In a lone valley, sieged by mountains on three sides and a narrow trail on the fourth, the sun’s warm glow barely reached this place throughout the year. Being shrouded in mist, this place was a cesspool of poisonous insects and rats.
Yet this particularly strange environment led to the development of some of the rarest herbs the world had ever seen. To gathered such ingredients, men braved many dangers through the valley, where the mortality rate was incredibly high and the ghosts of the fallen exacerbated the gloom.
People came to call it, Hell Valley.
A thousand years ago, a powerful group stumbled upon this odd place and established a foothold. They even set up a 5th-grade array to safeguard from the gruesomeness of this valley.
This group was the You house, one of the Seven Noble Houses of Tianyu Empire. With time, people came to call this valley as the strongest house that could oppose the Imperial family.
Until now.
In Hell Valley’s meeting hall, Valley Lord You Wanshan was in a poor mood as he sat on his throne. Out of the 12 total seats, 9 seats were occupied by elders. Each time he glanced at the empty seats, his eyes turned savage.
“You Ming!”
You Wanshan bellowed, “Do you mean to say that three of Hell Valley’s elders are dead because of a single kid?”
Kowtowing on the ground and shivering uncontrollably, You Ming replied, “I wouldn’t even think of lying to Valley Lord. Elder Jian, Elder Yun, as well as my master, Seventh elder, were indeed killed by Luo clan’s steward, Zhuo Fan!”
“Useless wench!” You Wanshan slapped the table, “You knew he killed two elders before so why didn’t you report this sooner?”
“Spare me, Valley Lord! It was my master who forbade me. Master found it too weird and ordered me to keep it to myself. He told me that he will find the opportunity to deal with Zhuo Fan. But before he could, Zhuo Fan broke into our city and…”
At this point, You Ming’s voice was choked with sobs.
The rest of the elders snorted.
[All demonic cultivators are cruel and cold, so why is this punk getting so worked up?]
Throwing such a show would make them despise him instead.
The elders were all clear this wasn’t his fault yet refrained from pardoning him. If they’d trade places, they would do the same. If not, they’d be accused of rash thinking and that would be used as an excuse by some others to remove them.
Who would believe that a fresh Bone Tempering kid could kill a Profound Heaven seasoned expert if not for it happening before countless eyes?
“Valley Lord, You Ming might have erred, but he had no control over what happened. Our first priority is to deal with the aftermath.”
This was spoken by the first elder on the right as he stood up, “Tianyu Empire’s mighty clans have set their sights on us. If we let that kid go unpunished, what will the people think? We will become the laughingstock of the empire and our vassal clans will abandon us.”
You Wanshan frowned, his eyes filled with cruelty, “Grand Elder is right. We cannot let that punk get away with this! Wasn’t he some steward of Luo clan? We’ll make the Luo clan answer for his transgression!”
“Valley Lord, you mustn’t!”
A deep and worried voice traveled from an old man with raven hair, seated on the opposite side of Grand Elder.
You Wanshan snorted, “Second elder, what are you trying to say? Do you think it’s alright for someone to kill our people, shame us, and then walk away? What will others think of Hell Valley?”
“Valley Lord, I am not stopping you from settling this debt. Only…”
Second elder muttered something before resuming, “Valley Lord should remember the ban the Emperor enacted a year ago on the seven houses which was against stepping foot in Windgaze City. If we breach it openly, it will give the Imperial family the excuse to strike.”
“Second elder makes a fair point. This is not the time to move in the open. And there are also reports that the Imperial family and Veiled Dragon Pavilion’s experts are patrolling nearby Windgaze City. We will fall into their trap if we go!” Grand Elder urged.
Eying the two most respected elders, You Wanshan hesitated for a while before spatting through gritted teeth, “We can’t do this, we can’t do that! What else can we actually do?”
Even the elders turned silent.
You Wanshan sighed, “This wouldn’t have been such a headache if the seventh elder was here. Blasted punk, he managed to rob me of my wisest adviser. When I get my hands on you, I will skin you alive!”
Seeing them all pensive, the kneeling You Ming darted his eyes left and right before making a tentative remark, “Valley Lord, may disciple be so bold as to convey a solution?”
“Humph, the elders meeting is not something you can join. Get the hell out!” You Wanshan barked without even looking at You Ming. But Grand Elder’s gesture detained him, “Valley Lord, the kid can be considered as seventh elder’s successor. Why not give him a chance?”
You Wanshan conceded when he heard the Grand Elder’s reason.
You Ming’s heart burst with joy as he rushed to explain, “Valley Lord, this disciple’s humble opinion is to ignore the Luo clan. From my observation, Luo clan is relying on Zhuo Fan. With him around, even if we remove the Luo clan, it will only make it worse for us. But if Zhuo Fan is out of the picture, then the Luo clan will fall from grace. They will have no hope of replacing us, Hell Valley!”
You Wanshan’s eyes flickered, “Go on.”
“Yes!” His mouth twisted in a smile, You Ming said, “We cannot approach Windgaze City, but Zhuo Fan is nowhere near it either. We just need to focus all our efforts in dealing with him.”
