Heaven rewards diligence, but there are always fairies plotting against me.

The flames and clamor of the battle at Qingshi Mountain gradually faded into the distance, and billowing smoke obscured half the sky, announcing that the Xiao family, which had been passed down for hundreds of years, had completely become dust of history.

Chu Chang, dressed in gray and wearing a bamboo hat, looked like an ordinary wandering monk as he sped along a desolate path.

Having just broken through to the Purple Mansion Realm, the chaotic true essence within his body surged forth like a mighty river.

Each breath resonates with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth surrounding the body.

Although he forcibly seized the blood sacrifice energy of the Xiao family, after the transformation of the "Taiyin-Taiyang Chaos Body", his foundation was extremely solid, without the slightest trace of superficiality.

"Once this matter is settled, and I return to the sect to hand over the mission, I can legitimately leave the Divine Sword Sect and head deeper into the Great Yuan Dynasty," Chu Chang thought to himself.

The attitude of the Divine Sword Sect has completely disappointed him. Now that he has reached the Purple Mansion stage, this small sect can hardly provide him with much protection and resources anymore.

However, just as he passed through a forest of jagged rocks and reached a canyon entrance no more than fifty miles from the Divine Sword Sect's mountain gate, his steps suddenly halted.

The wind in the canyon suddenly stopped at that moment.

A faint yet immense sense of oppression slowly spread from the shadows ahead.

Chu Chang raised his head, his eyes under the bamboo hat narrowing slightly.

On a huge rock ahead stood a middle-aged man dressed in a purple-gold Taoist robe. His hands were behind his back, his face was refined and dignified, and his eyes were as deep as the sea as he quietly looked at Chu Chang.

Lin Wuwen, Sect Master of the Divine Sword Sect!

Chu Chang's heart skipped a beat, but his face quickly regained its composure. He clasped his hands in a salute and said, "Disciple Chu Chang greets Sect Master. May I ask what orders you may give me here?"

Lin Wuwen floated down from the boulder, his clothes spotless.

He looked at Chu Chang, a gentle smile on his face, though the smile didn't reach his eyes: "Chu Chang, I've heard you've caused quite a stir down the mountain recently. How's the matter with the Xiao family going?"

Chu Chang's mind raced, and he replied in a deep voice, "Sect Master, the evidence of the Xiao family's collusion with the demonic path is irrefutable. Today, the major families of Qingzhou and countless rogue cultivators besieged Qingshi Mountain, and the Xiao family put up a stubborn resistance. When I arrived at the back of the mountain, the patriarch Xiao Wanshan and Xiao He were still putting up a stubborn resistance, and both of them had already fallen into the demonic path. Now, Xiao Wanshan died in the melee, and Xiao He was also devoured by the demonic power and vanished into thin air. The Xiao family has been completely destroyed."

Chu Chang concealed the fact that he had forcibly seized the Blood Essence and broken through to the Purple Mansion realm, presenting himself as a bystander who happened to be there.

"Oh? Xiao He is dead, and the Xiao family is destroyed..." Lin Wuwen sighed softly, his tone carrying a strange meaning. "What a pity. The Xiao family's hundreds of years of accumulation have been so easily given away to those greedy rogue cultivators."

"With the greater good of the sect at hand, evil cannot prevail over good. The Xiao family brought about their own destruction, and they have no one to blame but themselves," Chu Chang said calmly. "If the sect leader has no further instructions, this disciple will return to the inner sect to hand over the mission."

Having said that, Chu Chang slightly turned his body, intending to walk past Lin Wuwen.

The moment their paths crossed, Lin Wuwen's gentle smile vanished, replaced by an extreme coldness and greed.

"Leave? You've ruined my grand plan, where do you think you can go?"

boom!!!!

Without any warning, Lin Wuwen suddenly made his move.

His fair palm instantly turned pitch black, his five fingers forming claws, carrying a thick, almost indistinguishable, viscous blood aura, as he viciously grabbed at the back of Chu Chang's head!

The intense blood energy was so strong that it even transformed into countless agonizing, roaring faces of wronged souls in mid-air.

A chilling, violent, and bloody aura swept over everything, far more powerful than the demonic arts Xiao He had unleashed in the blood pool!

This is absolutely not the orthodox Xuanmen cultivation method of the Divine Sword Sect, but the purest and most advanced demonic blood cultivation method!

