Wang Ba stared at the wet, gory smear that used to be Tao Yi.

Beside him, all color drained from Lin Yu’s face. She looked on the verge of collapsing.

Wang Ba, however, felt a sudden clarity. He recalled Ye Lingyu’s passing comment—that the Evil-Asking Sword could sense many things.

In that instant, the pieces of the puzzle slammed into place.

He finally understood why Ye Lingyu, despite her exceptional talent and status as Elder Qin’s personal disciple, always seemed to be dragged around like a fool by that sword.

He understood why the Evil-Asking Sword had pointed directly at him that day, yet showed no hostility afterward.

The reason was simple.

Elder Qin was an old fox. He had long been using Ye Lingyu as a living radar, utilizing the Evil-Asking Sword to sweep the entire Sect for spies.

On that specific day, the sword hadn’t been pointing at Wang Ba. It had been locking onto the person standing right behind him—Tao Yi, the traitor harboring sinister intentions.

When Wang Ba was alone with Ye Lingyu later, the sword sensed nothing abnormal, so naturally, it didn’t react.

“The Sect knew,” Wang Ba thought, his eyes cold. “They were aware of the Heavenly Gate Sect’s schemes long ago. But instead of exposing them, they watched and waited, allowing the tumor to grow.”

Perhaps they didn’t think the enemy would dare strike so openly. Or perhaps there were deeper calculations at play.

What unsettled Wang Ba was Tao Yi’s final reaction. When Tao Yi couldn’t break Lin Yu’s defense, he had looked at Wang Ba as if to ask for help. And right before the sword light obliterated him, his expression had been one of genuine confusion.

That’s right! Confusion!

It was as if he was thinking… why was he killed by the Evil-Asking Sword, but I wasn’t?

Why would a traitor think that?

Wang Ba’s mind raced.

“I’m not from the Heavenly Gate Sect… wait!”

Hidden details from the past months suddenly surged to the forefront of his memory.

Old Hou once expressed admiration for the Heavenly Gate Sect… yet he joined the Ascension Society.

After I pretended to undergo the bone replacement ritual, Yu Changchun, the manager of the Ascension Society, suddenly became friendly toward me.

Deacon Li, also a member, unexpectedly transferred me to Ding-Nine Manor, claiming it was Elder Qian’s order.

The moment I arrived, Tao Yi—a confirmed spy—was overly enthusiastic. He pretended to casually brief me on every cultivator here… and he told me, ‘Ascension is hopeful.’

Ascension… Ascension Society!

The clues linked together, forming a terrifying picture. Wang Ba finally reached the conclusion he had vaguely sensed but was too afraid to admit.

“The Ascension Society is the nail the Heavenly Gate Sect hammered into our Sect!”

“Tao Yi must have known Deacon Li. He assumed that because I was sent here by Li, I was also a member of the Ascension Society—a fellow spy.”

A chill ran down his spine.

These people didn’t just use the Bone-Burying Technique to twist the ambitions of lowly Laborer Disciples, turning them into half-dead wretches like Old Hou. They had also incited the sect’s disillusioned disciples.

“No, if Old Hou was right… He Lin, the Head Chamber Elder of the Clean Mountain Department, is likely one of them. And Elder Qian Maofeng of the Myriad Beast Department!”

“They have people everywhere. High and low.”

This explained why the Ascension Society had targeted him. Or rather, they were casting a wide net, and he had simply been caught in it.

BOOM!

The sky above trembled. The battle between the two Golden Core True Masters had shifted.

Qin Heng proved why he was the Eastern Sage Sect’s second strongest combatant. His attacks were relentless, beating the Heavenly Gate Sect Elder, Jing Kongcheng, into a completely defensive posture.

However, a Golden Core master was not easily killed. Jing Kongcheng, though losing, managed to entangle Qin Heng, preventing the Enforcer Elder from unleashing mass destruction on the invaders below.

On the ground, the tide was turning.

Qin Heng’s strike had wiped out the internal traitors, thinning the enemy ranks, but the main force of the Heavenly Gate Sect seized the opening. Roaring like beasts, they activated their Magical Artifacts and charged toward the Eastern Sage Sect’s core.

Artifacts clashed, talismans burned, and sword energies wove a net of death.

The battlefield descended into absolute chaos.

Low-level disciples and laborers were like ants tossing and turning in a raging storm. They were swept up, crushed, and discarded.

Some were lucky enough to be rescued by senior disciples. Others were obliterated on the spot, their bodies and bones ground to dust, leaving no trace they had ever existed.

Although the Foundation Establishment cultivators tried desperately to rally the troops, the chaos was too great. Stray spells rained down, blasting apart groups of disciples before they could even form a formation.

And the enemy had reached Ding-Nine Manor.

A grotesque old man holding a pair of red-tailed snakes hopped over the wall. His eyes landed on Lin Yu, and a lewd, greedy light ignited in them.

“Good cauldron! What a fine cultivation cauldron!”

He waved his hand.

Hiss!

One snake shot out like a bolt of red lightning, its maw gaping wide as it lunged for Wang Ba. The other snake suddenly expanded in size, coiling through the air to bind Lin Yu.

Lin Yu’s face went pale. She frantically stabbed her hairpin artifact at the giant snake, but the beast dodged with fluid ease.

Panic seized her. She ripped open a talisman, summoning a faint green barrier just as the snake struck.

Bang! The snake recoiled.

“A Wood Armor Talisman? Hah! Watch this Daoist Master break it!”

The strange old man sneered, preparing to channel more power into his pet. But suddenly, his expression twisted into pure horror. He spun around.

“My Red-Tail!”

He saw a Spirit Poultry—a seemingly ordinary chicken—standing triumphantly.

