I Am a Protector of the Heavenly Court Cult, the Nether Heavenly King!

Seeing Vice Cult Master Shi suppress him in every aspect, the withered old man thought grimly that things were looking bad. How was this junior so powerful? It was completely beyond his expectations. Back in the Great Yu Dynasty, he had ranked among the very strongest of demonic cultivators at the Body Integration stage. Only a top-tier Body Integration archdemon could ever make him feel pressure like this. *Damn it, what rotten luck! I go out to refine a Myriad Soul Banner and end up refining a bunch of livestock that can't understand orders, and now I run into a top-tier Body Integration archdemon!* The struggle of the Golden Age hadn't even fully erupted yet, and he was already running into an opponent like this? If they kept fighting, he would definitely be the one to lose! Run! The withered old man refused to linger. Turning on his heel, he bolted. His rich experience in survival told him that losing for a moment did not mean losing forever. As long as he cultivated in seclusion and sought revenge in the future, who would laugh at him for running away today? He didn't bother trying anything against Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye. The two had solid foundations, but their cultivation was far too low; they had to be his opponent's disciples. Those who walked the demonic path prioritized themselves above all else. To demonic cultivators, kidnapping disciples to make threats was nothing more than a joke. The withered old man threw out six demon heads to stall his pursuer, while he himself turned into a streak of flowing light and fled. "Fuck! That old bastard has no shame at all, running the moment he decides to!" Vice Cult Master Shi cursed loudly. The man didn't possess even an ounce of an expert's bearing. Granted, had he been in the withered old man's shoes, he would have made the exact same choice. Suddenly, ripples spread across space. A figure silently appeared behind the withered old man, holding an object that looked like a brick, and swung it hard against his head. The withered old man stumbled, plummeting from midair. "Who is it?!" He scrambled into a guarded stance. Unfortunately, that brick strike had hit far too brutally and with practiced skill, leaving him so dizzy he could barely keep his footing. Realizing another expert was present, he prepared to flee once more. The corners of the brick-wielding figure's mouth curled into a chilling sneer. "You think you can run before this Heavenly King?" The figure fixed his gaze on the withered old man. Instantly, the withered old man fell into a stupor, stripped of all ability to resist. He remained dazed for barely half a second before quickly snapping out of it. Yet for the Body Integration stage, half a second was more than enough time to accomplish many things. The figure kicked the withered old man over, pinning him ruthlessly to the ground underfoot. The withered old man attempted to escape via earth-burrowing, but the figure remained completely unhurried. He pointed a finger at the ground, and in an instant, the earth turned hard as meteoric iron, utterly indestructible. The withered old man slammed his head against it without making even a dent. "Pointing Earth into Steel?!" The withered old man and Vice Cult Master Shi cried out at the same time, recognizing this great divine ability that countered earth-burrowing techniques. This art was nearly lost to time; only the Five Great Immortal Sects and ancient cultivators could cast it. The figure looked down coldly at the withered old man and pressed his foot down a little harder, making the old man scream in agony. "Who are you?" The withered old man glared fixedly at the figure who had suddenly appeared. If not for this person ambushing him, he would have escaped long ago. Yet he couldn't summon the slightest will to resist. The methods this newcomer had just displayed were a cut above even Vice Cult Master Shi's. Vice Cult Master Shi also regarded the figure with a hint of vigilance. Striking at such a critical moment meant this person had been trailing them all along, yet he hadn't noticed a thing from beginning to end. What unfathomable concealment art! The figure's eyes were as deep and fathomless as an ancient well. He glanced down at the withered form on the ground, then over at Vice Cult Master Shi, speaking in a calm tone that radiated arrogance and contempt. "I am a Protector of the Heavenly Court Cult, the Nether Heavenly King." Vice Cult Master Shi's expression shifted slightly. As expected, the