"What???"

Although Chu Chang had been on guard, Lin Wuwen's sudden attack still took him by surprise.

What shocked him even more was the power attribute that erupted from Lin Wuwen.

"Pure Yang Protection!!"

Before he could think any further, Chu Chang's true essence erupted, and a dark golden sun instantly burst forth behind him.

boom!

Lin Wuwen's blood-red ghost claw slammed hard onto the dark golden sun, producing a piercing scraping sound.

The golden pure yang fire and the black and red blood energy intertwined and melted wildly, unleashing a destructive wave.

The powerful force rebounded, and Chu Chang used the force to retreat a hundred feet, landing steadily on the ground.

Although he was not injured, the seemingly indestructible pure yang true essence in front of him was actually corroded by that sinister blood energy, developing spiderweb-like cracks.

Chu Chang raised his head, staring intently at Lin Wuwen, his eyes filled with disbelief: "Lin Wuwen...you, you're actually from the Blood Fiend Sect?!"

The sect leader of the righteous Divine Sword Sect, a renowned sword master in Qingzhou, is actually a deeply hidden demonic tycoon!

No wonder the higher-ups of the Divine Sword Sect tried so hard to cover up Xiao He's affairs, and no wonder they went to great lengths to suppress the matter of the dungeon!

It wasn't for any grand strategy at all, but because the real mastermind behind it all was the person in charge of the Divine Sword Sect!

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Lin Wuwen burst into maniacal laughter, his once refined face now contorted and grotesque in the blood-red light: "So what if it is? If it weren't for you, you troublesome little beast, interfering and ruining the Xiao family's grand scheme, I would have already used the energy from the Xiao family's blood sacrifice to break through to the late stage of the Purple Mansion Realm and completely control the Divine Sword Sect!"

"The Xiao family is nothing but my dogs. Xiao He is just a pawn in my game."

Lin Wuwen sneered, "You little beast, not only did you ruin my plans, but you even dared to secretly break through to the Purple Mansion realm? I was wondering where the blood essence that had accumulated in the blood pool for years had gone, and it turns out it was swallowed up by you, this scum with a special physique!"

Lin Wuwen's eyes gleamed with greed: "Good, very good! Your physical body and cultivation are simply the best tonic for me! Killing you will allow me to break through just as easily!"

"You troublesome brat, get the hell out of here!"

Lin Wuwen formed a hand seal, and the blood-red light behind him shot into the sky, transforming into a blood-red curtain that blotted out the sun and completely sealed off the entire canyon.

Faced with a renowned mid-stage Purple Mansion Realm demonic cultivator, Chu Chang did not hesitate at all and immediately made the most rational choice: to flee!

He had just broken through to the early stage of the Purple Mansion Realm, and although his foundation was strong, his opponent was not only at a higher realm but also, as the head of a sect, possessed countless trump cards. To engage in a direct confrontation before understanding his opponent's true strength would be a foolish choice.

Swish!

Golden light flashed beneath Chu Chang's feet, and his entire body transformed into a golden rainbow, tearing through the edge of the blood-red sky and fleeing towards the outside of the canyon.

"Trying to leave? Do you think you can leave before me?!"

Lin Wuwen snorted coldly and suddenly flicked his sleeve.

"roar!!!!"

Three deafening roars suddenly erupted from the cliffs on both sides of the canyon.

Immediately afterwards, three tall and ferocious figures descended from the sky, crashing heavily onto Chu Chang's escape route, creating three deep craters in the ground.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amidst the flying debris, three extremely terrifying and violent auras, no less powerful than those of cultivators at the Purple Mansion Realm, swept outwards.

Chu Chang was forced to stop his escape light and looked at the three giant objects in front of him with a solemn expression.

Those were three terrifying puppets, each two zhang tall, covered in dark red keratinous skin.

Their faces were stripped away, replaced by metal masks with blood-red flames burning in their eyes.

Even more bizarrely, each of them had a violently beating, blood-red demonic heart embedded in its chest, constantly pumping viscous black blood throughout its body.

"Blood Demon Puppet!"

Chu Chang recognized the thing. This was an extremely vicious corpse-refining technique of the Blood Fiend Sect, which required a living Purple Mansion Realm cultivator to have their soul drained, be infused with demonic blood, and endure forty-nine days of torture to be refined.