“And how will we find him?” You Wanshan questioned.
“Issue the Hell Kill Order and have the empire corner him!” You Ming revealed his savage side, “We will then know where he is going, and before he returns to Windgaze City, we can just ambush him.”
You Wanshan cackled, “Good, that’s what we’ll do!”
“Men!” He then shouted orders, “In my name as Hell Valley’s leader, I declare the Hell Kill Order on Zhuo Fan. Anyone who provides clues to his location can become a vassal to Hell Valley. Anyone who brings me his head will become Hell Valley’s number one vassal, ruling above all others!”
You Wanshan’s sinister laughter echoed, to which You Ming followed up with a vile smile.
[Zhuo Fan, you abomination! I won’t dare face you but now you have the whole empire after your head, he-he-he…]
Grand Elder smiled, [As I thought, this kid is still thinking about revenge.] But the elder didn’t care since Zhuo Fan was the enemy of Hell Valley…
Grand Elder stated, “Valley Lord, even if we declare Hell Kill Order on Zhuo Fan, since he killed seventh elder, the weak clans won’t be his match. I think we will have to act if we want to end him after all.”
“Then all elders move out, kill that bastard!”
“Wait!”
Grand Elder gestured, “He killed seventh elder, elders below seventh won’t be of any help. From Ming’er’s retelling of him, he must be a body refining demonic cultivator. The only ones who can stand up to him are the first five elders. Furthermore…”
He turned to a red-haired elder, “Fifth elder, you refined your body with the Scorching Demon Flame. Your unbreakable body is the perfect match for that kid!”
“Don’t look at me!” Yet the man in question shook his hands again and again while smirking, “I am about to join Drifting Flowers Edifice’s Hundred Pill Meeting. I don’t have the time to run around after some snot-nosed brat!”
“Humph, what’s so great being invited by women to a meeting to discuss about pills? Is going there more important than taking revenge for the house?” You Wanshan snapped.
Grand Elder lightened the atmosphere with a smile, “Valley Lord, the Drifting Flowers Edifice may be made up of women, but they are still one of the seven houses. Establishing a close relationship will only work in our favor. They extended an invitation to fifth elder since they took an interest in his fire attribute cultivation method, in hope of refining new pills.”
“Humph, how did a bunch of skanks climb up to our position? One day I will personally go and take over their domain.” You Wanshan said viciously.
Grand Elder shook his head, “Valley Lord, I would like to have You Ming participate in seventh elder’s place in our future elder meetings.”
Staring at You Ming, You Wanshan nodded, “Fine, raise him well, as the next Insidious Demon, ha-ha-ha…”
You Ming was overjoyed in his bowing!
Meanwhile, in Blackwind Mountain, Captain Pang was cultivating by sitting on 36 blades. His body was riddled with scars. While cultivating, black tendrils of energy would leave his body, drift around the blades, and return back to him.
But as each black tendril went back into his body, a new bloody scar adorned his wreaked body, making him frown.
Suddenly, a shadow grew before him and Lei Yuting came from behind.
Cracking his eyelids, Captain Pang stood up with a smirk, “Miss Lei’s Elusive Shadow Art is becoming more and more outstanding. I didn’t even notice you were coming.”
“Humph, your Wraith Art isn’t any less impressive, reaching Bone Tempering Stage in just a year. You’re making those clans’ geniuses jealous.”
“He-he-he, it’s all because of brother Zhuo!” Captain Pang laughed and peeked next to him. Not five meters from him, a 15-year old was braving above other blades as sweat marred his brow and trailed along his scarred body.
But around him were corpses riddled with wounds, as if hacked by countless edged weapons.
“Damn it, what kind of vile method are you cultivating?” Lei Yuting cursed.
Captain Pang replied with indifference, “Of the 20 kids you sent, only one barely made it. Send me another batch.”
“With just one survivor you want more?” Lei Yuting raised her voice in shock.
Captain Pang smirked, “It’s actually quite a good result. For fifty to die while training in this art is normal. But for Luo clan, everything is worth it.”
“Humph, you are hard at cultivating, and what is that brother of yours doing?” Snorting, Lei Yuting fetched a paper, “He killed Hell Valley’s seventh elder and they’ve issued a kill order.”
“What?” Captain Pang burst into laughter, “Brother Zhuo truly does incredible things, shaking the world everywhere he goes.”
Then he patted Lei Yuting’s shoulder, “Miss Lei, don’t be too worried. With brother Zhuo’s skills, Hell Valley’s order won’t affect him.”
“Humph, who the hell cares about him.” Lei Yuting muttered through gnashed teeth, “He just went and provoked Hell Valley over a girl. Since when was he so goody-goody?”
Captain Pang grinned, “So that’s what it was, ha-ha-ha. Sometimes, brother Zhuo quite likes striking a heroic figure.”
“Hero? My ass! You think I don’t know him?” Sighing, Lei Yuting turned into a shadow and vanished.
Captain Pang shouted the next moment, “Don’t mention this to young miss, especially the last part.”
But Lei Yuting’s response didn’t come. Captain Pang sighed, “Ah, women…”