Before he ever saw that woman, Blood Edge hadn't known he could be this cowardly.
But he was certain she had sensed his spying. In that moment, he even had a clear, chilling certainty.
If he so much as twitched, she could kill him from tens of thousands of miles away.
To be honest, it felt unreal.
After all, who was he?
The Bloody Slaughterer.
Bearer of the Blood-Stained Blade.
A peerless Great Ascension Stage powerhouse.
Ranked 153rd on the Demonic Cultivator Power Rankings.
One of the Top 100 on the Righteous Path Alliance's bounty list.
The Heavenly Demon Sect's Supreme Elder, second only to one.
Any one of those titles, spoken aloud, was enough to stop a child's crying, make cultivators shut their mouths, and earn the worship of countless new Demonic Cultivators.
He was a living legend in the demonic world.
And yet, the instant he saw that woman, he smelled death, a sensation so long-forgotten it felt almost unfamiliar.
He would die.
If he ran into her, he would definitely die.
That fear had lodged itself in Blood Edge's heart and never left, and it was exactly why Qin Rushui felt like he was slacking off.
Truthfully, Blood Edge hadn't planned to come at all.
But when he told Qin Rushui about that terrifying woman, Qin Rushui only mocked him.
"Is that the latest Demonic Sect joke?"
"Or are you just scared there's another ambush waiting for us?"
"We've lost half our high-end combat power. Half!"
"I don't believe the Righteous Path Alliance can swallow that much of our strength and still have spare forces left!"
"So don't try to brush me off with that pathetic excuse. If you don't come, don't blame me for using the Heavenly Demon Curse!"
Qin Rushui was so furious he was close to losing his mind. Blood Edge might fear women, but Qin Rushui was even more convinced he was doing this on purpose.
You think you can scare me off by saying there's a terrifying woman there?
In your dreams.
So under the threat of the Heavenly Demon Curse, Blood Edge had no choice but to follow Qin Rushui here.
In fact, if he had fought seriously and joined forces with Qin Rushui, Tie Chunsheng would have fallen long ago.
But that woman had become his inner demon. He was terrified she would appear again at any moment, so he always kept strength in reserve for one thing.
Running.
But with the situation in front of him now, he had to go all out.
Otherwise, the sheer blast from that alchemy cauldron would be enough to cripple him or kill him outright.
I told you not to come back here. You just wouldn't listen.
If he was being honest, Blood Edge truly resented Qin Rushui. He had meant to swear he would never set foot in this cursed place again.
But before he could even make that vow, Qin Rushui had threatened him into coming.
"Seal!"
"Blood Dao: Rivers of Blood!"
A sea-like torrent of blood surged at Blood Edge's call, wrapping around the alchemy cauldron. At the same time, his flying sword turned into a streak of sword light and took position before him as a shield.
Even so, even with Blood Edge using his full strength, that cauldron contained Tan Yue's lifetime of accumulation. Its power was beyond anything ordinary people could imagine.
"BOOM!!!!"
The explosion was so violent it even damaged Tie Chunsheng's Golden Sparrow Tower.
At the very center of the blast, the influence of the outside world seeped in, and the entire Golden Sparrow Tower began to sway as if it might collapse at any moment.
"Hold it together!"
Tie Chunsheng gritted his teeth and desperately formed hand seals, forcing the Golden Sparrow Tower to remain.
Yet he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but compared to before, the Golden Sparrow Tower seemed much easier to control.
As if there were fewer enemies inside it now, tearing it apart.
The explosion raged for a long time. When the dust finally settled, Qin Rushui and Blood Edge were still alive, their treasure armor shredded and hanging in tatters.
But Tan Yue was an old master. Even though their condition still looked decent on the surface, neither Qin Rushui nor Blood Edge could even get to their feet.
On the other side, Tie Chunsheng and the other two were in much the same state.
Qin Rushui had been heavily wounded. The black sphere inside Lu Changtian's chessboard had vanished, but Lu Changtian, who had held it back, was injured just as badly.
Tan Yue had drained himself completely and was slumped on the ground.
Tie Chunsheng, a Great Ascension Stage cultivator, could barely remain standing. His face was pale as gold paper, his lips ashen, and his whole body was at its limit.
Every last scrap of his True Essence was being spent just to keep the Golden Sparrow Tower from disappearing.
If Qin Rushui and Blood Edge had any strength left to spare, Tie Chunsheng would be dead on the spot.
As for pills?
Without them, would they have lasted this long?
But then—
"Heh… heh heh…"
Qin Rushui laughed. He pulled out a Saint-Grade Alchemical Pill from his Storage Ring and swallowed it in one gulp.
The road had been twisted, but the ending was bright.
He had the last laugh.
And because the gap between them was so great, he didn't even rush to stand up and finish Tie Chunsheng and the others while the medicine took effect. Instead, he sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and calmly savored the blissful surge of the Saint-Grade Alchemical Pill's power.
This stuff was not cheap. Even as the Sect Leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect, Qin Rushui did not have much of it on hand.
Now that the outcome was already decided, there was no reason to waste the pill's effects.
On the other side, Blood Edge hurriedly swallowed a Saint-Grade Alchemical Pill as well. He began circulating his energy with painstaking care, recovering even faster than Qin Rushui.