One of its talons pinned the red snake’s tail; the other crushed its head. The chicken’s sharp beak pecked down with surgical precision, striking the serpent’s vital seven-inch point.

No matter how the Red-Tail Snake writhed or snapped, the chicken ignored it.

Rip.

With a wet tear, Alpha-Seven gutted the snake effortlessly. It fished out the snake’s gallbladder, tossed its head back, and swallowed the organ whole.

The movement was fluid, instinctual, and terrifyingly efficient. Like flowing water.

The old man’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets with rage.

Six-tenths of his power relied on those twin snakes.

Alpha-Seven, having devoured the first snake in the blink of an eye, looked up. Its beady eyes locked onto the second, larger snake attacking Lin Yu. It clucked, seemingly unsatisfied, and prepared to charge.

The old man stumbled back, terror overriding his anger.

He was furious about his pet, but he was more terrified of Wang Ba. He couldn’t gauge the depth of this young man at all.

He had thought Wang Ba was a soft persimmon he could squeeze at will. Instead, he had kicked an iron plate.

Alpha-Seven turned its head to look at Wang Ba, awaiting orders.

Wang Ba stared at his spirit beast, genuinely surprised.

He knew Alpha-Seven was a Middle Grade Spirit Beast and wouldn’t be weak, but he hadn’t expected this level of dominance. That Red-Tail Snake had radiated spiritual fluctuations comparable to the 5th Layer of Qi Refining, yet Alpha-Seven had treated it like a worm.

Still, caution prevailed.

“Alpha-Seven, return.”

He unhesitatingly recalled the bird.

At the end of the day, Wang Ba was just a rookie who had barely entered Qi Refining. Without Alpha-Seven guarding him closely, any random enemy cultivator could swat him like a fly.

Seeing the chicken retreat to its master, the strange old man let out a breath of relief. He frantically recalled his surviving snake, turned tail, and fled for his life.

Lin Yu, having survived by a hair’s breadth yet again, didn’t dare drop her barrier. She stared at Wang Ba and the fierce chicken beside him with wide, trembling eyes.

It was as if she was seeing him for the first time.

“You… you’re not a Laborer Disciple?”

Wang Ba ignored her completely. His brows were locked in a tight frown.

He had remembered Zhao Feng’s warning and rushed to Ding-Nine Manor instantly. Yet, even with that precaution, if he hadn’t had Alpha-Seven, he would be dead meat right now.

This place is a death trap.

He hesitated. Should he hold his ground?

His gaze swept the horizon. To the south, the Heavenly Gate Sect swarmed. The east and west were meat grinders of spellfire.

Only the north—the Sect’s core area—offered a sliver of hope.

“Go!”

Wang Ba didn’t waste another second. He sprinted toward the core area.

Lin Yu grit her teeth, stomped her foot in frustration, and scrambled to follow him.

But they hadn’t even left the manor grounds before two figures crashed down from the sky, blocking their path.

Wang Ba’s pupils constricted.

“Damn it! One Qi Refining 7th Layer, one 6th Layer!”

Behind him, Lin Yu let out a whimper of despair. She turned to run back toward the manor, but the enemy was faster. A bolt of Palm Thunder struck the ground in front of her, blasting her back toward Wang Ba.

“Alpha-Seven!” Wang Ba whispered.

Simultaneously, he focused his mind, weaving the Yin God energy to fabricate an illusion: Alpha-Seven disappearing into thin air.

Seeing the spirit beast vanish, the two enemy cultivators instantly went on high alert.

The 6th Layer cultivator closed his eyes. His fingers twitched, and illusory threads of spiritual energy shot out from his palm, scanning the surroundings like a spiderweb.

“There!”

His eyes snapped open. He pointed to his right.

The reaction speed of a 7th Layer cultivator was terrifying. In the same heartbeat, a violent bolt of lightning crashed down on the empty space.

Boom!

Alpha-Seven dodged by a hair’s breadth, but the blinding flash of the lightning illuminated its silhouette.

Wang Ba cursed internally.

This was the fatal flaw of the Yin God power. It could deceive the five senses, but it couldn’t cheat the laws of physics. Where there is light, there must be a shadow.

It was how the patrol disciples had caught him in the tunnel, and it was failing him now.

Furthermore, it couldn’t fool the raw Spiritual Power of a cultivator or the Divine Sense of a Foundation Establishment master.

“Come back!”

Wang Ba’s mind raced as he shouted the command.

He had hoped for an ambush. Now that the element of surprise was gone, sending Alpha-Seven to fight two high-level cultivators alone was suicide. It was better to keep the bird close for defense.

Alpha-Seven moved like a blur. Its speed was its greatest asset; even a 7th Layer cultivator would struggle to catch it in a short sprint.

It landed beside Wang Ba, wings flared, clucking threateningly.

The two enemies, having witnessed the bird’s speed, didn’t rush in blindly. They began to fan out, setting up trapping arrays and closing the net around Wang Ba and Lin Yu.

Wang Ba glanced at Lin Yu, who was paralyzed with fear.

He sighed inwardly.

Looks like I have to use that move.

He subtly curled the pinky finger of his left hand, distorting the joint in a bizarre, unnatural angle. He prepared to raise his hand.

He would drain his own lifespan to fuel a curse. The backlash—the Prions—would be severe, but he had no choice.

Suddenly, a chill kissed his ear.

Whoosh!

A streak of cold light flashed.

The two Heavenly Gate Sect disciples, aggressive and confident a moment ago, didn’t even have time to blink.

Two heads detached from their necks and flew into the sky, blood spraying like fountains.

At the same time, a cold, familiar voice drifted from behind Wang Ba.

“Junior Brother… am I not too late?”