Each of these three demonic puppets possesses the physical strength of someone at the early stage of the Purple Mansion Realm in life, and they are unaware of pain and fearless of death!

The moment the three demonic puppets landed, they locked onto Chu Chang, letting out beast-like growls as they pounced forward like lightning.

"Boy, obediently become my nourishment!"

Behind them, Lin Wuwen approached leisurely with a cruel smile.

With a powerful demonic puppet blocking his way in front and an unfathomable demonic sect master approaching from behind, Chu Chang, who had just broken through to the Purple Mansion realm, was instantly plunged into an unprecedented life-or-death crisis.

In the canyon, the wind howled, stirring up sand and stones everywhere.

Three Blood Fiend Puppet stood in a triangular formation, their massive bodies radiating a suffocating sense of oppression.

The blood-red demonic heart on their chests throbbed rhythmically, emitting a deep, thunderous "thump-thump" sound.

With each throb, rich demonic blood is channeled into their meridians, causing their dark red keratinous skin to shimmer with an eerie luster.

"roar!!!"

With a ferocious roar, the demonic puppet on the far left launched the first attack.

Its massive body displayed a terrifying speed that was completely disproportionate to its size in that instant, leaving a blurry, bloody afterimage in the air.

In the blink of an eye, it had already closed in on Chu Chang, and a jet-black iron fist the size of a millstone, accompanied by a piercing sonic boom, slammed down hard on Chu Chang's head.

Before the fist even arrived, the violent force had already cracked the ground beneath Chu Chang's feet.

Chu Chang's gaze sharpened, and the Purple Mansion True Essence that had just gathered within his body erupted like a dam bursting. He did not choose to temporarily avoid the attack, but instead threw a punch in return.

"True Fist of the Sun!"

Dark golden pure yang essence condensed on the fist, transforming into a miniature, dazzling sun.

The extremely yang and powerful energy collided violently with the sinister blood energy on the demonic puppet's fist in the void.

boom!!!

A deafening roar, like spring thunder, echoed through the canyon. A tangible shockwave swept outwards in a ring, shattering the surrounding boulders, some tens of meters high.

Chu Chang felt a tremendous force surge up his arm, causing his blood and qi to churn violently.

The physical strength of that demonic puppet was even more terrifying than he had imagined. That simple punch had at least hundreds of thousands of pounds of force!

Ding Ding Deng!

Chu Chang retreated three steps, each step leaving a footprint several inches deep in the hard rock.

The demonic puppet was only knocked back half a step, its body swayed slightly, and then it regained its balance.

Before Chu Chang could catch his breath, the other two demonic puppets had already flanked him from the left and right.

The demonic puppet on the right had its ten fingers slightly bent, and its ten claws, glowing with a ghostly green poisonous light, were like ten steel knives, slicing through the air with a piercing shriek, and stabbing straight into Chu Chang's ribs!

The most powerful demonic puppet in the middle opened its mouth and spewed out an extremely thick blood-red mist. As soon as the mist appeared, it emitted a pungent, corrosive odor, causing the surrounding air to hiss and erode, and then it enveloped Chu Chang.

"The Yin Guardian!"

Despite being in dire straits, Chu Chang remained calm and composed.

He drew a mysterious arc with his hands in front of him, and the Yin energy within his body surged out instantly, transforming into a white light curtain around him that was as bright as moonlight, yet as cold as ice.

Chi Chi Chi!

The highly corrosive blood mist struck the Taiyin light barrier and was instantly frozen by the extremely cold Taiyin energy, turning into black and red ice shards that drifted down.

However, at the same time, the claws of the demonic puppet on the right also slammed into the light screen.

Snap!

A piercing cracking sound rang out. After holding out for a moment, the Taiyin Light Barrier was ultimately unable to completely withstand the violent blow that possessed the power of a Purple Mansion stage body, and shattered with a crash.

The eerie green claws, still sharp, grazed Chu Chang's chest, tearing his grey robes in an instant and leaving five deep, bone-revealing bloody gashes.

Strangely, no blood flowed from the wound. Instead, it was instantly enveloped by a layer of ghastly green poisonous gas, and the flesh began to turn black and rot at a visible speed.

Chu Chang grunted, his body flying backward with the force of the recoil, flipping in the air before landing somewhat awkwardly a hundred feet away.

"Hahaha! How does my Blood Fiend Puppet taste?"