Chapter 1089: Silent Red Butterfly
In the eastern part of the Black Soul Mountain Range, the territory of the Soul Sect.
Lei Kuangfeng was the deputy hall master of the Soul Sect's Thirty-Sixth Hall. He was tall, his face stern, and his imposing eyes stared fixedly at the neatly lined-up disciples before him.
"Something happened over at Heiya City, so the hall master went there this morning. That means I'll be supervising this assessment," Lei Kuangfeng said, sweeping his gaze across them. "You are the most outstanding hundred disciples out of the thirty thousand in the Thirty-Sixth Hall! The future of the Thirty-Sixth Hall, and even of the entire Soul Sect, rests on your shoulders. You should be proud of that!"
"But only twenty of you will be able to participate in the grand tournament three months from now. Today is the first round of the assessment. If you want to take part in the grand tournament, then show me what you've got!"
Before him stood a hundred Soul Sect disciples, all clearly from the younger generation. Yet their profound energy auras were astonishing—nearly sixty percent were at the late stage of the Divine Origin Realm, while the remaining forty percent had already reached the Divine Soul Realm. The strongest among them were close to the middle stage of the Divine Soul Realm.
To have achieved such cultivation at less than sixty years of age was an absolutely proud and peerless feat for a lower star realm.
These were the top hundred among the tens of thousands of young disciples in the Thirty-Sixth Hall of the Soul Sect. Within the entire Heiya Realm's younger generation, they were at the very pinnacle.
"The rules have been made very clear. You have only two hours." Lei Kuangfeng raised two fingers. "Within two hours, no matter what results you obtain, you must return here. If you exceed two hours—even by a single breath—then don't bother coming back. Just go straight back to the sect, do you understand?!"
"Understood!" the disciples answered in unison.
"Good! The assessment begins. You may go!"
At Lei Kuangfeng's command, the disciples quickly dispersed, their figures vanishing into the various corners of the Black Soul Mountain Range. Lei Kuangfeng remained where he was, closing his eyes to rest.
A short while later, in a valley nestled between two low hills, a Soul Sect disciple advanced slowly. As a young disciple at the Divine Soul Realm, he had a great deal of capital for pride and the qualification to act alone.
He sensed the aura of a profound beast not far ahead and moved closer cautiously... but he was completely unaware that, just five feet away from him, a figure existed that his spiritual perception could not detect, and even his eyes could not see. As he moved forward, that invisible figure silently raised a small blade as delicate as a blue butterfly.
Ding!!
A burst of profound energy—not intense, even negligible—erupted instantly, then vanished in a flash so brief it was barely perceptible. The Soul Sect disciple felt a sudden itch on his neck, as if bitten by a mosquito, and instinctively reached up to swat at it. Then, his field of vision suddenly shifted...
His head fell cleanly from his neck, his face not even having time to register fear, let alone utter a cry.
With the instantaneous release of profound energy, Yun Che's figure materialized. He quickly pointed a finger backward, and the headless corpse of the Soul Sect disciple, still standing there, was coated in a thin layer of ice. Before the blood energy could disperse, it was completely sealed off.
Yun Che didn't look back. He took two steps forward, and his figure vanished into the air once more.
At that moment, a second Soul Sect disciple appeared in the valley. He immediately spotted the headless corpse, a look of alarm flashing across his face. Just as he was about to rush over, a cold light shot out from the air to his right, sealing his throat with a single strike!
In another direction, four Soul Sect disciples were advancing together. Yun Che concealed himself on a boulder over thirty meters high, his cold gaze locking onto the four of them.
Using Moon-Breaking Shadow Flick combined with the Sound Butterfly Dagger for assassination, he was confident that against anyone below the Divine Tribulation Realm, he could achieve absolute silence and safety. But this was only suitable for killing isolated individuals. For multiple targets, striking without being detected in a single instant—two were manageable, three were somewhat difficult, and four were too much... after all, these were no ordinary Soul Sect disciples!
When the four reached the area below his line of sight, he did not move. Instead, he suddenly revealed his form, and in his cold pupils, two points of crimson-gold flame ignited.
An invisible soul force spread outward.
Illusory Domain — Red Butterfly!!
At that moment, the four Soul Sect disciples' steps stopped simultaneously. Their gazes fixed forward, gradually going vacant, and in their pupils reflected the image of a crimson butterfly fluttering its wings.
"Did you see that? A butterfly like fire," one disciple said.
"No kidding, of course I saw it. But this is the first time I've seen this kind of butterfly. Could it be some kind of fire spirit?" another disciple replied, watching the red butterfly fluttering "before his eyes" without sensing anything unusual.
"How could there be a fire spirit here? Oh, here comes another one... and then a dozen more. Strange, where are they flying from?" As he spoke, he was completely unaware that his eyes were growing more and more vacant, and his voice was becoming increasingly faint.
"It seems... more and more... more and more... more and... more..."
The flaming red butterflies dancing in their vision went from one to two, then in a daze became a dozen... hundreds... thousands... until they filled their entire field of view, their entire world... In the end, there were no longer any traces of the red butterflies in their sight, only a sea of blazing flames.
