Chapter 434: Chapter 421: The Holy Light Sect Is About to Make Its Move

"I surrender! I surrender... Damn it, at least give me some time to think! I haven’t even figured out what’s going on yet!"

Qian Luo shrieked hysterically, his soul nearly scattering from sheer terror.

Faced with someone who could end his life with a single word, Qian Luo’s mental defenses crumbled in an instant.

He couldn’t even form a single thought before Ying Huo’s killing strike was upon him.

Life and death were decided in a single moment.

No one wants to die, especially not a man of his status—a Master of One Peak in the Holy Light Sect with astounding power and influence.

If he offered his Soul Blood, his life would be in another’s hands. He would essentially become someone else’s slave.

He would be even worse off than a slave.

Because with just a single thought, the person who controlled his Soul Blood could cause him to die a violent death, even from a thousand miles away!

But, it was, at least, a sliver of a chance to live.

And there was still a possibility of getting his Soul Blood back in the future.

But faced with these powerhouses, especially someone as mighty as Ying Huo, Qian Luo couldn’t muster even a shred of resistance.

He couldn’t think of any way to escape... He didn’t even have time to *try* to think of a way!

Shen Lang didn’t seem to want to waste much time with him, giving him only a few seconds...

At the critical moment, Qian Luo could no longer care about anything else and started shouting for mercy repeatedly.

...

Ying Huo’s power was undeniable. Such a fast and ferocious strike stopped dead right in front of Qian Luo’s head!

If it had gone just a little further, Qian Luo would have been decapitated.

Although the sword in his hand didn’t strike, his terrifying foot once again slammed into Qian Luo’s face, stomping him straight into the dirt!

"Cursing with ’damn it’ in front of my Lord? You don’t have enough lives to spare. And daring to refer to yourself so arrogantly before him? In this world, no one besides his own father has that right! You need to remember that."

"If there is a next time, there won’t even be a corpse left of you."

The tip of Ying Huo’s sword pressed against Qian Luo’s throat. A good amount of the Power of Thunder and Lightning from the blade’s tip surged into Qian Luo’s body, instantly frying him to a crisp. He screamed miserably, his body convulsing nonstop!

The Master of One Peak from the Holy Light Sect was now in a state more wretched than a street beggar.

"Offer up your Soul Blood."

Pulling his longsword back slightly, Ying Huo said grimly, "You’re getting off easy. What right does trash like you have to become my Lord’s subordinate?"

Qian Luo clutched his cheek and scrambled to his feet, looking with horror at Shen Lang in the air, then back at Ying Huo.

In just those few seconds, he had already understood a lot...

He had figured it out. This group of people, including Ying Huo, were all Shen Lang’s subordinates!

And they were probably the kind of subordinates who were loyal to the extreme!

’Otherwise, based on my understanding of Ying Huo, there’s no way he would have said something like that...’

’What the hell kind of terrifying figure did I provoke?’

’Not even Su Wenxuan, the Sect Leader of the Profound Dao Sect, could necessarily make the high-and-mighty Ying Huo speak and act this way!’

’That bastard Gao Jingtian! It’s one thing for him to get himself killed, but he had to drag me, who was living a carefree life, into this mess!’

’If I had known this guy was so terrifying, I would have run as far away as possible!’

’If I had known that even Ying Huo, Commander of the Thunder Guard, was his underling, I wouldn’t have dared to come looking for death even if you gave me three times the courage!’

"I’ll count to three. If you haven’t offered your Soul Blood to my Lord by the time I’m done, your head will fall from your neck."

Ying Huo’s voice was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.

In Qian Luo’s memory, Ying Huo wasn’t one for jokes; he was actually rather stern and old-fashioned.

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

"I’ll offer it! I’ll offer it!" Seeing the terrifying might beginning to radiate from the Thunder Sword in Ying Huo’s hand, Qian Luo didn’t dare delay any longer and immediately offered up his Soul Blood.

’In any case, for someone to have even Ying Huo as a subordinate, he must be incredibly capable.’

’Even if he wasn’t, I’m the fish on the chopping block right now. I can’t afford to overthink or even resist.’

In an instant, Qian Luo had already come up with several excuses for his spineless actions.

"My Soul Blood! I am willing to submit!"

Shen Lang watched the Soul Blood float over. With a light grasp of his hand, he caught the crystal-clear drop and absorbed it into his Sea of Consciousness.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, over a thousand drops of Soul Blood floated in the center, suppressed by the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron.

With the current strength of Shen Lang’s Sea of Consciousness, he shouldn’t have been able to withstand such a massive amount of Soul Blood.

The weakest members of the War Wolf were at the Xuanwu Realm Third Heaven of Cultivation. How powerful was each of their Soul Thoughts?

Each drop of their Soul Blood was mixed with a trace of their Lifebound Essence Soul, containing their powerful consciousness and mental will. Even a King Martial Realm powerhouse, if they were to take in so much Soul Blood into their Sea of Consciousness, could instantly fall into chaos and become a Fallen Demon with a single misstep.

That day, when the Elder Ancestors saw Shen Lang accept the Soul Blood of over a thousand Xuanwu Realm Powerhouses, the shock in their hearts was beyond words.

But in reality, if it weren’t for the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron, Shen Lang would never have dared to do such a thing.

With the current strength of his Divine Sense, his limit was probably around fifteen or sixteen drops of Soul Blood.

...

"Very good. I like people who know how to adapt to the situation," Shen Lang said with a slight nod. "Bring him along. We’re going to the Barbaric lands."

As Shen Lang spoke, he recalled the others into the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron, leaving only Ying Huo and Tie Feng outside.

