The tainted flesh of Liu Zhiyuan, shattered by an unseen force hundreds of feet from Wang Lin, exploded in a crimson shower, staining the earth below. His very soul, twisted and torn, fragmented under the weight of Wang Lin’s devastating blow.

Only his severed head, propelled by a mysterious power, hurtled towards Wang Lin. He snatched it from the air, a grim trophy, and vanished in a blink from the blood-soaked ground.

In the instant of Wang Lin’s departure, a profound silence descended upon the battlefield. The dying scream of Liu Zhiyuan, a testament to his final agony, echoed across the ravaged plains.

The green-skinned elder of the Green Devil Continent, a Sky-Eater in mid-stage, who had been locked in combat with Lu Wenran, shuddered violently. Abandoning the fight, he retreated hastily. Lu Wenran, his eyes narrowed, had heard the deathly wail.

“A Sky-Eater… fallen?”

“Liu Zhiyuan!” The aged Che Lan, retreating with similar haste, arrived at the site of the carnage, his pupils shrinking at the sight of the bloody remnants. He knew well the ties between Liu Zhiyuan and the Grand Sect Master of the Path-Devil Sect. Witnessing his demise, his heart recoiled in shock.

The elder Zhao, engaged in a desperate struggle with the trio of Yan Luan, followed suit, retreating without a thought for his own defense. In the stunned silence that followed the mournful cry, Yan Luan and his companions arrived at the gruesome scene.

“Liu Zhiyuan… dead?”

The three Sky-Eater neophytes from the Green Devil Continent, their faces drained of color, retreated together, their eyes wide with disbelief.

Across the vast expanse of the Extreme Heaven Grasslands, all who had heard the death scream of Liu Zhiyuan felt a chilling tremor within their souls, their eyes reflecting a dawning horror.

“A Sky-Eater has fallen!”

“That voice… it sounded like Elder Liu!”

“A Sky-Eater… slain in battle!”

A wave of hushed whispers swept through the ranks. The death of a Sky-Eater was a rare and terrifying event.

“Withdraw!” The elder Zhang, his eyes gleaming with a cold light, flung out his sleeve, unleashing a torrent of spiritual energy that swept across the battlefield. He transformed into a streak of light, fleeing with desperate speed, his followers scrambling to keep pace.

Lu Wenran did not pursue, but watched their retreat with a thoughtful gaze.

“The fallen must have been of great significance… but who delivered the killing blow?”

Xu Dongde scanned the landscape, his brow furrowed in puzzlement. He had no knowledge of the Sky-Eater’s killer, yet he was deeply shaken by the event.

“To slay a Sky-Eater in such a short time… who could possess such power?”

Only Yan Zang, her eyes narrowed, glimpsed a flicker of understanding. Within her sleeve, her right hand trembled slightly.

“It is him… the Jiao…”

With the retreat of the Sky-Eaters, the remaining thousands of Green Devil cultivators fled in terror, vanishing into the distance.

“Return to the Earth Palace! Seal it tight and await them! We will only defend within the mist, do not give chase!” Lu Wenran commanded, his gaze sweeping across the ravaged landscape.

“Who could it be…” He muttered, stepping into the earth and vanishing from sight.

The warriors of the Heaven Ox Continent, cloaked in the protective mists, also disappeared into the earth, abandoning the field.

Beneath the Extreme Heaven Grasslands, within the Earth Palace, less than four thousand of the ten thousand warriors who had sallied forth returned. Silently, they retreated to their chambers, bracing for the battles to come.

Wang Lin, his face pale and drawn, mingled with the returning warriors. His clash with Liu Zhiyuan, though brief, had been an arduous trial. He had calculated every detail, from the order of his attacks to his opponent’s reactions, exploiting the depletion of Liu Zhiyuan’s celestial energy and the advantage provided by the mist array.

Even with these advantages, he had suffered wounds. A searing pain throbbed in his chest, demanding immediate attention.

“The first Sky-Eater I have slain… to slay a Sky-Eater is a truly difficult feat!” Wang Lin mused silently. Had it not been for the Heaven Ox array, the task would have been impossible.

He had anticipated that his hand in Liu Zhiyuan’s death would remain unnoticed. In truth, when he attacked, he had contracted the compass-shaped restriction array around himself and Liu Zhiyuan, ensuring that any prying spiritual senses would be met with a blurred and indistinct vision.

Even the Soul Guidance Summoning technique, used to invoke the Ninth Ancestor of the Great Soul Gate, Luo Yunhai, would be difficult to perceive outside the bounds of the array.

Wang Lin held secrets he wished to keep hidden, and he had used the restriction to shroud his actions. Within the Earth Palace, every cultivator was consumed by speculation, wondering who could have slain one of the Green Devil Continent’s Sky-Eaters.

Within the grand hall of the Earth Palace, Lu Wenran, Yan Zang, and the other six Sky-Eaters sat in silent contemplation. Beside them sat the three elders who had earlier dismissed Wang Lin with contempt.

Now, those three elders were visibly shaken. The possibility that someone among their ranks had slain a Sky-Eater of the Green Devil Continent was almost too much to bear. Had Lu Wenran or one of the other Sky-Eaters accomplished the feat, they could have understood. But the slayer was none of them. Who could it be?

