In the profound darkness of the night, the chilly moonlight fell upon the entrance of the Celestial Master's Cave on Mount Qingcheng, where Su Chan and Ao Wushuang stood motionless, like a pair of stone statues.

About twenty meters before them lay a mountain of corpses, forty or fifty individuals, most clad in Daoist robes, their garments stained with blood. Their bodies had been stacked into a formidable Jing Guan pagoda, beneath which a river of blood flowed, its surface reflecting the moon in the sky, creating an image of grotesque horror.

Su Chan and Ao Wushuang were frozen stiff by the scene. Ao Wushuang, her heart filled with absolute terror, whispered, "Who dares to be so bold as to massacre Mount Qingcheng? Are they tired of living? This, this is an earth-shattering tragedy in the cultivation world! What sect has the audacity to commit such an atrocity?"

Su Chan trembled uncontrollably, clutching the corner of Ao Wushuang's robe. Her teeth chattered, about to speak, when Ao Wushuang abruptly covered her mouth.

Ao Wushuang swiftly pulled Su Chan into the shadow of a nearby corner. In a voice barely audible, she whispered into Su Chan's ear, "Someone's coming!"

No sooner had the words left her lips than a dark figure sped up the mountain.

Su Chan widened her eyes to watch the silhouette, seeing a tall figure draped entirely in black, carrying two blood-soaked corpses over his shoulders.

Despite bearing the weight of two adults, the man moved with incredible speed, covering the distance to the corpse Jing Guan in just a few strides. With a shake of his arms, he tossed the bodies from his shoulders onto the pile.

Su Chan trembled with fear, secretly writing on Ao Wushuang's back. Her arm shook so violently that her fingers scrawled the words several times before Ao Wushuang could vaguely decipher what she intended to convey: "Master, what is happening?"

Ao Wushuang’s expression was as still as water. She waved her hand at Su Chan, signaling her to remain silent. Su Chan nervously wrote again on her back, "Master, let's leave? I'm so scared!"

Ao Wushuang murmured low, "We can't leave! This person dared to slaughter Mount Qingcheng; he certainly isn't some nobody. If we move, we risk drawing his attention! We absolutely cannot move now, or we face certain death!"

Su Chan knew Ao Wushuang was right. She calmed herself slightly, staring intently at the mysterious man in black, her posture bristling with caution, ready to flee at the slightest sign that the man had noticed them.

After stacking the bodies, the man glanced left and right before letting out a cold sneer. He bent down, bracing one foot on a corpse, and forcibly tore an arm from another body. Then, using the flowing blood from the severed limb as ink, he began to write on a golden wall at the entrance of the Celestial Master's Cave, sweeping his arm in broad strokes.

Seeing that the man in black had not detected their presence and was currently facing away from them, Ao Wushuang tugged at Su Chan's arm and whispered, "Chan'er, hold your breath, let's go!"

Su Chan yearned to sprout wings and fly away instantly, so she nodded her head like a chick pecking grain as soon as she heard Ao Wushuang’s instruction.

As the two were about to depart, Su Chan was overwhelmed with shock and confusion. She secretly wondered: Who is this? What kind of blood feud does he have with the Qingcheng Sect? Is killing them not enough; he has to stack the corpses into a Jing Guan pagoda?

Thinking of this, Su Chan couldn't help but glance back one last time.

Had she not looked, it wouldn't have mattered, but upon seeing, Su Chan almost screamed as her soul fled her body.

The man, using fresh blood as ink and a severed limb as a brush, had scrawled several large characters on the wall: Xuan Hu Reappears, Chaos Reigns Over All! Immediately following, he wrote a few flowing, cursive characters underneath: The Killer is Li Yundong!

Su Chan, horrified, couldn't help but cry out in shock, "Impossible!!"

Her shout instantly caused the man in black to whip his head around violently. His face was obscured by a black cloth, but his eyes—cold, stern, and resembling those of a hellish demon—radiated murderous intent, glaring at Su Chan like arrows shot from a bow!

