When Qian Tong said nothing, Xie Chen assumed he was afraid and grew even more smug and overbearing. A vicious grin spread across his face as he snarled, "Qian Tong, those who read the times are heroes. The Corpse Spirit Sect has four Void King Realm experts holding down the fort—unifying the Dark Star is merely a matter of time. Don't be so stubborn. As long as you're willing to submit, I, the Hall Master, can put in a good word above. With your level of cultivation, the importance they place on you won't be any less than what they give me."
Qian Tong let out a long, leisurely sigh. His tone carried a desolate air, the kind that only comes from standing at the very peak where the wind is coldest. He swept a faint glance over Xie Chen. "You're saying the Corpse Spirit Sect has four Void King Realm powerhouses holding the fort?"
"That's right!" Xie Chen gave a smug chuckle and nodded.
"Do you even know what the Void King Realm is?"
"The Void King Realm…" Xie Chen's voice faltered. A flicker of bewilderment crossed his face. This realm had been spoken of on the Dark Star for tens of thousands of years. Everyone knew it was a level above the Return Void realm, but if you actually asked Xie Chen to describe it, he wouldn't know where to start.
After all, he'd never laid eyes on it.
Growing irritated and defensive, he growled, "Don't tell me *you* know?"
Qian Tong gazed at him calmly and said nothing. Then he extended one hand toward Xie Chen, gave a gentle, almost casual squeeze of the void, and withdrew it.
Xie Chen instinctively lurched backward. Sacred Yuan surged through his body, forming a protective barrier—but the storm of attacks he had anticipated never came. He didn't have so much as a scratch on him, and he couldn't detect the slightest fluctuation of Sacred Yuan from Qian Tong either.
"Qian Tong, you dare mock me?!" Xie Chen's face contorted with fury, alternating between green and red. "You're dead! I was considering that you and I both came from the Shadow Moon Sect and didn't want to push things too far—but since you won't even give me the slightest respect, no one can save you today! Kill him!"
That last line was a vicious snarl aimed at his subordinates.
When Yang Kai had stepped in to save Wei Guchang earlier, he had keenly noticed that all of these people were from the Shadow Moon Sect. Before understanding the full situation, he hadn't dealt them lethal blows—he had simply knocked them away from Wei Guchang.
None of them were seriously hurt, and by now they had all recovered.
Hearing Xie Chen's order, the six or seven Return Void realm cultivators exchanged hesitant looks.
They feared Xie Chen, but didn't they fear Qian Tong just as much? Ever since defecting to the Corpse Spirit Sect, each of them had grown stronger—but Qian Tong's former authority was deeply rooted in their hearts. Being asked to fight him now left them thoroughly unnerved.
"Huh? Hall Master, you— you—" Suddenly, a middle-aged man seemed to notice something horrifying. His face drained of color as he pointed at Xie Chen and screamed in terror.
The others followed his gaze and gasped in unison, eyes filling with dread. Without thinking, they scrambled away from Xie Chen, giving him a wide berth as if he were the plague itself.
"What?" Xie Chen was still a beat behind. He looked down—and his expression transformed into one of pure horror. "What's going on?!"
He had just noticed that at the base of both his arms and both his legs, a strange energy was rampaging. The energy was visible to the naked eye, yet it emitted not the slightest fluctuation.
The rampaging force burrowed through his skin like leeches, tearing open small wounds and slipping inside his body.
And through the entire process, Xie Chen had felt absolutely no pain.
A bone-crawling terror washed over him. A chill swept from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, nearly making his arches cramp.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four muffled explosions rang out as blood sprayed into the air. Xie Chen's arms and legs detonated into a fine red mist, leaving only his truncated torso to crash into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Blood pooled outward, staining the earth crimson. Xie Chen's face twisted and contorted, his eyes brimming with utter disbelief.
The Shadow Moon Sect traitors were no better—they looked as though they had seen ghosts in broad daylight. Faces pale as parchment, every one of them felt as though they had plunged into an ice cellar, the cold piercing straight through to their bones.
"No! Impossible! This can't be real—this has to be a nightmare!" Xie Chen howled like a wounded beast. Without arms or legs, he looked both absurd and pitiful, as though he had been subjected to some merciless torture.
"I'm at Return Void Stage Three! No one below the Void King Realm could possibly do this—I don't believe it!" Xie Chen had clearly taken a devastating blow to the mind. He raved like a madman—then froze mid-sentence, staring blankly at Qian Tong. The terror in the depths of his eyes finally broke free, spreading outward as he murmured, "Void King Realm… you've already reached the Void King Realm?"
If Qian Tong wasn't in the Void King Realm, there was no way he could have reduced Xie Chen to this state with nothing more than a casual gesture. If Qian Tong wasn't in the Void King Realm, Xie Chen was certain he could have fought back.
"You're not *completely* stupid," Qian Tong said coldly.
"What? The Grand Elder has reached the Void King Realm?" Wei Guchang stood stunned.
Dong Xuan'er clapped both small hands over her mouth. Brilliant light blazed in her beautiful eyes—like a drowning person seizing hold of a lifeline, her once-dimmed gaze ignited with hope once more.
The Void King Realm!
For tens of thousands of years, it had been nothing but a legend on the Dark Star—and her master had already attained it?
If that was true, then the Shadow Moon Sect could be saved! Dong Xuan'er's delicate body trembled, tears spilling from her glistening eyes. In that moment, she thought of all the brothers and sisters who had died惨死 before her very eyes.
Your spirits in heaven can finally rest in peace. Master has now reached the Void King Realm. Before long, he will avenge you—he will slaughter every last one of those murderers and give you the justice you deserve!
Thud, thud, thud—
The Shadow Moon Sect's Return Void realm traitors dropped to their knees in a row, every one of them staring at Qian Tong in abject terror, kowtowing over and over, begging for mercy.
"Grand Elder, I was wrong—I know I was wrong now! Please, Grand Elder, spare my life!"
"Grand Elder, I was forced! My wife and daughters are all in the hands of those villains—I had no choice but to go along with them! I beg you to see the truth, Grand Elder!"