Your Spell Version is Too Low!

"It’s him!"

He shot to his feet. The gray-black Evil Qi around Black Slaughter Master surged like smoke signals in a gale, boiling up and completely swallowing the already dim light in the Main Hall.

Only the two glints of brutal, cold light in his eyes flickered in the gloom.

"What an arrogant little bastard who doesn’t know his own limits!

You get lucky with a few opportunities, and now you have the gall to come knocking on my door to collect a debt, you reckless fool?

Do you really think I’m a pushover?!"

His fingers clenched into a fist with a CRACK of knuckles. Black Slaughter Master snorted and took a step, about to leave the hall.

But in the next instant, he gently lowered the foot he had just raised.

’Something’s not right...’

’Given the cultivation and methods this brat has displayed... I’m afraid...’

Although Black Slaughter Master had a violent and sinister temperament, he also had a cunning and cautious side.

He hadn’t witnessed the battle at Taixu Hall firsthand.

But he had learned a great deal from the detailed, still-shaken accounts of his trusted disciples.

Qi Yun, the Qi Refining ant he could have crushed with a flick of his wrist decades ago, had not only reached the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage but also possessed the legendary and exceedingly rare Venerable Dao Foundation!

He had been able to contend head-on with his elder brother, Black Mountain Master, under the might of the Ten Thousand Mountains Demon Heaven Realm—a power capable of toppling mountains and rivers—and fought fiercely for a long time.

Although he was ultimately defeated, he had displayed the terrifying ability to shake a Great Master’s Realm Heaven.

He knew his brother Black Mountain Master’s strength better than anyone.

For Qi Yun to be able to trade blows with such an existence, even for a short while, was enough to prove that the brat’s current strength was far beyond that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator.

’I may also be at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, but compared to Qi Yun, who could clash with my brother’s Realm Heaven... the outcome of a fight is probably...’

A cold calculation and sense of dread gnawed at his boiling killing intent like a venomous snake.

The blood that had been roiling with anger moments before quickly cooled, and reason regained control.

’A head-on confrontation is by no means the best strategy.’

’Especially here, in my own domain, under the watchful eyes of all. If I were to lose, or even just be at a slight disadvantage, the prestige of the Black Mountain Lineage would be utterly destroyed.’

’My brother just suffered a setback. I absolutely cannot cause more trouble and leave myself open to attack.’

In a flash, the vicious light in Black Slaughter Master’s eyes receded, replaced by a gloomy shadow.

He immediately made a decision.

"Hmph!"

With a cold snort and a flick of his sleeves, Black Slaughter Master turned and headed for the rear of the hall, speaking rapidly to the disciple below.

"Go and tell that scoundrel outside that I have recently perceived an opportunity for Breaking Realm and am at a critical juncture of seclusion. I am not seeing any visitors!

Tell him to..."

However, before he could finish his sentence—

"Seclusion again?"

A calm, indifferent young voice suddenly sounded from just a few yards behind him without any warning!

"Martial Uncle Black Slaughter, it’s been so many years. Can’t you come up with a fresher excuse for refusing to see me?"

The voice wasn’t loud, but it pierced through the churning Evil Qi in the hall and entered Black Slaughter Master’s ears with perfect clarity.

Black Slaughter Master’s steps toward the back of the hall froze abruptly, his body trembling almost imperceptibly.

He slowly turned around.

In the center of the hall, where there had been nothing but the flickering, ghostly green phosphorescence, a figure had appeared at some unknown time.

He stood with his hands behind his back, dressed in a spotless, Deep Blue Daoist Robe.

His face was handsome and young, the corners of his mouth holding a faint, inscrutable, and nonchalant smile.

He had actually... appeared directly inside the Main Hall, silent and unseen, as if the multiple Arrays, Restrictions, and guards at the gates of Black Death Peak were nothing at all!

"You... How did you get in?!"

Black Slaughter Master’s pupils contracted violently. His Divine Sense instantly flooded out like a tide, sweeping over every corner of the hall.

"Don’t be alarmed, Martial Uncle."

Facing Black Slaughter Master’s question, Qi Yun simply shrugged. He gave a distant bow, his posture seemingly respectful, but his tone was tinged with composure.

"I was just worried that you might go into seclusion for decades or even a century, just like before, leaving me to wait indefinitely.

If that happened, who knows when this old debt would finally be settled."

He paused, his calm gaze meeting Black Slaughter Master’s startled and uncertain eyes, and continued,

"Left with no choice, I had to barge in.

If I have offended you in any way, I hope you can... forgive me, Martial Uncle."

Though his words were polite, each one was like an invisible slap across Black Slaughter Master’s face.

Black Slaughter Master’s face turned ashen as he fought the urge to explode.

He stared intently at the Qi Yun before him, trying to discern something from the depths of those placid, rippleless eyes.

’It’s been decades, and this brat has truly been reborn, a completely different person!’

It wasn’t just the explosive growth in his Cultivation, but an indescribable, internal transformation.

He was just standing there, with no overwhelming aura radiating from him, yet he exuded a sense of profound, unfathomable weight, like an abyss or a great mountain.

That feeling... he had only vaguely sensed it when facing his own brother, Black Mountain Master!

’It’s a disparity in Realm and Status!’

’What a... freak! A monster!’

Black Slaughter Master cursed inwardly as a chill he was unwilling to admit to crept up his spine.

Forcibly suppressing his tumultuous emotions, he tried to make his voice sound calmer.

"Hmph! I was wondering what this was all about. So it’s over a few jars of old brew."

