Cade’s silhouette tore through the air over the desolate landscape, his sharp gaze scanning the ground below. As far as the eye could see, the barren earth was littered with yellowed bones, many of which were complete skeletons. Some belonged to people, but most were the remains of unknown fallen beasts. Some he recognized; others he could only guess how they had appeared in the flesh.

  As he no longer had to worry about accidentally flying into a time bubble, the Asura used it to his advantage, his body flashing across an expanse thousands of miles wide, where two bestial armies had once clashed, leading to the creation of this vast field of death. Yet no matter where he went, he couldn’t find a fresh carcass of any creature, not to mention a Rank 4 one.

  Cade didn’t despair. After speaking to Night, he was assured that most of his issues with obtaining blood would end after breaking through into Wraith Formation. At least for one realm, his cultivation would shift focus—from the body to the soul and the wraith. This wasn’t limited to gathering soul qi either; he would need to gain enlightenment through experiencing the world and improve his comprehension of heavenly laws.

  In the worst case, he could use a lot of Rank 3 blood to reach the great circle of Flesh Fortification. It would be expensive and take a lot of time, but it was a viable path. In the end, like all cultivators, Cade would sooner or later reach the stage where advancing took years, then decades, and even centuries.

  This meant people around him who had less fortune, talent, or worse opportunities—or just weren’t brave enough to take full advantage of every stroke of luck—would start aging. Still, those who reached the third tier of cultivation had a good chance of living for a thousand years, and those in the fourth tier—between three and four thousand.

  As long as he wouldn’t compromise on his Dao Heart and did his very best to progress, he’d remain young and full of life for thousands of years. The goal of achieving immortality, while sounding ridiculous even to him, was not impossible—at least according to Master Lao Ren.

  Cade was determined to explore every available avenue to speed up his cultivation. The sooner he grew in power, the fewer concerns would await him in this life. Every stage forward meant leaving behind countless experts who no longer were a threat to him. Whatever could speed up his cultivation was invaluable, and Rank 4 blood would shave off many months from the time necessary to reach the great circle of Flesh Fortification.

  Breaking through into Wraith Formation was another concern—he had no idea if the silver bead would be useful there, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have it on hand. Unfortunately, his bead was nearly used up. There might still be another one inside the Tower of Arts, belonging to one of the five-star elders, if the old rock master’s memory was to be trusted, but obtaining it would be next to impossible.

  There was still some time before his meeting with his friends, so Cade took this opportunity to travel around the Beast Battlefield, scouring the ground for signs of fresh carcasses. Alas, to no effect. After nearly ten hours of fruitless searching, he was considering giving up when distant shouts and a clang of weapons reached him from afar.

  Cade narrowed his god eyes, revealing a baffling scene. He stopped mid-air, brows raised, watching as around forty disciples—a mixed group from all three organizations—viciously battled each other. Those were no sparring sessions; dozens of formation circles flashed in the air, huge swords crashed down, tearing at the ground, beams of energy fired into the sky—it was absolute chaos.

  These people were dead set on killing each other, but that wasn’t what truly caught his attention. They all seemed to be fighting over a large insect body frozen inside a time bubble, though it was not nearly as big as the silver dragon he had fought. This creature was maybe two hundred feet long and a hundred wide at the most, with a black, shining carapace covered in vicious, serrated spikes. It looked like a terrifying cross between an ant and a mantis. Simply looking at it, he got a strong impression this savage insectoid beast was born for one purpose—to destroy.

  One of the disciple groups set up a sprawling, highly sophisticated formation under the creature’s chitinous belly, using hundreds of mid-grade spirit crystals. His god eyes told him the glowing circle dense with runes was channeling energy into the bubble. It didn’t take an expert to understand someone was trying to free this chitinous horror from its time trap. Examining the energy density, it appeared the job was almost done, with little precious qi left in the crystals.

  As the giant insect was still frozen in time, it was impossible to tell whether it was alive or dead—or what its cultivation was. Cade assumed it had to be Rank 4, considering the ridiculous cost of setting up the formation—well into the millions. A greedy grin stretched his face, and his body blurred toward the battle, firing a pulse of life sense.

  The result forced him to stop mid-air.

  Death Dao.