When Qian Luo saw the group of people vanish once more, appearing and disappearing without a trace, he was utterly horrified. More and more, he felt that his decision to offer his Soul Blood had been the absolute right one.

He didn’t feel so bad about it anymore.

He could even manage to squeeze out a small smile.

Normally, if a person were forced to give up their Soul Blood, not only would they become extremely weak, but they might also be unable to escape the psychological shadow for a long time.

But this Qian Luo had changed his attitude in such a short time. Seeing the look in his eyes, Ying Huo was momentarily speechless.

’Is he just simple-minded, or is he utterly foolish? It’s really hard to say.’

On the other hand, the War Wolf group was full of masters. Even Tie Feng, at the Xuanwu Realm Third Heaven, wouldn’t necessarily lose to Qian Luo, who was at the Xuanwu Realm Fifth Heaven, in a real fight.

Ying Huo was quite puzzled as to why Shen Lang would accept such a character.

’My Lord probably wants to use him as a mole in the Holy Light Sect. With him there, we can learn a lot about what’s going on inside the Holy Light Sect.’

Sure enough, just as Ying Huo had that thought, Shen Lang spoke up. "Qian Luo, the Holy Light Sect wants to make a move against the Profound Dao Sect. What are the specifics?"

Qian Luo was still clutching his swollen, pig-like face, his mind racing, when he heard Shen Lang’s words. He jumped in fright.

"Y-Y-You actually... Er, my Lord, you even know about this... Actually, I don’t know the specifics. I only know that the higher-ups gave orders to use the matter of several ore veins to start weakening the Profound Dao Sect’s power," Qian Luo said timidly.

Shen Lang said calmly, "In terms of true strength, there is still a huge gap between the Holy Light Sect and the Profound Dao Sect. What makes the people of the Holy Light Sect think they can weaken the Profound Dao Sect? And this is without the Imperial Dragon Sect backing them?"

Cold sweat dripped down Qian Luo’s face. ’This guy seems to know a lot! He even knows that the move against the Profound Dao Sect wasn’t instigated by the Imperial Dragon Sect!’

Composing himself, Qian Luo replied respectfully, "The higher-ups weren’t clear about the details. Based on my judgment, it seems some other unknown forces have been in contact with the Holy Light Sect. There are differing opinions on this within the Sect, and I can’t quite figure out what’s going on."

"From what I’ve gathered, it seems a few of the Elder Ancestors want to find something near the Profound Dao Sect. As for what it is, they’re being very secretive and won’t say."

"In order to find this thing, they, who already held a grudge against the Profound Dao Sect, finally made up their minds. They want to join forces with those mysterious powers to weaken the Profound Dao Sect, and possibly even join hands to annihilate it."

"So, recently, we... no, *they* might use the disputes over several ore veins as a pretext to strike at the Profound Dao Sect. When that happens, those mysterious forces will act together, striking from multiple points simultaneously to eliminate a batch of the Profound Dao Sect’s powerhouses at the Xuanwu Realm and above in a short period."

"Then, at the right moment, they’ll launch a final, all-out attack to completely destroy the Profound Dao Sect!"

Ying Huo and Tie Feng, who were standing to the side, listened with alarm, their faces changing color!

Only then did they understand why Shen Lang had taken in Qian Luo.

They never would have thought there was such a secret plot involved!

You have to understand, back when the Elder Ancestor of the Xiu Hua Sect told the Profound Dao Sect about the Holy Light Sect’s unusual movements, not only the Profound Dao Sect, but the Elder Ancestors of several other Sects also didn’t take it seriously.

The Holy Light Sect was much weaker than the Profound Dao Sect, and after losing allies like the Xiu Hua Sect, it stood alone. The idea of it trying to deal with the Profound Dao Sect was simply a joke.

In the Celestial Profound Mountain Range, aside from the Golden Embryo Sect, the Holy Light Sect could hardly find any other Sects to ally with.

Furthermore, the Elder Ancestors knew that Shen Lang had a special relationship with the Imperial Dragon Sect and a few others. It also seemed that the people from the Imperial Dragon Sect already knew he was at the Profound Dao Sect, so there was no way those Sects would ever make a move against the Profound Dao Sect.

That being the case, if the Holy Light Sect wanted to deal with the Profound Dao Sect, what could they possibly use?

Who would they ally with to do it?

They never imagined that something so unlikely was now actually happening...

Killing intent billowed from Ying Huo, causing Qian Luo to quickly scurry over to Shen Lang’s left side, not daring to stay near him any longer.

"How could something like this be happening?" Ying Huo couldn’t understand it no matter how much he thought about it.

If it were just the Holy Light Sect alone, even if they used dirty tricks, the Profound Dao Sect wouldn’t necessarily be afraid of them.

But if other mysterious, unknown forces were involved, then it was a different story. For the Holy Light Sect to dare make a move, they naturally had to have a certain degree of confidence...

’Thankfully, my Lord unified the Xiu Hua Sect and the other four Sects during this time. Otherwise, if the Profound Dao Sect had to face this alone... Dammit, the Thunder Guard knew nothing about what was happening in the Holy Light Sect!’ At this thought, a wave of fear washed over Ying Huo.

"Your Holy Light Sect has some nerve!" Ying Huo barked coldly, glaring at Qian Luo.

A powerful Momentum tightly suppressed Qian Luo.

His eyes, filled with killing intent, made Qian Luo tremble with fear, not daring to respond.

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The website’s backend was down at midnight, so I couldn’t log in. My sincere apologies for the delay; I’m only able to post this now. Thank you for your understanding!