man was a Protector of the Heavenly Court Cult. Furthermore, carrying the title of "Nether"—could he have some connection to the ancient Nine Nether? The withered old man looked completely bewildered. What kind of organization was the Heavenly Court Cult? He had investigated the various major powers of the present age, and he had never heard of anything called the Heavenly Court Cult! Watching the Grand Elder plant his foot on an ancient Body Integration cultivator and look down on the demonic vice cult master with wild, unruly arrogance, Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye desperately fought back the urge to comment. Since Lu Yang was meeting a demonic vice cult master, an inherently dangerous affair, the Dao Seeking Sect naturally had to send someone along. Originally, Lu Yang hadn't planned on having anyone follow them. But somehow, the Grand Elder had caught wind that he and Tao Yaoye were going to meet Shi Huagu, and took the initiative to offer his protection. He had even done so in the name of safeguarding the future of the Dao Seeking Sect. Seeing the Grand Elder act like this, Lu Yang felt that protecting him was merely an excuse; showing off was his elder's true goal. Once Vice Cult Master Shi confirmed that the Grand Elder was an ally, he relaxed. He crouched down, slapped the withered old man twice across the face, and barked sharply, "Speak! Why did you kill so many livestock?" The withered old man was furious, feeling that Vice Cult Master Shi was deeply insulting him. "Am I out of my mind to kill livestock? I'm a fucking demonic cultivator, not a slaughterhouse owner! If I'd known the source of that bloody aura was a slaughterhouse, would I have wasted all that effort refining a Myriad Soul Banner?!" Shi Huagu found the withered old man's words reasonable, so he slapped him twice more. "Speak! How did the villagers disappear?" "What villagers?! There was nobody left by the time I got there!" The withered old man was utterly baffled. He had no grudge against Shi Huagu, so why had the man targeted him? "That doesn't make sense. It wasn't you?" "No!" Vice Cult Master Shi could tell the withered old man wasn't lying. They were both demonic cultivators; there was no need to hide anything when it came to killing people. "How strange." ... Dao Seeking Sect, Immortal Farm. The former Cult Master of the Immortal Cult gazed out over the boundless pasture, where cattle and sheep grazed leisurely in a scene of serene peace. He let out a long sigh. "Master, what's the matter?" Seeing the Cult Master sigh, the three female ghosts—Xiao Wu, Xiao Liu, and Xiao Qi—stepped forward with concern. "I was just reminded of back when I was Cult Master and ran a slaughterhouse." "You even ran a slaughterhouse?" "What kind of talk is that? Who doesn't have personal hobbies?" "I never mentioned it to you before, but before I joined the Immortal Cult, my family ran a slaughterhouse. Later, I was wanted by the yamen for tax evasion. The Immortal Cult saw that I was a talent, so they recruited me. "I drifted along, and eventually I became the Cult Master. "After I became Cult Master, I often reminisced about the days of running the slaughterhouse. My subordinates were all stupid as pigs, always angering me. But our Immortal Cult was short on people, and subordinates were hard to replace once gone. So I bought a large batch of puppets, built a small village in the wilderness, and named it Huai'an Village. "I controlled the puppets, disguised them as villagers, and opened a slaughterhouse. Every day I slaughtered pigs, treating it as if I were slaughtering my subordinates. I kept slaughtering like that for three or four hundred years, until it became a well-known, established slaughterhouse in the region. "Then later, didn't I get caught? The slaughterhouse was confiscated, and all the pigs, cattle, and sheep inside were sold off by the imperial court. The court ordered me to halt all puppet operations, and then the puppets were seized by them as well. "The current Huai'an Village is just an empty shell. All that's left is a bunch of useless bloody aura. The imperial court didn't know how to deal with it either, so they just left it there." "Won't that bloody aura be exploited by demonic cultivators, like for refining a Myriad Soul Banner or something?" Xiao Qi asked worriedly. The three of them had nearly been refined into a soul banner themselves. The Cult Master burst into hearty laughter. "How could that be? What kind of idiot demonic cultivator would use that sort of bloody aura to refine a Myriad Soul Banner?"