The voice came so unexpectedly that the three were startled. They turned towards the source of the sound, only to find no one there. It was as if a ghost had spoken.
The bearded man bellowed in anger, "Who's there! Who's playing tricks?!"
Suddenly, a sinister demonic claw materialized.
With a loud pop, his head was crushed, and his headless body instantly fell to the ground, splashing the gaunt old man's face with blood.
"Quick to anger is no virtue, you are not suited to serve me," came the calm voice again.
The gaunt old man's eyes widened in shock, and a hint of fear flashed through the young man's eyes as they finally saw who was speaking.
It was a refined-looking middle-aged man, who at first glance appeared unremarkable. Yet, it was he who had effortlessly crushed a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Taking a deep breath, the gaunt old man asked in a grave tone, "Who are you, sir, and why do you come to Black Dragon Mountain to kill our vice sect leader unprovoked?"
As he spoke, his hand subtly moved, directing a swarm of gu insects along the ground towards the refined middle-aged man.
The streak was like lightning, and the ground-crawling insects were instantly crushed into a mess of exploded corpses.
The gaunt old man immediately suffered backlash, spewing blood and staring at the middle-aged man in shock.
"And you, what will you use against me?" the middle-aged man turned to the pale-faced young man.
Without hesitation, the young man knelt on one knee, "Song Junjie, willing to serve you, senior!"
Seeing this, the gaunt old man quickly crawled over as well, "Qian Tang, also willing to serve you, senior!"
The refined middle-aged man smiled and flicked two insect eggs towards them, "Eat these yourselves."
After a moment's hesitation, they both swallowed the eggs. Given that the three were of similar strength and the bearded man was easily crushed by this middle-aged individual, it was clear that his cultivation was likely at the ninth level of Foundation Establishment. They stood no chance against him.
In this situation, obedience was their only option.
The refined middle-aged man was, of course, Chu Xuan. He practiced the Blood Evil Demon Refining Scripture, and any Golden Core cultivator could tell he was once a cultivator from the Extremely Yin Cave simply with their spiritual sense. Given his unique identity, it was natural for him not to align with any particular faction.
Black Dragon Mountain, conveniently located in a lawless area, was perfect to be under his control for personal use.
Qian Tang spoke respectfully, "May I ask how we should address you, senior?"
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
Before Qian Tang could finish, Song Junjie interrupted, "What senior? We should call him master."
"Master, what do you require of us? Please command us!"
Chu Xuan's smile was tinged with amusement. Song Junjie was indeed clever. He was calm in crisis, letting others act first to test the waters. Now recognizing Chu Xuan's strength, he did not hesitate to address him as master.
Chu Xuan spoke lightly, "First, I want you to gather intelligence, big or small, every detail must be reported to me.
Second, I need you to collect demonic cores from various Foundation Establishment stage serpentine demonic beasts."
From now on, Black Dragon Mountain must act discreetly and avoid drawing attention from major sects. Only the two of you are aware of today's events."
Song Junjie and Qian Tang exchanged a glance and nodded respectfully, "Yes!"
In the blink of an eye, Chu Xuan disappeared. The oppressive weight that had loomed over them like Mount Tai vanished.
They looked at the bloodstains left by the bearded man, still shaken. Moments ago, they had been discussing which city to massacre. In a blink, their companion was dead.
If they had not caught the eye of that powerful individual, they might have ended up like the bearded man.
Qian Tang managed a wry smile, "Brother Song, what should we do now?"
He had only wanted to take advantage of the three-way stand-off to carve out a share for himself in this chaotic situation. Yet before he could enjoy any respite, a significant burden had been placed upon their shoulders!
Song Junjie's eyes flickered, "I do not know either. We can only take it one step at a time and, for now, follow his orders."
He dared not say more, fearing their new master might still be listening.
Inside a cave halfway up Black Dragon Mountain, Chu Xuan withdrew his spiritual sense and chuckled.
Song Junjie was right; he had not left. Black Dragon Mountain was not extensive, and with his current spiritual strength, a slight extension of his spiritual sense could envelop the entire area...
"Detestable, is there no way to replenish our meat supplies?" Chu Xuan lamented softly as he gazed at the chunks of meat, which were significantly smaller than before.
Since returning from Black Dragon Mountain, he had spent two additional years cultivating in the Blue Star, focusing solely on physical refinement.
As a result, his physical realm soared, reaching the twentieth layer of body refinement. However, advancing further to the twenty-first layer required an even more terrifying amount of meat daily.
Even the regeneration speed of the meat blocks, enhanced with Psionic Cubes, couldn't keep up with Chu Xuan's consumption rate. He was forced to pause his cultivation for several days, waiting for the meat to grow back before he could continue. This was intolerable. Far too slow.
"No news from Black Blade; they probably haven't found any more Psionic Cubes," Chu Xuan shook his head. He had instructed Wang Gangjian and the others early on to search for more objects like Psionic Cubes.
The agents of Black Blade were diligently searching, yet to no avail. It seemed that in the vast lands of the Han Country, the only Psionic Cube was the one accidentally discovered deep within a mine in Science City.
"There might be Psionic Cubes in other nations of Blue Star," he mused. "But I can't afford to search aimlessly like a headless fly; it would be too time-consuming. The task of gathering intelligence must still be left to Black Blade."
Chu Xuan pondered deeply. Today, Wang Gangjian, Wang Yong, Tang Jinchuan, and Song Dayi of Black Blade had become the absolute core.
With his assistance, the four were able to devour Psionic cores unscrupulously, their levels skyrocketing to the eighth level of superhuman. Wang Gangjian, the leader of Black Blade, had even advanced to the ninth level.
However, the concentration of Psionics in the atmosphere of Blue Star continued to rise. Compared to when Chu Xuan first arrived, it had increased at least fiftyfold.
Now, superhumans were ubiquitous, and extraordinary beings could be found everywhere. First and second level superhumans could no longer make a mark. Only fourth level superhumans were qualified to protect a region, and seventh level ones had the power to establish major forces. Wang Gangjian and his peers were merely ahead of other superhumans.
But even a ninth level superhuman was nothing in Chu Xuan's eyes. With the power of a pseudo-Golden Core and the aid of a flying magic tool, Chu Xuan could soar through the skies unimpeded.
But asking Black Blade's operatives to traverse oceans in search of traces of other Psionic Cubes was, perhaps, a bit challenging.