# Chapter 1096: Crimson Butterfly in the Dark Night
The Black Soul Sect, night dark and wind high.
A killing aura filled every corner beneath the night veil. Though night had fallen, the Black Soul Sect was brightly lit with torches. Not a single disciple within the sect was asleep; each trembled with fear, as if facing a great enemy.
With Lei Qianfeng's furious roar spreading throughout the entire sect, everyone knew that after the continuous killing of several thousand disciples, even the sect master's most beloved son, Lei Guangmo, had fallen to Ling Yun's hand. Moreover, the opponent could have killed him outright but deliberately applied a deadly poison, causing him to die slowly before Lei Qianfeng's eyes. The result was exactly as Ling Yun wished—Lei Qianfeng was driven to near madness by pain, fury, and humiliation.
All the areas surrounding the Black Soul Sect were densely packed with ambush squads. All sixty-four halls were mobilized. Such an exaggerated scale just to wait passively for prey was undoubtedly irrational, but the sect master was raging—who dared to defy him?
At the periphery of the Black Soul Sect, four disciples guarding a side door stood straight, not daring to be the least bit lax. At that very moment, their pupils suddenly glowed with an eerie red light, and then their bodies froze, completely motionless, as if petrified.
Beside them, Yun Che's figure slowly materialized.
Over this period, in his cat-and-mouse game with the Black Soul Sect, his shadow concealment ability and Crimson Butterfly Soul Incineration had become second nature. Before leaving the Yin Xue Realm, he had to move with extreme caution while using Moon-Breaking Shadow Flick; sometimes, a slightly larger step could break his concealment. Now, it was almost effortless, as easy as strolling through a courtyard.
The power of the Crimson Butterfly Domain lay not only in its ability to kill silently and invisibly without leaking any profound energy; its most terrifying aspect was that those whose souls were burned by it lost their souls but not their lives. In other words, their aura did not disappear, nor did it undergo any obvious change. That meant even if someone was standing right next to them and had their spiritual sense constantly fixed on that area, they would not detect that the person had died.
Under Yun Che's Crimson Butterfly Domain, the four Black Soul Sect disciples' consciousnesses fell into a boundless sea of fire formed by countless fire butterflies. They could not escape, nor could they even struggle. At that moment, with but a single thought from Yun Che, their consciousnesses would be completely incinerated by the endless flame butterflies.
But Yun Che did not do that, since his goal was not to burn them to death. He swept his gaze, randomly selected one, extended his left arm, and Arcane Firmament instantly invaded the target's consciousness.
The opponent's consciousness was already imprisoned within the Crimson Butterfly Domain, so there was no possibility of any resistance. Arcane Firmament drove straight in, and the memories of the past few days rapidly poured into Yun Che's mind.
In a few moments, Yun Che's eyes lit up. He had been reading the memories of Black Soul Sect disciples not just to learn the sect's internal structure, but more importantly, to find the location of Lei Qianfeng's sons. He had originally planned to go through several people, but unexpectedly, just this one person gave him all the information he needed.
"Excellent." Yun Che muttered, withdrawing his arm. His figure dissipated like thinning mist, completely vanishing into the air.
Several breaths later, the four Black Soul Sect disciples simultaneously shuddered and woke up.
"...Seems like I saw something just now," the same thought flashed through all their minds. They stood straight again, faithfully keeping guard, without the slightest awareness of anything unusual.
Still less did they notice that an invisible figure had casually walked past them.
Though far from comparable to the Ice Phoenix Realm of the Bing Huang God Sect, the main sect of the Black Soul Sect was still vast enough to be called enormous—stretching hundreds of miles from north to south. Without knowing their positions in advance, trying to find specific individuals would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
The atmosphere of the Black Soul Sect tonight was far different from usual. With the sect master's son violently killed, the entire sect was under the shadow of Lei Qianfeng's thunderous rage. And with all sixty-four halls of disciples mobilized, the sect was much quieter than usual.
In the midst of that silence, Yun Che heard a deafening roar from far away.
"...More than five thousand disciples dead, and now even my own son has fallen to Ling Yun's hand. The mighty Black Soul Sect, toyed with and humiliated by a mere Divine Soul Realm cultivator to such an extent, and yet you have no solution... Are all my subordinates nothing but useless good-for-nothings?!"
"I don't care what method you use... Five days, I give you just five days. Even if you have to tear the entire Heiya Realm apart, you must bring Ling Yun back to me... Alive, so I can tear him limb from limb with my own hands! Dead, I'll grind his bones to dust and scatter his ashes!"
"Is there still no news from the Jingyue Realm?... Useless bunch! If you can't find out Ling Yun's background, tell those good-for-nothings they never need to come back again!"
"..."
Is that... Lei Qianfeng's voice?!
After all, who else in the Black Soul Sect could roar like that? There couldn't be a second person.
It seems this guy has a terrible temper.