He had already made up his mind. The moment anything felt off, he would run.
At his level, the Heavenly Demon Curse did not have much bite left. He would still pay a price, but it was not enough to kill him on the spot.
Besides, if that woman really came back, whether Qin Rushui would even have the chance to use the Heavenly Demon Curse was another question entirely.
"Sigh…"
Tie Chunsheng let out a long breath and slumped to the ground. He knew he had lost.
The moment Qin Rushui and Blood Edge opened their eyes, that would be the moment he died.
Still, if he could end Gui Ying before he went, it was not a bad trade.
The only thing he regretted was dragging his two old friends…
"What are you thinking about?"
Lu Changtian sat down beside Tie Chunsheng. "Even if we die today, we die as Orthodox Dao Cultivators!"
"That's right."
Tan Yue struggled over as well, smiling. "To walk the Yellow Springs with you two… that's a rare blessing."
They were all old friends, bound by years of friendship.
"I was acting like a child."
Tie Chunsheng steadied himself, the light returning to his eyes. "In the next life, we'll still be brothers."
His despair eased, replaced by a strange clarity, as if he had found the will to face death head-on.
"What a shame. I've still got a jar of 1982 Daughter's Red hidden at home."
Lu Changtian clicked his tongue in regret.
"You bastard. Last time you said you'd finished it all. Truly shameless."
Tan Yue scolded him with a laugh.
"He's right," Tie Chunsheng said, laughing too. "We should've finished it together back then. Now who knows who's going to get it."
"Exactly! What a loss. Next life, I'm not hiding anything anymore. If I've got it, I'm drinking it!"
Lu Changtian put on a tormented expression, which only made Tie Chunsheng and Tan Yue laugh harder.
"Mmm. That's the truth of it."
Right then, Qin Rushui cut in. He stood up, pleased with himself, and said, "You three should be more careful in your next life."
"But…"
Halfway through, he changed his tone.
"You actually still have a chance to live this time."
The Heavenly Demon Sect had suffered far too badly in this battle. Even the smallest possibility was worth fighting for.
If the three of them could be brought into the Heavenly Demon Sect, then the sect might even leap straight into the ranks of the super first-tier Demonic Sects. It was not impossible.
"Dream on!"
Tie Chunsheng snapped back without fear. "I'm an Orthodox Dao Cultivator. I will never grant your wish!"
"Demonic bastard, if you want to kill me, then kill me. If you want to carve me up, then do it. If I blink, I'm your grandson!"
Lu Changtian looked refined, but when it came to the Demonic Sect, he turned into a hot-blooded brawler.
"Come on."
Tan Yue was even more direct. He was already gathering power, preparing to self-destruct.
The three of them all knew the truth.
There was no next life for them.
If they fell into the Demonic Sect's hands, their bodies and souls would be squeezed dry for every last scrap of value. They would not even be allowed to die in peace, and there was a good chance they would be turned into tools for Demonic Cultivators to use against their former comrades.
So there was only one way to answer the Demonic Sect.
Self-destruction.
I'll blow myself clean. You get nothing.
Tie Chunsheng and Lu Changtian had made the same decision. They would never let themselves be taken by Demonic Cultivators.
But…
"Hold."
Qin Rushui produced a scepter that radiated a strange, sinister aura, dark and oppressive.
At its head was a skull.
In the skull's eye sockets were set two Soul-Seizing Stones that flickered with eerie light.
The Heavenly Demon Scepter, a Dao Artifact, the sacred relic of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
It was the most valuable treasure Qin Rushui had unearthed back then in the ruins of the old Heavenly Demon Sect, and one of the few items not completely destroyed by the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden.
Even so, it had taken him hundreds of years to repair it.
Its greatest ability was simple and terrifying. Once per day, it could immobilize cultivators of the same realm or lower for three seconds.
Three seconds sounded short, but this was an extremely rare, absolute form of control. Unless the target possessed an artifact of the same level capable of breaking it, even their thoughts would be frozen.
For all practical purposes, it was time stop.
"I gave you a chance," Qin Rushui said.
One second passed.
"Go!"
Three demonic shadows shot toward Tie Chunsheng and the other two. Qin Rushui meant to hook out their souls and their Nascent Souls.
Two seconds passed.
The shadows plunged into their bodies. Tie Chunsheng and the others all opened their mouths at the same time, and their Nascent Souls flew out.
But just as the third second was about to end, and those Nascent Souls were about to fall into Qin Rushui's hands, a young voice spoke up.
"May I ask…"
"What is the Heavenly Demon Sect's guiding principle?"
"What is the Heavenly Demon Sect's mission?"
"How many internal positions are there in the Heavenly Demon Sect?"
"What are the Heavenly Demon Sect's performance targets? List them in order, from entry-level disciple all the way up to the Sect Leader."
"What cultivation methods does the Heavenly Demon Sect have? Recite them loudly, then write the full text from memory."
"What magical treasures does the Heavenly Demon Sect have? List them one by one, analyze their strengths and weaknesses, and explain what circumstances each treasure is best suited for."
"The Heavenly Demon Sect's…"
The questions condensed into an exam paper so long it seemed to have no end, and it appeared right in front of Qin Rushui.
???
What in the world was this?
Qin Rushui froze, his mind filling with question marks.