And when the flames died out, their soul flames had also burned to ash.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The four Soul Sect disciples fell like wooden stakes toppled by the wind, one after another within two breaths. Their deaths were identical—expressions dull, eyes wide but without any luster, only a grayish white.
Yet their bodies still exuded life: blood flowing normally, hearts beating steadily... but they would never awaken.
Yun Che's figure vanished again at that moment, closing in on his next target in complete invisibility.
The Red Butterfly Domain—a power from the eighth level of the Golden Crow World-Incinerating Record. It was the second spiritual domain Yun Che possessed, after the Dragon Soul Domain. But while the Dragon Soul Domain was a fierce and overwhelming spiritual intimidation, the Red Butterfly Domain, though far less domineering, was even more ruthlessly merciless—soul incineration!
What made it even more terrifying was that it released Golden Crow flame energy through the soul as a medium, without any outward manifestation of Golden Crow flame. As long as it was controlled properly, it could be achieved in complete silence!
——
With nearly an hour left before the assessment ended, Lei Kuangfeng suddenly opened his eyes.
He sensed something was wrong.
The mountain region before him was eerily quiet. There were no shouts from the disciples, no roars from profound beasts. Even the slightest breeze passing his ears was distinct and clear.
A feeling of inexplicable unease arose in his heart. He leaped into the air, quickly expanding his spiritual perception, but for a long time, he could not detect the aura of any disciple.
The unease in his heart suddenly amplified. He hurriedly flew deeper into the mountain range, scanning the ground below. At last, at a certain moment, he detected several life auras... but then, his pupils contracted, and he dove down.
Six people lay sprawled on the ground, bodies stiff, eyes wide but with no visible pupils. Their breathing and auras were extremely faint. There were no wounds or blood energy on their bodies, but they were completely motionless, as if they had lost their souls.
"Wh-what is this?!" Lei Kuangfeng was greatly alarmed. He flipped over sharply, releasing his profound energy, and roared, "Who?! Who dares to ambush my Soul Sect?! Get out here!!"
His roar echoed far across the mountain region, but there was no response.
As the ice melted, the blood energies that had been sealed began to dissipate rapidly. Following the blood energies, Lei Kuangfeng found one disciple's corpse after another. Their deaths were all identical: decapitated, the cuts on their necks and bodies as smooth as if polished.
Yet the expressions on their faces rarely showed fear; some were even completely calm.
As for the disciples who had not been decapitated, all of them had their eyes wide open. Their bodies still had life, but their consciousness had turned to nothing.
As his alarm grew, he found six... ten... thirty... sixty... one hundred...
All one hundred disciples' bodies were found, not a single one spared!
And yet, throughout it all, he had not detected a single abnormal sound or aura. He had not heard any transmission from any disciple.
The only explanation was that these disciples, whether acting individually or in groups, had all been killed in an instant—and in complete silence! Otherwise, even half a breath of time to allow any disciple to let out a slightly louder cry of alarm would have been noticed by him.
Even more terrifying than instant annihilation was that to instantly kill a Divine Soul Realm disciple in one blow, even a Divine Tribulation Realm cultivator would need to use more than half their strength. With that level of power, over a distance that was not too far, even if it was immediately restrained after release, there was no reason he wouldn't have sensed it.
But with all one hundred disciples dead, he had been completely oblivious!
This unknown terror made Lei Kuangfeng's scalp tingle. A cold shiver shot up his spine... Impossible! How could such a thing happen? Could it be a ghost... or a demon god?
"Who?! If you've got the guts, come out!! You dare provoke our Soul Sect? Just wait for your entire clan to be wiped out!"
Lei Kuangfeng roared wildly, spinning around in the air. Under the seemingly imposing momentum of his shouts, there was only trembling and fear.
If these had only been ordinary young disciples of the Soul Sect, it might have been bearable. But these one hundred disciples who had died so bizarrely were not ordinary disciples—they were the most outstanding hundred of the Thirty-Sixth Hall's current generation. For the Thirty-Sixth Hall, and even for the entire Soul Sect, this was an immense loss.
The most direct consequence was that in the upcoming grand tournament, the Thirty-Sixth Hall would be reduced to the bottom. Their younger generation would have no one worthy of note.
Under the ice-cold fear in his heart, the momentum he had forcibly mustered quickly collapsed. He grabbed two disciples at random and flew rapidly toward the main sect. When he reached the spot where he had been earlier, he suddenly sensed a rather strong scent of fresh blood.
Right where he had been resting with his eyes closed for an hour, there were now two large lines of blood characters:
"One hundred thousand Black Soul lives, blood sacrifice to the Wood Spirit Soul!"
—Ling Yun.
The blood energy billowed; it had clearly been written just moments ago. Yet neither before nor now had he sensed any aura at all.
Lei Kuangfeng felt his body begin to tremble uncontrollably. He took out a Mysterious Shadow Stone to record the image of these blood characters, then dared not shout anymore. Instead, he fled desperately toward the sect.