The desert.

A white rainbow shot into the sky.

Elder-level figures from numerous sects were still standing guard outside, waiting for everyone to emerge.

"Strange. In the past, when the Profound Celestial Ancient Hall opened, it was only for seven days. After seven days, everyone would come out. But it’s been half a month now. What in the world happened inside?"

"It is strange indeed. They couldn’t have all been wiped out, could they?"

A total wipeout. It was a heavy price to pay, one that no one could accept.

"Impossible. Even during the deadliest expedition, the losses never exceeded half the participants. A total wipeout has never happened before."

"There’s no point talking about this now. Let’s just keep waiting."

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the Light Gate within the white rainbow rumbled and slowly opened.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

A group of figures flew out.

"Lengya."

"Du Bing."

"Xinghe."

The experts from the major sects cried out in alarm and rushed forward to greet them.

They breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that although their numbers had dwindled, their elite members were still present. Roughly half of the disciples had died inside.

They could bear such losses; they had mentally prepared for this before coming.

"What happened in there? Why did it take you all so long to come out?" they hurriedly asked, getting down to business.

Before anyone could answer, a tremendous, furious roar drowned them out.

"Where are the people from my Five Poison Sect? Why haven’t they come out yet? Has anyone seen them?"

The speaker was an old man in green robes, his eyes filled with unease.

"Wait! What about my Evil Spirit Sect? Why haven’t I seen any of our people?"

The experts from the Evil Spirit Sect had sharp gazes. All of them were dressed in blood-red robes, and every one of them looked menacing.

Logically, their Evil Spirit Sect should have been the first to emerge, yet not even a shadow of them could be seen.

"They’re all dead."

The next moment, those three words plunged the entire area into silence. Utter shock appeared in everyone’s eyes.

"What did you say?!"

The members of the Evil Spirit Sect were also filled with disbelief, their piercing gazes shifting to fixate on the speaker, Yuwen Chi.

Yuwen Chi’s face paled as he felt the pressure. These people were murderously volatile. "It’s true! We all saw it! The one who did it was Ning Jiang of the Yanyue Sect!"

"Yes, I saw it too."

"They are indeed dead."

Everyone who had come out voiced their agreement. They had personally witnessed Madman Tu and the others from the Evil Spirit Sect being annihilated by Ning Jiang.

"The Yanyue Sect... The Yanyue Sect!"

In that instant, a terrifying killing intent erupted.

All the experts of the Evil Spirit Sect were enraged. As a Top Grade Sect, they had always been the kings of Lei Province. Who would dare to kill their people?

Even the other three great Upper Grade Sects treated them with deference and dared not provoke them.

But today, someone from a mere Middle Grade Sect from Qing Province had actually killed all of their disciples? Those were the elites of their Evil Spirit Sect!

A loss like this was enough to drive the Evil Spirit Sect mad.

For a sect, the most important thing was its young disciples—its fresh blood. Without an infusion of new blood, a sect would decline.

The deaths of so many young experts would cause their sect to suffer for decades.

More importantly, their authority had been challenged!

"Him alone? He was able to kill that many experts from our Evil Spirit Sect?"

The leading Elder of the Evil Spirit Sect had red hair and an aquiline nose, his eyes filled with cruelty.

He knew Madman Tu’s strength; he could even defeat experts at the Primordial Spirit Fourth Tribulation Realm. And besides him, there were two other titans and so many first-tier experts.

With a lineup like that, they could have swept through the other three Upper Grade Sects and the other Middle Grade Sects combined. Yet they were all killed by a single person? Was such a thing even possible?

"Reporting to you, Senior, this person is suspected to have passed two hidden trials in the Profound Celestial Ancient Hall and gained control of the entire Hall. He mobilized the power of the Profound Celestial Ancient Hall to annihilate all the experts from the Evil Spirit Sect in one fell swoop," Yuwen Chi said.

His words were like a stone cast into a calm lake, sending ripples through the crowd.

If the news of the Evil Spirit Sect’s experts being killed was merely shocking, then this revelation was earth-shattering.

For so many years, the Profound Celestial Ancient Hall had remained masterless. It wasn’t that the major sects hadn’t tried to claim it in the past, but none had ever succeeded.

But now, someone had gained control of the Profound Celestial Ancient Hall?

"The two hidden trials... do they really exist? The two trials that have only ever been a rumor... someone passed them?"

"Lengya, is this true?"

The major sects couldn’t believe it and hurriedly questioned their own disciples.

Soon, shock appeared on all their faces. The disciples’ answers were all the same—Yuwen Chi hadn’t lied!

In an instant, schemes began to form in everyone’s minds.

’The Profound Celestial Ancient Hall... if a junior can take control of it, then if we take control of that junior, wouldn’t we indirectly control the Ancient Hall?’

Faced with such a treasure trove, no one could remain unmoved.

"That boy’s life belongs to my Evil Spirit Sect!"

Soon, those icy words extinguished everyone’s budding schemes.

"This is bad."

Yue Wenfu, Meng Nanfeng, and the others were also stunned by Ning Jiang’s incredible feat, but they also realized that danger was about to descend!

Having lost so many experts, there was no way the Evil Spirit Sect would let Ning Jiang go. Moreover, now that Ning Jiang also controlled such a great treasure trove, they would be even less likely to let this opportunity slip away.

"Capture the people from the Yanyue Sect first."

As expected, the experts from the Evil Spirit Sect made their move, surrounding Yue Wenfu and the others.

"Let’s fight!"

Yue Wenfu knew there was no room for negotiation. More words would be useless. At this point, the only option was to fight.

’But Ning Jiang has never been an impulsive person. I hope he has planned an escape route...’

BOOM!

The great battle erupted. Yue Wenfu faced off against the red-haired elder from the Evil Spirit Sect.

Both of them were experts of the Third Realm, the God-Seizing Realm. Their strength was comparable, and neither could gain the upper hand in a short time.

However, the situation for the others was grim. Besides Yue Wenfu, the Yanyue Sect only had Meng Nanfeng, who had recently advanced to the Primordial Spirit Fourth Tribulation Realm.

In contrast, the Evil Spirit Sect had seven or eight other experts at the Primordial Spirit Fourth Tribulation Realm. The difference in strength was enormous.

"All of you, die!"

The seven or eight Primordial Spirit Realm experts lunged forward, savage grins on their faces.

"Get back."

At the critical moment, two figures appeared. They threw out a palm strike, forcing the experts from the Evil Spirit Sect to retreat.

"The two Sect Leaders," Meng Nanfeng said in surprise.

These two were the Sect Leaders of the Floating Snow Hall and the War Elephant Sect.

"Let’s hope we made the right bet this time."

The two looked at each other, their eyes filled with determination.

They were also taking a huge gamble. Of those who had yet to emerge from the Profound Celestial Ancient Hall, only people from the Yanyue Sect and their own two sects remained.

According to their speculation, Li Kuangba, Liu Bingxue, and the others were likely with Ning Jiang.

"Seniors, the people from the War Elephant Sect and Floating Snow Hall were always mixed up with Ning Jiang. They joined forces with him. They also bear responsibility for the deaths of the Evil Spirit Sect’s experts," Yuwen Chi added at that moment.

"Good. Very good. After today, your three sects will be wiped from the face of the earth!"