Chu Xuan ruthlessly drove the freshly harvested living soul into the Fiend Soul Chain.

A soul's worthiness to become a true fiend soul required brutal tempering. If it lacked the sheer malice to survive the process, it would simply shatter, reduced to mindless nourishment for the artifact.

Mere moments later, a wretched shriek echoed from the iron links. The soul detonated into countless ethereal fragments.

Chu Xuan shook his head, his tone dripping with mock pity. "Fellow Daoist, you simply lack the spine."

For the next month, Chu Xuan haunted the Cloud Mist Mountain Range like a ghost.

Every few days, he stalked the misty woods to hunt Foundation Establishment prey. His primary goal, of course, was to harvest a suitable fiend soul for his chain.

It absolutely wasn't to loot their Storage Bags.

Absolutely not.

Over the course of thirty days, Chu Xuan slaughtered three Foundation Establishment cultivators and over a dozen in the Qi Condensation realm.

The Ten Thousand Soul Banner drank deeply of their despair, growing significantly stronger.

Yet, a prime fiend soul still eluded him.

Without exception, every soul he captured shattered in under a hundred breaths, dissolving into raw fuel for the Fiend Soul Chain.

It was giving Chu Xuan a headache. He was beginning to suspect the artifact was doing it on purpose—deliberately failing the tempering just to gorge itself on more souls.

As for Heavenly Merit, he had nothing to worry about.

The Will of the Heavens drew a cold, hard line between mortals and immortals. The moment a human stepped onto the path of Cultivation, they surrendered their mortal innocence. Slaughtering defenseless mortals would taint his Cosmic Karma, but butchering fellow cultivators? The Heavens couldn't care less. It was simply the natural order.

Looks like I need to hunt a truly powerful Foundation Establishment cultivator. That Sun Shi seems like a prime candidate.

Chu Xuan nodded to himself. He had spotted Sun Shi from afar several times. The man's cultivation base was formidable—at least at the third layer of Foundation Establishment.

Taking down prey like that required meticulous preparation. Chu Xuan had no intention of dying due to careless arrogance.

Hmm? Combat?

Chu Xuan’s ears twitched. The unmistakable sounds of a life-and-death struggle were rapidly approaching. The sharp whistle of spells and the hum of clashing Magical Artifacts tore through the dense mountain fog.

He blurred into motion, scaling a towering ancient tree in a heartbeat. Melding his presence into the shadows of the canopy, he peered through the mist. Soon, he spotted two figures tearing through the forest below.

The prey was Liu Zhenxiong. His right arm was a mangled, bleeding mess, and deep lacerations covered his body.

The predator was Sun Shi.

"Liu Zhenxiong!" Sun Shi roared, his voice dripping with self-righteous fury. "You murdered my Junior Brother Zhao! You slaughtered two Foundation Establishment cultivators of my noble Shengang Sect! Halt your pathetic scurrying and accept your divine judgment!"

Ahead of him, Liu Zhenxiong burned his spiritual energy in a desperate escape technique, so furious he could cough up blood.

When the hell did I kill anyone from your pompous Shengang Sect?! Bullshit! I’ve been cowering in a damp cave for weeks! Killing your people would just expose my damn position!

But he didn't waste breath arguing with the arrogant hypocrite.

His only goal was to lose Sun Shi in the suffocating fog of the mountain range. Unfortunately, his wounds were too deep, and his supply of healing Pills had long run dry. His speed was plummeting.

Though he had managed to injure Sun Shi in return, the Shengang Sect disciple was flush with high-grade Pills.

Even burning his own essence blood, Liu Zhenxiong couldn't shake the relentless hound.

Worse, the explosive sounds of their chase were bound to attract attention. If those bald, hypocritical zealots from the Jinlong Temple caught wind of this, he was a dead man!

High in the canopy, Chu Xuan’s eyes gleamed with cold calculation.

Sun Shi was entirely fixated on his prey, completely blind to the apex predator lurking above.

If I strike now, it will be a killing blow.

Even if he didn't decapitate the man instantly, the ambush would cripple him.

Chu Xuan waited. The exact second Sun Shi surged past the trunk of the giant tree, Chu Xuan unleashed hell.

The Fiend Soul Chain erupted from the shadows like a striking viper, whipping straight for Sun Shi’s skull.

Simultaneously, the Ten Thousand Soul Banner unfurled with a deafening wail. A dozen vengeful spirits and malformed ghosts plummeted from the branches, a tidal wave of pure malice.

Sun Shi’s eyes widened in sheer terror. He never anticipated a lethal ambush from above.

Panicking, he instinctively channeled his spiritual energy into a small silver shield.

But Chu Xuan’s premeditated strike was not something a hastily raised ward could stop.

With a deafening CRACK, the silver shield’s spiritual light shattered. The artifact turned to dull scrap and plummeted to the forest floor.

