The setting sun cast a red glow on the western mountains, unnoticed.
"Rumble~"
Yang Hong threw a punch, and the snake den before him collapsed.
Not a single viper remained alive in front or behind him;
At his feet lay a mountain of corpses, eight zhang high.
"Hoo~ Hoo~ Hoo~"
Yang Hong panted, his fist held in the air for a long time before he slowly came back to himself,
Finally exiting the state of enlightenment.
"I did this~ Ugh~~"
Regaining his senses, Yang Hong was so disgusted by the stench that he retched. The corpses of the red vipers smelled even fouler than roasted meat.
He lost all desire to search for more and immediately turned, activating his movement technique, vanishing in a flash.
A day later, when people arrived, they were all horrified by the scene of corpses and blood.
The faint-hearted were so terrified they developed a lifelong phobia.
Including Tian Rujin and ten others, who heard of the situation and came to witness it.
"Senior Brother Tian, who do you think massacred this red viper valley?"
A junior disciple, his face pale, asked Tian Rujin.
"I've examined the vipers' wounds. It's likely the work of a senior brother from the True Martial Immortal Sect, one of the Ten Great Immortal Sects. It would have taken multiple senior brothers working together to achieve this."
Tian Rujin's face was also a little green. He suppressed the urge to vomit and explained as calmly as possible.
"That's still incredibly impressive! I heard they were all adult snakes in the Fusion Realm, with over ten super snakes in the Golden Core Realm."
"That fits perfectly! I also heard that after killing the red vipers, those senior brothers left immediately,
Without even collecting the demon cores of the great snakes.
Only senior brothers from the Immortal Sects would possess such strength and such generosity."
Tian Rujin became even more certain of his judgment.
"Indeed. Before the Golden Core realm masters entered, only the super geniuses of the Immortal Sects could achieve such a feat."
The other disciples agreed with Tian Rujin's assessment.
Other cultivators passing by also reached the same conclusion: it must have been senior brothers from the True Martial Immortal Sect who teamed up to annihilate this viper valley.
Yang Hong knew none of this. He had left simply because he couldn't stand the stench.
He was also unaware that as he finished killing all the red vipers, a sliver of merit had descended upon him.
This triggered a chain reaction, awakening a mysterious will within the secret realm.
"Roar~ What an annoying sensation. My little ones, go kill that annoying feeling."
A will imperceptible to humans swept across the entire secret realm, and countless demonic beasts' eyes suddenly turned blood red, charging towards Yang Hong's location.
...
Meanwhile, outside the secret realm.
The one hundred Nascent Soul cultivators in the sky suddenly felt the secret realm's teleportation array rapidly closing.
"Not good, the secret realm is indeed in flux. Golden Core disciples, enter quickly."
An ancient voice, overriding Song Yu, the host, resonated across the island in the lake.
"Quick, hurry inside! We might not be able to hold on for much longer."
Song Yu felt the suction force from the teleportation array and also urged the remaining Golden Core cultivators on site.
Three hundred Golden Core cultivators immediately flickered and entered the teleportation array, slowly disappearing.
"No~"
"Not good!"
"Help~"
As the Golden Core cultivators vanished, the one hundred Nascent Soul cultivators above the island's sky simultaneously turned pale, crying out for help.
The remaining cultivators on the island, hearing the Nascent Soul cultivators' cries, quickly flew up to inquire.
"Senior Brother, what's wrong?"
"Quick, move my body out of the way."
"Attack, attack me, push my body away."
"Yes, attack us."
The one hundred cultivators operating the array frantically called for attacks.
"Senior Brother, hold on! I'm coming."
A cultivator immediately realized their predicament,
And began to cast low-power spells.
But...
"Harder~ Harder! This teleportation array has a problem. Our spiritual energy is being drained."
Hearing Song Yu's explanation, the other cultivators began to intensify their attacks.
However...
"No~~"
After a long, drawn-out scream, one Nascent Soul cultivator's body was drained of all spiritual energy, and they rapidly withered.
In the blink of an eye, a Nascent Soul cultivator had perished, with no chance for their Nascent Soul to escape.
Not even a chance to leave a final word.
"Abandon your physical bodies, have your Nascent Souls depart! Quickly!"
That ancient voice sounded again.
Many trapped Nascent Soul cultivators quickly weighed their options and decisively chose to have their Nascent Souls depart.
But more cultivators, burdened by too many concerns, failed to escape in time and were sucked dry into nothingness.
In the end, only thirty-eight individuals successfully had their Nascent Souls depart.
"Everyone, the Hongtong Secret Realm has undergone a major change. My junior brother and I must return immediately to report.
The disciples of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect are entrusted to your care."
The ancient voice had become much more weary and weak.
As his words fell, a flying boat ascended into the sky and vanished into the horizon in an instant.
"Everyone, we also need to return to report the situation. Please help look after my disciples."
"I need to leave as well..."
Then, the cultivators whose Nascent Souls had departed left one after another.
Their claim of returning to report was a pretense.
In reality, they were worried that their Nascent Souls would rapidly dissipate in the spirit-energy-deficient world of the Five Directions Dynasty.
Not long after their Nascent Souls departed, they discovered this problem.
Thus, including Yang Hong's supposed master, all thirty-eight individuals were swiftly escorted away by their sect members.
They had voluntarily had their Nascent Souls depart. As long as they found suitable bodies, they could possess them,
And then cultivate once more.
With the protection of their sect members, they could even successfully possess a body in a mortal kingdom with adequate spiritual energy, as long as they left the Five Directions Domain.
At this moment, the previously white, shining teleportation array had completely dimmed.
Wisps of invisible black energy slowly permeated the world.
...
Yang Hong knew nothing of the events unfolding outside, nor was he aware of the impending danger.
He was currently enjoying a thoroughly refreshing bath in a small lake.
After leaving the red viper mountain valley, Yang Hong had chosen to head north, towards the agreed meeting point with Song Yuzhi and the others.
However, upon seeing this small lake, as clear as a mirror, he couldn't move on.
After hours of intense combat, he was covered in viper blood.
If he didn't wash up soon, he'd reek.
"Hoo~ This battle was truly exhausting, but truly exhilarating!"
Glancing at his attributes, Yang Hong was even more satisfied.
[Yang Hong: Sixth Prince of the Great Sui Dynasty.
Daily Donation Limit: 8/8
Lifespan: 23/450
Cultivation: 10 million years of True Qi (Fusion Realm, 450,000 jin of strength, 560 zhang of divine sense)
Cultivation Technique: Intermediate Breathing Technique Level 196, Intermediate Body Tempering Technique Level 104
Martial Skills: (omitted)
Spells: (omitted)
Intent: Fist Intent: Fearless Valor (33%)
Special Abilities: Photographic Memory, Proficient in Farming.]
As he had predicted, he had comprehended an Intent,
A Fist Intent called [Fearless Valor].
Although named Fist Intent, he could still manifest the Fearless Valor intent with other weapons in the future, though its power would be less than when used with fists.
"I wonder if this Intent can be cultivated using the donation system?"
Seeing [Fearless Valor] displayed on his attribute panel, Yang Hong's heart stirred again.
He quickly scrubbed himself clean, changed into new clothes, came ashore, and found a random tree to begin his experiment.
"Ding~ You donated 240 days of cultivation to the Hua Kou Tree, gaining a 30x cultivation return, yielding 7200 days of True Qi cultivation."
"Ding..."