"Feng'er," on Dao Mountain, Lin Beisheng clutched his face in agony, sitting in his chair as if he'd aged many years in an instant.
Mu Changge and the other eight peak masters all wore grim expressions.
"This guy is even more monstrous than Wang Qi back in the day."
"Letting him into the main sect… it's hard to say whether that would be good or bad," Mu Changge said, shaking his head slightly.
Geniuses are always in demand no matter where they are, but someone like Xu Zimo, who reached this level almost entirely without relying on the branch sect or the main sect, had a dangerously powerful sense of self. He had no sense of belonging. To him, the main sect might be nothing more than a stepping stone.
"This Lin Qiu maliciously slaughtered his fellow disciples. He must be severely punished," Changqing said from the side.
"True, we had a rule that during trials, life and death were not questioned. But now that the trial has been canceled, that rule no longer applies. He still slaughtered our sect’s disciples, that’s unforgivable," Qin Hansheng added calmly.
Mu Changge only furrowed his brow slightly this time and didn’t argue back.
"When he comes out, if he can’t give us a reasonable explanation, we’ll all act together to take him down, before he escapes," Wang Yuntian suggested.
…
Inside the ancient ruins, when they saw Lin Feng commit suicide, everyone wore heavy expressions.
Just one round, and four of the Nine Imperial Sons had already fallen.
The remaining five stood in a row. Yu Changlong, holding his long blade, shouted, "Everyone, use whatever trump cards you have. Otherwise, we probably won’t make it out alive."
“If I don’t go mad as a Buddha, how can I become a demon?” Qi Ye’s six fingers were already bleeding, his hair visibly falling out strand by strand.
His skin grew increasingly pale, as though all his energy was being drained.
"World-Destroying Demon Song!" he roared like a wild beast.
He completely fell into a state of madness, and the speed at which his six fingers plucked his zither created countless afterimages.
Ripples of black demonic sound surged outward.
At that moment, green grass withered, space shattered, and everything around him suffered massive destruction.
"Seal your hearing, now!" Yan Song shouted.
Some disciples nearby didn’t manage to escape in time. As the soundwaves spread at the speed of light, some went mad on the spot.
Their blood surged and veins burst, they died in fits of madness.
Seeing this, Yu Changlong sighed in relief. "So his music is really that powerful. Even though that move wasn’t aimed at us, just the residual effects are terrifying."
Shen Yu said nothing. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Xu Zimo.
Xu Zimo stood at the center of the demonic sound. His eyes were closed.
After a while, he opened them, completely calm, and said with a smile, "Such beautiful music."
"The demon song doesn’t work on him?" Yan Song frowned.
"Kill!" Shen Yu gave a low shout. The stars in his palm shone brilliantly as he charged at Xu Zimo.
"Galaxy Seal!"
"Heaven-Derivation Blade, thirty-sixth layer!" Yu Changlong followed right after.
"Nine Heavens Immortal Sword!" Yan Song’s gaze sharpened. His sword aura surged like roaring waves, one after another.
…
"I’ve lost interest in playing with you," Xu Zimo waved his hand and said softly, "Law Without Cause."
As he waved his right hand, black mist surged around him.
Countless tendrils of black mist soared into the sky, engulfing the surrounding valley. The mist screeched harshly.
These masses of black mist transformed into ghostly heads, savage and filled with malice.
Ghostly heads rampaged through the area. Any disciple they touched fell into madness, weeping and laughing uncontrollably, dying trapped in their own delusions.
On Dao Mountain, Lin Beisheng suddenly stood up, eyes glowing. "Six Cuts of Ghost Zen. Qiu'er actually mastered that technique?"
"Wasn’t it said that only Ghost Tathagata could use it?" Changqing asked, frowning.
Everyone knew how powerful this move was.
Back when Ghost Tathagata was still in the Fusion Heaven Realm, he could already rival the Nine Heavens Sage.
If the Sage hadn’t gone all out and seriously wounded him, he might never have been killed.
Ghost Tathagata’s strength came in large part from this technique.
He poured his life’s work into developing it, so much so that he left the Buddhist sect to complete it.
But after Ghost Tathagata, no one had ever successfully cultivated it, and it gradually faded from memory.
"This is going to be trouble," Wang Yuntian said. "We just don’t know how many of the Six Cuts he’s mastered."
…
As the ghostly heads swarmed through the air, Yan Song slashed with his Nine Heavens Immortal Sword.
With a loud boom, the ghost head trembled but remained unscathed. Instead, the shockwave sent Yan Song flying.
He stabilized himself, looked at the endless ghost heads around him, and his heart trembled violently.
He’d attacked with full strength and still couldn’t destroy even one.
"Run!" he shouted, quickly crushing his spatial token.
But Xu Zimo had already sealed off the entire area. As the Dao of Space began to manifest, it was immediately swallowed up.
"What’s happening?" Yan Song looked around in panic. Nothing had changed. He was truly terrified now.
As time passed, more and more ghost heads filled the sky. Then, like vengeful spirits, they all screamed and charged toward Yan Song.
"Aaaah!" his screams rang through the air.
These ghost heads didn’t just attack Yan Song. Even the surrounding disciples who were only watching were caught in the onslaught.
From the projection on Dao Mountain, all that could be seen were endless ghostly heads.
Corpses began piling up across the valley. And this was only one move, Law Without Cause. Yet its area-of-effect power was already this devastating.
The ghost heads swallowed everything. As the screams gradually faded, Xu Zimo looked out across the valley.
It was covered with corpses.
The stench of blood filled the air.
These people had hoped to follow the Nine Imperial Sons and coast through the trial, maybe pick up some scraps.
Too bad they paid for it with their lives.
If they had just crushed their tokens and escaped, they would’ve been safe.
The five remaining Imperial Sons had also been consumed by the ghost heads. Qi Ye’s demonic music came to an end, he was already on the brink of death.
"It’s over," Xu Zimo clapped his hands and was about to leave when, Shen Yu, lying on the ground, suddenly stood up.
"Junior Brother Lin Qiu, don’t be in such a hurry," Shen Yu said calmly.
"Oh? Interesting," Xu Zimo murmured in surprise.
Under the Law Without Cause, Shen Yu was the only one still alive.