The voice was extremely hoarse, carrying a terrifying murderous aura, and it came from very close to Yun Che's current position. From the direction the sound came, Yun Che clearly sensed an immensely powerful aura... The moment he detected it, a suffocating weight pressed on his chest.
Lei Qianfeng... Sect Master of the Black Soul Divine Sect, Great Realm King of the Heiya Realm—the only Divine King Realm cultivator in the entire Heiya Realm!
And near that aura, there were several other equally powerful auras that he absolutely could not contend with.
Divine Spirit Realm auras.
Ji Ruyan had said that within the Black Soul Sect, those who had reached the Divine Spirit Realm included several elders, the head of the sixty-four halls, and a limited number of branch sect masters.
Clearly, the enraged Lei Qianfeng had gathered these most powerful members of the sect... This woman in green was Lei Qianfeng's lawful wife; her name seemed to be... Xiao Qingtong?
In appearance, she looked even younger than Lei Guangqian.
"Is that Ling Yun really so terrifying? What deep-seated enmity does he have with our Black Soul Sect? Is it truly what I've heard... because Father often sent people to hunt Wood Spirits?"
"..." Xiao Qingtong said nothing, but nodded.
"Pah! He must be a lunatic!" Lei Guangqian slammed the table, baring his teeth. "Wood Spirits are all born with lowly fates. If we don't kill them, others will. Just for a few Wood Spirits, he's recklessly opposing our Black Soul Sect and killed my seventh brother. Now that Father is completely enraged, no matter how many times stronger he might be, he won't last more than a few days. So let him have his wish and be buried along with those Wood Spirits."
"Qian'er, you must never say things like that, especially not to outsiders." Xiao Qingtong shook her head. "Hunting Wood Spirits is a taboo throughout the entire Shen Realm. I have advised your father many times that with the Shenwu Realm above us, we have no need for such underhanded methods. But he never listened. Now... Qian'er, if you inherit the sect master position in the future, do not forget your seventh brother's death. Never again order the hunting of Wood Spirits."
Yun Che narrowed his eyes. At least you have some conscience... I'll spare your life... though I wasn't planning to kill you anyway.
"Yes, your son understands." Lei Guangqian agreed, but his eyes clearly showed a lack of conviction.
Neither Xiao Qingtong nor Lei Guangqian would ever dream that less than ten zhang away from them, a pair of eyes were coldly watching them.
"Qian'er, rest well tonight. Tomorrow, your father will surely address the entire sect."
"Remember, you must not leave the sect." Before leaving, Xiao Qingtong emphasized again.
"You may go now. The young master wishes to rest." Closing the door behind her, Xiao Qingtong departed, and the maids hurriedly withdrew.
The moment the door closed, Yun Che slowly approached Lei Guangqian without a moment's hesitation. The illusion domain, Crimson Butterfly, was released silently.
Lei Guangqian's profound strength was already at the late stage of Divine Soul Realm. The Crimson Butterfly Domain would not have a one hundred percent success rate on him. But within his own sect, his own courtyard, how could he have the slightest spiritual defense? By the time he sensed something amiss, his soul was already completely imprisoned within the endless Crimson Butterflies. He stood frozen, his gaze vacant, drool trickling from his mouth.
In the beginning, releasing the Crimson Butterfly Domain would cause Yun Che to break out of his concealment state. But now that he had fully mastered the Crimson Butterfly Domain, he could release it while remaining concealed.
Lei Guangqian's consciousness had fallen into the Crimson Butterfly illusion. With a mere thought from Yun Che now, his soul would be completely extinguished, turning him into a living corpse.
But Yun Che clearly did not intend to do that. He picked up the Sound Butterfly Blade, lightly traced the tip coated with Ancient Flood Dragon Venom across the back of Lei Guangqian's neck, then directly turned and headed for the next target.
Yun Che did not immediately dispel Lei Guangqian's Crimson Butterfly illusion. For Lei Guangqian to break free from the Crimson Butterfly illusion on his own would take at least one or two hours.
And that period was more than enough for Yun Che to safely escape the Black Soul Sect.
After leaving Lei Guangqian's courtyard, Yun Che's target was now Lei Yuanzhe, Lei Qianfeng's second son.
Under the oppressively dark night, in less than half an hour, the same process, the same method, the same silent approach—under the terrifyingly perfect Moon-Breaking Shadow Flick, perfectly paired with the Crimson Butterfly Domain—the consciousnesses of Lei Qianfeng's six sons were all imprisoned within the Crimson Butterfly illusion, one after another.
And each one was stabbed with Flood Dragon Venom!
No one noticed anything until Yun Che safely walked out of the Black Soul Sect's main gate.
Stepping out of the Black Soul Sect, Yun Che glanced back and sneered with satisfaction. "Lei Qianfeng, enjoy this grand gift I've presented you! But don't get too excited... An even bigger one is still to come!"