Under the dark clouds that night, the cultivators wreaked havoc, setting the city ablaze and shouting. Riding their swords, they sliced through the air, chasing each other. They soared and hid among the clouds, breaking the silence of the night with their curses and screams. Sometimes they were wounded, retreated, and fell. They were crushed like autumn leaves underfoot. They grew angry and used stronger spells.
The Murim infantry moved from the western ridge of the mountain towards the city gates. Thousands of archers, in disorganized ranks, infused their arrows with Qi and aimed at the city. The Murim swordsmen, alongside the spearmen, became the vanguard of the Murim Regressive Alliance army. There was no room for error on that battlefield. Immortal weapons and cultivators, both great and small, fought side by side to bring this hellish night to dawn.
Amidst the rampant chaos, several unknown cultivators took control of the battlefield. They were a squad from the dark Path, mercilessly slaughtering everyone. With each strike, they tore through flesh and bone, instilling fear in the defenders. Sometimes they captured the younger ones, flew to the clouds with all their might, and then dropped them, dismembering their bodies with multiple strikes before they hit the ground.
This brutal battle lasted for several hours, and both sides were exhausted. Nothing remained of the city but ruins. The battlefield was filled with the corpses of immortals and Murim members. The city's defenders had suffered horrific losses. Those maintaining the defensive array had gone mad from the pressure but couldn't abandon their defense.
Suddenly, one of the death squad members raised his hands and muttered an incantation. Simultaneously, dark steam rose from the corpses on the ground and gathered above him.
"Bl…Black Curse!!!"
One of the defenders on the wall shouted this to everyone.
It took only a few seconds for the consumed corpses to turn to ash, feeding this terrifying spell. This spell used the remnants of the victims' souls to unleash a deadly power in the world.
The frontline defense commander sheathed his sword and said calmly, "This was our last stand; this war is over…"
But the spell was far hungrier than to be satisfied with the remnants of souls. The Murim warriors, who had been shouting in joy moments before, found themselves prey to this devastating spell.
Their bodies were crushed and consumed by the dark abyss.
All these events occurred within a minute. A heavy pressure filled the atmosphere.
As the spell was unleashed, everyone in its path melted, a massive earthquake occurred, and the defensive array collapsed. The immortals responsible for maintaining the array exploded from within. The strike directly targeted the tower. When it hit the tall tower, it caused a massive explosion that consumed everything within a three-kilometer radius. Then it contracted to the size of a pea, and with the sudden release of all that energy, a blinding light swept across the sky, and the flight tower collapsed.
Eventually, the city fell to the Murim forces. Although they weren't pleased with the use of the Black Curse, they described it as an "inevitable action." The death squad was the first to enter the city and passed through the ruins. They weren't interested in the city itself but had come for another purpose.
Behind a ruined house, Lu Guang stood in torn clothes. He didn't tell anyone how he survived the spell, but there were no wounds on his body.
"Where is she?" the death squad leader asked Lu Guang. His voice was chilling.
"Follow me."
Without any further words, he pointed to the ground. A hidden hatch led to the underground canals.
Lu Guang picked up a lantern and led the way. The dust in the abandoned canal and the stench of blood bothered everyone. But they were from the dark Path and demonic cultivators, so such things were normal for them.
"She is a direct descendant of the Heavenly Sword Lord; finding her was difficult… not to mention that the leader of the Divine Sword Sect adopted her."
Lu Guang broke the oppressive silence.
"You will be rewarded."
He received a cold, emotionless response.
"But still, destroying a city to capture one person is truly excessive."
The death squad leader didn't respond.
In truth, capturing the girl was only part of their grand plan. But Lu Guang knew nothing about the dark Path's involvement in the internal strife of the immortal world. To him, the dark Path had gained an advantage by helping the Murim Regressive Alliance, which they would use at the right time. No one knew about the dark Path's resurgence. They controlled many people from behind the scenes, and that was their true power.
Finally, they entered a nearly destroyed tunnel. The death squad leader pointed to the rubble and said, "Someone is buried under there."
But given the city's war-torn state and the collapsed ceiling, he concluded it must be a city resident who would soon die. However, he still had his concerns. They had learned never to leave anyone alive; if they didn't know whether someone was a friend or foe, it was better to consider the stranger an enemy.
But time was short, and they didn't want to draw attention. This made them conserve their energy and focus on more important tasks.
The girl was chained in an underground room. She was very weak and helpless, on the verge of death. A line of clotted blood on her jaw caught the death squad leader's attention.
Suddenly, he drew his sword and stopped it at Lu Guang's throat.
"Didn't I tell you I want her unharmed!!!"
Lu Guang had cut out the girl's tongue. As a result, she could only communicate with vague gestures, but the problem was that they needed her voice.
The death squad leader's aura soared. The mission had failed. Lu Guang felt fear to his core. He had done it for fun but was now paying a heavy price.
Lu Guang quickly said, "But… but… there must be a way to make her speak!!"
"You made two big mistakes. First, you harmed the girl, and second, you awakened the demons within her. Her blood must be pure, and with the Dragon's Tongue, she must open the gates of eternity; you ruined everything…"
Tap* Tap* Tap*
The death squad leader immediately pointed his sword at the entrance of the room. He felt an oppressive presence in the dark tunnel. Close by, the sound of synchronized footsteps, like a gentle rhythm, filled their ears.
"It seems I wasn't the only demon awakened today." A voice from the darkness said.
And suddenly, blood filled the entire room.
Lu Guang's head exploded, and his brain splattered on the death squad members' faces and clothes. Two red orbs with a wide grin were the only things visible in the darkness. The death squad members drew their swords and formed a defensive formation.
An excited voice whispered from the darkness:
"Now that's it … well… let's dance!"