With that glare, two beams of light, sharp as electricity, seemed to pierce through space, stabbing instantly into Su Chan's eye sockets like javelins and daggers. Pain erupted, causing her to cry out and squeeze her eyes shut, clutching her chest as she crouched down in agony.

The man stomped his foot, and the hard bluestone ground beneath him instantly sank with a deep rumble, as if a giant had slammed his foot down with immense force. Countless cracks rapidly spread outwards in all directions, while the man’s figure shot toward Su Chan like a cannonball!

Ao Wushuang was terrified. She immediately shielded Su Chan, pushing her away with one hand while the fingers of her other hand flew into a complex motion, forming a Precious Lotus mudra. She unleashed an earth-elemental spell, causing a wall constructed entirely of bluestone to erupt with a deafening rumble in an instant.

However, the man in black’s momentum was unstoppable. He slammed into the stone wall, yet the hardened bluestone, over a foot thick, shattered as easily as fragile paper screens.

The man in black quickly followed up with a palm strike aimed directly at where Ao Wushuang stood!

Although Ao Wushuang was still protected by the Yan Tian Nü Yin (Seal of the Celestial Woman), the trajectory of the man's palm strike covered nearly every possible angle of evasion, leaving her nowhere to retreat. She could only muster her palms to meet the attack with sheer effort.

With a muffled bang, Ao Wushuang felt as if she had been struck head-on by a speeding express train. Without a sound, she was sent flying backward horizontally.

The man in black paused after knocking Ao Wushuang away with a single strike, murmuring, "Huh?"

But this surprise was fleeting; his gaze snapped instantly toward Su Chan's location.

Su Chan, having been pushed by Ao Wushuang, was sprawled on the bluestone floor slick with blood. Her limbs felt weak, and she desperately wanted to escape, but the man in black before her was too terrifying. His powerful aura and true essence pressed down upon her like an invisible giant hand, rendering her helpless, like a mosquito caught in a spider's web, unable to struggle free.

Su Chan watched Ao Wushuang get sent flying with one palm strike and whispered in despair, "This man is too strong! He's even more formidable than Yundong! Even Yundong couldn't knock Master away with a single blow!! What do I do? Am I going to die here?"

As she was consumed by fear and dread, she heard the man in black roar suddenly, "Emerge!"

With that shout, an invisible shockwave exploded before him, instantly dissipating the Yan Tian Nü Yin protecting Su Chan. In his place appeared a young girl in a long skirt, possessing a delicate beauty that evoked pity.

The man in black stared at Su Chan for a moment, momentarily stunned, but before he could react, a sharp cry rang out: "Seeking death! You dare touch a single hair on her head!!"

Following the shout, a gust of powerful wind swept through, making even the man in black feel a sudden chill creep down his spine, as if a colossal beast were lunging at him!

The man in black retreated instantly without hesitation, his body moving so lightly he seemed to float. In the blink of an eye, the spot where he had stood was utterly pulverized by a three-meter-tall, snow-white fox with seven tails, stomping down with immense force!

This Seven-Tailed White Fox was none other than Ao Wushuang, who, desperate to save her disciple, revealed her true form without reservation. She snarled, her fur standing on end, her golden irises fixed on the man in black with sharp fury. Her fierce, chilling fangs looked savage and cold under the pale moonlight.

This was the first time Su Chan had ever seen her Master reveal her true form. She widened her eyes sharply and gasped, "Master!"

Ao Wushuang didn't look back, shouting sternly, "What are you waiting for? Run!"

Su Chan stammered, "Master, what about you?"

Ao Wushuang roared in fury, "Nonsense! I told you to run, so run!"

With that, she let out a fierce howl and lunged toward the man in black.