“I did not see clearly. In the midst of battle, the Elder Liu retreated, as if seeking to replenish his celestial energy with a pill. Then, a violent struggle broke out.”

“I attempted to probe with my spiritual sense, but there was a restriction in place. It was blurred, indistinct.”

“I too, tried to see what had happened, but found nothing.”

The three Sky-Eaters from the nearby sects spoke haltingly, their voices laced with doubt and fear. They wondered who could have delivered the killing blow, and they feared the power needed to extinguish the life of a Sky-Eater in such a short time.
Having weathered nine cycles of Celestial Tribulation, a cultivator who ascends into the true Void Tribulation stage is, in a manner of speaking, declared nigh immortal. Immortal in the sense that their lifespan stretches forth, almost as long as the heavens and earth themselves. Nigh indestructible, for a Void Tribulation cultivator is exceedingly difficult to slay.

“Who could it be…” one of the three elders, his cultivation not yet having reached the Void Tribulation and who previously looked down upon Wang Lin, murmured, his voice laced with bewilderment.

“It seems a formidable hand is concealed amongst the outer cultivators,” Lü Wenran’s gaze swept across the assembled throng. He did not believe any of those before him capable of vanquishing an equal in such a brief span. As his eyes roved, a single name flickered in his mind, his pupils contracting, yet he swiftly banished the absurd notion.

“It could not be him, he lacks the power,” Lü Wenran thought, the name ‘Wang Lin’ lingering in the back of his mind.

“Enough,” Lü Wenran declared, his countenance darkening. “Since this individual wishes to remain hidden, cease the search. In the end, this event is to our benefit, and perhaps this person will reveal themselves soon enough.” What displeased him was that within the third nexus he guarded, an occurrence had unfolded that he could neither grasp nor perceive. This realization stirred unease within him.

“Is it possible that the one responsible is not even present, but merely traversed this battlefield during the melee?” Xu Dongde mused, his brow furrowed in thought.

His words cast a pall of contemplation over the others. Lü Wenran paused, considering the possibility. It was indeed conceivable, for he refused to believe anyone save himself within these lands possessed the strength for such a feat.

A similar scene unfolded beyond the celestial mist of the Vast Sky Plains. Upon the fringe of the grassland, thousands of cultivators from the Green Demon Continent stood in silent formation, seated in meditation. At the center, the two Void Tribulation mid-stage elders presided, initiating an inquest into the demise of Liu Zhiyuan.

“In all our battles with the Heavenly Bull Continent, we have lost Void Tribulation cultivators before, yet to witness one fall before our very eyes, slain by an unseen assailant, is unprecedented!” The Zhang elder’s face was a mask of fury, barely concealing a palpable fear. He shuddered to imagine the wrath of their sect master, who had secluded himself from the world, should he learn of this.

“Elder Liu’s…” one of the Void Tribulation cultivators who had battled alongside Liu Zhiyuan began hesitantly, unable to complete his sentence.

“The question of identity can wait. Recall the events closely. Was there any hint, any clue? How could such a thing occur in so short a time?” The Zhao elder sighed inwardly and spoke with a measured tone.

“Elder Liu retreated to ingest a restorative elixir. We were obscured by the mist, unable to see clearly. Swiftly after, the sounds of conflict erupted, and within less than an incense stick’s time, the battle ceased…”

“Our divine senses were unable to penetrate. A restrictive barrier kept us at bay…”

“However, I perceived Elder Liu unleash his treasured artifact, drawing upon the essence of countless resentful spirits…” The cultivators recounted the scene as it transpired.

“Elder Zhao,” a woman who had remained silent until now suddenly spoke. She had been among the four alongside Liu Zhiyuan in the battle against the three Heavenly Bull Continent Void Tribulation cultivators. She hesitated, her voice faltering. Under the Zhao elder’s gaze, she steeled herself.

“That barrier that shielded us from using divine sense, beyond the Celestial Bull mist, there was another layer, a restriction. This restriction… I believe it was the Banished Demon Sect’s Void Severing Restriction Formation! I have encountered this formation before; I cannot be mistaken!”

Silence descended. All eyes turned to the Zhao elder, for he was a member of the Banished Demon Sect, one of the three great sects of the Green Demon Continent.

“The Void Severing Restriction… I am not skilled in it, nor familiar with it. I had not detected it,” the Zhao elder said slowly, his eyes gleaming. “But your words bring something to mind… The Dan Sea tragedy. After an investigation by my Banished Demon Sect, coupled with reports from our hidden agents, we identified a Great Soul Gate elder named Wang Lin as the culprit. And within the Dan Sea, a Void Severing Restriction Compass vanished! Yet, according to the central formation of our sect, this compass has not been destroyed.”

The Zhao elder’s gaze rose to pierce the depths of the Vast Sky Plains.

“If this is true, it is likely he who slew Elder Liu! Even if not, he must be connected!”

“Wang Lin…” The Zhang elder’s eyes flashed with murderous intent. He must slay this individual or else face the sect master’s wrath.