In a small valley at the edge of the Wuyue Mountain Range, over a hundred high-ranking cultivators in a motley array of robes had gathered together, channeling their powers in concert to perform some unknown grand formation.
Beside them stood a burly, stern-faced man in brocade robes, watching the proceedings with an expressionless gaze.
……
In a bizarre swamp teeming with countless venomous insects, a small cauldron radiating a hazy green light rested atop a pale-blue stone platform.
Three extraordinarily ugly old men sat cross-legged around the platform, each facing a different direction, their expressions grave as they cultivated with their eyes shut in deep concentration.
……
"Eight nations near the Qiyun Mountain Range — the Yuguang Kingdom, the Chuanyun Kingdom, and the others — have all been destroyed. How is that possible?"
In a colossal city located tens of thousands of miles away from Blood Crane City, a green-robed elder was shouting in disbelief at a yellow-robed man standing before him.
"My lord Bi Ying, I would never dare speak a single word of falsehood. All eight nations — from monarchs and ministers down to the common folk — truly did vanish into thin air a month ago. Not a single survivor could be found."
The green-robed elder was none other than Bi Ying, who had crossed paths with Han Li on one occasion.
"And what about the sects of varying sizes within the Qiyun Mountain Range? Something so astonishing could not possibly have gone entirely unnoticed by them," Bi Ying asked, his face dark as storm clouds.
"I investigated that matter as well. All nineteen sects — large and small — within the Qiyun Mountain Range suffered the same fate: every last person has disappeared without a trace, as though they met the same end as the people of those eight nations." The yellow-robed man answered with a bitter smile.
"They all vanished? Those nineteen sects may count for nothing individually on the Blood Heaven Continent, but taken together, they represent a force that cannot be dismissed. Even if our Alliance were to act, we couldn't simply erase them all without leaving a whisper. This affair is far too bizarre — has your investigation turned up any leads at all?" Bi Ying's eyes flickered a few times before he spoke in a measured tone.
"It's not that there are no leads at all. The moment our Alliance discovered this matter, we dispatched investigators into the eight nations and those sects. What we found was that neither the cities of the eight nations nor the sect halls showed any signs of violent resistance. This means either those people were taken willingly, or the opposing force was so overwhelmingly powerful that the eight nations and the nineteen sects never even had the chance to resist." The yellow-robed man lowered his head slightly as he replied.
"Which possibility do you lean toward?"
"The second, I believe." The yellow-robed man did not hesitate.
"Why?"
"Because among the eight nations, the mortals are one matter — but the cultivators of those nineteen sects would never voluntarily abandon their homes. Our investigators discovered lingering traces of Blood Dao energy within the Qiyun Mountain Range. As you well know, only Blood Dao techniques contain methods that utilize blood sacrifice to rapidly advance one's cultivation. If those people were truly seized for that purpose, then a blood sacrifice of such a staggering scale is virtually unheard of, even on the Blood Heaven Continent. Moreover, the residual Blood Dao aura left behind in the Qiyun Mountain Range was nothing short of terrifying — it was undoubtedly the mark of a Mahayana-stage Blood Dao powerhouse. Only a monster of that caliber would carry out something so brazen." The yellow-robed man laid out his analysis piece by piece.
"That does make a fair amount of sense. It is most likely the work of the one who left that Blood Dao aura. This matter is no small thing, but our Alliance is currently devoting all its strength to preparations for the Battle of the Powerhouses and cannot spare much attention elsewhere. However, two of those eight nations fall under our Alliance's jurisdiction — we cannot simply wash our hands of it. Here is what you will do: relay the findings of your investigation to the Cryblood Gate and the Wind Serpent Clan, the two forces nearest to the Qiyun Mountain Range. They are the dominant powers in the region, each backed by a Mahayana ancestor, and both have considerable interests in the Qiyun Mountain Range. There is no way they will let this matter slide. I will also ask True Master Yanyu to make the trip and work together with the two sect ancestors to get to the bottom of this." Bi Ying finally issued his orders.
"Understood, my lord. I know exactly how to handle this and will see to every detail immediately." The yellow-robed man bowed promptly in obedience.
……
To the north of the Qiyun Mountain Range lay a colossal lake. Its surface glistened a vivid, dewy green, and after the spring breeze swept across it, concentric ripples spread outward while fish and shrimp darted just beneath the surface — everything appeared perfectly ordinary.
But high above an abyssal underwater canyon at the lake's bottom, layer upon layer of profound restrictions had been laid, sealing off the seemingly immeasurable gorge in an airtight shroud.
Beneath those restrictions, dense clusters of blood mist hung suspended and refused to dissipate, dyeing the entire canyon a vivid crimson that made it impossible to discern a thing within.
And beneath the blood mist, a foul-smelling black-red river of blood surged along — over a hundred zhang wide and stretching so far into the distance that its end was utterly beyond sight, winding its way along the canyon toward some impossibly remote horizon.
Upon the churning surface of this blood river, a hazy, indistinct figure sat cross-legged.
The figure held one hand in a spell-seal while the other palm supported a brilliantly glowing object. Strands of viscous blood were being drawn upward from the river, streaming one after another into the object and vanishing within.