The Fiend Soul Chain didn't lose an ounce of momentum. It smashed brutally into Sun Shi’s crown.

Sun Shi shrieked in agony, his flight broken as he crashed into the dirt.

Before he could even gasp for air, the swarm of vengeful spirits descended, their spectral claws frantically tearing chunks of flesh from his bones.

The little blood dragon, having lurked in the shadows for the perfect opening, lunged forward and viciously ripped one of Sun Shi’s legs clean off his body!

"Filth! Get off me!" Sun Shi roared, his pious arrogance replaced by desperate fury.

Sixteen miniature swords erupted from his sleeves in a blinding flash of light. The blades tore through the swarm, instantly piercing the vengeful spirits with dozens of holes.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sixteen swords formed a tight, swirling vortex of steel around Sun Shi.

This was his Natal Artifact—the Azure Cloud Divine Edge Swords.

As a complete set Magical Artifact, deploying all sixteen blades granted the user absolute versatility in offense and defense. It was the very weapon that had earned Sun Shi his formidable reputation, and the same one that had nearly butchered Liu Zhenxiong moments prior.

Balancing precariously on his remaining leg, Sun Shi glared up at the canopy, his eyes burning with self-righteous hatred.

A bald cultivator hovered in the mist.

"Another Demonic Cultivator?!" Sun Shi spat, his voice trembling with a mix of pain and haughty indignation. "Excellent! To think the Heavens would deliver two Foundation Establishment heretics to me in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range!"

He pushed his spiritual energy to the absolute limit, commanding the Azure Cloud Divine Edge Swords to strike as one.

The speed was blinding.

One microsecond they were orbiting Sun Shi; the next, they were inches from Chu Xuan’s face!

Shhhk!

The sixteen blades effortlessly impaled the bald cultivator.

But there was no sickening thud of pierced flesh. No spray of blood.

Sun Shi’s vision blurred as the illusion shattered. The spot where the bald cultivator had hovered was empty, leaving behind nothing but a dissipating cloud of purplish-black Yin Fiend Qi.

Sun Shi’s heart stopped. Absolute terror eclipsed his righteous fury.

Desperately, he tried to recall his swords to guard his exposed back.

He was too slow.

The Fiend Soul Chain whipped out from the shadows behind him, a blur of black iron that cleanly sheared through his neck.

A perfectly severed head launched high into the misty air.

A geyser of hot crimson erupted from the stump of his neck, painting the forest floor red!

Sun Shi’s arrogant consciousness was instantly swallowed by the cold, suffocating dark.

Chu Xuan materialized beside the collapsing corpse. His hand formed a claw as he ruthlessly activated the Soul Seizing Technique, ripping the glowing, thrashing living soul straight from Sun Shi’s remains.

"Excellent." Chu Xuan’s eyes gleamed with predatory satisfaction.

This pristine white soul was incredibly dense, leagues above the pathetic fodder he had harvested over the past month. It was the perfect candidate for his Fiend Soul Chain!

Further down the mountain, Liu Zhenxiong had been running for his life when Sun Shi’s abrupt, gurgling scream echoed through the trees. He skidded to a halt and risked a glance back.

Through the thinning fog, he witnessed a bald cultivator brutally extracting a living soul from Sun Shi’s freshly decapitated corpse.

A wave of profound kinship washed over Liu Zhenxiong. Now that is a proper Demonic Cultivator!

Furthermore, the brutal efficiency of that Soul Seizing Technique was unmistakable. It was the signature art of the Wuji Sect.

Was this man a fellow Foundation Establishment disciple?

The Wuji Sect originally boasted ten Golden Core Patriarchs, each commanding their own retinue of Foundation Establishment disciples. While Liu Zhenxiong didn't know every single one of them, he recognized most.

Yet, this bald, utterly ruthless man was a complete stranger.

Liu Zhenxiong wasn't foolish enough to approach a predator who had just effortlessly slaughtered a third-layer Foundation Establishment expert.

Maintaining a safe distance, he cupped his fists and called out respectfully, "Thank you for the life-saving assistance, Fellow Daoist! May I ask which Patriarch you serve under?"

Chu Xuan shot him a cold, indifferent glance. He didn't say a word.

He had zero interest in fraternizing with the remnants of the Wuji Sect.

The five great righteous Sects of the Yu Kingdom were hunting Demonic Cultivators like rabid dogs. The closer he tied himself to the surviving Wuji Sect members, the higher the chance he’d end up on a righteous hit list.

He refused to go back to living like a rat scurrying through the gutters.

Seeing the stranger turn away, Liu Zhenxiong panicked and shouted, "Fellow Daoist, wait! I am Liu Zhenxiong, a Foundation Establishment disciple under Patriarch Wan Wuying!"

He took a desperate step forward. "Fellow Daoist! My Master, Patriarch Wan, is still alive! As long as Patriarch Wan draws breath, the Wuji Sect still has a chance to rise from the ashes!"