The man in black merely laughed heartily. He shifted his stance and dodged her attack in an instant. On the field, his movements were as swift as lightning, constantly evading and weaving through Ao Wushuang's tempestuous assault, making it seem as if dozens of afterimages or clones occupied the space.

Ao Wushuang intended to buy time for Su Chan, but she found it strange that although this man had been filled with murderous intent moments ago, he was now only dodging, and the killing intent in his aura had vanished.

The realm of the Seven-Tailed Divine Fox was top-tier in the Yang God stage. Unless encountering a Golden Body master, even when facing a stronger opponent, a fox demon could transform into its true form, massively increasing its power, thereby easily overpowering the opponent through sheer physical strength.

Especially after revealing its true form, a Seven-Tailed Divine Fox could hold its own even against a Golden Body master!

Yet, now that Ao Wushuang had revealed her true form, the opponent only dodged and did not counterattack; in fact, he dodged with ample room to spare, as if toying with her like a cat playing with a mouse.

Ao Wushuang was both shocked and enraged. Gritting her teeth, a streak of azure light suddenly flashed behind her. The Eight Desolations Sword transformed into a bolt of lightning in an instant, streaking directly toward the man in black's face!

This attack was lightning-fast, thundering in its momentum, and entirely unexpected—truly the ultimate trump card! Any bystander unaware of Ao Wushuang possessing such a treasure would surely have fallen victim to it.

But, as if expecting this contingency, the man in black suddenly clapped his hands together and firmly caught the Eight Desolations Sword in his palm, causing it to hover just inches from his nose, unable to advance a single step further.

Seeing her killing move caught so easily, Ao Wushuang was instead overjoyed, roaring, "You court death!"

In that instant, the Eight Desolations Sword vibrated with a ringing sound. Immediately, one sword became two, two became three, and three multiplied into countless blades, rapidly forming a fiercely spinning iron lotus. Every petal of this iron lotus resembled a violently rotating saw blade; anything that touched it would be ruthlessly shredded.

The man in black, clutching the Eight Desolations Sword, was instantly enveloped in the rapidly spinning iron lotus, his body swiftly being ground to pieces.

"Wonderful!" Su Chan, who had started to flee, cried out in elation upon witnessing this scene.

But just as Su Chan's words faded, a cold snort echoed: "Petty trickery!"

Su Chan and Ao Wushuang turned their heads to see the man in black standing calmly nearby, hands clasped behind his back, staring coldly at them, as if what had been shredded moments ago was merely an afterimage or clone.

"How is this possible?!" Su Chan was utterly aghast, her fair face draining of color. Her mind went completely blank; she wished she could vanish the next second, but her feet were rooted to the spot, heavy as ten thousand-pound stones from sheer terror.

Ao Wushuang sucked in a sharp breath. She knew she had encountered a terrifying enemy unlike any she had faced before. She narrowed her eyes slightly, adjusting her footing to maintain her position shielding Su Chan.

Ao Wushuang asked in a cold voice, "Who exactly are you?"

The man in black stared coldly at Ao Wushuang, then let out a slight (hng), a cold sneer that only Ao Wushuang could hear: "Ao Wushuang, you have regressed! I am quite disappointed!"

Hearing the voice—incredibly aged yet profoundly familiar—Ao Wushuang's entire body trembled. She widened her eyes abruptly and cried out involuntarily, "You are..."

"Go back and cultivate diligently! If you don't grow stronger, then you and your precious disciple will truly face eternal doom!" The man in black laughed heartily, his figure blurring as he vanished from the spot in an instant, as if he had never been there at all.

Su Chan and Ao Wushuang stood frozen, unable to recover their senses for a long time.

After a long interval, a chill night breeze swept by, causing Su Chan to shiver before she finally snapped back to reality.

The little girl looked fearfully around. The surroundings were utterly silent; the terrifying man in black was nowhere in sight. Only the Jing Guan corpse pagoda remained stacked as before, and the gruesome, blood-stained characters on the wall continued to stare coldly at them...