In the northernmost part of Soaring Dragon Boundary, the Heavenly Gully hovered in the Void like a hideous scar.
Since its abrupt appearance more than eight hundred years ago, it had remained the same. There hadn’t been any changes, or so the people thought.
Only the cultivators, who had spent most of their time near the Heavenly Gully, could detect the almost imperceptible transformation.
There didn’t seem to be anything inside the Heavenly Gully as it was covered in darkness. However, from time to time, something would roll across the darkness momentarily.
No one knew what was hidden inside the Heavenly Gully, not even the cultivators who had been stationed in this place. Some cultivators from Heavenly Gully Cult had tried entering the Gully, but they had gone missing since then.
At this moment, a towering figure looked up at the Heavenly Gully with his hands behind his back. His gaze radiated a shrewd glow.
This person was none other than the Cult Master of Heavenly Gully Cult, the Heavenly Sage!
No one knew what his real name was or where he came from. He just appeared out of the blue one day. Before he established Heavenly Gully Cult, no one had seen him before.
Around two hundred years ago, he built his foundation in this place and established his Cult. Then, he called himself the Heavenly Sage.
After that, he started recruiting powerful cultivators from all over Soaring Dragon Boundary and gradually made his Cult a great force that was comparable to the three hegemons. He had dozens of Ninth-Order Elders working for him.
Regardless of his background, he must be an ambitious person since he dared to call himself the Heavenly Sage.
Presently, two people stood behind him. One of them was old and frail as his hair and beard were all white. He was the Chief Elder of the Cult, Xing Mo. The other one was a burly man with a long sword behind his back. He was the Second Elder, Cheng Henfeng.
They stood by the Heavenly Sage’s side as they looked at the mark in the sky with conflicted gazes.
Unlike the Heavenly Sage, who was an unknown person before he founded the Cult, the two of them had always been famous, especially Cheng Henfeng, who came from a top Sect named Grandeur Academy. He had fully inherited the Book and Sword Technique from his Master, and it could even be said that he was better than the latter.
However, for some reason, he betrayed Grandeur Academy and joined the Heavenly Gully Cult around a hundred years ago. He soon became the Second Elder of the Cult.
The Ninth Elder, Wu Xie, had repeatedly exchanged moves with Cheng Henfeng since both of them were Sword Cultivators. Nevertheless, he had never been able to defeat him. It went to show how powerful Cheng Henfeng was.
He was no longer bothered by the grudges of the past. After all, a long time had passed. If he couldn’t move on from his past, how was he supposed to cultivate?
Now, he was only concerned about his future.
That was also what all the cultivators, who had reached the limit of their cultivation in Soaring Dragon Boundary, were most concerned about. That was the reason Cheng Henfeng was willing to work for the Heavenly Sage and assist him.
“Will our future really be found in Heavenly Gully?” Looking at the mark in the sky, Cheng Henfeng squinted. A sense of puzzlement flashed across his eyes.
Even at this point, he still couldn’t get a definitive answer.
Just then, someone was heard giggling beside him. His voice sounded extremely unpleasant. It was like two stones rubbing against each other. Xing Mo’s saggy skin trembled as he laughed. “The transformation in Soaring Dragon Boundary started when the Heavenly Gully appeared eight hundred years ago. Over the years, Divine Ocean Realm Masters and Real Lake Realm Masters are gone for good. Now, only Cloud River Realm Masters are left. Where else is our future if it isn’t in Heavenly Gully? Moreover, the Cult Master has detected it. Even if you don’t believe yourself, don’t you believe the Cult Master as well?”
Cheng Henfeng shook his head. “Of course I believe the Cult Master, but…”
He looked down at what was below him as shrieks and endless cursing were heard.
Right below the Heavenly Gully, countless ditches intertwined with one another as they covered a radius of dozens of kilometres.
From the bird’s-eye view, one could tell that these intricate ditches had formed into a complicated and abstruse ward. In the middle of the ward, there was a huge altar that was about 300 metres tall.
Many ships were parked around the area. The cultivators from the Cult were busy chasing the commoners out of the ships and killing them. Then, they let their blood flow into the ditches and threw their corpses into them.
Blood flowed around the ditches as the corpse floated on the liquid. The bubbles kept popping, which sounded like the howls of the dead souls.
The shrieks came from these commoners right before their deaths.
The commoners that Lu Ye and Zhuang Bufan had saved were just one of the groups. In fact, those from Heavenly Gully Cult had started kidnapping commoners from all parts of Xue Zhou.
Besides the commoners, even the cultivators would be captured. They all suffered the same fate.
Upon seeing such a living Hell, even the most resolute cultivators felt cold all over their bodies. The sounds of begging for mercy, scolding, and cursing were heard from all directions, but that wouldn’t stop them from getting killed.
Those from Heavenly Gully Cult had been preparing for this mission for years. Once they made a move, they were unstoppable. Now, most of the families in Xue Zhou had been destroyed.
If not for the fact that Zhuang Bufan had spread the news, no one else in Soaring Dragon Boundary would’ve noticed the anomaly in Xue Zhou.
Although Zhuang Bufan was a Ninth-Order Master, he was on his own and didn’t hold an important position. Even if the three hegemons got wind of it, no one could predict how they would react.
They would probably send some people over to find out what was going on, and they would only join forces to destroy Heavenly Gully Cult when there was solid evidence.
In that case, it would take a long time before the top Sects made a move.
Although Cheng Henfeng was now part of the Heavenly Gully Cult, he originally came from Grandeur Academy. He had no qualms about killing people. In fact, he had killed innumerable people in his life. Nevertheless, he still felt uncomfortable that the commoners and cultivators in Xue Zhou were slaughtered like this.
“To achieve our ultimate goal, all the sacrifices are worth it,” the Heavenly Sage said impassively with his hands behind his back. No one noticed that the strange glow behind his gaze had intensified.
“You’re right, Cult Master,” Xing Mo said in his crow-like voice. “You’ve inherited the ancestors’ teachings and are about to find the path ahead for the future generations. You’re the saviour of this world, and your name will be remembered in history!”
“Well…” The Heavenly Sage’s lips curved into a derisive smile.
“All of you will die a horrible death. The three major Sects will get justice for us!” a cultivator growled before his death. Following that, he was killed, causing no changes to the situation.
Just then, Xing Mo fished out a transmission stone from his clothes and listened to it. Soon, a hint of surprise appeared on his wrinkled face.
“What’s wrong?” asked the Heavenly Sage without looking at him.
“Wu Xie has failed his task.”
Hearing that, Cheng Henfeng was shocked. “What happened?”
Although Wu Xie wasn’t a match for him, he was one of the best Sword Cultivators in the entire Soaring Dragon Boundary. Rarely anyone in this world could defeat him. As such, it was inconceivable that he had failed to bring the Divine Healer back from the Valley of Medicine.
“He said a young man had derailed his plan. The young man is suspected to be the heir of the Tyrant Blade Technique.”
“Tyrant Blade Technique…” Cheng Henfeng said meditatively and soon recalled Tyrant Blade Manor in Feng Zhou. He had heard about Ye Ying before, but the latter was much younger than him, so he had never had any regard for him.
However, if the heir of the Tyrant Blade Technique could defeat Wu Xie, he could be considered powerful.