo.
Looking at his appearance, a frown surfaced on the face of everyone present. Lei Tiangang asked in a heavy voice, “What happened now?”
“Chief Hall Master, when this subordinate checked the number of disciples before leading them back to the sect, it was surprisingly discovered that one hundred sixty of them had disappeared. This subordinate then immediately ordered people to return to Black Soul Mountain… and came to know just a while ago, that seventy corpses have been found so far! Moreover, the way they died is exactly like what Lei Kuangfeng said earlier! Those disciples whose bodies have yet to be discovered should have also met an identical cruel death.”
“Wh…at!?” The atmosphere in the big hall changed abruptly. All the hall masters had shocked… as well as a bit frightened, looks on their faces.
Not only several hundred thousand disciples were part of the search team, nearly two hundred vice hall masters and even hall masters were leading them and yet, they hadn’t discover any trace of the culprit… However, more than hundred disciples had died without anyone noticing. Furthermore, judging from Lei Chuo’s reaction, it was clear that he hadn’t sensed a thing when the disciples were killed by the enemy.
A strong chill coursed through the bodies of all the people in the big hall.
“What is going on!?”
Before the owner of the voice appeared himself, a dignified voice carrying a thunder-like coercion, weighed down the hearts and souls of everyone present.
At the entrance of the big hall, a black robed middle aged man could be seen slowly walking over. There was a mark of a black snake with a wide-open, ferocious mouth, entwined with lightning, carved on his chest. Following behind him were four people who were dressed in similar black robes.
Along with their arrival, the air currents in the entire great hall immediately congealed, bringing about an oppressive feeling like dark clouds covering the sky.
The person leading the group was the sect master of Black Soul Divine Sect, the Great Realm King of the Darkya Realm, and also the one standing at the zenith of the profound way in the Darkya Realm, the one and only terrifying practitioner at the Divine King Realm.
Lei Qianfeng!
“Sect Master!” As soon as he arrived, everyone kneeled down in a hurry and deeply lowered their heads. Not even one dared to raise their head without permission.
“Get up… Tiangang, just what is going on?” Lei Qianfeng’s gaze swept over the people in the hall, as he asked indifferently.
Lei Tiangang got up on his feet and quickly narrated everything that had happened that day.
“Ling… Yun.” Lei Qianfeng slightly narrowed his eyes and raised his head a bit. “It’s truly strange. Before my Black Soul Divine Sect could get the opportunity to settle old scores with him, he actually took the initiative to come and cause trouble for us and even claimed to take the lives of a hundred thousand disciples of my sect… and it is for the wood spirits? Hehe, it seems like this fellow is a madman.”
“Sect Master, this Ling Yun is possibly not as simple as we think. The way those disciples died made me think of those ‘devil people’ in the 【Northern Divine Region】. According to the rumors, those devil people stay hidden in darkness and steal people’s souls without making a sound. Of course, they won’t be leaving the Northern Divine Region, so it’s impossible for Ling Yun to be from there. It’s just that… the method he uses is quite similar,” Lei Tiangang said.
“Once we catch him, we’ll naturally know the method he used,” Lei Qiangfeng said in a stern voice. “It’s obvious that Ling Yun is hiding in the Black Soul Mountain Range. Tomorrow, mobilize all members of the sixty-four halls and conduct a search throughout the Black Soul Mountain Range. Do whatever it requires, I need you to find him at any cost!”
“Sect Master, who exactly is… this Ling Yun?” a hall master couldn’t help but ask eventually.
“You don’t need to know much about this matter. Just know that he has something that the Divine Martial Realm wants!” Lei Qianfeng said in a gloomy voice.
Hearing the three words “Divine Martial Realm”, everyone showed a surprised expression.
“Moreover, it’s something that he snatched from our hands.” Lei Qianfeng took a deep breath, as his eyes glowed with a vicious light. “The Divine Martial Realm has given us a time limit of only a month! If we were to fail in retrieving that thing, we might have to face the consequences as the ones responsible for the loss!”
“Keep in mind that… you must catch him alive!”
Within the same night, the name Ling Yun was known by every member of the sect.