  The mixed group of cultivators on the side of the formation—he counted twenty-six people—were all infected with the death worm, though their life signatures were only mildly weakened, unlike Castien’s. Then his eyes fixed on a known figure, and his heart sank.

  Jade?!

  Her life signature was there as well, and she definitely wasn’t in the group fighting for the living, which had now shrunk to only fourteen cultivators. She and another Sword Dao disciple fought Aria, who was being pushed to her limits by just defending. The princess’s cultivation had advanced once again—she had already entered the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and her companion was at the same level.

  No wonder she has been progressing so fast.

  Several bodies lay motionlessly around the battlefield, but it was impossible to tell which group they belonged to.

  Cade clenched his fists, furious at himself for not realizing sooner that Jade might have been infected, but mostly at Death Dao.

  It was obvious there were a lot more Death Dao spies than Grandmaster Erendriel had thought, although the ones wearing Sword Dao robes seemed to have been infected only recently. Now that he focused his god sight on Jade, he could perceive a very faint aura of death qi around her. He pushed his eyes further, revealing the contents of her brain—and a tiny black worm nested between the hemispheres.

  Everything clicked into place. Her weird, detached behavior didn’t appear because of memory loss, but due to being infected with this undead thing. It was done in a clever way that could mislead even fourth-tier experts like Erendriel.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Then his jaw briefly tensed. He saw Elanis and Cara Long, both fighting for the living.

  I suppose I’ll have to let them off for now, Cade grimaced.

  The good news was most Death Dao disciples were rather weak—definitely not on Castien’s level. Like Jade, many were fairly recent additions. This led him to believe the princess wasn’t infected by accident, but was rather part of a much bigger plan.

  That half-dead fucker was building a sect within a sect.

  There was no time to deliberate. He ignited the mist inside the crimson ribbons wrapped around his body, and his form blurred, moving so quickly that to a mortal it’d seem he vanished from the spot.

  In the next moment, earth erupted in front of Jade and her companion. The man was caught by surprise and instantly hurtled backward, but Jade leaped out of the way in a spinning, acrobatic twist. Her sword flashed, releasing a buzzing law-severing arc at the Asura from an unexpected angle, which he rushed to dodge.

  She’s so fast!

  Clouds of choking dust slowly spread around the area, and Cade used this opportunity to suffocate the battlefield in billowing waves of crimson mist, its ignited tendrils snapping at the princess from all sides. Her spirit jian flickered, making quick work of anything that came too close, but despite her impressive swordsmanship, there were too many targets for her to handle.

  A dozen tendrils shot at her legs, rooting her in place; another dozen wrapped around her arms, preventing her from casting further seals. A partially manifested black sun the size of a mansion that started forming above her head dispersed into a cloud of harmless particles. Despite the princess’s impressive skill, Cade’s mist was tireless. Within a single breath, Jade was overwhelmed and dragged to the ground, snarling like a wild animal.

  All the cultivators disentangled from their fights, shouting in alarm. Those on the living side were more than happy to use this opportunity to retreat and recuperate. The Death Dao side, however, promptly noticed they could not depart in the same manner, as the mist restrained their limbs like tireless crimson vines. They screamed for help, but there was nobody to free them—only dense crimson fog forming endless tendrils, which, when destroyed, reformed immediately.

  Unfortunately for the Death Dao lot, Cade had nearly 3,000 spherules and more prismatic dust than he knew what to do with. Unless they had some unexpected, powerful means—or much higher cultivation—there was no way for them to break out from the grips of his Mist Resonance Art.

  Aria, who also retreated, stared wide-eyed as the billowing crimson waves in front of her, watching as the mist formed a known face.

  “Retreat for now, Martial Sister. I’ll take care of it,” its voice sounded just like Cade’s, the mist being a perfect carrier for all of his natural laws. Aria’s initially shocked expression swiftly eased into gratitude, and she nodded, shooting further back and swallowing a potent healing pill.

  At the same time, scarlet tendrils formed a huge, fanged skull above them—adding dramatic flair—and a low voice boomed around the battlefield.

  “Cultivators! You might not know this, but the people defending the formation are all Death Dao spies—the so-called half-dead! Calmly retreat outside the range of my mist—it won’t harm you—and we’ll have this problem solved in no time.”

  Vaporous hands began gently pushing on the uninfected disciples, guiding them outside Cade’s crimson domain.