He waved his hand as if it were a trivial matter not worth mentioning.

"Isn’t it just about a few jars of Soul-Shaking Potion I mentioned in passing back then?

Was it really necessary for you, Qi Master, to make this trip in person?

Would I really go back on my word over such a small matter?"

He turned to the disciple who was still kneeling below, dumbstruck, his tone shifting to one of imperious command.

"Song’Er! Hurry to the secret cellar on the back mountain, fetch fifty jars of high-grade Soul-Shaking Potion, package them properly, and give them to Qi Master to take with him!

Don’t neglect our honored guest!"

The disciple named Song’Er, as if granted amnesty, kowtowed and replied,

"Yes! This disciple obeys!"

With that, he was about to get up and rush to the rear hall.

"Stop."

The moment Song’Er turned.

A clear, calm voice, yet one that contained an unquestionable power, sounded again.

The voice wasn’t loud, but like a Body-Fixing Spell, it rooted Song’Er’s feet to the spot. His entire body seemed to be frozen in amber, the expression on his face unchanged.

The one who spoke was, of course, Qi Yun.

Black Slaughter Master’s brows furrowed so deeply they nearly tied into a knot. The gray-black Evil Qi that was already churning around him began to boil violently, like a frigid pool into which a giant boulder had been thrown!

Behind him, the void distorted as an unimaginably vast Ten Thousand Caves Mountain rose up.

Every cave was bottomless, its mouth as fearsome as a beast’s maw. Black energy roiled within, carrying the mixed sounds of wailing from Ten Thousand Ghosts and the roars of Fierce Demons, as if connected directly to the Nine Netherworld Yellow Springs and the Source of Ten Thousand Evils!

This was the very Ten Thousand Caves Ultimate Evil Realm Heaven that Black Slaughter Master had relied on to achieve his Dao, forged from Fierce Evil Qi!

A vast and ferocious pressure, like a physical tide, carrying a malicious Dao Rhyme that could corrode the Divine Soul and defile Magical Power, pressed down hard on Qi Yun.

The air in the Main Hall completely solidified. Even the ghostly green phosphorescence was suppressed to a pea-sized glimmer, flickering on the verge of extinction.

"Qi Master, what is the meaning of this?!"

Black Slaughter Master’s voice was cold, each word like grinding ice.

"Hehehe..."

Qi Yun chuckled, completely ignoring Black Slaughter Master’s terrifyingly ferocious might.

"Don’t misunderstand, Martial Uncle. I have come with no ill intent."

His tone was light, even casually conversational.

"Those few jars of old Soul-Shaking Potion were just a little pretext, a joke."

Black Slaughter Master’s expression grew even colder, his eyes a mixture of suspicion and fury.

"What else do you want? Spit it out!"

"Nothing much."

Qi Yun raised his head slightly, his calm gaze meeting Black Slaughter Master’s vicious, triangular eyes as he spoke, word by word, with absolute clarity.

"I just want to borrow your Three Yin Meng God Map for a while, Martial Uncle."

The Three Yin Meng God Map!

The very source of the Spiritual Object known as the Soul-Shaking Potion.

"You son of a—!!"

The fury of having his inverted scale so thoroughly touched made the veins on Black Slaughter Master’s forehead bulge. He opened his mouth to curse.

However, before the word "bitch" could leave his lips—

He saw Qi Yun, who had been calm and composed all this time, unhurriedly raise his right hand.

In his palm, an object had appeared.

A Taixu Jade Order.

A Purple Gold Taixu Order!

"!!!"

His pupils shrank abruptly. Black Slaughter Master hastily clamped a hand over his mouth, forcing the words that were on the tip of his tongue back down his throat.

He stared fixedly at the Taixu Jade Order, carefully confirming its authenticity.

A bone-chilling cold shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his skull, dousing his bellyful of rage and violence and chilling him to the core!

’It’s real!’

’That aura, those patterns, that unique Dao Rhyme contained within that only a True Monarch could bestow...’

’It’s absolutely impossible to fake!’

’This is, without a doubt, a True Monarch’s token!’

’Qi Yun... he actually possesses a Purple Gold Taixu Order personally granted by a True Monarch?’

’What did he do to earn such trust?!’

In an instant, countless terrifying thoughts and speculations churned in Black Slaughter Master’s mind, making him cold all over.

"What was that you said, Martial Uncle...?"

Qi Yun narrowed his eyes slightly, gently shaking the Purple Gold Taixu Order in his hand. His tone carried a perfectly measured hint of confusion.

"I don’t think I quite... heard you?"

Black Slaughter Master’s face went from pale to ashen, shifting wildly. Finally, he gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words.

"I said... rest assured, I’ll have someone fetch the item for you right away."

"Hahahaha.

Good, good. Then I’ll have to trouble you, Martial Uncle."

Laughing out loud without any attempt to hide it, Qi Yun walked over to a nearby chair and sat down, as calm and composed as if he were the master of the house.

"I’ll be waiting right here. Please be quick, Martial Uncle."

Swallowing the blood that was rising in his throat, Black Slaughter Master took a deep breath and was about to turn and leave, but Qi Yun spoke slowly from behind him.

"Oh, right. Besides the Three Yin Meng God Map, there are a few other things I’ll need to requisition as well.

I’ll need your cooperation, Martial Uncle."

RUSTLE—

Qi Yun casually tossed out a densely-written list that was dozens of feet long.

Turning stiffly, Black Slaughter Master caught a glimpse of the list unfurling on the floor. His body swayed, and he could no longer hold it in.

"Pfft..."

...