After the first large scale search, a search of an even greater scale was carried out the next day. Furthermore, the ones dispatched were all the members of the sixty-four halls… It had to be noted that the sixty-four halls were the topmost level establishments in the Black Soul Divine Sect.
All the people felt that it was going too far to involve so many people just to find a single person, like a game of a cat catching a mouse. However, they had no idea that it was actually the beginning of a fearful nightmare.
Similar to the first day, they searched all day long but didn’t catch sight of anyone. As they gradually headed to the depths, they discovered corpses one after another… that were all the disciples of the Black Soul Divine Sect. No one saw or knew how they died, nor did they sense any unusual aura or sound ahead of them… as if the dead disciples had their souls fly away and scatter all of a sudden.
They found no clue by the end of the day and could only return with the bodies of the two hundred soulless living dead.
The same situation played out on the third day of the search.
On the fourth day, Lei Tiangang personally headed to the Black Soul Mountain Range, leading all the hall masters. They stood high up in the sky and released their spirit sense downward to the limit. Several hours later, they got a sound transmission that made them almost vomit blood.
“Chief Hall Master! The disciples that stayed behind in the sect to guard the Backmountain Secret Realm were all found dead. The way they died is extremely similar to how the disciples in Black Soul Mountain lost their lives… It’s very likely the work of Ling Yun!”
“What? Backmountain Secret Realm!?” Lei Tiangang let out a very loud roar. “Let’s go! Ling Yun isn’t here!”
Having failed to gain anything in the Black Soul Mountain Range, they turned the region behind the mountain upside down to search for the target but still achieved nothing. However, they continuously received information that made their scalps go numb.
“Chief Hall Master, the two hundred disciples coming back to the sect after performing their task in the Purple Sincerity Region were killed on the way. Not a single one of them returned alive!”
“Sect Master! The group of people that were going to Darkya City following your secret order have… have all ended up dead. Their corpses were found less than one hundred fifty kilometers away from the sect.”
“Chief Hall Master, the second and seventh sons of the seventeenth hall master, as well as the disciple guarding them, have died in the Black Soul River… It must have happened an hour ago.”
“The disciples sent to transport Purple Lightning Stones six hours ago haven’t arrived yet and there’s no news from their side either. It’s likely that they have already…”
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Frightening information came in succession, causing the people of the sect tremble in fear. They would receive the information of the death or disappearance of disciples of the Black Soul Divine Sect each and every day. The deaths and disappearances would happen in different time periods and regions but the thing that remained the same was that all the incidents happened in the vicinity of the Black Soul Divine Sect and it was only the disciples of the sect that were disappearing.
The victims would number from anywhere between a few to several hundred people!
In the short period of half a month, Black Soul Divine Sect had lost several thousand disciples.
If it was only the disciples losing their lives, the whole sect would definitely not be in such a panic. As the number of dead disciples increased by the day in this half a month, the Black Soul Divine Sect didn’t spare any price and crazily searched for any clues to track Ling Yun. The sect was so zealous with the search that it seemed that they might mobilize all the eight million disciples of the sect at any time.
There wasn’t a day when they didn’t hear the news of the death of their disciples, which also implied that “Ling Yun” had never left the vicinity of the sect. But the Black Soul Divine Sect, the supreme authority in the Darkya Realm and an incomparably enormous power, never even came into contact with as much as the shadow of “Ling Yun,” despite crazily looking for him in their own territory.
The situation was so bad that nobody, from the supreme sect master and chief hall master at the top to the lowest level disciples in the sect, even knew what target actually looked.
The only thing that they were aware of was his name, “Ling Yun.”
Such invisible fear was even more terrifying than the sight of a devil god. As the days passed, the fear also accumulated by the day. Eventually, the fear inside the people of the Black Soul Divine Sect grew to such an extent that no disciple would dare to step out of the sect casually. Anyone who had to leave the sect following the order of their superior, would tremble in fear with every step they took outside of the sect… Their entire back would feel a chill, as if the eyes of a death god were silently staring at them.
Half a month later, Black Soul Divine Sect finally passed down the most disgraceful prohibition order in its history: All the people of the sect with a cultivation level below the Divine Tribulation Realm, were prohibited from taking even half a step out of the sect without permission!