  Most Death Dao cultivators present had barely entered the late stage of Foundation Establishment or Skeletal Reinforcement. They were no match for the Asura and couldn’t escape his ignited mist, even with the help of their worms, though quite a few tried their best.

  Regrettably for them, they had been fighting for some time and expended a lot of energy. Many life signatures showed early stages of qi deprivation. The ignited mist easily bound them with its endless snapping tendrils, with a few more wrapping around the disciples’ necks, constricting their breathing.

  Cade’s lips pulled back into a predatory grin. Choking out these cultivators took no effort.

  The time was coming to reveal himself. The Asura encased his body in Life Armor, used the mist to bring Jade over—who kept trying to free herself while cursing him like a tavern wench—and force-fed her a stasis pill. Doing the same with all the captured Death Dao disciples—less one—took him only a few breaths. He used this opportunity to relieve them of their material burdens, then drank several gulps of blood essence to refill his heart. Condensing Life Armor to the peak of the middle stage used a little over a third of his total qi—not half, as previously. It was still a significant expense but well justified.

  The disciples in the True Core and Muscular Enhancement realms on the side of Death Dao—of whom there were three—managed to escape above the living scarlet clouds, but it didn’t gain them much. It was impossible to see anything inside the mist, and they couldn’t easily locate any of their comrades, especially since Cade had already begun moving all their unconscious bodies.

  Unsure of what they were dealing with, none of the three chose to act; instead, they floated high, assessing the situation and discussing it in hushed voices. Apparently, freeing the trapped Death Dao disciples wasn’t high on their priority list, possibly because their expensive formation had already been close to finishing its job.

  “Who dares to spread such blatant lies? Reveal yourself!” One of the three stepped forward—a young female elf with violet hair. A hint of panic lingered in her voice; she didn’t carry the worm long enough to have most emotions erased. Purple lightning crackled menacingly around her. Cade recalled her name—Lyra, a top disciple of the Lightning School.

  The Asura dejectedly shook his head. So many young, promising cultivators had been infected.

  Grandmaster Erendriel had mentioned that removing the infection was rarely successful, and in most cases, both host and worm died. But that didn’t necessarily mean it had to be that way. After all, Divine Transformation might have been the pinnacle on the Sun Continent, but in the grand universe, it was just a fart in the wind.

  Cade wasn’t planning to rescue anyone else from Death Dao ranks other than Jade. He despised the undead, and these infected cultivators would eventually turn into real monsters. Once someone was taken by the worm, their nature fundamentally changed. Jade was the best example.

  Most of the disciples he had put in stasis were going to die regardless of what he did. Right now, with a mere snap of his finger, all those below the True Core and Muscular Enhancement realms could peacefully pass away—they were already in stasis. The Mist Resonance Art was terrifyingly powerful, but only to targets that didn’t have much higher cultivation than him.

  After some thought, Cade decided to hold back for now. It didn’t require much to take a life, but it was impossible to return it. It was better to let their respective sects deal with them in any way they saw fit.

  Most experts on the living side had settled some distance away from the mist, eyeing the crimson vapor suspiciously while swallowing pills and revolving spiritual qi. They observed the situation unfold with apprehension, Aria among them—though her expression didn’t show concern.

  The three cultivators floating above the mist twitched, rapidly retreating as the dense scarlet fog below billowed out. From the thick red cloud, a powerful form emerged, dressed in ornate blood-red armor, hundreds of glowing scarlet tendrils trailing behind it. From under its voluminous hood, a fanged skull stared.

  A plain, wide platform solidified under the figure’s feet, and behind it, a large, blocky throne took shape.

  The skull-faced warrior slowly sat down, his empty gaze fixed on the three in front, as his clawed fingers drummed on the crimson armrest.

  Suddenly, a man screamed, his body tearing out of the mist. The drumming stopped, and all heads snapped toward the lone silhouette, watching in terror as dozens of mist tendrils shot from the dense red clouds, whipping around the man to drag him back.

  Cade left him conscious after a symbolic struggle, mostly to intimidate the three hovering disciples. Half-dead weren’t keen on throwing their lives away.

  The Asura sat unmoving like a statue for a spell, his eyeless stare drilling into the unnerved cultivators in front. Deciding this would be enough showing off, Cade finally spoke.

  “Let’s talk.”